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A new incident on Sol-3 starts bringing back memories of the incident as shi has to investigate suspicious activity in a Canmephian company on the planet. The investigation will lead her to make several discoveries; some shocking, some horrifying, and some unbelievable. ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "It's been some time since Striker Redwolf's mission to Antarctica, where shi met Mike Fang, only to learn of his death. A new incident on Sol-3 starts bringing back memories of the incident as shi has to investigate suspicious activity in a Canmephian company on the planet. The investigation will lead her to make several discoveries; some shocking, some horrifying, and some unbelievable. ", "writing": "The Real Me\n\n(All characters are copyright their players) \n\nLight crept through the blinds of the bedroom window. Like moss growing on a tree, it silently crept across the floor, spreading slowly; slower than the naked eye could follow. In time, it threw a pattern like prison bars across the bed where a large, lumpy form lay sleeping. The alarm clock next to the bed suddenly clicked to life, emitting a series of chattering beeps that elicited a fast slap of a tail down on the top. The tail slithered like a snake off the top of the clock as the form on the bed stirred, untangling itself from the covers. It sat up and stretched four arms, throwing back its head and yawning loudly. One hand scratched at its lower back, another scratched the top of its head, a third rubbed at its left eye while the fourth reached down and scratched its balls as the form slowly swung itself out of bed; just the typical morning routine for Admiral Redwolf. \n\nIt seems everywhere you go in the galaxy, every sentient race wakes up in a similar way. No natural race ever just springs up in an instant; everybody seems to go through a slow, plodding routine that’s practically done in a begrudging state of autopilot. And Redwolf was no different. Shi plodded to the bathroom, took that first morning wizz that every being with male genitalia does in a state of bleary-eyed half-consciousness. A shower and a brushing of teeth followed, then shi split off a clone of hirself (one of the perks of being a fluid shapeshifter) to stick the coffee pot on while hir main self dressed. A black t-shirt was pulled on over hir head, fitting snugly around the three sizeable breasts on hir torso. Shi pulled on hir uniform, buttoning up hir gray pants and snapping the clasps on hir top. \n\nRedwolf reabsorbed hir clone as shi walked into the kitchen, picking up the three-gallon mug of steaming coffee and taking a big slug from it. The caffeine sent a jolt down hir back that snapped away most of the remaining fuzz on hir brain as shi dropped into the seat in front of hir computer. \n\n“E-mail check,” shi said, slurping another mouthful of bean juice. The computer only needed a minute before it beeped a response. \n\n“You have 27 new messages,” it said in its smoothly synthesized voice. The drygerskunk grunted a bit as shi scrolled through hir morning mail. \n\n“Junk mail, junk mail, junk mail…computer, update filter settings to include the senders of the selected messages…finally, something worthwhile…” Redwolf’s mail was filled with some of the usual requests; some troop rotations needed authorizing, there was a new prototype armor that needed someone to be assigned to stress test, a case of flu had broken out in the dryger barracks on Canmeph-1, among other things. \n\n“Let’s see…,” Redwolf muttered, “Regular troop rotation authorized…I’ll ask Groundpounder if Sgt. Meatshield’s available to test that armor…SLURRRRRP…a simple flu outbreak sounds like good training for the medical corps cadets…and the engineering cadets can work on rebuilding the barracks, damn fire sneezes…” After shi’d responded to the requests that didn’t require hir direct attention, the drygerskunk finished off hir coffee and deposited the empty mug in the kitchen sink. Shi poured the rest of the pot into a travel thermos which shi tucked into the physics-defying storage pocket in hir cleavage and headed out the door. \n\n“Morning Red,” said Wolfskunk Silencer, one of the staff at Shot Gun Shells. Redwolf had become one of the co-owners of the brewpub, backing it up with hir considerable bankroll, enabling it to become one of the most popular watering holes on Canmeph-2. Redwolf stretched as shi strolled down the stairs, deciding on a whim to alter hir appearance. The shapeshifting drygerskunk unsnapped the back flap of hir trousers, allowing hir posterior to stretch and expand backward, a pair of appendages sprouting out of what would have otherwise looked like a ridiculously large rump. Hir backside rippled and became more defined until it became an elongated body with two additional sets of legs. Red’s front legs absorbed hir pants, causing them to sink in like they were caught in quicksand. It made hir appearance more appropriate; hextaurs don’t usually wear any lower body apparel. \n\n“How’s the breakfast crowd been?” Redwolf asked, picking up the daily news crystal from the pub’s counter. Silencer smirked and tossed hir head at the room. A half-dozen booths were filled and there were at three folks sitting at the counter; though one of them was apparently passed out from the night before, judging from the seven liquor bottles around hir and the fact shi was face down in a puddle of hir own drool. Redwolf gave this particular patron a raised eyebrow as shi tugged hir head up by the ear. \n\n“What’s the sit-rep on this DOA?” shi said. Silencer gave hir a bit of a surprised look. \n\n“Oh, Greasemonkey got a raise yesterday so shi was celebrating last night,” the wolfskunk said, refilling another customer’s coffee. “Shi’s not dead though.” \n\n“I know, that’s not what I meant by DOA,” Redwolf said. \n\n“What did you mean?” Silencer asked, cocking hir head to one side. Redwolf gave a mild smirk as shi hauled the four-breasted, four-eyed dryger off the barstool and heaved hir over hir lower body’s back.\n\n \n\n“Drunk Off hir Ass,” Redwolf said, strolling out the door. Shi hailed a cab and dumped the dryger into it, giving the cabbie the fare to take Greasemonkey home. The drygerskunk had quickly looked up the drunk’s address with a fast scan with hir telepathic computer network link. Returning hir focus to hir work, the drygerskunk made good time in hir hextaur form as she trotted towards CMAC headquarters. It was still relatively early in the day; most businesses were just opening up and traffic was light, the air still tinged with a slight nip of cold. Redwolf pulled hir handheld data module out of hir cleavage and reviewed the news crystal on the way. It was one of those same shit different day situations; there was an ongoing argument in the government about whether or not to allow Sol-3 religious groups to establish any missions in the Canmeph system (popular opinion among the majority of Canmephians seemed to be Sol-3 religions, which had seen record lows of attendance on their own planet, were a joke and only impressionable dolts followed them, particularly that “Christianity” one.) People were waiting with baited breath for the latest body modification tech. Legislation was being created to support further military presence on and around Sol-3 with more direct Canmephian control over any and all space-related activity there. A social survey showed more Canmephians developing Sputnik aptitude, increasing the need for more training facilities. \n\n“Not much in here people don’t already know,” Red thought to hirself, pocketing the module as she reached the CMSC building. The doors slid soundlessly open as she stepped through the entrance; shi felt a very brief scan of hir identity from some unseen hev-sec telepath. The administration office was buzzing like a beehive as personnel moved to and from various offices. Red had this feeling there was something particularly tense that morning; there was a sense of anticipation going through the air. It only got stronger as Redwolf weaved around the passing officers as she approached Admiral Groundpounder’s office. \n\n“It’s open,” a gruff voice said coming from behind the Admiral’s door. Redwolf stepped into the rigidly organized office; behind an oversized desk sat the head of the Canmephian planetary army. Admiral Groundpounder was a massive wolfskunk. Classified as a “detective”, shi was of a set of genes that predisposed hir to developing a truly huge physique, easily weighing several tons of pure muscle. Groundpounder frowned at hir computer screen, tapping out commands with such concentration shi hadn’t even bothered to look up to see who walked into hir office. \n\n“Morning Admiral,” Redwolf said, pulling hir thermos of coffee out for a swig. Groundpounder grunted a response. \n\n“Got a couple things I needed to bring up with you,” Redwolf said, flipping the thermos top shut. “Got a new troop monkey suit that needs a trail run; I’m nominating Sgt. Meatshield to put it through its paces.” \n\n“Agreed,” said Groundpounder, still not looking up from hir computer. \n\n“There’s also a flu outbreak in the dryger barracks in Canmeph-1. I’m recommending we send the medical and engineering cadets in to handle it and get some field experience.” \n\n“Approved,” the wolfskunk said, still not granting Redwolf hir full attention. \n\n“The troops have been passing around pictures of you buck naked,” the drygerskunk said without missing a beat. \n\n“Tell ‘em to get my good side,” Groundpounder replied, still staring intently at the screen in front of hir. Pursing hir lips and raising an eyebrow, Redwolf stretched our hir neck an encircled the wolfskunk loosely like a python, looking over hir shoulder at the screen. \n\n“So what’s got you so enraptured? New shipment of assault weapons delayed?” shi asked. Groundpounder finally broke hir trancelike fixation on the screen to look up, realizing shi was surrounded…by one person, no less. \n\n“Would you put your head back on your shoulders where it belongs?” shi snapped. Red recoiled hir neck, snerking in mild amusement. Groundpounder turned hir seat to face Redwolf, arms crossed as shi leaned on hir desk. \n\n“We’ve got a problem; our Bonds have been monitoring the recent interplanetary traffic going to and from Sol-3,” Groundpounder said. “There’s been a lot of suspicious activity.” Redwolf’s bemused grin dropped from hir face; as ambassador to Sol-3, anything involving the planet was an immediate attention-grabber to hir. \n\n“What’s the sit-rep,” shi said. Groundpounder started to turn back to hir computer. \n\n“Access denied,” the wolfskunk said, slipping into a habit many Canmephians develop: lapsing into speech as if they were computers, “Information available on a need-to-know basis.” \n\n“Override command with regulation 657,” Redwolf said, crossing hir arms over hir chest and giving the other admiral a slightly peeved look. Regulation 657 was the “authorized by proximity” rule, stating that any situation in close proximity to given personnel’s own operation automatically made them need-to-know. Groundpounder grunted a bit, but relented. \n\n“A private communications firm on Sol-3 launched several robotic satellites last year,” shi said. “Their purpose was supposedly to establish and maintain signal boosting stations on multiple planets in the Sol-3 solar system, thereby improving communications between our system and theirs, plus increasing their reception ability to try and make contact with additional life forms.” \n\n“Sounds harmless so far,” Redwolf said. \n\n“But now the plot thickens,” Groundpounder said, leaning back in hir seat. “Our Bonds did a routine check on their activity. We’ve noticed that every satellite launched has been carrying unidentified cargo with it. Also, they’ve been launching to and from earth with more frequency than our engineers say is needed for normal maintenance.”\n\n“Sabotage?” Redwolf asked, eyebrows raised. Groundpounder shook hir head.\n\n“No, the broadcast stations have been working fine. It’s this mystery cargo that’s got the Bonds curious. So they started digging into the day-to-day staff involved in the launches. They found an unusually large number of Canmephian staff there. Not only that, but when they did background checks, they found no record of them having ever been in our system.” \n\nThe alarm bells going off in Redwolf’s head were loud enough to give hir a headache. If they were lucky, this was just some sort of illegal smuggling operation, and the drygerskunk wasn’t one to trust to luck. \n\n“Why wasn’t I informed of this immediately?!” Shi said, giving Groundpounder an incredulous look. The wolfskunk’s expression was reproachful as shi responded. \n\n“The CMPC is perfectly capable of handling this sort of affair; especially in light of previous events,” shi said. Redwolf was now getting royally pissed at Groundpounder’s playing coy. Shi put two hands on hir hips and cocked hir head at an angle. \n\n“Previous events?” shi said. \n\n“Did you forget the last time you got personally involved in planetary troop affairs?” Groundpounder said with a hint of menace in hir voice. “The Antarctica affair last year?” \n\nThe effect on Redwolf was immediate. Shi slammed a fist so hard on Groundpounder’s desk pens were bounced out of the holding cup and hir computer screen jumped an inch. The drygerskunk put hir face not three inches from Groundpounder’s, who flinched in a way barely noticeable.\n\n“That ‘affair’ was no fault of mine!” shi snarled. “Need I remind you it was YOUR personnel that fubared that base to hell and caused the deaths of dozens of Canmephian AND Sol-3 troops!”\n\n“Oh, and what about your Sol-3 entourage?” Groundpounder snapped in response. Now it was Redwolf’s turn to flinch. Whatever memory came to hir was an unpleasant one, but shi still managed to give the wolfskunk an irritated glare. \n\n“He wasn’t my entourage, he was my partner,” shi said. \n\n“Admiral, be serious,” Groundpounder said, giving Redwolf a frank look. “You can’t have expected him to be able to handle any sort of real responsibility in that situation. You should have been protecting him better.”\n\n“I met him, you didn’t,” Redwolf snorted. “He was one of the most driven and capable Terrans I’d seen in a long time. He would’ve been insulted if I’d babied him. And frankly I think YOU’RE insulting him by not giving him any credit.” \n\nGroundpounder waived a hand dismissively. “At any rate you’re fortunate the terrans’ knack for spin control saved your reputation, although I don’t like how they hid the rest of the truth from the public.” \n\nThat last part’s the only thing I agree with Redwolf thought to hirself. Shi stuffed hir thermos back into hir cleavage and headed for the door. \n\n“I’m going to be looking into this immediately,” shi said. Groundpounder immediately stood up, leaning on hir desk. \n\n“Well fine,” shi huffed. “If you can’t leave this to the branch that this concerns, I can’t stop you. But DON’T got interfering with any of planetary operations, ‘cause you don’t have my cooperation with this.” \n\n“There’s a shock,” Redwolf muttered under hir breath, rolling hir eyes as shi headed to hir own office. As rear admiral of the space corps, the drygerskunk had plenty of authority of hir own, more than enough to delegate hir current workload to a few of hir officers. Shi made the necessary arrangements to explain hir sudden absence before heading back out the door, hir thoughts focusing on the task ahead. Getting the necessary personnel to conduct an investigation was going to be a problem. The space officers shi had that were experienced with investigations were already on assignments, some of them undercover; pulling them out to look into the strange satellite launches wasn’t an option. \n\n“That leaves me with private contracting,” shi thought to hirself. “The best choice here will be to hire Sol-3 based investigators…although…,” As much as shi didn’t want them to, Redwolf couldn’t help but have hir thoughts wander back to the Antarctica incident Groundpounder had so callously thrown in hir face. One year ago, the admiral had been asked to look into a communications snafu at a joint Canmeph/Sol-3 military and research station at Sol-3’s southern polar ice cap. The situation turned out worse than expected; the Canmephian personnel were practically all undisciplined and the commanding officer was a megalomaniacal lunatic. The Sol-3 personnel were little better, most of them being complacent with the behavior of the Canmephians, no matter how unruly they were. Things only got worse when the break turned out to be the result of an ancient parasitic organism that had been discovered on an archeological dig. The parasite had taken control of numerous personnel at a research outpost and committed horrific acts, ranging from outright killing crewmembers to cutting them apart in some kind of brutal dissection experiment. \n\nIn the end Redwolf had killed the commander when shi attacked the admiral. Redwolf then led what was left of the crew in a violent battle against the parasite. All the Sol-3 personnel were lost in the confrontation and only a handful of the Canmephian ones survived. Redwolf was depressed that shi hadn’t been able to prevent further deaths, but as a commanding officer, the loss of soldiers is something that one realizes has to be risked when in battle. But one death in particular wouldn’t rest so easily. \n\nRedwolf hadn’t been the only investigator on the mission; in order to balance things out, Sol-3 had sent its own representative, a private investigator named Mike Fang, who’d been cryogenically frozen in the early 21st century. As it turned out, the Sol-3 United Nations had only sent him in as an empty gesture of cooperation; they didn’t actually expect him to contribute anything useful, they just wanted to use him as a showpiece. Fang, however, was determined to do more than just act like a “monkey for the media” as he put it. He’d made every effort to try and be a meaningful contributor to the investigation, though in the end most people who knew about his involvement said his actual importance to the mission was debatable; a few said he’d been a fifth wheel entirely.\n\nWhether he’d been important or pointless to the investigation didn’t change the fact the case had been the death of him. After the battle with the parasite-controlled troops, some of the remaining personnel discovered his body near a vehicle crash with a large piece of scrap metal spearing him through his chest. They reported his death, but when a cleanup crew went out to try and recover his body, a snowstorm came up suddenly and prevented them from finding the crash site again. \n\nIn the aftermath of the grim events at the South Pole station, Redwolf made a full report available to the United Nations. Shi was called back to Canmeph-2 on urgent affairs, leaving the story in the hands of the UN’s spin doctors. They disregarded everything they thought might cause a global panic and buried the truth under a cockamamie story about psychological disorders and the station crew going nuts and shooting each other. The drygerskunk didn’t hear about the whitewash job until three months later. \n\nInfuriated, Redwolf tried to take the real story to the media, but interest by then had waned. Shi did manage to get the UN rep that covered up the story dismissed and pressed libel charges against him. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Sol-3 population paid little attention to the matter, most chalking it up to “just another example of corrupt politicians.” Fang, who hadn’t even been mentioned in the UN’s press releases, still received no recognition for his part in the investigation; left on the cutting room floor. Public opinion of the UN was barely shaken, while the almost unconditional support for Canmephian influence over Sol-3 in all ways possible never even paused in its perpetual climb. \n\nDiety, Redwolf thought as shi walked down the street back to Shot Gun Shells, Fang may have been right after all; Terrans seem to be so in love with us nothing we do could put them off. No only that, they’re getting so dependent on us they may eventually be unable to function by themselves. The more Redwolf thought about that, the more hir memory kept going back to that one conversation shi’d had with Fang about his motives for accepting the mission. Shi could still see him: head hung, shoulders slumped, hand on his forehead, face weary and beat with eyes looking almost hopeless, yet having a dim, small spark of defiance and determination. Redwolf couldn’t help but compare him to the literary figure of Don Quixote; he longed to bring his world back the self-respect and spirit of responsibility and industriousness it once had, but felt powerless to do it.\n\nHe was in the same boat I was, Redwolf thought to hirself as shi reached the brewpub. Hir taur body began withdrawing into hir torso again, hir pants re-emerging as shi shifted into hir bipedal form once more. The drygerskunk walked around the side of the building, going into the next-door garage to get to hir bike. That’s what I told him. Redwolf located hir vehicle, a sleek black crotch rocket. Straddling the machine, the admiral took it off the kickstand and straightened out the front wheel. But shi couldn’t seem to get off the track hir mind was on as shi let out a heavy sigh, one hand up to hir face as shi rubbed at hir eyes. \n\nHe didn’t seem to believe me, not entirely, Redwolf thought, beginning to feel a sense of discomfort, but we definitely had more in common than not…a kindred spirit, Diety, how many of those have I found...and he died still thinking he was nothing compared to us, and people have treated his memory like nothing! They still act like he was nothing!\n\nClenching hir teeth, Redwolf balled up a fist and smashed it into the wall next to hir. The concrete cracked, chips of rock and rock dust flying off the wall around hir fist’s point of impact. It was fortunate that, as a polymorph, shi didn’t have any bones to speak of, or shi would have fractured hir hand in several places. As it was, shi just glowered as shi pulled hir hand from the three-inch deep hole shi’d created in the wall, brushing the dust off on hir pantleg, letting out another heavy sigh. \n\n“Alright, get a grip, goyo, this isn’t helping anything,” shi muttered under hir breath. Thumbing the ignition, Redwolf revved hir cycle and tooled out of the garage. Shi took the inner city streets at an easy pace, but once shi hit the highways, shi opened up the throttle, hir tails flowing out behind hir like a cape blowing in the wind. \n\nI need to focus on the problem at hand, shi thought, the air whistling past hir face. So, Sol-3 private contractors; not exactly as common as they used to be. This isn’t a construction job I’m looking at; it’s a serious covert operation. I’ll need to find somebody with the right skill set; somebody who can be unobtrusive but also bring the heat once the evidence is gathered. Redwolf had decided that if there was something illegal going on, shi wasn’t going to give Groundpounder the satisfaction of letting hir planetary troops clean it up if shi could avoid it. The drygerskunk didn’t want to get into what Terrans called “a pissing contest,” but if shi got the opportunity, shi wanted to pay the grunt master back for keeping hir out of the loop on this investigation; as ambassador, Sol-3 affairs were hir responsibility. Groundpounder had left hir out of seriously need-to-know matters and whatever the reason, that grated on Redwolf. \n\nJust like at military HQ, Redwolf only had to give a perfunctory flash of hir ID to get onto the CMSC liftoff base. The forcefield gate crackled as it died off, allowing Redwolf to slowly roll past the gate and head down the long rows of hangars. Ships of various kinds, from small atmospheric aircraft to mid-sized freighters belonging to private shipping firms that had military contracts, were being pulled in and out of their maintenance bays. Redwolf drove all the way down to hir hangar at the end. It was easy to spot; it was the only one with crates of carrots outside. \n\n“And how’s my little Firetyger today?” the drygerskunk said in a babyish voice, taking a small open lift up towards the top of the hangar. A large mech like you’d find in an anime stood at ready. From the mech’s outside speakers came a cat-like mewing that reverberated throughout the hangar. The lift reached the top of the scaffolding the mech stood next to; a few chords leading from its neck to various diagnostic readouts. \n\n“Well, let’s see how your checkup went…,” Redwolf said, going over to the panels and tapping a few keys. “All software up-to-date, all hardware systems check out, very good. Are you ready to go for space walkies to Sol-3?” \n\nThe mech mewed again, a hatch on the back sliding open to admit the admiral into the cockpit. Once shi was strapped in, Redwolf guided the mech outside, the ground shaking lightly with each step. The drygerskunk steered to an open take off port, checking shi had clearance to take off. \n\n“Okay Firetyger, let’s spread your wings…”shi said. The giant mech mewed again, its body shifting and sliding its various components. A narrow nose emerged from it, along with a set of wings and landing struts. The robotic fighter shifted into a small, 2-man ship, slowly lifting off from the pad and rocketing out of the Canmephian atmosphere. \n\n “Sol-3 port this is Admiral Redwolf, requesting permission to land,” the drygerskunk said, adjusting hir headset. \n\n“Permission granted Admiral,” said a voice from the other end. “You know you don’t have to ask, you just have to come in and find an empty spot to p…,” \n\n“Thank you, ground control, that will be all,” Redwolf said, cutting the feed. Shi really wasn’t in the mood to listen to anyone fawn over hir; it had been something the drygerskunk had tolerated before, but never liked. Now, after the mission last year that had been preying on hir mind not long ago, shi was more conscious of how much it tended to happen and how it both depressed hir to see such a widespread lack of dignity and irritated hir in how it didn’t seem to be changing for the better. \n\n“Patience,” shi told hirself, eliciting a curious mew from hir ship. Redwolf gave the console an “I’m alright, just tired” grin. \n\n“Oh it’s nothing Fire, just…a lot on my mind,” shi said, guiding the ship to one of the circular landing hubs with guiding lights that were flashing to help steer them into place in the growing darkness. Dusk had settled on the base as Redwolf climbed out of the ship. Once more it started shifting and meshing together, this time compacting itself smaller and smaller, almost impossibly condensing until Redwolf stood on the platform next to a small, cute, fuzzy little cabbit. The drygerskunk bent down and picked up the cabbit, stroking his head with two fingers. \n\n“Good boy! You’ll get extra carrots tonight.” The cabbit purred as the admiral headed down the metal grating steps to the door leading to the building’s roof access. Shi managed to make it all the way to the ground floor of the embassy building before three aides managed to surround hir, all clamouring for attention to their various issues. \n\n“Admiral, have a pleasant flight?” A dryger of equal height to Redwolf said. The feline walking beside the drygerskunk ran a hand through a cockscomb of translucent purple hair that went well with his yellow and black striping. While wolfskunks, one of the primary two sentient races in the Canmeph system, were predominantly hermaphrodites with minority groups of male, female and neuter individuals, Drygers were a bit more balanced, with equal distribution of all the genders throughout their demographic. \n\n“As always,” Redwolf said, still petting hir cabbit. “What’s the sit-rep?” \n\n“Six o’clock and all’s well,” the wolfskunk on hir other side said. “We’ve prepared a draft proposal for establishing branches of three Canmeph corporations here; The corps have approved the terms, we just need to get the terran’s stamp of approval. You’ve gotten about 10 messages from the Vatican requesting assistance in establishing missionaries on Canmeph planets. There’s also been rumors going around about our planetary troops conducting some kind of investigation, but we can’t get any details.” \n\n“Don’t worry about the planetaries,” Redwolf said, a slight glower of frustration entering hir voice as shi headed to hir office at the embassy. The door immediately recognized hir DNA signature from the palm reader and slid open. Followed closely by hir entourage, the drygerskunk took hir seat at hir desk, setting Firetyger down on the desk surface. The cabbit hopped over to a large box filled with carrots and began munching them down. The admiral, meanwhile, leaned forward on hir desk, lacing the fingers of two hands together. Another hand snaked out and pulled a soda from a mini-fridge behind hir while the fourth booted up hir desktop computer. \n\n“I’m aware of the investigation,” Redwolf told hir three staff members. “I’ll handle that personally. Contact the European Union, the United States government, Australia and the various governments in South America and Asia about the corporation proposal, see who’s interested in hosting which companies.” \n\n“Wouldn’t it be easier to just contact the UN?” the third aide, a dryger taur with six breasts, asked. Redwolf snorted and rolled hir eyes. \n\n“The UN’s about as competent as a drunk chimp trying to do brain surgery.” Shi grunted. “It’s time we started cutting out the middle men, at least until they can get their act together. Now, the Vatican; who exactly’s been approaching us about these missions?” \n\n“An Archbishop….,” the male dryger tapped his data reader, “…Guiseppi.” \n\n“Never heard of him,” said Redwolf, “which could be a good thing; means he’s not one of those fanatics who’s always on the news talking about how we’re all unnatural abominations. Contact the archbishop, tell him I want to meet with each missionary he intends to send; trying to establish a few churches our way is fine, but we don’t need any pulpit-pounders yelling fire and brimstone at us.” \n\nAs much as Redwolf wanted to get right to work on the investigation, shi knew it would be easier to concentrate on it with the regular embassy paperwork out of the way. But like many jobs, the more you do, the more you seem to get. The odd request for approval or funding application for this project or that study kept trickling in, so it was about 10p.m. before Redwolf finally managed to send out the last form. As shi double-clicked the “send” button on hir computer, the drygerskunk groaned and rubbed hir eyes. \n\n“Nngh, that’s all I can stand, I can’t stands no more,” shi said, slowly standing up. “C’mon Fire,” shi said, scooping up hir cabbit from where he was napping in the now-empty carrot box, “time to go home before I head-desk.”\n\nThe admiral had another vehicle on earth for hir, so shi let Firetyger continue to sleep as shi drove along the New England coast to Pawstooth, hir not-so-little hideaway on Sol-3. A large estate with security that would enable it to double as a protective compound, Redwolf divided hir living arrangements between it and hir penthouse apartment on top of Shot Gun Shells back on Canmeph; shi was like a well-to-do Sol-3 business exec with a place to stay in each location shi did business in. Shuffling blearily in the door, Redwolf tapped in the security code to lock down the door. Shi barely managed to maintain hir consciousness while shi set hir messaging systems to hold all calls until noon tomorrow, then strip off hir uniform and toss it down in the doorway of hir bedroom. Clad in hir boxers and a t-shirt, the drygerskunk’s eyes rolled back in hir head as shi landed with a massive WHUMP on hir mattress; just a typical evening routine for Admiral Redwolf. \n\n“Multigal Communications, how may I direct your call?” The receptionist at the front desk said. The lobby of Multigal Communications was a relic from the early 21st century. Stainless steel railings and glass ceilings gave the place a neo-art-deco feel. The cheesy metal abstract sculptures and combination tile/low pile carpet floors were an appropriate touch. The high cathedral ceilings helped echo every little noise, including the footsteps making their way across the lobby. An orange-furred wolfskunk with a white mohawk, three eyes, six arms and six breasts, dressed in a red t-shirt and industrial worker overalls came up to the desk. \n\n“Excuse meh,” the wolfskunk said in a clam chowder-thick New England accent, “I’m heah to apply for the sattelite technician op’nin.” The receptionist, a pert-looking female gryphon, looked up at hir. \n\n“Ah, you must be Wolfskunk Spotweld. Yes, our foreman’s expecting you. His office is in our main assembly plant.” The gryphoness handed the wolfskunk a visitor’s map, on which she circled a building with her pen. \n\n“Just go down the hall there, take a left, go out the door and across the launch pad. Just be sure to keep outside the restricted areas.” \n\n“Thank you kindleh,” The wolfskunk said, stepping around the reception desk as shi headed for the hallway. As shi got to the intersection in the hallway, shi decided to stop off in the restroom to make sure hir disguise was staying in place. After checking all the stalls to make sure shi wasn’t going to be spotted by anyone, Redwolf turned to the mirror and carefully examined hir features. \n\nIt’s always the little things, shi though to hirself as shi carefully readjusted hir cheeks nd temples. Shi never had problems with the major differences when shi took on a new form to go undercover; the drygerskunk just had to be sure to take care of the smaller details, like hir facial features, to make sure they didn’t accidentally slip to hir natural appearance and give hir away. Satified that shi wasn’t about to be spotted by anyone who’d never seen more of hir than was on the news, shi headed back out into the hall and continued to the job interview. \n\nBy the end of the day, Redwolf had that feeling of inner smug self-satisfaction everyone gets when things are going according to plan. Hir fake resume had passed muster; no surprise since shi cited hir real self as a previous employer. “Wolfskunk Spotweld” had easily received the job; the foreman had been impressed with hir record of 15 years of manufacturing experience building for the Canmephian military industrial manufacturers. It was an entry-level position, but for Redwolf, all shi needed was hir footpaw in the door. \n\nThe problem with many espionage missions, however, is they require time to work. Redwolf put a clone of hirself in Pawstooth to make all the necessary public appearances and handle some of the day-to-day paperwork at the embassy. Issues that needed a personal touch, however, required that Redwolf attend to them after shi quit work at the plant. Sleep quickly became a luxury Redwolf couldn’t afford. \n\nBut hir efforts weren’t in vain. During lunch hours, the drygerskunk would fall into conversation with hir coworkers. Most of it was the usual blue-collar banter about sports teams, union gripes, families, who’s having a fling with who and so on. But useful bits of info came up. One afternoon, the drygerskunk was sticking hir thermos back in hir locker after lunch when shi bumped into a detective-class dryger next to hir. The dryger quickly slammed his locker shut and gave hir a glare. \n\n“Watch were you’re going,” he snorted at hir, then turned his back to hir and marched off. \n\n“Sheez, what crawled up his ass an’ died?” Redwolf said in hir persona’s New England drawl. One of hir coworkers, one Wolfskunk Solder, glanced up from hir copy of “Soldier of Fortune” magazine, this month featuring an article on telekinetic mercenaries. \n\n“Sanderson?” The wolfskunk said. “He’s about as crabby as a seafood shack on his best days. You don’t wanna see him when he’s pissed.” \n\n“Tch, I’ll bet,” the drygerskunk muttered, “Doesn’t seem like the friendly saht, never has a kind word t’ say, an’ he never eats lunch with the rest of ahs.” Solder nodded in acknowledgement; Redwolf decided to press just a little further as shi leaned against the locker, one arm rubbing hir chin, two more crossed over hir center breasts, the other two crossed behind hir back. \n\n“You know,” shi mused out loud, “come to think of eht, ah’ve noticed ah few folks that seem kinda…stand-offish.”\n\n“You’re not the only one,” Solder said, flipping hir mag shut. “Seems like a half dozen or so of the guys on the prep crew are really distant with the rest of us. I’m starting to think it’s got somethin’ to do with the job.” \n\n“Huh,” Redwolf said, cocking an eyebrow. “Nevah knew loadin’ satellites was such an intense occupa’shin.” \n\n“Shouldn’t be,” Solder said. “It certainly wasn’t when I was doing it. Then the company hires a new foreman for satellite launching and he brings in a brand new crew to handle prep and blast off; claims it’ll increase efficiency if our personnel doesn’t have to juggle different tasks.” \n\nThe rest of the day, Redwolf kept at hir job with one metaphorical eye on the loading crew as they prepped the latest satellite for launch. Shi’d been watching the crew carefully, but didn’t know exactly where to look; now shi focused hir attention on Sanderson and the small group that shi saw him periodically confer with. Using hir internal computer systems, shi began recording images of each of them. Shi didn’t tempt fate by trying to access the Internet through hir mind; if hir outgoing signal was noticed, hir cover would be blown. At first shi though it might be some of Groundpounder’s intelligence troops and was leery of getting too invasive on them. But that night, as the drygerskunk sat in front of hir computer at Pawstooth, shi checked their images against various records and found they had no military records of any kind. \n\n“And we’ve found our interlopers,” Redwolf said, smirking and draining a beer can. “Now, I’ll need to look into each of these suspects, but I’m busy enough as it is being in two places at once.” The drygerskunk crunched up the beer can and snaked out an arm into the kitchen, cracking open a fresh brew as shi punched up a new Web site. \n\n“Time to look for that private contractor.”\n\n“No…no….no…no…jeez…” the admiral groaned, leaning hir head back and shaking it. Shi’d taken some time off from hir plant job, claiming a family vacation as hir excuse, in order to do a search for a new accomplice in hir investigation. But shi was coming up seriously short. Every mercenary agency shi tried searching had nobody that met hir needs. Most of the ones shi saw were only experienced in direct combat. The few shi looked at that had experience with covert operations had most of their experience in wet work and were too sinister for hir taste. \n\n “I need a spy, not a hitman,” shi grumbled, continuing to scan through Web sites. “Not this one, he’s too trigger happy…not this one, he’s got a criminal record…this girl’s too eager to use explosives on the job…ARRRRGH! Hasn’t anyone heard of subtlety?!” With a snarl of frustration, Redwolf logged off. Shi stomped into hir living room and collapsed onto hir couch, a hand over hir face. A purring noise came from next to hir as Firetyger hopped from the coffee table onto the couch and began nuzzling the drygerskunk’s face. Redwolf sighed and stroked the cabbit’s head. \n\n“I’m alright, Fire. I just don’t seem to be able to find anyone I can call on.” Glancing over at hir wide-screen tv, the admiral snapped hir fingers; the screen clicked and chimed as the signal came in. The last channel shi’d had the tv on was the news; as shi prepared to start channel-surfing, the drygerskunk sat bolt upright as the anchorman announced their headline story. \n\n“Top of the hour, late-breaking news; Chicago police make a major drug bust with the help of self-described ‘all purpose telekinetic’ Mike Fang.” Firetyger gave Redwolf a look of mild irritation as the drygerskunk swung into a sitting position so fast shi bounced the cabbit off the couch cushion and onto the floor. Shi turned up the volume on the tv a bit further, hir attention utterly focused. \n\n“Police seized a total of 2,000 kilos of crystal meth and 10,000 kilos of marijuana from the basement of an abandoned apartment building,” the newscaster said. “The building is currently under the ownership of Vladimir Torborovski, an alleged high-ranking member in the Russian mafia. No further connection can yet be made to Torborovski and the drugs; Torborovski claims the drug lab was set up by squatters trespassing on his property.” \n\n“C’mon, tell me more about this telekinetic…,” Redwolf said, hir voice slightly anxious. Shi was positive shi didn’t hear that name right…did shi? As if reading hir mind, the newscaster answered hir question. \n\n“Police credited Mike Fang with gathering the information leading to the bust. Fang, a telekinetic with several extra-sensory skills, has risen to prominent public notice in the last couple months. He’d previously been working odd jobs in manual labor when he decided to apply his telekinetic abilities as a freelance agent. In this instance, Fang used his abilities at remote viewing and telepathy to determine the location that known drug dealers were getting their drugs from. Police official deny allowing Fang to participate in the raid, citing his civilian status, despite his reputed powers of telekinesis and pyrokinesis.” \n\nRedwolf switched off the tv. Shi slumped back against the couch, confusion doing circles through hir mind. It had to be someone with a similar name; it couldn’t possibly be the same Fang shi’d met before. And yet somehow shi had this nagging feeling that this person on the news could be a vital asset to hir investigation. \n\nIf nothing else, shi thought, shifting hirself forward so shi could put hir elbows on hir knees and rub hir chin, he seems to be what I’m looking for skill-wise; surveillance without detection and he could probably handle himself in a fight if push came to shove. Nodding to hirself, Redwolf cocked an eyebrow and accessed hir internal computer, scanning personal contact information for anyone on the planet registered as “Mike Fang”. \n\nThe sky was overcast and gray, a heavy fog falling across the water like a shower curtain, partly obscuring the bathers on the other side. Only they weren’t bathers, they were the skyscrapers across the Philadelphia harbor. After several wrong numbers, Redwolf had finally managed to track down Fang. This telekinetic seemed very enigmatic, using what turned out to be an unlisted number. It took Redwolf an entire week to get up with him; shi’d been pointed out by one person shi misdialed to an online Web site, where shi was instructed to submit hir request for service in an e-mail first. After a few days of waiting, shi received a response, giving hir a transient dock to go to and an unlisted mobile number shi was told only to call in the event shi couldn’t find the dock. \n\nGuy sure likes his privacy, shi thought to hirself as shi stepped out of the Canmephian-sized jeep shi’d commandeered from the embassy. Shi knew shi was taking a risk being away this long from work, but shi still had a day or two left before hir fake persona’s family was due back from vacation. \n\nWater lapped at the sides of glistening boat hulls as pair of seagulls perched on the dock’s pilings gave plaintive cries through the moist sea breeze. The docks were almost full with various types of personal long-voyage watercraft; powered yachts, daysailing catamarans, coast-cruising sailboats. Redwolf ticked off the slip numbers until shi came to the one shi was looking for. The drygerskunk crossed hir arms and nodded to hirself as shi looked over the personal yacht that shi’d have no problem fitting on. It reminded hir of a vessel shi’d seen in a classic Sol-3 movie called “Casino Royale”, owned by the primary antagonist. \n\n“Freelance mind powers certainly pay the bills,” shi said. The small gate acting as an entry point to the ship’s deck was open, so shi climbed aboard. The ship rocked slightly with hir added weight, but not by much. Still, Redwolf took about a foot off hir height to help ensure shi had adequate clearance for the cabin door as shi knocked. No answer. Shi knocked a bit louder. \n\n“A’ight, I’m comin’,” A voice said from the other side. There were a few footsteps, a lock clicked and the door slid open. \n\nI was right, Redwolf thought, some part of hir feeling a twinge of disappointment, this isn’t him.\n\nLeaning in the doorway was a spotted hyena. While of a size and body build comparable to the Fang Redwolf had known, it wasn’t easy to tell; he stood in a lazy slump with his shoulders hunched slightly. His head, which held a hyena’s traditional flyaway sort of scruffy mane, was cocked at a slight angle. His expression appeared to be a mixture of cynicism, unconcern, and shrewd calculation. He was dressed in a pair of ratty jeans and a white t-undershirt. \n\n“Lookin’ for somethin’?” he said, giving Redwolf a once over himself. Redwolf blinked away hir initial feelings. \n\n“Yes, I’m looking for Mike Fang, is that you?” shi said. \n\n“You got it sister, brother, or whatever you prefer,” the hyena said, still maintaining a grin that could best be described as smart-ass. \n\n“Redwolf will do. Admiral Redwolf,” the drygerskunk said. The hyena’s only reaction to this bit of news was to raise his eyebrows. \n\n“Ahhh, so you’re Redwolf.” He said. \n\n“You know about me?” the drygerskunk said instinctively. Shi knew shi’d walked into a zinger and braced for the impact. \n\n“Does a bear shit in the woods when he can’t find an outhouse?” the ‘yena snorted with a bemused tone. “Hell the whole fuckin’ PLANET knows you. Anyway, you must be the one that e-mailed me about the covert job you’ve got.” The hyena stepped away from the door (slunk, more like it), motioning for the drygerskunk to follow with a casual toss of his head. \n\n“C’mon in, make yourself comfy; just try not to break anything,” he said. Redwolf stepped through the hatch and looked around; the hyena’s marine domicile was a floating bachelor pad; liquor bottles lined a wet bar on the far side of the main room of the cabin; a large tv was mounted on the wall opposite a couch fixed to the floor. Raunchy posters, the kind most would keep in more private quarters, were tacked up on the walls where anyone could see them. Other items around the room, such as the pure crystal drinking glasses and the hovering anti-gravity pedestals with tacky-yet-expensive statues on them, showed this hyena was someone who wasn’t particularly modest. He crossed the room to an overstuffed chair, turned and flopped into it. The refrigerator under the wet bar opened on its own, and an imported beer floated out of it and into his waiting hand. The top popped off on its own, ending the hyena’s little telekinetic display as he took a swig. \n\n“So,” he said, “What’s the job you got for me?” Redwolf crossed to another seat on the hyena’s right, carefully folding hir tails into a pile next to hir. \n\n“I’m running an investigation into a communications company that’s been conducting some unusual business practices,” shi said. \n\n“They spyin’ on people?” Fang said, taking another slug of beer. \n\n“I’m not sure,” the drygerskunk said. “But they’ve been sending unidentified cargo to various comm. stations on other planets in this solar system. Right now, my suspicions are focused on the ground crew doing the loading.” \n\nThe hyena nodded. “Well if it’s spyin’ on spies you need, I can do that no sweat,” he said, finishing off the beer. It floated out of his hand and dropped into a trash can on the far side of the room. “I’ll just read their minds and tell you exactly what they’re planning.” Redwolf shook hir head. \n\n“These suspects are Canmephians,” shi said “they’re probably very adept at resisting telepathic invasion. You’d have to be a very strong…” \n\nAnd what makes you think I’m not? Fang’s voice said in the admiral’s head. The hyena still sat, his lips not moving, as he cocked an eyebrow at hir. “If you didn’t think I was strong enough, I don’t know why you bothered coming here.” Redwolf met the hyena’s gaze. \n\nJust because you can send me a message doesn’t mean you can…, shi began hirself telepathically…when suddenly shi found hirself under a lighting blitz of telepathic probing. The drygerskunk blinked and grabbed the arms of hir chair; the hyena leaned forward in his own seat, the smirk dropping from his face as his gaze intensified. It was like a mental game of one-on-one basketball, with Redwolf trying to keep Fang from getting to the goal that was hir memories. The drygerskunk found hirself being put to the test as shi continually had to shift where shi was focusing hir mental defense…sometimes he went for hir personal memories, then he’d suddenly go for hir confidential military knowledge, then shift gears again and make a run at hir sexual fantasies. He wasn’t being subtle in his attacks, which gave Redwolf ample warning to raise up a defense. \n\nThe drygerskunk furrowed hir brow and clenched hir teeth. The hyena had closed his own eyes and put a hand to his temple. It was now less like a basketball game and more like an intense swordfight. Suddenly, Redwolf felt something; while the hyena had been conducting all these blatant attempts to force his way into some of hir memories, he’d been quietly making a backdoor entry into hir childhood memories. Quickly, the drygerskunk sent out a hard, defensive thrust to shove this intrusive presence out of hir mind. That was apparently the keystone to Fang’s assault; in a flash the two had disconnected telepathically, the hyena jolting in his chair like he’d been stuck with a tazer. \n\n“NNNGH!” he grunted, blinking his eyes several times before leaning back and rubbing his forehead. “Damn, haven’t had a challenge like that in a long time.” \n\n“Likewise…,” Redwolf said, rubbing hir own forehead with two hands as shi gave the hyena a rather sour look, “But next time, WARN me first and stay away from my military knowledge or I’ll have to have you arrested.”\n\nMost people, in the presence of Redwolf when shi was angry, would cringe or feel an appropriate amount of fear; shi was intimidating on just about every level possible; physically, mentally, and in hir authority. But Fang’s attitude remained the same; snarky and devil-may-care. \n\n“First off,” he said, “if I told you, then it wouldn’t be an appropriate demonstration, ‘since I doubt these suckers are gonna know I’m coming either. Second…I’d like to see someone TRY to arrest me.” Redwolf bristled just a bit. \n\n“Need I remind you I just bested you in your little telepathic wrestling match?” Shi said. The hyena snorted. \n\n“Need I point out to you I had half my brain tied behind my back while I was doing it?” he said. Redwolf couldn’t deny it; shi’d noticed Fang wasn’t putting all his strength into his invasion of hir mind. Still, shi didn’t appreciate his attitude. \n\n“Don’t push your luck,” shi said. The hyena rolled his eyes with a mildly perturbed expression. \n\n“So are you satisfied with my telepathic power or not?” he said. Redwolf rubbed the back of hir neck. \n\n“Well, you could definitely pull it off, I’m sure of that now,” shi said. “But we can’t go into their minds and pull out their memories. We don’t know who else may be involved in this or what they’re even doing; we could tip off someone trying to pull off a terrorist attack for all we know.”\n\nFang shrugged. “As you prefer,” he said. “I do what I’m paid for. So, if mind-reading’s out, there’s only one other thing I can think of you’d like; remote viewing.”\n\nRedwolf nodded. “Exactly. I’d like you to start following these guys; keep tabs on them, find out what they’re doing.” The hyena chuckled. \n\n“Piece of cake,” he said. “So, spyin’ on eight guys, recording their activity, that’ll run you about $70,000. A day.” \n\n“Done,” Redwolf said, pulling out hir data module. “I’ll transfer your first three days to your bank account, if you’d like to give me a check card number.” \n\n“Just like that, eh?” the hyena said, eyebrow cocked. “Funny, usually people go through a routine of gawking and saying stuff like ‘who the fuck do you think you are?’ and ‘I’m not made of money, you know!’” \n\n“Well I can afford it without a problem,” Redwolf said. Fang rubbed his chin, looking off to the side. \n\n“Hmm, note to self, need to jack up my price until it starts getting more slack-jawed stares,” he said with a smirk before giving Redwolf his debit card number. The drygerskunk left him with a list of the suspects’ names and addresses; the hyena promised to bring hir daily reports in person. \n\nThe arc welder spat sparks up into Redwolf’s face. Shi slowly traced the electric torch along the seam of the satellite hull panel shi was fixing in place. Reaching the end of the seam, shi released the ignition switch and lifted hir protective mask, inspecting the weld line shi’d just made. It still glowed faintly like a neon sign left on in the daytime, quickly cooling to its proper dull gray. \n\n“Shift’s over Spotweld,” hir foreman said, “Time to punch out ‘fore you start clockin’ us overtime.” \n\n“Raht, boss,” shi drawled. The disguised drygerskunk stowed hir gear in hir locker and punched out hir digital timecard. Shi checked hir watch as shi strolled casually out the door; shi had an hour before Fang was due for his usual daily report. It had been two weeks since the hyena had been hired, and he’d been nothing if not thorough. He came by Pawstooth daily, driving one of those hovercars that was less designed for practicality and more for “look at me overcompensate” factor. The ‘yena had proved remarkably adept at remove viewing; after he’d visited each of the suspect’s homes to make finding them easier (he claimed he could’ve found them without doing so, but still wanted to get a better fix on them) he’d managed to focus in on all of them at once, like rapidly changing between eight channels on a tv.\n\nFang’s reports showed little suspicious in their daily activities, save one thing; all the suspects seemed to be frequenting the same gym. Most of them went there on separate days, but occasionally a pair would show up. Fang then surprised Redwolf by starting another monitor on the gym, and reported they brought in more orders of energy bars than they had stored. He’d then monitored the gym staff and saw that two of the staff members, also Canmephians, were loading boxes into the suspects’ vehicles while they were working out. \n\n“Just tack it onto my bill,” the hyena had said with a smirk as he delivered this added information. \n\nNow, as Redwolf pulled into hir driveway, shi was surprised again to see Fang waiting for hir. But it wasn’t just his early arrival that gave the admiral a start; the hyena was wearing a rather familiar tan trench coat and brown fedora. With the sun setting behind him, the ‘yena was rather silhouetted, hiding his face. The drygerskunk gave the ‘yena a very shocked look until reality dawned on hir again. \n\n“Oh, Mr. Fang, didn’t expect to see you this early,” shi said rather quickly. The hyena gave Redwolf a curious look. \n\n“I get the feeling that’s not the only thing you didn’t expect,” he said. Redwolf felt a very light telepathic stroke, like someone taking a casual wiff from a flower. \n\n“You were reminded of someone,” Fang said, “by the way I’m dressed.” Redwolf tensed a bit, not liking how casual the hyena was in probing hir. But shi didn’t deny what he said was true. \n\n“Yes, it was…someone I’d worked with before on this planet,” shi said, unlocking the door and stepping into hir home. Fang followed behind hir. Hands in his pockets, he shut the door behind him as he dug a flash drive out of one pocket. \n\n“Wouldn’t happen to be the guy that wrote this, would it?” He said. Redwolf looked down at the flash drive shi was being offered. A gnawing curiosity started digging at hir stomach; did this hyena have some kind of connection to…? Shi took the drive, pulled out hir handheld data reader and plugged it into the conversion port. It only took a moment of scanning file names before shi caught the one labeled “Journal.” It’s contents made hir gape in shock. \n\n“Where did you get this?!” Shi said. Fang nonchalantly shrugged. \n\n“Just fell outa the sky,” he said with a smirk. Redwolf grabbed his shirt and gave him a firm shake. \n\n“Drop the attitude and give me the truth!” shi snarled. The ‘yena was surprised for only a minute before slapping the admiral’s hand away. \n\n“Alright, alright I was just yankin’ ya,” he said, dusting himself off. “See, I wasn’t always so well off; used to be I was barely scrapin’ out a living at all; I worked for a while at a garbage dump, of all places.” \n\n“Start getting interesting, now,” Redwolf snorted. \n\n“I’m just gettin’ to that,” the ‘yena said. “So one day I’m emptying out boxes from a government storage center and I find this box with personal effects from some guy. Well I like what I find so I keep it, and among the stuff was that flash drive. Hell, that stuff is what gave me the idea to offer my skills freelance.” \n\nThe drygerskunk looked from the hyena to the flash drive, then back again. \n\n“I’m betting Mike Fang isn’t your original name, is it?” Shi said. Again, the ‘yena gave a casual shrug. \n\n“Nope,” he said. “Fact is, I don’t remember it, nor do I really care. Fang was the name I saw on the box I found this stuff in, so I decided it was better than just being called by my species.” Redwolf blinked a bit, somewhat confused by the hyena’s attitude towards his own past. \n\n“Aren’t you the least bit curious about who you were, your family?” shi said, “I could help you there, I know a doctor, Mikhail…,” the ‘yena shook his head. \n\n“Nah, s’not necessary,” he said. “The way I see it, it’s like people say; life’s a bitch, then you die. I just roll with it and get my kicks while I’m still above ground and breathing. No point in regretting things and worrying about what’s already done.”\n\n“That’s rather cynical,” Redwolf said, giving “Fang” an uneasy look. The hyena flicked the brim of his hat. \n\n“I prefer to call it ‘realistic,’” he said. \n\nRedwolf was a bit put off by this attitude, but decided not to push it…for now. \n\n“So, what brought you here?” shi asked. The hyena leaned against a wall, crossing his arms. \n\n“Thought you should know,” he said, examining his fingerclaws, “about five of those suspects of yours have scheduled to be at the gym all at the same time. They’re doing it under the pretense of signing up for a members-only basketball game, but knowing what we know, it certainly looks suspicious.”\n\n“When is this game?” the admiral said, pricking hir ears. \n\n“Tonight,” the hyena said. “Gym’s a ways off, so if you wanted me to sp…” \n\n“I’m going out there personally,” Redwolf said. Shi immediately turned and walked back out the door, heading for hir jeep. Fang followed along behind hir and, without a word, climbed into the passenger seat next to hir. \n\n“You better not get mixed up in this,” Redwolf said. The ‘yena snorted. \n\n“Please, this is just getting interesting,” he said, leaning back in the seat and crossing his legs. “Head down I-42 and take exit 33A.” Redwolf started to object, but could sense nothing was going to put him off. Shi sighed and turned the engine over.\n\nThe “Counterweight Gym” was a large building, specifically designed for visiting Canmephians. Inside, weights were set in increments larger than most terrans could ever hope to lift, and some workout rooms even had the option of increasing the gravity to allow for even more of a challenge. Outside of that, it was your average gym. Redwolf took this all in as shi headed to the locker room. Shi’d put on hir Spotweld disguise again and instructed Fang to wait and observe outside. Shi was a little surprised when he agreed, but was too focused on the task at hand to wonder why. \n\nMost of the gym’s members were in the basketball court, watching the game. As Redwolf walked past the plexi glass doors to the court, shi spotted the five suspects. Just like at work, they were all clustered together in the bleachers; unlike the rest of the crowd, they put up only the barest pretense of being interested in the game, and it showed. \n\nFang said the energy bar delivery numbers were off, the admiral thought to hirself. So I’d better find a spot to watch their storage area… The drygerskunk walked briskly through the gym, looking for the storage areas; shi found them right next to the snack bar, which was across from a row of treadmills. \n\nPerfect, shi thought, climbing onto one of the jogging machines and setting it at a brisk trot. Hir chests bounced up and down as shi jogged along, causing the various passerby’s to take a long, lingering look at hir as shi tried not to notice. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening; the occasional muted cheer came from down the hall where the ball court was, along with a few of the gym members coming into the bar to buy snacks and drinks from the vending machines. About 20 minutes went by and Red began thinking shi’d need to find a different vantage point before anyone got suspicious. Slowing the treadmill to a stop. The disguised drygerskunk mopped at hir brow, walking over to the vending machine to buy some bottled water. \n\nWhile Redwolf was sliding hir card through the machine’s payment reader, shi heard the clank and clatter of a rolling dolly behind hir. Shi pulled hir water bottle out of the machine, taking a long slug while using hir unique gift of full-body vision to see behind hir. A pair of gym attendants, two wolfskunks in red polo shirts and yellow shorts rolled a flatbed dolly through a pair of swinging doors just to the side of the snack bar. Redwolf stepped quickly out of the room across the hall, where shi sat down on a specially designed butterfly machine and started working out on it. Shi kept watch to the side, and soon shi saw the attendants wheel the dolly out again, this time loaded down with a pair of boxes. The drygerskunk lost no time in getting up to follow them. The attendants wheeled the boxes quickly and quietly out a side door of the gym.\n\nRedwolf hadn’t gone two steps out the door, following behind the attendants, when they were suddenly yanked off their footpaws as if they’d stepped into invisible snares! The admiral quickly stopped short of the two wolfskunks, who were dangling by one ankle each and protesting loudly and with a lot of profanity. It only took a moment before Redwolf realized what was going on and who was behind it.\n\n“Fang…,” shi said, rolling hir eyes. The hyena slunk out from behind a car just to the left. Still holding the two belligerent wolfskunks off the ground with his telekinesis, he let out one of his species’ trademark snickers. \n\n“Ah, admiral, you flushed the quarry just fine.” \n\n“ADMIRAL?” One of the wolfskunks snarled. Fang put a hand to his mouth with a look of comical embarrassment. \n\n“Whoops, forgot you were incognito,” the ‘yena said with a grin. Redwolf rubbed hir forehead. \n\n“What are you doing?” shi groaned. “We need evidence of wrongdoing before we try to apprehend anyone.” The hyena tossed his head at the flatbed dolly. \n\n“If that’s something illegal, there’s all the evidence we need,” he said matter-of-factly. \n\n“But we didn’t see what’s in there before you snatched these two,” Redwolf protested. Again Fang gave her a nonchalant shrug. \n\n“That’s between you an’ me,” he said. Redwolf was about to seriously protest to the idea of lying when the wolfskunks did it for hir. \n\n“We’re not gonna cooperate with this!” One of them said. Fang looked nonchalantly over his shoulder at the two with an expression of mild irritation. \n\n“And who’s gonna believe you?” he said, and swung the two together telekinetically like cymbals. It had a rather unexpected result. There was an electric crackle and pop; the two wolfskunk’s bodies appeared to distort and flicker; they were holograms! Redwolf’s eyes bugged out when the disguises faded away, the projecting devices damaged by the hyena’s colliding the two together. \n\nFloating just above Fang and Redwolf were a pair of cobrawolves. The cobrawolves, a race of barbaric, militant conquerors, sport a mixture of lupine and reptilian features, though all of them bear the trademark hoods of the well-known breed of snake. Possessing naga-like lower bodies, the two spies maintained their cover by coiling their lower tails like springs under their torsos and using pairs of cybernetic legs attached to their sides to walk like a normal biped. An ongoing war existed between the canmephains and the cobrawolves, because the latter considered all life other than themselves inferior and suitable only for being conquered, used as labor or as laboratory test subjects. \n\nOne of the cobrawolves began reaching behind hir back, as if going for a weapon. Fang didn’t hesitate; in an instant the cobrawolf’s head was wrenched violently by his invisible force, snapping hir neck. The other cobrawolf opened hir mouth and a large stream of venom came out. The stream impacted against an invisible shell of some sort placed around both Redwolf and Fang; another display of the hyena’s telepathy. Before he could act on the cobrawolf, however, Redwolf decided to take hir turn. Shi morphed two of hir arms together into one large, powerful pincher and thrust it forward, grabbing the cobrawolf around the chest and crushing hir torso like a walnut shell. \n\n“Cobrawolves,” the admiral muttered, watching as Fang dropped the bodies on the ground. “Damnit. I wasn’t aware they’d placed any agents on Sol-3.” Shi eyed the crate they’d snuck out of the building, a feeling of dread in hir stomach as shi drew closer. With distinct unease, shi slowly pried the lid open and looked inside. Redwolf was expecting to find materials for some kind of bomb or a chemical weapon. What shi found shocked hir even more. \n\nPiled inside the crate were a half-dozen Terrans, their bodies vacuum-sealed in plastic with digital vital sign monitors on the outside. The drygerskunk, shedding hir disguise and turning back into hir true self, picked one of them up and examined the monitor; all the Terran’s vitals were normal, they all seemed to be that way. \n\n“Diety,” Redwolf said, shaking hir head, “They must be kidnapping people and sending them off-world for something.” \n\n“Well I kinda doubted these were their leftover dinners,” Fang said, looking into the crate himself. \n\n“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Redwolf muttered. Fang raised an eyebrow. \n\n“You mean they eat people for food?” he asked. \n\n“I wouldn’t put it past them,” the admiral said, replacing the lid. Fang grunted with an expression of mild distaste. \n\n“Right, so, what’s the plan?” he asked. \n\n“First,” the drygerskunk said, reaching into hir cleavage and pulling out a special secure military communicator, “we call up Canmephian planetary, get them here to…Fang?” Redwolf looked around; the hyena was gone, and the doors to the gym were swinging. \n\n“Fuck!” the admiral said between clenched teeth, hurrying through the doors after the ‘yena. She got to an intersection in the hall when hir communicator squawked. \n\n“This is Planetary Base Balitmore, identify yourself please,” said the sharp voice on the other end. Redwolf put the mic up to hir mouth. \n\n“This is CMSC Admiral Redwolf;” shi said. “We have several cobrawolf operatives at the Counterweight Gym. Send a squad immediately to apprehend, do you copy?”\n\n“Rodger that Admiral, deploying squad on the double,” the other voice said. Redwolf looked up as shi heard a rather loud crashing noise. \n\n“Better hurry or someone’s gonna beat you to it,” shi said, snapping the communicator shut just as the other officer’s “WHAT?!” was coming out of it. Redwolf barreled down the hall towards the basketball court. Three concerns were on Redwolf’s mind: what the cobrawolves might do to Fang if he tried to take them on himself; what Groundpounder was going to do to HIR when shi found out about this and lastly, what SHI was going to do to FANG if he didn’t get himself killed. \n\nAs the drygerksunk burst into the gym, the first of hir fears was pretty much put to rest. Most of the gym members were backed away from the main court, so shi had to muscle hir way through the crowd to get to the front. When shi got there, shi saw Fang had slam-dunked one of the five other cobrawolf operatives through the basket hard enough to cause hir to break the hoop off and slam head-first onto the court floor. He’d launched a second one all the way up to the cathedral-like roof and gotten hir stuck in the ceiling. The ‘yena was now facing off with the other three, who were backed against a wall. The ‘yena looked as unphased and smart-ass as he always did. \n\n“A’ight,” he said, examining the claws on one hand,” Who’se next?” The three operatives looked hesitantly at each other, then one of them tried to spit venom at the ‘yena. Before much venom could come out of hir mouth, Fang telekinetically lodged a basketball in hir mouth. A rack of balls on the far side of the court suddenly came to life; as the cobrawolf tried to dislodge the offending piece of sports equipment from hir mouth, hir cronies dove for cover; a half-dozen basketballs flew at hir from all sides with enough force to break the sound barrier. Shi was pummeled by the balls until hir torso was covered with welts; the cobrawolf dropped to the floor with hir eyes crossed, every inch of hir covered in bruises. \n\n“How ‘bout you two?” Fang said, arms crossed and with an eyebrow raised. “You wise up yet, or do you need a lesson too?” \n\nThe other two cobrawolves narrowed their eyes at the hyena. Fang rolled his own eyes, apparently expecting what was coming. Both operatives went for their concealed weapons at the same time. They both drew small but dangerous-looking pistols, just as Fang raises up both hands. They began taking aim as the hyena snapped his fingers. The cobrawolves suddenly burst into flames, causing all the other patrons in the gym to gasp in shock as the fell to the floor, flailing and rolling back and forth; it didn’t take long for them to stop moving. \n\nFang snorted with irritated disgust, shaking his head and casually sauntering towards the crowd. Most of them quickly got out of his way, save for Redwolf, who just sighed and shook hir head. \n\n“This is going to take a damn good explanation,” shi muttered.\n\n“You better have a damn good explanation, Redwolf,” Admiral Groundpounder growled. As soon as the planetary squad had arrived, the dryerskunk had them take the surviving cobrawolves into custody. Shi then directed them to the other suspects’ homes. All but one turned out to be a cobrawolf in disguise. The last one, the foreman who’d hired them, was in fact a wolfskunk but that didn’t place hir above suspicion. However, once more the cameras and news got wind that it was the Admiral who had blown the lid off the whole conspiracy, while the planetary troops were the cleanup crew. \n\nGroundpounder was clearly pissed about it, something Redwolf had hoped to avoid. Fang wasn’t much help with the media frenzy, either. He was more than happy to mug for the cameras and tell folks the story of how they unraveled the whole mess while planetary was sitting around scratching their asses; his words. When Groundpounder arrived at the Canmephian embassy, demanding Redwolf and Fang give hir a personal debriefing, the hyena had been rather tactless, to say the least. \n\n“If your troops weren’t so busy with their circle jerk, maybe they wouldn’t have NEEDED us to step in,” he’d said straight to Groundpounder’s face. The three of them met in an unoccupied office at the embassy; Groundpounder had insisted, most like so shi could have a desk to sit behind and make hirself seem even more authoritative. \n\n“You’ve had over a dozen people looking into this thing for over three months, right?” Fang said rhetorically. “And how long did it take just Redwolf and myself? A month, maybe a month n’ a half.” \n\n“However LUCKY you and the Admiral may have been,” Groundpounder glowered, “shi was still supposed to keep US in the loop and not interfere directly with our own investigation. And making these arrests DEFINITELY interfered!” \n\nFang only rolled his eyes and snorted. “So you’re sayin’ you suspected at least one or more of these guys…and never put the whole thing together like WE did? Pfff.” \n\nGroundpounder clenched hir fists. “You’re dismissed, Fang,” shi snarled. Fang started sauntering for the door when he spun around and gave the admiral a smart-ass, you-can’t-touch-me-so-nyah-nyah-nyah look. \n\n“What pisses you off more, pounder? The fact we didn’t keep you in the loop or the fact we’re getting all the credit? Need somethin’ to brag about to make your dick feel big?” \n\n“Dismissed…,” repeated Groundpounder, a warning tone in hir voice. The hyena ignored it as he did his best Tony Montana impression. \n\n“’choo got a look on your face like you haven’ been FUCKED in a YEAR,” he said with a grin. \n\n“DIS-MISSED!” Groundpounder bellowed. Fang chuckled as he left the office. Redwolf, meanwhile, had been doing everything shi could to try and fade into the woodwork. Shi’d actually done a better job than shi anticipated, accidentally changing the color of hir body to match that of the chair shi was sitting in. \n\n“Now then,” Groundpounder said, turning hir attention to Redwolf. “Let’s hear it from YOU…,” Redwolf slowly changed hir color back. \n\n“You’ve probably got most of the story already,” shi said. “All I can really add is that it was my intention to have planetary make the arrests; Fang barged in half-cocked.” \n\n“Why the hell did you have to bring a Terran into this again…,” Groundpounder started. Not a good move, since shi’d already pushed that particular button with Redwolf once too often. \n\n“Oh don’t start that shit again!” Redwolf snapped. “He went off half cocked, yes, but he still got the job done.” \n\n“So the ends justify the means, hmm?” Groundpounder said with a sardonic look. \n\n“Of course not! But it could have gone a lot worse,” Redwolf said. Groundpounder puts a hand over hir eyes and seemed to be talking to hirself under hir breath. After a minute shi gave Redwolf an exasperated look. \n\n“Well whatever the outcome, it’s now in YOUR hands,” shi sighed. “We’ve got the planetary operation under wraps; it’s your job to figure out where those kidnapped Terrans were going.” Redwolf silently nodded, getting up and heading towards the door. \n\n“Oh and admiral,” Groundpounder said to hir back as the door opened. “If you find they’ve got any sort of planetary base somewhere close by, it might be nice of you to think about informing us before you decide you can do our job better than we can.” \n\nRedwolf let out a pained groan of frustration as shi slunk out the door. Things had not gone according to plan, and shi knew just who was to blame. Scanning the hallway, the admiral looked for a certain smart-ass hyena, but he was nowhere to be seen. There was a dryger standing in front of one of the elevators, studying a document as he waited for the lift. \n\n“Ensign,” Redwolf said, getting the dryger’s attention. “Did you see a Terran hyena out here just a minute ago?” \n\n“Yes sir,” the ensign said, “I think he’s left the embassy; he said something about his job being done.” \n\n“Thank you,” the drygerskunk said, striding quickly down the hall. Grumbling and glowering under hir breath, Redwolf practically slammed through the embassy doors, hoping to catch Fang in the parking lot. No such luck, unfortunately. Redwolf wasn’t phased, however; shi knew where he lived. \n\nOne fast flight to Philly and a drive to the harbor later, the drygerskunk was back on the hyena’s yacht, pounding at the door with a fist. \n\n“FANG! OPEN THIS DOOR!” shi bellowed. The admiral could hear laughing and voices from inside the cabin, but shi wasn’t getting any answers, not yet anyway. Shi pounded on the door again, managing to leave several dents despite hir attempts to restrain hirself. \n\n“FANG OPEN THIS DOOR OR I’M GONNA BUST IT DOWN!” shi roared. The drygerskunk heard a voice that sounded somewhat exasperated saying “be right back, shi’s not gonna let up…” The door latch clicked; the hyena opened the door, looking bleary-eyed and wearing an inane grin, a pair of jeans, and nothing else. Redwolf took one small whiff from the door and clapped a hand over hir nose. \n\n“Fang, what the hell were you thinking back at the gym?!” shi growled at him. “Do you know how big you fubared things?!” \n\n“Ahh c’maaan big goy,” the hyena drawled, giving her a cock-eyed look of intoxication. “loosen yer sphincter, fer fuck sake. ‘Ey, you want in on this?” The hyena held up a hand, offering a large joint to the drygerskunk. Shi turned hir face further away from him. \n\n“Canmephians don’t handle drugs well,” shi said. “And smoke makes us sneeze at gale force velocity.” \n\n“Eh, suit’cherself,” Fang said, taking a long drag. The ‘yena held in the wacky weed fumes for a few moments; then his face split into an ear-to-ear grin, the smoke coming out between his teeth. He let out a long giggle that was remarkable, even for a hyena. Just then, a buzzed vixen in a bikini and a male dragon in a speedo staggered up behind him, hanging on his shoulders. \n\n“Hey Faaaang, where’s yer munchies? We’re jonesin’ fer some chips,” the vixen tittered in his ear. The ‘yena gave the two a smirk and tossed his head towards the back of the cabin. \n\n“Kitchen, lefthand cabinet,” he said. “Knock yerselves out.” The two stoners tottered back towards the cabin in their quest for food. Redwolf watched all this impassively, two arms crossed, the other two on hir hips, a look of stony disconcern on hir face. \n\n“Fang, the Canmephian military branches ALWAYS work in concert with each other,” shi said. “You can’t just play vigilante and take matters into your own hands whenever you feel like it.”\n\nThe hyena let out a sigh, puffed the last of the joint, then flicked the stub over the railing. “Freakin’ buzz kill,” he muttered. “I told you already, I’m not concerned with that shit. I do what I think needs to be done or what I want to do. If other people don’t like that, tch, fuck do I care?” \n\nRedwolf shook hir head, “Diety, that’s one hell of an attitude to take.” \n\nFang gave hir a look of frank seriousness, despite his buzz. “Yeah?” he said. “Well tell me honestly, do you really think most people out there think that much different? You see many people really giving a damn about stuff that isn’t gonna come back to bite ‘em directly?” \n\nRedwolf sighed; shi hated to admit it, but the cynical, selfish bastard was right. \n\n“That’s just the way the world works, Admiral,” The yena said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.\n\n“Well it doesn’t HAVE to,” shi snapped. Fang snorted a bit in a way that was half amusement, half disbelief. \n\n“Well I’d like to know who intends to change it,” he said. “ ‘cause I don’t think even you alone are gonna change the minds of the vast majority of this planet.” \n\nRedwolf sighed again; this subject was starting to depress hir. Shi leaned against the side of the cabin, making the entire ship rock slightly. \n\n“At any rate, that’s not the only reason I came by,” shi said. “This investigation isn’t over yet. We have a lot more to do. We need to find out why the cobrawolves are kidnapping terrans and where they’re taking them.”\n\nFang scratched the back of his head, looking off to the side. “So what’s this got to do with me? You’ve got plenty of staff to handle this.” \n\n“YOU are the one who snafu’ed the undercover op, so YOU get to see this through to the end,” Redwolf said, thumping a finger into the hyena’s chest. He brushed it away with a sardonic look. \n\n“Lucky me,” he grumbled.\n\nThe setting sun set the sky on fire, an inferno of reds and oranges playing over the clouds. Redwolf had the top down on hir jeep; sometimes the little pleasures in life can help you deal with the biggest problems. It had been about three days since the cobrawolves had been caught. Redwolf had returned to Pawstooth and recuperated from the lengthy undercover work for a day, then set about arranging the interrogations of the prisoners. The cobrawolves that had been captured weren’t saying a word and had already attacked three guards. So that left the wolfskunk foreman to question. \n\nRedwolf slowed as shi approached the gates of the Baltimore CMSC base. Shi’d had the foreman transferred to a holding brig there and made sure shi was confined with the most unpleasant cellmates possible. After ordering the foreman brought out for questioning, the drygerskunk set up an interrogation room with a lie detector. Designed to resemble the Voik-Kampf device from Blade Runner, it would measure an individual’s body language, voice tone, pupil dilation and other factors to determine the likelihood they were bullshitting. \n\nRedwolf took a pull from a paper cup of soda as the foreman was brought in. Shi was a nurse-class wolfskunk with orange body fur and two heads, each with a long ponytail of green hair. Both heads glowered at Redwolf, who impassively poured the rest of a can of Pepsi throwback into hir cup. With another hand, the admiral flipped open a file. \n\n“Wolfskunk Folley,” shi said, reading over the file. “Born on Canmeph-2, graduated with honors in industrial management, sterling ten-year career. By all counts, looks like the dossier of a model Canmephian citizen. Which leads me to wonder…,” Redwolf leaned on the table, lacing the fingers of two hands together in front of hir muzzle. \n\n“How the hell does someone like you get mixed up with scum like the Cobrawolves?” shi said. Folley gave Redwolf a double look of incredulity. \n\n“WHAT?! Admiral, I wouldn’t associate with Cobrawolves if my life depended on it!” shi said. Like a poker-faced card shark, Redwolf flicked hir eyes towards the lie detctor; the digital readout had a bar on it that would extend from “truth” to “lie” depending on the results. The last statement had been measured about halfway up. \n\n“Not off to a good start, Folley,” Redwolf said. “Now, we’re already searching your apartment and every place you’re known to frequent. We WILL find the evidence we need to prove your involvement with the spies. The more you admit now, the less you may eventually be charged with.” \n\n“Admiral, this is nuts,” Folley said in stereo. Shi put a hand to one head and rubbed its temple. “I’d never do anything that would knowingly jeopardize our people.” The admiral glanced at the lie detector again. This time the wolfskunk seemed to be telling the truth, but something in what shi said made Redwolf suspicious. \n\n“Well, that’s a relief,” Redwolf said. “Of course, we’re not in the Canmephian system right now…we’re on Sol-3. Anything that happened here would have the biggest impact on the Terrans.”