Shadowfox Null 03
#3 of Shadowfox
Chapter 3
03 Shadowfox -- Null
Shadowfox looked at her implanted clock and jumped. 1106. It was thirty three hours since Silverfox was kidnapped, and she had spent eight of them sleeping. Tail thrashing angrily, she pulled on her bra and prepared to leave the second bedroom and give Firefox a piece of her mind.
Isn't that selfish of you? No, I can't be this.
She took a deep breath. The four of them had balanced personalities. Silverfox's took the edge off Technofox's perpetual state of fretful anxiety. Shadowfox would need to adjust herself to compensate, to keep the team from spiraling out of control. She used the time to think of who needed to be here to make things right, and slipped into that before she opened the door.
There was a computer desk in the living room with a keyboard and bigger screen, cables ready to be plugged into a laptop. Instead, Technofox and Firefox were sitting at the dining table, each with a laptop; Shadowfox guessed it was more convenient for conversation. The TV showed a live feed from the master bedroom. Bill was scrunched up in bed.
"Morning, Shadow," Firefox said, without looking up from her computer. "No news yet."
"Of course not. If there were you wouldn't have let me sleep in," Shadowfox observed.
Firefox laughed. "Refreshing. Technofox and I have just had a long discussion on the difference between 'work' and 'activity,' and I am not in the mood to have it again."
Technofox glanced up, irritated. She was about to say something, but thought better. She glowered at Shadowfox for a moment. Shadowfox met her eyes steadily, patiently.I know you're doing everything possible. We need to pace ourselves, not blow ourselves out in the first lap. Tentatively, Technofox smiled and Shadowfox smiled back.
"Someone needs to tell Andy," Technofox said.
Firefox pressed her lips together. "I'll do it. When we know for sure."
"That's probably for the best," Shadowfox agreed. "I'm not sure he can handle the uncertainty."
Technofox nodded. "Damn, I hope this stays out of the papers."
Shadowfox wanted a coffee. She could smell there was a pot in the kitchen.
There was a chirp from Technofox's computer. Incoming message, High Priority. Immediately, all heads pointed at the little fox's screen.
"What is it?" Firefox demanded.
"False alarm," Technofox said with a sheepish grin. "It's Cheshire."
Shadowfox exhaled slowly. To ICON agents, High Priority meant Someone is shooting at me. Cheshire was a civilian.
The stress Firefox was feeling found a lightning rod. "Goddamn it," she snapped. "What does she want?"
Technofox glanced down at her laptop. "Cheshire's taking a bus to Montreal."
"Montreal," Firefox repeated. "That's ... what? How much round trip? Can she afford it?"
"Two hundred eighteen," Technofox said. "And no, probably not."
"Then why didn't she ask us for--" Firefox cut herself off.
Technofox looked at her steadily. "Probably because she doesn't want to distract us right now."
"...Eh," Firefox muttered, looking away, unable to disagree with Technofox and unwilling to say something nice about Cheshire.
Cheshire had been a Tamer at the Blue Diamond slave brothel. The jaguar chimera had been a slave, but she carried a whip.
She wasn't Tigre or Lilith. Cheshire was forced into it. She had been a Hollywood stunt actress before a leg injury sent her to Blue Diamond. At Blue Diamond, she was a professional actress in show business, there to put on a good show for the audience. When Shadowfox co-operated she'd pull her blows. Shadowfox had gotten along with her.
But Firefox hadn't played that game and Firefox wasn't able to let it go completely. It was understandable but Shadowfox wished Fire could.
"What's going on?" Shadowfox asked. Cheshire was out of the sex industry, and getting by doing housework under the table. $218 was a lot of money to her.
Technofox sighed. "You know Cheshire's roommate went to British Columbia for an interview? The guy fronted her travel money, but he's a no-show, and Modesty needs fare back to Boston. Cheshire, uhm, asked Silverfox to send Modesty the cash, because Silver was in Canada."
Of course, Technofox had the passwords to Silverfox's email. Shadowfox frowned. "I don't get it. What does being in Canada have to do with it?"
"Modesty and Cheshire are fugitive slaves," Firefox said. "Cheshire wires cash to Modesty, it crosses a state border, the feds shift the transaction to Modesty's owner. Same if Modesty tries to make a bank withdrawal out of state."
"Of course," Shadowfox apologized. "I guess I'm not awake yet. Anything I can do?"
"Keep an eye on our guest," Firefox ordered. Instinctively, Shadowfox looked at the TV. Bill had changed positions. He was breathing faster, and she guessed he was starting to wake up.
Technofox grinned. "You're expecting a package. Cheshire shipped your backup drive here yesterday. It's supposed to arrive here between three and four; the concierge is supposed to notify you."
"Let Technofox run a security update on it before you use it," Firefox said.
"So I guess the RCMP's still sitting on my notebook?" Shadowfox asked.
Firefox looked up at her briefly. "And Silver's laptop."
"That's too bad." So Firefox was concerned that the communications protocols on their computers might be compromised while in the hands of Canadian law enforcement.
"They don't trust us? And all we did was sneak a wanted Canadian over the border," Technofox sighed and rubbed her forehead. "How are we going to spin _any_of this as legal? Even legal enough for ICON?" ICON wanted results, and they insisted their operatives stay within the law, by which they meant ICON wanted plausible deniability.
"I think we're in a good position with the Canadians," Shadowfox said. "They're proud of their sapients' rights legislation. Fischer's gang killed chimerae, and a Mountie. As long as we're discrete I'll bet the average Canadian officer won't be looking too closely at us." Shadowfox kept her eyes on the TV. She was used to working while a man slept and getting back with him before he woke, and her instincts were urging her to slip back under the covers with him.
Firefox leaned back in her chair and turned around, looking at the TV. Her expression was halfway to a grimace. "I don't see any way this ends with him on a witness stand."
"I'll go wake him up," Shadowfox decided. "Interrupt us."
Shadowfox returned to the smaller bedroom, stripped out of her underwear and pulled on a nightshirt. She crossed the hall to Bill's bedroom and closed the door firmly behind her.
He woke up with a start, blinked twice and looked at her. She grinned and he grinned back. Shadowfox skipped over to him, threw the covers off him. He was wearing jockey shorts, and she shifted her ears forward when she saw his bulge, as though in astonishment.
She raised a finger to her lips. "Thinking of me?" she whispered with a smile. She straddled him at about waist level, resting herself on his bare skin so he would notice she wasn't wearing panties. He took her shirt and pushed it up over her breasts: she held her shirt there with one hand as he pulled her down. She had to twist her head to avoid slamming it against the headstand. He took her right nipple immediately into his mouth.
Not even 'Good morning?' She grimaced. The only reason he's not inside me already is that he wants to suck on my tits. She closed her eyes and licked her lips, reached backwards, put her hand in his shorts. She pushed the elastic down, and ran her hand down his penis. He was hard, and it was trying to stand. She could feel it against her tail.
His teeth and tongue were on her nipple and it was responding. Love your cock, baby. It's going to feel so good inside... She focused on the physical sensations and forgot the man. He was being rough, a little too rough. Yeah, I love your hands kneading my breasts, your teeth on my nipple, bite me harder. It did feel good, the pain was slight and it was exciting. Her nipple was hard, and she felt herself growing moist against him. She had a mental image of him standing on a nighttime deck, his dick out, waiting for seconds.
No, don't. He's hard, it's sweet, it's going to be good...
His hand was on her back and he was pressing her breast against his lips, sucking the hard nipple as his other hand squeezed her breast. She gasped, warming to it, but at the same time--
Damnit Fire, hurry up.
His penis was hard and urgent. She clutched him to her breast, knowing that the instant he stopped sucking at her he would put it in her. And she'd feel him push into her...
Firefox, help!
She heard a familiar footstep outside the door, and relief filled her.
