Half-Breed
Chapter One: Fresh Blood
By Emilou AKA Hatashi Kitty
(Author's note: Okay, everyone. This is my first "Mary Sue" story I have ever submitted on . I hope it goes well. I'd like to that everyone who watches my Deviantart page. If it wasn't for the people who was interested in my Road Rovers art and in Mira, I wouldn't have written this story. I hope I can turn out the chapters quickly, but lately I've changed the storyline even after writing chapter summaries. I hope everyone enjoys, and I look forward to your comments.)
"No, it's still not right!"
The owner of the angry voice pushed his notes saw the end results of his latest experiment after trying to improve the transdogmafier. He yelled as he threw his fist into the wall. When he removed his hand, there was a dent. He wasn't hurt, but he still checked to see if the metal digits still worked after his tantrum.
"You'll get it eventually," his assistant comforted in a soothing voice. "You're a brilliant man. You can do it."
"No, I can't!" the man disagreed. "It's all wrong, Groomer. The blue prints he gave me years ago, there's something wrong with them. I can make cano-mutants, and they're loyal to me, but it isn't enough. There's something missing." The man started to cough in fits.
Groomer tried to give the man a lozenge, but was refused. "What's missing, then?"
"I don't know. The professor left something out. Or he added something later on," the man said with an evil glare in his eye. "Something that gives them extra powers."
Groomer opened her eyes wider. "You want to make more Road Rovers, General?"
"No, not Road Rovers," Parvo growled, and threw more stuff onto the floor. "A more powerful and intelligent cano-mutant, but these will be loyal to me. I must know how. It is the only way I can defeat the Road Rovers. And the only one who knows the secret is that dratted Shepherd."
Groomer tapped her lips, and then smiled. She touched General Parvo's arm suggestively. "He may be the only one who knows the secret now. But there may be others who can find out," she told him in a soothing voice.
"Who?" General Parvo asked with interest, his anger subsiding.
Groomer, smiled at him, and moved away with a swing of her hips. "There was an interesting broadcast on the news this evening. I have looked it up on the Internet for you." The Groomer moved to the large screen in the room and opened up the Internet and typed in a website's name. It was one of the larger news channels. She clinked on a few links, and a video clip popped up. "This is it, General."
Parvo sat down in a chair and steepled his fingers together with an expression of deep concentration. It told the Groomer that if he wasn't pleased with her idea, it may become her own short comings.
The video clip played. There were two men on camera. One man was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, and he smiled broadly to the camera with microphone in hand. The other man had short black hair, dark skin and a white lab coat over a black T-shirt that said "I *heart* Science!" Besides the man in the lab coat, a dog sat on the counter. The dog was medium sized with a short muzzle and sharp ears. He was covered it dark grey fur with a lighter coloring on his face, chest, belly, lower tail and legs. The dog was panting with a big smile on his face as his master patted him on the head.
"I am here with Prof. Ravi Patel at the University of Science. Although he has only been a professor here for less than a year, his newest experiments have produced some startling results. Can you please tell us about it, Prof. Patel."
Prof. Patel hesitantly put his head closer to the microphone as it was offered to him, but started to speak. His words came out with a slight Indian accent.
"Well, first I'd like to say that I've been working on this project longer than that. It's actually been almost three years. I have been experimenting with human DNA in canines and visa versa."
The reporter took his microphone back, and looked confused. "Can you tell the viewers what that'll actually do?"
Prof. Patel looked as if he couldn't put it any clearer, and rubbed his chin. "Well, let me tell you what I've come up with so far," Patel told the reporter and turned to the dog on the counter. "I have been using my dog, Dash, here in my experiments. My intentions were to give dogs a more human-like intelligence so that they can understand their owners better. If we can communicate with dogs more, dogs could be trained faster to help out man-kind. Service dogs, police dogs, and guard dogs will be able to serve their owners much more efficiently. And I hope that they may be taught a moral code to follow so that dogs will not become victims of human cruelty. I'm hoping to reduce the amount of dog fighting and abuse by giving dogs the ability to think and choose their owners."
The reporter looked at the camera and gave it a big smile. "That's amazing. And has your experiments worked?"
Prof. Patel once again turned to his dog. "I believe so far Dash is a success as a test subject. His IQ has been raised 50 points in the past year. He can answer simple math questions, recognize over 200 faces according to their picture, remembers what he did weeks ago, he even chooses what he wants to eat for dinner."
Dash barked at this, and wagged his tail.
"He can even write his name," Prof. Patel said. He pulled over a white erase board, and gave Dash a marker in his mouth. The dog moved to the board, and in capital, sloppy letters, wrote his name. "Good boy," Prof. Patel said, and scratched the dog's ears.
"Unbelievable," the reporter said, actually amazed.
"But that's not all," the doctor said, and put away the white board. "I'm also hoping that the experiments will increase the dog's age. I'm sure all dog lovers have buried a dear friend they didn't want to loose. I'm hoping that these experiments will let the dog live longer, and decrease that pain. However, Dash here is only seven years old, still young, so we won't know until maybe over a decade if all goes well."
The reporter nodded. "You also said something about using the same experiments on humans, doctor?"
Patel nodded. "Well, I hope so. Unfortunately, I don't believe that it is ethical to try these experiments on people until I perfected the technique with dogs. Dash is my only subject now, but starting next month, I'm going to try it on several dogs. My intentions are to help people who have lost most of their hearing. Since dogs have such keen ears, perhaps that ability can be transmitted to humans."