\n\nFolley remained impassive there. Interrogations are like picking locks; too much pressure and you’ll push the pins of the lock too far. To little pressure and you won’t raise them enough. Redwolf decided to push a bit harder. \n\n“Tch, Terrans,” shi said, leaning back in hir seat. “Diety, the crap we have to go through for them.” The admiral was rewarded with a pair of rueful smiles and a double-nod from Folley; shi was on the right track. \n\n“I mean hell,” Redwolf said, “when’s the last time they did anything for us? As much as we’ve had to fix on this damn planet, we ought to be running the thing.” \n\n“I don’t think it’s worth the time,” Folley said. “Outside of a few natural resources, there’s not much to offer here.” \n\n“Really?” Redwolf said, looking curious. “Then how’d you wind up working here?” \n\n“Pfff, my boss transferred me, that’s how,” the wolfskunk grunted, crossing hir arms and glaring off to one side with one head. The other focused on the drygerskunk. “I think shi figured I was after hir job, so decided to get me out of hir hair by shunting me off to this outpost.” \n\n“Damn,” Redwolf said. “If that happened to me, I’d be pissed as hell. I’d probably quit.” \n\n“M’yeah,” Folley muttered, looking up ruefully at the ceiling. “But I’ve got too much invested in my career. Best I can hope for is to wait until I get recalled.” \n\n“Heh, wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about this ball of dirt?” Redwolf smirked, looking down into hir drink cup and taking a pull. \n\n“Damn right,” Folley said. \n\n“Let somebody else have this dung heap,” Redwolf said, dropping hir cup down on the table. “Hell, let the Cobrawolves take it!” \n\n“Yeah, like they could get anything out of it anyway!” Folley said. Redwolf gave hir a fixed stare. \n\n“Is that how you figured it?” shi said. “They get a foothold, you get called home?” \n\nFolley blinked; like a pair of deer in headlights, shi was caught. Hir composure started crumbling; Redwolf had gotten hir all worked up, and now shi was just itching to let it out. \n\n“Yeah,” shi said. “I mean, why the hell are we bending over backwards for these damn backwater primitives? We’ve got our own problems. If they can’t cut it, that’s just natural selection.” \n\n“Natural selection,” Redwolf echoed, giving Folley a hard glare. “How very like what the Cobrawolves say.” The wolfskunk gave hir a beaten dog look and leaned on the table. \n\n“I want my lawyer,” shi grumbled. \n\nRedwolf stood up; that signaled the end of the interview. Picking up the file and hir drink, the admiral walked towards the door. As shi rapped on the door, signaling the guard to open it from the outside, Folley looked over hir shoulder with one head. \n\n“Tell me Admiral,” shi said, “have you ever met a Terran that didn’t want us to solve all their problems? Ever met one that actually wanted to stand up and HELP?” \n\nRedwolf looked back at Folley silently for a few seconds. \n\n“Once,” shi said, then left. \n\n \n\n“Dan’s Place” was, at first glance, an average honky tonk bar. But on closer inspection someone walking through the door could begin to notice little signs that it was a lot more upper crust than it wanted to be. The hub caps and license plates decorating the walls, for example, couldn’t go unnoticed as valuable collector’s items for too long. And even someone completely ignorant about music could notice the top-quality piano and other instruments the jazz band was using. Fang had insisted on meeting Redwolf at the place; shi found him seated in a back booth, trimming his finger claws with a pocket knife. The hyena was again dressed in the white dress shirt and tan slacks, the fedora and coat hanging on a hook just outside the booth. \n\n“Nice little establishment you found here,” Redwolf said, sliding into the booth. Fang snorted with a grin. \n\n“This place is a joke,” he said. “Buncha posers all trying to act like blue collar roughnecks, but you can smell the money coming off of their hundred dollar haircuts and their $50,000 watches.” \n\n“So why’d you want to come here, then?” Redwolf asked. Fang tossed his gaze across the room at the band on the stage. \n\n“Cause the music’s loud enough to ensure no evesdropping,” he said as a leopard waitress sashayed over to them. Shi was wearing a miniskirt and a t-shirt tied off to show off hir slim midriff. \n\n“What can I get you folks?” she asked. Fang leaned back a bit in his seat. \n\n“A long island iced tea, extra long,” he said. \n\n“How long do you want it?” the leopard asked. Redwolf braced hirself for the inevitable pun. \n\n“Long as this goy’s cock,” the hyena said, grinning and pointing his thumb at the drygerskunk. Accustomed to sexual jokes as shi was, even Redwolf was a bit surprised at Fang’s crass language. \n\n“That long and you’ll die of alcohol poisoning,” shi said, trying to go with the flow. \n\n“Well at least I’ll die happy,” the ‘yena said with a smirk. The drygerskunk declined a drink; as the waitress left, Fang gave her a little spank on the fanny and a wink. The leopard tried not to react too overtly, but the way she stiffened and the glare over her shoulder were pretty obvious. \n\n“So, have you found anything?” Redwolf said, idly twirling a stirring stick between hir fingers. Fang nodded, sending out a quick mental ping like a submarine radar to make sure nobody was trying to tune in. \n\n“A bit of remote viewing using the psychic residue off the perp’s vehicles revealed a fair amount,” Fang said. “There’s still one more perp out there we haven’t accounted for.” \n\n \n\nRedwolf nodded. “The cobrawolves we took out were just grunts, and they would never put a Canmephian in charge of their operation. The commanding officer’s still out there, right?” \n\n“Right,” Fang said, pausing in the conversation while the waitress set his drink down in front of him, rather firmly. Fang wiggled his tongue at the waitress and snapped his jaws at her, making her retreat from the booth rather fast. The hyena chuckled and took a pull from his long island. \n\n“The grunts never met with their commanding officer directly,” Fang said. “However, they would regularly go to a public restroom out on the insterstate, where they’d pick up a hidden message from one of the stalls. I took a trip out there myself and managed to get a decent reading off the commander’s residue. Course it was buried under the residue of about a hundred other people who popped a sq…,” \n\n“I get the picture,” Redwolf said, putting a hand up. The ‘yena just chuckled. \n\n“Anyway, I wasn’t able to get that good a feel for where the commander is, but I do know its somewhere in Boston,” he said. Redwolf’s eyes lit up. Quickly, shi excused hirself to the phone nook around the corner where shi used hir communicator to alert Groundpounder to the development. \n\n“We’ll put a stakeout on this rest stop, drop a false message there with a captured Cobrawolf code we picked up and see if anybody takes it. Not bad Red, you’re learning,” Groundpounder said. Redwolf bit back on hir chagrin and closed the line as shi returned to the booth. \n\n“Everything hunky-dorey?” Fang asked, stirring the ice in his drink. The admiral nodded, sliding into the booth. Shi got thumped in the back from the loud, raucous customers in the next booth over, who seemed to be playing some kind of drinking game. \n\n“Yep; once we’ve got this commanding officer taken care of, we’ll get some definite answers,” Redwolf said. In the booth behind hir, the liquored-up customers all let out a laughing holler. \n\n“Good,” the ‘yena said, tossing the booth wall behind hir an irritated look. “You know I’m still trying to figure out what they were kidnapping people for.” \n\n“I hate to say it,” Redwolf muttered, crossing hir arms and looking over at the house band, “but they’re probably being used for study. Like lab animals.” \n\n“Ech,” Fang muttered, putting on a small look of displeasure, like somebody had just told him about a person being sick on an airplane. “They couldn’t just steal textbooks from us or somethin’?” \n\n“The Cobrawolves think that all life different from them is inferior,” Redwolf said, a look of grim displeasure on hir face. “Any information coming from an outside source is considered questionable at best. They prefer to take a…hands-on approach to research.” \n\n“Charming,” The hyena snorted, draining his glass. Just then, one of the patrons in the adjoining booth, as part of some drinking stunt, managed to catapult a basket of pretzels into the air. The basket tumbled overhead, raining snacks down on top of the admiral and the hyena. More obnoxious laughter echoed from the booth as Fang wiped crumbs from his face, taking several pretzel sticks from behind his ears. Redwolf plucked several from hir hair, then stretched hir neck up like a giraffe and twisted hir head around. Sitting behind hir in the next booth was a group of about five frat boy jocks, all of them heavily built and wearing football jerseys. The table in front of them was littered with empty beer bottles, a full mug in front of each of them. \n\nRedwolf was about to give them a lesson in controlling team spirit when their beer mugs began to shake a bit. \n\n“Eh? The fuck...,” one beefy raccoon said, looking closer into his mug. Suddenly it erupted like a geyser into his face. The ‘coon hacked and coughed, snorting through his nose to get the beer foam out of it as his cronies cackled at him. One of them, a fox, stopped laughing when his own beer suddenly rose up over his head and was dumped on top of him. An alligator grabbed his beer and started trying to quickly chug it down before he lost it. He had just finished drinking it when suddenly the mug was yanked from his hand and jammed snugly over his muzzle. A jackrabbit looked warily at his own beer, then clapped both hands over it to keep it in place. A crack suddenly split the glass on one side, spraying him like a water sprinkler from the neck down. \n\n“Dayum!” said the last jock, a brown bear. He jumped up from the booth and took two steps toward the door. He was stopped short when some invisible hand grabbed him by the belt. His beer suddenly flew off the table, dumping its contents down his back into the seat of his pants. \n\nRedwolf slowly pulled hir head back down over the side, turning back with a smirk of amusement. Across the table from hir, Fang wore a similar grin, idly nibbling one of the pretzel sticks as he listened to the jocks’ grumbles and whines of protest. \n\n \n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ \n\nThe next week passed uneventfully. This didn’t surprise Redwolf; shi figured the cobrawolf commander would wait some time for things to cool down. Fang, in the meanwhile, moved his yacht up to Boston so he could keep a closer eye on things himself. How much of an eye he was keeping was debatable, however. Redwolf cruised up to Boston a few times to check in on things and heard about him living it up in the local night clubs and causing more than a bit of trouble. \n\n“For someone on a covert investigation, you’re not keeping a very low profile,” shi said to him one night. The drygerskunk had tracked the hyena down to a techno club, where he’d gotten into a scuffle with three bouncers after levitating all the patrons on the dance floor for kicks. Not all of them minded, but some of them were a bit scared by being suddenly pulled 10 feet up in the air. \n\n“Pfff,” the hyena snorted as he ambled across the club’s parking lot, the admiral following behind him, “I thought the bouncers looked pretty funny getting slapped around by the ceiling fans. ‘sides, if I call attention to myself, I’ll be less conspicuous, ‘cause everybody would expect me to be keeping a low profile if I was up to somethin’.” \n\n“Cobrawolves don’t take chances,” Redwolf said, but Fang just shrugged and rolled his eyes. \n\n“Whatever,” he said, pulling an electronic key out of his pocket. His hovercar’s jet cycles revved up with the push of its button. “I take it you’re here for something besides acting like my chaperone.” \n\n“We hit paydirt with the stakeout,” Redwolf said. Shi performed a telepathic ping, scanning the parking lot for anyone who could be listening in. The lot was dotted with shadows and rings of light coming down from moth-circled streetlights. It was the sort of place thriller movies like to use for dramatic tension, making people wonder if there’s a stalker or a spy lurking in the darkness, camera or gun at ready. \n\n“Good,” Fang said, nodding to himself. “So’d you find all the answers you need, then?” \n\n“Not quite,” Redwolf said. “The cobrawolf commander was uncooperative.” \n\n“Your way of saying you wacked ‘em,” the hyena said with a smirk. “I doubt anyone’s gonna cry much over that.” \n\n“There’s more to it than that,” Redwolf said. “We still need to find out what the cobrawolves were doing with the kidnap victims, where they were taking them and if there are any more of them.” \n\n“Tch, you’re determined to keep pokin’ at a wasps’ nest until you get stung, aren’cha?” Fang said, leaning against his car. Redwolf tried to avoid remarking about the callousness of that statement; shi didn’t want another dose of the ‘yena’s jaded attitude. \n\n“We found the commander’s residence and I want you to come with me to scan it for evidence,” shi said. The drygerskunk took hir PDA from hir cleavage and pulled up the address. Fang looked it over, his face registering a bit of genuine surprise. \n\n“I’ve been out that way a couple times,” he said. “Ritzy neighborhood; how’d this guy manage to afford it?” \n\nRedwolf flipped hir PDA shut and stuffed it back between hir breasts. “Near as we can figure, they’d been hacking bank systems and falsifying records to boost their accounts whenever they needed money.” \n\n“Heh, counterfeiting in the 25th century,” Fang chuckled. \n\nThe afternoon was dull gray and overcast, the setting sun little more than a bright spot on the rolling blanket of clouds overhead. Redwolf cruised slowly through the suburban neighborhood, a gated community made up of the latest in “McMansions.” Trends always seem to come at the cost of creativity and imagination; while that would almost go without saying, even within a trend there is the opportunity for some variation. But it would’ve been hard to say that from the rows of identical two-story, five-bedroom houses with matching exteriors colors the drygerskunk and hir passenger were driving through. \n\nThe cobrawolf commander’s house was no different. Of course, Redwolf didn’t expect it would be; the last thing the commander would have wanted was anything to call attention to hirself. The admiral pulled up in the driveway. Fang hopped out first, stretching his arms and looking around with a bored expression.\n\n“I see the first shift’s come and gone,” he said, indicating the small, disc-shaped holographic projector set in front of the front door. The projector threw up a floating sign that said “CRIME SCENE: DO NOT CROSS”. Anyone crossing the holographic barrier without proper authorization would set off an alarm, but Redwolf simply sent the projector an authorization code with hir internal computer and the barrier blinked out in front of hir. \n\n“What do you hope to find here that the first crew didn’t?” Fang asked as the door slid open. The interior of the house was Spartan in terms of creature comforts. No pictures, no potted plants, the barest necessities for furniture. A motel room had more personality to it. Redwolf reflected on how paper-thin cobrawolf attempts at blending in were; if they’d allowed anyone into their home, suspicions would’ve immediately been raised. \n\n“I’m hoping to pick up on something psychic,” shi said, passing through the doorway and looking around. Fang followed hir in, oh-so casually walking over to the tv. The hyena picked up the remote from the chair in front of it and flipped it on.\n\n“What a shock, shi didn’t spring for many channels,” Fang said, flipping through. He brought up the commander’s viewing schedule, a feature where the user could put tags on shows throughout the upcoming week for reminders to watch. \n\n“Seems all shi was interested in was news broadcasts, science programs and history presentations,” Fang said. Redwolf nodded. \n\n“That figures,” shi said. “Gathering intelligence, no doubt.” Fang switched the tv off and went into the kitchen. \n\n“Wonder where shi kept the booze…,” he said, grinning. \n\n“I don’t think cobrawolves drink,” Redwolf said, going into the bedroom. Just like the living room, it was sparse; little more than the bed itself inside, plus a couple storage containers. The admiral wasn’t surprised to see they only contained some weaponry, additional disguise hologram units, and other military equipment. Going into the bathroom, the drygerskunk found a few personal hygiene items, but nothing too obvious. Suddenly, shi remembered an old military trick shi’d heard of. Taking out what appeared to be some kind of powered scale buffer, Redwolf flipped open the battery case. Shi grinned as shi found a datacrystal hidden in the compartment. \n\n“Not much out of place in the kitchen,” Fang said. The hyena was standing in the doorway behind Redwolf. He had a plastic bag in one hand, from which he pulled out a handful of chips of some kind. The ‘yena tossed a few in his mouth. \n\n“Not much in the way of food, either,” he said. “This cobrawolf stuff tastes lousy. Got no flavor to it.” Redwolf’s face got a rather queasy expression on it.\n\n“That’s probably because most of their grunt troops’ rations are made from the processed dead of their own kind,” Redwolf said. Fang stopped chewing for a second. With a deadpan expression, he chewed a couple more times, swallowed, then tossed the rest of the bag over his shoulder. \n\n“Tastes kinda like chicken,” he said. “Bland, unseasoned, dehydrated chicken.”\n\n“I’ll….take your word for it…,” Redwolf said, looking even more queasy. Reaching into hir cleavage, the drygerskunk pulled out hir PDA and skimmed the contents of the crystal. It turned out to be the commander’s private journal. Most of it was boring, tedious accounts of various operations, most of which the Canmephians were well aware of and had been monitoring covertly for some time. However, as Redwolf got to the more recent entries, hir interest became piqued. \n\n“Seems these interlopers were kidnapping people and shipping them off for study by ‘strategic new conscripts,’” shi said. “That’s odd. Cobrawolves aren’t known for working with anyone outside of their own planetary system.” \n\n“Alliance of convenience, it sounds like,” Fang said. “It’s not unheard of in Terran history.” \n\n“True, true,” Redwolf muttered, still scanning the crystal. “Doesn’t seem to be much else-wait…they’ve got a storehouse where they keep their victims on ice for opportune shipping.” \n\n“Where’s that?” Fang said. Redwolf shook hir head, frowning. \n\n“No clue, the commander doesn’t mention a specific location,” Shi flipped off hir PDA. “Damn.” \n\n“Heh,” Fang said, smirking a bit and tossing his head back towards the hallway. “That’s no problem. C’mon, let’s check out the commander’s garage.” \n\nThe commander’s garage was well stocked with various tools and parts, all well organized with military efficiency. The commander’s vehicle, a ground van specially designed to accommodate hir physique, was kept in equally good order. Redwolf examined the tool cabinet and workbench while Fang pulled open the van’s door. He climbed into the seat like a kid getting ready to play race car driver, using the door and the seat belt as hand and foot holds. \n\n“Alright,” he said, cracking his knuckles. The hyena flexed his fingers a few times, putting his hands on the steering wheel. “Let’s check this thing’s mileage.” The ‘yena closed his eyes and cocked his head slightly to one side. The admiral leaned against the workbench, then put a hand to hir temple and tapped into Fang’s psychic wavelength.\n\nGoing my way? Shi mentally intoned. Fang just chuckled. In the theater of his mind, the two of them watched a disjointed home movie of memories. Flashes of the various places the van had been skipped through the hyena’s head. Most of them were inconsequential; trips to and from work, meeting places with the covert ops, nothing that wasn’t expected. Suddenly, Fang slowed down the psychic slideshow. \n\nOh hang on, he intoned, tilting his head to the other side. The images now coming up were of the van pulling into a large self-storage lot late at night. Stacks and rows of large cargo units were kept behind a force wall. The van was slowly creeping down one of the rows, stopping in front of one of the pods. \n\nAnd I think we’ve hit paydirt, Fang intoned, freezing the memory there in front of the storage cube. Redwolf made careful note of the cube’s storage number, then snapped out of hir psychic stupor. \n\n“Bingo,” shi said as Fang started coming around himself. “Next stop, Pack Mule Self Storage.” \n\nA heavy gale had started blowing as the drygerskunk pulled up next to the gate at Pack Mule Self Storage. The owner, whom Redwolf contacted by phone on the way there, getting permission to search the cobrawolf commander’s storage unit. The force gate winked off briefly as Redwolf used the entry code the storage lot owner gave hir, slowly cruising up and down the rows. The drygerskunk couldn’t help by get a sense of déjà vu, remembering how just a moment ago they were motoring past identical manufactured houses. \n\nThe storage units were all designed with air tight seals on their doors; apparently the storage center had several commercial customers, including a meat packing plant that sometimes stored excess meat there, as well as several science labs that stored archeological finds and chemical compounds that needed to be kept at an even atmospheric pressure. \n\nA perfect place to hide unconscious kidnap victims being held in stasis, Redwolf thought to hirself as shi took another left. \n\n“Here,” Fang said, looking out the passenger window. The drygerskunk pulled up just past the last storage unit on the end of the row, parking hir jeep around the corner from the door. The wind almost yanked the door out of hir hand as a gust came up while shi was stepping out of the vehicle. The hyena had to put a hand on his hat to keep it from blowing away in the wind. Tapping out the five-digit pass code, Redwolf steeled hirself for what shi was likely to find inside. \n\nThe door swung open on it’s hinges, revealing a darkened interior to the container. The drygerskunk’s eyes glowed a brilliant yellow and Fang pulled a small pocket flashlight from his coat as they stepped into the container. Insided, Several storage crates marked “fragile” were stacked up far in the back. The admiral’s hand went fluid, morphing into a prybar shape, which shi then jammed into the lid of the first crate. There was a splintering creak as shi worked the lid loose. Shi’d expected to find more kidnapping victims inside. \n\nShi wasn’t disappointed. \n\n“Diety,” shi muttered. Plastic-wrapped Terrans, still alive in stasis, were piled like so much stored beef. The drygerskunk shook hir head, digging into hir cleavage again and pulling out a communicator. \n\n“CMAC, this is Admiral Redwolf, do you copy?” shi said. Static was all that answered the drygerskunk. \n\n“Damn,” shi grunted, “did I forget to change the batteries?” Fang pulled out his cell phone and tried it. \n\n“I’m getting no signal either. Must be the container blocking the signal.” \n\nWHAM! Both the drygerskunk and the hyena spun around. The door had slammed shut behind the two. Fang ran to the door and shoved on it, but it wasn’t moving. \n\n“Fuck! The wind must have blown it shut,” he said. But before Redwolf could tell him the door was far too heavy for that, an unpleasant voice did it for hir. \n\n“Oh it wasn’t the wind,” someone outside said. “Unfortunately for you.” Fang sneered at the door, crossing his arms. Redwolf’s face was a mask of seriousness as shi approached it. \n\n“I advise you open this door right now, before you find yourself in a world of trouble, stranger,” shi said in a very authoritative tone. \n\n“F’heh, you’re not a stranger to us, Admiral Redwolf,” the voice said. And this time, there was just a hint of a reptilian hiss in it. “We know all about you…inside and out.” Redwolf’s eyes blazed and shi balled up hir fists. \n\n“Cobrawolves,” shi growled. Shi began to haul back hir fist to hit the door when outside, shi heard their captor speaking into a communicator. \n\n“Transport, this is Unit 55433,” it said. “We’ve secured the targets. Prepare the drop ship to take them back for processing.”\n\nA slow, hard smile spread across the drygerskunk’s face. Just then, shi felt Fang gearing up for a telekinetic blast to take the door off it’s hinges. \n\nHold fire there, Fang, shi intoned telepathically. This works in our favor. We let ‘em take us to their base, then we can blow the lid off this whole thing. \n\nThe hyena paused, then smirked, letting the psychic energy he’d gathered dissipate. \n\n“Heh, sure, I can play ‘back of the bus’…for now,” he said. A good thing, too, since he didn’t have long to consider it. From outside came the sound of an engine, hovering some distance overhead. The storage container suddenly lurched, knocking both the drygerskunk and the ‘yena to the floor. \n\n“The fuck?!” Redwolf grunted. Fang clenched his eyes shut and did some remote viewing. \n\n“They’ve got us in a clamp of some kind,” he said. “They’re pulling us up-WHOA!” The container, due to its shifting contents, suddenly tilted backward, sliding the duo into the back among the crates. \n\n“Not the kind of travel accommodations I’m used to,” Fang muttered. \n\n It was a long, dark ride through space. The drop ship, after pulling the storage container aboard, rose straight up and into the atmosphere, then once it reached vacuum, continued on impulse power. Redwolf mused that their base must be close, and the cobrawolves were moving slowly to avoid drawing attention. Fang, meanwhile, amused himself by probing the minds of the drop ship crew. \n\n“Wow, these morons have practically no psychic defenses at all,” he said, sitting in the corner of the container. “I can pick their brains and they have no clue…heh, this one grunt secretly wants to bang hir captain while submerged in hir own bodily waste. Then shi wants t…,” \n\n“Gah, I don’t wanna hear the rest!” Redwolf said, scrunching hir face up in the dark. The hyena snickered, a somewhat unsettling thing to hear in the dark. The trip continued in silence for a period, making Redwolf feel a bit restless. While shade and darkness tended to calm the drygerskunk, shi still found the upcoming prospect of a serious battle was more than a little down time like this could ease. Casting around for something to say, the admiral hit on something that had been a bug in hir hat for a while. \n\n“So, how long have you had those psychic abilities of yours?” Shi said at last. Fang, who was laying on top of one of the boxes at the time, glanced to the side toward the point where the drygerskunk’s voice was coming from. \n\n“For several years now,” he said. “I woke up in a hospital one day with them. I don’t know how I got ‘em, but the doctors said they hadn’t detected any psychic activity in me before I’d come in, so it seems like I got my abilities in exchange for the memories of my previous life. Heh, fair trade, I’d say.” \n\n“I don’t think it’d be too hard to find that out for you,” Redwolf said. “I can run a scan of the hospital rec….,” \n\n“Pffff, nah,” Fang said, waving the admiral off. “Past is past and I’m not gonna waste time worryin’ about it.” \n\n“Those who don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it,” Redwolf said. The hyena’s unsettling chuckle echoed through the canister. \n\n“Maybe so, but like they say; life’s a bitch, then ya die,” he said. “So, might as well get your jollies while you can.”\n\n“Is that why you agreed to this?” Redwolf said. “For jollies?” \n\n“Actually,” Fang said, glancing to the side, “as I recall, you dragged me along on this to ‘teach me a lesson’ about not following your oh-so-important protocol.” \n\n“You could’ve said no,” Redwolf said. “Technically I have no authority over you. You could’ve just told me to go fuck myself.” The hyena grinned a tooth-filled grin in the dark. \n\n“Heh, got me there, Admiral,” he said. “Yeah, I am pretty much along for the ride here for shits n’ giggles.” Redwolf shook hir head. \n\n“How can you consider going into battle against heavily-armed conquerors shits and giggles?” shi asked. \n\n“Simple,” Fang answered. “When you’re not obsessing over things like causes and motives and all that sentimental bullshit, fighting is just another experience. It’s another rush, another buzz, another flavor I like to indulge in.”\n\nIn the dark, Redwolf’s rueful gaze was barely noticeable; the shape of hir glowing eyes changed only slightly as shi raised one eyebrow and cocked hir head to one side. “You know, your predecessor reminded me of Don Quixote,” shi said. “You, on the other hand, remind me of Dorian Gray.” \n\n“Oh, what, you’re saying you knew my dad?” Fang said with a bemused snort. \n\n“No, I knew the guy who’s name you took, remember?” Redwolf said. \n\n“Ooooh yeah,” the hyena said, memory dawning to him. “You did mention that before. One of those crusader types, was he?” \n\n“He was an idealist, you might say,” Redwolf said. “I didn’t know him long, but he left an impression. He had ambition, drive, he wanted to make a difference.” The hyena let out another amused snort. Redwolf glared at him sharply. \n\n“Something about that amuse you?” Shi said with a snarl. \n\n“Psh’yeah,” Fang said. “Nobody ever makes a serious difference. I mean shit, enough time passes, everything dies, crumbles and rots. S’like the song says, we’re all just dust in the wind.” Once more, the drygerskunk couldn’t help but be struck by the hyena’s lack of concern for just about anything besides his own amusement. \n\n“So what, you don’t think there’s something coming after this life?” shi said. “You know, we Canmephians aren’t known for being the most religious of people, but even we believe there’s something to come after this.” With hir enhanced vision, Redwolf was able to see the hyena shrug. \n\n“Dunno,” he said. “Lotta people say there’s something. But I haven’t ever seen anything to prove it. So, frankly, I say fuck it, it’s not worth wasting time on. Besides, if half the religious nuts on my planet are right, the powers that they say be are gonna forgive me anyway.” \n\n \n\nRedwolf, who had some knowledge of Terran religions, was about to remind the hyena that most of those beliefs require penitence for forgiveness. But, as shi heard the ‘yena humming “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” with a sarcastic, mocking expression on his face, shi knew it would fall on deaf ears. Leaning back against the wall of the container, the drygerskunk decided hir curiosity had been satisfied. Rather than dwell further on the hyena’s attitude, the admiral focused on the upcoming incursion. It was going to be dangerous, but shi felt between the two of them, they could handle anything they’d find on a single Cobrawolf base. \n\nShi never suspected what they would find. \n\n Redwolf was monitoring the thoughts of the shuttle crew when shi noticed they were beginning to plan their approach to their base. Focusing hir thoughts on the pilot, the drygerskunk carefully probed the back of the pilot’s mind for clues as to their location. It wasn’t hard; the pilot was so wrapped up with guiding the shuttle’s approach, shi never noticed Redwolf’s own consciousness coming over hir like an octopus, smoothly and silently spreading its legs over hir mind, creeping along its surface. \n\nThe shuttle was just coming around to the far side of the large gas giant in Sol-3’s solar system, a gigantic planet known colloquially as “Jupiter”. Redwolf carefully tapped into the Cobrawolf’s mental images of hir sight, and got a good look at what they were coming up on. \n\nDiety, Redwolf thought to hirself, How did we not notice THAT? \n\nLooming ahead was a large Cobrawolf battleship. Floating just outside of the planet’s gravitational pull to avoid being swung around and into view of Sol-3’s observational abilities. Like just about everything related to Cobrawolves, the ship was decked out with an array of weaponry pointed in just about every direction. Releasing the pilot’s mind, Redwolf looked over at Fang. The hyena had lapsed into a doze, and was now actually snoring quite loud, his muzzle open, a trickle of drool coming out of one side of his mouth. \n\n“Rise n’ shine,” the drygerskunk said, giving the hyena’s footpaw a shake. The ‘yena, snorted, rolled on his side, letting out a yawn from a tooth-filled muzzle. \n\n“We’re getting’ ready to dock,” Redwolf told him. Fang’s response was to grunt, scratch at himself, and then let off a short but noisy fart. \n\n“C’mon,” Redwolf said a bit more tersely, giving him a prod with one of hir tails. “Get up!” \n\n“Grasafranarrrnnngh,” the hyena grumbled, swinging into an upright position. He slowly slid off the box into his typical slouch, just as the shuttle set down with a heavy THUD, making both the drygerskunk and Fang grab the walls for support. \n\n“Stupid reptiles couldn’t pilot a box car let alone a shuttle,” the Admiral grumbled. Fang said nothing, instead sliding his hat back on his head and cracking his knuckles. \n\n“Well, let’s go tell them what we think of their driving,” he said with a smirk. Redwolf smirked as well. \n\n“Good idea,” shi replied. Holding out hir hands, two pairs of luger replica pistols, one in each hand, emerged from hir palms. But while the original lugers were designed to fire 9mm shells, these guns were bored for much larger .45 slugs. Outside, the sound of someone tapping on a keypad was just barely audible. The big moment was coming; Fang gave his hands a flick at the wrist, holding out his arms like a gunslinger about to draw. \n\n“Prisoners!” Came a harsh, hissing voice from the outside. “If you resist, you’ll be killed on sight! Come out with your hands up!”\n\nOutside the container, ten cobrawolves waited, lazer rifles trained on the doors. There was silence from inside the container. Unsure if shi’d been heard, the corporal in charge slithered a bit closer to the door. \n\n“Prisoners!” shi snapped again. “Come out wi…” \n\nBAM! In an instant, the doors suddenly went flying off their hinges. Inside the container, Fang had raises his arms up, crossing them at the elbows, then swung them forward like a swimmer doing a breast stroke. A blast of telekinetic energy caused the doors to blast outward like a cork, killing the corporal and three of the guards behind hir. The rest were bowled over as the doors knocked them to the deck before clanging against the far wall of the shuttle. As the guards start to push themselves back upright, bullets flew from Redwolf’s guns, the reports sounding like a machine gun, as fast as they were. Before a single rifle shot could be fired, the remaining guards had been riddled with shots.\n\nFang emerged from the crate first. For a change, he didn’t look careless and bored. The hyena now wore an expression of alertness and distrust, as if he expected an ambush around every corner. Redwolf followed him out, sweeping hir guns around like a SWAT officer making hir way through a building. The hyena’s pace was slow and deliberate as they made their way down the shuttle’s gangplank. \n\n“Was that our entire reception?” Fang said, looking around. “I’m insulted.” \n\nThe rest of the battleship’s docking bay was unoccupied. Several other shuttles were parked nearby, while scattered tools and several shipping containers left without being properly stowed suggested loading crews had quickly vacated the area after they’d heard the commotion. \n\n“Don’t worry,” Redwolf said, “I think they just went to go get the red carpet.” \n\nAs if on cue, a door on the opposite side of the room started to open, splitting in half width-wise like a mouth. But it stopped partway, just enough for a set of plasma launching weapons to be shoved through. The weapons had shorter, stockier muzzles than the lazer rifles the previous guards had been carrying. Instinctively, both Fang and Redwolf took cover behind a stack of crates as the troopers, using the door as cover, started blasting at them. The weapons launched masses of corrosive plasma at the pair, a slimy substance that, upon hitting anything organic or metallic, began to dissolve it. This included things like the crates they were crouched behind. \n\n“That’s something new,” Redwolf muttered. \n\n“What is?” Fang said as a glob of plasma wizzed just overhead. \n\n“Those weapons,” shi said, “must be a new prototype.” \n\n“Really?” Fang said. “How…fascinating.” \n\nThat last word came out of the hyena’s muzzle with a grunt, along with a toss of his head. Redwolf felt the sudden surge of telekinetic energy coming from him, and used hir own powers to follow the flow. Fang reached out with his mind, grabbing onto the weapons of the troopers and yanked them hard. The cobrawolves’ grip on their launchers was too firm to break with just a tug, but it did slam them hard against the doorway. \n\nFang began repeatedly yanking on their guns, slamming them over and over into the door. One trooper finally let go of hir weapon after being battered to death against the cracked-open barrier. Another had hir hand so tightly gripped on hir gun it wouldn’t come loose even after hir neck was broken, so Fang just yanked so hard hir arm snapped off. In the end, Redwolf winced as a half dozen cobrawolf heavy troopers were bashed, pummeled, and bludgeoned to death by the hyena’s telepathic tug-of-war. \n\nFang stepped slowly out from behind the crates; the firing had stopped by then. Redwolf emerged as well, crossing the docking bay to the door. Shi put two hands on the underside of the top half of the door and one footpaw on the lower half, separating them as shi forced the doorway open. The drygerskunk remained calm, despite the unpleasant state of the cobrawolves’ remains. Shi picked up one of their launchers, hefting it in hir hands as shi looked it over. \n\n“Interesting design,” shi said. “Silicon ammunition chamber and barrel, metallic exterior frame for stability and recoil reduction…,” \n\n“Yeah, fascinating, how ‘bout ‘cha poke at it later?” Fang said, brushing past the Admiral. “Right now we’ve got shit to kill.” Redwolf gave the hyena a bemused smirk and stuffed the weapon into hir physics-defying cleavage; while not tactful, the ‘yena was right. The two pressed further into the bowels of the battleship; the interior was very Spartan in its design. Every room they went into appeared to be utilitarian in purpose; nothing even remotely resembling rest or recreation outside of a sleeping chamber or two. A periodic skirmish would suddenly occur as they encountered ambushes at several junctions in the hallways. \n\n“Do you get the feeling we’re being led towards something?” Fang said as they pressed further along one corridor. Redwolf nodded. \n\n“Yes. There’s been no alarm sounded, we’ve met minimal resistence…,” shi muttered. As they came to a junction, Redwolf paused for a second. \n\n“Hmm…let’s try something,” shi said. Turning around, shi started back down the way they came. With almost alarming speed, a security door suddenly slammed down in front of hir, sealing off the way back. Fang spun around as he heard the door slam down. Quirking an eyebrow, he went up to the door and knocked on it. A buzzing sound came from it and the hyena yanked his hand back. \n\n“NGH! Damn thing’s electrified,” he said. The admiral nodded, looking around. \n\n“Okay,” shi said in a loud voice. “We know SOMEBODY’S gotta be watching, so why don’t you dispense with the melodrama and just tell us what you’re up to.” \n\n“Very perceptive Admiral,” a voice said over a loudspeaker in the corridor. The drygerskunk and the hyena looked up and around, trying to locate the source of the noise, finally noticing a small, black square on the ceiling that must have been a panel hiding a camera and speaker. \n\n“So whom do we have the irritation of meeting?” Redwolf said, looking up at the square and putting hir hands on hir hips. \n\n“Ahh, a subscriber to the philosophy of know thy enemy. Very well, since it will be futile anyway, I shall indulge you. I am Dr. Devarped, and yes, as you’ve so astutely pointed out, it’s my intention to guide you to my testing area.” \n\n“Oh whoop de fucking do,” Fang muttered, “a sick quack who wants to test his latest prototype on us.” \n\n“Did I already say you’re perceptive?” The voice said with a hissing snicker. “That’s correct. And since there’s no point in hiding it, you now know your utterly futile position. So, if you’d please proceed, we can begin the test without further delays.” \n\nWhat do you say we just collapse this fucking door and stroll on out of here? Fang telepathically intoned to Redwolf. Without looking at him, the Admiral instead started down the hall. \n\nWe still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this, shi responded. Plus, we need to find out what the cobrawolves have cooked up here. \n\nEhh Admiral, I don’t want to sound like a pussy here, the hyena thought to Redwolf. For the first time, shi could actually detect a small bit of unease in him as he followed hir. but we are, in fact, outnumbered and pretty much playing it by ear here. We could be walking into more than we bargained for.\n\nThat’s a chance we’ll have to take, shi replied. The hyena didn’t respond, instead just following along behind the admiral, eyes shifting from side to side frequently. The hall they were in had no more junction points beyond the one they’d just passed and been cut off from. A sudden feeling of urgency, a desire to race down the hallway to confront whatever was at the end, washed over both Fang and Redwolf. They fought the urge with some difficulty. Finally, at the very end, they came to another closed door. Uneasily, the pair approached, the door slowly sliding open, revealing a pitch-black room beyond. \n\n“Tch, determined to do this as melodramatically as possible, I see,” Redwolf muttered. \n\n“Welcome to my parlor,” echoed Dr. Devarped’s voice from inside. “Come in, make yourselves comfortable.” The drygerskunk and hir entourage stepped slowly through the doorway. With a loud clang, it slammed shut behind them, cutting off the small amount of light the hallway afforded. Redwolf was about to activate hir night vision when the doctor saved hir the trouble. Two by two, overhead lights started to click on in a sequence, revealing the interior of Dr. Devarped’s lab. \n\nFang remained largely unfazed by what he saw. But for Redwolf, who had experienced the brutality and cruelty of cobrawolf research personally, it was a skin-crawling reminder of a dark part of hir past. Stasis tubes lined a central walkway along the center of the room up to a central computer hub. Dotted throughout the lab were various examination tables and chairs, each with its own cabinet of cruelly-designed tools of probing, cutting, pulling and all other manner of mistreating some poor bastard’s physical being. \n\nBut the tubes themselves held the most unpleasant sights. Various races, some Terran, others from other planets, including those in the Canmeph system, were represented there, many of them terribly mutated. The extra limbs some of them had the unhealthy look of unnatural growth, looking twisted and malformed. Others had tumor-like growths and discolored patches of skin and hair. \n\nLooking over all this, the ringmaster of this nightmare show, was Dr. Devarped. The cobrawolf stood, for lack of a better term, at the railing of the computer hub platform. The doctor sported four arms, two crossed in front of hir, a second pair crossed held behind hir back. Hir canine face sported a look of cool, calculated indifference. \n\n“Good, you’re here,” Devarped said. Redwolf, hir face locked in an expression of disgust and anger, said nothing. Instead, shi whipped hir guns up and unloaded four fresh clips at the cobrawolf. But Devarped didn’t even try to dodge them, standing stock still as the bullets seemed to deflect off some unseen barrier. Thinking there must be some kind of transparent pane between them, Redwolf launched a telepathic blow that would have flattened an armored car into a wafer. But hir mental wrecking ball smashed into an immovable force holding it back.\n\nThe drygerskunk blinked, but tried hir best to mask hir surprise. \n\n“So, you cobrawolves have developed telepathic abilities too,” shi said. Devarped smirked humorlessly. \n\n“In a manner of speaking,” shi said. “As you can see, I’ve been conducting studies on the rather myrad variations of species on this planetary system’s only inhabited world. I must say, it’s amazing the physical abnormalities they develop…but what can you expect from so much inbreeding resulting from the inability to travel behind ones own planet?” \n\n“As opposed to you,” Fang snorted. “You inbreed as a result of hubris.” \n\nDevarped’s smirk slid off hir face. “We’ve yet to find anyone better,” shi said flatly. \n\n“Whatever, I’m not here to banter,” Redwolf snorted. “I’m here to kick ass and chew gum, and I’m out of gum.” \n\n“Ah, down to ‘brass tacks,’ as the Terrans say, eh?” Devarped said, hir smirk returning, this time with a rather harsh, toothy quality. “Fine then! You’re right, Admiral, we have developed a way to give ourselves telepathic powers. However, so far, the process is rather…unpleasant.” \n\nThe doctor pressed a button on a console to hir right. In front of hir, a panel in the floor slowly slid back, revealing a vat of fluid like that in the stasis tubes. Silently, a large, scaly, sinewy, elongated arm reached up from the surface and slapped down wetly on the floor. A second one followed it as a massive, warped-looking cobrawolf dragged itself up from the fluid. The reptile’s body, easily twice Redwolf’s height, appeared to have been twisted by either the process used to give it its powers, or by the psionic energies themselves. Its torso was hunched over, its eyes clouded and lacking any sort of intelligence. \n\nFang cracked his knuckles. “This oughta be interesting,” he said with grim smirk. The mutated cobrawolf reared up as high as it could with its twisted spine and let out a bellowing howl at the hyena and the drygerskunk. The ‘yena snorted, lashing out with a fast telekinetic strike designed to hit like a whip crack. It caught the creature off guard, lashing it across the muzzle. The creatures responded with a second bellow and a massive mental blow that was more like a wave crashing down on the beach. Both Fang and Redwolf braced for the blow, but even with their combined effort it forced them back several steps and against the sealed door behind them. \n\n“MOVE!” Redwolf yelled as the creature began a second assault. Both the ‘yena and the drygerskunk dove to opposite sides as the monster let loose with a blast that caused the door and a good portion of the wall to buckle. \n\n“Okay, you wanna play rough?!” Fang snarled. He flexed his telekinetic muscles and tore three exam tables out of the floor, hurling them at the cobrawolf. The creature smashed them aside with a mental swipe. Devarped, meanwhile, watched the destruction and chaos before hir with a look of calm intrigue. \n\n“Interesting,” shi said, causing Redwolf to shoot hir a look, then to tear out an exam chair hirself and hurl it at the doctor with hir mind. The mutated cobrawolf, however, had apparently been trained to protect the doctor, because it immediately turned, caught the chair in mid air a good ten feet from the doctor, then sent it hurling back at Redwolf, who batted it aside with hir own powers. \n\n“Well, I think I’ll retire to a better vantage point,” Devarped said, turning and slithering towards an elevator on the computer hub. Still smirking, shi pressed a button on the lift and it slowly glided upward on a magnetic cushion as Redwolf looked on in unconcealed anger. \n\n“You can run, but you can’t…,” shi started, but was cut off as the monster made another swipe at hir. Shi blocked it, but was nonetheless amazed at the strength of the blow. Fang, Meanwhile, had made a telekinetic grab at the cobrawolf, attempting to pick it up and throw it. It met his mental grip, however, with its own. The two were now locked in the telekinetic equivalent of a wrestling match, twisting and turning with their powers. \n\nThinking now was the time to strike, Redwolf ran behind the monster, summoning up a massive blow to the creature’s back. But once again, it met with an immovable shield of telepathic energy. \n\nThis thing’s a living psi emitter! Redwolf thought. As if to drive the point home, the shield shi just struck suddenly pushed outward against hir own force, sending the drygerskunk toppling backward in surprise. Shi fell into the stasis fluid vat behind hir, the medicinal-smelling fluid washing over hir. Being a liquid shapeshifter, Redwolf tended to be rather dense in a physical sense, hir body containing a lot of mass for its volume. The admiral shot out one of hir limbs, stretching it like a lasso. It wrapped around one of the tubes, allowing Redwolf to pull hirself up out of the briny solution shi was soaked in. \n\nThe mutated cobrawolf was still locked in a grapple with Fang as the drygerskunk broke the surface of the stasis vat. It shoved hard against the hyena’s own mental powers, forcing him up against the glass partition between the lab they were in and the one in the next room. Redwolf grabbed at the metal grating of the floor, trying to drag hirself out of the vat. The stasis fluid must have had some sort of drug in it, because the drygerskunk found hirself slowly feeling rather numb. It took concentration for hir to maintain hir form now, something shi could usually do unconsciously, like breathing. Hir fingers scrambled for a grip, determination and a dash of fear filling hir mind. \n\nCan’t get caught like this! Redwolf thought, laboriously pushing hirself up off the floor. Fang, meanwhile, appeared to have reached a deadlock with the creature, neither one of them yielding an inch to the other. The hyena’s face was clenched hard, veins almost visible on him as he pressed against the monster. Suddenly, the creature switched tactics, mentally grabbing the hyena and picking him up rather than pushing against him! Fang was thrown off his guard, and found himself suddenly yanked up into the air, then slammed so hard against the glass partition the reinforced barrier cracked! Redwolf, only just able to push hirself up on one knee, watched in horror as the creature yanked the hyena up again, then hurled him so hard against the three-inch thick glass he was smashed through it. \n\nThe drygreskunk dragged hirself behind one of the stasis tubes. Slumped to the floor, shi breathed hard, eyes darting from side to side. Shi could hear the creature turn, but low down as shi was, the base of the tube hid hir from view, and shi was able to mask enough of hir telepathic signature the creature couldn’t immediately find hir. \n\nThat was impossible. Redwolf thought, hir mind reeling a bit. He should have been smashed to paste against that glass wall! It must have been the force of the blow combined with his own telepathic shield…maybe that means he survived! \n\nDeciding to take a small risk, the drygerskunk sent out a telepathic ping. The cobrawolf was a big, screaming blip on hir mental radar as it now milled around, apparently confused as to where its second target went. Just beyond the creature, the admiral could sense a second telepathic signature. It was faint, but there. \n\nHe is alive, but he’s in bad shape, Redwolf thought. Just then, the creature in the center of the room shifted, the sound of its movement snapping the admiral back to the present danger. \n\nHow the hell can I fight this thing? Shi thought, gritting hir teeth. The only time we’ve landed a blow on this thing was when…That’s when it clicked in hir mind. They’d only hit the mutated cobrawolf when Fang had landed a fast, small blow on it. The creature was big and powerful, but it was stupid and slow; the only way to beat it was to strike fast and unexpected. \n\nRedwolf heard the creature slithering across the floor. Shi didn’t need to look to know that it was beginning to head hir way. Shi had to act fast. Quickly calling up a remote viewing of the room, shi focused hir attention on one of the cabinets of surgical tools. The doors slid silently open as shi lifted the various cutting and probing implements with hir mind. The creature was looming closer, throwing its shadow between the stasis tubes. With a fast yank from hir mind, Redwolf slung the tools at the creature’s back, peppering it like buckshot with scalpels, needles and other sharp objects. \n\nThe creature snarled in pain, jerking around and sending a psychic wave of energy at the spot Redwolf launched the tools from. The drygerskunk used the distraction to move to a safer hiding spot, crouching down behind an exam table further away from the monster. Scanning around the room, the admiral focused on a cabinet filled with chemical bottles with numerous warning labels. Shi took hold of the entire cabinet telekinetically and started shaking and rattling it. Drawn like a fish to a lure, the creature slowly slithered towards the noise, thinking its prey was near. Instead, it got a nasty surprise as Redwolf caused the pressure in the chemical bottles to blast them open, spraying the toxic fluids into the creature’s face. \n\nThe cobrawolf reared back and howled in agony, wildly lashing out both with its limbs and it’s psychic powers. Stasis tubes shattered, equipment was flung wildly around as the mutated monster seethed with fury. Redwolf stepped out of cover to try and deliver a blow directly to the creature; that was a mistake. In its wild thrashing, the monster knocked an exam table across the room, catching the drygerskunk off guard when it came at hir from behind. Knocked to the floor, Redwolf grunted, shaking hir head as shi looked up and saw the creature bearing down on hir. For a moment, the drygerskunk was genuinely scared as shi felt the monster building up a massive telekinetic blow to try and tear hir painfully apart. \n\nRedwolf looked frantically around the room, then saw all the broken stasis tubes. With lightning speed, the drygerskunk reached out with hir mind, taking hold of as many large shards of broken glass as shi could. Shi launched them at the creature like they were thrown by a tornado, slicing its back to ribbons. The cobrawolf fell with a thunderous bellow, writhing on the floor in a growing pool of blood. Slowly, it stopped its movements, collapsing in a heap. \n\nRedwolf let out a slow, shuddering breath, the tension and rush of the fight slowly draining from hir. Shi looked from left to right, feeling slightly dazed, deciding on hir next move. Picking hir way through the debris and destruction, the drygerskunk made hir way to the glass wall Fang had been punted through. Redwolf wasn’t looking forward to what shi expected to find, but was surprised to find the hyena missing, as opposed to laying in a bruised and bloody mess. \n\nWhere the hell did he…, shi thought to hirself. The admiral cast around with hir telepathy, but wherever the hyena was, his psychic signature was so faint shi couldn’t find it. \n\n“Looks like I’ve got to search for him the old fashioned way,” shi said. The drygerskunk’s boots crunched on the carpet of broken glass as shi stepped through the shard-filled window frame into the next lab over. It was a smaller one than the massive hallway shi just left; from all the readout screens, Redwolf figured it to be where the cobrawolves analyzed the data of their experiments. The admiral saw only one trace of Fang; a light blood trail leading towards the door. \n\nThe door slid silently open into another hallway. Redwolf swung hir pistols at both sides. Finding the hallway empty, the drygerskunk considered splitting off a clone of hirself to check both directions at once, but decided against it. Back on Sol-3, Redwolf hadn’t expected to suddenly find hirself in such a hostile situation, and so shi hadn’t eaten much. Hir ability to grow additional limbs and create copies of hirself was drawn from the amount of food shi ate so shi could form it into additional body matter. Shi stored the excess matter in a black hole encased in hir body, and right then, hir tanks were running rather light, so to say. \n\nRedwolf began carefully sweeping through the hallways, exploring the science deck of the ship. Each room seemed to contain some new form of cringe-inducing experimentation, ranging from “stimulus tests” that apparently were little more than torture devices designed to test the limits of a being’s endurance to chemical exposure chambers where the cobrawolves tested rather brutal new chemical and biological weaponry. It was in one of these latter test chambers that the admiral found something that stopped hir dead in hir tracks. Shi had just swept through the room, sneering once again at the examples of barbaric research shi found in the cruel-looking cages, instruments, and such. But as shi passed by a darkened holding cell. Shi stopped. There was something tossed in the corner shi couldn’t quite make out. A creeping sense of unease came over hir as shi tapped the cell’s light switch. When the lights came on, shi learned just what solid beings feel when the blood drains out of their faces. \n\nLaying discarded like a fruit husk in the corner was a dark, leathery-looking pod. With a feeling of numb disbelief, Redwolf tapped the cell’s release switch; the transparent door slid up into the ceiling. \n\nIt can’t be, Redwolf thought. Kneeling down, shi turned the pod over. It was roughly egg-shaped, with a split going down the middle. There was no denying it; it was one of the parasite pods shi’d seen in Antarctica. \n\nSlowly, the drygerskunk stood back up. Hir jaw was clenched tightly as shi looked around. Somehow, the cobrawolves had gotten ahold of the nightmarish organism and was conducting experiments with it; this put the kidnapping case back on Sol-3 in a whole new light. Shi had to destroy any traces of the parasite before it began spreading all over again. As Redwolf quickly left the lab and made hir way to the next one, shi wondered how they managed to find the parasites. Shi didn’t wonder long though, as life that day kept dealing hir one blow after another. \n\nThe admiral tapped the door switch to the next lab and jumped in, guns first. Once again, the room was empty, save for whatever experiment was currently being conducted. But just as the sights in the previous lab sent a chill into Redwolf’s metaphorical heart, the sights in hir current location just about ripped it out. \n\nA series of stasis tubes of varying size lined the far wall in front of the drygerskunk. Floating motionlessly in the central tube was the body of a dissected Terran. It had most of its internal organs removed, each of them placed in its own stasis container. Carved up as it was, the body was still recognizable to Redwolf. Hir eyes locked onto the canine body, with its short brown fur, narrow muzzle and pointed ears. \n\nRedwolf slowly stumbled forward towards the tank, arms hanging at hir sides, the guns falling out of hir hands. Slowly, shi reached up a hand, touching it to the smooth, curved cylinder. Hir shoulders sagged. The drygerskunk’s head bowed forward, forehead resting against the tube. Hir face clenched in pain and sadness as shi slowly curled the fingers of hir outreached hand into a fist, mournfully and listlessly banging it against the tube in grief. \n\nFor a while, Redwolf just stood there, leaning against the stasis chamber. There’s no telling how long shi would have stood there, if the cobrawolves hadn’t started gathering outside the door to ambush hir. But when shi heard the sound of whispering and sliding just outside, hir eyes snapped open. Turning sharply on hir heel, the drygerskunk snatched hir guns back up off the floor. Shi then re-absorbed two of hir pistols into hir hands, dug into hir cleavage and yanked out the plasma launcher.\n\nThe cobrawolves were about to open the door when a telekinetic blast blew the door out of its frame. The reptiles weren’t to be deterred, however, and reacted with military efficiency, sweeping around the doorframe and firing into the room. They hit nothing but a psychic shield, however, as Redwolf launched plasma rounds at them, sending the troopers half-melted to the decks. \n\nRedwolf normally would have made some sort of quip, but shi was too furious and amped up to crack wise. Shi fired until the launcher was empty, then threw it aside, striding forward with hir guns out again. The remaining three troopers were trying to retreat to the next junction for cover, but the admiral took them down in a hail of gunfire before they made it. \n\n“Captain!” Came a squawking voice from one of the dead troopers. Redwolf looked down, nonchalantly kicking the body over. The voice was coming from the cobrawolf’s headset, which shi plucked off and put to hir own ear. \n\n“What are you doing?!” the voice said. It was Dr. Devarped, and shi sounded pissed. “We need Redwolf alive if we’re going to get the most benefit out of these experiments!”\n\n“I’m not sacrificing my ship and crew just so you can run that Canmephian bitch through it like one of those Terran rat mazes,” a harsh, militant voice replied. “You had your chance to get your data, and it’s obvious your science projects need work. Now get off this damn frequency!” \n\nRedwolf snorted, tossing the headset aside; spying on the cobrawolves no longer mattered to hir, just wiping the ship clean of them. Fatigue was beginning to take its toll on hir, however. As shi pressed forward, the drygerskunk was meeting more and more ambushes in each room. A lazer blast to the body here and there was forcing hir to use up hir already meager supply of stored matter to heal hir own wounds. \n\n“Starting to feel tired Admiral?” A voice on the overhead intercom said as Redwolf leaned against a wall. Shi had just cleared out another dissection lab. Panting for breath, the drygerskunk had paused a moment to clear hir head, which was starting to get dizzy. \n\n“Fuck you,” shi snarled. The voice chuckled; it was the cobrawolf captain the admiral had heard earlier. \n\n“You must not have thought we learned much about you when you were our guest some years ago,” the captain said in a mocking tone. “But we studied you thoroughly. We know you all too well…inside and out.”\n\n \n\nWith an almost dismissive gesture, Redwolf flicked one wrist at the panel that hid the nearest intercom speaker. A bullet flew out of hir gun and smashed through it. Unfortunately, the captain was still audible from other speakers throughout the science deck. \n\n“Yes, we know you can heal yourself…but it doesn’t come without a price. Beating you in a single fight may be nearly impossible, but we can grind you down. And that’s exactly what we intend to do; grind you down, slowly, painfully, with a million pinpricks.” \n\nAs if to drive the point home, Redwolf got a very nasty surprise. As shi stepped over the bodies of several troopers, one snapped his eye open. He’d been wounded rather than killed, and was lying in wait. Now, trudging wearily through the door, the admiral presented hir back to him. Exhausted as shi was, hir focus wasn’t in all directions, and shi didn’t see the trooper moving until he raised up his plasma launcher. The admiral spun around, but the trooper fired just as shi did, getting a plasma blast right in the shoulder. \n\nRedwolf staggered back against the far wall in the hallway. Hir bellow of pain echoed through the science deck as the caustic sludge burned into hir pliable body. The drygerskunk flailed hir body, trying to fling the slime off. Shi succeeded in getting the last bits of residue off, but in the process, two of hir arms and a third of hir chest were taken off. \n\n“Well, that was more effective than I’d hoped,” the cobrawolf captain said over the intercom. \n\n“FUCK YOU!” Redwolf roared, shooting out another hidden observation panel. “I’ll show you how affective it is when I get my hands on your slimy ass!” \n\nThe drygerskunk panted, then clenched hir face up in pain. Hir back to the wall, Redwolf slid slowly to the floor, hir torso looking like a solid chocolate Easter bunny someone had taken a bite out of. Shi took a few slow breaths, then, inhaling deeply, shi began straining with some sort of hidden effort. The surface of hir wounded side grew glossy and rippled, then slowly began stretching and filling back out, two new arms growing like tree limbs to replace the ones shi’d lost. A third breast swelled up like a balloon next to the other two. Fully healed, Redwolf released a slow breath, slowly flexing hir new limbs. \n\n“Damn, that was harder than usual,” shi muttered. Slowly pushing hirself back up, the drygerskunk trudged down the hallway, hir gait like someone with either a hangover or an ear infection. The drained feeling was passing, but not fast enough. Another squad of troopers leaped out in front of hir and fired two plasma shots. Redwolf just barely managed to jump through a doorway and slam it shut.\n\nThe troopers wouldn’t be put off that easily and shi knew it. Redwolf looked around the room. This time, shi was in a computer lab. Terminals lined the walls, displaying readouts shi wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with, but not well versed in, either. That wasn’t the first thing that the admiral noticed, however. The first thing shi noticed was there weren’t any good vantage points to take cover behind. \n\nThe second thing shi noticed was the sound of the door behind hir melting. Redwolf spun around quickly. The troopers had used their chemical weapons to turn the door into so much metallic sludge. As the drygerskunk raised up hir guns, shi saw two flat, star-shaped projectiles spin through the air like sawblades, sticking into the floor on opposite sides of the doorway. \n\n“Shit!” shi hissed through hir teeth; shi knew cobrawolf flash grenades when shi saw them. The stars exploded with dull, hollow bangs, filling the room with bright light. Being capable of extending hir sense of sight through any portion of hir body, Redwolf often found the excessive amount of sensory input made hir feel agitated. As a result, dark colors and clothing helped hir stay calm. It’s only natural that a bright, blinding explosion of light should have the opposite effect. The drygerskunk howled in shock and fired several wild rounds from hir pistols. But before hir head could clear and shi could focus again, shi felt a sharp blow to the midsection, followed by a hard shove against the far computer terminal. \n\nDazed, moreso from the flash than the blows, Redwolf reeled against the terminal. Shi physically clenched hir eyes shut and mentally clenched hir entire sense of sight shut for a second. Shi opened all of them again to the sound of firearms being brought to bear. Five cobrawolf troopers had the drop on hir, plasma weapons aimed and ready. The lead corporal, noticeable by the mark on hir body armor, smirked mirthlessly at the admiral. \n\nRedwolf was cornered. Exhausted as shi was, facing 5-1 odds, shi knew if shi was lucky, shi might be able to come out with just a grievous wound. More likely shi’d take down two or three of them before they turned hir into a puddle of dead, shapeless slime. The drygerskunk took a slow breath, eyes sliding from one side of hir firing squad to the other. \n\n“So what’re you waiting for?” Redwolf said, glaring back at the troops. \n\n“We wanted to make sure you saw it coming,” the corporal said. The troopers all tensed for the rush of combat. Redwolf tightened hir grip on hir pistols, ready for hir last stand. \n\nA dull, hollow thud echoed through the room. The cobrawolf corporal’s head lost a big chunk in a blood and bone-filled splatter…from behind.\n\nThe corporal’s body slumped to the floor as the grunt troops all jerked around to look behind them. Redwolf, through the hole in their line, blinked in surprise at what shi saw. \n\nFang stood about two paces in the room from the doorway. He had bandages wrapped around his head and hands. His shirt and coat were open and he had more bandages around his chest, too. In his hands was a pump-action shot gun. Redwolf wondered briefly how he’d managed to find hir, but then noticed there was something decidedly different about the hyena. Before, he’d been a slouching, insolent cynic. But now, this person shi saw was giving off a much different vibe. His posture was upright, shoulders held back. His head was held up. The look of cynicism and arrogance was replaced by one of defiance and determination. And when he spoke, his voice had changed and was now very familiar.\n\n“Remand your souls to God,” he said, then racked a new shell into his gun. “Your asses belong to ME.”\n\nIt’s almost time. \n\nNnngh, I thought, Just a little while longer. A voice, deep and strong, but light-hearted and soothing, chuckled. \n\nYou always have been slow to get up. But it’s time. \n\nOkay, I’m up, I thought in response. How long has it been? \n\nOne year, sixteen days, fourteen hours, eight minutes and forty-two seconds. \n\nI couldn’t help but mentally chuckle. I wasn’t expecting that precise an answer. \n\nYes, but I don’t need to make guesses. \n\nSo, I thought, shaking the mental dust from my mind, am I going to be restored in a dramatic flash of light, descend from a glowing staircase or something?\n\nYou know I’m seldom that dramatic. No, you’ll be going back in a more subtle fashion. \n\nHeh, always working in mysterious ways, I thought. \n\nIt’s often the best way. \n\nI’ll take your word for it, I thought. \n\nNow it won’t be easy, but you’re already aware of that. Just remember, no matter how great the challenge or how powerful your enemy is, I’m there with you. \n\nThat’s definitely reassuring, I thought, without a trace of sarcasm or irony. The sensation of calm floating was slowly fading, the numbness I’d felt some time ago returning. The few senses I had, mostly sight and hearing, were once again feeling unnatural; no real shock, since they were once again coming from machines. \n\nWhen I get out of this, I’m going to have to write a poem, I thought. I’ll call it “Ode to A Brain in A Jar.” \n\nIt had been, apparently, over a year since I’d last been conscious; at least in the sense that I was awake in THIS world. I slowly reflected back on my current state of affairs in this life, which, after a brief intermission, I was now resuming. \n\nWhen I was lying in the Antarctic snow, a heavy piece of shrapnel from a vehicle crash through my rib cage, I thought that was the end of it. Everything, my sight, hearing, sense of touch, all went fuzzy. I noticed a couple large, indistinct figures come over me and look down. Some words were spoken, then they disappeared. But then, a second pair of different figures showed up. A bright light appeared overhead, and I felt myself being lifted towards it.\n\nOne rude awakening later, I wasn’t surrounded by winged babies singing hymns or laying on a cloud, but instead was surrounded by these odd, reptilian beings, laying flat on some cold, hard surface. \n\n“It’s awake,” one of them said. \n\n“Good,” another one said, “then we’ll get noticeable responses from the tests from now on.” \n\nI couldn’t move, not even my eyes, but as my hosts quickly showed me, moving my body around, I was in some kind of lab filled with an unsettling amount of sharp instruments and other disturbing sorts of tools. One of the creatures picked up a tool, then bent over me below my line of sight. Next thing I knew a sharp cutting pain shot through my chest. \n\nI’ll spare you some of the worst details. Suffice to say for the next three weeks I was operated on without anesthetic. If I’d had control over my muscles, I would have saved my tormentors the trouble of removing my lungs by screaming them out. A couple times, due to the location of some reflective surfaces, I could watch as those bastards sliced me open, then sewed me back up only to start cutting on a different part of me. My body was hooked up to various devices I could only assume were for life support, since I was decidedly alive despite being beside myself. Literally. \n\nI was torn between my physical pain and my panic over not understanding who was doing this to me and why. Was I in hell? Had I really been that big a shit in my life? I knew I’d had some bad habits that, despite all my confessions and praying, I’d still fallen back on. Somewhere in the back of my head, some insidious little voice tried to tell me one day that if there was a God, He wouldn’t have abandoned me to this. \n\nFuck that! I thought. If that guy in the Bible could suffer boils and sores, losing everything he had to storms and bandits, and still keep his faith, I’m not going to turn on God nOh FUCK WHAT IS THAT?!\n\nOne of the reptiles was picking up some device that looked like it came out of a BDSM nightmare. It was coming at me with it. \n\nOh God, I thought, Oh God oh sweet merciful Jesus I’m begging you I can’t take this HELP ME! \n\nThe reptile went to work with its sadistic-looking tool. I felt…nothing. \n\nHuh? I thought. Focusing on a reflective surface, I saw that what they were doing (again, I’ll spare you the stomach-churning details) was something that had caused me agony before, and given the degree to which it was happening now, should have redefined the meaning of pain for me. But instead, I didn’t feel anything. \n\nHow the…why isn’t…wait, did…I thought. \n\nAsk and ye shall receive, said a voice in my head. It wasn’t my own, and it gave me a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time; a sense of amazing relief and comfort. \n\nOh thank you, I thought. Thank you, I was about to go insane from that. The utter helplessness, not even being able to scream…\n\nYes, I understand, but don’t worry; your suffering this torture is over. \n\nThen you mean…I thought. \n\nNo, I’m sorry, but it’s not your time yet. \n\nBut why… I thought, but I had an unconscious sensation of someone trying to soothe me. \n\nEasy now, all in due time. But first, you’ve had quite a trying experience. For now, rest. \n\nOkay, I thought, But just a couple questions. First, why didn’t you stop the pain earlier? \n\nYou always are inquisitive. You needed to understand firsthand the sort of horrors that others before you had felt. You could have heard about them, but nothing could have truly compared to knowing what it’s like for yourself. \n\nOkay…I thought. But why didn’t you try to stop the pain for the others before me? \n\nI offered it to people. Some of them took it. But not all of them accepted. Many of them thought I was just a delusion because they believe I don’t exist. Others refused just to be spiteful to Me because they blamed Me for all their problems. As you know, I can’t force people to take My help because that would rob them of their free will. But when it’s their time to go I will bring them out of themselves before the pain occurs. \n\nYeah, that corresponds to what I’ve heard from others, I thought. Okay, but who are…\n\nMichael, you need to rest. Don’t rack your mind with this right now; for now, sleep. \n\nSomehow, without even closing my eyes, everything began to get dark to me. As I slowly drifted off, one last thought occurred to me. \n\nThis is gonna be really strange when I wake up. \n\nI slept for a grand total of five months, as I found out when I finally woke up. By then the reptiles had exhausted their curiosity of my body and had dumped what was left of me in various containment tubes. And yet I still wasn’t entirely dead, because my brain was being maintained for further study in a chamber with wires hooked up to it that provided sensory input. Sight and hearing were possible through sensors my captors were testing for cybernetic implants. Taste and touch were still denied to me, and I certainly wasn’t allowed a voice. I wasn’t driven mad by this, however, because of frequent breaks I received, slipping out of my mind to that place of comfort and rest. While there, I was told about my inhospitable hosts, the Cobrawolves. I’d heard vague stories about them back on Earth, but now I was being shown their cruelty firsthand. It seems one of their battleships, separated from the rest of their military after a trial run of a deep-space engine, had set up a station to study my planet and its races. \n\nUnfortunately, setting down a shuttle and asking us to take them to our leaders was the last thing the Cobrawolves were interested in. Being a race of bigots and genocidal ethnic cleansers, all they were interested in is what sorts of uses the races of Earth could be put to physically and how best to kill us if we were too troublesome. I was also shocked and horrified to find out when the Cobrawolves found me, they also found several undamaged pods from Antarctica; the same ones that contained the sentient parasite that sought to sow destruction everywhere it went. \n\nDuring my time in the tube, I carefully used my connection to the ship’s computers to start rifling through their files. It was tough going at first, but being directly connected to their systems through my brain gave me a distinct edge to getting around their security systems. Rather than having to use programs and hardware, all I had to do was think it and bingo, I could conjure up a wide variety of files. \n\nIt turned out the Cobrawolves had somehow managed to make a sort of pact with the parasite. I didn’t find this entirely surprising; one scientist on Earth had done the same, and these reptiles certainly seemed to have a similar goal to the insidious germ. Many of the Terrans, as Earth’s residents are known in most circles, captured by the reptiles were thrown to their new biological ally as hosts. \n\nThis is, to say the least, unsettling. I thought one day. I pray somebody can do something to stop them. \n\nWhy not you? \n\nI had to inwardly chuckle. I think I’ve demonstrated my capability, or should I say, my lack thereof. I thought. \n\nMichael, just because there are others with more obvious power than you does not make you insignificant or worthless in your own right. \n\nBut what can I do that others couldn’t do better? I thought. The old depression I felt on Earth was slowly resurfacing. \n\nThe difference between people like you and others is this: some could, but don’t. People like you can, and you either do or at least you try. You don’t know how many have cast aside opportunities just because they didn’t care or didn’t want to make the effort. \n\nI ruminated on this a bit. As I did, I slowly began to feel something. I was once again in that place of comfort, but now, instead of an indistinct, unfocused blur surrounding me, I could see it all; all of creation. \n\nIf I had breath, it would have been taken away. I saw the majesty of nature in all its forms; the beauty of sunrises, the majesty of mountain ranges, the awesome force of a storm, the wonders of the ocean depths, the glittering stars and shining moon at night. I saw the nobility of wildlife and smelled the sweet fragrances of plants. But not only did I see natural wonders, but the wonders of civilization, too. I saw great people of history, the explorers, the scientists, the inventors, and felt their sensation of triumph and wonder as they made great discoveries and saw new wonders for the first time. The beauty of the arts and the feelings of inspiration they created stirred in me. But I didn’t just feel the sensations of the great and famous; I also witnessed the simple joys of life; people finding love, holding their newborn children, friendships, simple acts of thanks for a favor or an act of kindness. \n\nI witness a small sampling of all of this, and not just on my own planet. I saw it occurring on other planets all across the universe. For that brief moment, I was awestruck by creation; it was a work of art, a masterpiece that wasn’t just cobbled together through trial-and-error circumstances, but carefully and painstakingly crafted with intricate detail, every part of it formed with care, attention and above all, love. \n\nBut as I watched, I noticed something slowly entering into this masterpiece. It was creeping into existence, not with a gentle quietness, but an insidious slither. At first I wondered if it represented anything I knew, but then I realized it wasn’t symbolic of any particular evil. It WAS evil. It was greed, anger, pride, lust, sloth and gluttony in its most unadulterated, undiluted form. It was selfish desire at any cost, because that’s what all evil truly boils down to: the placing of one’s personal gain above all else. Wars were started because of it. Hatred and cruelty spread like an infection from it. Callous indifference to the needs of others, leaving them to suffer, sprang from it as well. \n\nTroubling as this image was becoming, I kept looking. And as I saw this sadistic, cruel force creeping into all corners of the masterpiece of creation, I saw something new. I saw those who still believed in upholding good and all its virtues rallying to stand against evil. I saw acts of heroism, of those willing to risk everything for the sake of what they cared for; firefighters rushing into buildings to save people’s lives, soldiers standing against an enemy that wanted to conquer for greed and hatred, Law enforcement that sought to uphold the sanctity of people’s rights, even the everyday good Samaritans finding the courage to do things like give testimony in court, report witnessing crimes, or simply standing up to speak out against what they knew was wrong. \n\nNow that you have seen a broader picture of existence, what do you intend to do? \n\nIn all of this, I can make a genuine, noticeable difference? I thought. \n\nYou noticed the various acts of good, both great and small. They are all noticed. Many have residual affects that extend out from them like ripples from a pebble dropped in water. How great a difference you make depends entirely on how much you’re willing to do. \n\nI’m willing to do everything I can. I thought. I just worry that it won’t be enough. \n\nMichael, you are able to do more than you know. \n\nInwardly, I chuckled. That’s what I was hoping. \n\nAll this crossed my mind as I woke up for the final time, my brain in a tube floating in some viscous liquid. I’d been at rest for a while, and now was mentally shaking the dust off senses I hadn’t been using for some time. I activated the sight and hearing sensors hooked up to the machinery I could access. \n\nWow, I thought, This place needs a new cleaning lady. \n\nThe lab, as much as I could see of it, was a mess. Equipment was turned over, tools scattered everywhere. It looked like everything breakable had been shattered, dented, torn up or experienced some sort of damage. I couldn’t see the cobrawolves that had been running their experiments the last time I’d been awake on the ship, but then again, I didn’t expect them to stand in one place forever like some video game character. \n\nMaybe one of their experiments got out of hand, I thought with a mental smirk. Would serve them right if one of their test subjects went Frankenstein’s monster on them, the bastards. \n\nThat’s when I saw some slow, unsteady movement in one corner. Panning the sensors in that direction, I saw a figure moving forward from a darkened corner of the room. Slowly, it rose up from the floor and staggered into the light. It was a hyena, dressed remarkably like the way I used to before getting treated like a high school dissection frog. \n\nDamn, that guy looks like he’s been through the wringer, I thought. The hyena had numerous small cuts and bruises covering his face, hands and chest. A few glass shards poking out of him indicated exactly what had caused the wounds. But the worst of his bleeding was coming from his ears, nose, even his eyes. I was no doctor, but I knew a grievous internal head injury when I saw one. \n\nThis guy’s in trouble, I thought, But what can I do? I could try to point him to some medical supplies if I could make contact…Oh hang on…\n\nI couldn’t make any sounds, but I could access the computers screens. Picking the one closest to the hyena, I activated a simple text program and, using what the cobrawolves had picked up on terran languages, threw up some English text. \n\nHEY, HEY YOU, I typed, THERE’S MEDICAL SUPPLIES IN THAT CABINET ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE ROOM. \n\nThe hyena was weaving like the room was spinning to him. As he did, he happened to catch sight of the large, blocky text in the screen overhead. He blinked, looked over at the cabinet, then looked back at the screen. Glancing around in confusion, he rubbed at his head. \n\n“…the fuck can see me…this another one of their damn experiments…,” he slurred. \n\nI CAN SEE YOU THOUGH SOME SENSORS IN THE ROOM, \tI typed. I’M STUCK IN THE JAR IN THE CORNER. \n\nThe ‘yena blearily looked to the corner, stumbling in the direction of my holding tank. From the angle I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the weak sniggering laugh coming from him. \n\n“Heh, wassamatter? Wancher fishy flakes?” he said, tapping his finger on the glass. \n\nVERY FUNNY, I responded. NOW WHY DON’T YOU PATCH YOURSELF UP BEFORE YOU BLEED OUT? \n\nThe hyena, apparently attracted by some beeping from the screen as my text scrolled across the screen, looked over and up at the screen. He gave a light, despondent snort, which made more blood come out of his nose. \n\n“Heh, unless ‘ey got somethin’ for a bleedin’ brain, ‘m fucked,” he said. If I had a face, I would have winced. \n\n“F’heh, never thought id end like thish,” the hyena said, leaning against the tank my brain was floating in. He wiped the blood from his nose, carelessly flicking it on the floor. “Alwaysh figured I’d go down with somefaht with th’ cops oragainsht an army, heh.” He blearily slumped further along my case, now down on his knees. \n\nWHAT DO YOU MEAN? I typed. HOW’D YOU GET HERE, ANYWAY? \n\n“Ah got dragged upere by that fuggin’ Canmefin, gotta try to shave the fuggin’ universh. Pfff,” the hyena snorted again. Just then, the sound of a battle came from down the hallway. The hyena had apparently left the door open to the lab, though I couldn’t see it from where those sensors were. \n\n“Ooooooooohboy,” the ‘yena groaned, “shounds like shi’s tearin’ up shit.” Barely a second later, a howling bellow that would have made me jump if I had legs came echoing down the hallway. \n\n“Thengain, maybe somethin’s tearin’ HIR up,” the hyena mumbled. \n\nSHI NEEDS HELP! I typed. The hyena rolled his eyes, head leaned up against the side of the tank. \n\n“Shucker, I’m fadin’ fast,” he slurred. “Thefug you expect ME to do?”\n\nDAMNIT! I typed involuntarily. The ‘yena just chuckled thickly. \n\n“E’yeah, suck t’ be…anyone, doesn’t it?” He said. “Like I say, lives bitch, then ya die…now so’m I…ain’t no lie…gotta fly…poet…din know it, heh.” \n\nI was desperately trying to think of a solution, scanning the room with the sensors I had to locate something, anything, that might offer some sort of way to patch the hyena back up or somehow give me a pair of hands to use. As I looked around, I spotted one of the pieces of equipment that still functioned. An idea suddenly sprang into my mind. That was it. That must have been the more subtle solution I’d been told about. \n\nHEY. I typed. IF YOU’RE SURE YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE, MIND IF I HAVE SOMETHING OF YOURS ONCE YOU’RE GONE? \n\nThe ‘yena, glancing up at the screen against, let out a despondent laugh. \n\n“Sure,” he said, “The fug do I care once I’m gone. Whacha want, my shoes, heh heh heh.” \n\nYOUR BODY, I typed. It just made him laugh even more, sounding weaker with each rasping breath. \n\n“Ho-lee sheeeet,” he droned out. “Ah’ve fucked’alotta strange folks, but never’a brain’na jar.” \n\nTHAT MACHINE OVER THERE IN THE LEFTHAND CORNER IS AN AUTOMATED SURGICAL DEVICE. I typed. I CAN ACCESS IT IF YOU GET ON IT, AND TRANSPLANT MY BRAIN INTO YOUR BODY AFTER YOU DIE. \n\nThe hyena’s head lolled in the direction of the machine. It looked a lot like a CAT scanning machine, only it had lazer surgical equipment instead. \n\n“ ‘ew really wanna try’n get back ‘n yer feet,” he said. “Wha’fer?” \n\nTO TRY AND HELP THAT CANMEPHIAN YOU CAME UP HERE WITH AND PUT AN END TO THESE BASTARD’S EXPERIMENTS, I typed. \n\n“Pfff, why bother?” The ‘yena grunted. “You really think…” To drive my point home, I activated a boldface font to my text. \n\nI DON’T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE PHILOSOPHY WITH YOU, YOU GOD DAMN MOPING PUSSY, NOW ARE YOU GONNA HELP ME OR NOT?!?!?!?! I banged out. \n\nThe hyena gave my brain in its jar a cool, searching gaze. Then, slowly, painfully, he dragged himself across the room. I prayed with every fiber of what was left of my being that he didn’t bite the dust before he made it. The ‘yena slowly pulled a few drawers out on a rolling cabinet, using them like a ladder to crawl up to the top of the surgical machine. I breathed a mental sigh of relief as the hyena rolled over onto its back in his last effort, laying flat on the table. \n\n“ ‘ey,” he said. “Do me….one favor….make…those…fuckers…pay…for me.” With that, I heard the hyena let out a final breath. His body went entirely limp. \n\nCount on it, I thought. \n\nMy head was pounding as the world slid into view. A dull, aching throb pulsed through my temples as I rolled onto my side, putting a hand to my forehead and groaning. It was at that moment the significance of my situation finally hit me. \n\nI can feel again…,I thought with a sense of awe. I’ve got HANDS again! The surprise of it all was enough to make me sit upright and jump off the operating table, dropping about seven feet to the floor before I found out I was still getting acclimated to my new body. I hit the floor footpaws first, but where I would have previously tried to land with some semblance of control, I instead fell on my ass and collapsed in a heap. \n\n“Damn,” I grunted. “It’s like trying to get your sea legs. Well, at least my voice hasn’t changed. I guess there’s some truth to the saying ‘it’s all in your head.’” I tried to chuckled, and a rapid, echoing cackle escaped my muzzle. I blinked a bit in surprise. \n\n“Shit, did that come out of ME?” I muttered. “I guess some things are really ingrained in a species.” \n\nLooking around, I pulled myself back up, using the base of the operating machine as support. As I did, I winced and put a hand to my side; seems the cuts and bruises were more extensive than I first thought when I saw the hyena first stumble in. I turned to the medical cabinet I’d directed the hyena towards previously. I found myself adjusting quickly to moving around in this new form. When you’ve been doing something like walking for twenty-odd years, you don’t forget the basics. I think it also helped that this new body and my original one were so similar: both were warm-blooded, predatory mammals.\n\nI stumbled a couple of times on my way to the cabinet, but still managed to make it with remarkable steadiness for someone who just underwent massive surgery. I’d learned a few key phrases in cobrawolf during my time poking through their files, and was able to locate a bottle of painkiller medication and downed a good handful of a powder-form medication. It tasted horrible, but I choked it down to knock out the aches as I located a roll of bandages. \n\nMy next stop was the tank my brain had once floated in; the most reflective surface in the room. The tank was now empty, returned to its position by automated machinery after transplanting my mind in its new home. Using the smooth, glassy surface as a makeshift mirror, I began to wrap the bandages around my cut-up hands and, with some difficulty, my rather battered torso. Still being rather dizzy, I wound up leaving lengthy streamer-like ends dangling off of me as I tied off the wrappings. As I began to bandage my head, I paused to examine my face. It was funny, but it seemed to be different in a number of subtle ways from the person I’d seen crawling out of the shadow-filled corner of the room. \n\n“I guess attitude counts for a lot,” I said to myself, smirking as I wrapped the bandage around my head. The cauterized scar where my top (I’d already begun thinking of the new body I had as my own) had been popped off to insert my gray matter disappeared under the medical wrappings, along with a lot of the rest of my face as I looped the bandage around my head in overlapping bands.