Who's that? She looked at the door with shock and dismay. She rolled out of bed, pulling her shirt down modestly. Before he could move, she pulled the cover back over him, just as the door opened.
Shadowfox stood, trying to look like she was trying to look like she wasn't guilty. Firefox was in the open door. Something flickered over her face.
"Good morning, Mister Smithson," she said formally.
"Good morning, uhm, Firefox." He smiled weakly.
"We'll continue with the interview after breakfast." She looked at Shadowfox neutrally. "Breakfast for four, girl."
"Yes ma'am," Shadowfox nodded resentfully. Without looking back at him, Shadowfox trotted around the bed and ducked under Firefox's arm. She glanced longingly at the door to the bathroom: for some reason, she felt dirty and wanted a good scrubbing. The door closed behind her and she let herself smile.
"That's good," Shadowfox whispered. She gave a thumbs up just before they moved into Technofox's line of sight.
Firefox didn't break character. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. "Bitch, make me a sandwich."
Technofox jerked her head in their direction and blinked, completely blindsided. Shadowfox grinned widely so Technofox would see she wasn't offended. Shadowfox knew she wouldn't be getting that shower right away.
"That's it, that's perfect," Shadowfox said. She looked at Technofox. "It's a variation of good cop / bad cop. Firefox doesn't respect me, so I'm the weak link he's trying to exploit."
"Oh. Gotcha." Technofox didn't seem enthused by the idea. Well, that was all right.
Firefox looked at Shadowfox. "Do you think his mind's working like that?"
"I'm not sure," Shadowfox admitted. "I'm coming on to him. He's either run completely by his little head, or he thinks he's a step ahead of us."
"I'm voting for little head," Technofox smirked. She added hastily, "But you're right, we can't count on that."
Shadowfox went to look in the kitchen. There was a spice rack there, with an impressive collection of tiny, multicolored jars. She blinked in disbelief and picked one off: a half-gram bottle of saffron, about two-thirds used. A half gram of saffron cost around ten dollars. Shadowcat liked to experiment with spices; Shadowfox wondered why she had left a collection like this behind. Shadowcat had probably left in a hurry. Well, this was going into Shadowfox's luggage.
Shadowfox liked cooking, and one of her favorite challenges was looking at a random assortment of things in a refrigerator and puzzling out how to turn it into an actual meal. One of her proudest moments had involved turning pizza crusts into garlic bread sticks.
The freezer had some breakfast sausages and bacon; those were probably purchased by Fire or Tech. A white folding carton held General Tso's chicken from the day before yesterday. Maybe that could go in an omelet. There were eggs in the fridge, and several one-liter bottles of shelf-stable milk substitute, and butter. The coffee was a cheap pre-ground national brand -- Technofox had been shopping -- but quantity and freshness would make up for that.
Eggs, sausage and bacon would make a decent, if uninspired breakfast. It wasn't good enough. She had to think of something special and unexpected, to give it that little kick and turn a pedestrian breakfast into something memorable.
There was supermarket bread. Returning to the spice rack she found some cinnamon. Cinnamon toast it was. No, there were a dozen eggs; cinnamon French toast.
She set a skillet to heat. Technofox liked scrambled eggs; Firefox like hers over easy. She would start with those. She held an egg over the pan and cracked the shell. Shadowfox could hear Bill's footstep in the next room. Her hand twitched, and the yolk broke. Shadowfox grimaced. She'd have to eat that one.
Bill came in. He was wearing a bathrobe. "Hey, baby," he said in a slightly-lowered voice. He probably didn't know Fire and Tech would hear it plainly. He groped her breast and nuzzled the side of her neck.
She smiled. "How do you want yours?" She met his eyes. His erection peeked out through his bathrobe, like a nervous actor through curtains. Deliberately, he touched it to her.
"Soft boiled," he said. His thumb ran over her nipple, covered by her nightshirt.
"You better go shower and shave." She kissed his nose. She re-draped his bathrobe. "And cover that up. It's mine."
He grinned before he left and she imagined cutting his throat. She had been in a good mood. Now she felt the dull ache of frustrated desire that reminded her what she was designed for.
Shadowfox enjoyed cooking; she liked the challenge of turning raw materials into something tasty. She tried to submerge herself in that.
She cracked another egg into the pan, and the yolk broke. Shadowfox muttered a curse. She needed two eggs with unbroken yolks for Firefox, and it was starting to look like she wouldn't get them.
"Wonderful meal. Delicious as always," Firefox said, patting her snout with a napkin.
Firefox had dropped character, which was a pain. Shadowfox couldn't think of a way to turn that into something dismissive, so she just cast Firefox a look that implied she was being sarcastic. Firefox took the hint; when she took the napkin away, her lips were twisted into a sneer.
The rule normally was that Shadowfox didn't have to do the cleaning up from a Shadowfox Breakfast. That obviously didn't apply here, so Shadow stacked the plates, balancing a set on her forearm. Technofox got up and immediately sat down again, looking uncomfortable. She wasn't all that good at improv.
"Why don't you make yourself useful and do the shopping?" Firefox asked. "Ask Mister Smithson what he'd like for groceries."
"Mind if I go with her?" Bill asked, getting up.
"I'd rather we finished our business," Firefox replied politely.
Bill obviously wasn't expecting that. Shadowfox wondered if he was floored by a chimera telling him no, or if he just wasn't that good thinking on his feet. "May I have an advance? I need some clothes and things."
Firefox considered. "Keep it under two hundred and we'll call it a bonus." She checked the time on her implant. "The stores should be opening soon. Give Shadowfox your list."
Shadowfox nodded. "Come into the kitchen." She gave him a coy smile.
He winced standing up from the table. Swimming for an hour or so in cold water would do that. She would have suggested Tylenol and a day in bed, if she actually gave a damn, which she didn't.
She started going through the cupboards, making note of things they'd need. He came in behind her and embraced her around her waist. He kissed her neck again. Tee hee! She thought. I love it when you do that. She smiled.
"I need some underwear," he said. "And socks."
"I know there's a toiletries set in your bathroom," she said. "But is there a brand of toothpaste or something you like?"
"No, they're fine." He glanced in a conspiratorial nature and lowered his voice. "Maybe some condoms."
Condoms? A condom was tidier and might be ribbed for her pleasure, but she doubted that her convenience entered his mind. In fact, she had a receptor where a human woman had a cervix, and semen hitting it would trigger an orgasm. It wasn't advertised; it was a NorBio trade secret.
She smiled and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I want to feel every drop." She pushed her groin suggestively against his.
He liked the idea, that was obvious, but there was something making him hesitate.
"Uhm," he said reluctantly. "I don't like them either, but it's safer."
He was thinking of hygiene. Chimerae were sterile, and their immune systems tailored to prevent infections. Between her vagina and cervix was one of the harshest environments for microbes outside of an autoclave. It was a death trap for sperm.
Well, he was_Canadian. It wasn't like Safe Sex PSAs had a caveat saying _*This Advice Void In a Chimera.
"With a human girl, yes." She batted his nose playfully. "I'm Girl 2.1. I don't have periods, and can't get pregnant, and I don't catch or spread anything."
That wasn't strictly true; a case of a mild fungal infection passed from a human penis to a female chimera and then on to a human female's lip had been written up in _Nature,_but that sort of case was rare enough to be published in a research journal. Unprotected sex with a chimera was safer than protected sex between humans. Which was why Shadowfox existed.
He put his lips next to her ear and used that as an excuse to whisper. "Oh, and I'd like a data fob," he said. "Something with at least eight gig."
That's so disappointing. "Sure." He wanted a digital medium before he wanted a good pair of shoes. Shadowfox would have to tell Technofox about that right away.
He had one hand on her breast, and the other came around between her legs.
Shadowfox froze. She had to respond to that.
