XXXVIII: Coral Sun
The Coral Sun was a nice little restaurant, Fox had to give it that.
Constructed of the same island wood as nearly every other non-brick building on Barrados, the eatery's high, pointed roof combined with its dangling, slowly rotating ceiling fans to give it an airy, soothing quality. A small, unattended bar occupied one corner of the floorspace, with the rest of it filled by a mix of a couple dozen or so booths and tables. The walls were mostly solid wood, with gaps every so often for windows. The back and front doors were open, allowing the refreshing ocean breeze to float through; the morning sun was still climbing in the sky, and the outdoor temperature had hit the sweet spot between cool and warm.
From his booth against the wall, Fox lowered his newspaper and surveyed the scene for what felt like the thousandth time.
The dining room was mostly empty, with only three other tables occupied besides his own. In another booth nearby, a family sat enjoying their breakfast; Fox smirked as the youngest child made another face at him before she was quickly disciplined by the hushed words of her parents.
A young couple sat at a table at the opposite side of the room, silent for almost the entire time they had been in the restaurant, though their hostile glares at each other told more than any overheard words could. A waitress had just delivered their food, giving them a desperately needed focus for their attention, the beach-themed art pieces on the walls having apparently run their course. Fox managed to catch the server rolling her eyes as she returned to the kitchen.
Finally, he turned his attention to the center of the room, where a group of tables sat in a depressed, circular portion of the wooden floor, set a few steps lower than the rest of the dining room. There, a round table set for four was occupied by a man and a woman, both hares, in formal island clothes, both of them sitting with the sort of rigid attentiveness that only comes from a life in the military. They had been in the restaurant since Fox sat down thirty minutes ago and started his reconnaissance, leaving the mercenary to conclude that one of them was the informant in question, the other most likely a bodyguard of some sort.
Right on cue, a pair of men in equally formal yet comfortable island shirts appeared at the eatery's entrance. Fox watched them as they made their way to the round table's empty seats, raising an eyebrow when the informant started laughing.
"Hartford?" the male hare said, laughing with a mix of relief and disbelief. "Hartford! What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same thing, Bishop," Hartford replied as he took his seat. The husky was conflicted in tone, happy to see an old friend, but wary of the fact that if Bishop was the informant, it meant he had at least gone along with Admiral Gage's betrayal for a while. It was a good thing that he intended to defect, but Hartford couldn't shake the idea that the hare was at least partially responsible for leaving the captain and his Broadsword to die.
Commander Bishop saw the concern in Hartford's face. "No, seriously; I really didn't want to believe that you died on that hulk, but that's what I heard. How did you get-"
"Don't worry about it, Bishop," Hartford said, deflecting the question.
"You're our contact then," Crendon interjected, glancing first at the Commander and then the female hare.
"Lieutenant Thorne," she introduced herself, nodding as an implicit handshake. She looked back and forth between Hartford and Crendon, her reservation about them just barely perceptible. "So, beautiful day, eh?"
Crendon looked through the open door behind them, feeling the ocean breeze wafting through. It was another sunny, perfect day on the beaches without a cloud in the sky. "It is; shame about the rain though," he replied, giving the pass phrase agreed upon through Warlord Siona.
"You didn't have to do that Sarah," Bishop remarked, still smiling. "I knew Hartford here back when this whole mess was just starting. Never could think of a reason to doubt him."
"Just following procedure, sir," Lieutenant Thorne replied, taking a sip of her coffee.
"So, hopefully you've got some security around here," Bishop continued, turning back to Hartford and Crendon. "As you may have noticed, we, er, don't."
Hartford resisted the urge to glance at Fox, sitting behind his newspaper in the corner. "We'll be fine," he replied, taking solace in the fact that the mercenaries were nearby. He raised an eyebrow. "But why no security of your own?"
"Well, that's a bit of a side effect of how I figured things would go," the hare answered, scratching his head. He gestured at his lieutenant. "See, aside from Sarah here, the rest of the crew who want to go along with this are back on the Hauberk, prepping her for a quick getaway. Or as quick as a cruiser can get away, anyway. Everyone else is down here somewhere on the beaches for their scheduled leave."
"How much of your crew is willing to defect with you?" Crendon asked.
"A skeleton shift, to be sure," Bishop said, twisting his lips a little. "Maybe two dozen crew and a handful of support staff. Not what I'd consider ideal, but the cruiser will run until we can find more to fill in the gaps."
"What if they're Lord O'Donnell's men?" Crendon continued. "Your Admiral Gage's raid on our base left a lot of crewmen without billets."
"That will work," Bishop answered. "Besides, I understand if O'Donnell wants some sort of guarantee of our sincerity. If that means we take some of his crew in, then that works for me."
Hartford watched as Crendon nodded, satisfied with the answer Bishop provided. A slight shiver ran up the Lieutenant's spine however, something Hartford noticed out of the corner of his eye. Combined with her slightly sour expression, it seemed to be a visible disapproval of Bishop's trust of Wolf O'Donnell.