\n\n“Alright,” I muttered. “Now that that’s done, what’ve I got on me…,” I began rummaging through my pockets. I found a wallet and flipped it open. It had a significant roll of cash in it, plus a number of credit cards. But the real shock I got was when I read the driver’s license. \n\n“What the fuck…” I said. “This guy’s name was….holy God, talk about remarkable. What’s next, I find he’s got my…,” I reached under my coat to my left hip. I couldn’t help but jump in surprise when I felt the butt of a gun. \n\n“No,” I said. “It can’t be…,” I slowly drew the gun. My eyes widened as I looked over the stainless steel revolver in my hand. I turned it from one side to the next, and saw the engraving on the side, The Equalizer II. \n\n“This is weird,” I said, then shrugged; there was no sense in letting it rattle me. After all, if God wills it, the most unlikely of circumstances will happen. I opened the revolver’s cylinder; fully loaded. I patted the pockets of my trench coat, feeling several speed loaders of ammo. Grinning, I pushed the cylinder on the revolver shut. \n\n“Together again, old friend,” I chuckled. Looking at the open door of the lab, I put my thumb on the hammer of my gun. \n\n“Time to get to work.” \n\n“Hurry up! We were supposed to have everything stored and evacuate this deck long ago!” \n\nThe voice I heard was definitely from a cobrawolf. My legs were still a bit unsteady, but I was quickly regaining my footing. After leaving the lab, I found the hallway to be mostly deserted, save for the dead bodies littering the corridor. My main focus was to try and find the Canmephian the hyena had told me about. I figured it would be fairly easy; just head towards the sound of fighting. But things had gone somewhat quiet recently, making my work a little harder. \n\nI’d been passing by one lab when I heard sounds coming from inside. My back to the wall, I slowly crept up to the corner and cocked an ear. \n\n“This is volatile ordinance,” Another voice said. “We can’t just toss it in a locker like it was clothing. It has to be carefully stored.” \n\nI slid right up to the lab’s doorframe and peeked around the corner. Two cobrawolves were packing various weapons into storage cabinets. It looked like they were terran arms, from their size and shape. The reptiles had their backs to me, so I slid inside and, to make sure we weren’t disturbed, I reached up high overhead and managed to hit the door button, sliding the door quietly shut behind me. \n\n“Look at these things,” one of the cobrawolves said, holding a bullpup machine gun in one hand like a child’s toy. “How are these kinds of weapons supposed to be effective in battle?” \n\n“I’ll demonstrate,” I said. Both cobrawolves jerked around to look at me. One of them went for hir sidearm as I raised up my revolver. The loud blast from the gun was like hearing a favorite song on the radio, a .357 slug going into hir torso. The cobrawolf lurched backward painfully, but at hir size, I knew it would take more than one shot, so I squeezed off two more rounds, one more at hir chest and a third carefully aimed at hir head. \n\nAll this happened in the space of a few seconds. I knew it was risky focusing too much attention on only one of two opponents, but I was banking on the surprise and my comparatively smaller size to throw off the other cobrawolf. As I turned towards hir, I saw the reptile trying to fire the bullpup at me. Shi seemed perturbed that it wasn’t going “bang”, repeatedly squeezing the trigger and slapping at it with one hand. I quickly repeated the performance I’d just put on, plugging the cobrawolf twice in the chest and once in the head, dropping hir to the floor. Opening my revolver’s cylinder, I dumped out the empty shells as I approached the body, reloading my gun. Curious, I picked up the bullpup and looked it over, then glanced at its side. \n\n“Haven’t you people ever heard of a safety lock?” I said. Shaking my head, I looked around the room. It seemed the lab was dedicated to the study of foreign weapons; a variety of dangerous-looking devices were in various states of disassembly on work benches around the lab. The cobrawolves had been in the process of locking it all up, probably to try and keep the rampaging canmephian from getting a hold of them. I went over to the work station the cobrawolf with the bullpup had been at, climbing up the handles of the station’s drawers like a ladder. A box on top held a wide variety of various weapons, while a smaller one nearby held a good sampling of various types of ammunition. Digging through both crates, I managed to locate a pump-action shot gun and enough shells to load it and fill one of my coat pockets. A couple grenades found their way onto my belt, clipped there with their trigger levers. Thus fortified, I climbed back down and continued my search. \n\nI’d gone past three blocks of labs with no results, when I heard the sounds of gunfire. I instinctively stopped, then, shot gun held to my shoulder, I quickly trotted in the direction of the fight. I rounded a corner just in time to see a gang of cobrawolf troopers surge into a lab. Once more doing my SWAT impersonation, I crept up along the wall, listening in at the door. \n\n“So what are you waiting for?” I heard a voice say. It wasn’t the harsh, hissing voice of a cobrawolf; it had to be the Canmephian I’d heard about. But there was something familiar about the voice...\n\nNo time to worry about that, I thought, and quickly swept around the corner. The troopers, five of them, all had their backs to me. I took a few more steps in. \n\n“We wanted to make sure you saw this coming,” One of the troopers said with an ugly, mocking tone. As they all raised up their weapons, I drew a bead on the speaker’s head. I let loose with a heavy, thudding shot that sent a cluster of buckshot into the cobrawolf’s skull, knocking a good chunk out of it and dropping hir to the floor. The troopers and the Canmephian all looked in shock in my direction. Unable to resist the urge to crack bad ass, I lowered my shot gun in a dramatic pose. \n\n“Remand your souls to God,” I said, and drove the point home by pumping my shot gun. “Your asses belong to ME.”\n\nThe cobrawolves didn’t hesitate more than a second before starting to swing their weapons around. I hadn’t expected anything else, honestly, and was just waiting for the moment to yank my shot gun back up and start firing again. The Canmephian also didn’t waste time joining the fight, letting loose with a hail of gunfire from whatever weapons shi was using. The troopers never got off a shot before they were all laying in a heap on the floor. \n\nI jacked out the last smoking shell from my scatter gun and got my first good look at who I’d just come to the aid of. It wasn’t much of a surprise. \n\n“Admiral Redwolf,” I said, smirking through the bandages around my head. “We meet again.” \n\nThe drygerskunk cocked hir head to one side, looking at me with uncertainty. \n\n“Mike? Is that…you? I mean…,” shi said and I chuckled. \n\n“E’yeah,” I said. “It’s the real me.” I felt a tingling sensation pass over my head; I figured it must be a psychic scan of some kind because a look of dawning realization and amazement came over Redwolf’s face. \n\n“It IS you!” Shi said. The drygerskunk suddenly jumped up, pulled me up to hir eye level telekinetically and threw and arm over my shoulder, hugging me tight enough to squeeze the breath out of me.\n\n“WHOOF! Heheh, nice to see you too,” I said, my voice a bit wheezy from lack of breath. The admiral eased up on hir grip on me, a look of combined relief and amazement on hir face. \n\n“How are you here?! And how’d you come to look like your impostor doing a Darkman impersonation?” shi said. I filled hir in on everything that had happened to me since the Antarctica incident. The drygerskunk nodded at all the right points, then put hir hands on hir hips and shook hir head. \n\n“That sounds like one hell of a ride,” shi said. \n\n“F’heh, tell me about it,” I said. “But as it is I’m back, temporarily.” \n\n“Temporarily?” Redwolf said, cocking hir head to one side. I smirked a bit, resting the shot gun on my shoulder. \n\n“Everybody dies sooner or later,” I said. “Some of us are just blessed with a preview of coming attractions.” \n\n“So you’re sure that experience you had hearing what you took to be God’s voice and being shown all those visions, all that wasn’t a hallucination?” shi said, giving me a quizzical look. “You’re sure it was the real thing?”\n\n“I’ve got no doubt,” I said. The admiral shrugged. \n\n“Eh, I’d want to see it myself to confirm it,” shi said. I just shook my head ruefully. \n\n“I can see you haven’t changed in a year,” I said with another smirk. Just then, two more cobrawolf troopers tried to ambush us. They aimed high on me and wide on the admiral, though, and we quickly dispatched them with our combined gunfire. \n\n“Let’s save the rest of the reunion for later,” Redwolf said, motioning for me to follow with one pistol. “We need to either commandeer this ship or destroy it.” \n\n“Any ideas on how to do either one?” I asked. \n\nOnly the latter, Redwolf said to me telepathically. If we can get to the armory and get some explosives, we can set charges in the ship’s artillery batteries. These cobrawolves can make a nasty weapon, but their construction skill is lacking; a 75% chance of explosive decompression for a ship is considered an acceptable risk to them.\n\n Morons, I thought. Okay, so that can be our last resort, what about taking control of the ship?\n\nNot so easy, the admiral “said”, scanning a corridor intersection. Shi was leading the way to a large elevator at the end of the hall. We’d need to take out just about every major officer on board; the captain and all hir lieutenants. That would cause enough discord and confusion the grunt troops would surrender; none of them would know how to operate the ships higher systems and certainly wouldn’t know how to navigate. \n\nSo why not just pop off a few clones of yourself? I thought, I’ve seen you do it before. \n\nI can only clone myself when I have enough matter stored in my body to do so, Redwolf thought. It may have been wishful thinking on my part, but I was sure I detected a hint of ruefulness about hir mental tone. If I don’t eat enough beforehand, I can’t do excessive morphing or cloning. Right now, I’ve got enough to shapeshift and regenerate wounds a few more times, but no more than that. \n\nAhh, the chink in your armor, I thought, and couldn’t help but feel just a bit smug. You’ve come to rely so much on certain powers, when you’re without them, you’re rather caught with your pants down. \n\nSomething like that, Redwolf said as we reached the elevator. Shi thumbed the call button while I watched the corridor. We were overdue for a nasty surprise, and I was feeling like a cockroach waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. When the elevator chimed and I saw it was empty, that feeling only got worse. \n\n“Are there any stairs we could take?” I said. Redwolf looked around. \n\n“Not on this level, apparently,” shi said. \n\n“And cobrawolves don’t use stairs, they have smooth incline ramps.” Stretching out hir arm, shi fumbled with a latch on a panel in the elevator’s ceiling without getting in. The panel swung open and a set of indentations meant for use as handholds and footpawholds leading up to it lit up with LED lighting. \n\n“Feel better?” Redwolf asked. I smirked and held up a hand with my forefinger and thumb held less than an inch apart. \n\nThe elevator hummed smoothly upward, rising like mercury in an old-fashioned blood pressure cuff. \n\n“I’ll give these bastards one thing,” I said, using the butt of my shot gun to scratch an itch on my back, “at least they don’t play elevator music.” \n\n“That’s about the only form of torture they don’t indulge in,” Redwolf muttered. I brought up my shot gun when the elevator chimed. The doors slid open, revealing a large, mostly empty cargo bay. I looked at Redwolf and noticed hir quizzical expression as shi looked at the elevator control panel. \n\n“This isn’t the floor you punched in, is it?” I said. \n\n“No,” shi said, thumbing the keypad again. The elevator gave off a couple decidedly unfriendly-sounding clanking noises. We both quickly stepped off the elevator before it plummeted down the shaft. The noise it made as it reached the bottom told me we wouldn’t be going back down the same way we came. \n\n“I get the feeling we’re in for a nasty surprise,” I said, turning to Redwolf. The drygerskunk got a tic under one eye. \n\n“Terrific,” shi said, “Now what?” I winced painfully as Redwolf said that and gave hir a look. The drygerskunk slapped a hand over hir mouth. “Oh diety, I didn’t just say that, did I?” I slowly nodded. Sighing, the admiral checked the clips in hir Lugers. \n\n“Well, let’s get this over with,” shi said. Cocking my shot gun, I fell into step next to hir as we moved away from the elevator shaft and into the cargo bay. There was little of interest in the wide-open room; a few storage crates, all of them sealed, were scattered around. Across from us was a large pair of double doors that looked like entire shuttles could fit through it, with a ramp next to it. Pointing out the ramp, I started towards them, the admiral just behind me, when the doors next to it started rumbling apart. \n\n“Here we…ah crap,” I said. Standing in the middle of the doorway was what looked like a heavy armored cobrawolf trooper. The trooper was piloting a robotic suit that must have been at least 25 feet tall. On top of one arm, mounted on the forearm just behind the wrist of the suit’s grasping claw, was a large cannon that looked like a bigger version of the plasma launchers the regular troopers had been using. On the other was something that looked like a cross between a mini gun and a lazer rifle, a weapon with multiple lazer barrels on a spinning shaft. \n\nRedwolf and I didn’t hesitate, and started firing at the mechanical behemoth immediately. Unfortunately, the result was predictable, as hir slugs and my shot spray just bounced off the clear, plexiglass-like dome on top of the machine, which gave its grinning pilot a perfect view of us as the mech stomped further into the room, spinning its lazers to life. The admiral and I dove to opposite sides to get out of the way of the sweeping arc of fire. \n\nScrambling back on my footpaws, I saw the mech starting to bring its plasma launcher to bear, but I wasn’t going to wait for it to get a bead on me. I took off at a dead run for the nearest storage container for cover. Redwolf, meanwhile, charged up a telekinetic attack and delt the armored soldier a hard enough blow to sent it off balance, staggering the behemoth to one side. \n\nI knew buckshot wasn’t going to do much against the mechanical monster, so I jacked out the shells I had in my gun. Digging through my pockets, I tried not to let the sound of stomping destruction only a hundred or so yards away rattle me as I rummaged through the shells in my pockets, picking out a handful of sabot shells. I loaded up the slugs and slid to the edge of the box. The mech pilot realized the drygerskunk was too agile to shoot at close range, so instead was trying to engage hir hand to hand. The mechanical monster swung a forearm at hir, which shi caught. Even so, Redwolf was shoved backward along the floor for several feet as shi tried to bring the machine to a halt. \n\nI brought my scatter gun to my shoulder and sighted the cockpit again. Waiting for a pause in the grappling fight between the admiral and the mech, I fired a slug at the pilot. I didn’t expect it to have much of an affect except to act as a distraction. My expectations were exceeded when I saw the protective dome crack from the slug’s impact. The pilot jerked around in hir seat, clearly as surprised as I was that I’d actually managed to damage hir protective covering. Grinning, I racked in another shell and blasted at hir cockpit again, putting further cracks through hir windshield. \n\n“Redwolf was right,” I said to myself, “Piss-poor craftsmanship.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth then the mech aimed its lazers at me and let off a salvo of shots. The pilot appeared to have forgotten about the drygerskunk; big mistake. Redwolf gave the behemoth a hard yank and pulled it off kilter, but that’s when the mech displayed a hidden talent. Rocket jets unfolded from its back and helped keep it upright. Another jet opened from the palm of its claw just two feet from the admiral’s face. Shi let out an appropriately profane exclamation and bent over backwards as the stream of afterburner-hot flame just barely missed hir. \n\n“UPSTAIRS!” Redwolf yelled, tumbling to the side to get around the metal monstrosity. I booted it towards the staircase just past the mech, meeting the drygerskunk on the way. The mech wasn’t quite as fast, and another load of corrosive plasma fell just short of us as we made it around the corner of the ramp. It’s a good thing I was used to taking staircases two steps at a time, otherwise I might not have kept up with Redwolf. As it was, I was still panting heavily as we neared the top. \n\n“Being chased…by Iron Man’s steroid-abusing cousin…with my brain hotwired…into a new body…on a spaceship using my planet’s people…as lab rats,” I gasped and rasped, “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten up this morning.” \n\nRedwolf looked at me and gave me a bemused smirk. Just then, we heard the sound of heavy metal feet tromping up the ramp. Redwolf shouldered hir captured plasma launcher and fired the last of hir rounds into the ramp. Acidic sludge bubbled over it, eating a hole into the metal a tank could fall through. We retreated quickly away from the edge to avoid pursuit. \n\n“Heh, that should give ‘em a hard time,” the admiral said. Just then, we heard the freight elevator on the far side of the room start down. Redwolf and I spun around. The second floor of the cargo bay was empty; nothing to take cover behind. Hissing obscenities under my breath, I ran over to the elevator and began jumping up and slapping the call button, trying to stop the lift from going down. \n\nNo dice, the box continued on its merry way to pick up the metal behemoth. \n\n“Shiiiiit, someone must be overriding the conroooools,” I groaned, pacing back and forth in agitation, flipping the bird to the nearest surveillance panel when I spotted it. \n\n“C’mon,” Redwolf said, standing in about the middle of the room, “We can jump the gap and head back down the ramp when he comes up.”\n\n“And play keep-away with him until reinforcements arrive to box us in?” I said. I was starting to get an idea how a mouse feels when he knows he’s running out of hiding spots from a cat. Feverishly, I looked around the empty room, then tried to look through the crack between the elevator doors. Suddenly, I flashed back to the elevator we’d taken to the cargo bay. \n\n“Red!” I yelled, “Pry these open!” Without arguing, the drygerskunk ran over to the doors, morphing two of hir arms into a pair of prybars. The metal shrieked and whined in protest, but eventually gave way to hir superior physical presence. I looked down the shaft at the slowly approaching elevator lift, then looked across the empty space. \n\n“Is that what I think it is,” I said, pointing at the glowing conduit panel running up the side of the shaft across from us. Without a word, Red grinned and got my drift. Shi pulled out hir pistols and I aimed my shot gun. Lead pounded the conduit, sending sparks flying as the glow started to flicker and die. The progress of the lift slowed, shuddered, then reversed at an alarming rate. Alarming for its occupant, anyway. I leaned slightly over the edge and watched as the lift shot down to the bottom and hit the end of the shaft with a thunderous crash. Still rather out-of-breath, I grinned crazily and chuckled. \n\n“We better not linger too long,” Redwolf said, hanging the plasma launcher on hir belt from a convenient snap hook on the stock. Nodding, I fell into step behind the admiral as shi led the way towards a door that led back into the bowels of the ship.\n\nThe corridor we entered practically defined the term “too quiet.” There were no signs of life; I couldn’t speak for the admiral, but I was definitely waiting for the other shoe to drop. Unfortunately, it did. As we approached an intersection, one of us stepped on a hidden explosive, which I later found out was a concussion mine. Redwolf was knocked one way, down the corridor. I, on the other hand, was thrown towards a pair of opening elevator doors. Expecting to get tossed into a lift-full of troopers, I drew my gun. As it was, there were two troopers hanging from cables in the open shaft. Twisting around, I fired off several rounds as I plummeted down the shaft. I don’t know if I hit any of them, because once they faded from view, my main concern was the sudden stop I was rushing towards. I reached out and grabbed the cable in front of me. It was a good thing my hands were bandaged, or I would’ve gotten serious friction burn. I managed to slow my drop just enough so that when I hit the bottom, I just collapsed in a heap rather than splattered into one. \n\n“Fffffffuuuuuuck,” I groaned. Re-opening previous wounds, metaphorical or real, is never pleasant. Slowly dragging myself back onto my footpaws, I leaned against the wall and swallowed another handful of the painkilling powder I had with me. It took me a moment to locate the maintenance keypad to open the shaft doors from the inside. \n\nI emerged from the shaft to find myself back on the science deck. I was mildly relieved, since I knew the deck had already been evacuated to keep ahead of Redwolf’s rampage. My first inclination was to try and find a way back up to hir, so I began hunting for a working elevator. As I approached one room, however, I heard the squelch and squawk of a radio. \n\n“Subject is on storage level,” a cobrawolf voice said. Sliding up to the doorway along the wall, I swung around, ready to fire. The room turned out to be empty, so I relaxed my grip on my shot gun as I slipped inside and shut the door behind me. I’d found a security station, a small room little bigger than a closet with a console for radio communication and watching security feed from the cameras. I climbed up into the console’s chair like a kid trying to get to his dad’s office desk. The screen interface was awkward to use, but I managed to bring up the video feed from Redwolf’s level. \n\nThe feed was a deadly kind of reality tv, live-action, unscripted, and violent. Redwolf was holding hir own against another squad of troopers, but more were on their way. The ship’s captain must have been getting tired of trying to whittle down the drygerskunk and was increasing the pressure. \n\n“We’re not gonna get through this,” I muttered to myself. “Not alone…,” The answer hit me almost instantly. If we needed help fighting the cobrawolves, who else to turn to besides their test subjects? \n\nIt took me a few minutes before I found the storage room where the cobrawolves were keeping their kidnapping victims. The three guards keeping watch over the storage containers gave me a fight, but a well-placed shot to one of their heads before they even knew I was there threw them off sufficiently. I threw open the first storage container, pulling a folding knife from my pocket and snapping it open with a flick of my wrist. The blade sliced through the vaccum-sealed plastic around the first kidnap victim, a white ram dressed in blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a gray plaid driver’s cap. As air swept into the bag and broke the seal, the device monitoring the ram’s vitals beeped rapidly as his eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, struggling with the bag around him. \n\n“Easy, easy!” I said, drawing the knife away quickly before I accidentally cut him. The ram grabbed two handfuls of the plastic and tore it open, gasping for air as he did. \n\n“Mother o’ mercy, I hate tight spaces!” he said, coughing and grabbing the side of the crate for support. He looked to the side, still blinking in a groggy state. \n\n“Whar am I? Who’re you…and bugger me laddie, whot happen to ye?” he said. I smirked a bit, extending a hand as the ram slowly climbed out of the crate. \n\n“The name’s Mike Fang,” I said. “You’re on board a space ship run by hostile aliens kidnapping people for science experiments. What happened to me would take too long to explain.” \n\n“Saints preserve us,” the ram said, rubbing his eyes as he got his footing back. “Last t’ing I remember was walkin’ home after work, an some big ugly bastard grabbin’ me from the mout’ of an alleyway.” I nodded and flipped my knife around, passing it to him butt-end first. \n\n“C’mon, give me a hand cutting the other folks free,” I said, taking my leatherman tool off my belt and unfolding the pocket knife blade. The next few minutes were filled with the sound of vacuum packages breaking open, terrans emerging from their airless prisons, gasping and coughing for breath. By the time we’d found the last sealed-up prisoner, there must have been at least two hundred terrans shaking off the effects of their stasis. \n\n“Thanks,” I said, taking back the folding knife from Sikes O’Grady, the ram I’d first met. Pocketing the blade, I jogged to the front of the storage room, clambering on top of a storage container so I could get a good view of the crowd. Most of them looked bleary-eyed and unsteady, like newborns or late risers in serious need of coffee. I’d found out that some of them had already been experimented on, then placed back in their plastic bags like leftovers to be saved for later. These poor suckers were mostly curled up on the floor, hugging their knees to their chests, rocking back and forth like shell-shocked P.O.W’s. \n\n“Alright, everybody!” I yelled out at the top of my voice. The aimless wandering that has pervaded most of the crowd ended. I wasn’t a complete stranger to public speaking. Now seemed like the time to put that experience to use. \n\n“Listen, we’re not out of the woods yet,” I said. “For those of you who aren’t sure about where we are, consider this your official notice: we are trapped on board an alien ship by a race of tyrannical reptiles that want to use us as guinea pigs for study and experiments.” \n\nQuite a few people gasped and made other exclamations of shock. The shell-shocked ones didn’t help matters as a lot of them began letting out high-pitched whines of anxiety, a few of them grabbing at their hair with both fists, staring vacantly off into space. \n\n“But these reptiles aren’t in complete control of this ship anymore,” I said. “There’s a canmephian admiral on board trying to take control of the ship; Admiral Redwolf.” I bit back the rueful groan as most of the other Terrans began gasping with hope and relief, talking excitedly among each other about their pending rescue. While I managed to avoid letting out any kind of irritated noise, I couldn’t help frown a bit and roll my eyes. \n\n“But right now, shi’s in a serious bind,” I said. The talk quickly died down. “The Admiral is up against an entire ship by hirself. And shi wasn’t prepared for a fight this big when shi was brought aboard.” \n\nThe faces of the crowd suddenly looked like refugees running from a volcano, standing on the dock as the last rescue boat sailed away, leaving them behind with the lava closing in. Expressions of disbelief and utter shock had settled in over most of them. \n\n“Shi needs help,” I said, “And we’re going to be the ones to provide it.” The crowd began buzzing with voices that sounded dubious at best. \n\n“There isn’t anything we can do!” one person yelled out. I’d expected this might happen, as the general call was taken up. \n\n“The canmephians are the ones who have to protect US!” another person said. \n\n“We can’t fight creatures like theses!” said another. \n\n“We’re not strong enough! Or smart enough!” said yet another.\n\n“We’d just get in the way, we should just wait here until it’s safe!” \n\n“It’s no use, we’re gonna die!” \n\n“Somebody’s got to rescue us!” \n\n“We’re fucked!” \n\n“Where are the canmephians?!” \n\nWe can’t survive against these aliens, we need somebody to protect us!” \n\n“ENOUGH!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs. The entire room suddenly went dead quiet. Looking at the crowd, I began to slowly pace back and forth atop the container, my shot gun resting on my shoulder. \n\n“I don’t know how my entire planet managed to let its balls fall off,” I said, “but it’s high time Terrans grew a new pair.” A few voices murmured in the crowd as I looked across it. \n\n“Ever since I woke up from cold sleep, all I’ve heard from my own people is how helpless we are and how great the Canmephians are,” I said, a small touch of rancor entering my voice. “I’m not gonna dispute the achievements of others, but I think you and all our people need to find something we’ve lost. SELF. CONFIDENCE.” \n\nIt looked like I had the crowds’ ear. More people were looking at me like they were listening and less like they thought I was crazy. \n\n \n\n“Our history,” I said, “has shown us exactly what we’re capable of when we’re put to the test. And what we’re capable of is IMPROVEMENT. We learn, we adapt, we grow stronger in the face of adversity. The best among us have shown their quality by refusing to lay down and die! Our heroes, our pioneers, our champions have all been men and women who stood up when others said it was impossible or hopeless.” \n\nSlowly, more and more faces in the crowd were starting to look invigorated. \n\n“We ALL have the ability to take what God Almighty has given us and make a difference,” I said. “Even if it doesn’t seem to compare to the achievements of others, that does NOT mean what we have to offer is any less important. The greatest work of art is made up of parts both large and small, and it isn’t complete without ALL OF THEM.” \n\nPeople were starting to look at one another and nod. \n\n“Right now, we face a challenge,” I said, “A race fueled by hatred and bigotry that would sow pain and misery to anyone different from them. And our friends are locked in a fight with them to stop their rampage! Our people’s greatest achievements have come when we’ve acted not just for self-interest, but for EACH OTHER. When we stand together, when we work for the betterment of all that is when we truly shine. WELL I SAY THAT TIME HAS COME!” \n\nA louder chatter was going through the crowd, this time one with a positive sound to it. \n\n“It’s time to stand together!” I said, taking the shot gun off my shoulder and slapping the barrel into my other hand. “It’s time to stand with our friends and allies against cruelty and destruction! It’s time to show the universe what God Almighty has made us!” \n\n“Yeah!” \n\n“Yeah!”\n\n“Right on!” \n\n“We have an uphill battle ahead of us,” I said, “Make no mistake about that. But there are others who are already in that fight. And I, for one, am determined to join them!” I jabbed my thumb against my chest. “I’m going to stand next to them against this evil and show them just what I can do with what God has given me!” I spread my arms wide. \n\n“NOW WHO’S WITH ME?!” I yelled. \n\nNothing quite like the sight of a crowd thrusting their fists into the air, cheering in support to make you want to cry. \n\nThe clasps on the crate snapped open. Pushing back the lid, I grinned as I saw the military hardware inside. I’d led the freed prisoners to the munitions lab where the Cobrawolves had been studying our weaponry. The ragtag group went straight to work, pulling open the storage boxes and handing out weapons. I knew most of the people that were with me probably hadn’t had much experience with weapons, but the Cobrawolves had managed to make the mistake of kidnapping a good handful of soldiers and police officers from several different nations. As the de facto leader of this little rebellion, I’d rounded up everybody who’d had such training and had them help me take charge. Sikes had also proved pleasantly ready to take action; the ram had gone about finding anybody with skills that might help us seize the ship; folks with technical skills, scientists, anyone with medical training.\n\nI went back to the security station I’d found earlier. Four Terrans stood guard while inside, a British army officer was listening in on the security transmissions and scanning the video feed. \n\n“Find anything?” I said. The badger, who had to stand in the oversized chair to get at the console, turned to me and shook his head. \n\n“Nothing yet,” he said. “Mostly just com chatter, but I’ve heard a few-wait…” The badger cocked his head, holding the headset he hand in one hand to his ear. \n\n“Sounds like…a big brawl up on deck four…” he said, turning and tapping on the screen where I’d shown him how to switch video feeds. I climbed up and hung off the edge of the seat next to him to get a better look. \n\n“There,” the badger said, bringing up a shot of a corridor leading to an artillery bay. Redwolf was backpedaling down the corridor, shooting at offscreen enemies as shi went. I nodded.\n\n“We need to get there fast,” I said. I dropped back down to the floor and went to consult with the other tacticians. Back in the weapons lab, a group of about six Terrans were gathered around a holographic display of the ship I’d managed to download from the main computer. I still remembered enough from my time hooked up to their machines to know how to access some information. \n\nThe tactical members of our group consisted of a US Marine captain, a UN Peacekeeper lieutenant, a German Interpol agent, a retired Japanese Navy captain, an Israeli intelligence operative and a New York City S.W.A.T. sergeant. \n\n“Gentlemen, ladies,” I said. “We’ve located the Admiral. Shi’s making hir way here.” I pointed to the fourth level on the map, towards the bow of the ship. “Artillery bay 2. From what I know of hir plans, Redwolf is likely either setting up explosives as a contingency to taking control of the ship or shi’s pursuing one of the officers. Either way, we need to back hir up. Suggestions?” \n\n“We’ve definitely got the element of surprise on our side,” said the peacekeeper, a south African leopard. “But the lack of training among our fighters is a concern.” \n\n“To make most of our forces,” said the Israeli operative, a jackal, “we’ll need to pick a location where we have a tactical advantage.” \n\n“High ground would be best,” said the marine, a bat. “And it looks like that artillery bay has a railed walkway going around the top as an observation deck.” \n\n“Right,” I said, focusing my attention on the blown-up image on the hologram. “If we get our people up there with explosives, we can rain hell down on the cobrawolves.” \n\nAll the officers nodded in agreement. I shouldered my shot gun. \n\n“Let’s get everybody moving,” I said. \n\nThe artillery bay doors were just around the corner. Behind me, a dozen armed Terrans were fingering their weapons, some in restless anticipation, others nervously. I had to admit I was feeling both, myself. Beyond the doors, the sound of a heavy firefight was coming. The last report from the communications officer, who was back at the nearest security station we’d captured, said Redwolf had made it inside the bay and took out a cobrawolf dressed in what looked like an officer’s uniform. Unfortunately, three squads of troopers had pinned hir down in the far corner of the room, preventing hir from getting to any exit. Hir stock of regeneration material must have been really low to have to hide from regular lazer fire. \n\n“Echo in position, Delta,” The marine said over the headset I’d commandeered from a dead trooper. Our scientists and engineers managed to jerry-rig headsets for us with an encrypted frequency, enabling us to coordinate our attack. The marine, the U.N. lieutenant, the Israeli agent and the Japanese naval officer took a dozen terrans each and were headed to next level to get onto the artillery bay walkway. Meanwhile, the S.W.A.T. sergeant, the Interpol agent and myself were leading our own squads to the floor-level bay doors. Our plan was to rain down grenades from walkway on the cobrawolves, then in the confusion, lead in floor troops to charge them from behind and both sides. \n\nDespite our best efforts to give crash courses in firearms, the officers told me only about half our liberated captives were able to handle weapons with enough skill to be fit for direct fighting. The rest we’d armed with guns that required the least amount of skill to use and placed at the rear of our assault. We didn’t expect any of the cobrawolves to be able to come up from behind us, but we didn’t rule out the possibility; that or a few survivors of Redwolf’s assault popping out from hiding places behind us.\n\nI lead the way up to the door. Turning to my squad, I pumped my shot gun emphatically. They got the message and cocked their own weapons, an assortment of assault rifles, sub-machine guns and more shot guns. \n\n“Alright,” I said, “Is everybody in position?” \n\n“Alpha, ready.”\n\n“Bravo, ready.” \n\n“Charlie, is guut to go.” \n\n“Foxtrot, in position.” \n\n“Gamma, ready.” \n\n“Alright,” I said, “Comm, initiate the diversion. Everybody knows when to take their cues.” \n\n“Copy Delta,” the communication’s officer said. I grinned a bit; this was going to be good. I wished I could see the looks on the cobrawolves faces. Later, Redwolf told me their firing on hir had slowed a bit, most of them looking around in confusion as Brian Johnson began growling out of the shipwide intercom with the accompanying instrumentals. \n\n“Stand up and be counted! For what you are about to receive! We are the dealers…we’ll give you everything you need!” \n\nOne of the Terrans we freed had a music player with a good selection of classic hard rock on it. I’d borrowed it from him, and instructed the comm. officer to play the most appropriate song I could find to throw off the cobrawolves. I smirked as a few of my own squad members started bobbing their heads in time with AC/DC. \n\n“Okay boys,” I said, listening to the lyrics, “here it comes…” \n\n“Pick up yer balls, and load up yer cannons, for the 21 gun salute! For those about to rock….FIRE!” \n\nAt that moment, a volley of explosions came from the other side of the door. The bombing squads overhead, coordinating with the music, had burst out onto the walkway and let loose with a round of explosives. From the other side, I could hear the yells and chaotic howling from the cobrawolf troopers. \n\n“For those about to rock…FIRE!” Another volley was fired in time with the music, then a third with the follow up line. \n\n“Weeeeeee saluuuuuuute YOOOOOOOUUUUUU!” The bay doors slid open as I banged the switch with my hand. Together with the other two squads, my men and I rushed into the room, guns blazing. The cobrawolves, still reeling from the bomb volleys, had no time to recover. Their defense was in complete disarray as we took up positions behind control panels and heavy artillery batteries, staggering our men so we didn’t catch each other in the crossfire. The overhead bombing squads joined in, adding their thunderous fire to the hailstorm of bullets and buck shot we were pounding the troopers with. \n\nThe cobrawolves, upon seeing waves of Terrans pouring in from both sides and from behind, began trying to retaliate. But they’d gone in thinking they only needed to box in one opponent; they hadn’t counted on being bush wacked and as a result, had chosen to stand in the middle of the room out in the open. Their were probably about twenty troopers all told, each one easily as big as a Canmephian, heavily armored and armed to the teeth. \n\nBut none of that changed the fact we’d caught them with their pants down. \n\nThe cobrawolves fired wildly, trying to hit us. Just about all their shots went overhead, a clear sign they were used to fighting opponents larger than us. Trooper after trooper fell as our relentless onslaught battered through their armor. Redwolf, seeing the cavalry had arrived, certainly wasn’t sitting back and watching from the sidelines either. The admiral alone was fighting with as much strength as an entire squad of Terrans. \n\nFinally, as the rock reached its finale, the last of the cobrawolf troopers fell. I called for a cease fire over the radio, and slowly surveyed the scene. The smell of gunpowder was thick and heavy, along with the scent of the reptiles’ blood. The mangled bodies lay strewn about the room, riddled with bullets and shrapnel. My ears were ringing from all the gunfire, but hearing was slowly returning to me. \n\nI stepped out from behind our cover, others doing the same, as we surveyed the bodies. It was a grim scene; no matter what the cause, death is a heavy burden to bear. Peaceful solutions to problems and grievances don’t wear on the soul. But when your enemy is as malicious and cruel as ours was, fighting is the only way to stop them before more innocent lives are lost. \n\nRedwolf walked up to our group, surveying the scene hirself. Eyebrows raised, shi nodded. \n\n“Very impressive,” shi said. I grinned, turning to the others as I thrust my shot gun into the air as a cheer went up from all the Terrans. \n\nWe had joined the front line, and were ready to do our part. \n\nWith Redwolf leading the way, level by level we were seizing control of the ship quickly. The cobrawolves eventually realized we’d figured out their computer systems and were using their security cameras against them, so they cut off the feed. It was making beds in a burning building. \n\nWe finally reached the command bridge. It was without a doubt the most heavily fortified part of the ship. Ever since we’d reached the level of the officer’s quarters, we’d been running into their most advanced security measures; automated gun turrets and floors that would electrify. But once again, hubris had proven the cobrawolves’ downfall. They didn’t anticipate our engineers and scientists being able to rewire the floors to shock their own troops, nor cut the power to their gun turrets. \n\nAs we reached the command bridge, Redwolf called for us to halt. Looking ahead, loaded up hir plasma launcher with rounds we’d been scavenging from the dead troops. \n\n“Okay,” Shi said, “Cobrawolf command bridges tend to be large, so we best split in two so we can pincer them.” Shi nodded to the left at the hallway intersection. \n\n“I’ll take half the group and go this way,” shi said. “Mike, you and the officers take the other half and go right.”\n\n“See you in the middle,” I said, grinning at hir as I cocked my shot gun. The officers and I led a group of about 40 or so terrans down the hall. Since the fighting began, our success in battle had been nothing short of miraculous. But we hadn’t been without casualties. Every death was felt, but it only succeeded in furthering our drive to win, to make sure those who died didn’t die in vain. We always held the front line, and I never saw one terran turn tail and run. \n\nThe door to the command bridge looked like a mouth at the end of the hallway. A battery of eight gun turrets, now retracted into the walls with their power gone, had been installed to keep out any unwanted interlopers like ourselves. I climbed over the dead body of a trooper, one of the dozen or so we’d encountered barricading the door. Explosives and fast-learning marksmen had taken care of them; it’s amazing how quickly some people learn when under pressure. \n\nWe quietly approached the doorway. I put my ear up to it, listening for movement on the other side. Redwolf had told me over the radio to wait for hir to launch the first assault. We would then attack when the cobrawolves turned their backs. At the moment, all I heard was frantic voices from the enlisted to their captain.\n\n“Captain, we’ve lost contact with Dr. Devarped!” \n\n“We’re down to 25 percent of our troops; those that aren’t dead have been incapacitated!”\n\nI couldn’t help but chuckle. By “incapacitated,” they were referring to the troops we’d driven into rooms with no direct exits. After doing so, we’d sealed the doors, locking them inside and rigging all possible exits with captured explosives. We were only able to do so with squads that weren’t equipped with plasma launchers. Fortunately, it looked like these weapons were still fairly new to the cobrawolf arsenal and not all of the squads had them. \n\n“Concentrate all efforts on getting our automated security measures back online!” The captain’s voice hissed. “Damn the troops if they can’t do their jobs against these puny terrans!” \n\n“Our technicians are still trying to re-route power to the security system, sir,” Another voice said.\n\n“If they don’t succeed I’ll have them all liquefied!” The captain roared. \n\n“Sir,” a new voice said, “At this point we may have to start seriously considering a plan of withdrawal. We could set the ship to self destruct and take the esca...,” a sudden lazer blast cut off that suggestion, most likely through the suggester’s head. \n\n“I…,” seethed the captain, “will not…surrender…to a LONE CANMEPHIAN…AND A BUNCH OF UNDERDEVELOPED INSECTS!” \n\nI guess Redwolf figured that was the most dramatically appropriate moment, I know I did, as I heard hir force the doors open on the opposite side of the bridge. Weapons of varying kinds, both firearms and lazer-based, went off in the now-familiar chorus of battle. I counted down to ten, then pointed at the engineer working at the maintenance panel down the hallway. She touched two wires together, bypassing the door’s lock as it slid open. The bridge was full of sparks, gunshots and lazer blasts. Sitting in hir command chair on a raised platform, the captain was armed with a large, repeating lazer cannon with a plasma launcher attached, similar to a terran assault rifle with a mounted grenade launcher. The captain was larger than the average cobrawolf we’d seen, an unusual diamond pattern running down hir back and down the backs of hir arms. \n\nWe all took up defensive positions behind the various control consoles around the bridge, picking our targets carefully. When the captain turned, I could see in hir eyes a blankness mixed with unbridled rage. Shi was in a berserker fury, wildly fanning hir weapon about. I saw several of hir shots hit hir own troops, something which shi definitely paid no heed. \n\nMy shot gun emptied of its last shell, so I slung it over my shoulder and drew my revolver. Keeping my head down, I dove from the console I was crouched behind next to three of the officers and crawled behind another one with a better vantage point. I got back on my footpaws in a crouch, then stood up with my back to the console. It was tall enough I could fit under it with a bit of head clearance, which gave me an overhead cover as I leaned around the side of it and took aim at the captain’s head. Shi turned and looked right at me just as I drew a bead and squeezed the trigger. The captain’s head jerked back. Shi clapped hir free hand to hir head and snarled in pain as the magnum bullet hit hir right in the eye. The captain managed a few more wild shots before several more shots from various sources nailed hir in the head and torso. Shi fell to the side, slumped over the command console, hir weapon clattering out of hir hand. \n\nThe firing suddenly stopped. The remaining cobrawolves turned and looked with shock at their captain’s dead form. They then looked at each other, then at us, as if in complete confusion about what to do. Redwolf was right; the cobrawolves were so militaristic that without proper leadership, their enlisted troops couldn’t function. \n\nThe admiral stood up from hir cover spot. Hanging the captured plasma launcher from hir belt, shi strode past the awed reptiles to the command console. Shi picked up the captain’s weapon, hefting it in two hands as shi shoved the captain’s body aside with the others. Standing at the console, the drygerskunk rested hir new weapon on hir shoulder, tapping the console to activate the ship-wide speaker. \n\n“Attention,” shi said. “This is Admiral Redwolf of the CMSC. The captain is dead. This ship is now under the control of the Canmephian military AND the Terran military.” \n\nI grinned and nodded in approval. Several of my squad shouted “YEAH!” \n\n“All cobrawolf troops will drop their weapons and surrender immediately,” Redwolf continued. “Those who don’t will be shot on sight.”\n\n“Admiral!” The Interpol agent pointed out the bridge’s main viewport. A small shuttle was blasting away from the battleship. Redwolf quickly looked to the controls.\n\n“Damnit, which one of these is the weapons console?!” shi said. The cobrawolves looked impassively back at hir; even leaderless, they weren’t about to be very cooperative. All we could do was glare angrily at the shuttle as it blasted away. \n\n“Mr. Fang? How’re you feeling today?” asked the nurse. \n\n“Mmm, better, thanks,” I said. The bed I was in was twice the size I needed, which had enabled me to stretch out a lot more than I usually could. Rubbing my eyes, I scooted over to the edge of the bed and dropped down to the floor. I pulled on the exam robe I was provided, snapping the buttons down the front shut, making sure the zipper in the back was closed. \n\n“Gotta say I’m glad you folks redesigned hospital robes; the stuff we used to use was embarrassing,” I said as the nurse, a wolfskunk, Nurse class even, tapped hir PDA, updating hir records on my vital stats. “You should’ve seen ‘em. They looked like potato sacks with a split in the back so everybody could stare at your ass.” \n\nThe nurse giggled. “Redwolf should be by in just a moment to check you out,” with that, she left the room as I picked up the remote for the wall-mounted tv and flicked it on. It had been a month since I’d returned to Earth. After we’d rounded up the rest of the cobrawolves onboard the battleship, we’d locked them in the brig. It was a tight fit for all of them, but we managed. They didn’t have long to get uncomfortable; After working out the long-range communications system, Redwolf send out a signal to the orbiting CMSC ships around Earth. In less than two hours, we were being towed into orbit, a full platoon of Canmephian planetary troops acting as on-board security. The prisoners were quickly split up and transferred to the brigs of different CMSC ships for transfer to military prisons. In the meantime, the captured battleship was the largest of its kind ever taken by the Canmephians. Scientists and engineers were taking it apart piece by piece, studying everything they could. \n\nI was heartened to see that, in addition to Canmeph lab rats going over it, terran scientists were also brought in. Apparently, news of the incident had made it to Earth before we did. Within two days, survivors were being tearfully reunited with family and friends. When the media began interviewing them about their experiences, word began quickly spreading about the particulars. Some media sources tried to give it the old Canmephians-are-our-saviors spin, but the testimony given by most of the survivors quickly squashed that. Not only their testimony, but Redwolf’s as well. \n\n“I didn’t take that battleship alone,” shi said in one interview. “It was captured not just by my efforts, but those of the Terrans that took up arms with me as well.” \n\nAs for myself, I was interviewed a couple times, but I tried to keep fairly modest about my own role. Redwolf, however, wouldn’t hear of it. \n\n“I’m also pleased to announce that Mike Fang, the private investigator and freelance journalist who joined me in my investigations a year ago in Antarctica was among those who fought with me,” shi said in that same interview, and proceeded to regale the media with my own escapades, both in Antarctica and on board the battleship. As a result, I was the headline of several news sites and news crystals. \n\nUnfortunately, my own interviews would have to wait. I was in the hospital as soon as we got to Earth, having my various injuries, both from before and after acquiring my new body, looked at. While there, I began experiencing chronic headaches a lot worse than I’d ever had before. It seemed like every effort I made, to stand, to sit, to so much as pick up a glass make my head pound. Redwolf, upon finding out, examined me hirself and called in hir top neurologist in Terran medicine. \n\n“It appears,” the neurologist said after my exam, “that the brain transfer was a success. However, there are a few minor inconsistencies between a canine brain and a hyaenidae brain.” \n\n“And that’s causing the problems?” I asked. The neurologist nodded. \n\n“Think of it this way,” shi said. “You know how a computer needs drivers to run peripheral devices? Well the “drivers” in your brain aren’t 100 percent compatible with your body.” \n\nFortunately, the fixes were easy to make. A minor amount of brain surgery and some rapid gene therapy were all it took to complete my transformation from one species to the other. None of the parts of my mind that housed conscious thought, memories or higher functions were touched, however, only the ones that regulated involuntary systems, like breathing and sensory input. \n\n“Well, look who’s up and about already,” I heard from the doorway. I turned and saw Redwolf standing in the doorframe, looking at a PDA. “Looks like three weeks recovery was enough for you. How’re you feeling?”\n\n“A lot better, thanks,” I said. “The throbing’s gone and I’m not dizzy anymore.”\n\n“Good, good,” shi said. “We’ll have you go through the routine checkup one more time, then you should be good to go.” \n\n“Excellent,” I said. “Were you able to take care of those things I asked about?” Redwolf nodded. \n\n“All the former “Fang’s” possessions that weren’t yours have been sold. Your previous bank account has been re-opened and the money deposited. His stuff was tacky, but expensive. It sold for about $400,000.” \n\n“Good,” I said. “That should be able to get me a decent place once I’m back in action.” \n\nI passed my last physical without a snag. Redwolf had picked up the new shirt and tie I’d asked for. I stepped into the hospital room’s bathroom to finish dressing. Tying the knot in the tie, I grinned at my reflection as I flipped my hat onto my head. \n\n“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” I said to myself. \n\nRedwolf was waiting for me in the hall once I’d squared everything away. Shi fell in to step next to me as we headed for the elevators. \n\n“Rear Admiral GroundPounder’s asked to see us as soon as soon as you’re ready,” shi said. I nodded. \n\n“Probably wants to know anything useful I found out while in Cobrawolf custory,” I said. The drygerskunk shrugged. \n\n“I dunno, shi didn’t specify any details,” shi said as we reached the elevator doors. “I just hope shi remembers that you aren’t the same person that shi saw the last time.” \n\n“Did the faker try to get under hir skin?” I said with a smirk. The drygerskunk returned it. \n\n“Like a rash,” shi said. \n\nThe air was warm outside, the scent of the flowering bushes used in the landscaping at the Canmephian embassy floated through the air, giving it the relaxing touch a place like that needed. Redwolf led the way the way through the garden courtyard. As we passed, I noticed workmen cleaning up building material scraps around a covered fixture. I’d heard there was going to be some sort of commemorative statue created for the capture of the battleship; I figured that must be it. \n\nAdmiral Groundpounder was waiting for us in the lobby as we stepped through the sliding doors. I thought I’d seen massive Canmephians before, but this big goy took the cake. Shi was at least half again as wide as Redwolf and slightly taller. If your average Detective class Canmephian was built like a tank, Groundpounder was built like an aircraft carrier. The tailor who made hir uniform must have sent several generations of kids to college with the profits from it. \n\n“Redwolf,” shi said, giving the drygerskunk a short nod, then turned to me. “And this must be the “real” Mike Fang,” Shi extended a large hand, which engulfed my own when shi shook it. \n\n“Admiral,” I said, inclining my head in a small nod. \n\n“Well, let’s take this discussion to my office, shall we?” Groundpounder said, leading us down the hallway. \n\n“Didn’t know you had a permanent office here,” Redwolf said, tilting hir head to one side with an inquisitive eyebrow raised. \n\n“Well, given the recent developments, I decided it would be worthwhile for me to have a permanent base of operations on Sol-3,” shi said. “Before now, we’d only had need of enough planetary troops to act as security.” The wolfskunk passed up the elevators without even looking at them, going straight to the stairs just past them. \n\n“Before, you figured you could stop any outside threat to this planet with the space fleet,” I said. “But now, you realize your perimeter can be breached and the fight can show up on the planet surface. Am I right?” \n\nGroundpounder gave me a look that was partly rueful, partly impressed. “Exactly,” shi said. “We’re scheduling negotiations with several countries’ militaries to add CMPC advisors and enlisted personnel to several of their bases.” \n\nWe got off the staircase at the third floor. Groundpounder led us to a door at the end of the hallway down the left. Hir office could be best described as Spartan; it was very utilitarian, a few framed medals and commendations being the biggest personal touches to the room. Either this wolfskunk was still getting moved in, or shi wasn’t one for collecting a lot of sentimental mementos. \n\nGroundpounder settled into the chair behind hir desk while Redwolf and I took our seats in front of it. \n\n“Oh, before I forget,” I said, digging into my pocket. “While I was recovering in the hospital, Redwolf was kind enough to lend me a laptop so I could put together this,” I pulled a data crystal out of my pocket. I had to stand up in my seat and lean forward, one arm on Groundpounder’s desk to hand it to hir. “It’s a report of as much information as I could gather, and remember, from my time hooked up to the cobrawolves’ computer system. I managed to uncover a few plans for future incursions on Earth to try and destabilize your installations; looks like somebody’s trying to run you guys out of the neighborhood.”\n\nThe wolfskunk looked at the data crystal for a moment then set it down on hir desk. Shi leaned forward on hir desk on hir elbows, fingers laced together. “Mr. Fang, when this incident began a couple months ago, I wasn’t very pleased that a Terran was being put on the frontline of the investigation. Your predecessor, whose body you now inhabit, certainly didn’t do anything to improve my opinion.” \n\n“Mmhmm,” I said. That not-so-old indignant feeling about Terran-Canmephian relations flicked through me, causing me to get a hard, mirthless, lopsided grin. \n\n“But,” shi then said, “With the initial reports of how the cobrawolf battleship was captured, combined with this,” shi glanced down at the crystal I gave hir, “I’m pleased to say my opinion’s changed.” \n\nI said nothing, only smiled with more feeling.\n\n“The Terrans have definitely proven they’re capable of meeting the challenges that interplanetary affairs will bring them,” Redwolf said. “Right now there’s still a lot of the submissive attitude around, but the revolution’s started.” \n\nAdmiral Groundpounder nodded. “That’s good. But unfortunately we’ve got a problem that requires immediate attention.”\n\nI cocked my head to one side. “Do tell.” \n\n“The parasitic entity that you encountered in Antarctica,” shi said. “The initial reports mentioned how that Cobrawolf scientist, Dr. Devarped, has made a pact of some kind with it. Since the doctor wasn’t among those either killed or captured, this makes the parasite a continuing threat.” \n\nI nodded; my expression grim. After the battle, when the Cobrawolves were rounded up, the twisted scientist was the only one we couldn’t account for. Shi must have been the lone escapee in the shuttle we saw leaving the battleship. We also found a number of storage containers missing from hir private lab. From the records discovered, they were apparently parasite pods. \n\n“Because of this, we don’t want any remaining traces of the entity on this planet,” Groundpounder said. “Now, both the Antarctic base and its satellite bases have been cleared and no reports have been made of encountering the organism. However, there’s one last place we’ve yet to investigate; the dig site where they were first discovered.” \n\n“Why wasn’t that place carpet bombed?” Redwolf asked. \n\n“Since we don’t have enough information on this enemy, we need to gather as much data as possible on them,” Groundpounder said. “Now with the data gleaned from the Cobrawolves’ studies, combined with the data from the Antarctic investigation, we’ve got most of what we need. But we still have one final question that needs to be answered; how did the parasite get to Sol-3 in the first place.” \n\nI nodded, getting a feeling I knew why we had been asked to Groundpounder’s office. I didn’t like it. \n\n“You want to send us back in, don’t you?” I said. Groundpounder cleared hir throat a bit; it was evident shi didn’t like being in this position. \n\n“I’m afraid so. We need people on the ground with experience with this threat.” \n\nRedwolf and I looked at each other. Hir expression was weary, but resigned. I sighed lightly; answering a call to action is rarely an easy thing to do, especially when the challenge was to face a threat like this; a dark, insidious evil. \n\n“Once more into the breach, dear friends,” I said. \n\n The fridgid air blasted ice crystals all over the windshield of the transport. We’d flown back out to Antarctica the very next day. Memories got jogged for me when the frozen shores came into view, but this time, I felt ready and prepared to face what was coming. It was time to tie up a loose end. \n\nThe joint Earth/Canmeph station was looking a hell of a lot better than it did before. New barracks were being built for the Terran troops and the personnel were all showing a lot more discipline and drive. The previous Terran commander had been replaced, along with the now-infamous Whiteout. I was provided with a new prototype armor that was designed to fit under normal clothing. It was a two-piece suit made of a metallic mesh with small, rigid plates woven in, it was designed to be resistant to projectiles, fire, electricity and corrosion. It was also made to maintain body temperature, much like a thermos, keeping you cool in heat and warm in conditions like those I’d be testing it in.\n\nThe transport slowed as we neared our destination. I felt nervous, knowing what we’d be facing. Redwolf looked rather tense hirself, fingers drumming on hir knees like shi was steeling hirself for what was to come. \n\n“The base camp is just up ahead,” said the driver. “We should be within sight of it in five minutes.” \n\nRedwolf nodded then stood up in the carrier and turned towards the back, holding onto an overhead railing. Shi cleared hir throat, getting the attention of the ten Canmephian commandos we had with us. \n\n“Alright,” the admiral said loudly, “you’ve all had your briefing, now here’s what you weren’t told. This is the origin of the parasite. We’re here to figure out how the hell it got on this planet, which means we’re blazing new and dangerous territory here. We don’t know what we’re gonna find, except for three things: It’s dangerous, it’s evil and it’s not going to be happy to see us.” \n\nThe troopers all looked back at Redwolf impassively. The drygerskunk zipped up hir coat as the carrier’s engine started to slow. Everybody began checking their weapons. Safeties were clicked off, helmets were strapped on. Myself, I loaded shells into my shot gun, checked my revolver and then pulled a protective mask over my muzzle; it was designed to filter out most airborn threats, such as toxic gasses and airborn viruses and other bio weapons. I just hoped it would work on this thing, too. \n\n“Looks like we’ve got some serious snow falling here,” the driver said. “Well, we’re here, though I don’t see th….oh diety…,” \n\nThe shocked, breath-caught sound of the driver’s voice made me turn sharply, then run up to the front and climb up in the shot gun seat to look out the window. \n\n“Oh God, not again…,” I said. \n\nThe wind had died down enough so we could see the base camp, or what was left of it. The temporary shelters showed signs of a recent fight; lazer blast marks pocked the walls and the ground while several doors had been smashed in. A few explosives appeared to have gone off, from the small blast holes that were now sporting a dusting of snow. \n\nThere wasn’t a single dead body to be seen. \n\nRedwolf quickly joined us up front. After surveying the scene, shi slammed hir fist against the side of the carrier. \n\n“Damnit! I told them not to dig in so close to the dig site!” shi said. I checked my watch; it was about 7 a.m., with the sunlight just beginning to creep over the mountains to the east. \n\n“Judging by the snow buildup,” I said, looking at the wreckage of the fight, “I’d say this battle took place at night, which suggests an ambush under the cover of dark. How far is this base to the dig?”\n\nThe driver, still looking pallid, pointed up ahead.\n\n“Just over that ridge,” shi said, indicating a small rise little more than a hundred yards from the camp. I hissed through my teeth and shook my head. \n\n“God, they could have crawled up over the edge and been on top of them in less than a minute,” I said. \n\n“Yeah,” Redwolf said, “but what were they? These parasites need hosts to survive, so what are they using for hosts out here?” \n\nI had no answer for the drygerskunk, but I knew where to find one. I wished I didn’t.\n\nThe door to the carrier swung up. The point commando jumped out, doing a duck and roll through the snow, coming up with hir lazer rifle at the ready. Redwolf, myself and the rest of the squad followed after hir as shi began a sweep of the base camp. It was another frozen ghost town, the satellite station all over again. Once we were sure the buildings were completely empty, Redwolf instructed the commandos to repair the base and put in a call to the main station as soon as possible for reinforcements. \n\nI had a feeling of dread that was stemming from that ominous ridge outside of camp. I knew the enemy was lurking just beyond, and part of me wanted to know just what we were facing. As the commandos busied themselves, I looked at Redwolf, then tossed my glance at the ridge. Shi looked that was as well, then back to me and nodded. \n\n“Let’s see what we’re dealing with,” shi said. We trudged through the snow, across a wide-open plane with the wind pushing at us from the side. We reached the top of the small rise and looked down. \n\nThe dig site must have been close to two hundred feet deep. Terran excavation equipment lay scattered around the bottom, with several sections roped off with fossilized, frozen bones in the process of being exhumed from the permafrost. At the base of the mountain on the far side of the gully was the source of the nightmare; an ancient temple that seemed to pre-date any ancient civilization I could think of. I admitted I wasn’t very knowledgeable about archeology, but it didn’t look Egyptian, Asian, Aztec or Roman. The most I could connect it to were primitive druidic ruins from the United Kingdom with a few hints of Grecian influences. \n\nThe temple was a huge, cube-like building with a peaked roof. Large, Greek-like pillars rose up in front of it at the top of a tall staircase leading to disturbingly wide doors. The outside was covered in crude bas relief carvings. They almost defied description; the pictures seemed to display shapeless masses engulfing stooped bipedal creatures. \n\nI looked at the dig site with a mixture of unease and and unavoidable curiosity. Redwolf pulled a pair of binoculars from hir belt and focused them down into the pit. \n\n“Hmmm…I see fresh tracks leading to and from the temple doorway,” shi said. “That’s definitely where they came and w…,” the admiral was cut off by the ground of the rise chosing that moment to break under the strain of our combined weight. \n\n“WHOA!” I shouted, but found myself falling down the steep incline. Redwolf tossed out an arm, but the ground was too slick with ice and snow to grab onto. We plummeted down the side of the hill, somersaulting until we came to a tangled heap at the center of the gully. \n\nRedwolf grunted, pushing hirself up and shaking hir head, digging snow out of hir ears. I shook the icy powder from my own head, searching around until I found my fedora and snugged it back down, straightening a bend out of the brim. Looking back up the steep incline, I was rather amazed I hadn’t busted my neck on the way down. I didn’t see anyone rushing to the edge of the gorge; the wind must have kept my shouting from behind heard. \n\n“Great,” I said, “Doesn’t look like they’re gonna toss us a rope or anything. So should we try to get back up ourselves?” Redwolf started to answer me, when a faint patter of footsteps came from the entrance to the temple. We looked up the stairs at the wide, gaping doorway, then back at each other. \n\n“I’m…not keen on going in there without backup,” I said. Redwolf looked at the door again. \n\n“Maybe, but the fewer of us that go in there, the fewer people are put at risk,” shi said. Biting my lip, I nodded and unslung my shot gun from my shoulder. The snow that dusted the steps crunched under our boots as we approached the entrance. The inside of the temple was dark, so I re-slung my shot gun, drew my revolver and pulled out my flashlight. Massive rough-cut stones made up the floor in an uneven pattern. The main room was largely bare; only a few stone pews and a large, central altar kept it from being completely devoid of natural features. There we some additional pieces of equipment left behind by the original dig crew. Redwolf went over to a portable generator, flipped a couple switches, then turned a large main switch that gave off a squeaky clank as it snapped into place. \n\nSeveral portable floodlights flickered to life. They were aimed at sections of the wall, which had been carefully dusted at one point. Digital notepads were laying around. I picked up one or two and skimmed their content; apparently the dig crew had been photographing and studying the bas reliefs on the wall when Dr. Ulysses, the scientist that had led the dig before he went crazy, returned from a trip to the base.\n\n“According to this,” I said to Redwolf as I panned my flashlight around. “Ulysses immediately told the crew to stop their studies and begin clearing a caved-in section of a large back room. The notes stop on the morning they were about to begin their excavation.” \n\n“Let’s check the rooms then,” Redwolf said. The first two back rooms we checked turned up nothing. The third had more flood lights which, when turned on, revealed a gaping hole the size of the temple doors. As we approached the massive opening, I accidentally kicked a plastic crate and something fell out at my footpaws. I turned my flashlight towards the object and found a large brick of plastic explosives. \n\n“Damn,” I said, “They must’ve been in a hurry to get this thing open.” \n\nThe hole was at the top of an incline more gradual than the one outside. A dark tunnel lead into the earth, stalagmites and stalactites looked like narrow teeth lining a long muzzle as Redwolf and I slowly slid down between them. That sense of unease had increased threefold by the time we reached the bottom. Ahead, a cavern was sprawling in the blackness, with only the barest amount of from some sort of glowing lichen in small patches on the floors and ceilings. It barely counted as illumination; just enough to allow one’s night vision to pick up indistinct shapes to play on your imagination. \n\nA large dark area towards the back of the cavern drew my attention. As we cautiously approached, we slowed out footsteps as we began to feel a draft coming up from some deeper well ahead. That dark area turned out to be a huge chasm the size of an Olympic swimming pool; a dark abyss that plunged straight down into lightless depths. \n\n“I knew you would come,” a hideous voice behind us said. \n\nRedwolf and I, standing about five feet from the edge of the pit, spun around. I don’t know how they got there, but two dozen figures stood behind us. Terrans, Canmephians and Cobrawolves, all of them with their eyes black and soulless, standing motionless as they stared at us with their blank, almost dead faces. I could feel raw fear shoot up my spine and make my heart begin battering my ribcage. \n\n“You could not resist,” the voice said. I finally located it; it was coming from one Terran form, standing at the head of the group, holding up one of those leathery pods. There was a crack in the top of it. The voice was coming out of the pod, hollow and without emotion. \n\n“The only thing we can’t resist,” Redwolf said, “is the need to stamp you out.” \n\n“You say you’re here to destroy me, but that’s not what you feel,” the voice said. “You came to me following a different call, one much deeper in yourself. You know we can give you what you want.”\n\nI snorted at the pod. “You’ve got nothing to offer us,” I said. \n\n“I was not speaking to you, worthless pest,” the voice droned. I’m not sure which one of them fired the shot or what kind of weapon it was, but suddenly I found myself slammed in the chest and knocked back to the very edge of the pit. The pain was excruciating, and all I could do was lay there and gasp for the breath that had been knocked out of me. \n\n“MIKE!” Redwolf yelled, then turned and drew hir guns. \n\n“Stay your hand,” the voice from the pod said. “I would do you no harm if I could avoid it.”\n\n“And what gives me such a dubious honor?!” the drygerskunk snapped, sounding both angry and confused. \n\n“Kindred spirit,” said the voice. Although I couldn’t see hir face, I could see the admiral cock hir head to one side in confusion. \n\n“Yes,” the voice said. “You know that it’s true. You must know another being of the eons when you meet one. We are both those that will continue long after these lesser races have crumbled to the dust they are little better than. We endure, and I know what you endure. The loneliness.”\n\n“You don’t know jack,” Redwolf spat, “I have a mate, I have friends and companions.” \n\n“But do you have family?” the voice droned. I was still in pain, but I could just make out Redwolf jolting from the statement. The monstrous entity had struck a nerve. \n\n“Your ties to these lower creatures can’t dispel it, can they? That empty, hollowness that comes from knowing you have no one you can truly call your kin, one of your own. Even if you were to procreate, you would have no one you could look to for the support and guidance only one who has come before you can provide.”\n\nRedwolf’s gun hands waivered. Slowly then began lowering a bit. I could see the drygerskunk’s head incline slightly, as if shi were trying to fight a heavy burden on hir heart. \n\n“I have existed far longer than you,” said the voice. I quickly saw where this was going and I wasn’t about to take it lying down; not for much longer anyway. \n\n“I have the experience of centuries,” the voice said. “I can give you what you’ve always lacked; someone to turn to when you can’t bear the burden without comfort. I can provide you with the respite you seek, I can provide you with the sense of security only a parent could provide. Come, join my family, my child.”\n\nRedwolf was motionless. I wasn’t. The blast that struck me had hurt like a bastard, but the experimental armor I was wearing had served well. I raised up my right arm, took careful aim, and fired at the pod being held in front of the drygerskunk. My magnum slug found its target, splattering the pod. Hydrashock bullets are designed to stop when they hit a solid target, preventing it from going through and hitting things behind the target they’re not meant to. However, they have to hit something solid enough to do so, and the pod must have been rather squishy. \n\nThe head of the Terran figure holding the pod now had a huge chunk of it’s forehead missing. It had been solid enough to stop the slug. Even with the damage, I could see the remains of Dr. Ulysses’ face as he dropped to his knees and fell sideways to the floor. \n\n“You,” I grunted, slowly pushing myself up off the floor. “Are full,” I gasped, slowly straightening myself up, “of SHIT.” I said. “We’ve seen how you treat your ‘children’. Family means more than just using someone. Your bond is as cold as a slave’s chains.” \n\n“You cannot take the word of something from such an ignorance race,” said the voice, now coming from the gaped-open mouth of one of the remaining possessed bodies. Redwolf looked to me and I looked back into hir eyes. Then, the drygerskunk turned back to the possessed. Hir hands went glossy, then lengthened and enlarged into a pair of minigun barrels. \n\n“You disappoint me,” said the voice. \n\nRedwolf bellowed at the top of hir lungs, raising up hir morphed hands. Bullets spewed forth from them like water from a hydrant, tearing apart the figures standing in front of hir. Several of them tried to raise up the weapons they had, but not one of them got off a shot as shi swept hir arms from side to side, fanning down the crowd with a deadly shower. \n\nAs the last figure fell, Redwolf stopped firing. The drygerskunk panted hard, hir hands slowly returning to their normal shape, smoke coming from them. Rubbing at my sore chest, I walked up to the drygerskunk as shi slumped forward a bit, resting hir hands on hir knees. \n\n“You alright?” I said, putting a hand on hir shoulder. \n\n“Yeah,” shi said, nodding. “I’ll be alright. It’s just…what that thing said…,” \n\n“I know,” I said. “The devil and his minions really know how to hit you below the belt when they want to.” Redwolf silently nodded and I patted hir back. \n\nThat’s when we heard it. Coming up from the depths. A baleful, bone-chilling moaning noise was rising from the dark pit behind us, along with the sound of something lazily flapping. The drygerskunk and I turned to face what was coming. Then we saw it. For a brief moment, I lost all feeling whatsoever and was struck senseless. \n\nRising up out of the pit was the answer to Redwolf’s question; how did the parasite get to Earth? Well, now we knew. The creature we saw coming was so big it stretched from one end of the pit to the other, barely having an inch of clearance on any side. It had an almost oval-like shape to it and a flat, rippling body, looking a lot like some sort of manta ray. The creature floated on some kind of gas pocket that it kept exhaling out of a pair of orifices on its underside. But it never seemed to inhale, apparently producing the gas through some sort of internal means; a perfect way to travel through space. \n\nThe creature looked as if it once was a graceful, majestic thing. But now it was hideous and corrupted by the parasite that had twisted it to it’s own purposes. Lesions covered the top and bottom of it, looking infected and scarred. Boils and sores also covered the top, where five pairs of eyes lined a ridge that rose up on its back, curving parallel to its front edge. Most of these eyes were the soulless black of all the possessed, while others were a dead, milky white, apparently scarred and rendered useless in some past fight. Underneath the creature, multiple tentacles were handing down at various lengths, apparently growths coming from some of the infected sores. These tentacles twitched and coiled in an apparently deliberate, conscious fashion. Along the underside of the edge was what had once been a single mouth. But now, long-term infection by the parasite had caused mutation, sealing parts of the mouth shut with scar-like tissue, giving the creature multiple mouths with uneven numbers of jagged teeth.\n\n The floating abomination gave out another moaning noise that chilled me to the very core. It’s movement was almost hypnotic, even as it curled back one tree-thick tentacle and started to lash it outward. Then, some unconscious part of me, probably the part of me that controls my will to live, told me to get my ass the hell down on the ground. I hit the dirt flat as the tentacle swept overhead, snapping through stalagmites like toothpicks. Redwolf opted to leap over the thing, hir tails rippling like a sheet being shaken out. \n\nThe massive creature lashed out again, prompting us to dodge it again in the same manner. My shock finally starting to wear off, I started firing at the beast’s functioning eyes. My slugs appeared to hit home, but it was like flinging individual grains of sand; the most I could hope to do was piss it off. \n\nRedwolf was only faring slightly better. Shi drew up enough telekinetic energy I could practically feel it tingling in the air and struck the creature a heavy, crushing blow. The monster wavered in the air, but that was all. An electric crackle came from two relatively small tendrils hanging just behind the creature’s mouth. Redwolf didn’t have time to dodge as a crack of electricity like a lightning bolt struck hir, sending the drygerskunk to hir knees. \n\nDear God, how do we beat this thing?! I thought. Another tentacle lashed out, forcing me to duck-and-roll behind a natural column formed by two stalagmites and stalactites grown together. My heart beating a tattoo into my rib cage, I frantically looked for anything that might give me an answer. \n\nIt was a lot more obvious than I’d expected. I spotted my flashlight, which I’d dropped when I was shot. It had rolled to the side, and was now lying pointed at a plastic crate, probably brought down by one of the original dig crew. Quickly, I dashed forward and threw open the box. My eyes lit up as I saw stacks of explosives with a detonator on top. \n\nRed! I thought as loudly as I could. \n\nRight here, for now…I “heard” in my head. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the drygerskunk striking another telekinetic blow against the abomination, which retaliated with an even stronger electric blast. The admiral managed to deflect this with hir mind, but from the looks of it, the battle was taxing every fiber of hir. \n\nTry to keep it up; we’re gonna bury this son of a bitch. I thought. I grabbed the crate and started dragging it behind me. As the admiral and the behemoth battered at each other, I crept around the edge of the pit. Using the rock columns as cover, I planted charges around the edge of the pit, trying to space them out as much as possible to get the best coverage. I managed to complete about three quarters of a circle before I ran out. Gripping the detonator tightly, I ran in a crouch back towards Redwolf. It was incredible how the admiral had managed to hold hir ground, trading blows with the monstrous creature one after the other. \n\nOkay, I thought, We’re set, but we gotta get that thing low enough to get caught in the blast. \n\nThen this motherfucker’s going DOWN! Redwolf thought. Sweat beaded across hir forehead and hir eyes glowed brighter than floodlights. The mental energy shi gave off made the air around hir shimmer like heat coming off a grill in the summer. Shi raised up all four arms, hands held open. Then, shi clenched hir fists shut and made a pulling jesture. The creature moaned louder, only now it sounded more like a bellow of anger as it faltered in the air. But this time, it wasn’t righting itself; it’s hovering unsteady. \n\nRedwolf sucked in a breath between hir teeth as shi gritted them, sweat now pouring off hir head. Shi heaved and seemed to be trying to throw hir mental weight against the monster. It was working; the creature was slowly sinking into the pit like it was being pulled down by quicksand. \n\nWe better back up! I thought. The drygerskunk and I began backpedaling towards the base of the incline. The creature was now becoming violent in its resistance, lashing its tentacles left and right, smashing stalagmites and hurling the debris at us. The cavern shook as it let out another bellow, it’s body finally sinking to the level of the pit’s edge. \n\n“NOW!” Redwolf yelled. I clapped one hand to my ear, putting the other one against my shoulder and pressed the detonator button. The explosion hurled both the admiral and myself backward, slamming us against the incline. The monstrous, parasite-infested nightmare let out a final, earth-shaking bellow that was more felt than heard as it heeled over like a sinking ship, tumbling down into the pit. The ground shook and rumbled as rock and dirt poured into the pit, the edge crumbling and collapsing. \n\nRedwolf yelled something, but between the ringing in my ears and the chaos of the falling rock, I couldn’t hear hir. The entire cavern was collapsing; as more of the floor around the pit slid and fell into it, the supports for the ceiling gave way, quickly followed by the ceiling itself. Redwolf and I scrambled up the incline, the loose rock making progress difficult. But desperation is a great motivator, and we managed to dig through to bare rock beneath to get our footing. \n\nWe clawed our way back up to the temple, where I collapsed bodily on the floor and the drygerskunk fell to hir hands and knees as the tunnel sealed itself off behind us in a shower of rock fragments and a cloud of dirt and dust. I sucked ragged breaths into my lungs, my last conscious images being several figures running towards us as I passed out from exhaustion. \n\n“Not a bad-looking ride,” Redwolf said.\n\n“It took a while to find one,” I said, leaning against my car in the fading twilight in front of Redwolf’s Pawstooth estate, “but I found an estate auction of a collector.” I rubbed at a small spot on the hood of my ride, an early-model, dark green Chevrolet Impala. The car had cost me a ton, but between the final sales of the former Fang’s gaudy belongings and the reward I’d received from the Canmephian military for services rendered, I’d been able to afford it, as well as a down payment on a duplex condominium, furnishings and a few other personal items. \n\nAnother two weeks had gone by with me in the hospital after my return to Antarctica. Aferwards the media had swarmed both myself and Redwolf once more. I don’t want to say I basked in the attention, but it would be a lie to say I tried to avoid any of it, since I agreed to every interview offered. I was also featured in the guests of honor at the unveiling of the monument I’d seen wrapped up at the Canmephian embassy. I’d felt a sense of pride as the cloth came away, revealing the silhouetted busts of a Canmephian and a Terran, with a plaque underneath reading “In honor of those who fought to end the Cobrawolf incursion of Sol-3, also called Earth, especially those who gave their lives for the safety and freedom of others.” Another plaque beneath the first listed the names of the thirty-seven Terrans who’d died in the fight to take the battleship. \n\n“So, where are you going from here?” Redwolf asked. I ran my finger along the brim of my fedora. \n\n“Well, I’ve got several offers from a few e-zines to buy a feature article from me on my escapades,” I said. “Scientists are curious about studying me to figure out the method of my brain transplant. Oh yeah, and I got contacted by a law firm; seems they have a client who’s being blackmailed. They’d like me to look into it.” \n\n“Looks like you’ve hit a rebound,” the drygerskunk said with a smile. I grinned as well. Life is strange that way; Three years ago I was a depressed, medicated bum wishing for the past I’d lost in cryogenic sleep. Now I was back in my game and turning heads on an intergalactic level. \n\n“I guess it just goes to show,” I said. “Meeting life’s problems and challenges rather than hiding from them pays off more times than not.”\n\nRedwolf chuckled. “It’s what you have to do if you want to make a difference,” shi said. I smirked at hir. \n\n“That’s true,” I said. “But, don’t forget,” I tapped the gold cross pin on the breast pocket of my shirt. “In the great scheme of things, we all make a difference, no matter what size the challenge.” \n\nRedwolf got a contemplative expression on hir face. I pushed myself off from the hood of my car. \n\n“Oh, by the way,” I said. “You remember what that…creature said back in the cave? About kindred spirits and what have you?” \n\n“Tch, yeah…,” The drygerskunk said, getting a rueful smirk.\n\n“Well, I know friends can’t replace family,” I said. “But for what it’s worth, anything you need, anytime you need it, you just ask and I’ll be there.” \n\nI gave Redwolf a pat on hir lower back. Shi smiled and gave me one on the back of my shoulders. Shi headed back towards hir home, hir cabbit hopping down hir front path to greet hir eagerly. I slid behind the wheel of my car, turned over the motor and headed down the road. Life always finds ways to challenge a person. But with God watching over and people you care for at your sides, nothing is impossible. \n\n\tONE CHAPTER HAS CLOSED. \n\n\tA NEW ONE IS STARTING. \n\n\tFANG ISNT DONE YET.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The Real Me

