Shadowfox 04
#4 of Shadowfox
Chapter 4
04 Shadowfox -- Null
"Who are you flying with?" asked the driver.
"I don't know yet," Shadowfox said. "Someone else is buying tickets."
The driver shook his head skeptically.
Shut up and drive.
More messages came from Doctor Clayton, short bursts every few minutes. Shadowfox opened each one with dread, expecting bad news which didn't come.
Firefox> Dr. Clayton, please remove me from this notification list. Technofox can keep me updated, and I am driving.
Shadowfox was glad she was in a taxi.
Dr. Clayton> Subject ICR chip matches ICON Operative Silverfox.
Shadowfox didn't have the comfort of a companion, but she didn't have the patience to wait for a summarized digest. And of course, if she asked Doctor Clayton to only send her good news then any delay would be torture.
When could they be in Boston? Technofox would handle that. There was no chance ICON would buy them three supersonic tickets, not after springing for a MediJet from ZMH to BOS. There was a subsonic flight, leaving 2130 Pacific time, arriving in Boston at 0905 Eastern tomorrow with a stop in New York. They could still make that.
...Where was ZMH? Where had they found Silverfox?
Dr. Clayton> RCMP requesting ICON assets. The Pack is available.
Shadowfox nodded to herself. She had worked with Shadowolf from time to time, and Shadow was confident they'd make a good follow-up team. She needed to send Shadowolf her dossiers.
"ZMH" was the code for 108 Mile Ranch, an airport a third of the way between Vancouver and Juneau. It was probably named for the distance to the nearest flush toilet.
Shadowfox looked at the screen of her phone. It was unnecessary because the text played through her brain, but hopefully any emotion that forced its way to the surface wouldn't make the driver think she was losing her mind.
She still had to tell the driver where she was going. "Pardon me. I'll be flying on Delta. Uhm, South Satellite."
"South Satellite. Got it."
They would have a while to wait, and Shadowfox suggested they meet at the seafood bar Silverfox had found the last time they passed through Seattle. The shrimp cocktails were great, and Firefox might want a rum and coke to settle herself down a little.
Shadowfox had no luggage to check or carry on, and the too-helpful guy behind the counter tried to point out they could distribute their luggage evenly among themselves and save money. Shadowfox assured him twice that it didn't matter, and eventually got her boarding pass. At least she had a jacket and shoes to send through the x-ray... oh crap, she had her knife with her, and there was no way they would let her bring it on the plane. Fortunately, an express package service was open and she sent it on to Boston.
She made it through security without incident and headed over to the seafood bar. Tech and Fire had a table already.
"We ordered you a shrimp cocktail and some clam chowder," Technofox said as she approached.
Shadowfox nodded. She wasn't sure she could eat.
Dr. Clayton> Subject transferred to MediJet ZMH
Initiating care via telepresence.
Subject biometrics match ICON Operative Silverfox 0.999+; identity confirmation threshold reached.
Silverfox's airways are clear.
Silverfox's bleeding is under control.
Silverfox is unconscious.
Penetrating gunshot wound left bicep
Penetrating gunshot wound right thigh
Gunshot graze coccygeal open FRX
FRX spiral left pollical metacarpal
Amphetamines in bloodstream above legal limit
Vaginal swab positive for semen, human and chimera.
Human and chimera. More details would be coming out later, no doubt. Well, it wasn't a surprise. Not after what Bill's friend had done to her.
"Coccygeal," Firefox frowned fretfully. It was a tail injury.
"She'll be in Boston General," Technofox reminded her.
"Yes, there's that... Amphetamines. It doesn't say if they were introduced or if she created them."
"Why would a captor give her amphetamines?" Shadowfox asked.
"True," Firefox admitted.
"Clayton's not saying because you can't tell without a mass spectrometer. I'll bet she was boosting," Technofox said. "And she certainly fought her way out."
"What did you expect of her?" Firefox asked.
Technofox didn't smile. "My point is they had her under control and lost it. If you've got someone tied up you don't shoot them in the thigh, arm, and tail. How did she break her thumb?"
"Interrogation?" Firefox suggested. "Maybe they thought she was left handed."
Shadowfox didn't like that train of speculation. She didn't want them to sit around and wonder what Silverfox had gone through, each guess making it worse for the rest of them.
"Did you guys call Jerry?" Shadowfox asked. "How about Andy?"
"I've emailed them," Technofox answered.
Shadowfox hesitated. Would she need to follow up with a phone call? No, good news didn't need finessing the way bad news did, and she was confident that they'd both realize Foxforce had their hands full. She could call them on the plane.
Their shrimp cocktails arrived. Technofox stared at hers as though she couldn't remember ordering it.
"I'd like a Jack Daniels," Firefox told the waitress. "Bacardi chaser."
"Nothing more for me." Technofox looked away from her cocktail, faintly nauseated.
"Nothing for me," Shadowfox smiled at the waitress. After she left, Shadowfox continued. "We don't need to reconstruct it. Silver can tell us. Is she going to the hospital?"
"She's not going to the hospital tonight. Felicia's meeting her at the airport." Firefox shook her head. "I wanted her home with a friend."
Silverfox had a broken thumb, three gunshot wounds, and she had almost certainly been raped; the fact they were willing to send her back home was the best possible news. Shadowfox felt a knot leave her stomach.
"I better tell the security system that Felicia's coming," Technofox said, and took out her laptop.
"Which Felicia?" Shadowfox was feeling testy. They knew at least three.
"Tall Felicia. She's a nurse. Well, trained as one." Technofox pursed her lips. "She's not licensed in Massachusetts."
"That's just paperwork, though," Firefox took a sip of her drink and closed her eyes, savoring it.
"Oh, right. I forgot that..." Something was bothering Shadowfox but she couldn't -- "wait, she's a Brandon tigress."
"...So?" Firefox asked blankly.
"So we're leaving Silver in an apartment with a Brandon tigress."
Firefox got it. "Y-Yes, maybe." Firefox grimaced. "Crap. Well, it's just going to be one night. We'll be home tomorrow."
Just one night. Silverfox needed a teddy bear because she had nightmares about Tigre. And now Silverfox was spending a night with a tiger. What did Firefox know about it? Shadowfox was usually the teddy bear. "I'm sorry I brought it up," Shadowfox snapped.
Firefox looked at her, troubled. Shadowfox immediately felt guilty.
"I'm sorry," Shadowfox apologized. "What about Jerry or Andrew?"
"Both out of town. Andrew's taking pictures of bears in Alaska. Silver will be fine."
Shadowfox nodded without meaning it.
"Silverfox is calling!" Technofox interrupted. The little fox grinned and started crying. "I've got a video link."
They clustered around her laptop, agenda forgotten.
Silverfox looked like hell, but nobody looked particularly good wired and tubed into a hospital bed. She was in good spirits, if a little vague and meandering. That was probably the drugs, Shadowfox hoped.
Operating remotely, Doctor Clayton had taken a piece of buckshot out of her; fortunately, nothing else had dumped enough energy to stay in. It was obvious she was tired so they cut it short, so she'd be awake enough to talk to Jerry. That was okay, right now it was good enough to know she was going to be all right.
Dr. Clayton> RCMP requests Foxforce reroute to Vancouver to assist with the crime scene.
"God damn it!" Shadowfox snapped. Fire and Tech said something similar at the same moment. Waiters and patrons looked up, blandly. Shadowfox met their eyes. Did I say that? Sorry.
Someone in the RCMP figured it wasn't a big deal to keep them away from Silverfox. They wouldn't dream of doing this if she were a wife or sister.
Fucking humans.
How long did they intend to keep them dicking around in British Columbia? Shadowfox wasn't even sure where the crime scene was.
An itinerary popped into her implant. SEA at 0000 to YVR at 0053, overnight in an airport motel, and then YVR at 2007 to BOS 0931. There were no direct flights to Vancouver until midnight?
BOS was the code for Boston, SEA for Seattle-Tacoma ... but YVR was Vancouver and ZMH was 108 Mile Ranch. Could anyone without a computer in their head remember that? Did the United States grab all the comprehensible airline codes, leaving random letter salad to other, lesser nations?
