IX

The safe house was an ordinary brownstone tenement at the corner of Block and Howell. It wasn't as upscale as the rest of the neighborhood, but it was a far cry from the slums and shantytowns that had once occupied the area during the depression. Jake and Chance both wore suits. It was considered prudent not to show up in uniform. They were greeted at the door by a giant, imposing, kat wearing bib-overalls. "Good day." he politely boomed. "Chance, how are you?" he said holding his hand out to the correct kat.

"I'm well, thank you. This is my partner Jake Shorthair." The giant stranger extended his paw.

"And this must be little Caitlin." He kneeled down and shook her paw, almost completely enveloping it in his. For such an imposing figure, he seemed to have a very gentle nature. "Please come in." The trio entered and Caitlin immediately ran into the arms of a much older she-kat.

"Mommy!" she shouted as the two embraced.

"Caitlin!" Jake's heart started to melt as he watched the two. He had a soft spot for family reunions.

"Jake. I want you to meet Seth Bluepaw." said Chance. Jake reached forward and gripped Seth's massive hand.

"Nice to meet you. So what do you do Seth?"

"I'm the angel Gabriel." Jake raised his eyebrow. "Come. I'll show you. Besides, we should leave these two alone." he said as he pointed to Caitlin and her mother. Seth led the pair upstairs to a single bedroom. Seth opened the closet and grabbed the bar from which a number of coats hung. After a few good jerks, he managed to retract it reached inside the tiny hole that had been revealed. After a few seconds of fiddling, he found the switch and flipped it, causing the secret door on his right to pop open. "Step into my office." Jake and Chance both ducked their heads and emerged in a room filled with computer equipment and digital radios.

"Ah, now I get it." said Jake. Seth sat down in a chair behind the desk where the CPU for all the equipment rested.

"Yep, I'm mouth and ears of the resistance of Megakat City. It used to be that we would use this to keep in touch with other cells. But ever since the Ursalians took an interest in this, we've had to expand to get messages from overseas."

"I guess that makes you my best friend." said Jake. Chance pretended to pout. "Next to you of course." Chance laughed then removed the cell phone from his pocket that had been vibrating.

"Who's that?" asked Seth.

"I don't know. It's either Phil Hima or someone talking about Phil Hima. I got to go outside." Chance left the room, leaving the two newly acquainted allies to make conversation.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Seth.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here helping us, Mr. Shorthair?"

"I suppose it would have to be because of my mother."

"Your mother?"

"My mother taught me to be kind to all kats, irregardless of who they were, and until some time ago, that's the way the way this country looked at things too. Now, everything has been turned upside down, and I'm just here to put it right."

"Truly admirable." said Seth in all seriousness.

"What about yourself?" asked Jake.

"What drew me in? Well, all the same reasons as you, although my vendetta is somewhat personal." The kat who called himself Gabriel proceeded to unbutton his overalls and lifted his shirt to revealing two brand marks over either nipple, K and M.

"Wait, you're…"

"Like three hummingbirds. And I'm a native so that's two strikes against me." he said somewhat jokingly. "Luckily though, they got me in the days before they put the brands on your face."

"So you were in a camp?"

"Black Sands Reservation."

"So how did you escape, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, the captain of the guards was a big sonuvabitch named Darrow. And he enjoyed making the male inmates 'service him' I shall say. Well, one day he picked me, and while he was taking his clothes off, I stabbed him with his own knife. His uniform fit me pretty well, so I put it on, pulled the cap over my face as far as I could and walked out."

"They never went looking for you?"

"They didn't care. I was just one missing queer in a sea of names." Chance returned to the secret room.

"Let's go Jake." Both of them shook hands with Seth and then departed.

"Remember Mr. Shorthair: The Great Spirit makes bulletproof those who have come to put the wrong things right." Jake hoped he was right. He hoped with all his spirit that he was right.