Briskly Ice-Blinded
"Over here!"
Smoke was pouring ... from somewhere. Or not smoke. Vapor? Some kind of gas. Coolant leak. And fire. It must be smoke. There was fire.
Kody skidded to a halt, kneeling down. "Is he conscious?"
"No." The snow rabbit's voice shook. With a vibrating, restrained fear (and a hatred, also).
Kody looked up. Snow rabbits were logical, chilled creatures. Prey rendered numb ... due to their frozen environment. To see their mental walls melting ... scared the doctor.
"He was hit in the head. By a ceiling beam."
Alarm klaxons were ringing.
BLARE ... BLARE ...
"You must help him."
"Kody!"
The rabbit turned.
Rella was hunched over Chester. The black-and-white mouse was bleeding. His fur matted with dark-red, and his tail snaking ... on random impulse.
"Oh, Lord," the rabbit breathed.
"You must help him!" the femme snow rabbit insisted. Of her fallen partner (for snow rabbits did not have or take mates ... rather, partners of convenience ... with whom, if one was lucky, and emotional fondness could be fostered).
"He's got a concussion. Nothing I can do right now. The mouse is bleeding to death," Kody explained, moving to Chester, who was on his back on the floor. Eyes half-open, glazed ... making tiny, tiny whimper-squeaks ... barely audible.
"What happened?" was Kody's first question. How many times had he asked that in the past ten minutes?
"I don't know," Rella confessed. "I have to find their tactical chief. Help him, okay?"
"Of course."
Rella moved off. On the promenade ... on a snow rabbit station. White interior. Alarms. Smoke. Panicked voices ... and squeaks and rabbit-barks.
Noise.
Rella scanned the crowd.
Medics. Officers. Mostly snow rabbits. A few member of the Luminous crew ... who'd been onboard when this had happened.
A femme snow rabbit sidled up to her. Lithe. Pure-white (save for the pinks of her nose, her ears). Eyes ice-blue and haunted.
Rella looked to her. "Are you ... "
" ... Annika. Snow Rabbit Security chief, yes, for this ... station," she said, eyes scanning. This was station Orbital 9.
The squirrel's eyes boggled. Her bushy tail ... arched. Twitched. "What happened here?" Luminous was at a docking pylon. Rella and her team had boarded (along with Kody) to help. Chester and a few others had already been aboard.
"What happened?" Annika echoed, as if it were obvious. "Arctic foxes."
"But ... how?"
"They ... flashed in," Annika said, voice shaking. Her emotional freeze was in a state of flux. Did trauma bring snow rabbits to the brink of madness? Could they even HANDLE emotion? They had been forced to live without them ... for centuries. What happened when they sprung a leak?
Rella eyed her. Listening.
And Annika continued, "They used some kind of transporter technology."
"Transporters are rare. And dangerous. How ... "
"I do not know," Annika interrupted, almost barking it. Eyes scanning the repair and medical teams ... who were trying to quiet the chaos. "But they used some kind of transporter. Beamed in ... "
"From where?"
"I don't know," she said. Again.
"What DO you know? What are you ... "
Annika interrupted, with eyes flaring, "This is war. An act of war. We will not tolerate such acts of aggression against ... "
A FLASH!
The rabbit's eyes (and the squirrel's) darted to the focal point of the light.
Arctic foxes. Four of them. Wielding phase rifles. And a clawed, black-padded paw ... yanked Kody from his knees. Leaving Chester bleeding, on the floor.
Kody yelped.
And the foxes flashed back from whence they'd come ... taking the doctor with them. And leaving their paw-work in their wake.
"What do you mean, they took him?"
"Wren, calm down."
"Is he okay?"
"I don't know," Rella barked. "Okay?"
Wren swallowed. Nodded. Looked away.
Rella's voice got quiet again. "Chester's ... lost a lot of blood. He needs mouse blood. Field's gonna have to give him some ... if he's gonna have a chance." There were nine mice aboard Luminous (out of eighty-odd furs ... the majority of which ... were squirrels).
"Field's terrified of needles," Wren whispered, eyes closed. They were in the captain's ready-room. His office. Right off the bridge.
"I know. Adelaide's gonna hold his paw ... and calm him down with her ... her mind magic, or whatever she does."
That was such a sweet image ... another time, Wren would've smiled. He didn't, though. Eyes opening, he asked, gently, "Any other injuries?"
