A Little Becky Will Do
By Douglas Helm and "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl
Those characters that are original and the story "A Little Becky Will Do" are copyrighted ©2009-2010 by Will Wolfshohl and Douglas Helm.
Authors' Foreword:
Greetings and welcome to this TaleSpin® Fanfiction! "A Little Becky Will Do" has been sitting on the Future Projects pile ever since our TaleSpin/Sailor Moon crossover story Bear Bunnies was completed. We figured it was a good time to get this one actually written and out to the readers. Please feel free to comment. We hope you enjoy it.
This story and our other Sailor Moon stories reside at our Shoujo Fiction dot com website.
Rating: PG
Prologue
A foghorn's mournful cry and the clang of buoys sounded across Cape Suzette harbor echoing off of the cliffs that protected the city. A cold December drizzle pattered against the windows of a small home close to the wharfs. Outside might have been dark, cold, and wet but inside was warm, dry, and bright.
Sounds of dishes being washed and female laughter floated out from the bright kitchen to the snug little living room. In the living room sat a brown bear who kneaded his right knee for a moment before lifting the evening newspaper.
'Forced out of my own kitchen!' the bear complained to himself with a chuckle as he scanned the front page. His reading didn't last long however.
"What's this, Grandpa?"
Eighty-two year old Kit Cloudkicker looked up from the evening newspaper to find his six year old great-granddaughter carrying a dog-eared and timeworn book. The little bearess had very dark fur and large brown eyes. Putting aside the paper, he smiled and reached for it. The child let it go gratefully and the elder Cloudkicker was surprised by the weight. 'Or I'm getting old,' he mentally thought with a snort. Opening the cover, his smile grew even wider. "This is a picture album." The retired aviator gave the youngster a sly look. "Where'd you get this, munchkin?"
"I just found it," she answered, not bothering directly to answer the question. Those big brown eyes of hers twinkled up at him.
'In other words,' Kit deduced, 'She was into something that she shouldn't have been into.' Chuckling a little, he patted his knee and the little bearess indulged him by climbing onto his lap and snuggling back against him. "See," he began while shifting the photo album so it was directly in front of her, "These are all old pictures."
"As old as you?"
"I'm not that old!" he complained and found her ticklish spot, which made her squeal in protest. Chuckling again, he hugged her and let the little girl flip through the pages. 'I haven't looked at this in years,' he thought, 'My taste in clothes hasn't changed much.' He glanced down at his great-granddaughter sitting in his lap and thought again that she didn't dress like a little girl should. But then, Kit thought most little girls should wear dresses. 'Maybe that's why all of my kids took to jeans, even at their age!' His mental commentary on children's fashions was interrupted by a question.
"Who's that, Grandpa?" She pointed at one of the people in it.
Kit looked at the picture and was momentarily confused. Sure, Baloo was easy enough to pick out and so was Molly who looked about six then. What confused him briefly was the other subject in the photograph but when the identity came to him, he started to chuckle.
"What?" the little girl asked.
"How'd you like Grandpa to tell you a story?"
"Yeah!"
Kit grinned, settled himself more comfortably onto the couch, shifted the six year old to his right leg, and began the tale.
Chapter 1 "Tiger Trap"
Cape Suzette was a busy growing city with both ships and seaplanes using its protected harbor to transport the city's goods and services to the rest of the globe.
Higher for Hire was a small air cargo company. As companies went, it was rather a motley lot. There was of course Baloo Bear, chief pilot and sometimes owner of the company's only plane, the Seaduck. There was Wildcat a lion with a childlike personality but a sheer genius for anything mechanical. And while not an employee technically, Molly Elizabeth Cunningham could normally be found in and around the environs of the Higher for Hire offices because her mother Rebecca Cunningham owned and managed it. She'd scooped up Baloo's Air Service when Baloo defaulted on his payments to the bank. Rounding out the staff was Kit Cloudkicker, navigator and hopeful future pilot.
At twelve years of age, Kit was in that awkward stage of life where he thought he was old enough to do lots of things but not old enough to hope to convince the adults in his life of that fact. The brown bear cub could have left. He'd spent most of his twelve years fending for himself. He'd lived with the Air Pirates, been a hobo, and even did a brief stint in an orphanage. Kit would not run away however, no matter how annoying or parental Baloo and Rebecca seemed to become. This was mainly because he'd gotten himself into enough scrapes in his young life to realize that he didn't know everything and sometimes adults were actually right. Kit would never claim them as his parents but they certainly acted like it, though Rebecca more than Baloo.
While any argument between the two adult bears involving him was always of interest to him, it was the arguments involving Molly Cunningham that Kit gave the most scrutiny. Molly, at six, was a rambunctious golden-furred bear cub with a mind of her own and more courage than any little girl had the right to have, at least as far as Kit was concerned. Kit took an avid interest in these arguments because any results tended to splash onto him eventually. So it was on that gray rainy Tuesday near the start of summer vacation that Kit watched with fascination as Baloo and Ms. Cunningham argued.