And why was nonsense like that going through her head?
"Now we have to figure out what we can tell the RCMP. They've sent us an agenda. They want us to do some scent-based tracking at the crime scene." Firefox reached for Technofox's computer. It buzzed an incoming call.
It was Andrew. He was using video. Shadowfox picked it up, patted her hair, and turned on her webcam.
Andrew was in his late thirties, and looked like the cop he had once been. "I just saw your email," he said without preamble. "How is she?"
"She's going to be fine," Shadowfox answered. "But she's going to be out of it for a little bit. She'll call you, I promise, but she needs some rest right now." How would he react if she told him she had been shot? Probably not very well. Andrew had retired with disability.
Andrew nodded, and the other foxes conferenced in on their machines.
"Nice to see you, Andrew," Firefox said. "Sorry we didn't tell you earlier, but we were playing our cards close to our chest."
"And I'm sure Silver's going to want you close to her chest," Shadowfox added.
Andrew laughed and Tech grinned shyly. The little vixen's first experience with consensual group sex had been with the foxes and Andrew. Andrew had helped get them out of Blue Diamond, and Shadowfox wondered if they all felt they still owed him. Maybe, but it was probably a lot simpler than that: he was a good friend and a lover and it was awkward to step that back, even if you had any reason to want to.
"Should I cut this trip short?" Andrew asked.
"No," the foxes said in unison. Shadowfox immediately softened it. "You need this gig," she said. "But when you're free and back in Boston she'll want to see you. We all will." Shadowfox raised her eyebrows. Firefox grinned and Tech nodded her head quickly.
"Uh, thanks," Andrew laughed. "Is there something I could pick up for her?"
"I don't know..." Firefox murmured and looked up for help. It was an awkward question. Most of what Silverfox wanted was gun related, and it wouldn't be right to ask Andrew to pick that up.
"Jerky," Shadowfox answered immediately. Something to eat, that wouldn't clutter up the apartment.
"I've seen a lot of that in the tourist places. Thanks. I guess you guys are busy."
"Well..." Technofox said, and hesitated.
"Not a problem. Take care, give Silver a hug for me."
It was 2030 when they started to talk about the job, and at 2230 or so they realized that Firefox and Shadowfox hadn't packed outdoor shoes. Chimerae couldn't wear human shoes and there wasn't a chimera apparel place in the airport. They could use human coats and sweaters, but that would be expensive and they would only be in the forest for a day.
The flight up to Vancouver was uneventful. The hotel was cheap but clean. Shadowfox was disappointed to find the saffron had been left in Seattle.
The next morning before the sun came up, they checked their luggage for the evening flight. Shadowfox was wearing a light windbreaker over a tight sweater that was really designed more for looks than warmth. Her shoes were canvas, the only practical footwear she had with her.
Technofox clopped along in hiking boots; Shadowfox wondered why the little fox had brought them to a city, but she envied her. Her feet wouldn't be getting wet. Tech also carried an empty rucksack, so they wouldn't need to wear cold weather gear on the plane home.
Firefox's coat was too short; it was really designed more like a bolero. She carried a mysterious package Shadowfox didn't recognize. It was an expensive hard case, like a gun case but too short for a rifle and too long for a pistol. At any rate, they were in Canada where they couldn't carry firearms.
A police helicopter was supposed to take them up; they had to ask a dozen people before they found an officer able to give them directions. Two police officers were standing by the helicopter, one was obviously doing a check.
"Shadow, cover for me," Firefox whispered, low tones.
"Gotcha," Shadowfox nodded. She trotted ahead, and put an inviting grin on. It was intended for the male mechanic but when the female pilot responded, Shadowfox widened it to cover her as well.
"Officers!" she called out. Do you have a girlfriend? I'd really like to lick your penis. Or clitoris. I'm versatile! "We're the ICON team. Foxforce. I'm Shadowfox, this is Technofox and Firefox." She stood between the police and the other chimerae.
"Hello," Technofox said. Firefox nodded briefly and boarded through the open door, holding her case so her body blocked most of it.
"Nice to meet you," the pilot grinned. "Sergeant Geffen. Christie. Want to sit up front?"
She asked me! She asked me! "That would be great, thanks." Shadowfox gave her tail a little wag as she boarded the helicopter. She was able to keep her legs from shaking. She didn't like heights much, and she even avoided the window seat in airliners. Now she was going to be sitting up against a thin plastic bubble, with barely anything opaque in her direct line of sight. Maybe she could stare at the floor. Her feet were on a bar right above another window. She shuddered.
The helicopter began to vibrate. Shadowfox tightened her safety belt again. The engine was quiet, and Shadowfox looked out to her right, stone-faced. The ground began to drop away in a manner that defied all the laws of God. She knew for a certainty that there was no way some silly spinning sticks would keep them aloft, and spent the entire flight waiting for the long, sickening drop and splattering crash.
Christie was completely professional on the flight up, but that might have been because her hands were on the controls. Shadowfox was glad of that; anxiety didn't leave her the cycles to flirt back.
Finally, they did an orbit over a burned out cabin by a lake, and Shadowfox realized with relief that they were about to land. There was a floatplane on the lake, which seemed like a fairly light footprint for a team investigating a triple homicide.
And then she had the sickening realization that before landing they would need to get closer to the ground in a way that brought images of a hideous fall and corpses among bent, twisted metal rushing to her head.
The helicopter finally, finally touched down. She couldn't get out of the contraption fast enough, but she forced herself to share a laugh with Christie, who was saying something about a bar she knew. Shadowfox replied with interest and wished to visit it some time.
Shadowfox turned away from the helicopter and exhaled slowly.
"That would be great," laughed the pilot. "There's a goldfish tank, and if you --" the pilot lifted her head and saw Firefox. "What the hell? You can't carry that."
Firefox was calmly loading twelve-gauge shotgun shells into the twin magazines of a Kel-Tek KSG. "It's open season on Columbian Ground Squirrels, officer. Year round." She looked at Christie curiously. "What would you suggest I put up the pipe -- slug or buckshot?"
"For squirrel?" Christie asked. "Grenades, of course. HEDP. Proximity trigger."
"Couldn't get them," Firefox put a buckshot shell into the firing chamber of the stubby bullpup shotgun, checked the safety, and put the strap over her shoulder. "I brought this up from the States, officer. Would you like to see the Customs form?"
"That won't be necessary."
The shotgun didn't smell of gunpowder. Shadowfox guessed it was unfired. She had never seen Firefox with it before. The big fox was saving for an M110, and the KSG ran over six hundred.
"You don't have a gun camera?" Christie asked. "That's sort of surprising. If I had a gunsight in my brain I'd use it."
Firefox hesitated, and her ears twitched with mild surprise. So did Shadowfox's. A gun camera was a video camera that sent an image to an implant computer. Chimerae often aimed with their eyes closed. "I have one. I didn't have a chance to mount and zero it."
Christie nodded. "Or practice with that particular shotgun, I guess. So why bring it?" She waved her hand. "This place looks peaceful enough."
Firefox's lips parted in astonishment. Her ears flattened slightly, and raised again. "In the last four days you've lost a Mountie, one member of my team was raped at gunpoint, and a second kidnapped and rescued from here."
"Shit! I heard a Mountie went down in Vancouver, but -- are your people okay? Damn, I'm sorry." There was no mistaking the shock on her face.
Either 'E' Division had the worst rumor mill in law enforcement history or ...
"They're fine, thanks."
Shadowfox scratched her nose and spoke in low tones to Technofox. "Did I miss a non-disclosure?"
"No. Just the usual," Technofox shook her head. "No talking to the press."
"I'm guessing my mouth's too big," Firefox looked away from Christie.
"Oh, Christie?" Shadowfox asked. "In case you're not here to take us back, can I have your number now?" She arched her back slightly, hoping it was clear without being too obvious. I want your hands to glide over my breasts. She laughed. "I'll probably be coming back to Vancouver soon. There's a place I've heard of. It's called --" Select Vancouver Airport. Search Nearby, Lesbian Bar "-- Lick." Why couldn't it have a more professional name?