"Five snow rabbits are dead." A pained whisker-twitch. "Chester was our only injury."
A nod.
"It was a terrorist attack. The Arctic foxes ... tensions are extremely high."
"So, we don't know where they took Kody?"
"No," was her whisper. The squirrel eyeing her mate. "He'll be fine. He's stubborn."
"Start a search. They couldn't have traveled too far. Maybe they're at the border. The DMZ ... maybe ... "
"Alright." Pause. "You're twitching." She put a paw on his arm. Scritched very delicately. "You okay?"
"We all twitch. We're prey, remember?"
"Yeah ... "
"I'm just tired," he offered. "It's almost midnight."
She nodded.
And Wren opened his muzzle to say something. But shut it.
Kody was tied to a chair in the middle of a dimly-lit room. A white room. He tried to strain, but it was no use.
The Arctic fox entered quietly. With little fanfare. And gave him a polite nod.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
A slight smile on the fox's part. Very slight. "I can hear your heart. I can smell your fear."
"How enigmatic of you," said the rabbit, with his trademark bite.
"I did not bring you here to kill you."
A blink. "Where is ... here?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that."
"No?"
A step forward. A pause. A head-tilt. "No," was her whisper. Her fur was the whitest of whites. Like snow rabbit fur, but ... longer, maybe. Thicker. And her nose was black. And her paw-pads were black. And her teeth ... were an off-white. Her teeth had torn into meat. Her teeth had tasted blood. And her paws had spilled it.
Kody's heart hammered. He swallowed, taking a breath. To be prey, and to be tied up ... defenseless.
"You must be scared," she whispered. "I can understand that."
The rabbit said nothing.
"You are a doctor?"
"Yes."
"We need your ... skills."
Kody squinted.
"We require a doctor."
"Surely, you have doctors. Surely ... "
"We are a splinter group. We are not directly tied to the ... Arctic fox home-world. We are a colony. We split ... when it became apparent that the foxes back home would rather sit on this side of the DMZ ... and play a game of blink."
"What ... "
"Waiting for the other to blink first. Waiting. A waiting game. The snow rabbits are dangerous. They are hell-bent on our destruction."
"You're the predators. Not them."
"No, but ... they're not your standard prey, are they?"
"You're still the predators."
"We need to put them in their place. They need to be taught ... their place," she growled, showing her teeth, pacing one way. Pacing the other. "Today's attack ... was a warning. Was a warning to them. They are not safe. They are not above danger."
"You're TRYING to start an all-out war?" the rabbit asked. Whiskers twitching.
A slight nod of affirmation. "A cold war solves nothing. Talks? Solve nothing. We need to end this conflict. This tense lull ... causes stagnation. If we put the snow rabbits in their place NOW, we'll be able to stop devoting our resources ... to monitoring them."
"That's absurd ... do you realize what you're saying? What you're justifying?"
"I did not bring you here to debate semantics." A breath. "Being that we've splintered away, we have no doctors of our own. We needed to ... take one. And we chose you. A snow rabbit doctor never would've helped us."
"What makes you think I'M going to help you?"
"Because I know prey. I know your weaknesses. You're a rabbit, but you're not of the ice ... I can figure you out."
The rabbit's heart pounded. Harder, harder ...
"We've acquired ... transporter," she said, "technology."
"From whom?"
A pause. "The wasps."
"Wasps?" His voice rose.
"They had the technology. We needed it. It was the only way to ... launch these quick sneak attacks. Unfortunately, transporter technology is ... rare. It's new, and it's unstable."
"It affected you," the rabbit guessed, "in ways it didn't affect the wasps."
"Each time we use it," she confessed, "our cells deteriorate. I'm starting to lose some of my foxes. They're dying. I want you to fix them."
"Fix them? You can't fix damage like that ... you can only treat it."
"You will FIX," she emphasized, "them."
"What's in it for me?"
"Aside from your survival?"
The rabbit swallowed.
"As I said, I know prey. And I know rabbits. I know ... what you want."
"Yeah?"
"I'm perfectly willing ... to compromise," she said, "to gain your cooperation. I want you to WILLINGLY help us. If it's not willingly ... then you won't do your best work." She padded around him. In slow, breathing circles. Her tail, white, bushy ... trailed behind her ... brushing in front of his twitching nose. Spreading her scent all around the room. All around him. "You seem a wild card," she told him. "You seem willing to ... get a bit messy, yes? To ... break ethical rules."