"And what will you want in return?" Hartford questioned, directing his words at Lieutenant Thorne.
"Sanctuary against Admiral Gage and Bauker's alliance," she replied, her deadpan attitude not lifting at all. "And a promise of autonomy in battlefield situations."
"Autonomy?" Hartford repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Captain Hartford, I'm sure when you joined up with Wolf O'Donnell's forces you had some hesitation with the idea of being ordered around by them. After everything..." Thorne trailed off, glancing at Crendon. Her eyes lingered on him, as if holding the jackal himself responsible for Star Wolf's actions during the Lylat War. "...They did to us."
Hartford nodded, remembering how he had insisted on Star Fox's presence at the meeting for that very reason.
Bishop spoke up, finishing for his lieutenant. "We realize that O'Donnell holds the best chance to strike back at Bauker and Gage, especially since going to High Command is out of the question.
"Why?"
"Admiral Gage has plants in Cornerian Intelligence," Bishop answered. "They'll know right away if we try to get Markiss' attention with this. It's not hard to imagine that they'd be able to cook up a nice little evidence drop to discredit me and anyone else who's with me."
Hartford nodded. The restaurant's waitress walked past them at that moment, and the husky tracked her with his eyes, noticing her gait. She seemed hurried somehow, walking with a purpose that itself wasn't unusual for one of her profession. However, her lack of a serving tray or plates of food to match her stride struck him as odd.
Crendon had picked up the conversation while Hartford mentally shook off the distracting thought and returned his attention to the matter at hand. Wolf's marine had inquired about the Cornerians' motivation in defecting.
"Why else does anybody ever defect?" Bishop replied, shrugging as though the answer was obvious. "Ideological differences. Turns out Bauker's call for an 'independent Lylat' is no different from Andross'. The message is sound, and I've no love for a Cornerian hegemony, but Bauker's using the message to cover up the fact that this coup against Corneria is destined to end with him in charge."
"And Admiral Gage?" Crendon asked.
"What about him?" Bishop replied. He shook his head, his tone dropping to a somber level. "When I joined the Cornerian Navy as a lieutenant, I believed every recruiting poster and every smiling politician's word. I thought Corneria was Lylat's 'beacon of prosperity' and all that jazz. After the Lylat War, I saw how Corneria placed itself as Lylat's reigning super power, touting benevolence while subtly inserting itself into every planet's politics. Admiral Gage saw this too, and when he contacted me in private about joining Bauker, I agreed wholeheartedly."
"But unlike Gage, I can see the lesser evil of Corneria against Bauker. I can see that this Warlord is no better than Andross, complete with his own shady research projects and personal agendas." Bishop looked at Crendon. "Does Project Afterlife ring a bell to you?"
Crendon shook his head no, but Hartford nodded, the husky's features suddenly sharpening as he flashed back to the Broadsword.
"Then you know what Bauker's willing to do to achieve his goals." Bishop sighed, his voice lightening a little. "Corneria isn't a saint, but neither is the Warlord, and if Admiral Gage can't see that, then why follow him off a cliff?"
The Lieutenant followed up with further reasons, but Hartford didn't pay attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the waitress talking to the family at the booth near Fox. Her back was to the husky and he couldn't make out the words she was saying, but when it looked like the father of the family was reaching for his wallet, the waitress shook her head and waved him off. As she returned to the kitchen, the family moved to leave, filing out of their booth and walking with confused expressions towards the beach door.
Hartford's mind clicked, and he turned in his chair, looking behind him. The young, awkwardly silent couple were gone too, their food still sitting half eaten on their table.
His head snapped around, his expression carrying enough concern to halt the conversation cold. His eyes met Fox's, the vulpine's face mirroring his own from across the room.
"I hope we're not intruding," a new voice said from the street door.
"I could get used to this," Katt sighed, turning onto her stomach and stretching on her towel.
'No argument here,' Miyu thought, rubbing her back into her own towel a little.
The girls had staked out a spot on the beach behind the Coral Sun, joining the dozens of other sunbathers hoping to catch the gentle rays of the morning light, before Solar rose too high in the sky. The sand stretched off in both directions, with the larger hotels and restaurants down one way, and the quiet back doors of private bungalows and cottages the other way. Their spot marked the middle ground between the two, with enough foot traffic to justify a small time eatery like the Sun, but nothing close to the crowded shores of the major resorts.
Miyu brushed her fingers through the sand, eyes closed behind her sunglasses. The warm, coarse texture contrasted beautifully with the smooth breeze coming off the waves as they lapped against the shore. Idly pushing underneath the sand, her fingertips quickly met the cooler earth beneath the top layer. It was nearly enough to make her forget about the whole reason she and Katt were laying there on the beach in the first place. Almost enough to distract her from what the rest of the team was doing at the moment. She withdrew her fingers, exposing them again to the soft sun as excess sand ran through them. Almost.
"So why did Foxie tell us to hang out back here?" Katt mused, bracing her chin on a palm and glancing over at Miyu. She giggled. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's just that before we were going to get our luggage and meet them at the starport."
