Copyright Disclaimer
The following is a work of fanfiction: there is no intent of this author to violate, transgress, profit from or infringe upon the Copyright and Intellectual Property (IP) rights of the parent Copyright or IP holders of characters, events or locations belonging to the same which may be contained within this work. To reiterate; this is a Derivative Work meant to be used under Fair Use as described in 17 U.S.C. § 101 and § 107.
All language is either through Google Translate, or the site 'Bits'n'Bob-stones'
The Sons of Efrafa
.
Praise be to Allah, this is going better than I thought.
"Sir, Ma-am; 911 switchboard says they're backlogged on calls"
Not perfect, but better.
"I'll deal with this, Salim."
"Thank you, Madam Mayor."
"Is that backlog across the board?"
"No ma'am, just Precinct 9. Precinct 7 only had two calls in the last two hours: a small apartment fire in Abernathy Heights, and that Medevac from VT Commons."
"Alright, have James assign half his operators to take up the call load from the Ninth. That should help clear up the board."
Sharp lady; gotta watch it or she'll steal the show. "Officer, what's the nature of the call load in the Ninth?"
"Umm…"
"Well, out with-it son."
-sigh- "It's, a lot of false alarms sir; every time something moves in in the Meadowlands, there's a call about a sighting of wolves. In one case, a call was made on a patrol car driving towards another call, that turned out to be a neighborhood kid rushing home to his parents."
"Well, we can't afford to ignore anyone 'crying wolf'; not tonight, anyway. All right, have Fifth and Sixth Precincts send five units each; they answer to Chief Stiles until I say otherwise. Seriously, nothing from the Seventh?"
"No sir, it's all going through this text-chain set up the Foxburough mammals have going."
"Well I'll be damned, Sgt. Raibert; I'm going to have to see about getting your little AC/DC network set up in other districts."
"Um… FCDC, yes sir."
Nothing? Not even a twitch? Damn; that old lion having a heart attack really hit him bad. Nothing we can do about it now; just focus on the task at hoof, and trust in Allah to have a reason.
Chapter 23
Jacob stood still as a statue. He needed to stay focused on the mission at paw. Sasha DeLacour would keep everyone up to date on Rabbi Lowe's status; his fate was in the paws of God, and the Zootopia University Teaching Hospital (ZUTH). He idly wondered if Judy's sister would be working on him. What was her name again; Jan, Joan? He was jolted out of his reverie when Officer Wiggins piped up.
"Santusky's reporting a group of vehicles sighted on Beaker St. and County Line Rd."
Cpl. Foxglove turned to the commission. "Rescue Two has eyes on; putting it on the monitor now."
An aerial picture on the display showed three open-bed pickup trucks with medium sized mammals climbing into and onto them. A moment later, a flag was attached to each one: a gold bordered black field, with a red shield and paw.
Officer Nolan spoke up. "Hartnell is reporting the same at Brampton Pasture: multiple vehicles and wolves."
"Thirty seconds until Rescue One can confirm."
Capt. Kamel rolled his shoulders. "Alright, contact Stiles and Winterhorn: tell them it's beginning."
There were a few moments of silence, then the Cyber-Crime feed showed several back-and-forth messages. Foxglove sounded off again.
"Rescue Two is on station, Monty and Gadget both confirm: cell traffic is coming from these groups."
Officer Wiggins had a trotter held to his ear. "Sirs, there's a huge uptick in FCDC text chatter."
Jacob looked at the municipal maps of the two districts, then turned to Cpl. Foxglove. "Have Ranger flight launch and move to support Rescue One."
Aurelia looked at Jacob in concern. "Shouldn't you send those units to the Seventh? The Meadowlands is fairly open, but Foxburough is an inner-city maze." Salim nodded in agreement while Jed sneered at Jacob.
Judy spoke while looking at the feeds from the Ornicopters. "Those look like Edsel utility trucks, sir; a mix of 78' to 92' models. They're built for off-road work, and the Thule have every reason to stay off the roads. They can do that in the Ninth, but not in Foxburough."