(All characters are copyright their players)

Light crept through the blinds of the bedroom window. Like moss growing on a tree, it silently crept across the floor, spreading slowly; slower than the naked eye could follow. In time, it threw a pattern like prison bars across the bed where a large, lumpy form lay sleeping. The alarm clock next to the bed suddenly clicked to life, emitting a series of chattering beeps that elicited a fast slap of a tail down on the top. The tail slithered like a snake off the top of the clock as the form on the bed stirred, untangling itself from the covers. It sat up and stretched four arms, throwing back its head and yawning loudly. One hand scratched at its lower back, another scratched the top of its head, a third rubbed at its left eye while the fourth reached down and scratched its balls as the form slowly swung itself out of bed; just the typical morning routine for Admiral Redwolf.

It seems everywhere you go in the galaxy, every sentient race wakes up in a similar way. No natural race ever just springs up in an instant; everybody seems to go through a slow, plodding routine that’s practically done in a begrudging state of autopilot. And Redwolf was no different. Shi plodded to the bathroom, took that first morning wizz that every being with male genitalia does in a state of bleary-eyed half-consciousness. A shower and a brushing of teeth followed, then shi split off a clone of hirself (one of the perks of being a fluid shapeshifter) to stick the coffee pot on while hir main self dressed. A black t-shirt was pulled on over hir head, fitting snugly around the three sizeable breasts on hir torso. Shi pulled on hir uniform, buttoning up hir gray pants and snapping the clasps on hir top.