"He said he wanted us nearby," Miyu answered, her eyes still closed. "I guess Hartford caught Aush skipping out on his watch last night. He wasn't gone long, but Fox seemed to think it was a little suspicious. S'why Fox didn't tell Aush or Crendon we're here."
"Just because the soldier wanted a little rest and relaxation in town?" Katt said skeptically. "I always thought Fox was a little uptight, but that's just a little too much. I mean, why not be suspicious of me then? I was enjoying life last night, too."
"You?" Miyu asked.
"Yeah. What makes Aush suspicious for wanting to have a little fun and not Falco? Or me? I could be scheming some sort of secret plot against the boys, you know."
Miyu barely resisted the urge to laugh in Katt's face at the idea that she could plan any sort of coup against Fox's team. Instead she settled for a wide grin as she strained and sat up, finally opening her eyes. She glanced around, taking in the sights and sounds of the beach as Katt continued to speak.
"I just think that Foxie gets paranoid sometimes, you know? I get the feeling that the poor guy thinks the whole system's after him."
"It kinda is," Miyu replied, stretching her neck and looking behind them towards the Coral Sun. "With that bounty he's got, I'm surprised..."
"Psh," Katt dismissed her, waving her hand and letting her head sink back onto the towel. "You guys make such a big deal of those. I mean, Falco even borrowed some of my makeup last night because he was scared people would recognize him. Can you believe that? At least it wasn't as bad as that time back on Shoana." The feline stopped, finally realizing that Miyu had trailed off and never finished her last sentence. She looked up at the lynx again. "Miyu? What's wrong?"
"Rhena."
"Be more specific hon, she's got all sorts of things-"
"No, I mean she's gone."
"Hm?" Katt followed Miyu's gaze, looking at the restaurant's back entrance.
The feline remembered the fire-haired wolf standing casually – or as casually as Rhena could act – by the back door, leaning against the wooden walls as though waiting for someone. Katt had winced when she saw that the wolf still had her flight suit on; it was no way for a girl to dress at the beach. The feline knew Rhena was there acting as a guard of some sort, but other than her fashion misstep, Katt hadn't paid much attention to her presence behind the two sunbathing girls.
Now when she looked, the wolf was absent.
"Maybe she had to go to the bathroom?" Katt offered.
"No," Miyu said resolutely. "She left her knife behind."
Katt looked at the lynx and then back at the restaurant. She lifted her sunglasses and squinted, barely able to make out what looked like a small black stick poking out of the sand by the corner of the building, just before the beach ran out and the alley between the Coral Sun and the next structure over began.
"So?"
"Something's definitely wrong," Miyu finished, moving to stand up. "C'mon."
"I hope we're not intruding."
Fox's pulse spiked as the man strode through the front door, flanked by a pair of men who quickly drew pistols as they came in. The wolf looked familiar, though Fox couldn't quite put a finger on who he was in the moments following his entrance.
The vulpine gently eased his hand under the table of his booth, keeping his eyes on the newcomers to the restaurant. The three of them seemed more concerned with those sitting at the table in the middle of the room. The brush of gunmetal on his fingertips began pumping adrenelene into Fox's veins. His hand gripped the handle of his sidearm, tucked into his shorts and hidden by the loose island shirt. The stubby silencer on the weapon wouldn't last long, but if he could squeeze off a few shots...
The sound of struggling footsteps and a slightly feminine grunt of effort snapped Fox's head towards the beach side doorway, just in time to catch Rhena being pushed through the threshold. Another trio of men, armed with the same silenced pistols, followed her in, closing the door behind them. The Cornerian pilot stayed on her feet, quickly taking stock of the situation in the Coral Sun and apparently concluding that resistance wouldn't be wise at the moment.
When Fox turned back to the original speaker, the vulpine found himself staring down the enlongated barrel of the man's handgun from across the dining room.
"Kindly put your hand back on the table, Fox McCloud," the wolf said with a smirk.
Fox did as he was told, never breaking eye contact with the man as he slowly placed his palms face down on the table of his booth. They stared each other down for a moment, neither willing to be the first to turn away for any reason. However, Fox was destined to loose the silent fight, as a second body was propelled through the street door behind the wolf.
Falco was pushed through the doorway much the same way Rhena had moments before; unlike the female wolf, however, he was less graceful in his entrance, and tripped to the ground after a couple steps. Behind him, another pair of mundanely dressed men entered the eatery, followed by Aush, who closed the front door behind him.
Fox had to process Aush's casual demeanor for a moment before it became clear that the niggling sense of danger in the back of his mind that morning was true after all. The mercenary saw Hartford glance his way, and he locked eyes with the husky. Under less strenuous circumstances, Fox could almost hear the captain saying 'I told you so.'
"Hey, you're that Keelik jackass from Corneria," Falco said from the floor, sounding like a child who had just recognized a local celebrity in the street. "Black Star, right?"