Jacob smiled at Judy, then turned back to Capt. Kamel. "That uptick in FCDC chatter is spotters notifying the community and whoever is monitoring at the Seventh. The plan is to create roadblocks and detours to run mammals through the worst parts of that 'inner-city maze' until Waters and the TUSK and SWAT teams are in position, then trap them on Upper Canal St."
Agent Swayze looked skeptical. "Your saying your town had a plan in place for this invasion?"
Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "For any scenario like this. We did something similar a few months back when street racers tried to use our downtown as a drag strip." There was no need to elaborate that these plans dated back to the middle of the Tannerman Era, and were meant to fend off the police, not support them.
"Blimey! Hoons are scattering!" W.O. Jack's Anzac drawl cut over the speakers.
"Ranger One and Ranger Two are on station, Rescue one." Chip calmly reported.
"Cheers! Designating Alpha's One, Two and Three; break and track."
"Copy Rescue, Rangers are on it!" Dale excitedly declared.
Gadget piped up. "Command, Rescue Two. Targets are splitting up. Moving to… what the…?"
The video feed from Rescue Two showed the Thule trucks periodically driving down a road, only to find a broken-down car or pile of detritus blocking the way. Jacob walked over to Foxglove's terminal. The brown bat passed him the mic.
"Rescue two, this is Sgt. Raibert. Use the FCDC text feed to track our guests."
"Copy Control." There was a pause. "We're into the Thule's comms; do you want Maskirovka?" She asked.
Jacob's eyes lit up. "Coordinate with Santusky, then execute."
Both Kamel and Canidae looked alarmed at Jacob's declaration.
"Sgt., I refuse to authorize combat within city limits!" Aurelia pointed accusingly at the screens.
Jacob turned to face the rest of the commission. "Maskirovka is LoN speak for a misinformation campaign. Flight Officer Hacket simply means she and her crew intend to infiltrate the Thule communications and feed them misinformation. Actually," Jacob turned to face the corporal again, "…have Rescue One do the same; see if he can herd them into a police trap."
"On it!/Roger!" All the flight crews responded. The rest of the commission looked on in shock as the various targets soon began heading towards the designated SWAT and TUSK interception teams.
…
Joseph was almost frantic with how bad this night seemed to be going. Alfrich Taylor had been desperate for something, anything to show Die Adolf after the string of losses in Zootopia; costly losses. That psychotic bean-counting wolverine Madeline had been all but foaming at the mouth when the Lemming Brothers job went south. The Society in Zootopia had put a huge investment into that one; bribes to that gutter parasite Silver-Foxe, the cost of the services from Dirty Rat Diggers, even Alf Bill wining-and-dining that bitch from the Department of Public Health, so he could get on their server. Between all that and purchasing the land for the new Große Halle, the Zootopia chapter had desperately needed the revenue from the bank job. Now, they were nearly bankrupt.
Joseph Doltz, the Ulfberdt for the Zootopia chapter of the Thule Society, growled in frustration. Well, he'd become the Ulfberdt after Ramos got pasted in that stadium job. God damned Rassenverräter tigers! Now, he had an ultimatum by Die Adolf: bring a victory in Zootopia, or she would send someone who could! He knew what that meant, but he needed the Society's support! Jenny needed that surgery after what those mindless Essende did to her! Of course, she went 'savage', their son had to go to the hospital after being attacked on the soccer field! All it took was one hate-filled, ignorant deer to yell 'Savage Predator!', and the whole herd turned on her for protecting her cub! Not one of those self-entitled animals even apologized, and he was left with an injured son, a crippled wife and in crippling debt!
It was the perfect plan: go after the Eweden where they lived! No elaborate 'Oceans 11' Rube-Goldberg plot, no going after an internationally recognized prize fighter! Stupid, smug Schwartzalfen got what they deserved for talking down to them. They were now coordinating through a brand-new Tweeter™ account, so nobody but the Society knew what they had planned. Besides, they were going after sheep, and nobody in Zootopia was going to stand up for sheep after what Bellwether did! Between him and Alf Bill Laugherty, they had about half of the blooded and Aspirant Alfen with them; more than enough to put the fear of claws into those simpering, herd-minded thugs.