Out of the corner of her eye, Shadowfox could see Technofox's shocked reaction. As if you're not a polyamorous bisexual, she thought.
Christie gave her personal email. Shadowfox had custom status fields in her address book to keep track of how intimate she had been with contacts. Officer Geffen was now in with Date-Tentative selected from the dropdown menu.
Shadowfox switched her attention. Doctor Dawson was approaching, with an RCMP Captain. It might go over very badly if either Dawson or Christie were familiar with her in the others' presence. She probably didn't need to worry. It was very unlikely that Dawson or Christie would flirt with her in close proximity to a Captain.
Still, it seemed safer to get some distance between Dawson and Christie, so she hurried over to him. Firefox and Tech trotted along with her.
RCMP Captain Adam Prescott was tall and physically impressive, middle-aged with a thin mustache and classic good looks. He looked like he should be on a movie poster next to text reading "Captain Prescott of the MOUNTIES" and a dogsled. Prescott gave the shotgun a glance.
"Thanks for coming," he said with a warm smile. "You've met Doctor Dawson."
Shadowfox met his look. Gee, it's good to see you again! She considered more explicit thoughts, but decided he might get suspicious. He smiled back.
"Our pleasure, Captain." Firefox shook Prescott's hand. "I understand you wanted us to do some tracking?"
"Yes, that's right. Your operative says there were three dead and one man with a rifle who got away?"
"Yes sir," Firefox nodded.
Prescott pointed in the direction of the cabin. "One was outside the cabin. One of those big bear chimerae."
"Ursus."
"Badly burned, and then shot. Nasty business, not that he didn't work for it."
"Did they fly in on a floatplane?" Technofox asked, looking at the lake.
He spared a glance to follow her gaze. "I'm inclined to think so. We're looking into it, but there's no proof. Pilot would almost certainly have to be in on all this. Unless they knocked your friend unconscious and put her in a trunk."
"That makes sense," Firefox agreed.
"We've held back our teams to give you a clean trail. Can you log your locations on GPS?"
"GPX format?" Technofox took out her phone and brought up a mapping program.
"GPX would be fine. Actually, we have two trails we want you to follow. We need someone to backtrack your operative, and someone else to follow Karl Fischer."
"I know Fischer," Shadowfox volunteered.
"Right. Tech and I can track Silverfox."
"Excellent. Doctor, would you take, ...er..."
"Shadowfox."
"Shadowfox around behind the cabin? I'll escort these two." Prescott turned to head off.
"Hold on," Firefox said. "How many officers do you have here?"
Prescott turned to look back, obviously irked by the delay. "Four right now. Why?"
"You're armed. What about those two at the cabin?" The big fox was upset, forcing herself to stay neutral. Shadowfox looked over. There were two Mounties working in and behind the burned out cabin. "This area isn't secure?"
Prescott frowned. "That man with a rifle is probably out of the province by now."
Firefox took a deep breath. "Yes sir, he probably is," Firefox agreed. "But if he isn't, he's already killed one Mountie."
"I'm aware of that, Firefox." He looked at her with just a touch of asperity. "Shall we get started?"
Firefox grimaced. "Yes, sir. You watch yourself," she ordered Shadowfox.
"Do you have a gun?" Shadowfox asked Dawson hopefully.
"Me?" he seemed surprised at the suggestion. "I wouldn't know what to do with one."
Shadowfox covered her sinking feeling with a grin. Well, I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about. She looked around. There was a photographer working his way slowly through the cabin, and to the north of the cabin there was a depression where a thicket of reeds had sprouted up in the marshy ground. Someone was poking around in there.
Shadowfox pointed. "That's the concealment closest to the cabin," she said.
"Right," Prescott agreed. "Silverfox's rifleman was there. We found a thirty-caliber shell in that."
"Three casings, Captain," a woman called out.
"And if Silverfox were approaching the cabin, she'd use it." Firefox moved towards the patch.
Shadowfox went in first. The Mountie looked up at her and patted the ground. "He was right here." She pointed at the burned cabin. "You can make out what's left of the window. He was probably shooting through it. Either he saw your friend in the cabin or he was trying to draw her out, or keep her head down."
Firefox followed her look. She went down on one knee and brought up her shotgun, sighting along it for a moment. "I concur. He's here with a rifle, drawing Silverfox's attention as he sends the Ursus around and in." She got up. "Any sign, Shadow?"
Shadowfox went down reluctantly. She didn't like doing the 'Doggie sniff-sniff' routine in front of humans who didn't know chimerae; it made them think of her as a modified animal instead of a person with different DNA. Canadians didn't meet a lot of chimerae, and most they did run into were the ones in sensitivity workshops.
Shadowfox had mixed feelings about sensitivity workshops. On the up side, Canadians didn't call you "girl" the way they did in Atlanta. On the down side, they pushed the idea that chimerae were just like humans, except furry. And that simply wasn't true. There had to be a happy medium somewhere.
Still, there was no way around it: she lowered herself to all fours and breathed deeply. No good; there was too much sign from the Mountie. She put her head down and sniffed and... yes, there was a trace there.
"I've got Silverfox," she said immediately. "And an Ursus. I can't swear it's Avalanche." Silverfox was a very familiar scent; she smelled wet and cold and angry. Shadowfox tried not to think about that.
It could be hard to tell people apart. She lifted her head, and used the motion to whiff discretely at the Mountie. She was looking back at her, an uncertain expression on her face, one that said she was thinking things she didn't want to say or she'd be assigned Sensitivity Workshops. Doctor Dawson was relaxed and matter of fact.
"Yes," Shadowfox said. "That's Fischer." She got up. "Silver said she fired at him."
"Didn't tag him, though," Firefox shook her head. "There'd be no missing the blood."
"So Fischer is here, and Silverfox is in the cabin. They exchange fire through that window."
"She's got a gun and he knows it." Firefox rubbed her nose. "He sees Avalanche go in the cabin and Silverfox comes out. He doesn't know she's hurt and he doesn't want to get close enough to find out."
"He'd like to kill her, but it's not worth risking his life for."
"So, he's hauling out." Firefox drummed her fingers on her shotgun.
Technofox was a few meters off, down on one knee. "Silverfox here. She came this way. I'd guess she came from the forest."
Silverfox was going against armed opponents; she'd pick her path and move from cover to cover.
"There's a human here," Firefox said. "Male. Shadow, can you check it out?"
Shadow sprinted over. "That's Fischer," she confirmed. "I'd guess he was back in the brush, and then came this way." He had come around behind the cabin, veering off a bit. She looked around. The cabin was built on a slight rise, and he was following the dead ground.
Dawson puffed his way through the grass. "I think he's heading towards the lake."
"Could be," Firefox agreed.
"You were right about the sort of place they'd take her." How amazingly clever you are! Shadowfox wasn't sure if Dawson preferred an ego massage to a penis massage, but it was the best he was going to get right now.
Firefox looked back at Technofox and Prescott. It was obvious the trails diverged sharply, crossing at Fischer's firing position behind the cabin, and the two parties would be out of sight from one another soon. She looked at Dawson, obviously wishing he was an infantry squad. The shotgun could only go with one of them. "Captain?" she called out. "I've got Fischer's scent. I'll stay with Shadowfox."
Prescott hesitated, and decided asserting his authority wasn't worth it. "All right. Grant, Jocelyn; you'd better come with and bring your tools. We're probably going to run into a couple of bodies."
"And sir?" Firefox called out. "Apologies but I don't know if you've worked with chimera trackers before. Don't crowd her and try to stay behind her. Tech, stay in touch. I mean it. Five minutes out of contact and I'm coming after you."
"You got it," Technofox dove into the grass with a soft rustle, vanishing from sight.
Firefox had the shotgun, so she got to walk. Shadowfox started crawling. It was slow going, but the trail was clear about halfway to the lake. Then it started to break up. She lost the trail, and she and Firefox had to cast about to find it again.
Shadowfox got to her feet, in part to look around but mostly because her knees were killing her. The front of her clothes were smeared with thin mud and water. She had been drier after a Wet T-Shirt contest.
"I could use a bath." She looked at Dawson. Want to help?