One of the guards grabbed the avian by his shirt and sent him sliding down towards the center table. He skidded to a stop by Hartford's chair, unharmed but apparently unwilling to make a further quip. Crendon stood up from the table, glaring daggers at his subordinate as the traitorous husky stood with the Black Star operatives and drew his own firearm, casually applying the silencer to the pistol as if nothing were happening around him.
"Aush?" the Gamma said, his voice a mix of disgust and accusation. "What the hell is this, soldier?"
Aush looked up at his superior, twisting the silencer into place with a final effort.
"Nine of us, and seven of them," Keelik thought aloud, his own weapon still trained on Fox's booth across the room. "Seems dangerous with so many prisoners to watch over. Anyone here not of value, Aush?"
Aush nodded, moving towards the center table under the Black Star guns and striding to a stop in front of Gamma Crendon. For his part, the jackal didn't flinch at all, watching with the same angered expression as before.
"Tell them Leon's misunderstood," he said before turning to Fox. His eyes betrayed only the faintest hint of uncertainty, hidden deep beneath a mask of confidence and defiance. Even when faced with the very real possibility of death, he seemed committed to a purpose. The fact that his words were bizarre given the circumstances didn't even register to Fox, even as the vulpine subconsciously etched them into his memory. "On Threshold. Tell my men that Leon-."
Without further hesitation, Aush raised his weapon to Crendon's turned head.
For the first time in a long time, the gunshot made Fox turn away and shudder as Lieutenant Thorne yelped in surprise. It didn't seem right that the impotent chirp created by the suppressor could end the life of a battle-tested marine. Even as Crendon's body crumpled to the ground along with the shell casing from Aush's weapon, Fox refused to look, focusing instead on the empty seating across the table from himself.
"Now that I have your attention," Keelik said, his civilian-clothed operatives spreading out around the restaurant. "Would you all kindly drop your weapons and take a seat at this table here?" He gestured at the center table with Hartford and Bishop. "There seems to be an opening."
Miyu yanked the knife free from the packed sand, glancing over at the closed door to the restaurant, just a stone's throw away.
Looking down at the weapon in her hand, the lynx silently cursed herself for the lightweight clothes she was wearing; the metal instrument was too heavy to securely store anywhere on her person. Her holdout pistol was occupying the only viable spot, strapped against her thigh. A breeze blew in from the ocean, causing waves to run through her coverup and skirt as she thought. The fact that the object she held would never leave its owner's side unless left somewhere on purpose weighed heavier on her than the dense gauge steel it was made of.
Katt stumbled up beside Miyu, the pink feline's stylish sandals impeding her gait in the shifting sand.
"What about the towels?" she asked after taking a moment to catch her breath.
The lynx looked at her. "Really?" Miyu said with a bit of a bite, unable to believe Katt would bring up something so trivial when something had obviously gone wrong with the meeting.
The back door to the Coral Sun opened again at that moment, drawing both of the girls' attention. A man walked out, donning a pair of shades against the sun now rising high in the sky, and closed the door behind him. He stood on the small wooden balcony, just a step or two removed from the sand below it, leaning against the wooden wall of the eatery and looking out over the beach. A tropical bird cawed somewhere nearby as the man's sunglasses stopped on the girls, only catching their backs as they walked away down the row of buildings backing up against the sand.
"Do you think he recognized us?" Katt asked quietly.
"Couldn't say," Miyu replied, careful to keep Rhena's knife tucked against her forearm. "Let's check the front."
They passed a few more wooden buildings before slipping between two of them and out of the sand, proceeding inland towards the street that ran along the front of the structures. The passage was narrow and dusty, though clearly not untraveled. Dozens of people seeking to make a quick transit from the shops and stores of the road to the beach, and vice versa, had packed the loose earth into the same hardened dirt bed as the road they were heading towards. They emerged from the small alley and into the light foot traffic of the shopping district, casually strolling down the road back towards the Coral Sun.
On the side of the road leading further inland, the building construction material abruptly shifted towards the sun-scorched brick they had seen during their drive the day before. They hugged these sturdier structures, trying to stay as invisible as possible and successfully blending into the groups of beach goers. Miyu kept the arm sheltering Rhena's knife tucked against her side, giving her a slightly odd stride but doing a good job of concealing the weapon from view.
They soon found themselves across the street from the Coral Sun, slowly pacing in front of an outdoor clothing store and casually stealing glances back at the eatery.
Out in the street, pulled up in front of the porch of the restaurant, sat a pair of the open top taxi cabs of the kind the team had taken from the starport the day before. The lead car was idling, the hybrid engine quiet but humming at a steady rate, with the driver sitting behind the wheel. Behind it, the second car was turned off, with its driver standing and leaning against the driver side door, evidently unwilling to sit still like his partner. He had his arms crossed and his sunglasses on, casually surveying the street's shops and occupants. Behind him, the restaurant's front porch was empty.
"Looks like someone knew we were down here," the lynx muttered, returning her eyes to the blouse her fingers were idly playing with on the store's display rack. "We were sold out."
"Aush?" Katt asked in a whisper, hovering on the other side of the rack.