It should have been the perfect plan, but now they had been driving in circles for an hour and had only just made it to Tenno Ave. They were 45 minutes behind schedule, and really needed to get this done and get out of this blasted neighborhood. His son had a soccer match in the morning, and since Jenny certainly couldn't be there, he had no intention of missing it! Plus, he'd owe that cackling windbag of a hyena an emu steak dinner if Bill got back to the Halle before him.
All three trucks had turned onto Upper Canal St. and were halfway down before he noticed the road block. This time, however, it wasn't just some broken down car, or a pile of cast-off household appliances; it looked like a small locomotive engine, complete with seam coming out of the stack, parked across the road! He signaled the rest of the trucks to stop and stared incredulously; it was an antique, museum-quality fire engine. When he turned to speak to the mammal in the seat next to him, he saw that the alleyway next to them was blocked by a dumpster! This wasn't a town in decay, it was a god-damned trap!
"Everyone turn around! It's a trap!" He leaned out of the cab and bellowed to the rest of the convoy.
Just as the other two trucks started to turn, a line of megafauna carrier vehicles in ZPD markings blocked the Tenno Ave. ends of Upper and Lower Canal St. Some of the un-blooded aspirants jumped out of their trucks and rushed into one of the shops on the street, while others jumped into the canal. Joseph was about to go into one of the shops himself, when he was knocked over by one of his followers flying backwards into him. What came out after him was quite possibly the single largest wolf he had ever seen, wearing a stained apron; in one of his paws was a massive rolling pin, while gripping the neck of a desperate aspirant in the other. Joseph thought it was Deacon Giles. The Worg, as he thought of the brute in front of him, was growling and bellowing in some language, while gesturing with Deacon like he weighed less than a hand-bag!
Just as the Police heavy line was forming up, Joseph heard a series of yelps coming from the canals. When he looked over, he saw a wave of rats leaping out of the guardrail next to him, each with some kind of rope or line. As they swam across the canal to Lower Canal St., more than a dozen mammals of every type: goats, wolves, hares, and foxes came from the factories on that side. They grabbed lines laying under their guardrail, and when the rodents pawed off their lines began hauling and singing a work song! Within seconds, the Alfen who had jumped in the water were hauled up like so many fish.
This was insane! How could they be this ready? How could these Essende be the hunters here?! "Wir sind Jaegern!" He could only repeat to himself over and over. Jim Bayleman must have heard him, and thought it was to psyche himself up, because Jim took up the chant. That was when the giant deer in riot gear stepped forward with a handset attached to one of the trucks.
-scree- "This is the Police! You are hereby placed under arrest for attempted terrorist activities, attempted assault, and violations of municipal anti-defamation statutes pertaining to speciest hate crimes."
Jim stood up from the bed of his truck.
"Screw you, Bambi! Wir sind Jaegern!" Therewas a cheer from the remaining Alfen.
The ungulate raised the mic again.
"Ausgezeichnet! Wir sind Soldaten! (Excellent! We are Soldiers!)" She let the mic go and turned to her forces. "On the ready line!" She bellowed as she slammed the muzzleplate on her helmet closed. The mega-fauna formed up on either side of her and locked their shields together in a wall and began to advance. With every thunderous step, the trucks bounced an inch off the ground. The crowd on Lower Canal St. began chanting in time with the steps. "M'saion tharn elil! M'saion tharn elil!"
Joseph finally panicked; he had to get away! He was being hunted and he had to get away! He leapt into the canal and swam as hard as he could towards one of the culverts under Lower Canal. The current was incredibly strong, and he found himself sucked through a propeller-like device. He was spat out the other side into the river, where he swam away from his friends, his comrades, his failure, and his shame.
…
There was a jubilant atmosphere in the SLECC. Both groups of Thule Society members had been intercepted without a single civilian casualty. The only two incidents were when one of the Meadowlands Thule trucks rolled while trying to evade the police, with the passengers in the bed being thrown clear rather than rolled over, and the two wolves who had tried to hide out in Mikhail Podanski's Deli. Winterhorn had to threaten to call his wife to get him to let one of the young wolves go; she was visiting her mother in Des Moines, and neither one was likely to be pleased at having the trip ended abruptly.