"Are you saying that you can cure deafness, doctor?" the reporter asked, looking surprised.
"Well, not really. If the person lost all of their hearing, I couldn't do anything. But even if that person still has even a tiny bit of hearing, I can enhance it," the doctor told the reporter.
"Turn it off. I've seen enough," Parvo said.
The Groomer's attention had been locked on the screen since the report started, and didn't realize how much into it she had been even though she'd seen it all before. It was Parvo's voice that brought her back to reality, and she turned the screen off.
"What do you think, General?" she asked, her voice soft as she wondered how he would take the information.
"That name, Ravi Patel. He seems familiar," the general said, stroking his moustache.
The Groomer picked up a file. "I researched him after seeing the broadcast. This is why I thought you'd be interested in him. He was an intern of Prof. Shepherd. Before Prof. Shepherd disappeared, Prof. Patel was working side by side with Prof. Shepherd as a colleague."
"Yes, that's where I heard his name," General Parvo said, and smiled. "This is good. This is just what I needed, Groomer."
The Groomer smiled, glad that she was helping the General.
"Gather the remaining cano-mutants," Parvo ordered as he stood up. "We're going on a little trip."
Professor Shepherd heard the humming of the coaster pods that transported five particular canines to his underground base. As they arrived one by one, he could hear the padding of paws and the activation of one of his greatest inventions, the transdogmafier. Five dogs went in and came out changed into intelligent, human-like beings that were known as the Road Rovers.
"Blimey, can't we have a mission during a decent hour," Colleen said with a yawn and waved away the mist from the cano-mutator. "A girl needs her beauty sleep."
Her other companions opened their jaws to say something, but she stopped them.
"I better not hear a word about that from you blokes," she told them with a smile.
"It is a little strange to be called out in the middle of the night," Hunter said, tossing his always present tennis ball from one hand to another. "We better see what The Master has for us."
The five Road Rovers moved further into their head quarters to the war room where they received their mission profiles from The Master. As they walked, they were joined by the other resident of the compound, and a strange sight for anyone not familiar with him.
"Hey Muzzle. How's it going, buddy?" Hunter spoke in baby talk to the rottweiler as it bounced closer in his gurney. He patted the dog's head. "Sorry, buddy. I can't play now. We've got a mission. I'll see if you can come with us."
Muzzle grunted with pleasure at the thought of being able to accompany the Road Rovers on their missions. And if it was a really good mission, they might let him attack bad people.
As the group passed by muzzle, one shirked back from the foaming mouth of the rottweiler.
"We don't need him to come. You have me to take care of the biting of bad guy tooshies," Blitz said with pride.
Exile rolled his eyes. "This suppose to reassure us?" he asked in his heavy accent.
Blitz glared at the husky, but didn't say anything more. He was too tired to argue or defend himself.
"I'm sorry for the early wake up, but I'm afraid it was urgent, Road Rovers," Prof. Shephdrd told the cano-sapiens as they entered the war chamber and sat down. "This couldn't wait any longer."
"What is it, Master?" Hunter asked, looking concerned. "Are we finally going to rescue those poor dogs from Paris Hilton?"
"Jolly good. It's about time," Colleen added, as she practiced her karate in her seat.
"Uh. . .no," Shepherd said with a sigh, his hopes of the Road Rovers being serious for once failing. "There is quite a bit of information that you need to know before I can explain how dire the situation is."
Prof. Shepherd used a remote to turn the lights off and turn on the computer screen. "This was broadcasted on the ten o' clock news only a few hours ago." He turned on the news report.
As soon as the video clip started, Shag rummaged through his fur to pull out a large bowl of popcorn. It wasn't long before all five Rovers were reaching over their companions to get a handful as they watched the news broadcast of Prof. Ravi Patel's experiments.
Once the clip was over, Shepherd turned the lights back on. "What do you think, Rovers?" he asked, curious if they understood what it implied.
Colleen looked deep in thought. "The acting was good, but I felt as if the director could have done better. I give it one thumb up," she said with a big smile and raised one thumb.
Shepherd sighed again. "Rovers, this is bad news for us. So far, Parvo's cano-mutants have limited intelligence and powers; this is because my blue prints from three years ago were elementary compared to the transdogmafier I made that transformed you. But that could all change if he gets a hold of Prof. Patel. Prof. Patel was a colleague of mine, and he would have the know-how to improve the transdogmafier."
The seriousness of the situation sunk into the Road Rovers.
"If I know Parvo," Prof. Shepherd went on, "he'll be after Prof. Patel as soon as he saw this broadcast. If Parvo succeeds, we'll be facing a new army of Parvo's, one that is just as strong or stronger as you, Road Rovers. You need to get to the professor first, and stop Parvo from succeeding."
Hunter stood up and saluted. "We won't fail you, Master. Road Rovers, let's head out."
Exile quickly followed. He looked back at the others and shouted. "Hey, comrades. Get iron out, while we still young-sky."
Blitz wrinkled his sharp nose at the husky's words. "Am I the only one who never understands what that guy says?" he asked Colleen.
Colleen looked surprised to see Blitz near her. "Oh, I'm sorry, but do I know you?" she asked with indifference.
"It's Blitz. You know I'm Blitz," the doberman told her, his voice whining a bit.
"Blitz?" Colleen tried it on her tongue. "Are you sure? I could have sworn it was something else. Like Sophia."