"Yeah," Miyu replied, looking over her shoulder again. "Almost-"
Miyu froze. The standing driver's sunglasses were centered directly on her and Katt. Her heart skipped a beat and she barely suppressed an involuntary twitch towards her holdout pistol, redirecting the urge into a vice grip on the blouse. The moment hung in the air, and it seemed like at any second, the driver would raise the alarm, or pull a weapon, or something to indicate that he had found some associates of those being held inside the restaurant.
But instead, the man's lips curled into a tiny smile, and he looked off somewhere else, amused that he had caught a couple cute girls staring at him.
Miyu slowly turned around, catching Katt's eye. She breathed out, noticing that the pink feline seemed almost oblivious to what had just happened.
"Okay, so, they're after the bounties," the lynx exhaled.
"How do you know that?"
"That driver didn't recognize us," Miyu answered. "Aush probably thinks we're at the starport. That just might give us some leeway."
"Leeway for what?"
"To free them," Miyu replied, realizing in the back of her mind just how lost Katt would've been tactically without her. It was a slightly proud moment, but one quickly doused by the danger of their situation. She suddenly found herself wishing she had her suit of combat armor.
"And how do we do that?" Katt asked, her voice taking on a reproachful tone. "I may not know a pistol from a rifle, but babe, it don't take a soldier to know we can't just charge in there. They've probably got like...five guys in there!"
Miyu nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. 'We'll have to lure them outside, make 'em vulnerable to be picked off.' She cocked her head to the side, still holding the same blouse on the store rack. 'So...how do we do that?'
"Excuse me, ma'am?" the store owner said, drawing Miyu from her thoughts. The proprietor was a pleasant, middle-aged woman, decked out in enough palm tree patterns and seashell jewelry to make it obvious that she was nowhere near the island native she probably claimed to be. "Did you want to try that on?"
Miyu looked at her for a moment before realized that she was referring to the article of clothing she had been idling by for the last few minutes.
"It's just you've been staring at that blouse for awhile now. It's on sale you know."
"Oh, that's okay," Miyu replied, trying but failing to offer a genuine smile. "I'm just looking."
"Well okay," the store's owner trailed off, having heard the line plenty of times before. "But just know that you can go walking all through the island and you won't find a better price."
Miyu again offered a half-hearted smile of thanks before Katt spoke up, drawing the owner's attention and inquiring about another rack of clothes.
As the pink feline and the lady chatted, Miyu looked back down at the blouse, feeling the fabric with her fingers. A breeze floated by, tussling the fur on her head and carrying with it the sound of crashing waves and excited voices. Something the store owner said was nagging at the lynx, tugging on a cord in her brain as if begging for attention.
She turned her head around. Miyu's eyes lingered on the vehicles as her thoughts lined up like bullets in a magazine. Chambering the first, her conclusions followed in rapid succession.
'They'll need to move Fox and them at some point,' she thought. 'Otherwise people will wonder why the restaurant is closed. Which is what those taxis are for. If the taxis don't work, they'll move them on foot through the island to wherever they're gonna hold them for the bounties. So to get them in the open...we disable the taxis.'
"Katt, I've got it," Miyu said suddenly, her eyes lighting up. "How do you fry a hybrid engine?"
Katt and the store owner stopped talking, looking at Miyu as though she had just sprouted another head. The silence hung in the air for a moment before the owner offered a polite, forced smile.
"I'll um, just leave you two to it then," she said, turning on her heel and walking back into the store.
"Er, why?" the mechanically-inclined feline asked, stepping closer to Miyu so they could talk more quietly. She cocked her head. "You feeling okay, Miyu?"
"Just trust me," Miyu said, wanting to gesture back towards the taxis pulled up in front of the Coral Sun but knowing that might tip the drivers off if they happened to be looking at her at that moment.
"Um, sure," Katt thought aloud, cocking her hips and crossing her arms. Her eyes turned skyward, staring up at the wooden awning casting shade down on them. "Well, you could clog the air intake, stop the fuel cells from working that way. You could...take out the controller board, fry the electronics of the thing." She paused, shrugging. "Or you could just start cutting wires. One of them's bound to be something important." She looked at Miyu. "Why do you need to know this again?"
Rhena's knife felt sharp against the fine fur of Miyu's forearm as Katt said the last method, still tucked out of sight. "If we can get these guys to transport everyone on foot, we might be able to free them somehow."
"Oh, sure," Katt agreed, trying and failing to save face. "That makes sense." She looked past Miyu at the pair of cars, seeing the drivers. "But how can we do that without them noticing?"
Miyu smirked, looking Katt up and down. "Remember that bar back on Venture Station?"
Miyu smirked again as she heard the lead taxi turn its engine off, the driver scrambling out of the cabin.
Without waiting, the lynx made her way from the store towards the vehicles, careful to keep Rhena's knife hidden and careful to look as casual as possible. Whether or not she succeeded she couldn't tell, but stopping to look around wouldn't help matters any. Along the way, she noticed Katt pausing at the top of the steps to the Coral Sun's porch, glancing back over her shoulder at the approaching drivers as though she were unsure of what was going on.