Once McCaffrey arrived, he had been slightly upset with the FCDC for 'raiding' the Vulpington Commons Fire-fighting Museum for their final roadblock, though he was still impressed that they managed to get the old steam-powered fire engine running. He had to concede that, since the museum was not Polis owned or funded, the proprietors had the right to use the artifacts how they saw fit. Jacob knew the old goat who ran the museum, Peter Aldrich, would be annoyed with the attention to come. However, Canidae and the Polis' growing interest in Foxburough's place in the larger community could only mean good things in the future.
There was only one animal unaccounted for: the as yet unnamed ring leader who had gone through one of the generator culverts under the Adame Textile Mill. Thanks to Canidae coordinating with the surrounding municipal authorities, River Patrol teams from Haresburg, Warrenton and Zootopia were all searching, but the general consensus was the mammal had likely drowned; the new hydro-turbines were designed to allow fish and smaller mammals safely through; they weren't tested or certified for anything larger than a beaver.
Judy beamed around for a moment, until she noticed how tense Jacob seemed. There were only two things she could think of that might leave him so distressed, and the Thule were well in paw. She gripped his forearm and shook lightly. "He'll be okay, Jacob; ZUTH is one of the best surgical hospitals on the West Coast."
Jacob pinched his eyes closed and lay a paw over hers. "I know, but his health has been in decline for a while. If it's his time, then we must all meet it with the dignity his life deserves; but he's… he's just been through so much, and I hate to think his life is bookended by this evil. He's an old lion; he deserves his rest, undisturbed by monsters of a bygone era."
"Well then," She squared her shoulders, "…let's -yawn- slay us some monsters."
Jacob snorted a laugh. "After some shut-eye, Judy. You need a ride home?"
"Nah; Dickie gave me a ride in and said to text him when I needed another. He just let me know he was on his way." She noted Jacob's silent grin. "Yeah, yeah, I like the guy. He doesn't need me to be anything but me and turns out he's a really nice buck. Though I did have to warn him off trying to tinker with the Maserati. I don't want to know what the Sweinart's mechanic would do if I let anyone else work on it."
They both chuckled as they headed towards the garage. Jacob was getting into his car when Officer Wade Snarlov came running up to him. Jacob lay his forehead on the steering wheel and sighed.
"Wade, I'm two hours from a twenty-four-hour work day; can it wait?"
"No can do, Army Mam. Highway picked up Mr. Kova again; 20 over the limit on the ID-7. Since we now have evidence that he was at the attack on Bove, Bogo wants this mammal nailed down. Hell, even Special-sauce Agent Swayze wants a crack at him."
Jacob blinked owlishly for a moment, the very picture of a decaffeinated burnout, while inside his mind was going a mile a minute. Jacob could now confirm that Amon El-Masry, under his alias of Mr. Kova, was a deep cover SID plant within the Thule Society. The absolute last thing he needed right now, was to have CLEAn run off with a LoN intelligence officer.
"There had better be an entire Emu-egg omelet waiting for me when we're done." Jacob started climbing out of his car.
Snarlov glanced away as Jacob stood up. "Not a problem, we can go halfsies."
Jacob snorted. "Nothing doing, Wade. You touch my omelet, and I'll take you off at the elbow."
"Oh, come on mam! You couldn't possibly eat the entire thing!"
Jacob stuck his snout in the air. "Call it a nuisance tax…or maybe graft; the cost of doing business with the government. Now then wage slave, bring me to my sacrifice and have my tribute waiting for me and I may yet be merciful."
"How about I bring you a cruller and coffee, and I spring for breakfast at McGruff's?"
Jacob thought for a second as they walked. "Make it a Boston Crème and Decaf; I don't need my ears ringing while translating."
…
Jacob sat down across from 'Mr. Kova' with two cups of water. "Mr. Kova, welcome back. As a reminder you are being recorded while in this room, so anything you say from this point onward can be used as admissible evidence, should you be required to come before a judge. If at any point you wish to exercise your right to silence, you may state so, and we will pause until your council arrives. Please sign this if you understand your rights as stated." Jacob was doing his level best not to shake; the moment he had entered the room, El-Masry's ear signals started with just one word: Extraction. Assets didn't extract unless there was a problem.