Redwolf reabsorbed hir clone as shi walked into the kitchen, picking up the three-gallon mug of steaming coffee and taking a big slug from it. The caffeine sent a jolt down hir back that snapped away most of the remaining fuzz on hir brain as shi dropped into the seat in front of hir computer.

“E-mail check,” shi said, slurping another mouthful of bean juice. The computer only needed a minute before it beeped a response.

“You have 27 new messages,” it said in its smoothly synthesized voice. The drygerskunk grunted a bit as shi scrolled through hir morning mail.

“Junk mail, junk mail, junk mail…computer, update filter settings to include the senders of the selected messages…finally, something worthwhile…” Redwolf’s mail was filled with some of the usual requests; some troop rotations needed authorizing, there was a new prototype armor that needed someone to be assigned to stress test, a case of flu had broken out in the dryger barracks on Canmeph-1, among other things.

“Let’s see…,” Redwolf muttered, “Regular troop rotation authorized…I’ll ask Groundpounder if Sgt. Meatshield’s available to test that armor…SLURRRRRP…a simple flu outbreak sounds like good training for the medical corps cadets…and the engineering cadets can work on rebuilding the barracks, damn fire sneezes…” After shi’d responded to the requests that didn’t require hir direct attention, the drygerskunk finished off hir coffee and deposited the empty mug in the kitchen sink. Shi poured the rest of the pot into a travel thermos which shi tucked into the physics-defying storage pocket in hir cleavage and headed out the door.

“Morning Red,” said Wolfskunk Silencer, one of the staff at Shot Gun Shells. Redwolf had become one of the co-owners of the brewpub, backing it up with hir considerable bankroll, enabling it to become one of the most popular watering holes on Canmeph-2. Redwolf stretched as shi strolled down the stairs, deciding on a whim to alter hir appearance. The shapeshifting drygerskunk unsnapped the back flap of hir trousers, allowing hir posterior to stretch and expand backward, a pair of appendages sprouting out of what would have otherwise looked like a ridiculously large rump. Hir backside rippled and became more defined until it became an elongated body with two additional sets of legs. Red’s front legs absorbed hir pants, causing them to sink in like they were caught in quicksand. It made hir appearance more appropriate; hextaurs don’t usually wear any lower body apparel.

“How’s the breakfast crowd been?” Redwolf asked, picking up the daily news crystal from the pub’s counter. Silencer smirked and tossed hir head at the room. A half-dozen booths were filled and there were at three folks sitting at the counter; though one of them was apparently passed out from the night before, judging from the seven liquor bottles around hir and the fact shi was face down in a puddle of hir own drool. Redwolf gave this particular patron a raised eyebrow as shi tugged hir head up by the ear.

“What’s the sit-rep on this DOA?” shi said. Silencer gave hir a bit of a surprised look.

“Oh, Greasemonkey got a raise yesterday so shi was celebrating last night,” the wolfskunk said, refilling another customer’s coffee. “Shi’s not dead though.”

“I know, that’s not what I meant by DOA,” Redwolf said.

“What did you mean?” Silencer asked, cocking hir head to one side. Redwolf gave a mild smirk as shi hauled the four-breasted, four-eyed dryger off the barstool and heaved hir over hir lower body’s back.

 

“Drunk Off hir Ass,” Redwolf said, strolling out the door. Shi hailed a cab and dumped the dryger into it, giving the cabbie the fare to take Greasemonkey home. The drygerskunk had quickly looked up the drunk’s address with a fast scan with hir telepathic computer network link. Returning hir focus to hir work, the drygerskunk made good time in hir hextaur form as she trotted towards CMAC headquarters. It was still relatively early in the day; most businesses were just opening up and traffic was light, the air still tinged with a slight nip of cold. Redwolf pulled hir handheld data module out of hir cleavage and reviewed the news crystal on the way. It was one of those same shit different day situations; there was an ongoing argument in the government about whether or not to allow Sol-3 religious groups to establish any missions in the Canmeph system (popular opinion among the majority of Canmephians seemed to be Sol-3 religions, which had seen record lows of attendance on their own planet, were a joke and only impressionable dolts followed them, particularly that “Christianity” one.) People were waiting with baited breath for the latest body modification tech. Legislation was being created to support further military presence on and around Sol-3 with more direct Canmephian control over any and all space-related activity there. A social survey showed more Canmephians developing Sputnik aptitude, increasing the need for more training facilities.

“Not much in here people don’t already know,” Red thought to hirself, pocketing the module as she reached the CMSC building. The doors slid soundlessly open as she stepped through the entrance; shi felt a very brief scan of hir identity from some unseen hev-sec telepath. The administration office was buzzing like a beehive as personnel moved to and from various offices. Red had this feeling there was something particularly tense that morning; there was a sense of anticipation going through the air. It only got stronger as Redwolf weaved around the passing officers as she approached Admiral Groundpounder’s office.

“It’s open,” a gruff voice said coming from behind the Admiral’s door. Redwolf stepped into the rigidly organized office; behind an oversized desk sat the head of the Canmephian planetary army. Admiral Groundpounder was a massive wolfskunk. Classified as a “detective”, shi was of a set of genes that predisposed hir to developing a truly huge physique, easily weighing several tons of pure muscle. Groundpounder frowned at hir computer screen, tapping out commands with such concentration shi hadn’t even bothered to look up to see who walked into hir office.

“Morning Admiral,” Redwolf said, pulling hir thermos of coffee out for a swig. Groundpounder grunted a response.

“Got a couple things I needed to bring up with you,” Redwolf said, flipping the thermos top shut. “Got a new troop monkey suit that needs a trail run; I’m nominating Sgt. Meatshield to put it through its paces.”

“Agreed,” said Groundpounder, still not looking up from hir computer.

“There’s also a flu outbreak in the dryger barracks in Canmeph-1. I’m recommending we send the medical and engineering cadets in to handle it and get some field experience.”

“Approved,” the wolfskunk said, still not granting Redwolf hir full attention.

“The troops have been passing around pictures of you buck naked,” the drygerskunk said without missing a beat.

“Tell ‘em to get my good side,” Groundpounder replied, still staring intently at the screen in front of hir. Pursing hir lips and raising an eyebrow, Redwolf stretched our hir neck an encircled the wolfskunk loosely like a python, looking over hir shoulder at the screen.

“So what’s got you so enraptured? New shipment of assault weapons delayed?” shi asked. Groundpounder finally broke hir trancelike fixation on the screen to look up, realizing shi was surrounded…by one person, no less.

“Would you put your head back on your shoulders where it belongs?” shi snapped. Red recoiled hir neck, snerking in mild amusement. Groundpounder turned hir seat to face Redwolf, arms crossed as shi leaned on hir desk.

“We’ve got a problem; our Bonds have been monitoring the recent interplanetary traffic going to and from Sol-3,” Groundpounder said. “There’s been a lot of suspicious activity.” Redwolf’s bemused grin dropped from hir face; as ambassador to Sol-3, anything involving the planet was an immediate attention-grabber to hir.

“What’s the sit-rep,” shi said. Groundpounder started to turn back to hir computer.

“Access denied,” the wolfskunk said, slipping into a habit many Canmephians develop: lapsing into speech as if they were computers, “Information available on a need-to-know basis.”

“Override command with regulation 657,” Redwolf said, crossing hir arms over hir chest and giving the other admiral a slightly peeved look. Regulation 657 was the “authorized by proximity” rule, stating that any situation in close proximity to given personnel’s own operation automatically made them need-to-know. Groundpounder grunted a bit, but relented.

“A private communications firm on Sol-3 launched several robotic satellites last year,” shi said. “Their purpose was supposedly to establish and maintain signal boosting stations on multiple planets in the Sol-3 solar system, thereby improving communications between our system and theirs, plus increasing their reception ability to try and make contact with additional life forms.”

“Sounds harmless so far,” Redwolf said.

“But now the plot thickens,” Groundpounder said, leaning back in hir seat. “Our Bonds did a routine check on their activity. We’ve noticed that every satellite launched has been carrying unidentified cargo with it. Also, they’ve been launching to and from earth with more frequency than our engineers say is needed for normal maintenance.”

“Sabotage?” Redwolf asked, eyebrows raised. Groundpounder shook hir head.

“No, the broadcast stations have been working fine. It’s this mystery cargo that’s got the Bonds curious. So they started digging into the day-to-day staff involved in the launches. They found an unusually large number of Canmephian staff there. Not only that, but when they did background checks, they found no record of them having ever been in our system.”

The alarm bells going off in Redwolf’s head were loud enough to give hir a headache. If they were lucky, this was just some sort of illegal smuggling operation, and the drygerskunk wasn’t one to trust to luck.

“Why wasn’t I informed of this immediately?!” Shi said, giving Groundpounder an incredulous look. The wolfskunk’s expression was reproachful as shi responded.

“The CMPC is perfectly capable of handling this sort of affair; especially in light of previous events,” shi said. Redwolf was now getting royally pissed at Groundpounder’s playing coy. Shi put two hands on hir hips and cocked hir head at an angle.

“Previous events?” shi said.

“Did you forget the last time you got personally involved in planetary troop affairs?” Groundpounder said with a hint of menace in hir voice. “The Antarctica affair last year?”

The effect on Redwolf was immediate. Shi slammed a fist so hard on Groundpounder’s desk pens were bounced out of the holding cup and hir computer screen jumped an inch. The drygerskunk put hir face not three inches from Groundpounder’s, who flinched in a way barely noticeable.

“That ‘affair’ was no fault of mine!” shi snarled. “Need I remind you it was YOUR personnel that fubared that base to hell and caused the deaths of dozens of Canmephian AND Sol-3 troops!”

“Oh, and what about your Sol-3 entourage?” Groundpounder snapped in response. Now it was Redwolf’s turn to flinch. Whatever memory came to hir was an unpleasant one, but shi still managed to give the wolfskunk an irritated glare.

“He wasn’t my entourage, he was my partner,” shi said.

“Admiral, be serious,” Groundpounder said, giving Redwolf a frank look. “You can’t have expected him to be able to handle any sort of real responsibility in that situation. You should have been protecting him better.”

“I met him, you didn’t,” Redwolf snorted. “He was one of the most driven and capable Terrans I’d seen in a long time. He would’ve been insulted if I’d babied him. And frankly I think YOU’RE insulting him by not giving him any credit.”

Groundpounder waived a hand dismissively. “At any rate you’re fortunate the terrans’ knack for spin control saved your reputation, although I don’t like how they hid the rest of the truth from the public.”

That last part’s the only thing I agree with Redwolf thought to hirself. Shi stuffed hir thermos back into hir cleavage and headed for the door.

“I’m going to be looking into this immediately,” shi said. Groundpounder immediately stood up, leaning on hir desk.

“Well fine,” shi huffed. “If you can’t leave this to the branch that this concerns, I can’t stop you. But DON’T got interfering with any of planetary operations, ‘cause you don’t have my cooperation with this.”

“There’s a shock,” Redwolf muttered under hir breath, rolling hir eyes as shi headed to hir own office. As rear admiral of the space corps, the drygerskunk had plenty of authority of hir own, more than enough to delegate hir current workload to a few of hir officers. Shi made the necessary arrangements to explain hir sudden absence before heading back out the door, hir thoughts focusing on the task ahead. Getting the necessary personnel to conduct an investigation was going to be a problem. The space officers shi had that were experienced with investigations were already on assignments, some of them undercover; pulling them out to look into the strange satellite launches wasn’t an option.

“That leaves me with private contracting,” shi thought to hirself. “The best choice here will be to hire Sol-3 based investigators…although…,” As much as shi didn’t want them to, Redwolf couldn’t help but have hir thoughts wander back to the Antarctica incident Groundpounder had so callously thrown in hir face. One year ago, the admiral had been asked to look into a communications snafu at a joint Canmeph/Sol-3 military and research station at Sol-3’s southern polar ice cap. The situation turned out worse than expected; the Canmephian personnel were practically all undisciplined and the commanding officer was a megalomaniacal lunatic. The Sol-3 personnel were little better, most of them being complacent with the behavior of the Canmephians, no matter how unruly they were. Things only got worse when the break turned out to be the result of an ancient parasitic organism that had been discovered on an archeological dig. The parasite had taken control of numerous personnel at a research outpost and committed horrific acts, ranging from outright killing crewmembers to cutting them apart in some kind of brutal dissection experiment.

In the end Redwolf had killed the commander when shi attacked the admiral. Redwolf then led what was left of the crew in a violent battle against the parasite. All the Sol-3 personnel were lost in the confrontation and only a handful of the Canmephian ones survived. Redwolf was depressed that shi hadn’t been able to prevent further deaths, but as a commanding officer, the loss of soldiers is something that one realizes has to be risked when in battle. But one death in particular wouldn’t rest so easily.

Redwolf hadn’t been the only investigator on the mission; in order to balance things out, Sol-3 had sent its own representative, a private investigator named Mike Fang, who’d been cryogenically frozen in the early 21st century. As it turned out, the Sol-3 United Nations had only sent him in as an empty gesture of cooperation; they didn’t actually expect him to contribute anything useful, they just wanted to use him as a showpiece.  Fang, however, was determined to do more than just act like a “monkey for the media” as he put it. He’d made every effort to try and be a meaningful contributor to the investigation, though in the end most people who knew about his involvement said his actual importance to the mission was debatable; a few said he’d been a fifth wheel entirely.

Whether he’d been important or pointless to the investigation didn’t change the fact the case had been the death of him. After the battle with the parasite-controlled troops, some of the remaining personnel discovered his body near a vehicle crash with a large piece of scrap metal spearing him through his chest. They reported his death, but when a cleanup crew went out to try and recover his body, a snowstorm came up suddenly and prevented them from finding the crash site again.

In the aftermath of the grim events at the South Pole station, Redwolf made a full report available to the United Nations. Shi was called back to Canmeph-2 on urgent affairs, leaving the story in the hands of the UN’s spin doctors. They disregarded everything they thought might cause a global panic and buried the truth under a cockamamie story about psychological disorders and the station crew going nuts and shooting each other. The drygerskunk didn’t hear about the whitewash job until three months later.

Infuriated, Redwolf tried to take the real story to the media, but interest by then had waned. Shi did manage to get the UN rep that covered up the story dismissed and pressed libel charges against him. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Sol-3 population paid little attention to the matter, most chalking it up to “just another example of corrupt politicians.” Fang, who hadn’t even been mentioned in the UN’s press releases, still received no recognition for his part in the investigation; left on the cutting room floor. Public opinion of the UN was barely shaken, while the almost unconditional support for Canmephian influence over Sol-3 in all ways possible never even paused in its perpetual climb.

Diety, Redwolf thought as shi walked down the street back to Shot Gun Shells, Fang may have been right after all; Terrans seem to be so in love with us nothing we do could put them off. No only that, they’re getting so dependent on us they may eventually be unable to function by themselves. The more Redwolf thought about that, the more hir memory kept going back to that one conversation shi’d had with Fang about his motives for accepting the mission. Shi could still see him: head hung, shoulders slumped, hand on his forehead, face weary and beat with eyes looking almost hopeless, yet having a dim, small spark of defiance and determination. Redwolf couldn’t help but compare him to the literary figure of Don Quixote; he longed to bring his world back the self-respect and spirit of responsibility and industriousness it once had, but felt powerless to do it.

He was in the same boat I was, Redwolf thought to hirself as shi reached the brewpub. Hir taur body began withdrawing into hir torso again, hir pants re-emerging as shi shifted into hir bipedal form once more. The drygerskunk walked around the side of the building, going into the next-door garage to get to hir bike. That’s what I told him. Redwolf located hir vehicle, a sleek black crotch rocket. Straddling the machine, the admiral took it off the kickstand and straightened out the front wheel. But shi couldn’t seem to get off the track hir mind was on as shi let out a heavy sigh, one hand up to hir face as shi rubbed at hir eyes.

He didn’t seem to believe me, not entirely, Redwolf thought, beginning to feel a sense of discomfort, but we definitely had more in common than not…a kindred spirit, Diety, how many of those have I found...and he died still thinking he was nothing compared to us, and people have treated his memory like nothing! They still act like he was nothing!

Clenching hir teeth, Redwolf balled up a fist and smashed it into the wall next to hir. The concrete cracked, chips of rock and rock dust flying off the wall around hir fist’s point of impact. It was fortunate that, as a polymorph, shi didn’t have any bones to speak of, or shi would have fractured hir hand in several places. As it was, shi just glowered as shi pulled hir hand from the three-inch deep hole shi’d created in the wall, brushing the dust off on hir pantleg, letting out another heavy sigh.

“Alright, get a grip, goyo, this isn’t helping anything,” shi muttered under hir breath. Thumbing the ignition, Redwolf revved hir cycle and tooled out of the garage. Shi took the inner city streets at an easy pace, but once shi hit the highways, shi opened up the throttle, hir tails flowing out behind hir like a cape blowing in the wind.

I need to focus on the problem at hand, shi thought, the air whistling past hir face. So, Sol-3 private contractors; not exactly as common as they used to be. This isn’t a construction job I’m looking at; it’s a serious covert operation. I’ll need to find somebody with the right skill set; somebody who can be unobtrusive but also bring the heat once the evidence is gathered. Redwolf had decided that if there was something illegal going on, shi wasn’t going to give Groundpounder the satisfaction of letting hir planetary troops clean it up if shi could avoid it. The drygerskunk didn’t want to get into what Terrans called “a pissing contest,” but if shi got the opportunity, shi wanted to pay the grunt master back for keeping hir out of the loop on this investigation; as ambassador, Sol-3 affairs were hir responsibility. Groundpounder had left hir out of seriously need-to-know matters and whatever the reason, that grated on Redwolf.

Just like at military HQ, Redwolf only had to give a perfunctory flash of hir ID to get onto the CMSC liftoff base. The forcefield gate crackled as it died off, allowing Redwolf to slowly roll past the gate and head down the long rows of hangars. Ships of various kinds, from small atmospheric aircraft to mid-sized freighters belonging to private shipping firms that had military contracts, were being pulled in and out of their maintenance bays. Redwolf drove all the way down to hir hangar at the end. It was easy to spot; it was the only one with crates of carrots outside.

“And how’s my little Firetyger today?” the drygerskunk said in a babyish voice, taking a small open lift up towards the top of the hangar. A large mech like you’d find in an anime stood at ready. From the mech’s outside speakers came a cat-like mewing that reverberated throughout the hangar. The lift reached the top of the scaffolding the mech stood next to; a few chords leading from its neck to various diagnostic readouts.

“Well, let’s see how your checkup went…,” Redwolf said, going over to the panels and tapping a few keys. “All software up-to-date, all hardware systems check out, very good. Are you ready to go for space walkies to Sol-3?”  

The mech mewed again, a hatch on the back sliding open to admit the admiral into the cockpit. Once shi was strapped in, Redwolf guided the mech outside, the ground shaking lightly with each step. The drygerskunk steered to an open take off port, checking shi had clearance to take off.

“Okay Firetyger, let’s spread your wings…”shi said. The giant mech mewed again, its body shifting and sliding its various components. A narrow nose emerged from it, along with a set of wings and landing struts. The robotic fighter shifted into a small, 2-man ship, slowly lifting off from the pad and rocketing out of the Canmephian atmosphere.

 “Sol-3 port this is Admiral Redwolf, requesting permission to land,” the drygerskunk said, adjusting hir headset.

“Permission granted Admiral,” said a voice from the other end. “You know you don’t have to ask, you just have to come in and find an empty spot to p…,”

“Thank you, ground control, that will be all,” Redwolf said, cutting the feed. Shi really wasn’t in the mood to listen to anyone fawn over hir; it had been something the drygerskunk had tolerated before, but never liked. Now, after the mission last year that had been preying on hir mind not long ago, shi was more conscious of how much it tended to happen and how it both depressed hir to see such a widespread lack of dignity and irritated hir in how it didn’t seem to be changing for the better.

“Patience,” shi told hirself, eliciting a curious mew from hir ship. Redwolf gave the console an “I’m alright, just tired” grin.

“Oh it’s nothing Fire, just…a lot on my mind,” shi said, guiding the ship to one of the circular landing hubs with guiding lights that were flashing to help steer them into place in the growing darkness. Dusk had settled on the base as Redwolf climbed out of the ship. Once more it started shifting and meshing together, this time compacting itself smaller and smaller, almost impossibly condensing until Redwolf stood on the platform next to a small, cute, fuzzy little cabbit.  The drygerskunk bent down and picked up the cabbit, stroking his head with two fingers.

“Good boy! You’ll get extra carrots tonight.” The cabbit purred as the admiral headed down the metal grating steps to the door leading to the building’s roof access. Shi managed to make it all the way to the ground floor of the embassy building before three aides managed to surround hir, all clamouring for attention to their various issues.

“Admiral, have a pleasant flight?” A dryger of equal height to Redwolf said. The feline walking beside the drygerskunk ran a hand through a cockscomb of translucent purple hair that went well with his yellow and black striping. While wolfskunks, one of the primary two sentient races in the Canmeph system, were predominantly hermaphrodites with minority groups of male, female and neuter individuals, Drygers were a bit more balanced, with equal distribution of all the genders throughout their demographic.

“As always,” Redwolf said, still petting hir cabbit. “What’s the sit-rep?”

“Six o’clock and all’s well,” the wolfskunk on hir other side said. “We’ve prepared a draft proposal for establishing branches of three Canmeph corporations here; The corps have approved the terms, we just need to get the terran’s stamp of approval. You’ve gotten about 10 messages from the Vatican requesting assistance in establishing missionaries on Canmeph planets. There’s also been rumors going around about our planetary troops conducting some kind of investigation, but we can’t get any details.”

“Don’t worry about the planetaries,” Redwolf said, a slight glower of frustration entering hir voice as shi headed to hir office at the embassy. The door immediately recognized hir DNA signature from the palm reader and slid open. Followed closely by hir entourage, the drygerskunk took hir seat at hir desk, setting Firetyger down on the desk surface. The cabbit hopped over to a large box filled with carrots and began munching them down. The admiral, meanwhile, leaned forward on hir desk, lacing the fingers of two hands together. Another hand snaked out and pulled a soda from a mini-fridge behind hir while the fourth booted up hir desktop computer.

“I’m aware of the investigation,” Redwolf told hir three staff members. “I’ll handle that personally. Contact the European Union, the United States government, Australia and the various governments in South America and Asia about the corporation proposal, see who’s interested in hosting which companies.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just contact the UN?” the third aide, a dryger taur with six breasts, asked. Redwolf snorted and rolled hir eyes.

“The UN’s about as competent as a drunk chimp trying to do brain surgery.” Shi grunted. “It’s time we started cutting out the middle men, at least until they can get their act together. Now, the Vatican; who exactly’s been approaching us about these missions?”

“An Archbishop….,” the male dryger tapped his data reader, “…Guiseppi.”

“Never heard of him,” said Redwolf, “which could be a good thing; means he’s not one of those fanatics who’s always on the news talking about how we’re all unnatural abominations. Contact the archbishop, tell him I want to meet with each missionary he intends to send; trying to establish a few churches our way is fine, but we don’t need any pulpit-pounders yelling fire and brimstone at us.”

As much as Redwolf wanted to get right to work on the investigation, shi knew it would be easier to concentrate on it with the regular embassy paperwork out of the way. But like many jobs, the more you do, the more you seem to get. The odd request for approval or funding application for this project or that study kept trickling in, so it was about 10p.m. before Redwolf finally managed to send out the last form. As shi double-clicked the “send” button on hir computer, the drygerskunk groaned and rubbed hir eyes.

“Nngh, that’s all I can stand, I can’t stands no more,” shi said, slowly standing up. “C’mon Fire,” shi said, scooping up hir cabbit from where he was napping in the now-empty carrot box, “time to go home before I head-desk.”

The admiral had another vehicle on earth for hir, so shi let Firetyger continue to sleep as shi drove along the New England coast to Pawstooth, hir not-so-little hideaway on Sol-3. A large estate with security that would enable it to double as a protective compound, Redwolf divided hir living arrangements between it and hir penthouse apartment on top of Shot Gun Shells back on Canmeph; shi was like a well-to-do Sol-3 business exec with a place to stay in each location shi did business in. Shuffling blearily in the door, Redwolf tapped in the security code to lock down the door. Shi barely managed to maintain hir consciousness while shi set hir messaging systems to hold all calls until noon tomorrow, then strip off hir uniform and toss it down in the doorway of hir bedroom. Clad in hir boxers and a t-shirt, the drygerskunk’s eyes rolled back in hir head as shi landed with a massive WHUMP on hir mattress; just a typical evening routine for Admiral Redwolf.

“Multigal Communications, how may I direct your call?” The receptionist at the front desk said. The lobby of Multigal Communications was a relic from the early 21st century. Stainless steel railings and glass ceilings gave the place a neo-art-deco feel. The cheesy metal abstract sculptures and combination tile/low pile carpet floors were an appropriate touch. The high cathedral ceilings helped echo every little noise, including the footsteps making their way across the lobby. An orange-furred wolfskunk with a white mohawk, three eyes, six arms and six breasts, dressed in a red t-shirt and industrial worker overalls came up to the desk.  

“Excuse meh,” the wolfskunk said in a clam chowder-thick New England accent, “I’m heah to apply for the sattelite technician op’nin.” The receptionist, a pert-looking female gryphon, looked up at hir.

“Ah, you must be Wolfskunk Spotweld. Yes, our foreman’s expecting you. His office is in our main assembly plant.” The gryphoness handed the wolfskunk a visitor’s map, on which she circled a building with her pen.

“Just go down the hall there, take a left, go out the door and across the launch pad. Just be sure to keep outside the restricted areas.”

“Thank you kindleh,” The wolfskunk said, stepping around the reception desk as shi headed for the hallway. As shi got to the intersection in the hallway, shi decided to stop off in the restroom to make sure hir disguise was staying in place. After checking all the stalls to make sure shi wasn’t going to be spotted by anyone, Redwolf turned to the mirror and carefully examined hir features.

It’s always the little things, shi though to hirself as shi carefully readjusted hir cheeks nd temples. Shi never had problems with the major differences when shi took on a new form to go undercover; the drygerskunk just had to be sure to take care of the smaller details, like hir facial features, to make sure they didn’t accidentally slip to hir natural appearance and give hir away. Satified that shi wasn’t about to be spotted by anyone who’d never seen more of hir than was on the news, shi headed back out into the hall and continued to the job interview.

By the end of the day, Redwolf had that feeling of inner smug self-satisfaction everyone gets when things are going according to plan. Hir fake resume had passed muster; no surprise since shi cited hir real self as a previous employer. “Wolfskunk Spotweld” had easily received the job; the foreman had been impressed with hir record of 15 years of manufacturing experience building for the Canmephian military industrial manufacturers. It was an entry-level position, but for Redwolf, all shi needed was hir footpaw in the door.

The problem with many espionage missions, however, is they require time to work. Redwolf put a clone of hirself in Pawstooth to make all the necessary public appearances and handle some of the day-to-day paperwork at the embassy. Issues that needed a personal touch, however, required that Redwolf attend to them after shi quit work at the plant. Sleep quickly became a luxury Redwolf couldn’t afford.

But hir efforts weren’t in vain. During lunch hours, the drygerskunk would fall into conversation with hir coworkers. Most of it was the usual blue-collar banter about sports teams, union gripes, families, who’s having a fling with who and so on. But useful bits of info came up. One afternoon, the drygerskunk was sticking hir thermos back in hir locker after lunch when shi bumped into a detective-class dryger next to hir. The dryger quickly slammed his locker shut and gave hir a glare.

“Watch were you’re going,” he snorted at hir, then turned his back to hir and marched off.

“Sheez, what crawled up his ass an’ died?” Redwolf said in hir persona’s New England drawl. One of hir coworkers, one Wolfskunk Solder, glanced up from hir copy of “Soldier of Fortune” magazine, this month featuring an article on telekinetic mercenaries.

“Sanderson?” The wolfskunk said. “He’s about as crabby as a seafood shack on his best days. You don’t wanna see him when he’s pissed.”

“Tch, I’ll bet,” the drygerskunk muttered, “Doesn’t seem like the friendly saht, never has a kind word t’ say, an’ he never eats lunch with the rest of ahs.” Solder nodded in acknowledgement; Redwolf decided to press just a little further as shi leaned against the locker, one arm rubbing hir chin, two more crossed over hir center breasts, the other two crossed behind hir back.

“You know,” shi mused out loud, “come to think of eht, ah’ve noticed ah few folks that seem kinda…stand-offish.”

“You’re not the only one,” Solder said, flipping hir mag shut. “Seems like a half dozen or so of the guys on the prep crew are really distant with the rest of us. I’m starting to think it’s got somethin’ to do with the job.”

“Huh,” Redwolf said, cocking an eyebrow. “Nevah knew loadin’ satellites was such an intense occupa’shin.”

“Shouldn’t be,” Solder said. “It certainly wasn’t when I was doing it. Then the company hires a new foreman for satellite launching and he brings in a brand new crew to handle prep and blast off; claims it’ll increase efficiency if our personnel doesn’t have to juggle different tasks.”

The rest of the day, Redwolf kept at hir job with one metaphorical eye on the loading crew as they prepped the latest satellite for launch. Shi’d been watching the crew carefully, but didn’t know exactly where to look; now shi focused hir attention on Sanderson and the small group that shi saw him periodically confer with. Using hir internal computer systems, shi began recording images of each of them. Shi didn’t tempt fate by trying to access the Internet through hir mind; if hir outgoing signal was noticed, hir cover would be blown. At first shi though it might be some of Groundpounder’s intelligence troops and was leery of getting too invasive on them. But that night, as the drygerskunk sat in front of hir computer at Pawstooth, shi checked their images against various records and found they had no military records of any kind.

“And we’ve found our interlopers,” Redwolf said, smirking and draining a beer can. “Now, I’ll need to look into each of these suspects, but I’m busy enough as it is being in two places at once.” The drygerskunk crunched up the beer can and snaked out an arm into the kitchen, cracking open a fresh brew as shi punched up a new Web site.

“Time to look for that private contractor.”

“No…no….no…no…jeez…” the admiral groaned, leaning hir head back and shaking it. Shi’d taken some time off from hir plant job, claiming a family vacation as hir excuse, in order to do a search for a new accomplice in hir investigation. But shi was coming up seriously short. Every mercenary agency shi tried searching had nobody that met hir needs. Most of the ones shi saw were only experienced in direct combat. The few shi looked at that had experience with covert operations had most of their experience in wet work and were too sinister for hir taste.    

 “I need a spy, not a hitman,” shi grumbled, continuing to scan through Web sites. “Not this one, he’s too trigger happy…not this one, he’s got a criminal record…this girl’s too eager to use explosives on the job…ARRRRGH! Hasn’t anyone heard of subtlety?!” With a snarl of frustration, Redwolf logged off. Shi stomped into hir living room and collapsed onto hir couch, a hand over hir face. A purring noise came from next to hir as Firetyger hopped from the coffee table onto the couch and began nuzzling the drygerskunk’s face. Redwolf sighed and stroked the cabbit’s head.

“I’m alright, Fire. I just don’t seem to be able to find anyone I can call on.” Glancing over at hir wide-screen tv, the admiral snapped hir fingers; the screen clicked and chimed as the signal came in. The last channel shi’d had the tv on was the news; as shi prepared to start channel-surfing, the drygerskunk sat bolt upright as the anchorman announced their headline story.

“Top of the hour, late-breaking news; Chicago police make a major drug bust with the help of self-described ‘all purpose telekinetic’ Mike Fang.” Firetyger gave Redwolf a look of mild irritation as the drygerskunk swung into a sitting position so fast shi bounced the cabbit off the couch cushion and onto the floor. Shi turned up the volume on the tv a bit further, hir attention utterly focused.

“Police seized a total of 2,000 kilos of crystal meth and 10,000 kilos of marijuana from the basement of an abandoned apartment building,” the newscaster said. “The building is currently under the ownership of Vladimir Torborovski, an alleged high-ranking member in the Russian mafia. No further connection can yet be made to Torborovski and the drugs; Torborovski claims the drug lab was set up by squatters trespassing on his property.”

“C’mon, tell me more about this telekinetic…,” Redwolf said, hir voice slightly anxious. Shi was positive shi didn’t hear that name right…did shi? As if reading hir mind, the newscaster answered hir question.

“Police credited Mike Fang with gathering the information leading to the bust. Fang, a telekinetic with several extra-sensory skills, has risen to prominent public notice in the last couple months. He’d previously been working odd jobs in manual labor when he decided to apply his telekinetic abilities as a freelance agent. In this instance, Fang used his abilities at remote viewing and telepathy to determine the location that known drug dealers were getting their drugs from. Police official deny allowing Fang to participate in the raid, citing his civilian status, despite his reputed powers of telekinesis and pyrokinesis.”

Redwolf switched off the tv. Shi slumped back against the couch, confusion doing circles through hir mind. It had to be someone with a similar name; it couldn’t possibly be the same Fang shi’d met before. And yet somehow shi had this nagging feeling that this person on the news could be a vital asset to hir investigation.

If nothing else, shi thought, shifting hirself forward so shi could put hir elbows on hir knees and rub hir chin, he seems to be what I’m looking for skill-wise; surveillance without detection and he could probably handle himself in a fight if push came to shove. Nodding to hirself, Redwolf cocked an eyebrow and accessed hir internal computer, scanning personal contact information for anyone on the planet registered as “Mike Fang”.

The sky was overcast and gray, a heavy fog falling across the water like a shower curtain, partly obscuring the bathers on the other side. Only they weren’t bathers, they were the skyscrapers across the Philadelphia harbor. After several wrong numbers, Redwolf had finally managed to track down Fang. This telekinetic seemed very enigmatic, using what turned out to be an unlisted number. It took Redwolf an entire week to get up with him; shi’d been pointed out by one person shi misdialed to an online Web site, where shi was instructed to submit hir request for service in an e-mail first. After a few days of waiting, shi received a response, giving hir a transient dock to go to and an unlisted mobile number shi was told only to call in the event shi couldn’t find the dock.

Guy sure likes his privacy, shi thought to hirself as shi stepped out of the Canmephian-sized jeep shi’d commandeered from the embassy. Shi knew shi was taking a risk being away this long from work, but shi still had a day or two left before hir fake persona’s family was due back from vacation.

Water lapped at the sides of glistening boat hulls as pair of seagulls perched on the dock’s pilings gave plaintive cries through the moist sea breeze. The docks were almost full with various types of personal long-voyage watercraft; powered yachts, daysailing catamarans, coast-cruising sailboats. Redwolf ticked off the slip numbers until shi came to the one shi was looking for. The drygerskunk crossed hir arms and nodded to hirself as shi looked over the personal yacht that shi’d have no problem fitting on. It reminded hir of a vessel shi’d seen in a classic Sol-3 movie called “Casino Royale”, owned by the primary antagonist.

“Freelance mind powers certainly pay the bills,” shi said. The small gate acting as an entry point to the ship’s deck was open, so shi climbed aboard. The ship rocked slightly with hir added weight, but not by much. Still, Redwolf took about a foot off hir height to help ensure shi had adequate clearance for the cabin door as shi knocked. No answer. Shi knocked a bit louder.

“A’ight, I’m comin’,” A voice said from the other side. There were a few footsteps, a lock clicked and the door slid open.

I was right, Redwolf thought, some part of hir feeling a twinge of disappointment, this isn’t him.

Leaning in the doorway was a spotted hyena. While of a size and body build comparable to the Fang Redwolf had known, it wasn’t easy to tell; he stood in a lazy slump with his shoulders hunched slightly. His head, which held a hyena’s traditional flyaway sort of scruffy mane, was cocked at a slight angle. His expression appeared to be a mixture of cynicism, unconcern, and shrewd calculation. He was dressed in a pair of ratty jeans and a white t-undershirt.

“Lookin’ for somethin’?” he said, giving Redwolf a once over himself. Redwolf blinked away hir initial feelings.  

“Yes, I’m looking for Mike Fang, is that you?” shi said.  

“You got it sister, brother, or whatever you prefer,” the hyena said, still maintaining a grin that could best be described as smart-ass.

“Redwolf will do. Admiral Redwolf,” the drygerskunk said. The hyena’s only reaction to this bit of news was to raise his eyebrows.

“Ahhh, so you’re Redwolf.” He said.

“You know about me?” the drygerskunk said instinctively. Shi knew shi’d walked into a zinger and braced for the impact.

“Does a bear shit in the woods when he can’t find an outhouse?” the ‘yena snorted with a bemused tone. “Hell the whole fuckin’ PLANET knows you. Anyway, you must be the one that e-mailed me about the covert job you’ve got.” The hyena stepped away from the door (slunk, more like it), motioning for the drygerskunk to follow with a casual toss of his head.

“C’mon in, make yourself comfy; just try not to break anything,” he said. Redwolf stepped through the hatch and looked around; the hyena’s marine domicile was a floating bachelor pad; liquor bottles lined a wet bar on the far side of the main room of the cabin; a large tv was mounted on the wall opposite a couch fixed to the floor. Raunchy posters, the kind most would keep in more private quarters, were tacked up on the walls where anyone could see them. Other items around the room, such as the pure crystal drinking glasses and the hovering anti-gravity pedestals with tacky-yet-expensive statues on them, showed this hyena was someone who wasn’t particularly modest. He crossed the room to an overstuffed chair, turned and flopped into it. The refrigerator under the wet bar opened on its own, and an imported beer floated out of it and into his waiting hand. The top popped off on its own, ending the hyena’s little telekinetic display as he took a swig.

“So,” he said, “What’s the job you got for me?” Redwolf crossed to another seat on the hyena’s right, carefully folding hir tails into a pile next to hir.

“I’m running an investigation into a communications company that’s been conducting some unusual business practices,” shi said.

“They spyin’ on people?” Fang said, taking another slug of beer.

“I’m not sure,” the drygerskunk said. “But they’ve been sending unidentified cargo to various comm. stations on other planets in this solar system. Right now, my suspicions are focused on the ground crew doing the loading.”

The hyena nodded. “Well if it’s spyin’ on spies you need, I can do that no sweat,” he said, finishing off the beer. It floated out of his hand and dropped into a trash can on the far side of the room. “I’ll just read their minds and tell you exactly what they’re planning.” Redwolf shook hir head.

“These suspects are Canmephians,” shi said “they’re probably very adept at resisting telepathic invasion. You’d have to be a very strong…”

And what makes you think I’m not? Fang’s voice said in the admiral’s head. The hyena still sat, his lips not moving, as he cocked an eyebrow at hir. “If you didn’t think I was strong enough, I don’t know why you bothered coming here.” Redwolf met the hyena’s gaze.

Just because you can send me a message doesn’t mean you can…, shi began hirself telepathically…when suddenly shi found hirself under a lighting blitz of telepathic probing. The drygerskunk blinked and grabbed the arms of hir chair; the hyena leaned forward in his own seat, the smirk dropping from his face as his gaze intensified. It was like a mental game of one-on-one basketball, with Redwolf trying to keep Fang from getting to the goal that was hir memories. The drygerskunk found hirself being put to the test as shi continually had to shift where shi was focusing hir mental defense…sometimes he went for hir personal memories, then he’d suddenly go for hir confidential military knowledge, then shift gears again and make a run at hir sexual fantasies. He wasn’t being subtle in his attacks, which gave Redwolf ample warning to raise up a defense.

The drygerskunk furrowed hir brow and clenched hir teeth. The hyena had closed his own eyes and put a hand to his temple. It was now less like a basketball game and more like an intense swordfight. Suddenly, Redwolf felt something; while the hyena had been conducting all these blatant attempts to force his way into some of hir memories, he’d been quietly making a backdoor entry into hir childhood memories. Quickly, the drygerskunk sent out a hard, defensive thrust to shove this intrusive presence out of hir mind. That was apparently the keystone to Fang’s assault; in a flash the two had disconnected telepathically, the hyena jolting in his chair like he’d been stuck with a tazer.

“NNNGH!” he grunted, blinking his eyes several times before leaning back and rubbing his forehead. “Damn, haven’t had a challenge like that in a long time.”

“Likewise…,” Redwolf said, rubbing hir own forehead with two hands as shi gave the hyena a rather sour look, “But next time, WARN me first and stay away from my military knowledge or I’ll have to have you arrested.”

Most people, in the presence of Redwolf when shi was angry, would cringe or feel an appropriate amount of fear; shi was intimidating on just about every level possible; physically, mentally, and in hir authority. But Fang’s attitude remained the same; snarky and devil-may-care.

“First off,” he said, “if I told you, then it wouldn’t be an appropriate demonstration, ‘since I doubt these suckers are gonna know I’m coming either. Second…I’d like to see someone TRY to arrest me.” Redwolf bristled just a bit.

“Need I remind you I just bested you in your little telepathic wrestling match?” Shi said. The hyena snorted.

“Need I point out to you I had half my brain tied behind my back while I was doing it?” he said. Redwolf couldn’t deny it; shi’d noticed Fang wasn’t putting all his strength into his invasion of hir mind. Still, shi didn’t appreciate his attitude.

“Don’t push your luck,” shi said. The hyena rolled his eyes with a mildly perturbed expression.

“So are you satisfied with my telepathic power or not?” he said. Redwolf rubbed the back of hir neck.

“Well, you could definitely pull it off, I’m sure of that now,” shi said. “But we can’t go into their minds and pull out their memories. We don’t know who else may be involved in this or what they’re even doing; we could tip off someone trying to pull off a terrorist attack for all we know.”

Fang shrugged. “As you prefer,” he said. “I do what I’m paid for. So, if mind-reading’s out, there’s only one other thing I can think of you’d like; remote viewing.”

Redwolf nodded. “Exactly. I’d like you to start following these guys; keep tabs on them, find out what they’re doing.” The hyena chuckled.

“Piece of cake,” he said. “So, spyin’ on eight guys, recording their activity, that’ll run you about $70,000. A day.”

“Done,” Redwolf said, pulling out hir data module. “I’ll transfer your first three days to your bank account, if you’d like to give me a check card number.”

“Just like that, eh?” the hyena said, eyebrow cocked. “Funny, usually people go through a routine of gawking and saying stuff like ‘who the fuck do you think you are?’ and ‘I’m not made of money, you know!’”

“Well I can afford it without a problem,” Redwolf said. Fang rubbed his chin, looking off to the side.

“Hmm, note to self, need to jack up my price until it starts getting more slack-jawed stares,” he said with a smirk before giving Redwolf his debit card number. The drygerskunk left him with a list of the suspects’ names and addresses; the hyena promised to bring hir daily reports in person.

The arc welder spat sparks up into Redwolf’s face. Shi slowly traced the electric torch along the seam of the satellite hull panel shi was fixing in place. Reaching the end of the seam, shi released the ignition switch and lifted hir protective mask, inspecting the weld line shi’d just made. It still glowed faintly like a neon sign left on in the daytime, quickly cooling to its proper dull gray.

“Shift’s over Spotweld,” hir foreman said, “Time to punch out ‘fore you start clockin’ us overtime.”

“Raht, boss,” shi drawled. The disguised drygerskunk stowed hir gear in hir locker and punched out hir digital timecard. Shi checked hir watch as shi strolled casually out the door; shi had an hour before Fang was due for his usual daily report. It had been two weeks since the hyena had been hired, and he’d been nothing if not thorough. He came by Pawstooth daily, driving one of those hovercars that was less designed for practicality and more for “look at me overcompensate” factor. The ‘yena had proved remarkably adept at remove viewing; after he’d visited each of the suspect’s homes to make finding them easier (he claimed he could’ve found them without doing so, but still wanted to get a better fix on them) he’d managed to focus in on all of them at once, like rapidly changing between eight channels on a tv.

Fang’s reports showed little suspicious in their daily activities, save one thing; all the suspects seemed to be frequenting the same gym. Most of them went there on separate days, but occasionally a pair would show up. Fang then surprised Redwolf by starting another monitor on the gym, and reported they brought in more orders of energy bars than they had stored. He’d then monitored the gym staff and saw that two of the staff members, also Canmephians, were loading boxes into the suspects’ vehicles while they were working out.

“Just tack it onto my bill,” the hyena had said with a smirk as he delivered this added information.

Now, as Redwolf pulled into hir driveway, shi was surprised again to see Fang waiting for hir. But it wasn’t just his early arrival that gave the admiral a start; the hyena was wearing a rather familiar tan trench coat and brown fedora. With the sun setting behind him, the ‘yena was rather silhouetted, hiding his face. The drygerskunk gave the ‘yena a very shocked look until reality dawned on hir again.

“Oh, Mr. Fang, didn’t expect to see you this early,” shi said rather quickly. The hyena gave Redwolf a curious look.

“I get the feeling that’s not the only thing you didn’t expect,” he said. Redwolf felt a very light telepathic stroke, like someone taking a casual wiff from a flower.

“You were reminded of someone,” Fang said, “by the way I’m dressed.” Redwolf tensed a bit, not liking how casual the hyena was in probing hir. But shi didn’t deny what he said was true.

“Yes, it was…someone I’d worked with before on this planet,” shi said, unlocking the door and stepping into hir home. Fang followed behind hir. Hands in his pockets, he shut the door behind him as he dug a flash drive out of one pocket.

“Wouldn’t happen to be the guy that wrote this, would it?” He said. Redwolf looked down at the flash drive shi was being offered. A gnawing curiosity started digging at hir stomach; did this hyena have some kind of connection to…? Shi took the drive, pulled out hir handheld data reader and plugged it into the conversion port. It only took a moment of scanning file names before shi caught the one labeled “Journal.” It’s contents made hir gape in shock.

“Where did you get this?!” Shi said. Fang nonchalantly shrugged.

“Just fell outa the sky,” he said with a smirk. Redwolf grabbed his shirt and gave him a firm shake.

“Drop the attitude and give me the truth!” shi snarled. The ‘yena was surprised for only a minute before slapping the admiral’s hand away.

“Alright, alright I was just yankin’ ya,” he said, dusting himself off. “See, I wasn’t always so well off; used to be I was barely scrapin’ out a living at all; I worked for a while at a garbage dump, of all places.”

“Start getting interesting, now,” Redwolf snorted.

“I’m just gettin’ to that,” the ‘yena said. “So one day I’m emptying out boxes from a government storage center and I find this box with personal effects from some guy. Well I like what I find so I keep it, and among the stuff was that flash drive. Hell, that stuff is what gave me the idea to offer my skills freelance.”

The drygerskunk looked from the hyena to the flash drive, then back again.

“I’m betting Mike Fang isn’t your original name, is it?” Shi said. Again, the ‘yena gave a casual shrug.

“Nope,” he said. “Fact is, I don’t remember it, nor do I really care. Fang was the name I saw on the box I found this stuff in, so I decided it was better than just being called by my species.” Redwolf blinked a bit, somewhat confused by the hyena’s attitude towards his own past.

“Aren’t you the least bit curious about who you were, your family?” shi said, “I could help you there, I know a doctor, Mikhail…,” the ‘yena shook his head.

“Nah, s’not necessary,” he said. “The way I see it, it’s like people say; life’s a bitch, then you die. I just roll with it and get my kicks while I’m still above ground and breathing. No point in regretting things and worrying about what’s already done.”

“That’s rather cynical,” Redwolf said, giving “Fang” an uneasy look. The hyena flicked the brim of his hat.

“I prefer to call it ‘realistic,’” he said.

Redwolf was a bit put off by this attitude, but decided not to push it…for now.

“So, what brought you here?” shi asked. The hyena leaned against a wall, crossing his arms.

“Thought you should know,” he said, examining his fingerclaws, “about five of those suspects of yours have scheduled to be at the gym all at the same time. They’re doing it under the pretense of signing up for a members-only basketball game, but knowing what we know, it certainly looks suspicious.”

“When is this game?” the admiral said, pricking hir ears.

“Tonight,” the hyena said. “Gym’s a ways off, so if you wanted me to sp…”

“I’m going out there personally,” Redwolf said. Shi immediately turned and walked back out the door, heading for hir jeep. Fang followed along behind hir and, without a word, climbed into the passenger seat next to hir.

“You better not get mixed up in this,” Redwolf said. The ‘yena snorted.

“Please, this is just getting interesting,” he said, leaning back in the seat and crossing his legs. “Head down I-42 and take exit 33A.”  Redwolf started to object, but could sense nothing was going to put him off. Shi sighed and turned the engine over.

The “Counterweight Gym” was a large building, specifically designed for visiting Canmephians. Inside, weights were set in increments larger than most terrans could ever hope to lift, and some workout rooms even had the option of increasing the gravity to allow for even more of a challenge. Outside of that, it was your average gym. Redwolf took this all in as shi headed to the locker room. Shi’d put on hir Spotweld disguise again and instructed Fang to wait and observe outside. Shi was a little surprised when he agreed, but was too focused on the task at hand to wonder why.

Most of the gym’s members were in the basketball court, watching the game. As Redwolf walked past the plexi glass doors to the court, shi spotted the five suspects. Just like at work, they were all clustered together in the bleachers; unlike the rest of the crowd, they put up only the barest pretense of being interested in the game, and it showed.

Fang said the energy bar delivery numbers were off, the admiral thought to hirself. So I’d better find a spot to watch their storage area… The drygerskunk walked briskly through the gym, looking for the storage areas; shi found them right next to the snack bar, which was across from a row of treadmills.

Perfect, shi thought, climbing onto one of the jogging machines and setting it at a brisk trot. Hir chests bounced up and down as shi jogged along, causing the various passerby’s to take a long, lingering look at hir as shi tried not to notice. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening; the occasional muted cheer came from down the hall where the ball court was, along with a few of the gym members coming into the bar to buy snacks and drinks from the vending machines. About 20 minutes went by and Red began thinking shi’d need to find a different vantage point before anyone got suspicious. Slowing the treadmill to a stop. The disguised drygerskunk mopped at hir brow, walking over to the vending machine to buy some bottled water.

While Redwolf was sliding hir card through the machine’s payment reader, shi heard the clank and clatter of a rolling dolly behind hir. Shi pulled hir water bottle out of the machine, taking a long slug while using hir unique gift of full-body vision to see behind hir. A pair of gym attendants, two wolfskunks in red polo shirts and yellow shorts rolled a flatbed dolly through a pair of swinging doors just to the side of the snack bar. Redwolf stepped quickly out of the room across the hall, where shi sat down on a specially designed butterfly machine and started working out on it. Shi kept watch to the side, and soon shi saw the attendants wheel the dolly out again, this time loaded down with a pair of boxes. The drygerskunk lost no time in getting up to follow them. The attendants wheeled the boxes quickly and quietly out a side door of the gym.

Redwolf hadn’t gone two steps out the door, following behind the attendants, when they were suddenly yanked off their footpaws as if they’d stepped into invisible snares! The admiral quickly stopped short of the two wolfskunks, who were dangling by one ankle each and protesting loudly and with a lot of profanity. It only took a moment before Redwolf realized what was going on and who was behind it.