"Rebecca," Baloo began with studied patience. That was never a good sign in the preteen's opinion. It meant the big bear was close to losing his temper. "All I'm askin' is ya find a 'sitter for Molly so my ears can get a bit of peace and quiet."
"It's summer vacation, Baloo," Rebecca argued, not looking up from her paperwork, "Besides, Kit can look after Molly if it comes to that." She lifted brown eyes to smile at him.
'Kit does NOT want to look after Molly!' Kit whined, 'There's only so much 'Danger Woman' a guy can take!' "Uh... well..."
Thankfully, Baloo came to his rescue. "He's nearly grown up. He has friends of his own, and besides, what guy would wanna drag his little sister to a ballgame he was getting up?"
"She's NOT my little sister!" the brown cub protested. The twelve year old liked Molly well enough but he didn't want Rebecca getting any ideas. After all, the kid was just a baby first-grader. "And Ms. Cunningham, weren't you just saying that Molly keeps distracting Wildcat?" Baloo shot him a grin.
"Babysitters cost money," Becky complained.
"Danger Woman doesn't need a babysitter!" came a high-pitched voice. Baloo, Becky, and Kit turned to see the subject of their discussion in the doorway to the warehouse. The golden bear cub was wearing her Danger Woman outfit complete with cape. Tucked under one arm was her doll Lucy and in both of her paws was a goldfish bowl. She came over to the desk, plunked the glass bowl down hard enough to make Kit wince, and announced, "Mommy, I'm not a baby. I'm six and a half!"
"Honey, what are you doing with that goldfish bowl?"
"It's not a goldfish bowl, Mommy," Molly disagreed, putting Lucy on the desk and then turning the bowl upside down. "See it's a crystal ball. I'm gonna tell the future."
"Sweetheart, where'd you get that?" Rebecca asked.
"In a box."
"What box?"
"The one in there," the child replied while gesturing with her left hand at the still open door into the warehouse. She turned her gaze onto the bowl and started waving her hands over it as if she was some sort of mystic.
"I knew it," Baloo interjected. He'd moved to look into the warehouse but now turned back to glare at his boss. "Little Miss Fortuneteller here opened one of the cargo crates... again."
"Molly," her mother said, "We talked about this, honey. You shouldn't play with the cargo. Our customers wouldn't like it."
"But it was lonely, Mommy," the six year old reasoned.
"Lonely?" Kit asked, coming over from his spot on the stairs to heft the goldfish bowl up, "How can a goldfish bowl be lonely?"
"It's not a goldfish bowl, Kit. It's a crystal ball," Molly corrected, "And it was lonely because it was in the dark and nobody wanted to play with her."
"It's now a her," Baloo muttered. "Becky, didn't you promise me...?"
"Not now, Baloo," Rebecca interrupted him. She took the bowl from Kit and then said to Molly, "Sweetheart, this isn't something you can play with. Now come on and we'll put it back."
"But Mommy!"
"Now Molly," Rebecca stated a little more firmly.
"But Mommy!" Molly whined.
"Molly Elizabeth Cunningham," Rebecca hissed with her hands on her hips, "You take this bowl and put it back where you found it this instant."
"No!" Molly huffed, crossing her arms and glowering.
Kit had been startled the first time he'd seen Molly defy her mother. Now though, it was a typical occurrence and it generally ended the same way. Enviably, Becky caved in, saying that when Molly went home that night she'd have to leave the goldfish bowl there. Of course, the little bearess was overjoyed. Baloo, on the other hand, was disgusted and headed for the kitchen. Kit followed wondering if he could maybe talk Baloo into heading out to Louie's Place for a Krakatau Sundae.
- - - - -
Higher for Hire was not the only firm working that rainy summer afternoon. Several companies had facilities located in the bustling city and on this one particularly rainy day, one lab inside a large office building was especially busy.
Harsh lights shone down on the scientists clustered around a bank of large switches, gauges, and knobs. It sat in the middle of the laboratory floor. The control panel's massive lights blinked on and off in mysterious patterns. One more time, technicians ensured that the complex of tubes, wires, and cables running the machine were properly connected and functioning. Everything had to work properly. A special visitor was in attendance that day, and this visitor did not take kindly to failure.
To describe exactly what the machine looked like would have been difficult. Perhaps the best description would have been a pipe organ crossed with a vacuum cleaner, an overgrown vacuum cleaner. The technicians in charge of making sure everything worked might have had an easier time of it if they'd understood the less than helpful drawing its eccentric inventor used as blueprints. It was mainly sheer guesswork and a lot of hair pulling.