The jackal signed the document with a flourish, then leaned back. "Council."
Jacob nodded, took the form, and headed out to call El-Masry's handler.
Once through the switchboard process, as well as the inevitable wiretapping, Jacob was connected to Mr. 'Sadik' again. "Mr. Sadik, this is Sgt. Raibert of the LoN Military Police Forces; we've spoken previously. I am calling to inform you that Mr. Kova is in custody at the First Precinct again. At this time, he is wanted for questioning due to his being linked to a recent violent assault. He has again requested consulate representation."
Ceren huffed into the phone. "Did he have any specific message for me?"
"Just one word sir: Council." Jacob in his exhausted state had nearly said 'extraction', then he heard at least one of the wire taps disconnect. He knew he had to make one more call before leaving the room.
"I shall be down, personally, to resolve this matter. It is not right that one of my citizens should be treated so. I expect you, Sgt., to see to Mr. Kova's comfort until I arrive." Apparently, Ceren had heard the sudden disconnection as well.
Jacob nodded reflexively. "I understand sir. We have great interest in determining Mr. Kova's role, if any, in recent events. As such, we will take great care to ensure he is treated properly."
"Very good. I will see you in an hour." With that, Mr. Sadik hung up.
Now Jacob had to figure out how to keep El-Masry out of everybody's paws until his extraction arrived. First, he needed to get the authority to lock a foreign dignitary down; that started with the Home Office at the Teller-Ulam Building. He called the security desk.
"LoN offices, how may I direct your call?" Jacob recognized the nasal tone of Cpl. Mandy Pumba.
"Cpl. Pumba, this is Sgt. Raibert. Is Lt. Redmane in?"
"Not yet; do you want me to leave him a… oh wait, there he is. Let me put him on for you."
There was a short pause, then the cervine's tired voice came on. "Sgt., I'm still working on my first cup of coffee; this had better be good."
"Lt., I'm working on more than twenty-four hours without sleep, so no pity here."
Redmane snorted. "Well, you grew into a traditional Sergeant quick. What did you need?"
Jacob was relieved he wouldn't get too much resistance from his superior. He still didn't know if Redmane had a 'Need-to-Know' as far as Agent Amon was concerned, so he didn't want to have to try and explain-without-explaining what he was going to do.
"I need to be able to vet authorities quickly, like secure line quickly; we have a MOI in the Thule case in custody, and I think there's a little too much interest from various parties. Swayze, for one, has all but ruined his tie drooling over the chance to interrogate him. I don't want our mammal walked out from under our noses by someone posing as legitimate."
"You still have that ATC rig setup?"
"Yessir."
The Lt. grunted. "Good. Give me ten minutes, and I'll have it tied into our database here; you give it a scanned document, it'll tell you in thirty seconds if it's legit or not."
"Thank you, sir. I'll let you get back to your coffee."
Redmane snorted again. "How magnanimous of you." He then hung up.
Jacob immediately went in search of a small document scanner. He had just hooked one up to the ATC unit, when Wade came in.
"Hey Raibert, Kova's Lawyer is here."
Jacob looked down at his watch and noted it had only been 35 minutes. Ceren had been specific about the time. "Mr. Sadik's here already?"
"Nah, some golden jackal named Erdogan"
Jacob was certain this jackal was from whoever had been listening in.
Jacob sat down at the terminal. "Alright, send em up here, but take your time."
Snarlov nodded. "Right." He turned to leave, then paused and turned back around. "Wait, you mean, here here? Not the interrogation room?"
"Yep." Jacob leaned back in the seat. "Got my orders from Higher-HQ: vet everyone who wants contact with Kova. If he is who we think he is, everybody's going to want him, and not everybody's going to want us to keep him."
"Got it. I'll bring Erdogan up. Hope you don't mind if I stay, but I've got security detail this morning."
Jacob smirked. "I insist."