"And I want to slip my hard, throbbing cock into this," he whispered.
That's more like it. She smiled and gave his ear a quick lick. He tugged at her labia and for a moment she wondered if he knew where her clitoris was. She considered sending a message to one of the others, asking for an interruption.
"Sounds good," she murmured.
She felt a thrill when he touched her clitoris, and then slipped a finger into her for lubrication. She felt herself getting moist, and her nipple hardened under his touch.
"I better go," she said apologetically, pushing away from him reluctantly yet firmly. They're right in the next room. She tried to look like she regretted it.
Shadowfox entered the coffee shop, laden down with grocery and department store bags. Technofox waved at her happily from a table; light twinkled from her pince-nez. Tech was obviously feeling proud of herself, on the upswing from the emotional pit.
"I had to go to three places before I found this," Shadowfox said, handing Technofox a bag from an electronics store.
"Sorry, I should have done an online search," Technofox replied, and opened the bag.
It was a thirty-two gigabyte SecurSafe data fob. Technofox had insisted on the brand. "He asked for eight, but the only other one I found had four gigs," Shadowfox apologized.
"I don't think that'll be a problem," Technofox said. "Just chalk it up to your enthusiasm."
"The problem is that he'll wonder why I didn't just pick up the first cheap one I saw. Then he'll wonder if there's something special about this."
"Which there is." Technofox nodded seriously, and took a pen out of her shirt. She rotated through two colors of ink, settling on red, drew a line through the price on the sticker and painstaking wrote the word "SALE." She looked up at Shadowfox enquiringly. Shadowfox nodded.
The little fox then took out a small multitool and opened the plastic clamshell, careful to avoid breaking the package.
"Why that brand, specifically?" Shadowfox asked.
Technofox didn't look up. "This has built in Wi-Fi," she explained. "It'll backup anything you copy onto it to the cloud." She took the device and plugged it into her notebook computer. She paused while a screen came up and started entering thirty character passwords from memory.
"And obviously we can access the online backup," Shadowfox said.
Technofox nodded. "Obviously." She frowned. "The good thing about this brand is that it's transparent to the user -- you can configure it so it won't throw any messages on screen while it's going to the cloud. The down side is it needs to be plugged into a computer for power, and at the same time it needs to be within range of a public network." Technofox fretted.
"He'll probably be using a public computer. And those usually have public networks too," Shadowfox consoled her.
Technofox brightened and nodded.
"What about the card and instructions?" Shadowfox asked. "Won't he realize his data's being copied?"
Technofox grinned and took a shaped cardboard sheet out of her netbook case. It was printed on both sides, and looked like a good reproduction of the card that came with the data key. Doubtless the small print was modified. "You underestimate the little red fox," she rebuked.
"I won't do it again," Shadowfox promised. "What did you get off him today?"
Technofox set her teeth on edge. "He pointed out some places where the flush-decks would go." Her expression shifted, and she fiddled with her glasses. "I think we're about finished with him. If he knows anything else, he's holding onto it."
"I don't think he is. He wants that extra two grand."
"You're probably right," Technofox nodded.
"And speaking of stuff he wants," Shadowfox said, "My ass would be very grateful if you chaperone me until he's cut loose."
Technofox grinned. "I'm glad to."
"Thanks. I think he's the sort that'll lose interest once he nails me," Shadowfox said. "I can manipulate him better this way."
"Hope you don't need to at all."
Shadowfox looked at her enquiringly, and the little fox responded. "I don't like the thought of my friend having to do that with a sleazebag like Bill."
"It's just professional." Shadowfox was a little taken aback. She had always done that sort of work and Technofox hadn't brought this up before. Of course, Tech almost never met Shadow's marks. Perhaps she imagined that Shadowfox usually dated a more refined breed of mob boss.
Technofox frowned again, and changed the subject. "I'm about ninety percent convinced that the flush-deck took Silverfox north. The captain of the _Independence_was just a little too clever."
"Oh?" Shadowfox decided not to pursue the question.
The little fox sighed. "She figured that Flying Saucer ran north to fake her out, so she sent her helicopters to the south. Maybe she was also thinking in terms of blocking off US waters, I dunno... but that's probably why Independence didn't spot the flush-deck."
"It all fits," Shadowfox agreed. "Bill said Fischer went north."
"Except if you look at a map you can see that running north makes no sense," Technofox frowned, aware she was contradicting herself. "Run south from Bowen Island and you're heading for open water. Head north and you're stuck between Vancouver Island and the mainland for almost three hundred kilometers. It's almost as narrow as a river up there."
"They're using naval assets for the search, right?"
"Yes. Of course, they're in range of Canadian naval air stations. On top of that, HMCS Regina_is at Johnstone Strait heading south. USS _Independence is sitting in US waters blocking the south exit."
"Sitting there?" Shadowfox asked.
Technofox grimaced. "It's one thing for an American ship to slip across the border to Vancouver, rescue a fox girl, and then head back. It's another thing to spend a day or two running a hundred kilometers into Canadian water. It's a shame. The Americans have better helicopters, but they're just holding the border... now, if I were Fischer, I'd scuttle the boat and make for shore."
Technofox looked miserable. She didn't have to say why. If it came to that, Silverfox was already dead.
"Silverfox is valuable," Shadowfox said. "They'll try to ransom her, if nothing else."
Technofox nodded, not looking convinced. Neither was Shadowfox. ICON didn't want to set a precedent.
"We shouldn't go back to the apartment together," Shadowfox said.
"You go first. You've got groceries." Technofox turned away and looked at her screen. Her short, blunt claws began clattering over the keys as she eased herself into a world of data and police reports.
"Lunch in half an hour."
"Uhm," Technofox nodded, her mind already somewhere else. "Thirty minutes."
Lunch was served: cold cuts, something simple so Shadow could concentrate on a roast beef for dinner. Bill was sitting across from Shadowfox running his bare foot over her leg. That really turns me on, she thought, looking into his eyes and wishing that her body would co-operate.
"Thanks for the underwear and socks," he said.
"You're welcome." When I bought that underwear, she thought, I imagined myself sliding them off your rock-hard penis...
He caught her gaze and a smile flickered over his face. He had trouble composing himself before he went on. "... But I could also use some pants, shoes and shirts."
He was making an excuse to leave the apartment. That much was obvious. But was he planning on coming back?
"I suppose you'll need to pick them out," Shadowfox said. He nodded quickly. "Firefox, there's an American Eagle right across the street. I can take him."
"That would be great," he said immediately, with a grin.
If he were planning on leaving, he wouldn't want an escort.
Firefox considered the matter. To Shadowfox, it was obvious the big fox wasn't thrilled with the idea of his leaving the apartment, but she didn't want him to feel he was trapped, either. Fire's eyes met Shadowfox's.
Let me play it my way.
"...All right," Firefox said slowly. Technofox's ears twitched, but she didn't say anything. "Be back in time to cook dinner."
"The boss rides you pretty hard, doesn't she?" he asked sympathetically.
He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. It was the first time he had touched her without having a hand on something normally covered by a bikini. It was a strange moment, and for an instant Shadowfox wondered if he saw her as something more than an animated sex toy. For an instant.
"A butch dyke from hell," Shadowfox spat. "Jealous as fuck, too when I want a guy." Shadowfox squeezed his hand. She holds me down and uses a strap-on till I'm sore.
"Uh -- oh," he said, trying to look like the mental image wasn't arousing. "I'd like to go somewhere before shopping for clothes."
"Oh...?"Somewhere we can screw? She smiled faintly.
"I want to check my email." He winced slightly as he pushed the door open. It was obvious he was in pain; whatever he was looking for was important to him.
"I can lend you my netbook. Or you could use the business center of the hotel."
"No, I'd rather ... I want to have a mocha when I check my websites."