"You think that ... I'm gonna yiff with you," he panted, "and ... be seduced into aiding your cause? One of my fellow crew-furs is near death because of you."
"An accident, I am sure. An unfortunate one." She continued her circling of him.
His head strained to follow her ... as she went behind him, and he squirmed. Trying to break free of his restraints. She was messing with his mind. She was wrapping him around the fingers of her paw. She WAS a predator. She knew what she was doing.
And yiff had always been the doctor's biggest weakness.
"You must think I'm an abomination ... selling myself to you ... in exchange for medical favors. But I rather think it excites you. I rather think," she said, "that once you get to know us, you'll understand why the snow rabbits need to be beaten into submission."
"They're not the ones that need to be muzzled. You are. You're the danger ... "
"Do you really," she whispered, a paw brushing the fur of his neck ... trailing up the back of his head. Up a long and slender ear. " ... really," she whispered, "think I'm dangerous?" Her claws traced his cheeks. A paw tugging at his fluffy, white bob-tail. Tug!
A quiet yelp.
"That hurt? Yes ... no?"
"Don't touch me," he panted. "Please ... get away ... you're a predator."
"You don't trust me."
"No."
"Well, too bad ... you know, I've done rabbits before. We capture snow rabbit prisoners and spies, and I ... have my way with them. I extract what I need, and I discard them. But you're not from the ice. From the snow. You're warm and wriggling. And I like that. It makes it more ... visceral."
Kody opened his muzzle ... to say something, but ...
... quickly, briskly ... his restraints were ripped off. And he was pushed to the floor. He yelped, skidding to the wall. Dazed.
And the fox showed her teeth. Pacing back and forth in front of him. Grinning.
Kody heaved, eying the door.
"Try it," she whispered. "Try it ... "
The rabbit swallowed.
The fox licked her lips.
Juneau, red-eyed, sat on a bio-bed opposite her mate. Her foot-paws not touching the floor from her sitting position. She sniffled. Staring.
Adelaide filtered over to her. "Hey," she whispered. Lightly brushing a wing on the squirrel's arm.
"Hey," was the weak echo.
"Lieutenant Denali ... said he'd be okay," Adelaide offered.
"Denali failed out of medical school."
"He knows more than the rest of us ... he said Chester would be okay. He's got Field's blood in him, so ... " A reassuring, pink-hued smile. "Mice are resilient. Mice are ... mice. He'll be okay."
A slight chuckle. A slight sniffle. "Well ... I guess." Unbeknownst to her, Adelaide was using her telepathic abilities to brighten the squirrel's mood. Adelaide never messed with other's minds ... unless they were in pain. And, then, she would do her best to give them comfort. No point in asking. They would stubbornly refuse her help. She just ... gave them a boost. And she reached out for one of Juneau's paws. Squeezed it.
Juneau looked up. Sniffled. Whiskers twitching. And squeezed back. "Thanks ... "
Adelaide nodded, letting go ... and asking, "How long's he gonna be out?"
"Another day ... I think they said. I don't know. I just ... I don't wanna leave him." A sniffle. "You know mice, Adelaide. I mean, you and I ... we're mated to mice. We ... " She faltered. "They've ... they're so innocent. So much energy, and ... their eyes are so wide and bright, and ... they're so gentle. Why would anyone wanna hurt a mouse ... " Her words broke down. Into inaudible sobs. "Why would anyone ... wanna ... hurt a mouse ... "
"Hey," Adelaide whispered. "Shh ... it's okay ... " She drew the squirrel into her wings, sitting with her on the bio-bed.
"I want him to be okay," was Juneau's sob ... " ... what if, when he ... what if he's ... "
"It's okay," Adelaide cooed. Hugging the squirrel closer. Own eyes watering. Eying Field, who was ... asleep on a bio-bed on the other side of sickbay. All the blood he'd given, he'd gotten light-headed. Not to mention his fear of needles (which had been hard for the bat to mask). He'd been carried to the bio-bed by Denali (who was Luminous' sole otter crew-fur) ... and had fallen asleep there.
Right now, sickbay was quiet. With little mechanical beeps. Soothing sounds (coming from the ship's engine core ... several decks down).
"Why do things like this happen? Why ... ?"
"I don't know," Adelaide whispered. "But ... they do, and ... there is a purpose."
"I don't understand ... "
"I know." A hug. A breath. "Just ... take a breath. I'm not going anywhere ... "
The squirrel buried her nose into Adelaide's pink fur, sniffling, quieting.