"But that's a girl's name," Blitz told her in frustration.
"That it is, and a very pretty one for you," Colleen said with a big smile, and patted Blitz on the head before walking away.
Blitz sighed. "It's too early for this bit," he muttered to himself, and followed Exile into the street rover.
Shepherd had his hand over his forehead, and shook his head. "They're competent. They're competent," he reassured himself.
The University of Science was quiet. No one was on campus save for Ravi Patel and a few campus guards who were only retired police officers that wanted an easy job. He preferred these conditions. Without the students dogging him about their papers, he could get involved in his work without any interruptions. However, once on a roll, he often forgot about the things he needed such as food and sleep. It wasn't unusual for him to work this late into the night. In rare occurrences, he had worked himself nearly into the ground. The only thing that would save him from his own genius was Dash.
Dash loved his master,m and did what he could to help his master with his work. He understood little about the work, but he knew it was very important. He also knew his master's limits, and tried to help the professor whenever he could.
Dash grabbed Ravi's lab coat in his teeth and pulled gently.
Prof. Patel looked down at the canine through magnified goggles, and then lifted up the goggles to see better. "What is it, Dash?"
Dash ran over to the wall, and looked up at the clock while barking.
"Is that really the time?" Ravi asked, looking at his own watch. "It is a little late."
Dash barked again.
"Let me just finish this last thing," Ravi told Dash, and went back to his work.
Dash knew what that meant. It meant that Prof. Patel would finish that last thing, and then start on something else while he was at it, and maybe something else. Dash bit into Patel's lab coat again and tugged harder while growling. He meant business.
"Okay, buddy. We'll go," Prof. Patel said, and set down all his instruments. "Where would I be without you?" he asked the dog with a smile, and patted the silky fur.
Dash barked as he realized his master was going to do as he wanted him to. He turned around a few times, and ran to the door of the lab.
"Hold on, Dash. Let me grab my bag and then we'll go. Good thing it's a weekend. I wouldn't want to lecture tomorrow after tonight," he said, suddenly feeling tired. Getting a good night's rest sounded really good right now. After grabbing his bag, he opened the door and let Dash out.
The dog scampered down the tiled hall, ready for a little exercise before going home. Dash sniffed around the halls, picking up new and old scents, but never going too far away from his master. Dash knew how to behave like a good dog, and rarely had to be on a leash except in places he wasn't familiar with or in large crowds. He never tried to run away or was aggressive toward people or other dogs; he knew better.
Once outside, Ravi pulled a frisbee out of his bag. "Hey, Dash. Look what I have," he said, and waved the flourescent green disk in his hand.
Dash's ears perked up at the sight of the disk, and barked excitedly.
Prof. Patel threw the frisbee, and watched Dash chase after it while he walked to his car. It saddened him that to and from work were some of the few times he could play with Dash, but he promised both himself and his dog that once this research was over, they'd go on a vacation. Perhaps to a log cabin, somewhere that Dash would love to go.
"Prof. Patel, I presume?" a female voice with an Irish accent asked.
Patel spun around quickly, and two figures standing in the darkness. He could have sworn they weren't there before. And he didn't hear them walk up to him. "Uh. . .yes, that's me," he stuttered, nervous by their sudden appearance.
The male figure reached out his right hand for a handshake. "We've been wanting to speak with you Professor," a deep voice said.
Patel extended his own hand, and almost pulled it back when he felt cold metal clamp over his. "Speak with me? About what?" he asked, dropping the handshake. He tried to look at the two figure's faces, but they stayed in the shadows.
"It's about your research," the male figure continued on. "It's quite brilliant. I'm interested in discussing the connection with Prof. Shepherd's own work."
Ravi narrowed his eyes. "Prof. Shepherd? You're familiar with his work?" he asked, trying to keep his tone calm as he recalled his last conversation with his colleague.
"Yes, very familiar," the male voice continued.
Ravi rubbed the back of his head, and relaxed his stance nonchalantly. "I haven't heard from him in over two years. But much of my research is based on his own work. I would be willing to continue this discussion tomorrow. May I have your name?" he asked.
"Parvo," the male voice stated after a moment's hesitation.
Prof. Patel tried not to react to that name as he remembered the night that he last saw his old friend and his dog Scout.
Once the male visitor had said his name, details of the night Shepherd disappeared came to Ravi's recollection. The dog-napping, the exchange of the blue prints of Shepherd's latest machine, it was all very clear.
"Excellent," Ravi said with a smile. "Let me give you a business card, and you can set up an appointment with my assistant." He reached into his bag.
"I'm afraid that we're going to need more of your time than that," the female voice told him, her voice darker than before. "In fact, we're going to need you to come with us." She held up a gun, the barrel peeking out of the shadows and gleaming in the streetlights.
Ravi reacted as he thought they would expect him to. He took a step back, and looked scared. "I don't want any trouble. Please, take my wallet and go," he told them. He felt further into his bag, and found what he wanted. Before they could tell him they didn't want his wallet, he threw at their feet a couple of homemade smoke bombs. They went off with sparks and smoke billowing all around the two. Ravi didn't waste any of the time he bought, and ran for the building he had just exited.
He whistled and called for Dash.
The dog had been watching his master talk to the strangers while holding the frisbee in his mouth. He didn't try to bother his master when he was talking to other humans, so he had stayed back for a while. He also didn't like the smell of the other humans. They had a strong scent of dog on them, but it didn't smell right. It made his nervous. But once his master threw the smoke bombs and started running, Dash was running after his master even before being called.