Okay, he wasn't a complete idiot. He knew that ICON would get his browsing history from the hotel, let alone one of their own computers. His best shot at browsing discretely was to find a mom-and-pop internet café, something too small to be an ICON affiliate.
And, lousy luck, there was a small one just a door down, making it impossible for Shadowfox to steer him to a chain that would co-operate with ICON. They went in, she set him up on a computer and by the time she was back with their coffees he was hunt-and-pecking his way onto the Information Superhighway.
Shadowfox didn't dare look directly at his screen; although it was a natural thing to do, it was too obvious. Instead, she sipped her coffee and set her implant to tasting the electromagnetic spectrum, gathering information to help Technofox raid the server logs.
I'm bored, so I'll play with my phone. Tech would want to know what he was doing right away. There was no canned message for that, so Shadowfox had to compose one on her phone. Within a few minutes, she got a reply asking her to please get the IP address of the computer. As if. Shadowfox could sympathize; Technofox needed to identify the computer and "third from the left" wouldn't cut it. Worse, the computer was probably using a dynamic IP that would reset after the session was over.
Shadowfox looked around. There were four people using rented computers and five with their own laptops and netbooks; that meant Tech would need to sort through at least nine active sessions to see where Bill was going.
"Okay, done," Bill said. He pulled his new data fob out of the computer and pocketed it.
Bill picked shirts by the size printed on the label, but tried pants and shoes. Silverfox was the same way: she didn't care much how she looked in a shirt as long as she liked the shirt.
The sign said ONLY ONE PERSON ALLOWED IN CHANGING ROOMS. Shadowfox stood outside, holding shoes and shirts. His hand snaked out through the curtain and grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled. Alarmed for a moment, Shadowfox almost broke the grip before deciding he wasn't going to try anything violent in public.
She let him pull her in, pretending to stumble. She looked up at him and was about to speak when he closed her jaw shut with a finger. She looked up at him, turned to set herself for a quick kick to the shins.
He lowered his head to her and kissed her gently on the lips. She opened her mouth, kissed him once, twice, let him slip in his tongue for a fleeting moment. She bit his lower lip gently, pulled, and he fumbled with her belt.
She was glad she wasn't wearing a skirt. "No, no," she said softly, pushing him gently away. "There's a camera."
He looked about for a moment, alarmed. Well, at least he was smart enough to know that the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself. He nodded and handed her his pants. She let her gaze linger on his bulge, looked away with a smile.
The sun was down. Bill had retreated to his bedroom, claiming that he wasn't feeling well. That much was plausible; he had been in cold water for almost an hour. Shadowfox was feeling some muscle ache and she had only been exposed to spray. Shadowfox had whipped up a supercharged hot toddy which put him down for the night.
"These are the files he copied to his fob," Technofox said, tapping her screen with a claw. There were two files in the directory: SEATTLE.JPG and FINGERS.JPG. Instead of displaying thumbnails, the file explorer program displayed boxes with red X's running through them.
"Where did he download them from?" Firefox asked.
"I'm not sure," Technofox admitted. "That café didn't have its own server. It used the servers associated with the office building. So there's hundreds of different simultaneous sessions logged -- without the IP address of the computer he was using, there's no way to figure out who went where. So I've got search agents going through all those sites looking for those files. It'll probably take a day."
Technofox could have blamed Shadowfox. "My fault," Shadowfox apologized. "I didn't get close enough to him to identify the computer."
Firefox shrugged. Couldn't be helped. "So what are they? Pictures?"
"They're corrupt, aren't they?" Shadowfox asked. Ugh. The cloud backup didn't work.
Technofox shook her head. "They're not image files. He changed the extension to make it look like one." She selected the icon of SEATTLE.JPG and changed the extension to .AMF. "It's a file for a three dimensional printer," she said unnecessarily. She opened it up, and six orthographic images appeared.
It was a flat object, that looked like it could be stamped out of sheet metal. Four of the views were straight lines, more or less. Two showed what it was.
"That looks like the key to a safe-deposit box," Firefox said.
Technofox nodded. "Uh-huh."
Firefox leaned closer. "Can we trace it?"
The little fox looked thoughtful. "Not likely. Not in the States."
Firefox's ears twitched. "Are the privacy laws different in Canada, by any chance?"
Technofox grinned. "Exactly. There's a national registry in Canada, but in the US banks don't even keep duplicate copies."
"That's probably why he wanted to come down here," Shadowfox guessed. "A cache in a safe-deposit box is easier to conceal."
"Probably. Try to trace it, though," Firefox ordered. "Might get lucky."
"Can't hurt," Technofox agreed. "I'll get that underway." She started typing. "I'll bet it's a bank in Seattle. From the file name."
"I'd hate to start looking through every bank with safe-deposit boxes in the Seattle Metropolitan area," Firefox muttered.
Shadowfox nodded. Something was bothering her about all this, but she wasn't sure how to put it into words.
"Doesn't this all seem a bit out of character?" she asked.
"Huh?" Technofox asked.
"I get what you mean," Firefox mused, and explained for Technofox. "What does Bill know about file extensions? He can't eat a file extension or put his penis in it."
"Not that I'm defending him," the little fox said, "but the man's a qualified marine diesel mechanic. He's not stupid."
"If this were him fixing a motor it wouldn't seem strange," Shadowfox said. "Changing file extensions is second nature to you because you're clever."
"True," Technofox said thoughtfully. Firefox grinned fondly.
Shadowfox clicked her claws against a table top. "No, I don't believe he thought this all out. This isn't a cache he made for himself. Someone made it for him."
"What's the other file?" Firefox asked.
"Another dot AMF," Technofox said. She opened FINGERS.AMF in another window. The name of the file made it obvious: it was a two dimensional projection of the fingertips of a human's right hand, as though someone traced their fingertips on a board and cut it out.
"And that," Technofox said, "proves you're right. That safe-deposit box is a shared resource designed for more than one person. What we have here," she said, tapping the screen, "is a pattern for fooling a biometric sensor that identifies people based on their relative finger lengths."
"So the bank's in Seattle," Firefox folded her arms over her ample chest. "The door to the safe-deposit boxes uses a finger length biometric lock. That'll help us narrow down which bank it is."
"There's probably a passcode as well. And a box number." Technofox added.
"In the tags?" Firefox's ears lifted.
"No, the metadata's blank."
"Damn. We can't go into the safe-deposit vault and try the key on every box..." Firefox yawned suddenly; her mouth gaped and her tongue curled. She shook her head violently. "I'd love to know what's in that cache," she said. "But I don't think it's going to lead us to Silverfox."
"No, probably not," Technofox agreed. "We should chase it, though."
"Yes." Firefox grinned. "You two go to sleep. Shadow, you've got second watch in five hours."
Shadowfox nodded and set her alarm.
Bill got the master bedroom and the big bed because he could be locked in with a bathroom. The second bedroom was smaller, but at least it had a queen-sized bed. Technofox turned away to take off her clothes, so Shadowfox did the same. A message popped into her neural implant; it was from David Torrance.
David Torrance was another ICON operative, a virtual investigator who did almost all of his work on the net. He expressed sympathies over Silverfox and offered to do anything he could to help. It was a perfectly reasonable message, but it seemed too much like a response to a funeral notice and she didn't want to think about that. She decided to respond in the morning.
Technofox slipped under the comforter. Shadowfox considered leaving her underwear on; decided against it. Technofox might want a distraction before she went to sleep, and Shadow didn't want to discourage her.
Technofox was on the far side of the bed and turned towards her. She was looking at Shadowfox, and not just at her face. Shadowfox turned off the light and got into bed. Streetlight filtered in through the blinds. Instead of going under the covers, Shadow lay down on top. She kissed Technofox once, experimentally; the little fox responded so she kissed her again, more strongly, and slipped her tongue into her mouth. Shadowfox went to all fours above her, lifted herself off her to tease her and to give her a better look.