Adelaide kept her eyes open ...
And the two femme furs stood watch over their unconscious, mousey mates. Pondering the rhymes and reasons ... of the paws of Fate.
Kody had a few bruises ... but, otherwise, he was fine.
The Arctic fox femme (who hadn't even bothered to tell him her name) watched from a short distance. As the rabbit scanned sick foxes.
"What can you do for them?" she asked.
"I told you: very little. I can give them medicines ... give them treatments. But the ONLY way for them to get better is to STOP using the transporter."
"Impossible." The fox crossed her arms. Still carrying the vague scent of rabbit. "It's our only method of striking the snow rabbits ... without losses on our side."
"But you ARE losing furs on your side. It's ... " The doctor huffed. Shook his head. "Look, what you're doing ... you have TWO governments gunning for you. And, now, you have Luminous, too. What do you hope to accomplish?"
"I hope to instill fear in the hearts of prey. I hope to own the day," she vowed, in poetic prose. Adding, just to further bruise him, "As I owned you."
The rabbit flushed. His cheeks burned. And he continued running his scans.
"A splinter group has claimed responsibility for the attack," Rella said, placing a computer pad on Wren's desk. "The snow rabbits are vowing to ... track them down. And the Arctic foxes are vowing to do the same. So, in an ... unwitting way," said Rella, "this little terrorist cell is actually bringing the two sides closer together."
"Hmm ... "
"I mean, the tension's not gonna go away. This is still a cold war," Rella assured. "But ... despite both sides being so suspicious of the other, I think they're both scared of what the other side can do. Scared, maybe, that they'll lose."
"Even the foxes?"
"The snow rabbits aren't prey like you and I," she said, "are prey. The foxes know that."
A nod. And Wren put the pad aside. "Any, uh ... word about Kody?"
A shake of the head, and she sat down (for she'd been standing). She sat in a chair on the opposite side of his desk. "No. And Chester and Field are doing fine. I mean, we're all fine ... " She trailed. "We're helping the snow rabbits with station repairs. I mean, they've given us permanent anchor in orbit here, so ... I mean, they're our allies. They're our friends."
"Yeah ... "
"Wren?"
"Yeah?" He blinked, looking to her.
"What's wrong? And don't give me ... 'I'm tired,' or ... whatever other excuse is running through your head right now. You're the captain of this ship. We all look up to you. And I love you. I'm your mate. And something ... is eating away at you. I want to know what it is."
"You don't," he whispered carefully. "You don't ... "
"Wren ... " She tilted her head. "I'm not stupid. You know, I'm not a waif." A pause. The planet outside the window. White and icy-blue. The stations. Ships ferrying from here to there. The stars. "You once told me," she whispered, "that you wanted to be bold. That you liked pulling furs together ... and how can you do that," she questioned, "if you're caving in on yourself? As you've been doing the past few months?"
He opened his mouth to object.
"You took this exile harder than anybody. You blamed yourself. We're still hurting. We're still dealing with it. But we're moving on. But you ... you're so bitter about what the predators did to us ... you're blaming yourself. You're hurting," she stressed, "yourself. I can see it," she insisted. "I share your bed."
Wren's cheeks burned beneath his fur. He looked away, closing his eyes. "I, uh ... I don't know. I don't know what I did wrong."
"You didn't do anything wrong," she assured. At a whisper.
"The future version of myself," he told her, "that stalked us all those weeks ... he was bitter. Cold. He was ... a ghost. Ever since he revealed himself to me, I can't help but ... think that ... I am fated," he said, "to become like that. THAT is me."
She shook her head.
"And there's ... something else." His voice went quiet.
She looked to him.
"Kody ... and I," said the squirrel, pausing. Flushing. "I ... used to, back in school, back home ... "
"You loved him?" she asked. Eyes narrowing.
Wren's eyes would've watered, but ... captains weren't allowed to cry. They just weren't. So, he nodded. "Yeah ... that's why I brought him on this mission. He got himself into some ... rather big trouble. I almost got drawn into it, but ... Field ... gave me perspective. Field and I, we changed directions. We ... but, anyway, no one wanted Kody, so I ... I still cared for him, so I brought him along."
Her eyes watched his.
"I ... I, uh ... I still ... have feelings for him, but ... it's ... " Wren faltered. He wasn't going to audibly mention the things he'd done, in recent weeks ... with the rabbit. No good would come from it.