Prof. Patel rammed his key into the lock and turned. Once both he and Dash were inside, he locked it behind him once more, hoping that would stop Parvo for a while.
As they ran back to the lab, Dash's heart quickened. He didn't know what was going on, but he could smell fear from his master, and that made him scared as well. With his heightened canine brain, he could only make out one thing; those two humans that were talking to his master were bad.
They made it to the lab, and Ravi locked the door behind him. Once there, he started gathering his important documents. Data disks, notebooks full of small, scratchy words and blueprints went into his bag. After that, he went over to his big filing cabinet and pushed it aside. This was a huge feat for him since it weighed more than he did, and he wasn't know for being an athlete. Once moved, the wall revealed another exit from the lab.
There was a loud bang at the lab door. Both dog and master turned to look, and another bang came almost immediately after the first.
"Come on, Dash. Let's go," Ravi called, and opened the secret door with a code on the keypad lock. "Come."
Dash went to his master's side just as the lab door was knocked in.
Ravi gasped in surprise as he saw what came through. They were large dogs that stood on their hind legs, snarling and growling as they locked eyes on him. Ravi started to close the door when Dash growled back at the dog monsters and leapt at them.
"No Dash!" Patel shouted at his dog as Dash attacked. He tried to grab the dog's collar, but Dash was too quick. He watched in horror as his dog, who's back didn't even come to Ravi's knees, tried to take on the monster dogs that easily stood six feet tall. "Dash, come back," he called as he saw Dash leap around the monsters, biting and snapping at them.
Then Dash did something completely unexpected. He turned his head and looked at his master with a piercing glare. He barked, then growled before turning back to the monsters.
Ravi couldn't believe what he had seen. It seemed almost as if Dash had been telling him to leave without his dog. Could Dash have grown that intelligent?
"I made you too smart," he muttered, and closed the secret door behind him. The door opened to a staircase that led to a tunnel that was below the university's basements. At the bottom of the staircase was a tunnel that led to a ladder with an exit disguised man hole cover behind a pizza parlor. Also at the bottom of the staircase were two buttons. One of those buttons would erase all the data on his computers. The other would start a series of small explosions that would destroy the rest of his work. These two buttons, the homemade smoke bombs, and even the backpack full of survival merchandise that he had placed in the tunnel were all precautions he had set up in advance. Prof. Patel couldn't forget what had happened to his friend, and knew if he continued on with his work, the same might happen to him. He had planned for Parvo to come after him in advanced.
"You won't get any of my work," Patel growled, and hit the first button as he rushed down the stairs. It would only take a few seconds for his data to erase. But his thumb wavered over the second button. He thought of what he had left behind. His dog had sacrificed himself to let his master get away. It seemed to be built into a dog's genetic make-up to be self-sacrificing. Dash was willing to die for him. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't destroy his lab, even if it meant that Parvo would have his experiments. If there was any chance for Dash to live and escape, he had to give his dog that chance.
Patel picked up the bag he had left on the bottom step, opened it up to retrieve a flashlight, and ran down the tunnel.
And if Dash didn't make it, he swore he would make Parvo pay for it.
General Parvo looked around the lab. The cano-mutants had done a little damage to the equipment as they battled the professor's dog, but most of it looked intact. That seemed to be the best news.
"The cano-mutants have come back through the tunnel," Groomer told him with a salute. "They came back empty handed. Patel is gone."
Parvo felt the anger surge through him, and he had a desire to smash something. But the equipment in the lab was too precious to waste. Instead, he kept it to himself.
"And have you looked in the professor's computer?" he asked, his voice shaky from rage.
"Yes, General," Groomer said in the voice that already told bad news. "Everything's been erased, sir."
Parvo growled. "He was expecting us," he speculated. "He was well-prepared. What of his dog?"
"We did capture the professor's dog," Groomer said with a small smile. "He was a tough little mongrel, but he's on a leash now." She gestured her had to where a bull dog cano-mutant held Dash on a leash, growling as the little dog growled and snapped back. "We can use him as bait to lure the professor out of hiding," she suggested.
Parvo rubbed his chin. "No. The professor left his dog behind, so there is no guarantee that he'll come back for him. I have another idea." General Parvo looked around the lab. "Have the cano-mutants grab all that they can, and quickly get them out of here. The police could be hear any minute, and I wouldn't doubt if the Road Rovers came before them. And bring the dog as well."
ABBA's Dancing Queen blared through the radio just as the digital clock turned to 5:00. A few labored seconds later, a lazy hand reached out and pressed the snooze button. Five minutes later, Dancing Queen turned on again, and the hand flopped out to press the button again. The third time the song started up, a body rose from the bed with a lazy stretch and yawn.
"Oh, crap," Mira Cerar muttered under her breath as she looked at the clock, and jumped out of bed.
The young woman hurried through a quick shower, dressed and started running around her small apartment looking for everything she'd need throughout the day. As she moved around, she kept muttering to herself reminders of what she had to remember. She also kept glancing at her calender, looking at today's date which was circled in bright pink and written in the square "Audition at 1:00 P.M.". She excitedly dance around her apartment picking up a dufflebag near the door, her purse and a set of car keys that was on the couch.