"You're so beautiful," Technofox said. She pulled an arm out from under the covers and stroked Shadowfox's head.
"You are too," Shadowfox kissed her. The black fox sat up, pinning Technofox under her, and ran her hands down her own body. She lifted her breasts, teased her nipples with her thumbs. Technofox looked up at her, and Shadowfox felt her nipples stiffen. Was it that look or her own touch?
"I love it when you look at me like that," Shadowfox said. "I'm amazed you can spare a glance for me, given what your girlfriend looks like."
Technofox laughed. "I should be saying that, shouldn't I?"
Technofox was small and slight, almost boyish. She was a few days older than Shadowfox but she looked younger. If she were human people might guess she was jailbait. Growing chimerae was not an exact science; Jasmine was a Vix-Dix albino with osteoporosis. Still, Shadowfox wondered if someone had chosen Technofox's form, selected it so she could wear a schoolgirl uniform, lean against a school desk and lift her skirt.
That was how they had used her in Blue Diamond. Technofox had resisted, so they rented her to men with a taste for schoolgirl rape. Technofox didn't think of sex as a tool, so she didn't have armor against that sort of assault. For Technofox, rape wasn't something that went away after a hot bath.
Shadowfox lowered herself down, shifted up, and guided Technofox's mouth to her breast. She felt sharp little teeth close around the nipple, and sighed softly so the little fox would know what she was feeling. Technofox needed a little coaxing.
Technofox pushed the comforter away; Shadowfox was surprised but helped her. The little fox was body shy, but she was smiling up at her.
"Not at all," Shadowfox said. "You're beautiful." Technofox needed to know she was loved, but she also needed to know she was desirable by someone who wasn't a freak. Shadowfox stroked her breasts, and lay down to embrace her.
Shadow moved her hand between Technofox's legs. Technofox looked at her, closed her eyes, and kissed her.
"Just lay back and relax," Shadowfox crooned to her. "You deserve to rest." Technofox needed the release; it would help distract her and let her sleep.
Technofox opened her eyes and touched Shadowfox on the crotch, put a finger inside her for lubrication.
Shadowfox cocked an eyebrow. "It's okay."
"It's not okay."
Shadowfox looked at her. "You're tired. I want to do this for you."
"I don't want you to just get me off. I don't want this to be something you do for me. I love you," She reached and stroked Shadowfox's flank.
It was what she wanted. "All right." Shadowfox nodded.
"Let's have a race," Technofox laughed. "First one to get the other to come wins."
"Oh? Wins what?" She was a little taken aback at Technofox's suggestion, but she was confident of victory. Technofox wasn't all that good at using her hand on another woman.
"I don't know yet." Technofox kissed her and started. With one finger she lightly touched Shadowfox's clitoris. Shadowfox trembled and gasped. The little fox was getting more confident, more assertive since she and Firefox had become a couple.
And the little fox was getting more skilled. Her fingertip had a rough pad and a blunt claw; instead of using that she was brushing Shadowfox's clitoris with the fur on the back of her finger. It wasn't easy to do, and Technofox had normally used her tongue with a woman. Shadowfox realized, to her shock, that there was a very real chance she might lose.
"I want to watch you and Firefox," Shadowfox said. "I want to see you kneading her breast, moving her nipple to your mouth."
"That's not fair," Technofox laughed.
"Then she moves her hand between your legs, coaxing you as you suck at her breast. She's so beautiful, and she could have anyone, but she only wants you and to see you climax in her arms..."
Shadowfox went on, whispering softly into Technofox's ear about making love to Firefox.
Shadowfox won. Technofox trembled. Her hand stopped, she screwed her eyes shut, and Shadowfox hugged her as she climaxed.
Technofox giggled and held her tight, and Shadowfox kissed her fondly.
Technofox rolled over on her back. "Get on top," she ordered.
Shadowfox straddled her and rested her arms on the headboard. Beneath her, Technofox shifted slightly, put her hands on Shadow's buttocks to adjust her right. The little fox kissed her lightly, then more deeply, and her hands moved up onto Shadow's breasts. She began to lick her.
Technofox needed to get to sleep, and the little fox was determined to satisfy her. The only pleasure Technofox was getting was from giving it to Shadowfox.
The thought was exciting. Selfish, but exciting. She's doing this for me, she thought.
Shadowfox didn't feel the orgasm build. It was on her, intense and incomprehensible. She wanted to cry out, but Bill would hear, and she didn't want to share this with him. She slid off Technofox and embraced her, kissed the little fox gratefully.
"You're really good," Shadowfox told her.
Technofox grinned shyly and embraced her. "Fire's been teaching me."
"I'm glad for you two." Shadowfox kissed her forehead. "I think you're good for her."
Shadow felt a soft glow in her, a contentment as Technofox nuzzled her. The languid post-coital warmth was tied up with affection for Technofox, happy because she was happy.
"Good morning, Fire," Shadowfox said.
Firefox looked up quickly and then away. It was obvious she had been weeping, but Shadowfox thought it would be better to pretend she hadn't noticed.
"Good morning, Shadow," Firefox didn't look at her. "Nothing to report."
"Sleep well," Shadowfox said. Firefox would want to go to sleep, so she stepped into her arms and gave her a long kiss, as a promise. It seemed to lighten the big fox's mood; she smiled briefly while she walked to the bedroom.
Shadow's backup drive had arrived yesterday, and Technofox had plugged it into a modular laptop. Shadowfox started her computer, and then went to make coffee. Firefox had set up the coffee maker so all she had to do was turn it on.
It was a shame Technofox would have to sort through all those different sessions to figure out where Bill had gone.
She logged in to her computer and brought up her last accessed files. She might have done something significant in the time that was missing. It pained her to think that there might be some clue there, some casual comment lost, deleted from her brain. But her missing day had been spent on the set of Fischer's latest movie, so she hadn't spent much time on the computer. A few emails, scheduler updates...
Why change the extensions on a file? To conceal what they were. Except that hadn't worked. Technofox spotted what they really were right away.
Emails. She had to send email to David, to Jerry, to Cheshire.
Online photo archive.
Shadowfox froze, her hands over her keyboard.
An online photo archive could be accessed by anyone with a username and password. It would allow you to enter comments, an address in case you didn't have your pictures geotagged. An online photo gallery might have a filter to prevent the user from uploading something that wasn't an image file, and if it didn't validate that files were actually images...
That's too obvious.
Yes, but that wasn't an argument against it.
Shadowfox brought up the server logs Technofox had intercepted, and loaded them into the elint tool. Technofox could understand the raw logs, but they were gibberish to her, so she looked at the summary. There were two hundred and eighty three different sessions going on at the same time. She brought up a list of unique websites, sorted by popularity.
Most of them were email and video servers. News feeds, weather feeds... she was looking at the wrong end of the list, naturally. She scrolled down, and near the bottom she found a URL containing the word "snapshot."
She selected the URL, and her browser opened the site. It was a free photo sharing service that supported itself through advertisements. It offered "secure and safe storage of your most precious memories" and a venue to "share access with your most trusted friends and family." There was a login screen.
Servers didn't typically log every keystroke, so she didn't have Bill's username and password. She brought up an intrusion program and asked it to gain access to user pages with the two files Bill had copied to his thumb drive. Searching for the files instead of file names would take longer, but it would also eliminate false positives, and Shadowfox suspected that SEATTLE.JPG was a common file name.
She started the search and the coffee was ready. She poured herself a cup; black, no sugar. She had gotten into the habit of drinking her coffee that way in Blue Diamond. The non-dairy creamer was awful, and the sugar was for guests.
Shadowfox stared out the window. It was dark, and she could see her reflection, like a ghost. It made her uncomfortable so she looked away.
The four of them had gone through Blue Diamond.