“Fang…,” shi said, rolling hir eyes. The hyena slunk out from behind a car just to the left. Still holding the two belligerent wolfskunks off the ground with his telekinesis, he let out one of his species’ trademark snickers.

“Ah, admiral, you flushed the quarry just fine.”

“ADMIRAL?” One of the wolfskunks snarled. Fang put a hand to his mouth with a look of comical embarrassment.

“Whoops, forgot you were incognito,” the ‘yena said with a grin. Redwolf rubbed hir forehead.

“What are you doing?” shi groaned. “We need evidence of wrongdoing before we try to apprehend anyone.” The hyena tossed his head at the flatbed dolly.

“If that’s something illegal, there’s all the evidence we need,” he said matter-of-factly.

“But we didn’t see what’s in there before you snatched these two,” Redwolf protested. Again Fang gave her a nonchalant shrug.

“That’s between you an’ me,” he said. Redwolf was about to seriously protest to the idea of lying when the wolfskunks did it for hir.

“We’re not gonna cooperate with this!” One of them said. Fang looked nonchalantly over his shoulder at the two with an expression of mild irritation.

“And who’s gonna believe you?” he said, and swung the two together telekinetically like cymbals. It had a rather unexpected result. There was an electric crackle and pop; the two wolfskunk’s bodies appeared to distort and flicker; they were holograms! Redwolf’s eyes bugged out when the disguises faded away, the projecting devices damaged by the hyena’s colliding the two together.

Floating just above Fang and Redwolf were a pair of cobrawolves. The cobrawolves, a race of barbaric, militant conquerors, sport a mixture of lupine and reptilian features, though all of them bear the trademark hoods of the well-known breed of snake. Possessing naga-like lower bodies, the two spies maintained their cover by coiling their lower tails like springs under their torsos and using pairs of cybernetic legs attached to their sides to walk like a normal biped. An ongoing war existed between the canmephains and the cobrawolves, because the latter considered all life other than themselves inferior and suitable only for being conquered, used as labor or as laboratory test subjects.

One of the cobrawolves began reaching behind hir back, as if going for a weapon. Fang didn’t hesitate; in an instant the cobrawolf’s head was wrenched violently by his invisible force, snapping hir neck. The other cobrawolf opened hir mouth and a large stream of venom came out. The stream impacted against an invisible shell of some sort placed around both Redwolf and Fang; another display of the hyena’s telepathy. Before he could act on the cobrawolf, however, Redwolf decided to take hir turn. Shi morphed two of hir arms together into one large, powerful pincher and thrust it forward, grabbing the cobrawolf around the chest and crushing hir torso like a walnut shell.

“Cobrawolves,” the admiral muttered, watching as Fang dropped the bodies on the ground. “Damnit. I wasn’t aware they’d placed any agents on Sol-3.” Shi eyed the crate they’d snuck out of the building, a feeling of dread in hir stomach as shi drew closer. With distinct unease, shi slowly pried the lid open and looked inside. Redwolf was expecting to find materials for some kind of bomb or a chemical weapon. What shi found shocked hir even more.

Piled inside the crate were a half-dozen Terrans, their bodies vacuum-sealed in plastic with digital vital sign monitors on the outside. The drygerskunk, shedding hir disguise and turning back into hir true self, picked one of them up and examined the monitor; all the Terran’s vitals were normal, they all seemed to be that way.

“Diety,” Redwolf said, shaking hir head, “They must be kidnapping people and sending them off-world for something.”

“Well I kinda doubted these were their leftover dinners,” Fang said, looking into the crate himself.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Redwolf muttered. Fang raised an eyebrow.

“You mean they eat people for food?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” the admiral said, replacing the lid. Fang grunted with an expression of mild distaste.

“Right, so, what’s the plan?” he asked.

“First,” the drygerskunk said, reaching into hir cleavage and pulling out a special secure military communicator, “we call up Canmephian planetary, get them here to…Fang?” Redwolf looked around; the hyena was gone, and the doors to the gym were swinging.

“Fuck!” the admiral said between clenched teeth, hurrying through the doors after the ‘yena. She got to an intersection in the hall when hir communicator squawked.

“This is Planetary Base Balitmore, identify yourself please,” said the sharp voice on the other end. Redwolf put the mic up to hir mouth.

“This is CMSC Admiral Redwolf;” shi said. “We have several cobrawolf operatives at the Counterweight Gym. Send a squad immediately to apprehend, do you copy?”

“Rodger that Admiral, deploying squad on the double,” the other voice said. Redwolf looked up as shi heard a rather loud crashing noise.

“Better hurry or someone’s gonna beat you to it,” shi said, snapping the communicator shut just as the other officer’s “WHAT?!” was coming out of it. Redwolf barreled down the hall towards the basketball court. Three concerns were on Redwolf’s mind: what the cobrawolves might do to Fang if he tried to take them on himself; what Groundpounder was going to do to HIR when shi found out about this and lastly, what SHI was going to do to FANG if he didn’t get himself killed.

As the drygerksunk burst into the gym, the first of hir fears was pretty much put to rest. Most of the gym members were backed away from the main court, so shi had to muscle hir way through the crowd to get to the front.  When shi got there, shi saw Fang had slam-dunked one of the five other cobrawolf operatives through the basket hard enough to cause hir to break the hoop off and slam head-first onto the court floor. He’d launched a second one all the way up to the cathedral-like roof and gotten hir stuck in the ceiling. The ‘yena was now facing off with the other three, who were backed against a wall. The ‘yena looked as unphased and smart-ass as he always did.

“A’ight,” he said, examining the claws on one hand,” Who’se next?” The three operatives looked hesitantly at each other, then one of them tried to spit venom at the ‘yena. Before much venom could come out of hir mouth, Fang telekinetically lodged a basketball in hir mouth. A rack of balls on the far side of the court suddenly came to life; as the cobrawolf tried to dislodge the offending piece of sports equipment from hir mouth, hir cronies dove for cover; a half-dozen basketballs flew at hir from all sides with enough force to break the sound barrier. Shi was pummeled by the balls until hir torso was covered with welts; the cobrawolf dropped to the floor with hir eyes crossed, every inch of hir covered in bruises.

“How ‘bout you two?” Fang said, arms crossed and with an eyebrow raised. “You wise up yet, or do you need a lesson too?”

The other two cobrawolves narrowed their eyes at the hyena. Fang rolled his own eyes, apparently expecting what was coming. Both operatives went for their concealed weapons at the same time. They both drew small but dangerous-looking pistols, just as Fang raises up both hands. They began taking aim as the hyena snapped his fingers. The cobrawolves suddenly burst into flames, causing all the other patrons in the gym to gasp in shock as the fell to the floor, flailing and rolling back and forth; it didn’t take long for them to stop moving.

Fang snorted with irritated disgust, shaking his head and casually sauntering towards the crowd. Most of them quickly got out of his way, save for Redwolf, who just sighed and shook hir head.

“This is going to take a damn good explanation,” shi muttered.

“You better have a damn good explanation, Redwolf,” Admiral Groundpounder growled. As soon as the planetary squad had arrived, the dryerskunk had them take the surviving cobrawolves into custody. Shi then directed them to the other suspects’ homes. All but one turned out to be a cobrawolf in disguise. The last one, the foreman who’d hired them, was in fact a wolfskunk but that didn’t place hir above suspicion. However, once more the cameras and news got wind that it was the Admiral who had blown the lid off the whole conspiracy, while the planetary troops were the cleanup crew.

Groundpounder was clearly pissed about it, something Redwolf had hoped to avoid. Fang wasn’t much help with the media frenzy, either. He was more than happy to mug for the cameras and tell folks the story of how they unraveled the whole mess while planetary was sitting around scratching their asses; his words. When Groundpounder arrived at the Canmephian embassy, demanding Redwolf and Fang give hir a personal debriefing, the hyena had been rather tactless, to say the least.

“If your troops weren’t so busy with their circle jerk, maybe they wouldn’t have NEEDED us to step in,” he’d said straight to Groundpounder’s face. The three of them met in an unoccupied office at the embassy; Groundpounder had insisted, most like so shi could have a desk to sit behind and make hirself seem even more authoritative.

“You’ve had over a dozen people looking into this thing for over three months, right?” Fang said rhetorically. “And how long did it take just Redwolf and myself? A month, maybe a month n’ a half.”

“However LUCKY you and the Admiral may have been,” Groundpounder glowered, “shi was still supposed to keep US in the loop and not interfere directly with our own investigation. And making these arrests DEFINITELY interfered!”

Fang only rolled his eyes and snorted. “So you’re sayin’ you suspected at least one or more of these guys…and never put the whole thing together like WE did? Pfff.”

Groundpounder clenched hir fists. “You’re dismissed, Fang,” shi snarled. Fang started sauntering for the door when he spun around and gave the admiral a smart-ass, you-can’t-touch-me-so-nyah-nyah-nyah look.

“What pisses you off more, pounder? The fact we didn’t keep you in the loop or the fact we’re getting all the credit? Need somethin’ to brag about to make your dick feel big?”

“Dismissed…,” repeated Groundpounder, a warning tone in hir voice. The hyena ignored it as he did his best Tony Montana impression.

“’choo got a look on your face like you haven’ been FUCKED in a YEAR,” he said with a grin.

“DIS-MISSED!” Groundpounder bellowed. Fang chuckled as he left the office. Redwolf, meanwhile, had been doing everything shi could to try and fade into the woodwork. Shi’d actually done a better job than shi anticipated, accidentally changing the color of hir body to match that of the chair shi was sitting in.

“Now then,” Groundpounder said, turning hir attention to Redwolf. “Let’s hear it from YOU…,” Redwolf slowly changed hir color back.

“You’ve probably got most of the story already,” shi said. “All I can really add is that it was my intention to have planetary make the arrests; Fang barged in half-cocked.”

“Why the hell did you have to bring a Terran into this again…,” Groundpounder started. Not a good move, since shi’d already pushed that particular button with Redwolf once too often.

“Oh don’t start that shit again!” Redwolf snapped. “He went off half cocked, yes, but he still got the job done.”

“So the ends justify the means, hmm?” Groundpounder said with a sardonic look.

“Of course not! But it could have gone a lot worse,” Redwolf said. Groundpounder puts a hand over hir eyes and seemed to be talking to hirself under hir breath. After a minute shi gave Redwolf an exasperated look.

“Well whatever the outcome, it’s now in YOUR hands,” shi sighed. “We’ve got the planetary operation under wraps; it’s your job to figure out where those kidnapped Terrans were going.” Redwolf silently nodded, getting up and heading towards the door.

“Oh and admiral,” Groundpounder said to hir back as the door opened. “If you find they’ve got any sort of planetary base somewhere close by, it might be nice of you to think about informing us before you decide you can do our job better than we can.”

Redwolf let out a pained groan of frustration as shi slunk out the door. Things had not gone according to plan, and shi knew just who was to blame. Scanning the hallway, the admiral looked for a certain smart-ass hyena, but he was nowhere to be seen. There was a dryger standing in front of one of the elevators, studying a document as he waited for the lift.

“Ensign,” Redwolf said, getting the dryger’s attention. “Did you see a Terran hyena out here just a minute ago?”

“Yes sir,” the ensign said, “I think he’s left the embassy; he said something about his job being done.”

“Thank you,” the drygerskunk said, striding quickly down the hall. Grumbling and glowering under hir breath, Redwolf practically slammed through the embassy doors, hoping to catch Fang in the parking lot. No such luck, unfortunately. Redwolf wasn’t phased, however; shi knew where he lived.

One fast flight to Philly and a drive to the harbor later, the drygerskunk was back on the hyena’s yacht, pounding at the door with a fist.  

“FANG! OPEN THIS DOOR!” shi bellowed. The admiral could hear laughing and voices from inside the cabin, but shi wasn’t getting any answers, not yet anyway. Shi pounded on the door again, managing to leave several dents despite hir attempts to restrain hirself.

“FANG OPEN THIS DOOR OR I’M GONNA BUST IT DOWN!” shi roared. The drygerskunk heard a voice that sounded somewhat exasperated saying “be right back, shi’s not gonna let up…” The door latch clicked; the hyena opened the door, looking bleary-eyed and wearing an inane grin, a pair of jeans, and nothing else. Redwolf took one small whiff from the door and clapped a hand over hir nose.

“Fang, what the hell were you thinking back at the gym?!” shi growled at him. “Do you know how big you fubared things?!”  

“Ahh c’maaan big goy,” the hyena drawled, giving her a cock-eyed look of intoxication. “loosen yer sphincter, fer fuck sake. ‘Ey, you want in on this?” The hyena held up a hand, offering a large joint to the drygerskunk. Shi turned hir face further away from him.

“Canmephians don’t handle drugs well,” shi said. “And smoke makes us sneeze at gale force velocity.”

“Eh, suit’cherself,” Fang said, taking a long drag. The ‘yena held in the wacky weed fumes for a few moments; then his face split into an ear-to-ear grin, the smoke coming out between his teeth. He let out a long giggle that was remarkable, even for a hyena. Just then, a buzzed vixen in a bikini and a male dragon in a speedo staggered up behind him, hanging on his shoulders.

“Hey Faaaang, where’s yer munchies? We’re jonesin’ fer some chips,” the vixen tittered in his ear. The ‘yena gave the two a smirk and tossed his head towards the back of the cabin.

“Kitchen, lefthand cabinet,” he said. “Knock yerselves out.” The two stoners tottered back towards the cabin in their quest for food. Redwolf watched all this impassively, two arms crossed, the other two on hir hips, a look of stony disconcern on hir face.

“Fang, the Canmephian military branches ALWAYS work in concert with each other,” shi said. “You can’t just play vigilante and take matters into your own hands whenever you feel like it.”

The hyena let out a sigh, puffed the last of the joint, then flicked the stub over the railing. “Freakin’ buzz kill,” he muttered. “I told you already, I’m not concerned with that shit. I do what I think needs to be done or what I want to do. If other people don’t like that, tch, fuck do I care?”

Redwolf shook hir head, “Diety, that’s one hell of an attitude to take.”

Fang gave hir a look of frank seriousness, despite his buzz. “Yeah?” he said. “Well tell me honestly, do you really think most people out there think that much different? You see many people really giving a damn about stuff that isn’t gonna come back to bite ‘em directly?”

Redwolf sighed; shi hated to admit it, but the cynical, selfish bastard was right.

“That’s just the way the world works, Admiral,” The yena said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Well it doesn’t HAVE to,” shi snapped. Fang snorted a bit in a way that was half amusement, half disbelief.

“Well I’d like to know who intends to change it,” he said. “ ‘cause I don’t think even you alone are gonna change the minds of the vast majority of this planet.”

Redwolf sighed again; this subject was starting to depress hir. Shi leaned against the side of the cabin, making the entire ship rock slightly.

“At any rate, that’s not the only reason I came by,” shi said. “This investigation isn’t over yet. We have a lot more to do. We need to find out why the cobrawolves are kidnapping terrans and where they’re taking them.”

Fang scratched the back of his head, looking off to the side. “So what’s this got to do with me? You’ve got plenty of staff to handle this.”

“YOU are the one who snafu’ed the undercover op, so YOU get to see this through to the end,” Redwolf said, thumping a finger into the hyena’s chest. He brushed it away with a sardonic look.

“Lucky me,” he grumbled.

The setting sun set the sky on fire, an inferno of reds and oranges playing over the clouds. Redwolf had the top down on hir jeep; sometimes the little pleasures in life can help you deal with the biggest problems. It had been about three days since the cobrawolves had been caught. Redwolf had returned to Pawstooth and recuperated from the lengthy undercover work for a day, then set about arranging the interrogations of the prisoners. The cobrawolves that had been captured weren’t saying a word and had already attacked three guards. So that left the wolfskunk foreman to question.

Redwolf slowed as shi approached the gates of the Baltimore CMSC base. Shi’d had the foreman transferred to a holding brig there and made sure shi was confined with the most unpleasant cellmates possible. After ordering the foreman brought out for questioning, the drygerskunk set up an interrogation room with a lie detector. Designed to resemble the Voik-Kampf device from Blade Runner, it would measure an individual’s body language, voice tone, pupil dilation and other factors to determine the likelihood they were bullshitting.

Redwolf took a pull from a paper cup of soda as the foreman was brought in. Shi was a nurse-class wolfskunk with orange body fur and two heads, each with a long ponytail of green hair.  Both heads glowered at Redwolf, who impassively poured the rest of a can of Pepsi throwback into hir cup. With another hand, the admiral flipped open a file.

“Wolfskunk Folley,” shi said, reading over the file. “Born on Canmeph-2, graduated with honors in industrial management, sterling ten-year career. By all counts, looks like the dossier of a model Canmephian citizen. Which leads me to wonder…,” Redwolf leaned on the table, lacing the fingers of two hands together in front of hir muzzle.

“How the hell does someone like you get mixed up with scum like the Cobrawolves?” shi said.  Folley gave Redwolf a double look of incredulity.

“WHAT?! Admiral, I wouldn’t associate with Cobrawolves if my life depended on it!” shi said. Like a poker-faced card shark, Redwolf flicked hir eyes towards the lie detctor; the digital readout had a bar on it that would extend from “truth” to “lie” depending on the results. The last statement had been measured about halfway up.

“Not off to a good start, Folley,” Redwolf said. “Now, we’re already searching your apartment and every place you’re known to frequent. We WILL find the evidence we need to prove your involvement with the spies. The more you admit now, the less you may eventually be charged with.”

“Admiral, this is nuts,” Folley said in stereo. Shi put a hand to one head and rubbed its temple. “I’d never do anything that would knowingly jeopardize our people.” The admiral glanced at the lie detector again. This time the wolfskunk seemed to be telling the truth, but something in what shi said made Redwolf suspicious.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Redwolf said. “Of course, we’re not in the Canmephian system right now…we’re on Sol-3. Anything that happened here would have the biggest impact on the Terrans.”

Folley remained impassive there. Interrogations are like picking locks; too much pressure and you’ll push the pins of the lock too far. To little pressure and you won’t raise them enough. Redwolf decided to push a bit harder.

“Tch, Terrans,” shi said, leaning back in hir seat. “Diety, the crap we have to go through for them.” The admiral was rewarded with a pair of rueful smiles and a double-nod from Folley; shi was on the right track.

“I mean hell,” Redwolf said, “when’s the last time they did anything for us? As much as we’ve had to fix on this damn planet, we ought to be running the thing.”

“I don’t think it’s worth the time,” Folley said. “Outside of a few natural resources, there’s not much to offer here.”

“Really?” Redwolf said, looking curious. “Then how’d you wind up working here?”

“Pfff, my boss transferred me, that’s how,” the wolfskunk grunted, crossing hir arms and glaring off to one side with one head. The other focused on the drygerskunk. “I think shi figured I was after hir job, so decided to get me out of hir hair by shunting me off to this outpost.”

“Damn,” Redwolf said. “If that happened to me, I’d be pissed as hell. I’d probably quit.”

“M’yeah,” Folley muttered, looking up ruefully at the ceiling. “But I’ve got too much invested in my career. Best I can hope for is to wait until I get recalled.”

“Heh, wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about this ball of dirt?” Redwolf smirked, looking down into hir drink cup and taking a pull.

“Damn right,” Folley said.

“Let somebody else have this dung heap,” Redwolf said, dropping hir cup down on the table. “Hell, let the Cobrawolves take it!”

“Yeah, like they could get anything out of it anyway!” Folley said. Redwolf gave hir a fixed stare.

“Is that how you figured it?” shi said. “They get a foothold, you get called home?”

Folley blinked; like a pair of deer in headlights, shi was caught. Hir composure started crumbling; Redwolf had gotten hir all worked up, and now shi was just itching to let it out.

“Yeah,” shi said. “I mean, why the hell are we bending over backwards for these damn backwater primitives? We’ve got our own problems. If they can’t cut it, that’s just natural selection.”

“Natural selection,” Redwolf echoed, giving Folley a hard glare. “How very like what the Cobrawolves say.” The wolfskunk gave hir a beaten dog look and leaned on the table.

“I want my lawyer,” shi grumbled.

Redwolf stood up; that signaled the end of the interview. Picking up the file and hir drink, the admiral walked towards the door. As shi rapped on the door, signaling the guard to open it from the outside, Folley looked over hir shoulder with one head.

“Tell me Admiral,” shi said, “have you ever met a Terran that didn’t want us to solve all their problems? Ever met one that actually wanted to stand up and HELP?”

Redwolf looked back at Folley silently for a few seconds.

“Once,” shi said, then left.

 

“Dan’s Place” was, at first glance, an average honky tonk bar. But on closer inspection someone walking through the door could begin to notice little signs that it was a lot more upper crust than it wanted to be. The hub caps and license plates decorating the walls, for example, couldn’t go unnoticed as valuable collector’s items for too long. And even someone completely ignorant about music could notice the top-quality piano and other instruments the jazz band was using. Fang had insisted on meeting Redwolf at the place; shi found him seated in a back booth, trimming his finger claws with a pocket knife. The hyena was again dressed in the white dress shirt and tan slacks, the fedora and coat hanging on a hook just outside the booth.  

“Nice little establishment you found here,” Redwolf said, sliding into the booth. Fang snorted with a grin.

“This place is a joke,” he said. “Buncha posers all trying to act like blue collar roughnecks, but you can smell the money coming off of their hundred dollar haircuts and their $50,000 watches.”

“So why’d you want to come here, then?” Redwolf asked. Fang tossed his gaze across the room at the band on the stage.

“Cause the music’s loud enough to ensure no evesdropping,” he said as a leopard waitress sashayed over to them. Shi was wearing a miniskirt and a t-shirt tied off to show off hir slim midriff.

“What can I get you folks?” she asked. Fang leaned back a bit in his seat.

“A long island iced tea, extra long,” he said.

“How long do you want it?” the leopard asked. Redwolf braced hirself for the inevitable pun.

“Long as this goy’s cock,” the hyena said, grinning and pointing his thumb at the drygerskunk. Accustomed to sexual jokes as shi was, even Redwolf was a bit surprised at Fang’s crass language.

“That long and you’ll die of alcohol poisoning,” shi said, trying to go with the flow.

“Well at least I’ll die happy,” the ‘yena said with a smirk. The drygerskunk declined a drink; as the waitress left, Fang gave her a little spank on the fanny and a wink. The leopard tried not to react too overtly, but the way she stiffened and the glare over her shoulder were pretty obvious.    

“So, have you found anything?” Redwolf said, idly twirling a stirring stick between hir fingers. Fang nodded, sending out a quick mental ping like a submarine radar to make sure nobody was trying to tune in.

“A bit of remote viewing using the psychic residue off the perp’s vehicles revealed a fair amount,” Fang said. “There’s still one more perp out there we haven’t accounted for.”

  

Redwolf nodded. “The cobrawolves we took out were just grunts, and they would never put a Canmephian in charge of their operation. The commanding officer’s still out there, right?”

“Right,” Fang said, pausing in the conversation while the waitress set his drink down in front of him, rather firmly. Fang wiggled his tongue at the waitress and snapped his jaws at her, making her retreat from the booth rather fast. The hyena chuckled and took a pull from his long island.

“The grunts never met with their commanding officer directly,” Fang said. “However, they would regularly go to a public restroom out on the insterstate, where they’d pick up a hidden message from one of the stalls. I took a trip out there myself and managed to get a decent reading off the commander’s residue. Course it was buried under the residue of about a hundred other people who popped a sq…,”

“I get the picture,” Redwolf said, putting a hand up. The ‘yena just chuckled.

“Anyway, I wasn’t able to get that good a feel for where the commander is, but I do know its somewhere in Boston,” he said. Redwolf’s eyes lit up. Quickly, shi excused hirself to the phone nook around the corner where shi used hir communicator to alert Groundpounder to the development.

“We’ll put a stakeout on this rest stop, drop a false message there with a captured Cobrawolf code we picked up and see if anybody takes it. Not bad Red, you’re learning,” Groundpounder said. Redwolf bit back on hir chagrin and closed the line as shi returned to the booth.

“Everything hunky-dorey?” Fang asked, stirring the ice in his drink. The admiral nodded, sliding into the booth. Shi got thumped in the back from the loud, raucous customers in the next booth over, who seemed to be playing some kind of drinking game.

“Yep; once we’ve got this commanding officer taken care of, we’ll get some definite answers,” Redwolf said. In the booth behind hir, the liquored-up customers all let out a laughing holler.

“Good,” the ‘yena said, tossing the booth wall behind hir an irritated look. “You know I’m still trying to figure out what they were kidnapping people for.”

“I hate to say it,” Redwolf muttered, crossing hir arms and looking over at the house band, “but they’re probably being used for study. Like lab animals.”

“Ech,” Fang muttered, putting on a small look of displeasure, like somebody had just told him about a person being sick on an airplane. “They couldn’t just steal textbooks from us or somethin’?”

“The Cobrawolves think that all life different from them is inferior,” Redwolf said, a look of grim displeasure on hir face. “Any information coming from an outside source is considered questionable at best. They prefer to take a…hands-on approach to research.”

“Charming,” The hyena snorted, draining his glass. Just then, one of the patrons in the adjoining booth, as part of some drinking stunt, managed to catapult a basket of pretzels into the air. The basket tumbled overhead, raining snacks down on top of the admiral and the hyena. More obnoxious laughter echoed from the booth as Fang wiped crumbs from his face, taking several pretzel sticks from behind his ears. Redwolf plucked several from hir hair, then stretched hir neck up like a giraffe and twisted hir head around. Sitting behind hir in the next booth was a group of about five frat boy jocks, all of them heavily built and wearing football jerseys. The table in front of them was littered with empty beer bottles, a full mug in front of each of them.  

Redwolf was about to give them a lesson in controlling team spirit when their beer mugs began to shake a bit.

“Eh? The fuck...,” one beefy raccoon said, looking closer into his mug. Suddenly it erupted like a geyser into his face. The ‘coon hacked and coughed, snorting through his nose to get the beer foam out of it as his cronies cackled at him. One of them, a fox, stopped laughing when his own beer suddenly rose up over his head and was dumped on top of him. An alligator grabbed his beer and started trying to quickly chug it down before he lost it. He had just finished drinking it when suddenly the mug was yanked from his hand and jammed snugly over his muzzle. A jackrabbit looked warily at his own beer, then clapped both hands over it to keep it in place. A crack suddenly split the glass on one side, spraying him like a water sprinkler from the neck down.

“Dayum!” said the last jock, a brown bear. He jumped up from the booth and took two steps toward the door. He was stopped short when some invisible hand grabbed him by the belt. His beer suddenly flew off the table, dumping its contents down his back into the seat of his pants.

Redwolf slowly pulled hir head back down over the side, turning back with a smirk of amusement. Across the table from hir, Fang wore a similar grin, idly nibbling one of the pretzel sticks as he listened to the jocks’ grumbles and whines of protest.  

  

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The next week passed uneventfully. This didn’t surprise Redwolf; shi figured the cobrawolf commander would wait some time for things to cool down. Fang, in the meanwhile, moved his yacht up to Boston so he could keep a closer eye on things himself. How much of an eye he was keeping was debatable, however. Redwolf cruised up to Boston a few times to check in on things and heard about him living it up in the local night clubs and causing more than a bit of trouble.

“For someone on a covert investigation, you’re not keeping a very low profile,” shi said to him one night. The drygerskunk had tracked the hyena down to a techno club, where he’d gotten into a scuffle with three bouncers after levitating all the patrons on the dance floor for kicks. Not all of them minded, but some of them were a bit scared by being suddenly pulled 10 feet up in the air.

“Pfff,” the hyena snorted as he ambled across the club’s parking lot, the admiral following behind him, “I thought the bouncers looked pretty funny getting slapped around by the ceiling fans. ‘sides, if I call attention to myself, I’ll be less conspicuous, ‘cause everybody would expect me to be keeping a low profile if I was up to somethin’.”

“Cobrawolves don’t take chances,” Redwolf said, but Fang just shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“Whatever,” he said, pulling an electronic key out of his pocket. His hovercar’s jet cycles revved up with the push of its button. “I take it you’re here for something besides acting like my chaperone.”

“We hit paydirt with the stakeout,” Redwolf said. Shi performed a telepathic ping, scanning the parking lot for anyone who could be listening in. The lot was dotted with shadows and rings of light coming down from moth-circled streetlights. It was the sort of place thriller movies like to use for dramatic tension, making people wonder if there’s a stalker or a spy lurking in the darkness, camera or gun at ready.

“Good,” Fang said, nodding to himself. “So’d you find all the answers you need, then?”

“Not quite,” Redwolf said. “The cobrawolf commander was uncooperative.”

“Your way of saying you wacked ‘em,” the hyena said with a smirk. “I doubt anyone’s gonna cry much over that.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Redwolf said. “We still need to find out what the cobrawolves were doing with the kidnap victims, where they were taking them and if there are any more of them.”

“Tch, you’re determined to keep pokin’ at a wasps’ nest until you get stung, aren’cha?” Fang said, leaning against his car. Redwolf tried to avoid remarking about the callousness of that statement; shi didn’t want another dose of the ‘yena’s jaded attitude.

“We found the commander’s residence and I want you to come with me to scan it for evidence,” shi said. The drygerskunk took hir PDA from hir cleavage and pulled up the address. Fang looked it over, his face registering a bit of genuine surprise.

“I’ve been out that way a couple times,” he said. “Ritzy neighborhood; how’d this guy manage to afford it?”

Redwolf flipped hir PDA shut and stuffed it back between hir breasts. “Near as we can figure, they’d been hacking bank systems and falsifying records to boost their accounts whenever they needed money.”

“Heh, counterfeiting in the 25th century,” Fang chuckled.

The afternoon was dull gray and overcast, the setting sun little more than a bright spot on the rolling blanket of clouds overhead. Redwolf cruised slowly through the suburban neighborhood, a gated community made up of the latest in “McMansions.” Trends always seem to come at the cost of creativity and imagination; while that would almost go without saying, even within a trend there is the opportunity for some variation. But it would’ve been hard to say that from the rows of identical two-story, five-bedroom houses with matching exteriors colors the drygerskunk and hir passenger were driving through.

The cobrawolf commander’s house was no different. Of course, Redwolf didn’t expect it would be; the last thing the commander would have wanted was anything to call attention to hirself. The admiral pulled up in the driveway. Fang hopped out first, stretching his arms and looking around with a bored expression.

“I see the first shift’s come and gone,” he said, indicating the small, disc-shaped holographic projector set in front of the front door. The projector threw up a floating sign that said “CRIME SCENE: DO NOT CROSS”. Anyone crossing the holographic barrier without proper authorization would set off an alarm, but Redwolf simply sent the projector an authorization code with hir internal computer and the barrier blinked out in front of hir.

“What do you hope to find here that the first crew didn’t?” Fang asked as the door slid open. The interior of the house was Spartan in terms of creature comforts. No pictures, no potted plants, the barest necessities for furniture. A motel room had more personality to it. Redwolf reflected on how paper-thin cobrawolf attempts at blending in were; if they’d allowed anyone into their home, suspicions would’ve immediately been raised.

“I’m hoping to pick up on something psychic,” shi said, passing through the doorway and looking around. Fang followed hir in, oh-so casually walking over to the tv. The hyena picked up the remote from the chair in front of it and flipped it on.

“What a shock, shi didn’t spring for many channels,” Fang said, flipping through. He brought up the commander’s viewing schedule, a feature where the user could put tags on shows throughout the upcoming week for reminders to watch.

“Seems all shi was interested in was news broadcasts, science programs and history presentations,” Fang said. Redwolf nodded.

“That figures,” shi said. “Gathering intelligence, no doubt.” Fang switched the tv off and went into the kitchen.

“Wonder where shi kept the booze…,” he said, grinning.

“I don’t think cobrawolves drink,” Redwolf said, going into the bedroom. Just like the living room, it was sparse; little more than the bed itself inside, plus a couple storage containers. The admiral wasn’t surprised to see they only contained some weaponry, additional disguise hologram units, and other military equipment. Going into the bathroom, the drygerskunk found a few personal hygiene items, but nothing too obvious. Suddenly, shi remembered an old military trick shi’d heard of. Taking out what appeared to be some kind of powered scale buffer, Redwolf flipped open the battery case. Shi grinned as shi found a datacrystal hidden in the compartment.

“Not much out of place in the kitchen,” Fang said. The hyena was standing in the doorway behind Redwolf. He had a plastic bag in one hand, from which he pulled out a handful of chips of some kind. The ‘yena tossed a few in his mouth.

“Not much in the way of food, either,” he said. “This cobrawolf stuff tastes lousy. Got no flavor to it.” Redwolf’s face got a rather queasy expression on it.

“That’s probably because most of their grunt troops’ rations are made from the processed dead of their own kind,” Redwolf said. Fang stopped chewing for a second. With a deadpan expression, he chewed a couple more times, swallowed, then tossed the rest of the bag over his shoulder.

“Tastes kinda like chicken,” he said. “Bland, unseasoned, dehydrated chicken.”

“I’ll….take your word for it…,” Redwolf said, looking even more queasy. Reaching into hir cleavage, the drygerskunk pulled out hir PDA and skimmed the contents of the crystal. It turned out to be the commander’s private journal. Most of it was boring, tedious accounts of various operations, most of which the Canmephians were well aware of and had been monitoring covertly for some time. However, as Redwolf got to the more recent entries, hir interest became piqued.

“Seems these interlopers were kidnapping people and shipping them off for study by ‘strategic new conscripts,’” shi said. “That’s odd. Cobrawolves aren’t known for working with anyone outside of their own planetary system.”

“Alliance of convenience, it sounds like,” Fang said. “It’s not unheard of in Terran history.”

“True, true,” Redwolf muttered, still scanning the crystal. “Doesn’t seem to be much else-wait…they’ve got a storehouse where they keep their victims on ice for opportune shipping.”

“Where’s that?” Fang said. Redwolf shook hir head, frowning.

“No clue, the commander doesn’t mention a specific location,” Shi flipped off hir PDA. “Damn.”

“Heh,” Fang said, smirking a bit and tossing his head back towards the hallway. “That’s no problem. C’mon, let’s check out the commander’s garage.”

The commander’s garage was well stocked with various tools and parts, all well organized with military efficiency. The commander’s vehicle, a ground van specially designed to accommodate hir physique, was kept in equally good order. Redwolf examined the tool cabinet and workbench while Fang pulled open the van’s door. He climbed into the seat like a kid getting ready to play race car driver, using the door and the seat belt as hand and foot holds.

“Alright,” he said, cracking his knuckles. The hyena flexed his fingers a few times, putting his hands on the steering wheel. “Let’s check this thing’s mileage.” The ‘yena closed his eyes and cocked his head slightly to one side. The admiral leaned against the workbench, then put a hand to hir temple and tapped into Fang’s psychic wavelength.

Going my way? Shi mentally intoned. Fang just chuckled. In the theater of his mind, the two of them watched a disjointed home movie of memories. Flashes of the various places the van had been skipped through the hyena’s head. Most of them were inconsequential; trips to and from work, meeting places with the covert ops, nothing that wasn’t expected. Suddenly, Fang slowed down the psychic slideshow.

Oh hang on, he intoned, tilting his head to the other side. The images now coming up were of the van pulling into a large self-storage lot late at night. Stacks and rows of large cargo units were kept behind a force wall. The van was slowly creeping down one of the rows, stopping in front of one of the pods.  

And I think we’ve hit paydirt, Fang intoned, freezing the memory there in front of the storage cube. Redwolf made careful note of the cube’s storage number, then snapped out of hir psychic stupor.

“Bingo,” shi said as Fang started coming around himself. “Next stop, Pack Mule Self Storage.”

A heavy gale had started blowing as the drygerskunk pulled up next to the gate at Pack Mule Self Storage. The owner, whom Redwolf contacted by phone on the way there, getting permission to search the cobrawolf commander’s storage unit. The force gate winked off briefly as Redwolf used the entry code the storage lot owner gave hir, slowly cruising up and down the rows. The drygerskunk couldn’t help by get a sense of déjà vu, remembering how just a moment ago they were motoring past identical manufactured houses.

The storage units were all designed with air tight seals on their doors; apparently the storage center had several commercial customers, including a meat packing plant that sometimes stored excess meat there, as well as several science labs that stored archeological finds and chemical compounds that needed to be kept at an even atmospheric pressure.

A perfect place to hide unconscious kidnap victims being held in stasis, Redwolf thought to hirself as shi took another left.

“Here,” Fang said, looking out the passenger window. The drygerskunk pulled up just past the last storage unit on the end of the row, parking hir jeep around the corner from the door. The wind almost yanked the door out of hir hand as a gust came up while shi was stepping out of the vehicle. The hyena had to put a hand on his hat to keep it from blowing away in the wind. Tapping out the five-digit pass code, Redwolf steeled hirself for what shi was likely to find inside.

The door swung open on it’s hinges, revealing a darkened interior to the container. The drygerskunk’s eyes glowed a brilliant yellow and Fang pulled a small pocket flashlight from his coat as they stepped into the container. Insided, Several storage crates marked “fragile” were stacked up far in the back. The admiral’s hand went fluid, morphing into a prybar shape, which shi then jammed into the lid of the first crate. There was a splintering creak as shi worked the lid loose. Shi’d expected to find more kidnapping victims inside.

Shi wasn’t disappointed.

“Diety,” shi muttered. Plastic-wrapped Terrans, still alive in stasis, were piled like so much stored beef. The drygerskunk shook hir head, digging into hir cleavage again and pulling out a communicator.

“CMAC, this is Admiral Redwolf, do you copy?” shi said. Static was all that answered the drygerskunk.

“Damn,” shi grunted, “did I forget to change the batteries?” Fang pulled out his cell phone and tried it.

“I’m getting no signal either. Must be the container blocking the signal.”

WHAM! Both the drygerskunk and the hyena spun around. The door had slammed shut behind the two. Fang ran to the door and shoved on it, but it wasn’t moving.

“Fuck! The wind must have blown it shut,” he said. But before Redwolf could tell him the door was far too heavy for that, an unpleasant voice did it for hir.

“Oh it wasn’t the wind,” someone outside said. “Unfortunately for you.” Fang sneered at the door, crossing his arms. Redwolf’s face was a mask of seriousness as shi approached it.

“I advise you open this door right now, before you find yourself in a world of trouble, stranger,” shi said in a very authoritative tone.

“F’heh, you’re not a stranger to us, Admiral Redwolf,” the voice said. And this time, there was just a hint of a reptilian hiss in it. “We know all about you…inside and out.” Redwolf’s eyes blazed and shi balled up hir fists.

“Cobrawolves,” shi growled. Shi began to haul back hir fist to hit the door when outside, shi heard their captor speaking into a communicator.

“Transport, this is Unit 55433,” it said. “We’ve secured the targets. Prepare the drop ship to take them back for processing.”

A slow, hard smile spread across the drygerskunk’s face. Just then, shi felt Fang gearing up for a telekinetic blast to take the door off it’s hinges.

Hold fire there, Fang, shi intoned telepathically. This works in our favor. We let ‘em take us to their base, then we can blow the lid off this whole thing.  

The hyena paused, then smirked, letting the psychic energy he’d gathered dissipate.

“Heh, sure, I can play ‘back of the bus’…for now,” he said. A good thing, too, since he didn’t have long to consider it. From outside came the sound of an engine, hovering some distance overhead. The storage container suddenly lurched, knocking both the drygerskunk and the ‘yena to the floor.

“The fuck?!” Redwolf grunted. Fang clenched his eyes shut and did some remote viewing.

“They’ve got us in a clamp of some kind,” he said. “They’re pulling us up-WHOA!” The container, due to its shifting contents, suddenly tilted backward, sliding the duo into the back among the crates.

“Not the kind of travel accommodations I’m used to,” Fang muttered.

  It was a long, dark ride through space. The drop ship, after pulling the storage container aboard, rose straight up and into the atmosphere, then once it reached vacuum, continued on impulse power. Redwolf mused that their base must be close, and the cobrawolves were moving slowly to avoid drawing attention. Fang, meanwhile, amused himself by probing the minds of the drop ship crew.

“Wow, these morons have practically no psychic defenses at all,” he said, sitting in the corner of the container. “I can pick their brains and they have no clue…heh, this one grunt secretly wants to bang hir captain while submerged in hir own bodily waste. Then shi wants t…,”

“Gah, I don’t wanna hear the rest!” Redwolf said, scrunching hir face up in the dark. The hyena snickered, a somewhat unsettling thing to hear in the dark. The trip continued in silence for a period, making Redwolf feel a bit restless. While shade and darkness tended to calm the drygerskunk, shi still found the upcoming prospect of a serious battle was more than a little down time like this could ease. Casting around for something to say, the admiral hit on something that had been a bug in hir hat for a while.

“So, how long have you had those psychic abilities of yours?” Shi said at last. Fang, who was laying on top of one of the boxes at the time, glanced to the side toward the point where the drygerskunk’s voice was coming from.

“For several years now,” he said. “I woke up in a hospital one day with them. I don’t know how I got ‘em, but the doctors said they hadn’t detected any psychic activity in me before I’d come in, so it seems like I got my abilities in exchange for the memories of my previous life. Heh, fair trade, I’d say.”

“I don’t think it’d be too hard to find that out for you,” Redwolf said. “I can run a scan of the hospital rec….,”

“Pffff, nah,” Fang said, waving the admiral off. “Past is past and I’m not gonna waste time worryin’ about it.”

“Those who don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it,” Redwolf said. The hyena’s unsettling chuckle echoed through the canister.

“Maybe so, but like they say; life’s a bitch, then ya die,” he said. “So, might as well get your jollies while you can.”

“Is that why you agreed to this?” Redwolf said. “For jollies?”

“Actually,” Fang said, glancing to the side, “as I recall, you dragged me along on this to ‘teach me a lesson’ about not following your oh-so-important protocol.”

“You could’ve said no,” Redwolf said. “Technically I have no authority over you. You could’ve just told me to go fuck myself.” The hyena grinned a tooth-filled grin in the dark.

“Heh, got me there, Admiral,” he said. “Yeah, I am pretty much along for the ride here for shits n’ giggles.” Redwolf shook hir head.

“How can you consider going into battle against heavily-armed conquerors shits and giggles?” shi asked.

“Simple,” Fang answered. “When you’re not obsessing over things like causes and motives and all that sentimental bullshit, fighting is just another experience. It’s another rush, another buzz, another flavor I like to indulge in.”

In the dark, Redwolf’s rueful gaze was barely noticeable; the shape of hir glowing eyes changed only slightly as shi raised one eyebrow and cocked hir head to one side. “You know, your predecessor reminded me of Don Quixote,” shi said. “You, on the other hand, remind me of Dorian Gray.”

“Oh, what, you’re saying you knew my dad?” Fang said with a bemused snort.

“No, I knew the guy who’s name you took, remember?” Redwolf said.

“Ooooh yeah,” the hyena said, memory dawning to him. “You did mention that before. One of those crusader types, was he?”

“He was an idealist, you might say,” Redwolf said. “I didn’t know him long, but he left an impression. He had ambition, drive, he wanted to make a difference.” The hyena let out another amused snort. Redwolf glared at him sharply.

“Something about that amuse you?” Shi said with a snarl.

“Psh’yeah,” Fang said. “Nobody ever makes a serious difference. I mean shit, enough time passes, everything dies, crumbles and rots. S’like the song says, we’re all just dust in the wind.” Once more, the drygerskunk couldn’t help but be struck by the hyena’s lack of concern for just about anything besides his own amusement.

“So what, you don’t think there’s something coming after this life?” shi said. “You know, we Canmephians aren’t known for being the most religious of people, but even we believe there’s something to come after this.” With hir enhanced vision, Redwolf was able to see the hyena shrug.

“Dunno,” he said. “Lotta people say there’s something. But I haven’t ever seen anything to prove it. So, frankly, I say fuck it, it’s not worth wasting time on. Besides, if half the religious nuts on my planet are right, the powers that they say be are gonna forgive me anyway.”

 

Redwolf, who had some knowledge of Terran religions, was about to remind the hyena that most of those beliefs require penitence for forgiveness. But, as shi heard the ‘yena humming “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” with a sarcastic, mocking expression on his face, shi knew it would fall on deaf ears. Leaning back against the wall of the container, the drygerskunk decided hir curiosity had been satisfied. Rather than dwell further on the hyena’s attitude, the admiral focused on the upcoming incursion. It was going to be dangerous, but shi felt between the two of them, they could handle anything they’d find on a single Cobrawolf base.

Shi never suspected what they would find.

 Redwolf was monitoring the thoughts of the shuttle crew when shi noticed they were beginning to plan their approach to their base. Focusing hir thoughts on the pilot, the drygerskunk carefully probed the back of the pilot’s mind for clues as to their location. It wasn’t hard; the pilot was so wrapped up with guiding the shuttle’s approach, shi never noticed Redwolf’s own consciousness coming over hir like an octopus, smoothly and silently spreading its legs over hir mind, creeping along its surface.

The shuttle was just coming around to the far side of the large gas giant in Sol-3’s solar system, a gigantic planet known colloquially as “Jupiter”. Redwolf carefully tapped into the Cobrawolf’s mental images of hir sight, and got a good look at what they were coming up on.

Diety, Redwolf thought to hirself, How did we not notice THAT?

Looming ahead was a large Cobrawolf battleship. Floating just outside of the planet’s gravitational pull to avoid being swung around and into view of Sol-3’s observational abilities. Like just about everything related to Cobrawolves, the ship was decked out with an array of weaponry pointed in just about every direction. Releasing the pilot’s mind, Redwolf looked over at Fang. The hyena had lapsed into a doze, and was now actually snoring quite loud, his muzzle open, a trickle of drool coming out of one side of his mouth.

“Rise n’ shine,” the drygerskunk said, giving the hyena’s footpaw a shake. The ‘yena, snorted, rolled on his side, letting out a yawn from a tooth-filled muzzle.

“We’re getting’ ready to dock,” Redwolf told him. Fang’s response was to grunt, scratch at himself, and then let off a short but noisy fart.

“C’mon,” Redwolf said a bit more tersely, giving him a prod with one of hir tails. “Get up!”

“Grasafranarrrnnngh,” the hyena grumbled, swinging into an upright position. He slowly slid off the box into his typical slouch, just as the shuttle set down with a heavy THUD, making both the drygerskunk and Fang grab the walls for support.

“Stupid reptiles couldn’t pilot a box car let alone a shuttle,” the Admiral grumbled. Fang said nothing, instead sliding his hat back on his head and cracking his knuckles.

“Well, let’s go tell them what we think of their driving,” he said with a smirk. Redwolf smirked as well.

“Good idea,” shi replied. Holding out hir hands, two pairs of luger replica pistols, one in each hand, emerged from hir palms. But while the original lugers were designed to fire 9mm shells, these guns were bored for much larger .45 slugs. Outside, the sound of someone tapping on a keypad was just barely audible. The big moment was coming; Fang gave his hands a flick at the wrist, holding out his arms like a gunslinger about to draw.

“Prisoners!” Came a harsh, hissing voice from the outside. “If you resist, you’ll be killed on sight! Come out with your hands up!”

Outside the container, ten cobrawolves waited, lazer rifles trained on the doors. There was silence from inside the container. Unsure if shi’d been heard, the corporal in charge slithered a bit closer to the door.

“Prisoners!” shi snapped again. “Come out wi…”

BAM! In an instant, the doors suddenly went flying off their hinges. Inside the container, Fang had raises his arms up, crossing them at the elbows, then swung them forward like a swimmer doing a breast stroke. A blast of telekinetic energy caused the doors to blast outward like a cork, killing the corporal and three of the guards behind hir.  The rest were bowled over as the doors knocked them to the deck before clanging against the far wall of the shuttle. As the guards start to push themselves back upright, bullets flew from Redwolf’s guns, the reports sounding like a machine gun, as fast as they were. Before a single rifle shot could be fired, the remaining guards had been riddled with shots.

Fang emerged from the crate first. For a change, he didn’t look careless and bored. The hyena now wore an expression of alertness and distrust, as if he expected an ambush around every corner. Redwolf followed him out, sweeping hir guns around like a SWAT officer making hir way through a building. The hyena’s pace was slow and deliberate as they made their way down the shuttle’s gangplank.

“Was that our entire reception?” Fang said, looking around. “I’m insulted.”

The rest of the battleship’s docking bay was unoccupied. Several other shuttles were parked nearby, while scattered tools and several shipping containers left without being properly stowed suggested loading crews had quickly vacated the area after they’d heard the commotion.

“Don’t worry,” Redwolf said, “I think they just went to go get the red carpet.”

As if on cue, a door on the opposite side of the room started to open, splitting in half width-wise like a mouth. But it stopped partway, just enough for a set of plasma launching weapons to be shoved through. The weapons had shorter, stockier muzzles than the lazer rifles the previous guards had been carrying. Instinctively, both Fang and Redwolf took cover behind a stack of crates as the troopers, using the door as cover, started blasting at them. The weapons launched masses of corrosive plasma at the pair, a slimy substance that, upon hitting anything organic or metallic, began to dissolve it. This included things like the crates they were crouched behind.

“That’s something new,” Redwolf muttered.

“What is?” Fang said as a glob of plasma wizzed just overhead.

“Those weapons,” shi said, “must be a new prototype.”

“Really?” Fang said. “How…fascinating.”

That last word came out of the hyena’s muzzle with a grunt, along with a toss of his head. Redwolf felt the sudden surge of telekinetic energy coming from him, and used hir own powers to follow the flow. Fang reached out with his mind, grabbing onto the weapons of the troopers and yanked them hard. The cobrawolves’ grip on their launchers was too firm to break with just a tug, but it did slam them hard against the doorway.

Fang began repeatedly yanking on their guns, slamming them over and over into the door. One trooper finally let go of hir weapon after being battered to death against the cracked-open barrier. Another had hir hand so tightly gripped on hir gun it wouldn’t come loose even after hir neck was broken, so Fang just yanked so hard hir arm snapped off. In the end, Redwolf winced as a half dozen cobrawolf heavy troopers were bashed, pummeled, and bludgeoned to death by the hyena’s telepathic tug-of-war.

Fang stepped slowly out from behind the crates; the firing had stopped by then. Redwolf emerged as well, crossing the docking bay to the door. Shi put two hands on the underside of the top half of the door and one footpaw on the lower half, separating them as shi forced the doorway open. The drygerskunk remained calm, despite the unpleasant state of the cobrawolves’ remains. Shi picked up one of their launchers, hefting it in hir hands as shi looked it over.

“Interesting design,” shi said. “Silicon ammunition chamber and barrel, metallic exterior frame for stability and recoil reduction…,”

“Yeah, fascinating, how ‘bout ‘cha poke at it later?” Fang said, brushing past the Admiral. “Right now we’ve got shit to kill.” Redwolf gave the hyena a bemused smirk and stuffed the weapon into hir physics-defying cleavage; while not tactful, the ‘yena was right. The two pressed further into the bowels of the battleship; the interior was very Spartan in its design. Every room they went into appeared to be utilitarian in purpose; nothing even remotely resembling rest or recreation outside of a sleeping chamber or two. A periodic skirmish would suddenly occur as they encountered ambushes at several junctions in the hallways.  

“Do you get the feeling we’re being led towards something?” Fang said as they pressed further along one corridor. Redwolf nodded.

“Yes. There’s been no alarm sounded, we’ve met minimal resistence…,” shi muttered. As they came to a junction, Redwolf paused for a second.

“Hmm…let’s try something,” shi said. Turning around, shi started back down the way they came. With almost alarming speed, a security door suddenly slammed down in front of hir, sealing off the way back. Fang spun around as he heard the door slam down. Quirking an eyebrow, he went up to the door and knocked on it. A buzzing sound came from it and the hyena yanked his hand back.

“NGH! Damn thing’s electrified,” he said. The admiral nodded, looking around.

“Okay,” shi said in a loud voice. “We know SOMEBODY’S gotta be watching, so why don’t you dispense with the melodrama and just tell us what you’re up to.”

“Very perceptive Admiral,” a voice said over a loudspeaker in the corridor. The drygerskunk and the hyena looked up and around, trying to locate the source of the noise, finally noticing a small, black square on the ceiling that must have been a panel hiding a camera and speaker.

“So whom do we have the irritation of meeting?” Redwolf said, looking up at the square and putting hir hands on hir hips.

“Ahh, a subscriber to the philosophy of know thy enemy. Very well, since it will be futile anyway, I shall indulge you. I am Dr. Devarped, and yes, as you’ve so astutely pointed out, it’s my intention to guide you to my testing area.”

“Oh whoop de fucking do,” Fang muttered, “a sick quack who wants to test his latest prototype on us.”

“Did I already say you’re perceptive?” The voice said with a hissing snicker. “That’s correct. And since there’s no point in hiding it, you now know your utterly futile position. So, if you’d please proceed, we can begin the test without further delays.”

What do you say we just collapse this fucking door and stroll on out of here? Fang telepathically intoned to Redwolf. Without looking at him, the Admiral instead started down the hall.

We still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this, shi responded. Plus, we need to find out what the cobrawolves have cooked up here.

Ehh Admiral, I don’t want to sound like a pussy here, the hyena thought to Redwolf. For the first time, shi could actually detect a small bit of unease in him as he followed hir. but we are, in fact, outnumbered and pretty much playing it by ear here. We could be walking into more than we bargained for.

That’s a chance we’ll have to take, shi replied. The hyena didn’t respond, instead just following along behind the admiral, eyes shifting from side to side frequently. The hall they were in had no more junction points beyond the one they’d just passed and been cut off from. A sudden feeling of urgency, a desire to race down the hallway to confront whatever was at the end, washed over both Fang and Redwolf. They fought the urge with some difficulty. Finally, at the very end, they came to another closed door. Uneasily, the pair approached, the door slowly sliding open, revealing a pitch-black room beyond.

“Tch, determined to do this as melodramatically as possible, I see,” Redwolf muttered.

“Welcome to my parlor,” echoed Dr. Devarped’s voice from inside. “Come in, make yourselves comfortable.” The drygerskunk and hir entourage stepped slowly through the doorway. With a loud clang, it slammed shut behind them, cutting off the small amount of light the hallway afforded. Redwolf was about to activate hir night vision when the doctor saved hir the trouble. Two by two, overhead lights started to click on in a sequence, revealing the interior of Dr. Devarped’s lab.

Fang remained largely unfazed by what he saw. But for Redwolf, who had experienced the brutality and cruelty of cobrawolf research personally, it was a skin-crawling reminder of a dark part of hir past. Stasis tubes lined a central walkway along the center of the room up to a central computer hub. Dotted throughout the lab were various examination tables and chairs, each with its own cabinet of cruelly-designed tools of probing, cutting, pulling and all other manner of mistreating some poor bastard’s physical being.

But the tubes themselves held the most unpleasant sights. Various races, some Terran, others from other planets, including those in the Canmeph system, were represented there, many of them terribly mutated. The extra limbs some of them had the unhealthy look of unnatural growth, looking twisted and malformed. Others had tumor-like growths and discolored patches of skin and hair.

Looking over all this, the ringmaster of this nightmare show, was Dr. Devarped. The cobrawolf stood, for lack of a better term, at the railing of the computer hub platform. The doctor sported four arms, two crossed in front of hir, a second pair crossed held behind hir back. Hir canine face sported a look of cool, calculated indifference.

“Good, you’re here,” Devarped said. Redwolf, hir face locked in an expression of disgust and anger, said nothing. Instead, shi whipped hir guns up and unloaded four fresh clips at the cobrawolf. But Devarped didn’t even try to dodge them, standing stock still as the bullets seemed to deflect off some unseen barrier. Thinking there must be some kind of transparent pane between them, Redwolf launched a telepathic blow that would have flattened an armored car into a wafer. But hir mental wrecking ball smashed into an immovable force holding it back.

The drygerskunk blinked, but tried hir best to mask hir surprise.

“So, you cobrawolves have developed telepathic abilities too,” shi said. Devarped smirked humorlessly.

“In a manner of speaking,” shi said. “As you can see, I’ve been conducting studies on the rather myrad variations of species on this planetary system’s only inhabited world. I must say, it’s amazing the physical abnormalities they develop…but what can you expect from so much inbreeding resulting from the inability to travel behind ones own planet?”

“As opposed to you,” Fang snorted. “You inbreed as a result of hubris.”

Devarped’s smirk slid off hir face. “We’ve yet to find anyone better,” shi said flatly.

“Whatever, I’m not here to banter,” Redwolf snorted. “I’m here to kick ass and chew gum, and I’m out of gum.”