Rella nodded quietly.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you all of this ... long ago, but ... "
"No, I ... I understand why you didn't," she said. Very quietly. She looked away, though, a bit hurt. "I just ... you should've trusted me. You should've known that I wouldn't have turned you away ... because of anything you'd done or ... anything you felt." She looked back to him. "I fell in love with you. I'm mated to you. Because I ... " She let out a breath. Cleared her throat. "I'm not leaving you. Even if you THINK ... that you deserve for me to. I'm not."
He nodded quietly.
"You NEED some rest. You've been running yourself into the ground for weeks now ... "
"How can I rest? How ... "
"This isn't a crew anymore, Wren. Everyone on this ship ... we're not a crew, anymore. We're a FAMILY."
"I had a bad experience with my real family."
"There's more than one type of family, and ... I'm your mate," she repeated. "You're worried about Kody? You still have feelings for him? I can't make those go away ... you know, we can't control what we feel, but ... we can control what we do. I know, sometimes, we feel helpless ... our emotions MAKE our decisions. Sometimes, we do what we're doing ... before we know ... before," she said, trailing. "I don't care if you still have feelings for that rabbit," she said. "As long as you can tell me that you're devoted to this squirrel," she said of herself. "Because I am devoted to you."
His eyes did water ... this time. And he drew a shaky breath. "I ... I ... yes. I am. Devoted to you. I don't wanna lose you. I just ... my past," he said. "There's more you don't know, and ... "
"Well, to be honest, Wren, there's ... I mean, stuff you don't know about me. We all have our secrets. Our hidden desires. We all have secret lives."
He nodded.
"You need to rest," she told him again. "Rest with me."
"When? How? Where?"
"Doesn't matter. When this current situation gets resolved, just ... take some time off. Let Ketchy run the bridge."
"Ketchy?"
"She's going stir-crazy ... she needs something to do. And YOU need ... less things to do. Just ... look, I don't care what you've done. If it's bad, I forgive you ... as I would hope you would forgive me. Let's just ... "
He nodded.
"Let's not let things fall apart."
He met her eyes.
She gave him a smile.
"I ... I would hug you," he admitted, sniffle-giggling, "if this damn desk wasn't in the way."
"Well, let's get out of the desk's way, then," she offered, doing a sideways nod ... at the couch by the window.
He flushed, ears swiveling.
"You're not needed elsewhere, are you?"
"No," he admitted.
She stood, going around the desk ... and extending her paw.
He took it. And allowed himself to be led to the couch.
"Dotty ... hey," called Pyro, panting. Jogging to catch up with the chipmunk.
She turned. Blinked. Nearing a lift.
"Hey," Pyro repeated, red eyes wide (and almost glowing ... seeing things other furs could not see; detecting levels of body heat, for instance ... which allowed him to tell if someone was lying or not).
She nodded a bit. "Hey," she responded.
"Um ... what are you doing?"
"I'm getting on the lift." The doors to the lift ... swished open.
"Really? So am I!" A grin ... and he followed her in.
And the doors shut.
"Armory," she said. And the lift began to move.
"Why are you going to the armory?"
"Rella wanted me to be prepared ... in case the foxes decide to flash aboard Luminous. We're under yellow alert for the time being."
"Yellow alert?"
"A state between calm and panic. Just ... we're to be on our toes."
"Ah."
A pause. The lift whirring as it went.
The wolf looked to her. His nose sniffed ... powerful nose. Sniffed.
"So," she asked. "What are you doing? I mean, where ... where are you off to?"
"Uh ... heh." The wolf rubbed the back of his neck, squinting a bit. Staring at the floor, and then looking to her. "Nowhere to be, really. I'm, like, you know ... I don't have any assigned task yet. Anyway, not been much to do ... "
"Funny. I've been busy."
"Well ... I'm still new," he defended.
"You served aboard the mirror Luminous, right?"
A nod.
"What was your job there?"
Pyro's eyes darted a bit ... " ... um ... " He let out a huff. What seemed like an airy dismissal. "Not much," he said. But there was a guarded caution in his voice. He obviously didn't want to speak about it.
Soldotna just nodded. "Oh ... okay." And she looked back to the doors. Waiting for the lift to stop.
"Um ... Dotty. I can call you Dotty?"