"What?" the pink feline asked sweetly, turning around.
"You ah, you can't go in there," the first driver said, taking off his sunglasses and climbing a few steps before stopping. The second driver, who had been sitting in the lead taxi, scrambled up beside his partner, looking up at the girl standing above them.
"Why not?" Katt questioned. "I just wanted to get some breakfast."
Miyu noticed that Katt's voice had pitched up several notches from their conversation a minute earlier by the clothing rack, and that her posture had taken on a quality that could only be described as intriguing. The lynx briefly wondered if that was really all it took to distract a man from guard duty as she came up on the rear car, her bare feet noiseless on the heavily packed dirt. As she reached the vehicle and crouched behind it though, she caught the second driver, the one who had just gotten out of the front car, taking on more edge in his voice.
"C'mon girl, you're not allowed up there," he growled. "Plenty of other places around here to eat."
"But I like this one," Katt pouted.
"Yeah, c'mon man," the first driver said to the other. "She ain't hurting anyone."
Miyu lay down on the road next to the hybrid, flattening herself out as much as she could and crawling beneath the chassis. The conversation continued as she took stock of the situation beneath the car. The side runners providing steps into the cabin had been a pain to get under, but now that she was there, they made for good cover from casual observers in the street. She paused. No hurried footsteps or alarmed voices came from anywhere nearby. If anyone had seen her crawl under the vehicle, they apparently had chosen to keep it to themselves.
The dust of the dirt street was gritty on her mostly bare back as she began searching for hanging wires. The bottom of the engine block was open for the most part, allowing her easy access to its various components; the parts and pieces were grimy and filled with sand, evidence of a system that was rarely, if ever, taken care of. Miyu smiled as she pulled a cluster of wires out of one of the crevices. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that these things could fail on occasion. If she hid the parts she sabotaged, they might not even realize it was foul play that did it.
She only had a few inches of clearance between her nose and the bottom of the engine, so she tugged the wires closer to see if she could determine what exactly she was cutting. For the most part, the various colors of insulation meant nothing to her though; the sole exception were the red and black wires, which she could vaguely remember hearing were usually connected to a battery. Miyu singled those wires out and raised the knife to the remaining connections. She paused with the edge of the blade resting on the insulation, briefly trying to remember anything else from her past that could prevent electrocution or injury. Coming up with nothing though, she exhaled and pulled the knife across the bundle, severing them in a single slice with only a bit of resistance.
"So you here on vacation?"
"Mmhm."
"Here with anyone else?"
"Yep; just me and a couple of the girls. They ran off to some lame sight seeing tour though, so I'm stuck alone for the morning."
Miyu smirked as she worked, slicing through any wire she could find while carefully avoiding the red and black ones. Based on what she could hear underneath the car, Katt certainly had a way of toying with the man's thought process.
"All alone, huh?"
"Janson, c'mon. You know what'll happen if he comes out and sees her up there?"
"If who comes out, hon?"
"Relax Jacob, just...relax." There was a slight pause before the same man spoke up again. "So, your friends sound kinda boring."
"Ugh, tell me about it."
Satisfied with her work, Miyu looked around, trying to think of a way to get to the lead car. Straining her head back, she could see through upside-down eyes that the back bumper wasn't more than a meter away from the front bumper of the car she was under. Still, as she wriggled her way closer on her back, she could tell that the distance was just long enough to get into trouble if she didn't make sure she was clear of any watchful eyes. Miyu stopped just short of the front bumper, remaining in the shade of the car chassis above her and glancing over at the porch, just a few meters away.
"Well, I know a place that might be a bit more exciting if you're interested."
From the street, Miyu could see Katt standing atop the porch stairs, looking down on the two drivers at the bottom. One man was a few steps up, trying to stand as nonchalantly as possible and clearly enamored with the feline, while the other stood just a few meters from Miyu, glancing back over his shoulder at the street every so often and trying to convince his friend to stop hitting on Katt. The second man made Miyu nervous with the way he sporadically swept his gaze back over the street between hushed words to his partner.
Katt must have seen Miyu though, because as the lynx was pondering how she could signal the feline to do something, Katt suddenly took a few steps back towards the Coral Sun's front door.
"I dunno, I'm kind of excited for this place-"
"Wait!" the would be suitor exclaimed, taking another step up the stairs. His partner jumped and raced past him, reaching the top and taking Katt's arm before she could reach the door handle.
"Okay, okay, jeez," Katt complied, allowing the driver to guide her back to the top of the stairs. "You boys don't have to be so pushy."
The driver named Janson quickly ascended the stairs and took Katt's arm from his partner, shooting the other driver a dirty look before turning back to the feline.
"I'm sorry, my friend just uh, doesn't appreciate a fine lady when he sees one."