"Okay, I have the address, I have my cloths, keys, purse, lunch and map. What else do I need?" Mira asked herself, looking around anxiously. She looked at her clock. "Uurr, I'm going to be late!" With that, she ran out of the door. A few seconds later, she was unlocking the door to go back inside. She rushed to her bedroom, and picked up her dancing shoes and a necklace next to the shoes. "Can't forget you two, now can I?" she said to the shoes as she shoved them into her dufflebag. She pause at a round mirror hung on the wall to put on her necklace that was a black choker with a bright pink metal heart that looked like a dog tag. She kissed her fingers, pressed them to the heart and said, "Wish me luck, Shadow." Then she ran out the door.
Hunter looked over the lab one more time. There was no doubt in his mind that Parvo and the Groomer had arrived there first, and the results didn't look good for his team. The lab was picked clean of every piece of equipment and scrap of paper that survived the wreckage. The computers were smashed.
"Huntie, I finished questioning the campus police. They heard a commotion around four o' clock this morning. Parvo beat us by an hour," Colleen reported, looking quite serious.
Hunter tried to smile as he usually did, but he only managed a grim look. "If only we didn't try his house first," he muttered. "Is there anything else we missed?"
"I found something," Exile told his leader. "I was looking outside, and found footprint. The mud, it smelled different." The husky held out a plastic bag with samples of the mud.
Hunter smiled, looking just like his old self, the grim look disappearing. "Good dog, Exile. We can send this back to headquarters and have it analyzed. Maybe we'll be able to find out where Parvo's base is."
"Then we can go rescue the professor," Colleen said with crossed arms.
"Exactly."
"Good. All this looking around and detective stuff is so boring," Blitz said, and kicked some debris. "Let's hurry up and get to the tooshie biting."
"Whoa, keep it on a leash for now, Blitz," Hunter told the doberman. "Let's go, Road Rovers. The more time we waste, the longer Prof. Patel is in danger. Come on, Shag."
The fifth Road Rover was away from the group, and sniffing around the lab much like a dog should. However, he had picked up a scent, and was now whining at the far wall of the lab.
"Shag? What's wrong, buddy?" Hunter asked, his head tilted to the side.
"Rah rah rararararah rah rah rah," Shag called to his leader.
"Really? I had no idea that you were an Eagles fan," Hunter said with a smile.
"Rah rah," Shag said with a nod. And then pointed to the wall. "Rah rah rah rarararah rah rah rara rah."
"What? You also think that Parvo doesn't have the professor?" Hunter inquired, and rushed the Shag's side. "What did you find?"
Shag sniffed around the wall, and then put his paws against a small crack and pulled away a section of the wall.
"Whoa!" Hunter exclaimed as he looked down the stairs. "A secret exit. I would not have predicted this."
"Uh, Huntie. I think that's why it's called a 'secret' exit," Colleen pointed out.
"Oh, yeah," Hunter admitted with good humor. "New plan, Rovers. Shag and Colleen, you take the sky rover, and take that sample back to HQ. Blitz, Exile and I will follow this passage way. If the professor is still free, we'll find him. Call us once you find out about that sample."
"Righto," Colleen said with a quick salute before they split up.
"Hey there, handsome. How have you been, Titan?"
The great dane barked excitedly and wagged his tail, knowing that he was being complimented.
"Are you ready for a day of doggy daycare? Huh, are ya buddy?"
The middle aged man that held onto the great dane's leash chuckled. "It amazes me how much that mutt seems to understand ya, Mira. I could swear that you must speak dog."
Mira laughed too, but she didn't laugh long. "It's a gift," she said with a shrug. She took the leash from the man, and led the great dane back. "Try to be on time today, Mr. Smith. I'm only working a half day today, so I can't stay late."
"Alrighty, Mira. Bye Titan."
The large dog said good-bye to his master, and then followed Mira into the pet hotel with his nose to the ground inhaling the new scents.
As Mira led Titan through the building to a kennel, another employee came by with a bulldog. At the sight of the bigger dog, the bulldog's hackles raised, and a threatening growl came from his muzzle. The other employee immediately pulled back on the bulldog's leash. Titan, in response to the bulldog's, tensed up and raised his own hackles.
Mira felt the emotion of the great dane, and stopped. With her hand on the large dog's head, she told him in a gentle voice, "Hey, none of that."
Titan, who was tall enough to look Mira in the eye, did, and lowered his hackles with an apologetic whine.
"Sit, Titan," Mira told the great dane. "Hey, what's your name?" she asked, moving her head toward the employee and the bulldog.
"Uh. . .it's John," the employee told her as he held back the bulldog.
As soon as Mira started speaking in his direction, the bulldog stopped growling.
"Bring Spud over here, but very slowly. Stand up straight, and keep calm," Mira told John, gesturing with her hand for him to come forward.
John hesitated, but did as he was told, although he kept his back hunched as if anticipating the bulldog to lunge forward.
"That's it. Take it easy," Mira said, her voice going softer. Her eyes were on the bulldog. "See, he's not so scary. He's just a bigger dog. But he's friendly."
Titan wagged his tail as if to show that Mira wasn't lying.
The bulldog came forward slowly, and when the two were close enough, they reached out and sniffed noses, Titan's tail still wagging.
"See, there's nothing to be scared of. This is Titan, Spud. We're all friends here," Mira said, and knelt down to pet the bulldog. "That's a good boy."
"You must have worked here a long time to be able to remember Spud's name," John said, trying to make conversation with the woman. "I just started two weeks ago, and I can't even remember just the people's names," he said with a laugh.