Shadowfox had tried to bargain. The girl in the window was anything she had to be.
I'll do anything you ask. Leave them alone.
Do you think you're worth three women?
Try me.
This wasn't a good time to think of failure. She'd get depressed, and unable to work.
The sun wasn't up yet. 0400. Fifty hours. If Silverfox was still alive, she was in a slave brothel.
Shadowfox went to the website of Blue Jade.
After Blue Diamond fell, both Californian and Federal lawmakers had fallen over one another to assure the voters that abuse of non-human intelligences at that scale would not happen again. Blue Jade was on Little Whale Cay in the Bahamas, out of reach.
The website loaded. The main image was a sophisticated man-of-the-world, rugged yet urbane, a model who might have played James Bond. Hanging from his arm and looking at him admiringly was a cougar woman in a revealing dress. She reminded Shadowfox of Tawny; maybe she was a clone sister. The cougar wore a black collar that might have been a fashion statement, if you didn't know about Blue Diamond.
Nothing in the image said he was getting the sort of love you bought with a credit card, and that the cougar was an actress feigning interest.
She wouldn't need to feign arousal. Like Shadowfox, she was too well designed for that.
Shadowfox assured the web browser that she was of legal age in her jurisdiction. She tabbed through the photo galleries, looking for Silverfox. There were too many pictures and they weren't organized to search for specific women.
Did it matter? Black collars with chrome studs were Tamers. Black collars without chrome studs were compliant and obedient. Red collars were naughty little strumpets who needed a firm hand on their leash. Beyond that, Blue Diamond girls were practically fungible.
Well, not quite. Blue Jade was trapped in a contradiction. On one hand, efficiency required that their slaves be treated as interchangeable units. It wasn't good business to have some slaves idle while a few superstars were scheduled months in advance.
On the other hand, people buying sex liked the illusion of personal involvement. Photographs of naked women always had someone faking an interview with them, where they would explain how much they enjoyed having their bodies depicted as things of beauty, which Shadowfox supposed was a more interesting fantasy for the readers than "I need to make my car payment, so let's get this over with." Once you admitted the slaves had personalities, even personalities manufactured by marketing, there was a danger of some becoming stars.
Shadowfox found a faceted browsing feature. "Fox" wasn't available as a filter, but "vixen" was; she supposed the word's multiple meanings made it more enticing. There were eight fox girls on the site. Three of them might have been Silverfox. She didn't believe Silverfox would be on the site yet. Even if she were there, she'd be in training now.
But at least Shadowfox had a baseline. If it turned to nine and four in the near future...
Shadowfox looked at the filter. There was a category called "Feline."
There were three Tamers at Blue Diamond. The jaguar Cheshire was the professional one you could reason with. The dark elf Lilith was the obedient one who did what she was told and no amount of begging would change things. Tigre was the frightening one.
The cougar in the picture was looking at a guest as though he were her lover. Did she know Tigre? Had she hung from her chains while Tigre held her chin, looking for any excuse to give her another ten? Had she lain before Tigre, in too much pain to stand, licking her feet with a tongue dry from fear? Shadow had.
Tigre's dead.
Tigre was the head Tamer at Blue Diamond. Without Tigre, Blue Diamond was impossible. Blue Jade had to have Tigre.
Tigre's dead.
Four in the morning wasn't a good time to think about Tigre.
Tigre can't die.
Tigre was a gestalt creature. A Brandon Biotech tigress had an almost-lethal stroke; electronics replaced the dead parts of her brain and her body run by a program named T1GR3.
Shadowfox spared a moment wondering who that unfortunate woman had been, what sort of life she had lived before her body became a remote-controlled slave overseer. She'd probably never know, but her fate had been horrible enough that Shadowfox was contemplating cremation.
Shadowfox took a deep breath and selected the "Felines" category. There weren't any tigers.
Blue Diamond made most of its money selling images and video. Tigre's schedule hadn't allowed her much time for rental, but Blue Jade would certainly be selling pictures of her if they had her. Shadowfox leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, relief flooding through. T1GR3 might be sitting on an archive hard drive somewhere, but she wasn't flesh -- and that was something.
Shadow's laptop announced it had found the files on the photo sharing website. They were in a directory with "SAN FRANCISCO" and "LOS ANGELES" and "SAN DIEGO" and "PORTLAND." Each image had a thumbnail. She opened the upload dialog -- yes, it gave you the option to attach a thumbnail to it instead of allowing the website software to generate one. The users could also manually add an address and comments. She copied the files to her hard drive, and wasn't surprised to see they weren't images.
SEATTLE had a thumbnail of the Space Needle. Under it was an address: 408 Pike Street, 98101, phone number 1 (839) 212-0774.
That was about two kilometers from the Needle. Certainly the thumbnail couldn't have been taken there. She brought up a map and confirmed it was an address of a bank. The phone number didn't match. 839 wasn't even the right area code. That had to be significant. Maybe it was the phone number of a contact?
A city was filled with noises. Even at 0400 there were cars passing, horns, sirens. She heard a buzzer. Her ears twitched. Is that the door? No, it would be louder. It was probably something from a neighboring apartment. It sounded loud for that, though. She dismissed the thought.
She checked the phone database: 839 wasn't even a valid area code in North America.
Steganography. The passcode to the safe-deposit room was probably four digits, and the deposit box itself would have a code, three or four digits long. Those numbers were probably contained in that fake phone number.
But how?
It would be something simple to remember, but there were hundreds of possibilities.
There was a click, and a door was being opened. Bill's door.
She saved the web page, the URL, access codes, and closed the browser and elint tool. The buzzer was his alarm clock. Stupid! She had sat down in front of her laptop, and her back was to Bill's door. And by now, he had time to round the corner. He could probably see her.
Does he have a gun? It wasn't impossible. If an accomplice had left a weapon in the dressing room... farfetched, maybe, but the possibility made her feel ill. Her gun was in the small bedroom. Silverfox wouldn't be in this position. Silverfox wore aGlock 29 to the bathroom.
She forced herself to sit still. The hardest part was keeping her ears from turning around. His opening the door set off the silent alarm in the small bedroom; Fire and Tech would be coming out soon, and they were armed.
He was coming closer; he was moving quietly on the rug but she knew what to listen for. He probably didn't have a gun, then. Knife? Hers was clipped inside the waistband of her skirt. She'd wait for him to get close, then go to the floor. Then she could evaluate the threat. She breathed evenly, inhaled and tensed.
"Hush --" he started.
She was on her feet and the chair toppled over before she heard what he was saying. She spun into a fighting stance, arm up to block, other arm low, torso turned sideways. Her ears were flat against her head.
He flinched backwards, startled.
There was motion behind him. Firefox came partway around the corner, exposing her eye and her hand. Her tail and red-furred hip protruded for a moment, showing she was naked. She held a bulky autoloading pistol, an XD45.
Shadowfox kept the surprise out of her eyes. Firefox bought a Springfield? She's always been a Colt fangirl.
"Uhm, Shadowfox," Bill twitched, and his voice wavered. "I'm sorry I startled you." He was in his bathrobe.
Shadowfox wondered how he'd react if he saw that a naked Firefox was holding a gun on him.Probably think it was the greatest moment of his life. She suppressed a chuckle.
Shadowfox touched a claw to her temple and drew it down to her jaw. That was the All-Clear gesture. Firefox nodded and vanished silently around the corner.
"It's okay. Thank you," Shadowfox said seriously. "Why are you up?"
"I just woke up early. That's all."
Shadowfox nodded. Oh. That makes perfect sense, and I am not suspicious at all.
"Why are _you_up?" he went on. "Are you on watch?"
She laughed. "No, of course not." She took a step closer to him and kissed him on the chin. "Why don't you grab a seat? I'll get you a coffee." She put a hand on his shoulder and trailed it down his arm, off and closed her laptop's lid. It would hibernate and lock.