From underneath the lead car, Miyu relaxed and began repeating the same process as before, knowing she hadn't been seen. It wasn't long before the bottom of the engine block resembled a jungle of cut wires, hanging down like vines. She stuffed them into any corners she could find to hide them from view, before shimmying to the front of the lead car, and waiting for a verbal cue that she knew she wasn't being watched.
"Well I work at a club further inland; you should check it out sometime-"
"Janson, she really shouldn't be here."
"Jacob, c'mon."
"Oh no, tell me more. Which club?"
Miyu reached out and grabbed the front bumper, hauling herself out from beneath the taxi and into the open in one fluid movement. She rose to a crouch, expecting someone to point her out at any moment. When nothing happened, however, she peered over the hood of the taxi at the scene in front of the Coral Sun, making sure the observant driver wasn't looking her way before standing upright and strolling off into the street. She was careful to keep Rhena's knife tucked flat against the back of her forearm, and made sure to make eye contact with Katt once before disappearing down an alley, and out of sight.
"Very good. I look forward to dealing with you, too."
Keelik lowered the com unit from his ear, focusing on the device for a moment before thumbing it off. He looked up at the hostages he had gathered near the center table with a smile, gesturing with the com unit.
"Looks like you're all worth keeping alive after all," the wolf said, tossing the com unit to a guard. He looked specifically at Hartford and Bishop where they sat on the wood floor next to Lieutenant Thorne. "And my life just got a lot easier. Seems Warlord Bauker's people have some interest in Cornerian officers. They've got a contact en route from another island as we speak. Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes."
Bishop and Lieutenant Thorne glanced at each other, their somber expressions saying more about their fear of being turned in as traitors to Bauker's alliance than any words could.
Falco raised his hand, shaking it a little like a student in school trying to get the teacher's attention.
"What about the rest of us?" he asked when Keelik's eyes turned his way.
"The disappearance of serving Cornerian officers is gonna cause a bit of a ruckus around here," Keelik explained, pacing around the railing that separated the depressed middle of the room from the rest of the eatery. The Black Star operatives were spread out around the railing, their silenced weapons drawn but held casually, as if daring one of their captives to try to escape. "Lots of investigations, lots of people poking around. So we'll hold you somewhere until the heat blows over and the Cornerians won't connect our turning you in for your bounties with their status as M.I.A." He gestured at the trio of Cornerian officers.
"Speaking of which, we should probably get you moving," Keelik continued, smirking. "Having you all sitting together makes me nervous. This looks like the kind of crowd who appreciates a good jail break. At least if Aush's report is true."
Aush stood with his arms crossed by the front door, his pistol holstered, watching the scene with the same, stoic, disinterested expression he always seemed to wear. The husky stared at the Star Fox team and the Cornerian officers without any sort of indication that he heard his name being said. If he felt any remorse for his actions, he didn't show it.
Keelik nodded at a henchman standing next to Aush, who proceeded to open the door and step outside, calling to someone out front. Through the open door, those held captive could see the tops of a pair of vehicles parked in the road.
"Cuff Mr. McCloud and put him in the front car," Keelik went on, pointing to more of the operatives and giving them assignments. He looked at Falco and Rhena, noticing how their body postures seemed to shy away from each other, despite the fact that they were supposedly part of the same mercenary team. He braced his hands on the railing as he finished his command. "And put Lombari and Haggerty in the other car. Cuff them together."
Falco and Rhena looked at each other, both equally surprised and irritated that such an odd command was given.
The Black Star operatives went about carrying out their orders, some of them staying at the railing with their weapons ready, while others fastened the metal handcuffs to the necessary captives. Outside, above the noise of floorboards creaking and cuff chains rattling, those within the restaurant could barely hear some conversational shouting between the man who had just walked outside and presumably the drivers of the vehicles out front. Standing next to the front door, Aush caught the words better than anyone else, and was already looking at Keelik when the henchman came back inside.
"Mr. Keelik, we've got a problem," the man said, his face ready to cringe at the news he had to deliver. "The cars are dead."
Keelik looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "Dead?"
"They're ah...they're not working; drivers don't know what happened."
Fox's ears pricked as an operative hauled the vulpine to his feet, his wrists cuffed in front of him. It wasn't so much the subsequent chewing out between Keelik and the unfortunate man who delivered the news that he was listening to. Instead, Fox's mind was occupied with the initial news itself. The idea that both vehicles would fail by themselves for no apparent reason was highly unlikely, even in a machine-unfriendly, sandy environment like Barrados. Keelik seemed to come to the same conclusion.
"The drivers were waiting in the cars the whole time?" the wolf asked.
"That's what they said," the henchman replied.
"Bullshit," Keelik retorted. He fell quiet, looking down at the railing as his mind scrambled to fill in the hole in his plan this new development left. It didn't occur to him for a second that the cars' failing was anything less than sabotage. As he thought, Falco and Rhena were cuffed together at the wrist and pushed to their feet to join Fox, the three of them gathering under guard by the front door of the restaurant.