"Well, I've been here for a very long time," Mira said, still petting Spud. "But I find it easier to remember the dogs' names then the people. I've seen some people quit after a month, and nobody stays longer than a year or two. But some of these dogs have been coming here for years. They're more familiar to me," Mira told John.
After letting the two dogs sniff each other a bit longer, the two parted.
I liked him.
Mira tried not to react to the voice in her head. She didn't hear the dogs very often, most of the time she'd just receive feelings or images that the dog was thinking. But every once in a while, a dog would say something. That's how she knew Spud's name. She wasn't asking John what his name was, she was asking the dog. But John didn't know, and it worked out alright. And it made her job easier.
"Spud's a good dog. I'll see if you can play ball with him today, okay?" Mira told Titan.
Titan wagged his tail.
The gift worked both ways. While dogs could understand the tone of human voices, they seemed to understand Mira's words exactly. That made things very easy. Not only did it give her an advantage over the other employees, but the owners of the dogs could see that their dogs were calmer and more obedient around her. They requested her, and often would come during her shifts for advice. She was also a trainer, and her classes were always packed and had a waiting list.
She didn't keep her ability a secret, in fact the more people gossiped about her the more the seemed to respect her. She's been called many names, "pet psychic" "dog whisperer" and other mysterious names. The local paper wrote about her and the New Jersey newscasters interviewed her a few times. She didn't think it was a big deal, but she never tried to truly cash in on her gift like those other pet psychics. She wasn't that kind of person.
Mira smiled, and thought that if she wanted to, she could easily continue living this way. She was making good money on her own with her gift. If she wanted to, she could make even more solely as a trainer. But she didn't want to. As much as she loved this job, she had other dreams. It was nice that she had something to fall back on, but there was more to life than working with dogs.
As she put Titan in a kennel and made sure he had plenty of water, she thought about what she had to look forward to in the afternoon. In just a few hours, she'd leave Trenton, New Jersey in her parents car that she had borrowed for the day, and head out to New York City. This was her chance of a life time to get to her dreams. If everything went according to plan.
The cano-mutants finished unloading the equipment from the professor's lab into the main room of the large base. Parvo rubbed his hands as he examined a few of the larger samples.
"This is good. This is really good," he said, and opened up the circuit board of one of the machines. "I can see the similarities between his and Shepherd's work. If only I had enough time to study them, I could probably figure out how they work."
"Don't you have enough time, General?" Groomer asked with a concerned look.
"I doubt it," Parvo muttered. "We moved so quickly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Road Rovers are able to follow us. I won't underestimate Shepherd's pets again."
"Then what should we do?"
Parvo twisted one side of his long mustache. "It'll be impossible to find Prof Patel now, and I doubt he'll try to negotiate his dog back. . ." Parvo muttered to himself. As he thought, his eyes moved to the scientist's dog who was tied up in a corner and pulling on his leash. "The dog. . .," he muttered. "That dog has a raised IQ. If Patel kept him around during his experiments, the dog would know which machine does what."
Dash suddenly looked at the large man, and moved further away as if trying to be unseen.
"That's a lot for a dog to remember," Groomer argued politely. "This is high tech equipment. Not to mention, some of it must have security codes."
"He doesn't need to remember everything. Just the device that the professor used on him." Parvo smiled darkly down at Dash, watching the dog shirk under his scrutiny. "I think he does. You know what I'm talking about."
Groomer did not like to contradict the General's plan, but she had to. "Then how will we get the information from him? Turning him into a cano-mutant would be a bad idea. There's no telling how his already enhanced DNA would react to the machine."
"You're right," Parvo said, and moved to the computer console. "But lucky for us, I have an abundance of research at our disposal. I've been keeping track of certain individuals that have shown. . . rare abilities that can be of use to me." He looked through his folders and finally pulled out a data file. The file revealed a picture of a young woman with black hair, green eyes and dark complexion. Next to her picture was a column of data, including her name, address, and where she worked. She was the closest to their base.
"This girl is the one I need. You are to bring her to me, Groomer. Unharmed," Parvo ordered as he printed out the information. "And you are to do it quickly. We can't waste any time."
Groomer took the printout and saluted. "Aye, General. I'll do as you ask."
Mira looked at her watch for the nth time that day. It was almost time for her to clock out. She finished grooming the dog she was working on before taking it back to its kennel. Then she'd clean up and get out of there.
"Hey, shouldn't you be leaving here, girl," an older woman called to Mira.
"I'm just finishing up, then I'm gone," Mira called back, pulling the dog with her.
"Well, good luck. We're all rooting for you," the woman called again before disappearing down the hall.
Mira could feel her heart pumping faster as she moved the dog she was working on back to its kennel. Then she went to the locker room to change into her dance clothes.
This was it. A chance to live her dream. In a few hours, she'd be in the outskirts of New York City. The dance studio she was trying out in wasn't too deep into the city, which she was grateful for.
Once dressed, she moved to the mirror had started putting on make-up. Because of her darker skin and distant Asian blood, she did look a few years younger than her twenty-one years. If she put on her old school uniform, she could pass as seventeen, maybe sixteen, but that would be a stretch. She was sure this was one of the reasons she made it to second call on the dance audition. She wasn't very tall like most of the dancers, but she made that up in skill. She had been dancing since she was three years old, and took every kind of class there was. She knew ballet, hip hop, ballroom, salsa and everything in-between. And she was sure her ethnic features didn't hurt her chances as well. Most directors now a-days were afraid of hiring a mostly white dance line for fear of being criticized, but now tried to have a wide variety of skin colors. Even if that was the only reason for her making it to the top, she'd take it. Finally she brushed her hair and pulled it back. She added some gel to make sure some of the smaller strands didn't fall out into her face, and made her hair shinier. She then applied make up, hiding some of her adolescent blemishes before putting her make-up away.