"Uhm, thanks." He sat down. She brought the pot and a cup from the kitchen, and set it on the table within his reach.
They were both up at four in the morning, and alone. It was a perfect setup for a rendezvous, and there was no in-character reason for her to rebuff him. She could call Firefox in with an email. She didn't have to do this, and she realized that she didn't want to.
"I'm glad you're up," she said, and patted his hand.
"I'm glad you're up, too," he said. He took her hand.
Had she heard his alarm clock? She couldn't be sure. If it were his alarm clock, why would he set it for 0400?
If she were him and planning to make a break for it early in the morning, she wouldn't take everything she could and tiptoe out of the apartment. No, she'd scout around. She'd leave her room in a robe, and if she encountered a guard, she'd claim she was just restless.
She had shared love with Technofox just a little while ago. She didn't want to taint that experience by doing a job with him. She didn't want to feel his hands on her, and that was exactly why she had to do what she did.
"We've got a few hours," she said softly, moving closer to him. He put a hand on her back and pulled her close, taking possession. He kissed her muzzle. She parted her jaws and he slipped his tongue in. His hand went up her shirt, and she lifted it over her breasts. He nuzzled her briefly and went for her nipple.
Her breath caught. It wasn't deception on her part; a thrill ran through her when he did. She had been designed well. His hand was on her hip, pushing her panties down. She pushed the other half off her hip, stepped out of them.
"You're wet already," he whispered with a proud smirk, as though it had something to do with him. Can you blame me? She thought.
She took him into her hand. "You're so hard," she said. She turned, lifted her tail and rested her butt on the table. He put his arms around her, and she guided his tip into her. She lifted her feet off the floor, spread herself wider to invite him in.
She wanted to get this over with quickly.
_Hard and fast. I want it so bad..._she held him tight in her arms, relaxed her grip to give him more freedom. She couldn't move her hips in this position and encourage him that way.
He moved his hips, pushing himself into her. As he slid in, she panted, her mouth next to his ear. He didn't stop until it was all the way in. Shadowfox was well prepared, but if her body had been less responsive it would have hurt. What sort of woman would want a lover like this?
It wasn't an idle question. She had to be that woman.
"Come in me quick," she whispered.
"You feel good," he said. He pinched her nipples, sending a thrill through her.
She squeezed his penis. It was the same muscle used to move her tail; it was stronger than a human woman's. He was startled by that; she wondered if he had felt a chimera woman do that before. She wondered if he had ever had a chimera woman before. A_willing_ chimera woman.
I didn't think you'd be so good.
"God, that's something," he said. "Do all chimera feel like this?"
"We do when we've a man excites us," she answered, and tried to think of something that made his defects as a lover sound like a compliment. "I like that you're clear. I don't have to try to read your mind. You make it obvious you want to fuck me."
"Oh, man, this is something," he kissed her twice on the mouth, then took her lip between his teeth and bit gently before releasing. "You're so tight."
"You're so big," she lied. She leaned back on the table. "I like it when a man wants me."
He rested his hands on the table and lifted himself up off her slightly. He moved his hips back and slammed them forward. She gasped, the table shook and bounced. His coffee mug jumped but didn't splash. The feet of the table scuffed against the carpet.
"Harder," she whispered, and braced herself for the impact.
He lasted another six thrusts before he embraced her hard, and shuddered. She felt him splash into her. That's it?She thought, and immediately replaced that, in case he opened his eyes. _Oh... Sweet Mystery of Life, at Last I've..._She arched her back in feigned ecstasy, knowing that the real thing would be coming soon.
When it came, she clutched him with her arms and legs, clenched her teeth on a moan. She turned her head away, eyes closed and lips pulled back. She trembled and panted.
The worst thing was that none of that was feigned. While he couldn't see, she arranged a lock of hair over her face to feign erotic disarray, so she could pretend to herself that she was faking this, that Bill didn't feel as good as Technofox.
He was breathing deep with exertion. "So that's a chimera."
"That's a chimera," she agreed, her voice hoarse.
"Whoa."
"You're... _really_good," she said, not meeting his eyes. She looked at him and licked her lips. "Most men treat me like I'm made of china, but you know how to get to me."
She considered embracing him and whispering, but he tried to disengage and she let him withdraw, as though she were completely worn out. She pushed herself off the table and onto her knees. With one hand, she cradled his testicles; with the other she took him into her mouth, not looking up at him. She made a soft "Mmm," noise. This is the best thing I've ever had in my mouth.
Her muzzle was deep enough that the length of his penis fit without her having to relax her throat. The experience was obviously new for him, and she didn't let it last long. She took her mouth away slowly, licking him to prolong it. Still, she knew that he was finished and probably impatient.
"That was worth the wait," she said instead. "Let me make you some breakfast."
"Thanks." He didn't make any attempt to cuddle or otherwise imply that she was important to him. She was grateful to him for that. She preferred to keep something special for the ones she loved.
"I'd like to cash a business check, please." Shadowfox passed the slip and the check over to the bank teller. Five hundred was over the ATM limit.
"Yes, ma'am," the teller glanced at the check and looked up at her.
He had glasses, and like all bank tellers, he was well-groomed and tidy in appearance. Everything about the way he look signaled respectability and reliability; the sort of man who would walk six miles in a blizzard to return a library book on time.
His gaze was vaguely accusing, as though he were about to say Have you been having sex with men you don't like again, young lady? She looked away, suddenly nervous, and she wasn't sure why.
"Before I run this through," he said, "we understand that members of the non-human community often carry large amounts of cash because of complications banking across state lines. Would you like to hear about some special services available for your convenience?"
How nice of you!"May I see a brochure?"
The brochure described a scheme which involved buying a randomly generated key two kilobytes long from the bank. The data could be stored in a chimera's brain implant. Another branch would then hand ninety cents on the dollar to the first person to show up with that key. Apparently, the scam relied on the key being "sold" twice in two completely unrelated transactions instead of being a "cash transfer." She guessed it relied on friendly Federal judges.
The down side was that there was no enforceable contract if the bank decided it didn't want to buy it back, but Shadowfox was pretty confident the bank would rather have 10% of a running stream than the few thousand they might get if they refused to honor the agreement.
It made Shadowfox glad she wasn't a runaway.
She took the five hundred from the teller, smiled (Thanks for your help!) and dawdled at the entry to the safe-deposit room.
This was the bank Bill would be coming to later. She watched idly as a depositor walked up to the locked door. He tapped a four-digit code on a numeric pad, and rested his fingers on an outline of a human hand. There was a beep and the sound of a bolt withdrawing. He opened the door, and closed it behind him.
Privacy was very important to safe-deposit box customers. There might not even be a security camera in that room, although there was one pointed at the door from the outside. Shadowfox stifled a yawn and left the building; it wasn't a good idea to seem too interested in bank security.
She put her hands in her pockets and walked back towards the apartment. Bill was going to take the five hundred she just withdrew, and then he'd come back here for ... something. It was frustrating, so much so that Shadowfox felt it like an itch. There was something in that room, something that Bill wanted. What was it, and might it lead to Silverfox?
They wanted to keep an eye on him, but they couldn't hold him against his will. It bothered her that sex was the only hook she had in him. Usually, she was able to back that up with faked affection.
Had it been a mistake to do a job with Bill? Should she have remained interested, but not quite attainable? Would he find that bewitching or would he just go after someone else? Something that Bill wanted. What was that?
Would he look her up again? Maybe if his dick gets cold.
He could get in touch with her easily enough; even if he lost her card, he could send a message through her website.
She passed a bakery and her ears twitched. She was making lasagna for lunch, but hadn't settled on a dessert. Something Italian was the obvious choice. Pastry?