He smiled back and looked away. Was he blushing? She guessed he was a bit stand-offish, maybe even shy. She'd need to do more than just hint that she might go to bed with him and wait for him to make the first move. She'd have to be unthreatening, and up for a bit of non-innocent fun. A lot like David Torrance, actually.
"Is it like he started running?" He pointed the way they had come. "I can't see the cabin anymore."
"Could be," Shadowfox agreed. They were coming to marshy ground. Shadow saw a deep left boot print, perfectly formed. And a right boot about a meter and a half along. "I see prints. Boot prints. Definitely running. Good catch." Wow, you would sire clever puppies!
"Right." Firefox tapped her ear piece. "Captain, we've found new boot prints, very clear. Do you want the location so you can take casts? ... Right, I'll send you tagged photos." She took out her camera.
"How is Silverfox?" Dawson asked.
Dawson didn't know Silverfox and Shadowfox didn't take questions like that at face value; she decided he had read some online advice about how to score with chimera chicks. Thanks for asking! "The doctor said she'd be okay at home. She's with a friend, a nurse. There's a chimera wing at Boston General -- oh, you'd know that."
"Yes, they're very good," Dawson said seriously. "That's probably the best place in the world for tail work."
"...Right." That took her by surprise. A lot of human doctors didn't get the importance of tails, aesthetically and for balance. And even if they did, they didn't have much experience with them. The number of unnecessary tail amputations by human doctors was a scandal.
"You four are a crèche, aren't you?"
Firefox glanced up before returning to the footprints.
It seemed pointless to deny it. "That's right," Shadowfox was on her guard now.
"I'm very sorry you're not with her now."
Shadowfox had a mental filter, a way of listening to people talk that allowed her to hear words without being affected by them, like looking at the Gorgon in a polished shield. It let her sculpt her reactions so her target would feel the way she wanted them to. But that went through Shadowfox's defenses and touched her. It made her want to cry on his shoulder.
"Thank you. That means a lot to me."
Damn you.
"Let's go." Firefox pointed ahead. "We're getting close to the lake." Her ears went forward. "Stay here." Shadowfox was already low, but Dawson was standing next to her and she felt a bit of anxiety -- anyone would see him. Would he respond if she told him to get low? He wasn't military and his reflexes were wrong. Shadowfox got ready to knock him over if Firefox showed the slightest hint of agitation.
The big fox went into a jog. She put a hand on her shotgun to keep it from bouncing, but didn't bring it up, so she didn't feel threatened. Shadowfox stayed low and watched her friend carefully.
Firefox went low and stood up again. Nothing in her stance looked like contact to Shadowfox. She looked back at them.
"Looks like he had a boat," Firefox waved them closer. "Come on."
There was a small dock on the lake. The wood looked a bit fresher in a patch that looked like the shadow of a four-meter boat.
"So the boat was here, upside-down," Firefox said. "He rolled it over and pushed it in."
Shadowfox looked to the left and right. They were on the south shore of the lake; she could follow the shore all the way around except to the west. The trees came right down to the shoreline, and they were massive, tall, thick-branched. "If he went west and hugged this shore, he'd probably be out of sight from the helicopter."
Dawson took out a tablet computer. "Let's get oriented." He brought up a map. "We're on the south shore of Mahood Lake. On the north shore, we've got Wells Gray Provincial Park. How much water would a four meter boat draw? Ten centimeters. Twenty, tops. And that means that if that boat had a motor, he could make it clear to Eagle Creek running west --"
"Or go east into the park, lose the rifle, and pretend to be a hiker." Firefox didn't look happy.
"Or radio his friend with a plane and have him rendezvous anywhere on the lake," Shadowfox shrugged.
"Yeah, most likely," Firefox agreed reluctantly. "With a plane he could get to Vancouver in a couple of hours and he's had fifteen. That's it. We've lost the bastard."
Shadowfox looked at the map, and out at the lake. Mahood Lake was twenty kilometers long and two across. It connected to a bigger one to the west. "It's a shame the Independence wasn't here." Four helicopters and air defense radar would be able to track a floatplane.
Firefox laughed. "As long as we're wishing, how about the Abraham Lincoln? It would just about fit in this lake."
"That's kind of my point," Shadowfox said. "We had the --" She fell silent, appalled at where this was going. Firefox fixed her with a look and glanced at Dawson.
Shadowfox didn't have to say it out loud, but she knew Firefox was thinking the same thing.
They let a US warship intercept a boat in Canadian waters, and all they could manage for the site of a kidnapping and triple homicide was four Mounties and a pilot who hadn't heard anything was amiss? Something was wrong.
Christie arrived to fly them back to Vancouver International. Again, Shadowfox sat up front.
"The animals got to them," Technofox's voice came from behind her. "Wolves, I think. They ran away before we arrived. The bodies were pretty messed up and scattered."
"At least it wasn't a bear," Firefox muttered. It wasn't quite a joke. Shadowfox wasn't sure if three nine millimeter pistols would be enough to chase a grizzly away from a cache. "They should have brought in a K9 team last night. They had scent articles from Silverfox."
"Guys," Christie said, "do you know what this all about?"
"Just bits and pieces," Shadowfox said immediately. "I'd guess that something big is going on."
"Yeah. They told me not to talk to you guys."
Shadowfox patted her thigh. "I'm glad you did."
Four Mounties was a ridiculously light footprint for a kidnapping case with three self-defense homicides. Firefox had managed to attract more police attention than that with a bottle of hooch and a ticket to a football game.
And one of them was Doctor Dawson, who wasn't even a Mountie. Why was he up there? Chimerae are involved. Better get Dawson. Maybe.
It only made sense if the RCMP was trying to keep it quiet. Dawson was involved because he already knew. A number of agencies were involved in this op; FBI and military intelligence as well. If security was the overriding concern, then one littoral combat ship in the wrong country's ocean might be easier to swing than a dozen helicopters disgorging Mounties all over Mahood Lake.
So why didn't they tell Foxforce? Because they wouldn't blab about it anyway. Okay, they had talked to Christie, but it seemed they had plugged that leak.
Now the only question was why they wanted it quiet. Shadowfox could think of two reasons.
The RCMP had hired Foxforce to carry out an investigation on their soil, while refusing to honor their Massachusetts concealed carry permits. The results were one kidnapped, raped, shot three times; a second raped; a dead Mountie; and three dead bad guys, one an American. It wasn't a glowing chapter in the annals of law enforcement.
The other was more generous, and Shadowfox thought, more plausible: the intelligence angle. Fischer wasn't just transporting kidnapped chimerae, selling them to brothels or to be hunted in the wilderness. Flying Saucer had been built by the Waffen SS as a tender for covert landing boats. Fischer hadn't struck it lucky at an auction. Although they hadn't been able to prove it, he almost had to be Abwehr.
So what does one do when the crew of a Nazi intelligence boat gets arrested for smuggling? Brag about the capture and throw a huge trial? Or do they sit on everything, hush it up, and use the intelligence opportunities it affords? Or, perhaps even more to the point, do they hush everything up until they've decided what to do?
Well, whatever happened to the crew of Flying Saucer, Shadowfox was certain that crimes against chimerae would weigh hardly at all.
"You flying like that?" Christie asked. "I mean, I could lend you guys some shirts."
Shadowfox jerked out of her reverie. She looked down at her shirt. It had dried, but it was still a mess.
"Oh, Tech and I will just buy some T-shirts at the airport," Shadowfox smiled. Thanks for your concern. I wish I could prove how grateful I am.
Because, Shadowfox was sure, her concern had nothing to do with getting her in bed.
New shirts turned out to be unnecessary. They were met by a police officer with the luggage Shadowfox and Silverfox had taken to Vancouver, which had been impounded as evidence. It was one suitcase, the expansion zippers unzipped because of the stuff they had accumulated in Vancouver. Her shirt was big on Technofox, but it was good enough: Shadowfox settled on a white I ?Vancouver baby-doll.
Shadowfox was relieved to get her favorite travelling clothes back, but she doubted that she'd ever use the laptop again. That would be shipped to ICON's cyber warfare section, to see what, if anything, the Canadians had slipped onto her hard drive.