Finally, the last thing she did was take out her hearing aid. She looked at it, using tissue to wipe it off even if she had just cleaned it last night. She checked the batter, even though she replace it recently. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect. If her hearing aid stopped working, she wouldn't be able to hear the music very well. And without music, she couldn't dance with the beat. Her hearing aid was the most important thing right now, so she gave it more attention to it than to her looks. She had hearing troubles all her life, and didn't know a time without the hearing aid. As time went on, her hearing grew worse and worse. Eventually, the doctors told her she would become permanently deaf. That could happen in twenty years or two. If she was going to live through her dreams, now was the time. She had to act now.
She loved to dance, and did not look forward to the time when she'd loose her hearing altogether. What would she do then? Her entire life would change. It didn't bother her that she wouldn't be able to talk the same way with her friends and family. It didn't bother her that her job might have to change, even though she was sure she could still hear dog's thoughts. It didn't even bother her that she might have to learn sign language. But it was devastating to think that without her hearing, dancing would not be the same.
She took one more look at herself in the mirror, and nodded as what she saw before putting her hearing aid back into her ear. She worse jeans and a jacket over her dancing clothes so she wouldn't look strange as she walked out. She picked up her work clothes and shoved them into her bag, took her keys, and headed out the door. She said good-bye to a few co-workers, smiling as they told her good luck before heading out the door.
As she revved up her parent's Civic that she borrowed for this one day, she was so preoccupied with getting to New York that she didn't notice a black car with a black haired woman in sunglasses watching her, and following her as she pulled out of the parking lot.
Hunter, Blitz and Exile stood outside a wooden cabin in a small grove of trees. From the secret passageway, they followed the scent of Prof. Patel out from the man hole cover, across several blocks to a bus station. They believed that he would have bought a bus ticket, but after asking the ticket counter they learned that no one of Prof. Patel's description bought a ticket anywhere. They had been stumped, not knowing why the professor would come to a bus station and not take a bus. It was only after asking around did they found a police officer remember seeing the professor. After shaking off the shock of speaking to talking dogs, he told the Road Rovers that Patel had taken a taxi from the station. It seemed like the professor knew how to give pursuers the slip, and left them a dead end.
As they wondered what to do next, Exile went onto the Rover computer system in the street rover to find out if the professor had any relatives nearby or bought any property. He didn't have any luck since most of Patel's family was in India, and he lived in a one bed-room apartment in the city. However, he had a last minute inspiration, and looked up property rights under the name of Dash. There was one hit, a few acres in a forested area a few hours out of town. And that's how they found the cabin.
"Now remember, Rovers. If Patel is in there, he may not realize that we're the good guys," Hunter told the two other dogs. "Be good dogs. No heat rays, ice beams or biting."
"Okie-pokie," Exile told his leader.
"Not even a little biting?" Blitz asked with ears down.
"No, not even a nibble," Hunter told Blitz. "Well, maybe a little if he offers us a treat or a chew toy, then you can."
Hunter led the way toward the cabin with his hands up above his head. When he was a few yards away, he called out, "Professor Patel. If you are in there, we'd like to talk to you. We come in peace."
There was the sound of glass shattering, and then some gun shots.
The Rovers fell to the ground to avoid getting shot.
"We may come in peace, but he is not," Blitz told Hunter.
"Yeah, we're waggin' our tails, but he still thinks we're from Parvo," Hunter agreed. "How can we show him we're on his side?"
"We show him yellow flag?" Exile suggested.
"Um. . .I guess," Hunter murmured. Then his eyes widened as he thought of something. "Professor Patel, please stop," he shouted. "We're sent here from Professor Shepherd. He sent us to find and protect you."
The shooting stopped.
"What do you know of Professor Shepherd?" Patel shouted from the cabin.
"We're the Road Rovers. We're the good guys," Blitz shouted, and whined from his place on the ground.
"I don't believe you," the professor yelled from the broken window. "You're one of those dog freaks that Parvo had with him."
The Road Rovers dodged a few more bullets before they yelled their complaints.
"Now that was just uncalled for."
"I won't even bit his tooshie even if he paid me."
"He is big stupid headsky."
However, their protests only made the professor shoot more lead at them. The cano-sapiens finally retreated back behind their vehicle for protection.
"What are we going to do, comrade? He is in there tighter than Fort Blocks," Exile told his leader.
Hunter smiled at the husky. "I would love to see you try to get a green card," he said.
Exile scratched his head. "What does this have to do with football?"
Before anyone could say another word, a ringing noise stopped them. The three cano-sapiens looked up, and saw the phone in the speed rover was ringing. Hunter reached out and picked it up.
"Road Rover's hotline, this is Hunter speaking," the golden retriever said with an upbeat tone before dodging yet another bullet aimed at his head.
"I'm sorry. Did I call at a bad time?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Nah, Colleen. We're just hanging out, and waiting for Prof Patel to run out of bullets," Hunter told her.
"Oh, good. Listen, we analyzed the dirt we found at the University. Apparently it comes from only one spot. The area around Niagra Falls," Colleen said.