The rum cake was surprisingly good, and Shadowfox had to keep herself from cutting a second slice.
Firefox put a second slice on her plate. "I'd like to thank you for your help. Do you have any plans?"
Bill glanced at Shadowfox. "I was going to head down to San Diego. They're always looking for diesel mechanics. I want to stay out of anything shady, though. That just ends up with you in prison." He nodded firmly, almost piously.
Shadowfox wondered if he was serious. Stranger things had happened.
"That's good to hear," Firefox's expression didn't change.
"Won't you need papers?" Technofox asked.
"Oh, I-- there's ways around that."
Shadowfox sipped her coffee. The safe-deposit box held identities, and probably a list of contacts.
"All right, then." Firefox took a bite of cake. "If you come across any information we might be interested in, drop me a message."
"I'll do that," he promised. Shadowfox wondered how that could be reconciled with staying out of anything shady. Well, it hardly mattered, did it?
She made sure the other two were gone when she walked him to the door. What we did this morning? I want that again. "Give me a call when you're settled," she whispered, and groped him. Your seed's warm inside me, and I want more. She filled her eyes with promise. You think you can do better?
"You busy this afternoon?" he whispered.
She lowered her eyes shyly, and ran a claw down the front of his chest before looking at him again. I'm all yours. She licked his chin and undid some buttons on her blouse. Of course, she wasn't wearing a bra. He reached for it and she held a hand to the gap. "I gave you a lick, you owe me a promise," she said playfully.
"I'll give you a call," he whispered. She believed him, and let his hand in. He squeezed her breast and she kissed him.
I can't wait.
"Hey, there, stud," Shadowfox said into her earpiece.
Technofox looked up at her blankly across the table. The little fox looked at Firefox. "Who do you think that is?" she asked.
"Not a woman," Firefox shook her head, and then looked thoughtful. "I think."
Shadowfox frowned at them. She had to stay in character and laughing might screw that up. "No, Bill, I can talk. They're not here."
Technofox turned her notebook computer around and pushed it to where Shadowfox could type on a text editor. "5414 1st Ave. South, 98108?" Shadowfox repeated. "Room 238. I've got something I need to do here, and I'll be right over. Don't get started without me."
Technofox winced.
Shadowfox ended the call. "He's got a hotel room for the night. Must be finished with the bank."
Technofox looked across the street and grimaced. "We missed him."
"Doesn't really matter," Firefox shook her head. "Shadow, you go first."
"You should tell her not to go," Technofox crossed her arms.
Firefox looked at her.
"Tech, I can handle him," Shadowfox shrugged. "It's what I do."
Technofox looked at Firefox. "You should tell her not to go," she repeated.
"This isn't the time."
Technofox hesitated, and passed Shadowfox an envelope from Kinko's. Inside, Shadowfox could feel two flat shapes.
Shadowfox stood to block the cameras. She slid the fingerprint template onto the sensor. A light glowed; a photo sensor measured the difference in length between the fingertips.
The one probably isn't part of the code, Technofox said. Everyone knows all North American numbers start with one. They are probably trying to encrypt eight significant characters, and therefore the phone number has two filler characters.
We'll each try three times.
Shadowfox typed 8392.
Invalid PIN.
The pattern must be simple and easy to remember.
Shadowfox typed 0774.
Invalid PIN.
All the numbers in the area code are probably_significant, because otherwise the filler characters would make the area code valid._
Shadowfox typed 4770. Backwards.
There was a click and the door opened. She took the finger template and slipped it into her pocket.
The room was a bit like a library, with short stepladders to reach the higher levels. Each box was numbered, but not all the numbers were used. #2129 was in section 2, block 1. The lock opened smoothly, and she removed a long, slender metal box. She took the box and her key to one of the curtained booths provided so clients could examine the contents privately.
She turned the light on, donned evidence gloves, and opened the box. Inside, she found a photosetting printer with an attached webcam, and four US passports. She took one and sniffed it. Bill had handled it recently. She flipped it open to the photo page. A Nevada driver's license was tucked inside of it. Neither the license nor the passport had a photograph. The names were filled in and they matched: Maxwell Steiner.
All right. So Bill used the printer to burn his picture into the driver's license and the passport. She fanned through the passport and double-checked the contents of the box: there was something missing. Money. Had Bill taken all of it instead of leaving some for his shipmates? What a dick.
She looked at the other passports. James Spiegel. Mark Schneider. Angela Koenig. All German names. Not a bad idea. Nobody would find those names odd if used by someone with a German or Canadian accent, but someone with a German accent named "Joe MacTavish" might draw attention.
One woman. Were there any women on Flying Saucer? Shadowfox doubted it. None were captured, and Shadowfox suspected women crew might have objected to prisoner gang rape.
Are you okay, Silverfox?
She put everything back into the box and returned it to its place. Although they were obviously contraband, she could report the passport numbers. Anyone trying to use one would have to explain to the FBI, and might give more information.
She wasn't getting a signal inside the vault, and she didn't want to talk in the bank, so she left and called Firefox.
"Firefox here."
"Got it," Shadowfox said without preamble. "Option three."
"Understood." Shadowfox crossed the street.
"And he's going to Portland." Shadowfox opened the door to the coffee shop, and tapped her earphone to break the connection. Fire and Tech were sitting in a booth and looking at her. She sat down. "Probably tomorrow morning. It's too late to get there before the bank closes. He has to overnight, either here or in Portland, and--" she was going to say and this is where the nookie is but Technofox was right there.
"Right," Firefox nodded and tapped her earplug. "Call Torrance."
Shadowfox blinked. "David's in Portland," Technofox explained. "He drove out there this morning. He's got the key and template."
"David," Firefox said. "Shadowfox got in. It's pattern three -- that's right, backwards. Photograph the contents."
"You got it, Fire," he replied.
Shadowfox joined the call. "David, honey?" she said. "Thanks. Fire, I think he should also take the negotiables. So we can check the serial numbers."
There was an awkward pause. Technofox blinked and Firefox looked at Shadow. Breaking into someone else's safe-deposit box was illegal enough. Stealing cash out of it was much worse -- and "checking the serial numbers" was a lame excuse that would fool nobody.
"Okay, I'll do that," David said firmly.
"David," Firefox said, "I'll take responsibility."
"No, ma'am. Silver's my friend too, and if I can make your lead a little more hungry, I'll do it." He hesitated. "I'm flying down to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego too."
"David, thanks," Shadowfox said.
"Love you," he said briefly.
"Love you too," she said.
And when she said it, she wasn't lying.
Bill was in the shower; she kept an ear up and listening to the running water.
He had a new wallet, with a Nevada drivers' license made out to William Straker. He had seven hundred and eighty five dollars: Foxforce had given him six hundred. Where did he get the rest? He had five credit cards: one in Straker's name, and the others in the names of the four passports Bill had left behind.
The cache in the safe-deposit box was meant for five people, but Bill had stolen the rest. Maybe he justified it to himself by saying the entire crew was captured. Shadowfox doubted that would fly.
She photographed the cards and returned the wallet to his pocket, and carefully put his pants back on the floor.
An email appeared in her head. High priority.
Reynard 10X Found Alive
> Dr. Clayton
Ministry of Forests & Range Cariboo Fire Centre report rescue of NorBio Reynard 10X.
Visual inspection of gum tattoo matches ICON Operative Silverfox.
Subject is injured but in stable condition. Medical details will follow when available.
Subject is being flown to MediJet at ZMH for transfer to BOS.
Shadowfox stared at the message, unable to believe it. Alive. Stable.
Where the hell is ZMH?
Then,
Rally SEA soonest
> Firefox
Meet in Sea-Tac airport. We will take your luggage. Rally point TBD.
Shadowfox covered her face with her hands. In a little while, she would have to pretend she was sad to leave Bill, but she could weep with joy. For a little while.