"Are you sure nobody else was here working with you?" the wolf asked, looking at Aush. His eyes were narrowed, making it clear that the husky was beginning to suffer some of the blame in Keelik's mind. "I wouldn't put it past your Lord O'Donnell to send agents to tail his own men. Especially if he smelled a rodent trying to cash in on his prize merc squad."
Aush took the implied insult without flinching. He stared back at Keelik, hands crossed at the small of his back, one of them toting his pistol.
"There are four marines up on Threshold guarding our ships," he answered, his voice calm with an understated resonance that caught the mercenaries off guard. It was the first time they had heard him speak. "They're blind to all this. There are also two girls waiting for us at the starport, but they aren't an issue. One, the lynx, is a competent fighter, but lacks initiative. The other is a beach ditz not worth mentioning."
"And you're certain they're at the starport," Keelik stated as a question.
Aush cast Fox a sideways glance, the vulpine meeting his gaze evenly and without emotion. Fox, for his part, did his best to keep a neutral, slightly angry expression on his features, praying that he was pulling it off convincingly as part of him wondered where Miyu and Katt were at the moment.
"They aren't the sort who could sabotage your vehicles," Aush replied, looking back at Keelik. "The lynx was an independent mercenary not so long ago; if McCloud doesn't turn up with her paycheck, she'll have no reason to stick around. She'll disappear."
"And the other?"
"Not worth mentioning."
Keelik fell quiet again. It wasn't hard to see that he didn't like the idea of moving the captive mercenaries on foot, even if the club wasn't that far away. However, without the taxis they had secured for the operation, there wasn't much of an alternative. Obtaining other vehicles would be easier said than done; the island's taxi service offered the only motorized method of transportation in Barrados. They would have to hijack other taxis, which would bring security down on the Black Star operatives far sooner than they would be ready for.
The wolf kept his thought process to himself, masking his poor planning in the transportation department under an expression of intense consideration. Showing weakness wouldn't do anybody present any good, particularly the captives. As he was contemplating how he could quickly gain access to other vehicles, his train of though was interrupted by one of his men.
"Ah, Mr. Keelik?" a Black Star guard spoke up, hand to his ear. It was the same operative the wolf had tossed the comlink to before. "Just got a call from our guy at starport security. Apparently some shopkeeper just called in a report about two people doing some suspicious stuff around a couple vehicles. They're sending out a patrol to investigate."
Keelik's head snapped to look at the speaking guard. "Tell our man to stall them however he can." Suddenly left with no alternative, his mind fell into gear, and he began barking orders at his men. "We're moving the bounties on foot to the club. The officers can stay here; Bauker's men should get here before the starport patrol shows up."
"You and you," he said, gesturing at a pair of his subordinates standing nearby. "We'll take McCloud out the back, then through the alleys. The club's only a few streets inland from here."
"You two," he continued, pointing at two guards standing close to the front door. "Get the drivers and take Lombardi and Haggerty a minute after us. Stick to the alleys." He emphasized the word, his gaze underlining the intensity that had flared up in him. "Someone is out there messin' with us and I don't like it. Stay alert."
"What about me?" Aush asked as the Star Fox mercenaries were shoved towards the back door of the Coral Sun, their sandals and boots dragging on the floorboards amidst the tinkling of handcuff chains.
"You'll get your reward," Keelik said assuredly, checking the silencer on his pistol before slipping it back into his waist band. "Stay here with the rest of my men and wait for Bauker's contact to show up. Then meet us back at the club."
"Everyone got it? Everyone good? Then let's move."
A/N: Not much to say down here except that we've got one more chapter until the end of the unofficial "Part Two" of the story. I'll do a better summary of my plans for the third and final portion at the end of my next entry. Also, I've started putting chapter status updates in my profile, so if you're looking for progress or an ETA until the next entry, that's where to look. Review time!
Andross Kenobi: Well, I'm happy to make you wish for sandier shores :) But I'm glad you brought up the bit about difficult to follow narrative. I've been trying to keep an eye on how I write "travel" scenes (characters moving from one place to another while conveying expository dialogue), since its so easy for those to become confusing. Looks like I'll have to try harder! Thanks for the critique AndrossKenobi! And that's an interesting idea about Fara...very interesting indeed...
RedBay: Thanks for the kind words, RedBay. I can perfectly understand your confusion with some of the minor characters; in all honesty, I wasn't sure myself who I wanted to bring back and who I would just toss aside when I wrote those past chapters. It was quite a while ago. While that method's given me a lot of possible strings to snatch up, it also leaves plenty loose and hanging. Just part of learning how to write I suppose, and something to keep in mind for future projects. And did I just read that you're working on your own books? S'mighty impressive, Red. Best of luck to you with that!
The Frustrated: Hey, no apologies necessary. Any review is a useful review! Hopefully the transition transisted well enough in your town; I know its taking ages around my place.
Jack Falconer: Thanks for the reviews, Jack! I think (though I could be wrong) that I toned down some of the descriptions as the story has progressed, so hopefully that won't be so much of a drag. And either my writing is predictable, or you've got a nose for narrative; nice job calling out those hunches :P
-Redd