"Wait a minute," Hunter said, looking serious. "USA or Canada side?"
"Um, does it matter?"
"Yeah, it does. I left my passport at home."
"Well, you're sneaking across the border, mate. Shag's done some research, and apparently a lot of reports of large dog-like creatures around Ontario. I'm betting that Parvo has his base somewhere nearby."
"Of course. We'd never suspect he'd go there."
"We'll swing by to pick you up, Huntie. Be there before tea."
"We still have a situation here, so no rush." Just before Hunter put the phone back in the car, he thought of something. "Hey, Colleen. Can you put The Master on the phone?"
"Here he is."
There was a pause in the conversation.
"Hello?"
"Master, you said that you were once colleagues with Prof Patel."
"Yes, I did."
"You may be the only one to persuade him that we're the good guys," Hunter told the Master. "He doesn't believe that we're here to help him."
"Pleeeeaaaassse," Blitz whined as he shoved his snout near the phone. "I like myself the way it is, without holes."
"I'm with weird boy," Exile spoke loudly. "We don't want to be hurting him or ourselves."
There was a slight pause on the phone. "Yes, I'll talk to him. If you could just get the phone to him."
"Can do, Master," Hunter said, and took off with lightning speed leaving behind a trail of flames. Not even a second later, Hunter was in the cabin right behind Patel. Without making a sound, he put the phone on the floor and ran out back behind the speed rover.
From their place of safety, the three cano-sapiens heard the phone ring a few times before it stopped.
"Why didn't you run in there and stop him? You're fast enough you could have taken his gun," Blitz told Hunter with an angry look.
Hunter shrugged. "He's not the bad guy here. He's obviously scared of us, so I didn't want to do anything that would make him fight back. He's more likely to hurt himself than one of us."
Blitz was about to snap a retort when the cabin door swung open. The professor slowly came out of the cabin with weary eyes on the Road Rovers, his gun still in hand. The cano-sapiens huddled behind their vehicle in case the human started shooting them again.
"You're the Road Rovers?" the professor asked in a raspy tone, the glare in his eyes suggested that he'd know if they were lying.
"We are," Hunter told him, and Blitz and Exile nodded.
"Prof Shepherd, he said you'd help me," Patel said, looking down at the phone in his other hand.
"Da, we here to protect you," Exile confirmed.
"I don't want protecting," Patel almost shouted, and cleared his throat. "I want you to help me get my dog back." He raised the gun up to point at them. "Now."
The Groomer thought of taking the woman captive soon after they both left the city, but since they were heading closer to the base, she took her time. She placed a bug in the woman's car before she went in, and wanted to know about this woman. Why did her General want her? What did she have that he wanted?
At first guess, she wondered if Parvo thought her skills as a dog trainer would work, but that didn't make any sense. The transdogmafier made the cano-mutants completely obedient and loyal to Parvo, so why would he need a dog trainer? And it didn't matter how good the dog trainer was, she still couldn't make a dog talk.
Groomer went into the business for a while to get a good look at the girl, and immediately dismissed any ideas of jealousy on her part. She knew that they both weren't going to win any beauty pageants, but this Mira looked frumpy and unkempt. But once the young woman had walked out of the door with hair pulled back and make-up on, she looked different, pretty. And that's when Groomer's thoughts turned in a whole different direction.
Did General Parvo had any hidden motives for wanting this girl? She was exotic to look at with her darker skin and had a great body. Not to mention, she was far younger than the Groomer.
Groomer shook her head to clear away these thoughts. No, her General wasn't like that. He had his eyes set on one thing, and that was the world. He didn't look at any other woman but her. And she would make sure of that.
Mira's car took an exit onto another highway, and Groomer checked her GPS. They were now heading away from the base. She had to act now.
Stepping on the gas, the Groomer zoomed forward until she was side-by-side with the civic. Then she sharply turned her wheel and ran her car into the other one, forcing both of them onto the right shoulder. She saw the civic immediately slow down and stop. The Groomer did the same.
"I'm so terribly sorry," the Groomer said as she jumped out of the car. "I fell asleep at the wheel. Are you alright?"
The other woman's eyes were very large, and she was breathing heavily, clenching the wheel. After a moment, she stepped out of the car too. "Yeah, I think I'm alright. Fetch, my parents are going to kill me. This is their car."
"Oh my," the Groomer feigned shock. "But it was my fault. Let me give you my insurance information, and we'll get this fixed up."
The Groomer's soothing words made the other woman calm down a bit, and she followed the older woman. "Yes, let me find my insurance as well." She went back into her car, and grabbed the certificate before following the Groomer to her car. She was holding her head with one hand as she did.
"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" the Groomer asked with a false look of concern. "Do you need to go to a hospital?"
Mira shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just a head ache from being jostled. I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry. I have an appointment to keep."
The were right outside of the Groomer's open door. "That is a shame that you're going to miss it," she said her voice changing.
"What?" Mira asked, giving the older woman a strange look before the older woman's hand hit the tender spot between the neck and shoulder, rendering Mira unconscious.
As the other woman slumped, Groomer caught the dead weight, and quickly pushed the body into the car. She looked around quickly to see if anyone else noticed, and then slid in after Mira. She quickly pulled back into traffic, and then pulled off the first exit to find an empty road. There, she would summon her aircraft to pick her up along with the targe,t and head back to base.
The General will be pleased.