Fire was in the window seat, Shadow in the aisle, Tech in the middle.
Technofox had dozed off, and Firefox was holding her hand and looking out the window. How could Technofox sleep? Shadow's stomach was a knot of anxiety.
"Fire."
"Shad?"
"Why aren't you asleep?"
Firefox shifted slightly. Shadowfox leaned towards her, so Fire's muzzle met Shadow's ear over Technofox.
"Because that shirt of yours is asking me to rip it off your naked, jiggling breasts." She kissed her ear.
Shadowfox started to giggle. She was wearing a bra. "Technofox is a lucky girl."
Firefox grinned and turned more serious. "Tall Felicia sent me an email. We're not going to get a bad surprise."
Shadowfox closed her eyes in relief. "Thanks."
"You think this is a cover-up or national security?"
"I'm not sure, not yet. Does it make a difference to us?"
"Yes. If it's a cover-up, we can sit on Bill. If it's national security, he's information the FBI needs to hear about. How do we get this to the right people?"
"Ah." It wasn't a trivial problem, but... "We had this problem before. With the photos of Flying Saucer." They had leaked those pictures to a member of the Resistance. The Forces Françaises Libres had presumably shared with the FBI and Foxforce never had to explain why they were spying on Canadian territory.
Firefox nodded. "You think we can do the same thing again?"
"I don't see why not. The Navy caught a spy ring. One got away, but we're keeping tabs on him. Sounds like something DeGaulle's boys would want to hear about."
Firefox nodded slowly. "Could be. Do you think we can contact Chantal safely?"
"I don't see why not. We don't want to tell her about a Nazi spy ring in the clear, but something along the lines of 'Glad you were able to come to our party, we have more of those brownies you liked so much, what would be a good way to get it to you?'"
"She might misunderstand that. We actually had brownies -- make it cookies."
"Cookies it is." Shadowfox opened her netbook and sent the message before the sun came up.
It was Tall Felicia's opinion that Silverfox wasn't up to meeting them at the airport. So they piled into a taxi, as usual taking a minivan. Firefox was tapping her knee through the drive, and Technofox was visibly squirming in her seat. At 0930 the traffic was thick, but it kept moving.
They unloaded outside of the apartment. Firefox paid the driver while Technofox and Shadow grabbed their suitcases and carry-ons.
"...Wait," Technofox looked baffled. "There's another suitcase."
Shadowfox blinked, confused. She and Technofox got it at the same moment and grinned sheepishly. Silverfox always carried that suitcase.
Well, easily fixed. Shadowfox took it and pulled out the handle, leaving Technofox with a free hand for the doors. Firefox had the shotgun case on a strap on her back. She was pulling the trunk and there was a ramp into the building. They took the elevator.
Jerry opened the door for Technofox. "She's in her bedroom," he said immediately. "She's asleep." He stepped aside for her.
The others piled in and dropped their luggage. Tall Felicia was sitting on the couch. Tech made a beeline for Silver's room.
"Hello, Felicia, hello Jerry," Shadowfox grinned apologetically with a glance at the others.
"Hello, Jerry," Firefox said, getting the hint. "Felicia, thanks. We owe you big. Jerry, thanks again for the shotgun." She took his hand and shook it.
Felicia stepped over to Firefox and hugged her. Firefox closed her eyes and nestled against the tiger. Felicia gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Firefox was big for a woman; Felicia was big for a man. Firefox's face scrunched up for a moment, but she didn't cry. She let go of Felicia and followed Technofox.
Jerry was there, and Shadowfox put her arms around him. He responded immediately, squeezing her shoulders with just the right amount of pressure and resting his cheek against the top of her head. She turned her face so her muzzle wouldn't get in the way and pressed it against his chest.
He smelled of Silverfox, which warmed and comforted her. She really is all right. He was wearing a polo shirt with the logo of the art museum, and the fabric was soft against her cheek. She could hear his heart beating, and the air in his lungs. It was reassuring, a promise that the last few days were over. She rubbed her cheek against his chest.
Firefox came out of Silverfox's bedroom and looked at Shadowfox. "Go ahead," she mouthed.
Shadowfox gave him an extra squeeze and crept to the bedroom. Silver's covers were off and she was breathing deeply. Every few seconds she whuffed and kicked with her leg, pushing her comforter a little bit further off the bed. Her hand, leg, arm and tail were bandaged and she was wearing a "Glock Girl" T-shirt.
Silverfox didn't like to wake up alone, and Shadowfox was a bit annoyed with Jerry. She considered slipping in next to her, but Silver was right in the middle of the bed. Shadow was afraid kissing her would wake her, so she closed her eyes and sniffed a few times before returning to the living room, closing the door softly behind her.
Felicia gave her a hug and kiss. Felicia smelled a lot like Tigre. Shadowfox suppressed a shudder.
"Would anyone like some coffee? Hot chocolate?" Jerry asked. "I brought some donuts."
"You're a guest," Technofox said. "I'll get the coffee going." She hesitated. "And thanks for being here."
"Any time."
Silverfox opened her door. She shambled out, hair in disarray. She looked half dead, but better than after some parties.
"Jerry, gimme a donut, please. And hot chocolate. C'mere, Tech." She opened her arms and stooped.
The tiger turned suddenly to see Silverfox, and Shadowfox noticed she wasn't wearing a bra. Felicia was built too generously to get away with that.
The little fox sprang over to Silverfox and hugged her, careful not to put any weight on the gray fox. Technofox was shaking, and Silverfox didn't look too steady. Firefox came forward for a hug, but Silverfox suddenly made to sit down, and Firefox turned it into a supporting grip on her upper arm.
"You okay?" Firefox asked casually.
Silverfox grimaced. She sat heavily. She wasn't wearing panties. "Been better, been worse. Tired, mostly. The quacks at General say this --" she lifted her tail and swished it "-- is going to heal straight." The bandage around her tail was tight and impossibly slender. It was amazing how little was left of a tail once the fur was shaved off. She lifted her left hand. The thumb and wrist were in a cast, holding the digit and hand immobile. "The cool thing here," she said, "is that I can just about hold the Glock 29."
"Not that you're going to in the next month," Felicia said. "Recoil would tear your thumb off."
There was an awkward silence. Technofox broke it. "Motherfuckers."
"Uhm," Silverfox tapped the cast on her knee. "I did it to get the handcuffs off."
Jerry winced -- he was more of a civilian than Felicia.
"I think Firefox needs a status report," Silverfox frowned. "Uhm, I filed a first verbal with Doctor Clayton yesterday. He said it was coherent, which I thought was nice of him. Maybe Fire can start with that."
"There's no rush," Firefox patted Silverfox's knee.
"Felicia, would you mind giving the medical report?" Silverfox asked.
Felicia hesitated.
"Don't be shy," Silverfox shook her head. "I've slept with everyone in the room. Confidential includes all of them."
"You shouldn't talk about that," Felicia said.
"Uh -- sorry. No offense." Good old Silverfox. Give her a night and she'll get a lover.
"It's not about offending me," Felicia explained. "Look, I signed a document where I swore we were just friends. I had to post a bond, and I could get nailed for perjury. Uhm, it was true at the time."
"Why did you have to sign something like that?" Jerry asked.
"I'll explain. Here's my report," Felicia nodded. "The bandages come off in one week. In two weeks, Silverfox can leave her bed. At that point she's ready for light duty. In four weeks, she loses the cast on her hand. Two weeks of rehabilitation after that and she's back to normal, physically."
Jerry stirred uncomfortably. Felicia looked over at him.
"Physically," Jerry repeated. He handed her a mug and a donut.
"Don't sweat it. After Blue Diamond this was nothing but a bad afternoon." Silverfox licked his hand lightly, and then bit the chocolate ring. He looked at her uncertainly before sitting down.
"That all assumes things are going well," Felicia went on. "They might not. Medically, the biggest concern's boosting. Silverfox's endocrine system produces amphetamines she can release at will." That was for Jerry's benefit. He already knew, but instead of protesting he nodded politely. "She ... leaned on that pretty heavily. The problem is that those chemicals are very addictive, so I'll be taking blood samples every day for the next two weeks to make sure she doesn't start abusing it."