“Ah, down to ‘brass tacks,’ as the Terrans say, eh?” Devarped said, hir smirk returning, this time with a rather harsh, toothy quality. “Fine then! You’re right, Admiral, we have developed a way to give ourselves telepathic powers. However, so far, the process is rather…unpleasant.”

The doctor pressed a button on a console to hir right. In front of hir, a panel in the floor slowly slid back, revealing a vat of fluid like that in the stasis tubes. Silently, a large, scaly, sinewy, elongated arm reached up from the surface and slapped down wetly on the floor. A second one followed it as a massive, warped-looking cobrawolf dragged itself up from the fluid. The reptile’s body, easily twice Redwolf’s height, appeared to have been twisted by either the process used to give it its powers, or by the psionic energies themselves. Its torso was hunched over, its eyes clouded and lacking any sort of intelligence.

Fang cracked his knuckles. “This oughta be interesting,” he said with grim smirk. The mutated cobrawolf reared up as high as it could with its twisted spine and let out a bellowing howl at the hyena and the drygerskunk. The ‘yena snorted, lashing out with a fast telekinetic strike designed to hit like a whip crack. It caught the creature off guard, lashing it across the muzzle. The creatures responded with a second bellow and a massive mental blow that was more like a wave crashing down on the beach. Both Fang and Redwolf braced for the blow, but even with their combined effort it forced them back several steps and against the sealed door behind them.

“MOVE!” Redwolf yelled as the creature began a second assault. Both the ‘yena and the drygerskunk dove to opposite sides as the monster let loose with a blast that caused the door and a good portion of the wall to buckle.

“Okay, you wanna play rough?!” Fang snarled. He flexed his telekinetic muscles and tore three exam tables out of the floor, hurling them at the cobrawolf. The creature smashed them aside with a mental swipe. Devarped, meanwhile, watched the destruction and chaos before hir with a look of calm intrigue.

“Interesting,” shi said, causing Redwolf to shoot hir a look, then to tear out an exam chair hirself and hurl it at the doctor with hir mind. The mutated cobrawolf, however, had apparently been trained to protect the doctor, because it immediately turned, caught the chair in mid air a good ten feet from the doctor, then sent it hurling back at Redwolf, who batted it aside with hir own powers.

“Well, I think I’ll retire to a better vantage point,” Devarped said, turning and slithering towards an elevator on the computer hub. Still smirking, shi pressed a button on the lift and it slowly glided upward on a magnetic cushion as Redwolf looked on in unconcealed anger.

“You can run, but you can’t…,” shi started, but was cut off as the monster made another swipe at hir. Shi blocked it, but was nonetheless amazed at the strength of the blow. Fang, Meanwhile, had made a telekinetic grab at the cobrawolf, attempting to pick it up and throw it. It met his mental grip, however, with its own. The two were now locked in the telekinetic equivalent of a wrestling match, twisting and turning with their powers.

Thinking now was the time to strike, Redwolf ran behind the monster, summoning up a massive blow to the creature’s back. But once again, it met with an immovable shield of telepathic energy.

This thing’s a living psi emitter! Redwolf thought. As if to drive the point home, the shield shi just struck suddenly pushed outward against hir own force, sending the drygerskunk toppling backward in surprise. Shi fell into the stasis fluid vat behind hir, the medicinal-smelling fluid washing over hir. Being a liquid shapeshifter, Redwolf tended to be rather dense in a physical sense, hir body containing a lot of mass for its volume. The admiral shot out one of hir limbs, stretching it like a lasso. It wrapped around one of the tubes, allowing Redwolf to pull hirself up out of the briny solution shi was soaked in.

The mutated cobrawolf was still locked in a grapple with Fang as the drygerskunk broke the surface of the stasis vat. It shoved hard against the hyena’s own mental powers, forcing him up against the glass partition between the lab they were in and the one in the next room. Redwolf grabbed at the metal grating of the floor, trying to drag hirself out of the vat. The stasis fluid must have had some sort of drug in it, because the drygerskunk found hirself slowly feeling rather numb. It took concentration for hir to maintain hir form now, something shi could usually do unconsciously, like breathing. Hir fingers scrambled for a grip, determination and a dash of fear filling hir mind.

Can’t get caught like this! Redwolf thought, laboriously pushing hirself up off the floor. Fang, meanwhile, appeared to have reached a deadlock with the creature, neither one of them yielding an inch to the other. The hyena’s face was clenched hard, veins almost visible on him as he pressed against the monster. Suddenly, the creature switched tactics, mentally grabbing the hyena and picking him up rather than pushing against him! Fang was thrown off his guard, and found himself suddenly yanked up into the air, then slammed so hard against the glass partition the reinforced barrier cracked! Redwolf, only just able to push hirself up on one knee, watched in horror as the creature yanked the hyena up again, then hurled him so hard against the three-inch thick glass he was smashed through it.

The drygreskunk dragged hirself behind one of the stasis tubes. Slumped to the floor, shi breathed hard, eyes darting from side to side.  Shi could hear the creature turn, but low down as shi was, the base of the tube hid hir from view, and shi was able to mask enough of hir telepathic signature the creature couldn’t immediately find hir.

That was impossible. Redwolf thought, hir mind reeling a bit. He should have been smashed to paste against that glass wall! It must have been the force of the blow combined with his own telepathic shield…maybe that means he survived!

Deciding to take a small risk, the drygerskunk sent out a telepathic ping.  The cobrawolf was a big, screaming blip on hir mental radar as it now milled around, apparently confused as to where its second target went. Just beyond the creature, the admiral could sense a second telepathic signature. It was faint, but there.

He is alive, but he’s in bad shape, Redwolf thought. Just then, the creature in the center of the room shifted, the sound of its movement snapping the admiral back to the present danger.

How the hell can I fight this thing?  Shi thought, gritting hir teeth. The only time we’ve landed a blow on this thing was when…That’s when it clicked in hir mind. They’d only hit the mutated cobrawolf when Fang had landed a fast, small blow on it. The creature was big and powerful, but it was stupid and slow; the only way to beat it was to strike fast and unexpected.

Redwolf heard the creature slithering across the floor. Shi didn’t need to look to know that it was beginning to head hir way. Shi had to act fast. Quickly calling up a remote viewing of the room, shi focused hir attention on one of the cabinets of surgical tools. The doors slid silently open as shi lifted the various cutting and probing implements with hir mind. The creature was looming closer, throwing its shadow between the stasis tubes. With a fast yank from hir mind, Redwolf slung the tools at the creature’s back, peppering it like buckshot with scalpels, needles and other sharp objects.

The creature snarled in pain, jerking around and sending a psychic wave of energy at the spot Redwolf launched the tools from. The drygerskunk used the distraction to move to a safer hiding spot, crouching down behind an exam table further away from the monster. Scanning around the room, the admiral focused on a cabinet filled with chemical bottles with numerous warning labels. Shi took hold of the entire cabinet telekinetically and started shaking and rattling it. Drawn like a fish to a lure, the creature slowly slithered towards the noise, thinking its prey was near. Instead, it got a nasty surprise as Redwolf caused the pressure in the chemical bottles to blast them open, spraying the toxic fluids into the creature’s face.

The cobrawolf reared back and howled in agony, wildly lashing out both with its limbs and it’s psychic powers. Stasis tubes shattered, equipment was flung wildly around as the mutated monster seethed with fury. Redwolf stepped out of cover to try and deliver a blow directly to the creature; that was a mistake. In its wild thrashing, the monster knocked an exam table across the room, catching the drygerskunk off guard when it came at hir from behind. Knocked to the floor, Redwolf grunted, shaking hir head as shi looked up and saw the creature bearing down on hir. For a moment, the drygerskunk was genuinely scared as shi felt the monster building up a massive telekinetic blow to try and tear hir painfully apart.

Redwolf looked frantically around the room, then saw all the broken stasis tubes. With lightning speed, the drygerskunk reached out with hir mind, taking hold of as many large shards of broken glass as shi could. Shi launched them at the creature like they were thrown by a tornado, slicing its back to ribbons. The cobrawolf fell with a thunderous bellow, writhing on the floor in a growing pool of blood. Slowly, it stopped its movements, collapsing in a heap.

Redwolf let out a slow, shuddering breath, the tension and rush of the fight slowly draining from hir. Shi looked from left to right, feeling slightly dazed, deciding on hir next move. Picking hir way through the debris and destruction, the drygerskunk made hir way to the glass wall Fang had been punted through. Redwolf wasn’t looking forward to what shi expected to find, but was surprised to find the hyena missing, as opposed to laying in a bruised and bloody mess.

Where the hell did he…, shi thought to hirself. The admiral cast around with hir telepathy, but wherever the hyena was, his psychic signature was so faint shi couldn’t find it.

“Looks like I’ve got to search for him the old fashioned way,” shi said. The drygerskunk’s boots crunched on the carpet of broken glass as shi stepped through the shard-filled window frame into the next lab over. It was a smaller one than the massive hallway shi just left; from all the readout screens, Redwolf figured it to be where the cobrawolves analyzed the data of their experiments. The admiral saw only one trace of Fang; a light blood trail leading towards the door.

The door slid silently open into another hallway. Redwolf swung hir pistols at both sides. Finding the hallway empty, the drygerskunk considered splitting off a clone of hirself to check both directions at once, but decided against it. Back on Sol-3, Redwolf hadn’t expected to suddenly find hirself in such a hostile situation, and so shi hadn’t eaten much. Hir ability to grow additional limbs and create copies of hirself was drawn from the amount of food shi ate so shi could form it into additional body matter. Shi stored the excess matter in a black hole encased in hir body, and right then, hir tanks were running rather light, so to say.

Redwolf began carefully sweeping through the hallways, exploring the science deck of the ship. Each room seemed to contain some new form of cringe-inducing experimentation, ranging from “stimulus tests” that apparently were little more than torture devices designed to test the limits of a being’s endurance to chemical exposure chambers where the cobrawolves tested rather brutal new chemical and biological weaponry. It was in one of these latter test chambers that the admiral found something that stopped hir dead in hir tracks. Shi had just swept through the room, sneering once again at the examples of barbaric research shi found in the cruel-looking cages, instruments, and such. But as shi passed by a darkened holding cell. Shi stopped. There was something tossed in the corner shi couldn’t quite make out. A creeping sense of unease came over hir as shi tapped the cell’s light switch. When the lights came on, shi learned just what solid beings feel when the blood drains out of their faces.

Laying discarded like a fruit husk in the corner was a dark, leathery-looking pod. With a feeling of numb disbelief, Redwolf tapped the cell’s release switch; the transparent door slid up into the ceiling.

It can’t be, Redwolf thought. Kneeling down, shi turned the pod over. It was roughly egg-shaped, with a split going down the middle. There was no denying it; it was one of the parasite pods shi’d seen in Antarctica.

Slowly, the drygerskunk stood back up. Hir jaw was clenched tightly as shi looked around. Somehow, the cobrawolves had gotten ahold of the nightmarish organism and was conducting experiments with it; this put the kidnapping case back on Sol-3 in a whole new light. Shi had to destroy any traces of the parasite before it began spreading all over again. As Redwolf quickly left the lab and made hir way to the next one, shi wondered how they managed to find the parasites. Shi didn’t wonder long though, as life that day kept dealing hir one blow after another.

The admiral tapped the door switch to the next lab and jumped in, guns first. Once again, the room was empty, save for whatever experiment was currently being conducted. But just as the sights in the previous lab sent a chill into Redwolf’s metaphorical heart, the sights in hir current location just about ripped it out.

A series of stasis tubes of varying size lined the far wall in front of the drygerskunk. Floating motionlessly in the central tube was the body of a dissected Terran. It had most of its internal organs removed, each of them placed in its own stasis container. Carved up as it was, the body was still recognizable to Redwolf. Hir eyes locked onto the canine body, with its short brown fur, narrow muzzle and pointed ears.

Redwolf slowly stumbled forward towards the tank, arms hanging at hir sides, the guns falling out of hir hands. Slowly, shi reached up a hand, touching it to the smooth, curved cylinder. Hir shoulders sagged. The drygerskunk’s head bowed forward, forehead resting against the tube. Hir face clenched in pain and sadness as shi slowly curled the fingers of hir outreached hand into a fist, mournfully and listlessly banging it against the tube in grief.

For a while, Redwolf just stood there, leaning against the stasis chamber. There’s no telling how long shi would have stood there, if the cobrawolves hadn’t started gathering outside the door to ambush hir. But when shi heard the sound of whispering and sliding just outside, hir eyes snapped open. Turning sharply on hir heel, the drygerskunk snatched hir guns back up off the floor. Shi then re-absorbed two of hir pistols into hir hands, dug into hir cleavage and yanked out the plasma launcher.

The cobrawolves were about to open the door when a telekinetic blast blew the door out of its frame. The reptiles weren’t to be deterred, however, and reacted with military efficiency, sweeping around the doorframe and firing into the room. They hit nothing but a psychic shield, however, as Redwolf launched plasma rounds at them, sending the troopers half-melted to the decks.

Redwolf normally would have made some sort of quip, but shi was too furious and amped up to crack wise. Shi fired until the launcher was empty, then threw it aside, striding forward with hir guns out again. The remaining three troopers were trying to retreat to the next junction for cover, but the admiral took them down in a hail of gunfire before they made it.

“Captain!” Came a squawking voice from one of the dead troopers. Redwolf looked down, nonchalantly kicking the body over. The voice was coming from the cobrawolf’s headset, which shi plucked off and put to hir own ear.

“What are you doing?!” the voice said. It was Dr. Devarped, and shi sounded pissed. “We need Redwolf alive if we’re going to get the most benefit out of these experiments!”

“I’m not sacrificing my ship and crew just so you can run that Canmephian bitch through it like one of those Terran rat mazes,” a harsh, militant voice replied. “You had your chance to get your data, and it’s obvious your science projects need work. Now get off this damn frequency!”

Redwolf snorted, tossing the headset aside; spying on the cobrawolves no longer mattered to hir, just wiping the ship clean of them. Fatigue was beginning to take its toll on hir, however. As shi pressed forward, the drygerskunk was meeting more and more ambushes in each room. A lazer blast to the body here and there was forcing hir to use up hir already meager supply of stored matter to heal hir own wounds.

“Starting to feel tired Admiral?” A voice on the overhead intercom said as Redwolf leaned against a wall. Shi had just cleared out another dissection lab. Panting for breath, the drygerskunk had paused a moment to clear hir head, which was starting to get dizzy.

“Fuck you,” shi snarled. The voice chuckled; it was the cobrawolf captain the admiral had heard earlier.

“You must not have thought we learned much about you when you were our guest some years ago,” the captain said in a mocking tone. “But we studied you thoroughly. We know you all too well…inside and out.”

 

With an almost dismissive gesture, Redwolf flicked one wrist at the panel that hid the nearest intercom speaker. A bullet flew out of hir gun and smashed through it. Unfortunately, the captain was still audible from other speakers throughout the science deck.

“Yes, we know you can heal yourself…but it doesn’t come without a price. Beating you in a single fight may be nearly impossible, but we can grind you down. And that’s exactly what we intend to do; grind you down, slowly, painfully, with a million pinpricks.”

As if to drive the point home, Redwolf got a very nasty surprise. As shi stepped over the bodies of several troopers, one snapped his eye open. He’d been wounded rather than killed, and was lying in wait. Now, trudging wearily through the door, the admiral presented hir back to him. Exhausted as shi was, hir focus wasn’t in all directions, and shi didn’t see the trooper moving until he raised up his plasma launcher. The admiral spun around, but the trooper fired just as shi did, getting a plasma blast right in the shoulder.

Redwolf staggered back against the far wall in the hallway. Hir bellow of pain echoed through the science deck as the caustic sludge burned into hir pliable body. The drygerskunk flailed hir body, trying to fling the slime off. Shi succeeded in getting the last bits of residue off, but in the process, two of hir arms and a third of hir chest were taken off.

“Well, that was more effective than I’d hoped,” the cobrawolf captain said over the intercom.  

“FUCK YOU!” Redwolf roared, shooting out another hidden observation panel. “I’ll show you how affective it is when I get my hands on your slimy ass!”

The drygerskunk panted, then clenched hir face up in pain. Hir back to the wall, Redwolf slid slowly to the floor, hir torso looking like a solid chocolate Easter bunny someone had taken a bite out of. Shi took a few slow breaths, then, inhaling deeply, shi began straining with some sort of hidden effort. The surface of hir wounded side grew glossy and rippled, then slowly began stretching and filling back out, two new arms growing like tree limbs to replace the ones shi’d lost. A third breast swelled up like a balloon next to the other two. Fully healed, Redwolf released a slow breath, slowly flexing hir new limbs.

“Damn, that was harder than usual,” shi muttered. Slowly pushing hirself back up, the drygerskunk trudged down the hallway, hir gait like someone with either a hangover or an ear infection. The drained feeling was passing, but not fast enough. Another squad of troopers leaped out in front of hir and fired two plasma shots. Redwolf just barely managed to jump through a doorway and slam it shut.

The troopers wouldn’t be put off that easily and shi knew it. Redwolf looked around the room. This time, shi was in a computer lab. Terminals lined the walls, displaying readouts shi wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with, but not well versed in, either. That wasn’t the first thing that the admiral noticed, however. The first thing shi noticed was there weren’t any good vantage points to take cover behind.

The second thing shi noticed was the sound of the door behind hir melting. Redwolf spun around quickly. The troopers had used their chemical weapons to turn the door into so much metallic sludge. As the drygerskunk raised up hir guns, shi saw two flat, star-shaped projectiles spin through the air like sawblades, sticking into the floor on opposite sides of the doorway.

“Shit!” shi hissed through hir teeth; shi knew cobrawolf flash grenades when shi saw them. The stars exploded with dull, hollow bangs, filling the room with bright light. Being capable of extending hir sense of sight through any portion of hir body, Redwolf often found the excessive amount of sensory input made hir feel agitated. As a result, dark colors and clothing helped hir stay calm. It’s only natural that a bright, blinding explosion of light should have the opposite effect. The drygerskunk howled in shock and fired several wild rounds from hir pistols. But before hir head could clear and shi could focus again, shi felt a sharp blow to the midsection, followed by a hard shove against the far computer terminal.

Dazed, moreso from the flash than the blows, Redwolf reeled against the terminal. Shi physically clenched hir eyes shut and mentally clenched hir entire sense of sight shut for a second. Shi opened all of them again to the sound of firearms being brought to bear. Five cobrawolf troopers had the drop on hir, plasma weapons aimed and ready. The lead corporal, noticeable by the mark on hir body armor, smirked mirthlessly at the admiral.

Redwolf was cornered. Exhausted as shi was, facing 5-1 odds, shi knew if shi was lucky, shi might be able to come out with just a grievous wound. More likely shi’d take down two or three of them before they turned hir into a puddle of dead, shapeless slime. The drygerskunk took a slow breath, eyes sliding from one side of hir firing squad to the other.

“So what’re you waiting for?” Redwolf said, glaring back at the troops.

“We wanted to make sure you saw it coming,” the corporal said. The troopers all tensed for the rush of combat. Redwolf tightened hir grip on hir pistols, ready for hir last stand.

A dull, hollow thud echoed through the room. The cobrawolf corporal’s head lost a big chunk in a blood and bone-filled splatter…from behind.

The corporal’s body slumped to the floor as the grunt troops all jerked around to look behind them. Redwolf, through the hole in their line, blinked in surprise at what shi saw.

Fang stood about two paces in the room from the doorway. He had bandages wrapped around his head and hands. His shirt and coat were open and he had more bandages around his chest, too. In his hands was a pump-action shot gun. Redwolf wondered briefly how he’d managed to find hir, but then noticed there was something decidedly different about the hyena. Before, he’d been a slouching, insolent cynic. But now, this person shi saw was giving off a much different vibe. His posture was upright, shoulders held back. His head was held up. The look of cynicism and arrogance was replaced by one of defiance and determination. And when he spoke, his voice had changed and was now very familiar.

“Remand your souls to God,” he said, then racked a new shell into his gun. “Your asses belong to ME.”

It’s almost time.

Nnngh, I thought, Just a little while longer. A voice, deep and strong, but light-hearted and soothing, chuckled.

You always have been slow to get up. But it’s time.

Okay, I’m up, I thought in response. How long has it been?

One year, sixteen days, fourteen hours, eight minutes and forty-two seconds.

I couldn’t help but mentally chuckle. I wasn’t expecting that precise an answer.

Yes, but I don’t need to make guesses.

So, I thought, shaking the mental dust from my mind, am I going to be restored in a dramatic flash of light, descend from a glowing staircase or something?

You know I’m seldom that dramatic. No, you’ll be going back in a more subtle fashion.

Heh, always working in mysterious ways, I thought.

It’s often the best way.

I’ll take your word for it, I thought.

Now it won’t be easy, but you’re already aware of that. Just remember, no matter how great the challenge or how powerful your enemy is, I’m there with you.

That’s definitely reassuring, I thought, without a trace of sarcasm or irony. The sensation of calm floating was slowly fading, the numbness I’d felt some time ago returning. The few senses I had, mostly sight and hearing, were once again feeling unnatural; no real shock, since they were once again coming from machines.

When I get out of this, I’m going to have to write a poem, I thought. I’ll call it “Ode to A Brain in A Jar.”

It had been, apparently, over a year since I’d last been conscious; at least in the sense that I was awake in THIS world. I slowly reflected back on my current state of affairs in this life, which, after a brief intermission, I was now resuming.

When I was lying in the Antarctic snow, a heavy piece of shrapnel from a vehicle crash through my rib cage, I thought that was the end of it. Everything, my sight, hearing, sense of touch, all went fuzzy. I noticed a couple large, indistinct figures come over me and look down. Some words were spoken, then they disappeared. But then, a second pair of different figures showed up. A bright light appeared overhead, and I felt myself being lifted towards it.

One rude awakening later, I wasn’t surrounded by winged babies singing hymns or laying on a cloud, but instead was surrounded by these odd, reptilian beings, laying flat on some cold, hard surface.

“It’s awake,” one of them said.

“Good,” another one said, “then we’ll get noticeable responses from the tests from now on.”

I couldn’t move, not even my eyes, but as my hosts quickly showed me, moving my body around, I was in some kind of lab filled with an unsettling amount of sharp instruments and other disturbing sorts of tools. One of the creatures picked up a tool, then bent over me below my line of sight. Next thing I knew a sharp cutting pain shot through my chest.

I’ll spare you some of the worst details. Suffice to say for the next three weeks I was operated on without anesthetic. If I’d had control over my muscles, I would have saved my tormentors the trouble of removing my lungs by screaming them out. A couple times, due to the location of some reflective surfaces, I could watch as those bastards sliced me open, then sewed me back up only to start cutting on a different part of me. My body was hooked up to various devices I could only assume were for life support, since I was decidedly alive despite being beside myself. Literally.

I was torn between my physical pain and my panic over not understanding who was doing this to me and why. Was I in hell? Had I really been that big a shit in my life? I knew I’d had some bad habits that, despite all my confessions and praying, I’d still fallen back on. Somewhere in the back of my head, some insidious little voice tried to tell me one day that if there was a God, He wouldn’t have abandoned me to this.

Fuck that! I thought. If that guy in the Bible could suffer boils and sores, losing everything he had to storms and bandits, and still keep his faith, I’m not going to turn on God nOh FUCK WHAT IS THAT?!

One of the reptiles was picking up some device that looked like it came out of a BDSM nightmare. It was coming at me with it.

Oh God, I thought, Oh God oh sweet merciful Jesus I’m begging you I can’t take this HELP ME!

The reptile went to work with its sadistic-looking tool. I felt…nothing.

Huh? I thought. Focusing on a reflective surface, I saw that what they were doing (again, I’ll spare you the stomach-churning details) was something that had caused me agony before, and given the degree to which it was happening now, should have redefined the meaning of pain for me. But instead, I didn’t feel anything.

How the…why isn’t…wait, did…I thought.

Ask and ye shall receive, said a voice in my head. It wasn’t my own, and it gave me a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time; a sense of amazing relief and comfort.

Oh thank you, I thought. Thank you, I was about to go insane from that. The utter helplessness, not even being able to scream…

Yes, I understand, but don’t worry; your suffering this torture is over.

Then you mean…I thought.

No, I’m sorry, but it’s not your time yet.

But why… I thought, but I had an unconscious sensation of someone trying to soothe me.

Easy now, all in due time. But first, you’ve had quite a trying experience. For now, rest.

Okay, I thought, But just a couple questions. First, why didn’t you stop the pain earlier?

You always are inquisitive. You needed to understand firsthand the sort of horrors that others before you had felt. You could have heard about them, but nothing could have truly compared to knowing what it’s like for yourself.

Okay…I thought. But why didn’t you try to stop the pain for the others before me?

I offered it to people. Some of them took it. But not all of them accepted. Many of them thought I was just a delusion because they believe I don’t exist. Others refused just to be spiteful to Me because they blamed Me for all their problems.  As you know, I can’t force people to take My help because that would rob them of their free will. But when it’s their time to go I will bring them out of themselves before the pain occurs.

Yeah, that corresponds to what I’ve heard from others, I thought. Okay, but who are…

Michael, you need to rest. Don’t rack your mind with this right now; for now, sleep.

Somehow, without even closing my eyes, everything began to get dark to me. As I slowly drifted off, one last thought occurred to me.

This is gonna be really strange when I wake up.

I slept for a grand total of five months, as I found out when I finally woke up. By then the reptiles had exhausted their curiosity of my body and had dumped what was left of me in various containment tubes. And yet I still wasn’t entirely dead, because my brain was being maintained for further study in a chamber with wires hooked up to it that provided sensory input. Sight and hearing were possible through sensors my captors were testing for cybernetic implants. Taste and touch were still denied to me, and I certainly wasn’t allowed a voice. I wasn’t driven mad by this, however, because of frequent breaks I received, slipping out of my mind to that place of comfort and rest. While there, I was told about my inhospitable hosts, the Cobrawolves. I’d heard vague stories about them back on Earth, but now I was being shown their cruelty firsthand. It seems one of their battleships, separated from the rest of their military after a trial run of a deep-space engine, had set up a station to study my planet and its races.

Unfortunately, setting down a shuttle and asking us to take them to our leaders was the last thing the Cobrawolves were interested in. Being a race of bigots and genocidal ethnic cleansers, all they were interested in is what sorts of uses the races of Earth could be put to physically and how best to kill us if we were too troublesome. I was also shocked and horrified to find out when the Cobrawolves found me, they also found several undamaged pods from Antarctica; the same ones that contained the sentient parasite that sought to sow destruction everywhere it went.

During my time in the tube, I carefully used my connection to the ship’s computers to start rifling through their files. It was tough going at first, but being directly connected to their systems through my brain gave me a distinct edge to getting around their security systems. Rather than having to use programs and hardware, all I had to do was think it and bingo, I could conjure up a wide variety of files.

It turned out the Cobrawolves had somehow managed to make a sort of pact with the parasite. I didn’t find this entirely surprising; one scientist on Earth had done the same, and these reptiles certainly seemed to have a similar goal to the insidious germ. Many of the Terrans, as Earth’s residents are known in most circles, captured by the reptiles were thrown to their new biological ally as hosts.

This is, to say the least, unsettling. I thought one day. I pray somebody can do something to stop them.

Why not you?

I had to inwardly chuckle. I think I’ve demonstrated my capability, or should I say, my lack thereof. I thought.

Michael, just because there are others with more obvious power than you does not make you insignificant or worthless in your own right.

But what can I do that others couldn’t do better? I thought. The old depression I felt on Earth was slowly resurfacing.

The difference between people like you and others is this: some could, but don’t. People like you can, and you either do or at least you try. You don’t know how many have cast aside opportunities just because they didn’t care or didn’t want to make the effort.

I ruminated on this a bit. As I did, I slowly began to feel something. I was once again in that place of comfort, but now, instead of an indistinct, unfocused blur surrounding me, I could see it all; all of creation.

If I had breath, it would have been taken away. I saw the majesty of nature in all its forms; the beauty of sunrises, the majesty of mountain ranges, the awesome force of a storm, the wonders of the ocean depths, the glittering stars and shining moon at night. I saw the nobility of wildlife and smelled the sweet fragrances of plants. But not only did I see natural wonders, but the wonders of civilization, too. I saw great people of history, the explorers, the scientists, the inventors, and felt their sensation of triumph and wonder as they made great discoveries and saw new wonders for the first time. The beauty of the arts and the feelings of inspiration they created stirred in me. But I didn’t just feel the sensations of the great and famous; I also witnessed the simple joys of life; people finding love, holding their newborn children, friendships, simple acts of thanks for a favor or an act of kindness.

I witness a small sampling of all of this, and not just on my own planet. I saw it occurring on other planets all across the universe. For that brief moment, I was awestruck by creation; it was a work of art, a masterpiece that wasn’t just cobbled together through trial-and-error circumstances, but carefully and painstakingly crafted with intricate detail, every part of it formed with care, attention and above all, love.

But as I watched, I noticed something slowly entering into this masterpiece. It was creeping into existence, not with a gentle quietness, but an insidious slither. At first I wondered if it represented anything I knew, but then I realized it wasn’t symbolic of any particular evil. It WAS evil. It was greed, anger, pride, lust, sloth and gluttony in its most unadulterated, undiluted form. It was selfish desire at any cost, because that’s what all evil truly boils down to: the placing of one’s personal gain above all else. Wars were started because of it. Hatred and cruelty spread like an infection from it. Callous indifference to the needs of others, leaving them to suffer, sprang from it as well.

Troubling as this image was becoming, I kept looking. And as I saw this sadistic, cruel force creeping into all corners of the masterpiece of creation, I saw something new. I saw those who still believed in upholding good and all its virtues rallying to stand against evil. I saw acts of heroism, of those willing to risk everything for the sake of what they cared for; firefighters rushing into buildings to save people’s lives, soldiers standing against an enemy that wanted to conquer for greed and hatred, Law enforcement that sought to uphold the sanctity of people’s rights, even the everyday good Samaritans finding the courage to do things like give testimony in court, report witnessing crimes, or simply standing up to speak out against what they knew was wrong.

Now that you have seen a broader picture of existence, what do you intend to do?

In all of this, I can make a genuine, noticeable difference? I thought.

You noticed the various acts of good, both great and small. They are all noticed. Many have residual affects that extend out from them like ripples from a pebble dropped in water. How great a difference you make depends entirely on how much you’re willing to do.

I’m willing to do everything I can. I thought. I just worry that it won’t be enough.

Michael, you are able to do more than you know.

Inwardly, I chuckled. That’s what I was hoping.

All this crossed my mind as I woke up for the final time, my brain in a tube floating in some viscous liquid. I’d been at rest for a while, and now was mentally shaking the dust off senses I hadn’t been using for some time. I activated the sight and hearing sensors hooked up to the machinery I could access.

Wow, I thought, This place needs a new cleaning lady.

The lab, as much as I could see of it, was a mess. Equipment was turned over, tools scattered everywhere. It looked like everything breakable had been shattered, dented, torn up or experienced some sort of damage. I couldn’t see the cobrawolves that had been running their experiments the last time I’d been awake on the ship, but then again, I didn’t expect them to stand in one place forever like some video game character.

Maybe one of their experiments got out of hand, I thought with a mental smirk. Would serve them right if one of their test subjects went Frankenstein’s monster on them, the bastards.

That’s when I saw some slow, unsteady movement in one corner. Panning the sensors in that direction, I saw a figure moving forward from a darkened corner of the room. Slowly, it rose up from the floor and staggered into the light. It was a hyena, dressed remarkably like the way I used to before getting treated like a high school dissection frog.

Damn, that guy looks like he’s been through the wringer, I thought. The hyena had numerous small cuts and bruises covering his face, hands and chest. A few glass shards poking out of him indicated exactly what had caused the wounds. But the worst of his bleeding was coming from his ears, nose, even his eyes. I was no doctor, but I knew a grievous internal head injury when I saw one.

This guy’s in trouble, I thought, But what can I do? I could try to point him to some medical supplies if I could make contact…Oh hang on…

I couldn’t make any sounds, but I could access the computers screens. Picking the one closest to the hyena, I activated a simple text program and, using what the cobrawolves had picked up on terran languages, threw up some English text.

HEY, HEY YOU, I typed, THERE’S MEDICAL SUPPLIES IN THAT CABINET ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE ROOM.

The hyena was weaving like the room was spinning to him. As he did, he happened to catch sight of the large, blocky text in the screen overhead. He blinked, looked over at the cabinet, then looked back at the screen. Glancing around in confusion, he rubbed at his head.

“…the fuck can see me…this another one of their damn experiments…,” he slurred.

I CAN SEE YOU THOUGH SOME SENSORS IN THE ROOM, \tI typed. I’M STUCK IN THE JAR IN THE CORNER.

The ‘yena blearily looked to the corner, stumbling in the direction of my holding tank. From the angle I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the weak sniggering laugh coming from him.

“Heh, wassamatter? Wancher fishy flakes?” he said, tapping his finger on the glass.

VERY FUNNY, I responded. NOW WHY DON’T YOU PATCH YOURSELF UP BEFORE YOU BLEED OUT?

The hyena, apparently attracted by some beeping from the screen as my text scrolled across the screen, looked over and up at the screen. He gave a light, despondent snort, which made more blood come out of his nose.

“Heh, unless ‘ey got somethin’ for a bleedin’ brain, ‘m fucked,” he said. If I had a face, I would have winced.

“F’heh, never thought id end like thish,” the hyena said, leaning against the tank my brain was floating in. He wiped the blood from his nose, carelessly flicking it on the floor. “Alwaysh figured I’d go down with somefaht with th’ cops oragainsht an army, heh.” He blearily slumped further along my case, now down on his knees.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I typed. HOW’D YOU GET HERE, ANYWAY?

“Ah got dragged upere by that fuggin’ Canmefin, gotta try to shave the fuggin’ universh. Pfff,” the hyena snorted again. Just then, the sound of a battle came from down the hallway. The hyena had apparently left the door open to the lab, though I couldn’t see it from where those sensors were.

“Ooooooooohboy,” the ‘yena groaned, “shounds like shi’s tearin’ up shit.” Barely a second later, a howling bellow that would have made me jump if I had legs came echoing down the hallway.

“Thengain, maybe somethin’s tearin’ HIR up,” the hyena mumbled.

SHI NEEDS HELP! I typed. The hyena rolled his eyes, head leaned up against the side of the tank.

“Shucker, I’m fadin’ fast,” he slurred. “Thefug you expect ME to do?”

DAMNIT! I typed involuntarily. The ‘yena just chuckled thickly.

“E’yeah, suck t’ be…anyone, doesn’t it?” He said. “Like I say, lives bitch, then ya die…now so’m I…ain’t no lie…gotta fly…poet…din know it, heh.”

I was desperately trying to think of a solution, scanning the room with the sensors I had to locate something, anything, that might offer some sort of way to patch the hyena back up or somehow give me a pair of hands to use. As I looked around, I spotted one of the pieces of equipment that still functioned. An idea suddenly sprang into my mind. That was it. That must have been the more subtle solution I’d been told about.

HEY. I typed. IF YOU’RE SURE YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE, MIND IF I HAVE SOMETHING OF YOURS ONCE YOU’RE GONE?

The ‘yena, glancing up at the screen against, let out a despondent laugh.

“Sure,” he said, “The fug do I care once I’m gone. Whacha want, my shoes, heh heh heh.”

YOUR BODY, I typed. It just made him laugh even more, sounding weaker with each rasping breath.

“Ho-lee sheeeet,” he droned out. “Ah’ve fucked’alotta strange folks, but never’a brain’na jar.”

THAT MACHINE OVER THERE IN THE LEFTHAND CORNER IS AN AUTOMATED SURGICAL DEVICE. I typed.  I CAN ACCESS IT IF YOU GET ON IT, AND TRANSPLANT MY BRAIN INTO YOUR BODY AFTER YOU DIE.

The hyena’s head lolled in the direction of the machine. It looked a lot like a CAT scanning machine, only it had lazer surgical equipment instead.

“ ‘ew really wanna try’n get back ‘n yer feet,” he said. “Wha’fer?”

TO TRY AND HELP THAT CANMEPHIAN YOU CAME UP HERE WITH AND PUT AN END TO THESE BASTARD’S EXPERIMENTS, I typed.

“Pfff, why bother?” The ‘yena grunted. “You really think…” To drive my point home, I activated a boldface font to my text.

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE PHILOSOPHY WITH YOU, YOU GOD DAMN MOPING PUSSY, NOW ARE YOU GONNA HELP ME OR NOT?!?!?!?! I banged out.

The hyena gave my brain in its jar a cool, searching gaze. Then, slowly, painfully, he dragged himself across the room. I prayed with every fiber of what was left of my being that he didn’t bite the dust before he made it. The ‘yena slowly pulled a few drawers out on a rolling cabinet, using them like a ladder to crawl up to the top of the surgical machine. I breathed a mental sigh of relief as the hyena rolled over onto its back in his last effort, laying flat on the table.

“ ‘ey,” he said. “Do me….one favor….make…those…fuckers…pay…for me.” With that, I heard the hyena let out a final breath. His body went entirely limp.

Count on it, I thought.

My head was pounding as the world slid into view. A dull, aching throb pulsed through my temples as I rolled onto my side, putting a hand to my forehead and groaning. It was at that moment the significance of my situation finally hit me.

I can feel again…,I thought with a sense of awe. I’ve got HANDS again! The surprise of it all was enough to make me sit upright and jump off the operating table, dropping about seven feet to the floor before I found out I was still getting acclimated to my new body. I hit the floor footpaws first, but where I would have previously tried to land with some semblance of control, I instead fell on my ass and collapsed in a heap.

“Damn,” I grunted. “It’s like trying to get your sea legs. Well, at least my voice hasn’t changed. I guess there’s some truth to the saying ‘it’s all in your head.’” I tried to chuckled, and a rapid, echoing cackle escaped my muzzle. I blinked a bit in surprise.

“Shit, did that come out of ME?” I muttered. “I guess some things are really ingrained in a species.”

Looking around, I pulled myself back up, using the base of the operating machine as support. As I did, I winced and put a hand to my side; seems the cuts and bruises were more extensive than I first thought when I saw the hyena first stumble in. I turned to the medical cabinet I’d directed the hyena towards previously. I found myself adjusting quickly to moving around in this new form. When you’ve been doing something like walking for twenty-odd years, you don’t forget the basics. I think it also helped that this new body and my original one were so similar: both were warm-blooded, predatory mammals.

I stumbled a couple of times on my way to the cabinet, but still managed to make it with remarkable steadiness for someone who just underwent massive surgery. I’d learned a few key phrases in cobrawolf during my time poking through their files, and was able to locate a bottle of painkiller medication and downed a good handful of a powder-form medication. It tasted horrible, but I choked it down to knock out the aches as I located a roll of bandages.

My next stop was the tank my brain had once floated in; the most reflective surface in the room. The tank was now empty, returned to its position by automated machinery after transplanting my mind in its new home. Using the smooth, glassy surface as a makeshift mirror, I began to wrap the bandages around my cut-up hands and, with some difficulty, my rather battered torso. Still being rather dizzy, I wound up leaving lengthy streamer-like ends dangling off of me as I tied off the wrappings. As I began to bandage my head, I paused to examine my face. It was funny, but it seemed to be different in a number of subtle ways from the person I’d seen crawling out of the shadow-filled corner of the room.

“I guess attitude counts for a lot,” I said to myself, smirking as I wrapped the bandage around my head. The cauterized scar where my top (I’d already begun thinking of the new body I had as my own) had been popped off to insert my gray matter disappeared under the medical wrappings, along with a lot of the rest of my face as I looped the bandage around my head in overlapping bands.

“Alright,” I muttered. “Now that that’s done, what’ve I got on me…,” I began rummaging through my pockets. I found a wallet and flipped it open. It had a significant roll of cash in it, plus a number of credit cards. But the real shock I got was when I read the driver’s license.

“What the fuck…” I said. “This guy’s name was….holy God, talk about remarkable. What’s next, I find he’s got my…,” I reached under my coat to my left hip. I couldn’t help but jump in surprise when I felt the butt of a gun.

“No,” I said. “It can’t be…,” I slowly drew the gun. My eyes widened as I looked over the stainless steel revolver in my hand. I turned it from one side to the next, and saw the engraving on the side, The Equalizer II.

“This is weird,” I said, then shrugged; there was no sense in letting it rattle me. After all, if God wills it, the most unlikely of circumstances will happen. I opened the revolver’s cylinder; fully loaded. I patted the pockets of my trench coat, feeling several speed loaders of ammo. Grinning, I pushed the cylinder on the revolver shut.

“Together again, old friend,” I chuckled. Looking at the open door of the lab, I put my thumb on the hammer of my gun.

“Time to get to work.”

“Hurry up! We were supposed to have everything stored and evacuate this deck long ago!”

The voice I heard was definitely from a cobrawolf. My legs were still a bit unsteady, but I was quickly regaining my footing. After leaving the lab, I found the hallway to be mostly deserted, save for the dead bodies littering the corridor. My main focus was to try and find the Canmephian the hyena had told me about. I figured it would be fairly easy; just head towards the sound of fighting. But things had gone somewhat quiet recently, making my work a little harder.

I’d been passing by one lab when I heard sounds coming from inside. My back to the wall, I slowly crept up to the corner and cocked an ear.

“This is volatile ordinance,” Another voice said. “We can’t just toss it in a locker like it was clothing. It has to be carefully stored.”

I slid right up to the lab’s doorframe and peeked around the corner. Two cobrawolves were packing various weapons into storage cabinets. It looked like they were terran arms, from their size and shape. The reptiles had their backs to me, so I slid inside and, to make sure we weren’t disturbed, I reached up high overhead and managed to hit the door button, sliding the door quietly shut behind me.

“Look at these things,” one of the cobrawolves said, holding a bullpup machine gun in one hand like a child’s toy. “How are these kinds of weapons supposed to be effective in battle?”

“I’ll demonstrate,” I said. Both cobrawolves jerked around to look at me. One of them went for hir sidearm as I raised up my revolver. The loud blast from the gun was like hearing a favorite song on the radio, a .357 slug going into hir torso. The cobrawolf lurched backward painfully, but at hir size, I knew it would take more than one shot, so I squeezed off two more rounds, one more at hir chest and a third carefully aimed at hir head.

All this happened in the space of a few seconds. I knew it was risky focusing too much attention on only one of two opponents, but I was banking on the surprise and my comparatively smaller size to throw off the other cobrawolf. As I turned towards hir, I saw the reptile trying to fire the bullpup at me. Shi seemed perturbed that it wasn’t going “bang”, repeatedly squeezing the trigger and slapping at it with one hand. I quickly repeated the performance I’d just put on, plugging the cobrawolf twice in the chest and once in the head, dropping hir to the floor. Opening my revolver’s cylinder, I dumped out the empty shells as I approached the body, reloading my gun. Curious, I picked up the bullpup and looked it over, then glanced at its side.

“Haven’t you people ever heard of a safety lock?” I said. Shaking my head, I looked around the room. It seemed the lab was dedicated to the study of foreign weapons; a variety of dangerous-looking devices were in various states of disassembly on work benches around the lab. The cobrawolves had been in the process of locking it all up, probably to try and keep the rampaging canmephian from getting a hold of them. I went over to the work station the cobrawolf with the bullpup had been at, climbing up the handles of the station’s drawers like a ladder. A box on top held a wide variety of various weapons, while a smaller one nearby held a good sampling of various types of ammunition. Digging through both crates, I managed to locate a pump-action shot gun and enough shells to load it and fill one of my coat pockets. A couple grenades found their way onto my belt, clipped there with their trigger levers. Thus fortified, I climbed back down and continued my search.

I’d gone past three blocks of labs with no results, when I heard the sounds of gunfire. I instinctively stopped, then, shot gun held to my shoulder, I quickly trotted in the direction of the fight. I rounded a corner just in time to see a gang of cobrawolf troopers surge into a lab. Once more doing my SWAT impersonation, I crept up along the wall, listening in at the door.

“So what are you waiting for?” I heard a voice say. It wasn’t the harsh, hissing voice of a cobrawolf; it had to be the Canmephian I’d heard about. But there was something familiar about the voice...

No time to worry about that, I thought, and quickly swept around the corner. The troopers, five of them, all had their backs to me. I took a few more steps in.

“We wanted to make sure you saw this coming,” One of the troopers said with an ugly, mocking tone. As they all raised up their weapons, I drew a bead on the speaker’s head. I let loose with a heavy, thudding shot that sent a cluster of buckshot into the cobrawolf’s skull, knocking a good chunk out of it and dropping hir to the floor. The troopers and the Canmephian all looked in shock in my direction. Unable to resist the urge to crack bad ass, I lowered my shot gun in a dramatic pose.

“Remand your souls to God,” I said, and drove the point home by pumping my shot gun. “Your asses belong to ME.”

The cobrawolves didn’t hesitate more than a second before starting to swing their weapons around. I hadn’t expected anything else, honestly, and was just waiting for the moment to yank my shot gun back up and start firing again. The Canmephian also didn’t waste time joining the fight, letting loose with a hail of gunfire from whatever weapons shi was using. The troopers never got off a shot before they were all laying in a heap on the floor.

I jacked out the last smoking shell from my scatter gun and got my first good look at who I’d just come to the aid of. It wasn’t much of a surprise.

“Admiral Redwolf,” I said, smirking through the bandages around my head. “We meet again.”

The drygerskunk cocked hir head to one side, looking at me with uncertainty.

“Mike? Is that…you? I mean…,”  shi said and I chuckled.

“E’yeah,” I said. “It’s the real me.” I felt a tingling sensation pass over my head; I figured it must be a psychic scan of some kind because a look of dawning realization and amazement came over Redwolf’s face.

“It IS you!” Shi said. The drygerskunk suddenly jumped up, pulled me up to hir eye level telekinetically and threw and arm over my shoulder, hugging me tight enough to squeeze the breath out of me.

“WHOOF! Heheh, nice to see you too,” I said, my voice a bit wheezy from lack of breath. The admiral eased up on hir grip on me, a look of combined relief and amazement on hir face.

“How are you here?! And how’d you come to look like your impostor doing a Darkman impersonation?” shi said. I filled hir in on everything that had happened to me since the Antarctica incident. The drygerskunk nodded at all the right points, then put hir hands on hir hips and shook hir head.

“That sounds like one hell of a ride,” shi said.

“F’heh, tell me about it,” I said. “But as it is I’m back, temporarily.”

“Temporarily?” Redwolf said, cocking hir head to one side. I smirked a bit, resting the shot gun on my shoulder.

“Everybody dies sooner or later,” I said. “Some of us are just blessed with a preview of coming attractions.”

“So you’re sure that experience you had hearing what you took to be God’s voice and being shown all those visions, all that wasn’t a hallucination?” shi said, giving me a quizzical look. “You’re sure it was the real thing?”

“I’ve got no doubt,” I said. The admiral shrugged.

“Eh, I’d want to see it myself to confirm it,” shi said. I just shook my head ruefully.

“I can see you haven’t changed in a year,” I said with another smirk.  Just then, two more cobrawolf troopers tried to ambush us. They aimed high on me and wide on the admiral, though, and we quickly dispatched them with our combined gunfire.

“Let’s save the rest of the reunion for later,” Redwolf said, motioning for me to follow with one pistol. “We need to either commandeer this ship or destroy it.”

“Any ideas on how to do either one?” I asked.

Only the latter, Redwolf said to me telepathically. If we can get to the armory and get some explosives, we can set charges in the ship’s artillery batteries. These cobrawolves can make a nasty weapon, but their construction skill is lacking; a 75% chance of explosive decompression for a ship is considered an acceptable risk to them.

 Morons, I thought. Okay, so that can be our last resort, what about taking control of the ship?

Not so easy, the admiral “said”, scanning a corridor intersection. Shi was leading the way to a large elevator at the end of the hall. We’d need to take out just about every major officer on board; the captain and all hir lieutenants. That would cause enough discord and confusion the grunt troops would surrender; none of them would know how to operate the ships higher systems and certainly wouldn’t know how to navigate.

So why not just pop off a few clones of yourself? I thought, I’ve seen you do it before.

I can only clone myself when I have enough matter stored in my body to do so, Redwolf thought. It may have been wishful thinking on my part, but I was sure I detected a hint of ruefulness about hir mental tone. If I don’t eat enough beforehand, I can’t do excessive morphing or cloning. Right now, I’ve got enough to shapeshift and regenerate wounds a few more times, but no more than that.

Ahh, the chink in your armor, I thought, and couldn’t help but feel just a bit smug. You’ve come to rely so much on certain powers, when you’re without them, you’re rather caught with your pants down.

Something like that, Redwolf said as we reached the elevator. Shi thumbed the call button while I watched the corridor. We were overdue for a nasty surprise, and I was feeling like a cockroach waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. When the elevator chimed and I saw it was empty, that feeling only got worse.

“Are there any stairs we could take?” I said. Redwolf looked around.

“Not on this level, apparently,” shi said.

“And cobrawolves don’t use stairs, they have smooth incline ramps.”  Stretching out hir arm, shi fumbled with a latch on a panel in the elevator’s ceiling without getting in. The panel swung open and a set of indentations meant for use as handholds and footpawholds leading up to it lit up with LED lighting.

“Feel better?” Redwolf asked. I smirked and held up a hand with my forefinger and thumb held less than an inch apart.

The elevator hummed smoothly upward, rising like mercury in an old-fashioned blood pressure cuff.

“I’ll give these bastards one thing,” I said, using the butt of my shot gun to scratch an itch on my back, “at least they don’t play elevator music.”

“That’s about the only form of torture they don’t indulge in,” Redwolf muttered. I brought up my shot gun when the elevator chimed. The doors slid open, revealing a large, mostly empty cargo bay. I looked at Redwolf and noticed hir quizzical expression as shi looked at the elevator control panel.

“This isn’t the floor you punched in, is it?” I said.

“No,” shi said, thumbing the keypad again. The elevator gave off a couple decidedly unfriendly-sounding clanking noises. We both quickly stepped off the elevator before it plummeted down the shaft. The noise it made as it reached the bottom told me we wouldn’t be going back down the same way we came.

“I get the feeling we’re in for a nasty surprise,” I said, turning to Redwolf. The drygerskunk got a tic under one eye.

“Terrific,” shi said, “Now what?” I winced painfully as Redwolf said that and gave hir a look. The drygerskunk slapped a hand over hir mouth. “Oh diety, I didn’t just say that, did I?” I slowly nodded. Sighing, the admiral checked the clips in hir Lugers.

“Well, let’s get this over with,” shi said. Cocking my shot gun, I fell into step next to hir as we moved away from the elevator shaft and into the cargo bay. There was little of interest in the wide-open room; a few storage crates, all of them sealed, were scattered around. Across from us was a large pair of double doors that looked like entire shuttles could fit through it, with a ramp next to it. Pointing out the ramp, I started towards them, the admiral just behind me, when the doors next to it started rumbling apart.

“Here we…ah crap,” I said. Standing in the middle of the doorway was what looked like a heavy armored cobrawolf trooper. The trooper was piloting a robotic suit that must have been at least 25 feet tall. On top of one arm, mounted on the forearm just behind the wrist of the suit’s grasping claw, was a large cannon that looked like a bigger version of the plasma launchers the regular troopers had been using. On the other was something that looked like a cross between a mini gun and a lazer rifle, a weapon with multiple lazer barrels on a spinning shaft.

Redwolf and I didn’t hesitate, and started firing at the mechanical behemoth immediately. Unfortunately, the result was predictable, as hir slugs and my shot spray just bounced off the clear, plexiglass-like dome on top of the machine, which gave its grinning pilot a perfect view of us as the mech stomped further into the room, spinning its lazers to life. The admiral and I dove to opposite sides to get out of the way of the sweeping arc of fire.

Scrambling back on my footpaws, I saw the mech starting to bring its plasma launcher to bear, but I wasn’t going to wait for it to get a bead on me. I took off at a dead run for the nearest storage container for cover. Redwolf, meanwhile, charged up a telekinetic attack and delt the armored soldier a hard enough blow to sent it off balance, staggering the behemoth to one side.

I knew buckshot wasn’t going to do much against the mechanical monster, so I jacked out the shells I had in my gun. Digging through my pockets, I tried not to let the sound of stomping destruction only a hundred or so yards away rattle me as I rummaged through the shells in my pockets, picking out a handful of sabot shells. I loaded up the slugs and slid to the edge of the box. The mech pilot realized the drygerskunk was too agile to shoot at close range, so instead was trying to engage hir hand to hand. The mechanical monster swung a forearm at hir, which shi caught. Even so, Redwolf was shoved backward along the floor for several feet as shi tried to bring the machine to a halt.

I brought my scatter gun to my shoulder and sighted the cockpit again. Waiting for a pause in the grappling fight between the admiral and the mech, I fired a slug at the pilot. I didn’t expect it to have much of an affect except to act as a distraction. My expectations were exceeded when I saw the protective dome crack from the slug’s impact. The pilot jerked around in hir seat, clearly as surprised as I was that I’d actually managed to damage hir protective covering. Grinning, I racked in another shell and blasted at hir cockpit again, putting further cracks through hir windshield.

“Redwolf was right,” I said to myself, “Piss-poor craftsmanship.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth then the mech aimed its lazers at me and let off a salvo of shots. The pilot appeared to have forgotten about the drygerskunk; big mistake. Redwolf gave the behemoth a hard yank and pulled it off kilter, but that’s when the mech displayed a hidden talent. Rocket jets unfolded from its back and helped keep it upright. Another jet opened from the palm of its claw just two feet from the admiral’s face. Shi let out an appropriately profane exclamation and bent over backwards as the stream of afterburner-hot flame just barely missed hir.

“UPSTAIRS!” Redwolf yelled, tumbling to the side to get around the metal monstrosity. I booted it towards the staircase just past the mech, meeting the drygerskunk on the way. The mech wasn’t quite as fast, and another load of corrosive plasma fell just short of us as we made it around the corner of the ramp. It’s a good thing I was used to taking staircases two steps at a time, otherwise I might not have kept up with Redwolf. As it was, I was still panting heavily as we neared the top.

“Being chased…by Iron Man’s steroid-abusing cousin…with my brain hotwired…into a new body…on a spaceship using my planet’s people…as lab rats,” I gasped and rasped, “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten up this morning.”

Redwolf looked at me and gave me a bemused smirk. Just then, we heard the sound of heavy metal feet tromping up the ramp. Redwolf shouldered hir captured plasma launcher and fired the last of hir rounds into the ramp. Acidic sludge bubbled over it, eating a hole into the metal a tank could fall through. We retreated quickly away from the edge to avoid pursuit.

“Heh, that should give ‘em a hard time,” the admiral said. Just then, we heard the freight elevator on the far side of the room start down. Redwolf and I spun around. The second floor of the cargo bay was empty; nothing to take cover behind. Hissing obscenities under my breath, I ran over to the elevator and began jumping up and slapping the call button, trying to stop the lift from going down.

No dice, the box continued on its merry way to pick up the metal behemoth.

“Shiiiiit, someone must be overriding the conroooools,” I groaned, pacing back and forth in agitation, flipping the bird to the nearest surveillance panel when I spotted it.

“C’mon,” Redwolf said, standing in about the middle of the room, “We can jump the gap and head back down the ramp when he comes up.”

“And play keep-away with him until reinforcements arrive to box us in?” I said. I was starting to get an idea how a mouse feels when he knows he’s running out of hiding spots from a cat. Feverishly, I looked around the empty room, then tried to look through the crack between the elevator doors. Suddenly, I flashed back to the elevator we’d taken to the cargo bay.

“Red!” I yelled, “Pry these open!” Without arguing, the drygerskunk ran over to the doors, morphing two of hir arms into a pair of prybars. The metal shrieked and whined in protest, but eventually gave way to hir superior physical presence. I looked down the shaft at the slowly approaching elevator lift, then looked across the empty space.

“Is that what I think it is,” I said, pointing at the glowing conduit panel running up the side of the shaft across from us. Without a word, Red grinned and got my drift. Shi pulled out hir pistols and I aimed my shot gun. Lead pounded the conduit, sending sparks flying as the glow started to flicker and die. The progress of the lift slowed, shuddered, then reversed at an alarming rate. Alarming for its occupant, anyway. I leaned slightly over the edge and watched as the lift shot down to the bottom and hit the end of the shaft with a thunderous crash. Still rather out-of-breath, I grinned crazily and chuckled.

“We better not linger too long,” Redwolf said, hanging the plasma launcher on hir belt from a convenient snap hook on the stock. Nodding, I fell into step behind the admiral as shi led the way towards a door that led back into the bowels of the ship.