Dr. Zivaldo, the inventor and chief architect of the machine, was humming to himself and buttering a piece of toast. The fox was completely unaware of the nervous activity surrounding him. His staff had grown used to his short attention span and his obsession with buttered toast. He was just about to take his first bite of it when someone interrupted him.
"Doctor?" Turning, he saw a tigress dressed in a lab coat leading a golden retriever by a leash. "We're ready."
"Ready?" the doctor questioned, blinking at her, "Do I know you, lady?" There were so many people around this place but he had so many ideas distracting him that names got either forgotten or confused. "Would you like a piece of toast?"
"No," the thirtyish tigress said, trying hard not to show her impatience. She glanced to the side to see how their visitor was taking this all in and then back to the scientist. "Dr. Zivaldo, I have the test subject you requested - a canis lupus familiaris." She pointed at the dog. "We're ready to test the machine, remember?"
"Oh right!" he declared, offering the toast to the dog who wolfed it down. "Let's get started then." He took the animal by the leash and started to lead it towards the machine, the entire time humming to himself. The dog, not really caring where it went as long as it got more food, followed the good doctor, tail wagging, and tongue lolling out. Dr. Zivaldo paused near one corner of the machine and frowned as if puzzled by something. "What's that?" he demanded, jabbing a finger at the Kahn Industries logo.
"It's our company logo, sir," someone answered him.
"Company? I work for a company?" He took on a pensive look. "Does it have good health benefits?"
"You'll need them if you don't get the experiment going," the tigress growled, teeth bared.
"Oh right!" the fox exclaimed. Turning to the dog, he was about to ask what it was about before he caught the look on his assistant's face and led the animal onto the small platform.
It was diamond-shaped with a large rod sticking out of one corner. The rod was capped by a blue pulsing orb. Once the golden retriever was in position, he dropped the leash and turned to go but the dog started to follow. "Sit," he commanded, "Stay." The dog gave him a baleful look but did as it was told. Maybe he would get another meal.
"Okay, let's get going!" he shouted and then gaped as a dozen people sprang into action. "Where'd all these people come from?" Shaking the question off, he strode towards the control console. 'No matter, they are all gathered here to see my genius at work!' Climbing onto the control panel, he picked his way towards a large radio dial which was nearly twice as large as he was and started to spin it counterclockwise. Having turned it as far as he could go, Zivaldo turned to an even larger dial and rotated it clockwise a little.
"Stand by!" the scientist declared. The white lab-coated technicians and assistants scattered taking cover under desks and behind filing cabinets. Zivaldo didn't even notice this behavior as he strode towards a large knife switch and pulled it down hard.
Nothing happened.
"Why didn't it work? It worked yesterday," Dr. Zivaldo whined.
While the fox was trying to puzzle out the answer, a rather brave sole hurried over and plugged the machine into the massive wall outlet causing a brief dance of static electricity. Dr. Zivaldo let out a cry of delight and started saying something about the power of his mind but it was lost in the thrumming that the massive machine was emitting. Status lights, some of which no one understood, started blinking. The rods surrounding the dog started to glow. The poor animal lay down and covered its head with its paws.
The first blue orb flashed several times before a bolt of blue-white electricity pulsed from it and slammed into the second orb. The second followed suit before sending its own electrical pulse to the third and so on. The lights began to flicker as the machine drew more power and then in a sudden flash and rush of air, the power condensed and descended onto the golden retriever. The dog let out a howl of fear but it seemed to climb in pitch and became almost mournful. There was a shudder, a bang, and then everything stilled.
The lights in the lab came back to normal and everyone looked around for possible casualties. They were all startled by Dr. Zivaldo shouting and dancing around. "It worked! It worked!" he crowed as he danced up to the platform and scooped up not a fully grown golden retriever but a puppy. "Oh, are you just the cutest thing!" The energetic puppy squirmed free, dropped to the ground, and with a growl started to chase the mad scientist.
Meanwhile, Zivaldo's assistant approached their guest. "Mr. Kahn," she began addressing the impeccably dressed tiger in a black suit, white shirt, and red power tie, "The test was successful."
"Excellent," Shere Kahn replied, pushing himself off of the wall. He regarded the inventor who'd been trapped up against one of the machine's rods by the new puppy. "You've done excellent work, doctor." He smiled slightly. His gamble to hire the eccentric scientist was finally paying off. "See to Dr. Zivaldo, we might need him in the future and..." He stopped upon seeing his personal secretary bustling towards him, a grim look on her face. Dr. Zivaldo's assistant retreated to give the two of them privacy. "Yes?"
"Sir, there are people from the government in your office," the hard-faced woman declared. She sounded displeased. "They practically demanded a meeting in regards to the device."