"I didn't have a lot of choice." Silverfox put her lips to the straw in her hot chocolate. The straw turned brown as she sipped.
"Nobody's criticizing." Firefox templed her fingers.
"Of course," Felicia said, "I've got to draw the blood and declare that it really is hers. That's why I had to sign that conflict of interest document. After that, I'll come over every day and run some diagnostics for her doctor. I'm wakeable. I'll keep my phone with me."
Shadowfox suppressed a smile. Felicia's day job was life model and some men paid her to wear leather and be very stern with them. "Down, you miserable worm, while I take this call..."
"I do think it would be best if she had someone with her twenty-four seven for at least a week," Felicia said.
"I work weird hours," Jerry squeezed Silver's hand. "I can come over."
Work weird hours? Shadowfox thought. Actually, Jerry was independently wealthy. Shadowfox was sure there were demands on his time, but he set them himself. Was he trying to sound like a working stiff?
"Can you afford to?" Felicia asked.
"Positive," he nodded.
Yes, he was trying to sound like a salaryman.
"Right, money." Firefox grimaced. "Might as well get that over with. Silver, you're on disability for six weeks. The three of us get a week of paid time off. Felicia, as long as she's in bed, you're getting fifty a day, backdated to the day before yesterday when you picked her up."
"As long as she's in bed?" Technofox asked, pointing.
Silverfox swung her feet around and lay down, her head in Jerry's lap. "Happy?"
"Technically, I picked her up from the airport yesterday morning. Is your insurance paying that? Even though I'm not licensed?" Felicia sounded skeptical.
Firefox hesitated. "I'd feel a lot better if you took it."
Felicia paused. For a moment, it looked like she was going to turn her down. "All right, then," the tiger said. Felicia owned her condo, and she was doing well enough that she wasn't in need.
"Do the three of you have to take the coming week off?" Jerry asked.
Firefox considered. "We want someone to be here for Silverfox for two weeks. We're contractors. We just finished a big job, and there's going to be a lot of loose ends to tie up. We can do a lot of that on our own schedule from the apartment. ICON's not going to throw us anything major until Silver's back on line. Did you have something in mind for our PTO?"
"I've got a timeshare in Portofino Bay," Jerry explained. "It's a two-bedroom bungalow on the ocean, east of Orlando. I've got a week coming next month. After this --" he tapped Silverfox's cast "-- comes off, you guys can borrow it."
"Swimming's good therapy," Felicia pointed out.
"Is there a good gun range?" Silverfox asked. She was a probably a bit antsy about losing accuracy with her left hand. Jerry nodded and her tail thumped.
Timeshare my butt, Shadowfox thought. Jerry probably owned the place. She wondered why he was fibbing about that. Felicia didn't know he was rich, Shadowfox thought. Maybe that was it.
"Wow," Firefox looked at him. "A week on the beach? That's very generous of you."
He shrugged. "It's not really going to cost me."
"Only if Jerry can come," Silverfox put down her empty mug, and raised a finger to underline a serious point. "And we all have to get the smallest bikinis we can find."
"They're not practical for the ocean." Shadowfox smiled. "I found that out in California."
"Do you have pictures?" Silverfox asked hopefully.
"Orlando's near Cape Canaveral," Technofox said. "That's where they launch satellites. Maybe they have tours."
"Of our small bikinis?" Silverfox asked.
Shadowfox toggled from a word processor to an online catalog.
She already had a practical one-piece for actual swimming, but it had been too long since she had checked out the latest advances in bikini technology.
She liked the "Diamondhead Chamois." It had the essential aspect of looking like it was about to fly off, but she decided it was too much like the chamois bikini Andrew had given to Firefox, the one a hat craftsman had made from scraps. Unless, of course, they were two girls from the same jungle tribe. Food for thought, but she wasn't sure Firefox would go along.
She liked the cut of the "Nude" bikini, but it was in human skin tones, so she knew it would make her look like she shaved her entire bikini region. Literally. Yuck.
Maybe something gauzy when wet. Would that be practical? She didn't know Portofino Bay, if it would be possible for her to go from ocean to bungalow without getting arrested. It would be just her luck if it was in line of sight of an elementary school or something. She would need to look that up.
She didn't know what she wanted. Shadowfox realized she couldn't justify the cost. She had a perfectly semi-decent black underwire she could bring. She went to the next page, and her ears shifted forward.
A crocheted bikini! In white, too... and they were a local store. That was exactly right.
She wouldn't buy it, of course... but there was no harm in trying it on, was there?
An alert window popped up, and a phone rang in her earpiece. She was expecting this call.
"Hello, David?" she said out loud.
Technofox was sitting on the far side of the table, hunched over the keyboard of a large, candy-apple red laptop. She blinked and looked up at Shadowfox.
"Hello, Shadow. I'm in Los Angeles," David was using a voice-only signal. "I just left the bank. It looks like I beat Bill here."
"That's terrific," Shadowfox was being sincere. "Tech's here; I'm putting on the speakerphone." She gestured for Technofox, who was already walking around to her.
"What's this about?" Technofox asked.
"David's been going to the other safe-deposit boxes," Shadowfox reminded her. The little fox nodded. "He's just picked up the last one, in Los Angeles."
"It looks like I beat him to all of them," David said. "I emptied out the safe-deposit boxes in Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles." David was heavyset and bearded. He wore glasses, and anyone who saw him would not be surprised to discover he had an account on RPG.NET. In fact, his job with ICON was virtual investigations -- he maintained a dozen false identities on a hundred different message boards.
"What did you find?" Technofox asked.
"In each safe-deposit box I found five passports with drivers' licenses, five prepaid cash cards good for two hundred dollars, and two hundred fifty dollars and twenty-five cents in cash."
So there were five safe-deposit boxes, each with five passports $1250.25, and -- wait, what?
"...And twenty-five cents?" Technofox pre-empted her.
"I think it's a hollow coin. I haven't been able to open one yet. I'm travelling with a carry-on bag and I don't have a tool kit," David explained.
"Is it the kind you can open with a needle?" Technofox asked.
"I don't think so. I've gone over them with a magnifying glass and I can't find the pry hole. I think they're ones where you need a ring."
Shadowfox had no idea what they were talking about.
"Right..." Technofox looked over at Shadowfox. "They're opened with a tool that looks like a ring. They have to be just the right size... David, you said it was a US quarter dollar, right?"
"Right."
"Okay..." Technofox considered. "You've gathered a lot of material, but I'm really interested in the quarters. And I'll bet they're all identical. So could you mail me one? Registered and traced?"
"Sure, no problem -- the post office is still open here. Want me to overnight it?"
Technofox hesitated. "No, I have to order the tool anyway. That'll take a day or two."
"Can't you just cut it open?" Shadowfox asked. "We've got a Dremel tool."
Technofox shook her head. "I'd really rather not. I don't know exactly what's in it. Cutting it open might be bad."
"It's probably a micro SD," David said.
"Probably," Technofox agreed. "I'd guess it's digital information because of the phone numbers."
"Pardon? Oh, I get you."
Shadowfox didn't get it, but she could ask later.
"Okay. I'll mail one of the quarters today. I'll be back in New York the day after tomorrow."
"How's your work schedule?"
"Pretty tight, I'm afraid."
"Okay... at some point we might need all that stuff, and I'd rather not have it all go through the mail."
"If I get a day wide hole in my schedule I'll run up to Boston. I wanted to say hello to Silverfox anyway. How is she doing?"
"Climbing the walls," Technofox laughed.
"Well, that's a relief," he said. "If she were relaxed I'd be worried."
"You got that right," Shadowfox said. "It might be easier for me to come down. Can you put me up for a night?" Would you mind if we had sex?
"I'd be thrilled to have you over."
"I'll be counting the hours," Shadowfox said huskily. "G'bye."
"Good bye." He ended the call.
"Shadow, can you go to Amazon, search for 'Hollow Coin', and look for a US Quarter?" Technofox stood over her shoulder.
"Sure, no problem," Shadowfox was mystified, but she obediently tapped in the search string. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you having me do it?"
"Oh. Big Red --" Technofox waved at the new laptop "-- isn't logged into our network."