"I actually," she admitted, shrugging a bit, "prefer Dotna ... if you're going to use a nickname. I mean, furs don't like to use my whole name cause it's, like, too wordy. I don't know. But, if you insist on a nickname, use Dotna. Everyone calls me Dotty, but ... I mean, isn't 'dotty' another word for 'insane' or 'crazy' ... and, I don't know. Call me self-conscious, but I don't want furs calling out a coded, 'Hey, crazy!' ... every time they see me. I can't be sure if I'm being teased or not."
"Oh ... "
She nodded. "Yeah. So ... I mean, I can't stop everyone from calling me Dotty. But I would ... you know, I'd prefer if you didn't."
"Dotna?"
"Or Soldotna."
"Soldotna," he repeated. And gave a toothy grin. "I like it. It's very ... distinguished. Very unique."
"As if your name. Pyro. How, exactly, does a red-eyed wolf ... get a name related to fire? You can't ... make things combust into flames, can you, just by looking at them?" A smile.
"Huh ... uh ... " He did a playful eye-dart. "No one's supposed to know about that," he joked.
She giggled, biting her lip. Eyes shining brightly.
A momentary quiet.
"Um ... Soldotna," Pyro asked.
"Yes?" she replied, almost a bit too quickly. As if she'd been anticipating being asked something.
Her eagerness caused him to fumble a bit. "Uh ... um, well ... heh ... " He let out a breath. "Well, I just wanted to know if ... you know, you'd like to have supper or something. Sometime. I mean, like ... you know, get together."
"A date?" She smiled.
A chuckle. "You could call it that ... "
"Just supper? No dessert?"
The wolf swallowed, flushing. Heart pounding a bit. "Well, uh ... " A chuckle. "I don't have the menu yet. We'll have to wait and see."
A giggle. "Mm," she went, looking him over (up and down). "Yeah, sure," she agreed, her striped tail wagging up and down a bit. "How about ... when our current situation is resolved, we'll ... "
"Alright," he agreed. Smiling.
The lift doors opened.
"Your stop?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yeah ... " She exited, looking back to him. Giving him a shy, sweet smile. Whiskers twitching. She was, like most chipmunks, very bouncy (in how she moved). A bit shorter than a squirrel ... or than anyone like him. "I've never dated a non-predatory predator before," she admitted.
"I've never dated a chipmunk."
"First time for everything, huh?" she asked, walking backwards ... away from the lift. Slowly.
"I think it bodes well." A grin.
A giggle, and a paw-wave.
And the lift doors shut.
Pyro, alone in the lift, giggled to himself, sighing and craning his neck to the ceiling. Sighing a happy, "Yes!"
Kody fiddled with the controls. Bloody thing ... he was a doctor, not a computer programmer. How did it work ...
Sounds.
He turned. Ears, thin and slender, waggling like antennae ... and he breathed, breathed, and turned his attention back on his task.
"Going somewhere?"
He flinched. Just at her voice, he flinched. It was the femme Arctic fox. She was in the doorway.
"Messing with our transporter?"
"I'm getting out of here."
"Is that so?"
"Yes ... "
She took a step toward him. Stopped. "We need your help."
"I've done all I can. I've told you how to heal yourselves."
"And yet YOU'RE going to use the same device that is ... "
"I'm going to use it once. It'll make me a bit dizzy, but I'll be fine ... you and your foxes have scrambled your cells a dozen times over."
"I heard that someone leaked ... a responsibility claim. I never leaked a responsibility claim." She took another step toward him.
"I may have accessed your comm device," he admitted smoothly, "and may have ... claimed responsibility on your behalf."
"You've united both sides against us," she accused.
"No, you did that yourself ... by taking matters into your own paws."
Another step. "I'm not done with you, bunny ... "
"Too bad." He pressed the activation device on the transporter (or, at least, what he HOPED ... was the activation device). And it was ...
... and he blurred away, transported back to the Orbital 9 ... back to safety.
... as the fox lunged and cursed at him. Vowing that the predators would claim their rightful supremacy.
When Chester woke, Juneau was hovering above him. Holding to his paw. Fingers meshed with his.
The mouse blinked. Weakly, weakly blinked ... and winced. Whimper-squeaked. "My head hurts," he whispered.
"I know, baby ... " Her free paw ran along his cheek.
"What happened?"
Juneau sniffled and smiled. "We all got ice-blinded. But ... love melts even ice," she assured. Squeezing his paw. "We can all see again."
Chester blinked and managed a tired smile of his own.