Shere Kahn controlled his expression and merely nodded. "Thank you. I will see to them." He walked past his secretary and entered the elevator. Turning to the elevator operator, he said, "My office." The operator nodded, quickly closed the doors, and started the elevator.
As he waited for his floor, Kahn mentally frowned. He knew the government of Cape Suzette would likely want this machine. The question was how had they found out about it? Dr. Zivaldo rarely left his lab and when he did, he was under close supervision by Kahn's elite security forces. 'You'll have time to find the leak later,' Kahn told himself,
'Now you have to find out what these men want.' He continued to brood for the rest of the trip up the elevator shaft.
"Your floor, Mr. Kahn." Stepping out of the elevator, the tiger passed through the anteroom of his massive office and then entered into the office proper. There he found several high-ranking military officials as well as what he took to be a bureaucrat.
He took a moment to examine the effect of his office had on those lesser beings before him. Most seemed awed, which was the effect that Kahn wanted. The two story windows that stood behind his desk gave an uninterrupted view of Cape Suzette. The deep red carpeting gave a certain flare to the gold and marble that lined the office's walls. Plants were strategically placed. One for example hid the stairs to the second floor where his library was located, another to his private penthouse residence. He never slept far from the action of his company.
"Gentlemen," he greeted them. The tiger was amused to see them jump. He smiled just enough to show his fangs. He padded down the long red carpet that led to his desk examining his guests.
"Mr. Kahn," an oily looking man began. He was a dog with his black hair parted down the middle. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "So how did the testing go?"
Kahn never broke stride as he walked around the large desk and ensconced himself in the high-backed chair folding his paws. "Testing?"
"Come now, Mr. Kahn," a bulldog major piped in, "Don't play games. We know you were testing a new device that regresses people."
"Your information is incomplete I see," Kahn offered, mentally seething at the leak. "We have not tested the machine on people."
"So you do have such a machine?" This from a mournful looking colonel with drooping ears. His nametag read "Grog".
"We have a prototype, gentlemen," Kahn admitted carefully, "And we did conduct a test today, but it wasn't on a person."
"I see..." the bureaucrat smoothly put in before the colonel could say anything, "Well, Mr. Kahn, we... the Government of Cape Suzette would like to buy the machine from you."
"It's not for sale."
"Come now, be reasonable. Certainly, the offer I made to you over the phone is more than enough to compensate your company for any R&D costs you are out. Plus you would be doing a great service to Cape Suzette."
"It's not for sale, gentlemen," Kahn reiterated more firmly, "Kahn Industries does not sell its prototypes. That is what this machine is."
"We'll just have to take it then, Kahn," the major announced. Kahn narrowed his eyes.
"Take it?" he asked in a silky tone that barely concealed his anger.
"Yes, that PROTOTYPE..." the bulldog stressed, "could be classified as a weapon and THAT falls within the purview of the military."
"It's called 'eminent domain' as you well know," the bureaucrat added with a smirk. "Now, Mr. Kahn, shall we discuss terms?"
Twenty minutes later, Shere Kahn was alone in his office. He stared out of the window overlooking the City of Cape Suzette trying desperately to calm the rage seething inside him. It only took a few moments. Turning back, he lifted the phone and dialed a number. When it was picked up, he said, "Yes, we have a problem. We need something shipped... discreetly." Not waiting for an answer, he replaced the receiver on the hook and steepled his fingers. 'I don't lose... to anyone or anything.'
- - - - -
Baloo Bear listened to the stillness of Higher for Hire, let out a long slow sigh, and closed his eyes. Today had been a hard day. He knew he'd have to patch things up with Rebecca but that could wait for tomorrow. He glanced out the window and noticed that the lights in Wildcat's hut were out. He watched for a moment to see if the mechanic might be headed towards the office but all seemed still and quiet; a buoy in the harbor clanged and a boat's mournful whistle blew.
Stepping back into the gloom of the office, he glanced upstairs to where he shared a room with Kit. The preteen had gone to bed a couple of hours ago. Baloo knew that he should be in his own bed but there was something he wanted to do.
Going over to his favorite chair, he shifted the well-used piece of furniture slightly so he could access a floorboard. Glancing once more at the stairs, he used a finger to pry one of the boards upwards and then reached inside to draw out a small metal box.
The big bear had hidden it previously in the warehouse, at least until Kit had found him stashing money there. Baloo would share a lot with his partner but what was in this box was something that was just for him. Rebecca knew but she never brought it up unless he did... and Baloo rarely did.
Settling himself into the easy chair, the gray bear placed the box gently on his lap and opened it. Reaching inside, he took out a picture and gazed down at the subjects: mother, father... daughter.
Baloo closed his eyes and whispered, "Happy birthday, baby."
Coming next in Chapter 2 "Loading Up"
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