Shadowfox paused. "Really?" The implication was obvious, but Shadowfox didn't want to start that conversation just yet. Instead, she opened a link. "Is this what you want?"
Technofox peered. "Yes. That's it. Order it, please. Two day shipping is fine."
"Done and done. So you're doing something you want to keep secret?"
"On Big Red? Yes." Technofox sat down. "Did Doctor Dawson explain your amnesia? When Silverfox was caught?"
"Yes. Well, he said it was trauma induced amnesia. It's not like he'd admit it was 4094."
"Trauma induced amnesia," Technofox mused. She rested her head on her hand. "You know, that really happens to humans. Not all the time, but it's not uncommon for them to lose their memory of how an accident happened. They say it's more common in chimerae. I wonder if that's true. This is kind of weird, but I almost wish it didn't happen to humans. Then we'd be almost certain it's always 4094."
"I think I see what you mean. What I want to know is how they used it on us. They had to have a control mechanism right next to our heads for five seconds or so. It's driving me out of my mind. Was it in our pillows?"
"I think I can beat 4094."
Shadowfox looked at her. "Really? How?"
"The International Chimera Registry puts an ID chip in your head and another in your left hand," Technofox explained. "In most chimerae, these two chips don't match."
"I didn't know that."
"It's true. There's a cross reference in ICR's database. But we're special -- we don't have an RFID chip in our hands, we've got a device that emulates the signal returned by an ICR chip."
Shadowfox nodded. Right, that was so they could pose as different chimerae.
"The computer in your head times the signal returned by the 4094 device. That means the device telling your computer to run 4094 has to be very close to your head -- less than ten centimeters."
Shadowfox nodded. Right, that was because a lot of chimerae were law enforcement or military and nobody wanted a rogue knocking your soldiers unconscious with a radio broadcast.
"If we set the one in our hand to return the same signal as the one in our head, then the computer in your brain gets an ambiguous range. So, it doesn't run the program."
"I see." Shadowfox reached for her ear piece. And froze. She pulled it off her ear and dropped it to the table, as though it were a poisonous beetle, suddenly too afraid to talk.
Technofox, bless her, immediately got it. She took her own out and placed it next to Shadow's.
"Can you tell--" Shadowfox started, dubiously.
"No, I --" Technofox closed her eyes. "Damnit. Of course I can. Hold on a moment."
Shadowfox followed her into her bedroom. Technofox's "bed" room was filled with metal racks and computers, cords neatly labeled and bundled together with plastic ties. Every electrical socket in the room was occupied by a UPS, and each socket in each UPS was plugged into a power strip, and despite that Technofox had a battery-operated reading lamp. The bed seemed an afterthought.
Technofox opened a closet, revealing a stack of hardware cabinets, meticulously cross referenced. Technofox didn't use valuable closet space for something as useless as clothes: her wardrobe was in one of the footlockers stacked against the wall. She rummaged, finally reaching into a drawer filled with small boxes with buttons and cables before pulling out one specific box with buttons and cables.
Technofox took it back into the dining room, and plugged it into her phone. She tapped the screen of her phone a few times, and put it next to the ear pieces. Then, without a word, she went to a diversion safe disguised as a power strip, and took out one of the 4094 devices they had captured. She walked back towards her phone, which suddenly made the sound of a Star Trek communicator.
Technofox grinned happily and looked at the display on her phone.
"That's it. A 4094 device has to have an RFID chip in it. We can detect chips with these things."
"That's good, but they put RFID chips in library books. Can we cut down on false positives?" Shadowfox asked.
Technofox looked thoughtful. "I don't think so. Not safely. We know they change the RFID codes from time to time, and we don't know what they change them to."
"At least we know these headsets are all right."
"These are," Technofox said. She frowned. "But I don't think that's how they got you in Vancouver. The bad guys would need to replace both your headsets. And I think one of you would notice something was wrong by smell."
That was a good point. Shadow and Silver didn't share headsets because they were paired with their phones. Was there something they'd both use? "The hotel phone. Tech, do you have the phone records for the hotel room?"
Technofox pointed at Shadowfox's laptop. "Mind if I use that?"
"Help yourself." Shadowfox pushed it over to her.
Technofox pounded some keys and went to work with the pointer. Shadowfox looked over her shoulder.
"There we are," Shadowfox said. "Two calls to your hotel room. Right at the time Silver was kidnapped."
They were from the same number. Technofox did a search; it was a Canadian cell phone owned by one Michael Carter. One of the kidnappers Silverfox had killed used the name "Carter."
They looked at one another and Technofox's lips moved in a grin. Gotcha! Shadowfox patted her shoulder and ducked down to kiss her on the lips.
Shadowfox's laptop chirped and a message appeared in her inbox. Reluctantly, she turned away.
"I just got a notification," Shadowfox said. "Doctor Clayton wants to update the software in my implant. He wants me in tomorrow."
"I got it too. Day after tomorrow." The little technician bit a knuckle.
"You okay?"
"Huh?" Technofox blinked, and put her hand down to her side. "Yes, fine," she smiled, and ran a hand through her hair. "I guess Firefox got an appointment as well. Clayton's staggering the appointments so Silverfox won't be stuck here alone..." She frowned. Firefox was spending the day doing bank security.
"I don't think we can reschedule. Not credibly." The problem was that Dr. Clayton was also their ICON supervisor. He had access to their schedules. General Hospital was just down the street.
"I don't see what that would get us, anyway. We can't put it off forever." Technofox paced nervously, and then composed herself. "Besides, we don't want to. Silverfox was already updated on the MediJet."
"Was she?"
"Yes. This is probably a security update. They know you and Silver got hit somehow. I would guess that our brain implants log any use of 4094. At least, they would if I were designing the things. They found a vulnerability and they're patching it."
"But wait a moment. They only had Silverfox on the MediJet for ... what, five or six hours?"
"Seven and a half. It's not a particularly fast plane."
"Could they really create a security patch in that timeframe?"
"It's not impossible, given a machine intelligence developer. Certification would take more than a day or two... maybe they just changed a resource file? Or they got data from your implant."
"My implant hasn't been accessed since--" Shadowfox cut herself off. The two foxes looked at one another. "After the kidnapping, I was in a hospital. But nobody checked my implant."
"That you can remember," Tech said quietly.
"But why would they keep it from me? I fell unconscious and woke up with amnesia. It wouldn't be suspicious for them to run diagnostics on my brain implant."
"Maybe they just didn't want to draw attention to your implant? But I guess that doesn't really work." Technofox hesitated. "You'd only consider it significant if you know about 4094."
"So you're suggesting they know I know about 4094." Shadowfox felt her stomach tighten with anxiety.
There was an intruder in the kitchen.
Shadowfox was in the dining room, and she could hear the telltale click of nails on the linoleum. Shadowfox raised the volume on the video she was watching to cover her movement. She took her weapon, and moved carefully over carpet through the living room to the other door to the kitchen. The intruder knew she was in the dining room and would expect her to come the other way.
Shadowfox crept up behind Silverfox and gave her a swat on the fanny with a silicone turner.
Silverfox yelped, from surprise. A blob of toll house cookie batter dropped from her thumb and back into the bowl.
Immediately, Shadowfox regretted it. Silverfox leaned heavily against the counter, lifting her wounded leg. Silverfox grimaced. She turned gracefully to face Shadowfox, an impish grin on her face, as though her leg wasn't bothering her at all.
"Scoot!" Shadowfox scolded. "To bed with you. I'll bring you a plate when they're done." She waved the turner in a threatening manner.
"Witch," Silverfox hissed back. "I shall burn thee at the stake."
Shadowfox considered poking at her with the turner, but decided against it -- if they got into a mock-fight, Silver might shift her weight back to her bad leg.
"This is America. We hang witches here," Shadowfox tossed the turner back onto the counter. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Take a train to Salem and get yourself an education."
"Can we?" Silverfox asked hopefully.
Shadowfox blinked. Technofox collected museums and had t-shirts celebrating some of the most obscure events in history. Silverfox did not.
