As always the standard disclaimer applies: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends; they are the property of Mondo Media. I own only my own characters and this story.

Now here's chapter 54:

54 – SHARING TECHNOLOGY

"So" said Sniffles to Cuddles that afternoon while they were dismantling the receiver station, "will you be going straight back to the Animal City now that your work here is done?"

"Haven't quite decided yet, but probably" said Cuddles, "I have a lot of work waiting for me back home. Captain Fresko is staying here for a bit longer though. He said something about wanting a bit of a vacation."

"I'll be sorry to see you go" said Sniffles, "maybe you should think about a short vacation of your own."

"Maybe" said Cuddles, "this is my first time in Metramegopolis. I wouldn't mind seeing some more of the place before going back."

"Then stay" said Sniffles, "I'm sure Virgil would love for an opportunity to talk shop with you, and he can show you a lot of city's technical workings."

"It's hardly a vacation if I spend my whole trip with the technicians" said Cuddles wryly, "still, I wouldn't mind a look at the mechanics of this city, especially the flying system."

"I'm not so sure you'd be able to see that" said Sniffles seriously, "the workings of that are closely guarded, for obvious reasons."

"Of course" said Cuddles thoughfully, "your Mayor seemed quite interested in our teleport technology."

"Not just her, we all are" said Sniffles, "I've helped you set up and take this thing down but you've never told me what actually makes it work."

"That's closely guarded too" said Cuddles. The two animals looked at each other and an idea began to germinate.

"I'm not sure I approve of this" said the Mole. It was three days later and he was meeting with Handy and Loco about Cuddles' and Sniffles' proposal which had arrived the day before.

"Don't get me wrong" said the Mole, "it's an interesting idea but the risks are great. Our teleport technology has gotten our people out of trouble numerous times. If we share it with outsiders there's a much stronger possibility the enemy might learn of it and get a hold of it."

"I understand your concern" said Handy, "and it's a good one. But in return we could get our paws on Metramegopolis' flying capability."

"Is that equal?" asked the Mole, "it took years for them to equip their city so that it could fly the way it does. How long would it take for us to do the same to our city? And we don't live the same way they do. Our city isn't enclosed the way their city is. We'd have to completely reconstruct our city to make it viable for us to use that technology."

"I agree, to a point" said Loco, "but when I heard the proposal I had a few ideas. We don't have to make our whole city fly, but we could make certain bits of it airworthy."

"I get you" said Handy, "it would be easier to ship large contingents of our ground soldiers than with normal flying machines where the capacity is limited."

"But the danger is that there are fewer, yet larger, targets to hit" said the Mole.

"I'm thinking more than just transport" said Loco, "our teleport can move soldiers more efficiently than anything else. I was actually thinking of creating large flying fortresses."

There was a silence as the three city leaders considered what Loco had just said.

"Such fortresses" said the Mole at last, "with our armor capabilities we could make them practically impregnable."

"They can help guard our city over a longer range" said Handy thoughtfully.

"We should also be able to use them offensively" said Loco.

"How long would it take to build such a fortress?" asked the Mole.

"That depends on our engineers" said Loco, "but remember that we're building for function not form. These fortresses will have to be as Spartan as possible and they must be maneuverable."

"Our teleports can help there if we can find a way to fuse them with the flying technology" said the Mole. He sat in silence for a while, thinking deeply. Neither Loco nor Handy spoke during this time.

"You know," said the Mole at last, "this trade raises intriguing possibilities."

"Our own recent battle notwithstanding, Metramegopolis does usually take the brunt of the Marauder attacks" said Handy, "perhaps an exchange is in order by which we can make both of our cities stronger."

"Cuddles is already at the Flying City" said the Mole, "and Fresko is there to protect him. Let's have someone from the Metramegopolis Council come here and I can personally train him in the workings of our teleporter. I think it should be Sniffles since he worked with Cuddles on this last exchange."

"He shouldn't come alone" growled Loco, "he should have a protector that he's comfortable with accompany him. And it might be a sign of extra good faith if that protector was human."

"Loco" said Handy with a smile, "if you want to see your adopted human son again you don't have to justify his coming here to us. Barry is a citizen of our city you know; the only human ever to be one."

"And therefore the logical non-animal choice to accompany Sniffles" said the Mole, "very well, let's do it."

(To Be Continued)

A/N - Thank you for reading. Feedback is always welcome but no flames please. Cheers!