The corridor we entered practically defined the term “too quiet.” There were no signs of life; I couldn’t speak for the admiral, but I was definitely waiting for the other shoe to drop. Unfortunately, it did. As we approached an intersection, one of us stepped on a hidden explosive, which I later found out was a concussion mine. Redwolf was knocked one way, down the corridor. I, on the other hand, was thrown towards a pair of opening elevator doors. Expecting to get tossed into a lift-full of troopers, I drew my gun. As it was, there were two troopers hanging from cables in the open shaft.  Twisting around, I fired off several rounds as I plummeted down the shaft. I don’t know if I hit any of them, because once they faded from view, my main concern was the sudden stop I was rushing towards. I reached out and grabbed the cable in front of me. It was a good thing my hands were bandaged, or I would’ve gotten serious friction burn. I managed to slow my drop just enough so that when I hit the bottom, I just collapsed in a heap rather than splattered into one.

“Fffffffuuuuuuck,” I groaned. Re-opening previous wounds, metaphorical or real, is never pleasant. Slowly dragging myself back onto my footpaws, I leaned against the wall and swallowed another handful of the painkilling powder I had with me. It took me a moment to locate the maintenance keypad to open the shaft doors from the inside.

I emerged from the shaft to find myself back on the science deck.  I was mildly relieved, since I knew the deck had already been evacuated to keep ahead of Redwolf’s rampage. My first inclination was to try and find a way back up to hir, so I began hunting for a working elevator. As I approached one room, however, I heard the squelch and squawk of a radio.

“Subject is on storage level,” a cobrawolf voice said. Sliding up to the doorway along the wall, I swung around, ready to fire. The room turned out to be empty, so I relaxed my grip on my shot gun as I slipped inside and shut the door behind me. I’d found a security station, a small room little bigger than a closet with a console for radio communication and watching security feed from the cameras. I climbed up into the console’s chair like a kid trying to get to his dad’s office desk. The screen interface was awkward to use, but I managed to bring up the video feed from Redwolf’s level.

The feed was a deadly kind of reality tv, live-action, unscripted, and violent. Redwolf was holding hir own against another squad of troopers, but more were on their way. The ship’s captain must have been getting tired of trying to whittle down the drygerskunk and was increasing the pressure.

“We’re not gonna get through this,” I muttered to myself. “Not alone…,” The answer hit me almost instantly. If we needed help fighting the cobrawolves, who else to turn to besides their test subjects?

It took me a few minutes before I found the storage room where the cobrawolves were keeping their kidnapping victims. The three guards keeping watch over the storage containers gave me a fight, but a well-placed shot to one of their heads before they even knew I was there threw them off sufficiently. I threw open the first storage container, pulling a folding knife from my pocket and snapping it open with a flick of my wrist. The blade sliced through the vaccum-sealed plastic around the first kidnap victim, a white ram dressed in blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a gray plaid driver’s cap. As air swept into the bag and broke the seal, the device monitoring the ram’s vitals beeped rapidly as his eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, struggling with the bag around him.

“Easy, easy!” I said, drawing the knife away quickly before I accidentally cut him. The ram grabbed two handfuls of the plastic and tore it open, gasping for air as he did.

“Mother o’ mercy, I hate tight spaces!” he said, coughing and grabbing the side of the crate for support. He looked to the side, still blinking in a groggy state.

“Whar am I? Who’re you…and bugger me laddie, whot happen to ye?” he said. I smirked a bit, extending a hand as the ram slowly climbed out of the crate.

“The name’s Mike Fang,” I said. “You’re on board a space ship run by hostile aliens kidnapping people for science experiments. What happened to me would take too long to explain.”

“Saints preserve us,” the ram said, rubbing his eyes as he got his footing back. “Last t’ing I remember was walkin’ home after work, an some big ugly bastard grabbin’ me from the mout’ of an alleyway.” I nodded and flipped my knife around, passing it to him butt-end first.

“C’mon, give me a hand cutting the other folks free,” I said, taking my leatherman tool off my belt and unfolding the pocket knife blade. The next few minutes were filled with the sound of vacuum packages breaking open, terrans emerging from their airless prisons, gasping and coughing for breath. By the time we’d found the last sealed-up prisoner, there must have been at least two hundred terrans shaking off the effects of their stasis.

“Thanks,” I said, taking back the folding knife from Sikes O’Grady, the ram I’d first met. Pocketing the blade, I jogged to the front of the storage room, clambering on top of a storage container so I could get a good view of the crowd. Most of them looked bleary-eyed and unsteady, like newborns or late risers in serious need of coffee. I’d found out that some of them had already been experimented on, then placed back in their plastic bags like leftovers to be saved for later. These poor suckers were mostly curled up on the floor, hugging their knees to their chests, rocking back and forth like shell-shocked P.O.W’s.

“Alright, everybody!” I yelled out at the top of my voice. The aimless wandering that has pervaded most of the crowd ended. I wasn’t a complete stranger to public speaking. Now seemed like the time to put that experience to use.

“Listen, we’re not out of the woods yet,” I said. “For those of you who aren’t sure about where we are, consider this your official notice: we are trapped on board an alien ship by a race of tyrannical reptiles that want to use us as guinea pigs for study and experiments.”

Quite a few people gasped and made other exclamations of shock. The shell-shocked ones didn’t help matters as a lot of them began letting out high-pitched whines of anxiety, a few of them grabbing at their hair with both fists, staring vacantly off into space.

“But these reptiles aren’t in complete control of this ship anymore,” I said. “There’s a canmephian admiral on board trying to take control of the ship; Admiral Redwolf.” I bit back the rueful groan as most of the other Terrans began gasping with hope and relief, talking excitedly among each other about their pending rescue. While I managed to avoid letting out any kind of irritated noise, I couldn’t help frown a bit and roll my eyes.

“But right now, shi’s in a serious bind,” I said. The talk quickly died down. “The Admiral is up against an entire ship by hirself. And shi wasn’t prepared for a fight this big when shi was brought aboard.”

The faces of the crowd suddenly looked like refugees running from a volcano, standing on the dock as the last rescue boat sailed away, leaving them behind with the lava closing in. Expressions of disbelief and utter shock had settled in over most of them.

“Shi needs help,” I said, “And we’re going to be the ones to provide it.” The crowd began buzzing with voices that sounded dubious at best.

“There isn’t anything we can do!” one person yelled out. I’d expected this might happen, as the general call was taken up.

“The canmephians are the ones who have to protect US!” another person said.

“We can’t fight creatures like theses!” said another.

“We’re not strong enough! Or smart enough!” said yet another.

“We’d just get in the way, we should just wait here until it’s safe!”

“It’s no use, we’re gonna die!”

“Somebody’s got to rescue us!”

“We’re fucked!”

“Where are the canmephians?!”

We can’t survive against these aliens, we need somebody to protect us!”

“ENOUGH!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs. The entire room suddenly went dead quiet. Looking at the crowd, I began to slowly pace back and forth atop the container, my shot gun resting on my shoulder.

“I don’t know how my entire planet managed to let its balls fall off,” I said, “but it’s high time Terrans grew a new pair.” A few voices murmured in the crowd as I looked across it.

“Ever since I woke up from cold sleep, all I’ve heard from my own people is how helpless we are and how great the Canmephians are,” I said, a small touch of rancor entering my voice. “I’m not gonna dispute the achievements of others, but I think you and all our people need to find something we’ve lost. SELF. CONFIDENCE.”

It looked like I had the crowds’ ear. More people were looking at me like they were listening and less like they thought I was crazy.

 

“Our history,” I said, “has shown us exactly what we’re capable of when we’re put to the test. And what we’re capable of is IMPROVEMENT. We learn, we adapt, we grow stronger in the face of adversity. The best among us have shown their quality by refusing to lay down and die! Our heroes, our pioneers, our champions have all been men and women who stood up when others said it was impossible or hopeless.”

Slowly, more and more faces in the crowd were starting to look invigorated.

“We ALL have the ability to take what God Almighty has given us and make a difference,” I said. “Even if it doesn’t seem to compare to the achievements of others, that does NOT mean what we have to offer is any less important. The greatest work of art is made up of parts both large and small, and it isn’t complete without ALL OF THEM.”

People were starting to look at one another and nod.

“Right now, we face a challenge,” I said, “A race fueled by hatred and bigotry that would sow pain and misery to anyone different from them. And our friends are locked in a fight with them to stop their rampage! Our people’s greatest achievements have come when we’ve acted not just for self-interest, but for EACH OTHER. When we stand together, when we work for the betterment of all that is when we truly shine. WELL I SAY THAT TIME HAS COME!”

A louder chatter was going through the crowd, this time one with a positive sound to it.

“It’s time to stand together!” I said, taking the shot gun off my shoulder and slapping the barrel into my other hand. “It’s time to stand with our friends and allies against cruelty and destruction! It’s time to show the universe what God Almighty has made us!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“Right on!”

“We have an uphill battle ahead of us,” I said, “Make no mistake about that. But there are others who are already in that fight. And I, for one, am determined to join them!” I jabbed my thumb against my chest. “I’m going to stand next to them against this evil and show them just what I can do with what God has given me!” I spread my arms wide.

“NOW WHO’S WITH ME?!” I yelled.

Nothing quite like the sight of a crowd thrusting their fists into the air, cheering in support to make you want to cry.

The clasps on the crate snapped open. Pushing back the lid, I grinned as I saw the military hardware inside. I’d led the freed prisoners to the munitions lab where the Cobrawolves had been studying our weaponry. The ragtag group went straight to work, pulling open the storage boxes and handing out weapons. I knew most of the people that were with me probably hadn’t had much experience with weapons, but the Cobrawolves had managed to make the mistake of kidnapping a good handful of soldiers and police officers from several different nations. As the de facto leader of this little rebellion, I’d rounded up everybody who’d had such training and had them help me take charge. Sikes had also proved pleasantly ready to take action; the ram had gone about finding anybody with skills that might help us seize the ship; folks with technical skills, scientists, anyone with medical training.

I went back to the security station I’d found earlier. Four Terrans stood guard while inside, a British army officer was listening in on the security transmissions and scanning the video feed.

“Find anything?” I said. The badger, who had to stand in the oversized chair to get at the console, turned to me and shook his head.

“Nothing yet,” he said. “Mostly just com chatter, but I’ve heard a few-wait…” The badger cocked his head, holding the headset he hand in one hand to his ear.

“Sounds like…a big brawl up on deck four…” he said, turning and tapping on the screen where I’d shown him how to switch video feeds. I climbed up and hung off the edge of the seat next to him to get a better look.

“There,” the badger said, bringing up a shot of a corridor leading to an artillery bay. Redwolf was backpedaling down the corridor, shooting at offscreen enemies as shi went. I nodded.

“We need to get there fast,” I said. I dropped back down to the floor and went to consult with the other tacticians. Back in the weapons lab, a group of about six Terrans were gathered around a holographic display of the ship I’d managed to download from the main computer. I still remembered enough from my time hooked up to their machines to know how to access some information.

The tactical members of our group consisted of a US Marine captain, a UN Peacekeeper lieutenant, a German Interpol agent, a retired Japanese Navy captain, an Israeli intelligence operative and a New York City S.W.A.T. sergeant.

“Gentlemen, ladies,” I said. “We’ve located the Admiral. Shi’s making hir way here.” I pointed to the fourth level on the map, towards the bow of the ship. “Artillery bay 2. From what I know of hir plans, Redwolf is likely either setting up explosives as a contingency to taking control of the ship or shi’s pursuing one of the officers. Either way, we need to back hir up. Suggestions?”

“We’ve definitely got the element of surprise on our side,” said the peacekeeper, a south African leopard. “But the lack of training among our fighters is a concern.”

“To make most of our forces,” said the Israeli operative, a jackal, “we’ll need to pick a location where we have a tactical advantage.”

“High ground would be best,” said the marine, a bat. “And it looks like that artillery bay has a railed walkway going around the top as an observation deck.”

“Right,” I said, focusing my attention on the blown-up image on the hologram. “If we get our people up there with explosives, we can rain hell down on the cobrawolves.”

All the officers nodded in agreement. I shouldered my shot gun.

“Let’s get everybody moving,” I said.

The artillery bay doors were just around the corner. Behind me, a dozen armed Terrans were fingering their weapons, some in restless anticipation, others nervously. I had to admit I was feeling both, myself. Beyond the doors, the sound of a heavy firefight was coming. The last report from the communications officer, who was back at the nearest security station we’d captured, said Redwolf had made it inside the bay and took out a cobrawolf dressed in what looked like an officer’s uniform. Unfortunately, three squads of troopers had pinned hir down in the far corner of the room, preventing hir from getting to any exit. Hir stock of regeneration material must have been really low to have to hide from regular lazer fire.

“Echo in position, Delta,” The marine said over the headset I’d commandeered from a dead trooper. Our scientists and engineers managed to jerry-rig headsets for us with an encrypted frequency, enabling us to coordinate our attack. The marine, the U.N. lieutenant, the Israeli agent and the Japanese naval officer took a dozen terrans each and were headed to next level to get onto the artillery bay walkway. Meanwhile, the S.W.A.T. sergeant, the Interpol agent and myself were leading our own squads to the floor-level bay doors. Our plan was to rain down grenades from walkway on the cobrawolves, then in the confusion, lead in floor troops to charge them from behind and both sides.

Despite our best efforts to give crash courses in firearms, the officers told me only about half our liberated captives were able to handle weapons with enough skill to be fit for direct fighting. The rest we’d armed with guns that required the least amount of skill to use and placed at the rear of our assault. We didn’t expect any of the cobrawolves to be able to come up from behind us, but we didn’t rule out the possibility; that or a few survivors of Redwolf’s assault popping out from hiding places behind us.

I lead the way up to the door. Turning to my squad, I pumped my shot gun emphatically. They got the message and cocked their own weapons, an assortment of assault rifles, sub-machine guns and more shot guns.

“Alright,” I said, “Is everybody in position?”

“Alpha, ready.”

“Bravo, ready.”

“Charlie, is guut to go.”

“Foxtrot, in position.”

“Gamma, ready.”

“Alright,” I said, “Comm, initiate the diversion. Everybody knows when to take their cues.”

“Copy Delta,” the communication’s officer said. I grinned a bit; this was going to be good. I wished I could see the looks on the cobrawolves faces. Later, Redwolf told me their firing on hir had slowed a bit, most of them looking around in confusion as Brian Johnson began growling out of the shipwide intercom with the accompanying instrumentals.

“Stand up and be counted! For what you are about to receive! We are the dealers…we’ll give you everything you need!”  

One of the Terrans we freed had a music player with a good selection of classic hard rock on it. I’d borrowed it from him, and instructed the comm. officer to play the most appropriate song I could find to throw off the cobrawolves. I smirked as a few of my own squad members started bobbing their heads in time with AC/DC.

“Okay boys,” I said, listening to the lyrics, “here it comes…”

“Pick up yer balls, and load up yer cannons, for the 21 gun salute! For those about to rock….FIRE!”

At that moment, a volley of explosions came from the other side of the door. The bombing squads overhead, coordinating with the music, had burst out onto the walkway and let loose with a round of explosives. From the other side, I could hear the yells and chaotic howling from the cobrawolf troopers.

“For those about to rock…FIRE!” Another volley was fired in time with the music, then a third with the follow up line.

“Weeeeeee saluuuuuuute YOOOOOOOUUUUUU!” The bay doors slid open as I banged the switch with my hand. Together with the other two squads, my men and I rushed into the room, guns blazing. The cobrawolves, still reeling from the bomb volleys, had no time to recover. Their defense was in complete disarray as we took up positions behind control panels and heavy artillery batteries, staggering our men so we didn’t catch each other in the crossfire. The overhead bombing squads joined in, adding their thunderous fire to the hailstorm of bullets and buck shot we were pounding the troopers with.

The cobrawolves, upon seeing waves of Terrans pouring in from both sides and from behind, began trying to retaliate. But they’d gone in thinking they only needed to box in one opponent; they hadn’t counted on being bush wacked and as a result, had chosen to stand in the middle of the room out in the open. Their were probably about twenty troopers all told, each one easily as big as a Canmephian, heavily armored and armed to the teeth.

But none of that changed the fact we’d caught them with their pants down.

The cobrawolves fired wildly, trying to hit us. Just about all their shots went overhead, a clear sign they were used to fighting opponents larger than us. Trooper after trooper fell as our relentless onslaught battered through their armor. Redwolf, seeing the cavalry had arrived, certainly wasn’t sitting back and watching from the sidelines either. The admiral alone was fighting with as much strength as an entire squad of Terrans.

Finally, as the rock reached its finale, the last of the cobrawolf troopers fell. I called for a cease fire over the radio, and slowly surveyed the scene. The smell of gunpowder was thick and heavy, along with the scent of the reptiles’ blood. The mangled bodies lay strewn about the room, riddled with bullets and shrapnel. My ears were ringing from all the gunfire, but hearing was slowly returning to me.

I stepped out from behind our cover, others doing the same, as we surveyed the bodies. It was a grim scene; no matter what the cause, death is a heavy burden to bear. Peaceful solutions to problems and grievances don’t wear on the soul. But when your enemy is as malicious and cruel as ours was, fighting is the only way to stop them before more innocent lives are lost.

Redwolf walked up to our group, surveying the scene hirself. Eyebrows raised, shi nodded.

“Very impressive,” shi said. I grinned, turning to the others as I thrust my shot gun into the air as a cheer went up from all the Terrans.

We had joined the front line, and were ready to do our part.

With Redwolf leading the way, level by level we were seizing control of the ship quickly. The cobrawolves eventually realized we’d figured out their computer systems and were using their security cameras against them, so they cut off the feed. It was making beds in a burning building.

We finally reached the command bridge. It was without a doubt the most heavily fortified part of the ship. Ever since we’d reached the level of the officer’s quarters, we’d been running into their most advanced security measures; automated gun turrets and floors that would electrify. But once again, hubris had proven the cobrawolves’ downfall. They didn’t anticipate our engineers and scientists being able to rewire the floors to shock their own troops, nor cut the power to their gun turrets.

As we reached the command bridge, Redwolf called for us to halt. Looking ahead, loaded up hir plasma launcher with rounds we’d been scavenging from the dead troops.

“Okay,” Shi said, “Cobrawolf command bridges tend to be large, so we best split in two so we can pincer them.” Shi nodded to the left at the hallway intersection.

“I’ll take half the group and go this way,” shi said. “Mike, you and the officers take the other half and go right.”

“See you in the middle,” I said, grinning at hir as I cocked my shot gun. The officers and I led a group of about 40 or so terrans down the hall. Since the fighting began, our success in battle had been nothing short of miraculous. But we hadn’t been without casualties. Every death was felt, but it only succeeded in furthering our drive to win, to make sure those who died didn’t die in vain. We always held the front line, and I never saw one terran turn tail and run.

The door to the command bridge looked like a mouth at the end of the hallway. A battery of eight gun turrets, now retracted into the walls with their power gone, had been installed to keep out any unwanted interlopers like ourselves. I climbed over the dead body of a trooper, one of the dozen or so we’d encountered barricading the door. Explosives and fast-learning marksmen had taken care of them; it’s amazing how quickly some people learn when under pressure.

We quietly approached the doorway. I put my ear up to it, listening for movement on the other side. Redwolf had told me over the radio to wait for hir to launch the first assault. We would then attack when the cobrawolves turned their backs. At the moment, all I heard was frantic voices from the enlisted to their captain.

“Captain, we’ve lost contact with Dr. Devarped!”

“We’re down to 25 percent of our troops; those that aren’t dead have been incapacitated!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. By “incapacitated,” they were referring to the troops we’d driven into rooms with no direct exits. After doing so, we’d sealed the doors, locking them inside and rigging all possible exits with captured explosives. We were only able to do so with squads that weren’t equipped with plasma launchers. Fortunately, it looked like these weapons were still fairly new to the cobrawolf arsenal and not all of the squads had them.

“Concentrate all efforts on getting our automated security measures back online!” The captain’s voice hissed. “Damn the troops if they can’t do their jobs against these puny terrans!”

“Our technicians are still trying to re-route power to the security system, sir,” Another voice said.

“If they don’t succeed I’ll have them all liquefied!” The captain roared.

“Sir,” a new voice said, “At this point we may have to start seriously considering a plan of withdrawal. We could set the ship to self destruct and take the esca...,” a sudden lazer blast cut off that suggestion, most likely through the suggester’s head.

“I…,” seethed the captain, “will not…surrender…to a LONE CANMEPHIAN…AND A BUNCH OF UNDERDEVELOPED INSECTS!”

I guess Redwolf figured that was the most dramatically appropriate moment, I know I did, as I heard hir force the doors open on the opposite side of the bridge. Weapons of varying kinds, both firearms and lazer-based, went off in the now-familiar chorus of battle. I counted down to ten, then pointed at the engineer working at the maintenance panel down the hallway. She touched two wires together, bypassing the door’s lock as it slid open. The bridge was full of sparks, gunshots and lazer blasts. Sitting in hir command chair on a raised platform, the captain was armed with a large, repeating lazer cannon with a plasma launcher attached, similar to a terran assault rifle with a mounted grenade launcher. The captain was larger than the average cobrawolf we’d seen, an unusual diamond pattern running down hir back and down the backs of hir arms.

We all took up defensive positions behind the various control consoles around the bridge, picking our targets carefully. When the captain turned, I could see in hir eyes a blankness mixed with unbridled rage. Shi was in a berserker fury, wildly fanning hir weapon about. I saw several of hir shots hit hir own troops, something which shi definitely paid no heed.

My shot gun emptied of its last shell, so I slung it over my shoulder and drew my revolver. Keeping my head down, I dove from the console I was crouched behind next to three of the officers and crawled behind another one with a better vantage point. I got back on my footpaws in a crouch, then stood up with my back to the console. It was tall enough I could fit under it with a bit of head clearance, which gave me an overhead cover as I leaned around the side of it and took aim at the captain’s head. Shi turned and looked right at me just as I drew a bead and squeezed the trigger. The captain’s head jerked back. Shi clapped hir free hand to hir head and snarled in pain as the magnum bullet hit hir right in the eye. The captain managed a few more wild shots before several more shots from various sources nailed hir in the head and torso. Shi fell to the side, slumped over the command console, hir weapon clattering out of hir hand.

The firing suddenly stopped. The remaining cobrawolves turned and looked with shock at their captain’s dead form. They then looked at each other, then at us, as if in complete confusion about what to do. Redwolf was right; the cobrawolves were so militaristic that without proper leadership, their enlisted troops couldn’t function.

The admiral stood up from hir cover spot. Hanging the captured plasma launcher from hir belt, shi strode past the awed reptiles to the command console. Shi picked up the captain’s weapon, hefting it in two hands as shi shoved the captain’s body aside with the others. Standing at the console, the drygerskunk rested hir new weapon on hir shoulder, tapping the console to activate the ship-wide speaker.

“Attention,” shi said. “This is Admiral Redwolf of the CMSC. The captain is dead. This ship is now under the control of the Canmephian military AND the Terran military.”

I grinned and nodded in approval. Several of my squad shouted “YEAH!”

“All cobrawolf troops will drop their weapons and surrender immediately,” Redwolf continued. “Those who don’t will be shot on sight.”

“Admiral!” The Interpol agent pointed out the bridge’s main viewport. A small shuttle was blasting away from the battleship. Redwolf quickly looked to the controls.

“Damnit, which one of these is the weapons console?!” shi said. The cobrawolves looked impassively back at hir; even leaderless, they weren’t about to be very cooperative. All we could do was glare angrily at the shuttle as it blasted away.

“Mr. Fang? How’re you feeling today?” asked the nurse.  

“Mmm, better, thanks,” I said. The bed I was in was twice the size I needed, which had enabled me to stretch out a lot more than I usually could. Rubbing my eyes, I scooted over to the edge of the bed and dropped down to the floor. I pulled on the exam robe I was provided, snapping the buttons down the front shut, making sure the zipper in the back was closed.

“Gotta say I’m glad you folks redesigned hospital robes; the stuff we used to use was embarrassing,” I said as the nurse, a wolfskunk, Nurse class even, tapped hir PDA, updating hir records on my vital stats. “You should’ve seen ‘em. They looked like potato sacks with a split in the back so everybody could stare at your ass.”

The nurse giggled. “Redwolf should be by in just a moment to check you out,” with that, she left the room as I picked up the remote for the wall-mounted tv and flicked it on. It had been a month since I’d returned to Earth. After we’d rounded up the rest of the cobrawolves onboard the battleship, we’d locked them in the brig. It was a tight fit for all of them, but we managed. They didn’t have long to get uncomfortable; After working out the long-range communications system, Redwolf send out a signal to the orbiting CMSC ships around Earth. In less than two hours, we were being towed into orbit, a full platoon of Canmephian planetary troops acting as on-board security. The prisoners were quickly split up and transferred to the brigs of different CMSC ships for transfer to military prisons. In the meantime, the captured battleship was the largest of its kind ever taken by the Canmephians. Scientists and engineers were taking it apart piece by piece, studying everything they could.

I was heartened to see that, in addition to Canmeph lab rats going over it, terran scientists were also brought in. Apparently, news of the incident had made it to Earth before we did. Within two days, survivors were being tearfully reunited with family and friends. When the media began interviewing them about their experiences, word began quickly spreading about the particulars. Some media sources tried to give it the old Canmephians-are-our-saviors spin, but the testimony given by most of the survivors quickly squashed that. Not only their testimony, but Redwolf’s as well.

“I didn’t take that battleship alone,” shi said in one interview. “It was captured not just by my efforts, but those of the Terrans that took up arms with me as well.”

As for myself, I was interviewed a couple times, but I tried to keep fairly modest about my own role. Redwolf, however, wouldn’t hear of it.

“I’m also pleased to announce that Mike Fang, the private investigator and freelance journalist who joined me in my investigations a year ago in Antarctica was among those who fought with me,” shi said in that same interview, and proceeded to regale the media with my own escapades, both in Antarctica and on board the battleship. As a result, I was the headline of several news sites and news crystals.

Unfortunately, my own interviews would have to wait. I was in the hospital as soon as we got to Earth, having my various injuries, both from before and after acquiring my new body, looked at. While there, I began experiencing chronic headaches a lot worse than I’d ever had before. It seemed like every effort I made, to stand, to sit, to so much as pick up a glass make my head pound. Redwolf, upon finding out, examined me hirself and called in hir top neurologist in Terran medicine.

“It appears,” the neurologist said after my exam, “that the brain transfer was a success. However, there are a few minor inconsistencies between a canine brain and a hyaenidae brain.”

“And that’s causing the problems?” I asked. The neurologist nodded.

“Think of it this way,” shi said. “You know how a computer needs drivers to run peripheral devices? Well the “drivers” in your brain aren’t 100 percent compatible with your body.”  

Fortunately, the fixes were easy to make. A minor amount of brain surgery and some rapid gene therapy were all it took to complete my transformation from one species to the other. None of the parts of my mind that housed conscious thought, memories or higher functions were touched, however, only the ones that regulated involuntary systems, like breathing and sensory input.

“Well, look who’s up and about already,” I heard from the doorway. I turned and saw Redwolf standing in the doorframe, looking at a PDA. “Looks like three weeks recovery was enough for you. How’re you feeling?”

“A lot better, thanks,” I said. “The throbing’s gone and I’m not dizzy anymore.”

“Good, good,” shi said. “We’ll have you go through the routine checkup one more time, then you should be good to go.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Were you able to take care of those things I asked about?” Redwolf nodded.

“All the former “Fang’s” possessions that weren’t yours have been sold. Your previous bank account has been re-opened and the money deposited. His stuff was tacky, but expensive. It sold for about $400,000.”

“Good,” I said. “That should be able to get me a decent place once I’m back in action.”

I passed my last physical without a snag. Redwolf had picked up the new shirt and tie I’d asked for. I stepped into the hospital room’s bathroom to finish dressing. Tying the knot in the tie, I grinned at my reflection as I flipped my hat onto my head.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” I said to myself.

Redwolf was waiting for me in the hall once I’d squared everything away. Shi fell in to step next to me as we headed for the elevators.

“Rear Admiral GroundPounder’s asked to see us as soon as soon as you’re ready,” shi said. I nodded.

“Probably wants to know anything useful I found out while in Cobrawolf custory,” I said. The drygerskunk shrugged.

“I dunno, shi didn’t specify any details,” shi said as we reached the elevator doors. “I just hope shi remembers that you aren’t the same person that shi saw the last time.”

“Did the faker try to get under hir skin?” I said with a smirk. The drygerskunk returned it.

“Like a rash,” shi said.

The air was warm outside, the scent of the flowering bushes used in the landscaping at the Canmephian embassy floated through the air, giving it the relaxing touch a place like that needed. Redwolf led the way the way through the garden courtyard. As we passed, I noticed workmen cleaning up building material scraps around a covered fixture. I’d heard there was going to be some sort of commemorative statue created for the capture of the battleship; I figured that must be it.

Admiral Groundpounder was waiting for us in the lobby as we stepped through the sliding doors. I thought I’d seen massive Canmephians before, but this big goy took the cake. Shi was at least half again as wide as Redwolf and slightly taller. If your average Detective class Canmephian was built like a tank, Groundpounder was built like an aircraft carrier. The tailor who made hir uniform must have sent several generations of kids to college with the profits from it.

“Redwolf,” shi said, giving the drygerskunk a short nod, then turned to me. “And this must be the “real” Mike Fang,” Shi extended a large hand, which engulfed my own when shi shook it.

“Admiral,” I said, inclining my head in a small nod.

“Well, let’s take this discussion to my office, shall we?” Groundpounder said, leading us down the hallway.

“Didn’t know you had a permanent office here,” Redwolf said, tilting hir head to one side with an inquisitive eyebrow raised.

“Well, given the recent developments, I decided it would be worthwhile for me to have a permanent base of operations on Sol-3,” shi said. “Before now, we’d only had need of enough planetary troops to act as security.” The wolfskunk passed up the elevators without even looking at them, going straight to the stairs just past them.

“Before, you figured you could stop any outside threat to this planet with the space fleet,” I said. “But now, you realize your perimeter can be breached and the fight can show up on the planet surface. Am I right?”

Groundpounder gave me a look that was partly rueful, partly impressed. “Exactly,” shi said. “We’re scheduling negotiations with several countries’ militaries to add CMPC advisors and enlisted personnel to several of their bases.”

We got off the staircase at the third floor. Groundpounder led us to a door at the end of the hallway down the left. Hir office could be best described as Spartan; it was very utilitarian, a few framed medals and commendations being the biggest personal touches to the room. Either this wolfskunk was still getting moved in, or shi wasn’t one for collecting a lot of sentimental mementos.

Groundpounder settled into the chair behind hir desk while Redwolf and I took our seats in front of it.

“Oh, before I forget,” I said, digging into my pocket. “While I was recovering in the hospital, Redwolf was kind enough to lend me a laptop so I could put together this,” I pulled a data crystal out of my pocket. I had to stand up in my seat and lean forward, one arm on Groundpounder’s desk to hand it to hir. “It’s a report of as much information as I could gather, and remember, from my time hooked up to the cobrawolves’ computer system. I managed to uncover a few plans for future incursions on Earth to try and destabilize your installations; looks like somebody’s trying to run you guys out of the neighborhood.”

The wolfskunk looked at the data crystal for a moment then set it down on hir desk. Shi leaned forward on hir desk on hir elbows, fingers laced together. “Mr. Fang, when this incident began a couple months ago, I wasn’t very pleased that a Terran was being put on the frontline of the investigation. Your predecessor, whose body you now inhabit, certainly didn’t do anything to improve my opinion.”

“Mmhmm,” I said. That not-so-old indignant feeling about Terran-Canmephian relations flicked through me, causing me to get a hard, mirthless, lopsided grin.

“But,” shi then said, “With the initial reports of how the cobrawolf battleship was captured, combined with this,” shi glanced down at the crystal I gave hir, “I’m pleased to say my opinion’s changed.”

I said nothing, only smiled with more feeling.

“The Terrans have definitely proven they’re capable of meeting the challenges that interplanetary affairs will bring them,” Redwolf said. “Right now there’s still a lot of the submissive attitude around, but the revolution’s started.”

Admiral Groundpounder nodded. “That’s good. But unfortunately we’ve got a problem that requires immediate attention.”

I cocked my head to one side. “Do tell.”

“The parasitic entity that you encountered in Antarctica,” shi said. “The initial reports mentioned how that Cobrawolf scientist, Dr. Devarped, has made a pact of some kind with it. Since the doctor wasn’t among those either killed or captured, this makes the parasite a continuing threat.”

I nodded; my expression grim. After the battle, when the Cobrawolves were rounded up, the twisted scientist was the only one we couldn’t account for. Shi must have been the lone escapee in the shuttle we saw leaving the battleship. We also found a number of storage containers missing from hir private lab. From the records discovered, they were apparently parasite pods.

“Because of this, we don’t want any remaining traces of the entity on this planet,” Groundpounder said. “Now, both the Antarctic base and its satellite bases have been cleared and no reports have been made of encountering the organism. However, there’s one last place we’ve yet to investigate; the dig site where they were first discovered.”

“Why wasn’t that place carpet bombed?” Redwolf asked.

“Since we don’t have enough information on this enemy, we need to gather as much data as possible on them,” Groundpounder said. “Now with the data gleaned from the Cobrawolves’ studies, combined with the data from the Antarctic investigation, we’ve got most of what we need. But we still have one final question that needs to be answered; how did the parasite get to Sol-3 in the first place.”

I nodded, getting a feeling I knew why we had been asked to Groundpounder’s office. I didn’t like it.

“You want to send us back in, don’t you?” I said. Groundpounder cleared hir throat a bit; it was evident shi didn’t like being in this position.

“I’m afraid so. We need people on the ground with experience with this threat.”

Redwolf and I looked at each other. Hir expression was weary, but resigned. I sighed lightly; answering a call to action is rarely an easy thing to do, especially when the challenge was to face a threat like this; a dark, insidious evil.

“Once more into the breach, dear friends,” I said.

    The fridgid air blasted ice crystals all over the windshield of the transport. We’d flown back out to Antarctica the very next day. Memories got jogged for me when the frozen shores came into view, but this time, I felt ready and prepared to face what was coming. It was time to tie up a loose end.

The joint Earth/Canmeph station was looking a hell of a lot better than it did before. New barracks were being built for the Terran troops and the personnel were all showing a lot more discipline and drive. The previous Terran commander had been replaced, along with the now-infamous Whiteout. I was provided with a new prototype armor that was designed to fit under normal clothing. It was a two-piece suit made of a metallic mesh with small, rigid plates woven in, it was designed to be resistant to projectiles, fire, electricity and corrosion. It was also made to maintain body temperature, much like a thermos, keeping you cool in heat and warm in conditions like those I’d be testing it in.

The transport slowed as we neared our destination. I felt nervous, knowing what we’d be facing. Redwolf looked rather tense hirself, fingers drumming on hir knees like shi was steeling hirself for what was to come.

“The base camp is just up ahead,” said the driver. “We should be within sight of it in five minutes.”

Redwolf nodded then stood up in the carrier and turned towards the back, holding onto an overhead railing. Shi cleared hir throat, getting the attention of the ten Canmephian commandos we had with us.

“Alright,” the admiral said loudly, “you’ve all had your briefing, now here’s what you weren’t told. This is the origin of the parasite. We’re here to figure out how the hell it got on this planet, which means we’re blazing new and dangerous territory here. We don’t know what we’re gonna find, except for three things: It’s dangerous, it’s evil and it’s not going to be happy to see us.”

The troopers all looked back at Redwolf impassively. The drygerskunk zipped up hir coat as the carrier’s engine started to slow. Everybody began checking their weapons. Safeties were clicked off, helmets were strapped on. Myself, I loaded shells into my shot gun, checked my revolver and then pulled a protective mask over my muzzle; it was designed to filter out most airborn threats, such as toxic gasses and airborn viruses and other bio weapons. I just hoped it would work on this thing, too.

“Looks like we’ve got some serious snow falling here,” the driver said. “Well, we’re here, though I don’t see th….oh diety…,”

The shocked, breath-caught sound of the driver’s voice made me turn sharply, then run up to the front and climb up in the shot gun seat to look out the window.

“Oh God, not again…,” I said.

The wind had died down enough so we could see the base camp, or what was left of it. The temporary shelters showed signs of a recent fight; lazer blast marks pocked the walls and the ground while several doors had been smashed in. A few explosives appeared to have gone off, from the small blast holes that were now sporting a dusting of snow.

There wasn’t a single dead body to be seen.

Redwolf quickly joined us up front. After surveying the scene, shi slammed hir fist against the side of the carrier.

“Damnit! I told them not to dig in so close to the dig site!” shi said. I checked my watch; it was about 7 a.m., with the sunlight just beginning to creep over the mountains to the east.

“Judging by the snow buildup,” I said, looking at the wreckage of the fight, “I’d say this battle took place at night, which suggests an ambush under the cover of dark. How far is this base to the dig?”

The driver, still looking pallid, pointed up ahead.

“Just over that ridge,” shi said, indicating a small rise little more than a hundred yards from the camp. I hissed through my teeth and shook my head.

“God, they could have crawled up over the edge and been on top of them in less than a minute,” I said.

“Yeah,” Redwolf said, “but what were they? These parasites need hosts to survive, so what are they using for hosts out here?”

I had no answer for the drygerskunk, but I knew where to find one. I wished I didn’t.

The door to the carrier swung up. The point commando jumped out, doing a duck and roll through the snow, coming up with hir lazer rifle at the ready. Redwolf, myself and the rest of the squad followed after hir as shi began a sweep of the base camp. It was another frozen ghost town, the satellite station all over again. Once we were sure the buildings were completely empty, Redwolf instructed the commandos to repair the base and put in a call to the main station as soon as possible for reinforcements.

I had a feeling of dread that was stemming from that ominous ridge outside of camp. I knew the enemy was lurking just beyond, and part of me wanted to know just what we were facing. As the commandos busied themselves, I looked at Redwolf, then tossed my glance at the ridge. Shi looked that was as well, then back to me and nodded.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with,” shi said. We trudged through the snow, across a wide-open plane with the wind pushing at us from the side. We reached the top of the small rise and looked down.

The dig site must have been close to two hundred feet deep. Terran excavation equipment lay scattered around the bottom, with several sections roped off with fossilized, frozen bones in the process of being exhumed from the permafrost. At the base of the mountain on the far side of the gully was the source of the nightmare; an ancient temple that seemed to pre-date any ancient civilization I could think of. I admitted I wasn’t very knowledgeable about archeology, but it didn’t look Egyptian, Asian, Aztec or Roman. The most I could connect it to were primitive druidic ruins from the United Kingdom with a few hints of Grecian influences.

The temple was a huge, cube-like building with a peaked roof. Large, Greek-like pillars rose up in front of it at the top of a tall staircase leading to disturbingly wide doors. The outside was covered in crude bas relief carvings. They almost defied description; the pictures seemed to display shapeless masses engulfing stooped bipedal creatures.

I looked at the dig site with a mixture of unease and and unavoidable curiosity. Redwolf pulled a pair of binoculars from hir belt and focused them down into the pit.

“Hmmm…I see fresh tracks leading to and from the temple doorway,” shi said. “That’s definitely where they came and w…,” the admiral was cut off by the ground of the rise chosing that moment to break under the strain of our combined weight.

“WHOA!” I shouted, but found myself falling down the steep incline. Redwolf tossed out an arm, but the ground was too slick with ice and snow to grab onto. We plummeted down the side of the hill, somersaulting until we came to a tangled heap at the center of the gully.

Redwolf grunted, pushing hirself up and shaking hir head, digging snow out of hir ears. I shook the icy powder from my own head, searching around until I found my fedora and snugged it back down, straightening a bend out of the brim. Looking back up the steep incline, I was rather amazed I hadn’t busted my neck on the way down. I didn’t see anyone rushing to the edge of the gorge; the wind must have kept my shouting from behind heard.

“Great,” I said, “Doesn’t look like they’re gonna toss us a rope or anything. So should we try to get back up ourselves?” Redwolf started to answer me, when a faint patter of footsteps came from the entrance to the temple. We looked up the stairs at the wide, gaping doorway, then back at each other.

“I’m…not keen on going in there without backup,” I said. Redwolf looked at the door again.

“Maybe, but the fewer of us that go in there, the fewer people are put at risk,” shi said. Biting my lip, I nodded and unslung my shot gun from my shoulder. The snow that dusted the steps crunched under our boots as we approached the entrance. The inside of the temple was dark, so I re-slung my shot gun, drew my revolver and pulled out my flashlight. Massive rough-cut stones made up the floor in an uneven pattern. The main room was largely bare; only a few stone pews and a large, central altar kept it from being completely devoid of natural features. There we some additional pieces of equipment left behind by the original dig crew. Redwolf went over to a portable generator, flipped a couple switches, then turned a large main switch that gave off a squeaky clank as it snapped into place.

Several portable floodlights flickered to life. They were aimed at sections of the wall, which had been carefully dusted at one point. Digital notepads were laying around. I picked up one or two and skimmed their content; apparently the dig crew had been photographing and studying the bas reliefs on the wall when Dr. Ulysses, the scientist that had led the dig before he went crazy, returned from a trip to the base.

“According to this,” I said to Redwolf as I panned my flashlight around. “Ulysses immediately told the crew to stop their studies and begin clearing a caved-in section of a large back room. The notes stop on the morning they were about to begin their excavation.”

“Let’s check the rooms then,” Redwolf said. The first two back rooms we checked turned up nothing. The third had more flood lights which, when turned on, revealed a gaping hole the size of the temple doors. As we approached the massive opening, I accidentally kicked a plastic crate and something fell out at my footpaws. I turned my flashlight towards the object and found a large brick of plastic explosives.

“Damn,” I said, “They must’ve been in a hurry to get this thing open.”

The hole was at the top of an incline more gradual than the one outside. A dark tunnel lead into the earth, stalagmites and stalactites looked like narrow teeth lining a long muzzle as Redwolf and I slowly slid down between them. That sense of unease had increased threefold by the time we reached the bottom. Ahead, a cavern was sprawling in the blackness, with only the barest amount of from some sort of glowing lichen in small patches on the floors and ceilings. It barely counted as illumination; just enough to allow one’s night vision to pick up indistinct shapes to play on your imagination.

A large dark area towards the back of the cavern drew my attention. As we cautiously approached, we slowed out footsteps as we began to feel a draft coming up from some deeper well ahead. That dark area turned out to be a huge chasm the size of an Olympic swimming pool; a dark abyss that plunged straight down into lightless depths.

“I knew you would come,” a hideous voice behind us said.

Redwolf and I, standing about five feet from the edge of the pit, spun around. I don’t know how they got there, but two dozen figures stood behind us. Terrans, Canmephians and Cobrawolves, all of them with their eyes black and soulless, standing motionless as they stared at us with their blank, almost dead faces. I could feel raw fear shoot up my spine and make my heart begin battering my ribcage.

“You could not resist,” the voice said. I finally located it; it was coming from one Terran form, standing at the head of the group, holding up one of those leathery pods. There was a crack in the top of it. The voice was coming out of the pod, hollow and without emotion.

“The only thing we can’t resist,” Redwolf said, “is the need to stamp you out.”

“You say you’re here to destroy me, but that’s not what you feel,” the voice said. “You came to me following a different call, one much deeper in yourself. You know we can give you what you want.”

I snorted at the pod. “You’ve got nothing to offer us,” I said.

“I was not speaking to you, worthless pest,” the voice droned. I’m not sure which one of them fired the shot or what kind of weapon it was, but suddenly I found myself slammed in the chest and knocked back to the very edge of the pit. The pain was excruciating, and all I could do was lay there and gasp for the breath that had been knocked out of me.

“MIKE!” Redwolf yelled, then turned and drew hir guns.

“Stay your hand,” the voice from the pod said. “I would do you no harm if I could avoid it.”

“And what gives me such a dubious honor?!” the drygerskunk snapped, sounding both angry and confused.

“Kindred spirit,” said the voice. Although I couldn’t see hir face, I could see the admiral cock hir head to one side in confusion.

“Yes,” the voice said. “You know that it’s true. You must know another being of the eons when you meet one. We are both those that will continue long after these lesser races have crumbled to the dust they are little better than. We endure, and I know what you endure. The loneliness.”

“You don’t know jack,” Redwolf spat, “I have a mate, I have friends and companions.”

“But do you have family?” the voice droned. I was still in pain, but I could just make out Redwolf jolting from the statement. The monstrous entity had struck a nerve.

“Your ties to these lower creatures can’t dispel it, can they? That empty, hollowness that comes from knowing you have no one you can truly call your kin, one of your own. Even if you were to procreate, you would have no one you could look to for the support and guidance only one who has come before you can provide.”

Redwolf’s gun hands waivered. Slowly then began lowering a bit. I could see the drygerskunk’s head incline slightly, as if shi were trying to fight a heavy burden on hir heart.

“I have existed far longer than you,” said the voice. I quickly saw where this was going and I wasn’t about to take it lying down; not for much longer anyway.

“I have the experience of centuries,” the voice said. “I can give you what you’ve always lacked; someone to turn to when you can’t bear the burden without comfort. I can provide you with the respite you seek, I can provide you with the sense of security only a parent could provide. Come, join my family, my child.”

Redwolf was motionless. I wasn’t. The blast that struck me had hurt like a bastard, but the experimental armor I was wearing had served well. I raised up my right arm, took careful aim, and fired at the pod being held in front of the drygerskunk. My magnum slug found its target, splattering the pod. Hydrashock bullets are designed to stop when they hit a solid target, preventing it from going through and hitting things behind the target they’re not meant to. However, they have to hit something solid enough to do so, and the pod must have been rather squishy.

The head of the Terran figure holding the pod now had a huge chunk of it’s forehead missing. It had been solid enough to stop the slug. Even with the damage, I could see the remains of Dr. Ulysses’ face as he dropped to his knees and fell sideways to the floor.

“You,” I grunted, slowly pushing myself up off the floor. “Are full,” I gasped, slowly straightening myself up, “of SHIT.” I said. “We’ve seen how you treat your ‘children’. Family means more than just using someone. Your bond is as cold as a slave’s chains.”

“You cannot take the word of something from such an ignorance race,” said the voice, now coming from the gaped-open mouth of one of the remaining possessed bodies. Redwolf looked to me and I looked back into hir eyes. Then, the drygerskunk turned back to the possessed. Hir hands went glossy, then lengthened and enlarged into a pair of minigun barrels.

“You disappoint me,” said the voice.

Redwolf bellowed at the top of hir lungs, raising up hir morphed hands. Bullets spewed forth from them like water from a hydrant, tearing apart the figures standing in front of hir. Several of them tried to raise up the weapons they had, but not one of them got off a shot as shi swept hir arms from side to side, fanning down the crowd with a deadly shower.

As the last figure fell, Redwolf stopped firing. The drygerskunk panted hard, hir hands slowly returning to their normal shape, smoke coming from them. Rubbing at my sore chest, I walked up to the drygerskunk as shi slumped forward a bit, resting hir hands on hir knees.

“You alright?” I said, putting a hand on hir shoulder.

“Yeah,” shi said, nodding. “I’ll be alright. It’s just…what that thing said…,”

“I know,” I said. “The devil and his minions really know how to hit you below the belt when they want to.” Redwolf silently nodded and I patted hir back.

That’s when we heard it. Coming up from the depths. A baleful, bone-chilling moaning noise was rising from the dark pit behind us, along with the sound of something lazily flapping. The drygerskunk and I turned to face what was coming. Then we saw it. For a brief moment, I lost all feeling whatsoever and was struck senseless.

Rising up out of the pit was the answer to Redwolf’s question; how did the parasite get to Earth? Well, now we knew. The creature we saw coming was so big it stretched from one end of the pit to the other, barely having an inch of clearance on any side. It had an almost oval-like shape to it and a flat, rippling body, looking a lot like some sort of manta ray. The creature floated on some kind of gas pocket that it kept exhaling out of a pair of orifices on its underside. But it never seemed to inhale, apparently producing the gas through some sort of internal means; a perfect way to travel through space.

The creature looked as if it once was a graceful, majestic thing. But now it was hideous and corrupted by the parasite that had twisted it to it’s own purposes. Lesions covered the top and bottom of it, looking infected and scarred. Boils and sores also covered the top, where five pairs of eyes lined a ridge that rose up on its back, curving parallel to its front edge. Most of these eyes were the soulless black of all the possessed, while others were a dead, milky white, apparently scarred and rendered useless in some past fight. Underneath the creature, multiple tentacles were handing down at various lengths, apparently growths coming from some of the infected sores. These tentacles twitched and coiled in an apparently deliberate, conscious fashion. Along the underside of the edge was what had once been a single mouth. But now, long-term infection by the parasite had caused mutation, sealing parts of the mouth shut with scar-like tissue, giving the creature multiple mouths with uneven numbers of jagged teeth.

 The floating abomination gave out another moaning noise that chilled me to the very core. It’s movement was almost hypnotic, even as it curled back one tree-thick tentacle and started to lash it outward. Then, some unconscious part of me, probably the part of me that controls my will to live, told me to get my ass the hell down on the ground. I hit the dirt flat as the tentacle swept overhead, snapping through stalagmites like toothpicks. Redwolf opted to leap over the thing, hir tails rippling like a sheet being shaken out.

The massive creature lashed out again, prompting us to dodge it again in the same manner. My shock finally starting to wear off, I started firing at the beast’s functioning eyes. My slugs appeared to hit home, but it was like flinging individual grains of sand; the most I could hope to do was piss it off.

Redwolf was only faring slightly better. Shi drew up enough telekinetic energy I could practically feel it tingling in the air and struck the creature a heavy, crushing blow. The monster wavered in the air, but that was all. An electric crackle came from two relatively small tendrils hanging just behind the creature’s mouth. Redwolf didn’t have time to dodge as a crack of electricity like a lightning bolt struck hir, sending the drygerskunk to hir knees.

Dear God, how do we beat this thing?! I thought. Another tentacle lashed out, forcing me to duck-and-roll behind a natural column formed by two stalagmites and stalactites grown together. My heart beating a tattoo into my rib cage, I frantically looked for anything that might give me an answer.

It was a lot more obvious than I’d expected. I spotted my flashlight, which I’d dropped when I was shot. It had rolled to the side, and was now lying pointed at a plastic crate, probably brought down by one of the original dig crew. Quickly, I dashed forward and threw open the box. My eyes lit up as I saw stacks of explosives with a detonator on top.

Red! I thought as loudly as I could.

Right here, for now…I “heard” in my head. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the drygerskunk striking another telekinetic blow against the abomination, which retaliated with an even stronger electric blast. The admiral managed to deflect this with hir mind, but from the looks of it, the battle was taxing every fiber of hir.

Try to keep it up; we’re gonna bury this son of a bitch. I thought. I grabbed the crate and started dragging it behind me.  As the admiral and the behemoth battered at each other, I crept around the edge of the pit. Using the rock columns as cover, I planted charges around the edge of the pit, trying to space them out as much as possible to get the best coverage. I managed to complete about three quarters of a circle before I ran out. Gripping the detonator tightly, I ran in a crouch back towards Redwolf. It was incredible how the admiral had managed to hold hir ground, trading blows with the monstrous creature one after the other.

Okay, I thought, We’re set, but we gotta get that thing low enough to get caught in the blast.

Then this motherfucker’s going DOWN! Redwolf thought. Sweat beaded across hir forehead and hir eyes glowed brighter than floodlights. The mental energy shi gave off made the air around hir shimmer like heat coming off a grill in the summer. Shi raised up all four arms, hands held open. Then, shi clenched hir fists shut and made a pulling jesture. The creature moaned louder, only now it sounded more like a bellow of anger as it faltered in the air. But this time, it wasn’t righting itself; it’s hovering unsteady.

Redwolf sucked in a breath between hir teeth as shi gritted them, sweat now pouring off hir head. Shi heaved and seemed to be trying to throw hir mental weight against the monster. It was working; the creature was slowly sinking into the pit like it was being pulled down by quicksand.

We better back up! I thought. The drygerskunk and I began backpedaling towards the base of the incline. The creature was now becoming violent in its resistance, lashing its tentacles left and right, smashing stalagmites and hurling the debris at us. The cavern shook as it let out another bellow, it’s body finally sinking to the level of the pit’s edge.

“NOW!” Redwolf yelled. I clapped one hand to my ear, putting the other one against my shoulder and pressed the detonator button. The explosion hurled both the admiral and myself backward, slamming us against the incline. The monstrous, parasite-infested nightmare let out a final, earth-shaking bellow that was more felt than heard as it heeled over like a sinking ship, tumbling down into the pit. The ground shook and rumbled as rock and dirt poured into the pit, the edge crumbling and collapsing.

Redwolf yelled something, but between the ringing in my ears and the chaos of the falling rock, I couldn’t hear hir. The entire cavern was collapsing; as more of the floor around the pit slid and fell into it, the supports for the ceiling gave way, quickly followed by the ceiling itself. Redwolf and I scrambled up the incline, the loose rock making progress difficult. But desperation is a great motivator, and we managed to dig through to bare rock beneath to get our footing.

We clawed our way back up to the temple, where I collapsed bodily on the floor and the drygerskunk fell to hir hands and knees as the tunnel sealed itself off behind us in a shower of rock fragments and a cloud of dirt and dust. I sucked ragged breaths into my lungs, my last conscious images being several figures running towards us as I passed out from exhaustion.

“Not a bad-looking ride,” Redwolf said.

“It took a while to find one,” I said, leaning against my car in the fading twilight in front of Redwolf’s Pawstooth estate, “but I found an estate auction of a collector.” I rubbed at a small spot on the hood of my ride, an early-model, dark green Chevrolet Impala. The car had cost me a ton, but between the final sales of the former Fang’s gaudy belongings and the reward I’d received from the Canmephian military for services rendered, I’d been able to afford it, as well as a down payment on a duplex condominium, furnishings and a few other personal items.

Another two weeks had gone by with me in the hospital after my return to Antarctica. Aferwards the media had swarmed both myself and Redwolf once more. I don’t want to say I basked in the attention, but it would be a lie to say I tried to avoid any of it, since I agreed to every interview offered. I was also featured in the guests of honor at the unveiling of the monument I’d seen wrapped up at the Canmephian embassy. I’d felt a sense of pride as the cloth came away, revealing the silhouetted busts of a Canmephian and a Terran, with a plaque underneath reading “In honor of those who fought to end the Cobrawolf incursion of Sol-3, also called Earth, especially those who gave their lives for the safety and freedom of others.” Another plaque beneath the first listed the names of the thirty-seven Terrans who’d died in the fight to take the battleship.  

“So, where are you going from here?” Redwolf asked. I ran my finger along the brim of my fedora.

“Well, I’ve got several offers from a few e-zines to buy a feature article from me on my escapades,” I said. “Scientists are curious about studying me to figure out the method of my brain transplant. Oh yeah, and I got contacted by a law firm; seems they have a client who’s being blackmailed. They’d like me to look into it.”

“Looks like you’ve hit a rebound,” the drygerskunk said with a smile. I grinned as well. Life is strange that way; Three years ago I was a depressed, medicated bum wishing for the past I’d lost in cryogenic sleep. Now I was back in my game and turning heads on an intergalactic level.

“I guess it just goes to show,” I said. “Meeting life’s problems and challenges rather than hiding from them pays off more times than not.”

Redwolf chuckled. “It’s what you have to do if you want to make a difference,” shi said. I smirked at hir.

“That’s true,” I said. “But, don’t forget,” I tapped the gold cross pin on the breast pocket of my shirt. “In the great scheme of things, we all make a difference, no matter what size the challenge.”

Redwolf got a contemplative expression on hir face. I pushed myself off from the hood of my car.

“Oh, by the way,” I said. “You remember what that…creature said back in the cave? About kindred spirits and what have you?”

“Tch, yeah…,” The drygerskunk said, getting a rueful smirk.

“Well, I know friends can’t replace family,” I said. “But for what it’s worth, anything you need, anytime you need it, you just ask and I’ll be there.”

I gave Redwolf a pat on hir lower back. Shi smiled and gave me one on the back of my shoulders. Shi headed back towards hir home, hir cabbit hopping down hir front path to greet hir eagerly. I slid behind the wheel of my car, turned over the motor and headed down the road. Life always finds ways to challenge a person. But with God watching over and people you care for at your sides, nothing is impossible.

\tONE CHAPTER HAS CLOSED.

\tA NEW ONE IS STARTING.

\tFANG ISNT DONE YET.

 

        

 

 

  

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