At any rate, it was out of the question. Yesterday, Cheshire had reported that Silverfox had fallen asleep on Jerry's lap, while they were watching Zombie Island XII -- Enter the Wendigo. Although the saga of Zombie Island was apparently sophisticated enough to require twelve films to delve into every aspect, the pace was energetic. The grey fox didn't have the energy.
"Go back to bed," Shadowfox rested a hand on the side of Silverfox's face. "Let me start a batch, and I'll come cheer you up. Okay?"
Silverfox snagged her wrist with the fingers of her left hand. She kissed Shadowfox's palm, and then kissed her on her mouth. Shadowfox melted into it, and parted her lips.
Slip me some tongue, she thought. Put it in me, my brave warrior.
Silverfox broke contact. "I'm sorry," she said.
"What's wrong?" Shadowfox asked. Let me serve you. Use me for your pleasure.
"It's just --" Silverfox shook her head. "I'm okay. I'll go lie down." Silverfox didn't move, though. Maybe she was just lonely.
Shadowfox didn't want to press. Silver had been under a lot of stress, and Tall Felicia had brought up the possibility she might blow her stack over something trivial. "Speaking of witches," she said, "How is Janet doing?"
"Oh, you know," Silverfox grumbled. "She and her crowd's fallen for Tawny's line and she's exercising her chakras or some shit. Haven't gotten in touch for a while."
"Still?" Tawny was a former Blue Diamond girl. When Blue Diamond went down, she took the opportunity to run. Now she was doing some sort of spiritual teacher scam and a number of Silverfox's old friends had fallen for it.
Silverfox looked squarely at Shadowfox. "I haven't spoken with Janet since getting shot, if that's what you mean."
"Why haven't you?"
Silverfox grimaced. "Sometimes Janet gets in my face for being a mercenary corporate thug. I can't imagine how she'd react if I showed up with bullet holes in me."
"If it's something other than 'Someone shot my poor sweetie' then she's no friend." Shadowfox turned back to her cookie sheets. "Besides, are rapists in some sort of protected category?"
"You're being too logical."
"So tell me I'm wrong."
"...No, you're right. I really have to talk to her. We've got to do something about Tawny. I mean, she was involved in a murder. I don't like the idea of Janet getting too close to her."
"Tawny was helping smuggle drugs, and a supplier was killed. It happens in that profession, although I grant it reinforces your point. Still, it's possible Tawny felt threatened by him."
"I think you're making excuses. We're Blue Diamond, she's Blue Diamond."
Shadowfox paused. Was Silverfox right? "Maybe. Tawny's got a nice, nonviolent thing going. Tawny threw a book together, she gives talks as 'Dawnstar Earthtreader,' and she takes donations. She's not doing anything illegal."
"Heh. Dawnstar Earthtreader," Silverfox repeated. It was an amusing name. "Cult leaders can be pretty dangerous."
"It's not like Tawny believes any of this stuff. She's not going to have her minions send their souls to the alien spaceship hiding behind a comet." Shadowfox put a tray of cookie dough into the oven.
"Well, no, but-- look, it's not like Tawny's friend killed the bastard in self-defense or to make the world a better place. She and that Ursus killed him so they could steal cocaine." Silverfox shook her head, disgruntled. "And what if someone was stupid enough to leave her something in their will?"
Shadowfox hesitated. Silverfox was right. Tawny was an opportunist -- give her a choice between a long-term and a short-term payoff and she'd grab for the quick and shiny. "That's a problem," Shadowfox agreed. "What do you want to do about it?"
"Hell if I know," Silverfox muttered. "Like you said, I don't know if Tawny is a danger. And even if she is... it's not Foxforce's problem." She was sitting on the counter and drummed her heels against the cabinet.
Shadowfox sighed. Janet wasn't her friend, but she couldn't let Silverfox angst over this alone. "Does Tawny have her own place, or is she crashing on Janet's folding couch?"
"I don't know."
"We know Tawny's a vampire, but is she a mosquito or is she draining them dry? See? We don't know what's going on yet."
"There's no way around getting in touch with Janet, is there?"
"Read Tawny's book first." That would keep her out of trouble for a little while. Shadowfox solemnly tapped Silverfox's forehead. "Know thy enemy. Prepare yourself intellectually to engage Dawnstar Earthtreader where she is most vulnerable: upon the plains of philosophy and theology."
"No shit?"
"No shit," Shadowfox replied firmly. "You don't think you can force Dawnstar Earthtreader out of their hearts at gunpoint, do you?"
"I guess not."
"Now get to bed before Technofox comes home. She'll tell Firefox on you. And Firefox will make you wear a plastic cone."
Silverfox hopped off the counter, landing on her good leg. She gave Shadowfox a firm hug, and limped off to her bed. Shadowfox listened carefully until she heard the bedframe squeak. A few moments after that, Shadowfox heard Silver's breathing turn deep and measured as she went to sleep. Shadowfox shook her head and selected the nicest-looking cookies for Silverfox.
Jerry's footstep approached the front door, and Shadowfox opened the door after he knocked.
"Good morning, Shadowfox. May I come in?"
"Of course. She's asleep right now," Shadowfox told him. "Would you like a cookie and some coffee?" Shadowfox hadn't given this enough thought. She wasn't quite sure how she should play him.
"Yes, please. Hey, are these still warm?"
"Yes. Firefox won't be here with you. A shoot house had a last-minute cancellation so she's going there with the KSG." She knew he was a gun collector, so she thought that might interest him.
"Huh, really?" he seemed pleased. "I'm glad she's getting some use out of it." He walked over to the flat-screen and plugged a card into it. "Zombie Island XIII Is Death's Lucky Number," he explained. "I heard a rumor Stonehead comes back in that."
So, what did Jerry want? He was working pretty hard to get sex from Silverfox. "I'm not sure when we can pay you back." She handed him a plate with a single cookie. Thanks very much for the shotgun. It was the first thing that came to mind, and Shadowfox felt a little disturbed because it was also the simple truth.
"It's just a five dollar download. Forget it." He lifted the cookie and smiled as it slowly bent under gravity. The chips were molten blobs, and Shadowfox could see it glowing brightly in infrared.
He was making an understated joke, so Shadowfox chuckled. "I meant the eight hundred dollar shotgun."
He shook his head. "I offered to help out. I'd rather you considered that a gift."
A first contact might be helpful. She patted his shoulder. "Thanks."
He looked up with a smile. He seemed comfortable with being touched, but he didn't take her hand or grab at her. If she were trying to seduce him, she would leave her hand on him. She wasn't trying that, though. She didn't have a clear idea of how she wanted him to act, and that made her feel awkward. She was dressed in business casual, and maybe that was putting him off.
"This is the perfect cookie," he said. "Thanks."
Shadowfox smiled at him. She left to wash her hands and put on her shoes. "I'll be back in three hours," she said. "And she's not as healthy as she says."
"Gotcha," he nodded and lifted his phone. "I've got numbers for each of you, Cheshire and Tall Felicia. Who should I call first?"
That was a good question. "Unless it's obviously medical, Technofox."
Shadowfox was supposed to appear at the police station at eleven so she could answer questions in a videoconference with an FBI agent in Washington State. She could do it from her laptop, but apparently that wasn't good enough -- the FBI wanted to use their super special video link.
So, Silverfox and Jerry alone in the apartment for three hours. Shadowfox anticipated disaster.
"Hello, Mark," Shadowfox said. "I see you've had a haircut."
FBI Agent Mark Thompson grinned and patted the back of his head. He had a ponytail the last time Shadowfox had seen him at a naval base.
"Yes," he said ruefully. Thompson was now wearing a buzz cut, his scalp visible through a blond fuzz. "I've been in Skinheadlandia for the last month."
He was in dress shirt and wore a tie, but Shadowfox could imagine it. "You've got my sympathies," she shook her head.
"Thank you. How's your operative?"
"She's doing fine. In ten days, she'll be out of bed."
"I'm glad to hear that. I'd like to send flowers."
"That's very sweet of you. If you don't mind, I think she'd rather have a gift basket."
He nodded. "I'll do that, then. I suppose you're wondering why I didn't just call you."
"I've been wondering," she said.
"We think the RCMP may be compromised."