Jacob had just finished tying in one of the video-conference cameras when Snarlov and Erdogan came in. Jacob stood up and smiled.
"Ah, Mr. Erdogan; welcome! If you could stand right there, please?" The hare indicated a seemingly random spot on the floor. The well-dressed jackal stepped over with a perturbed look on his muzzle.
"I'm a busy mammal, Sgt., and I do not have time for…" He startled when one of the wall monitors suddenly showed a still frame of him.
Jacob continued smiling. "I understand, sir. However, there are no small number of security concerns regarding this case. I've been directed by my superiors to screen all individuals desiring contact with Mr. Kova." Jacob opened the document scanner and gestured to the lawyer. "If you would please, place your credentials on the scanner."
Mr. Erdogan stood ramrod straight. "I will absolutely do no such thing!"
Jacob cut off whatever else he was going to say. "Then I will absolutely not allow you access to Mr. Kova." Jacob never stopped smiling.
"This is an outrage! Do you know who I am?" Snarlov began positioning himself for a takedown, even though they both could see that the jackal's actions were more theatrical then genuine.
Jacob shook his head. "No sir I don't, but we could clear that up right away if you could place your credentials on the scanner."
Mr. Erdogan was about to continue when he received a text alert. He screwed his muzzle up. "Your superiors will hear about this!" With that, he stormed out to an escort officer waiting outside the door.
Wade relaxed and turned to Jacob. "Well, that was interesting."
Jacob started securing the terminal. "Your take?"
The timber wolf hesitated for a moment. "We had a hit-and-run about five years back. Witness was an arctic hare, James Frost. He was in the Savvy (Savannah Central) after seeing off relatives at the Aerodrome. We were deposing him when an arctic fox claiming to be Mr. Frost's lawyer tried to horn in and, 'advise' his client. Kept very loudly going on about the legal repercussions of induced testimony. Turned out, he was a partner at Calhoun and Wynn; he was the brother of the driver and had come to intimidate the witness into silence. That's what this felt like."
Jacob smirked and nodded. "Good instincts."
"Do you think Erdogan was Thule?"
Jacob looked over to where the jackal had departed from. "Him? No. He's foreign intelligence; probably from somewhere in the Levant or Northern Africanis." The hare tapped his ears at Wade's incredulous look.
Snarlov nodded. "You could hear something in his voice."
Jacob chuckled and shook his head. "No, I heard whoever he works for hacking into the consulate's phone line."
Wade stood still for a moment. "That's right, 'NDA, ask in five years'. You've played these kinds of Reindeer Games before. Where does that phrase even come from?"
Jacob futzed with the scanner. "Russo-Slav/Finnish war in 1943. The Soviets tried to annex the Grand Duchy of Scandinavia, so they could use their Baltic Sea ports to attack the Austro-Hungarians. There aren't a lot of polar bears in Finlandia, so they needed to infiltrate using reindeer. The Finn's caught on almost instantly and returned the favor. It was hot 'spy-vs-spy' action for about a year before the Red's got fed up and sent their Third Armored Corps to try to invade. An entire regiment of Finnish Fifth Column troops devastated their supply lines. Moscow finally pulled back when the Scandinavian Royal Navy and Zeppelin Corps intercepted and sank a support and resupply fleet out of Murmansk in the Norwegian Sea."
Snarlov blinked for a second. "Oh. How do you know that?"
Jacob was about to answer when the phone next to him rang. "Two beer ante conversation, buddy. Sgt. Raibert, unsecure line... Okay, Clawhauser; send him up." He hung up the phone and got the terminal ready. "Mr. Sadik just arrived. Let's not mention to him that there was a possible spy trying to get to his mam; we need him calm and willing to leave Mr. Kova in our custody if we ever expect to get anything out of him."
After Sadik had grudgingly submitted his credentials for inspection, Jacob escorted him to El-Masry's interview room. No sooner had they both sat down when there was a knock at the door. When Officer Daniel Wolford opened it, they found Lt. Redmane and an MP escort, along with a scowling Chief Bogo.
The deer stepped forward and presented a sheaf of papers to Mr. Sadik. Council Sadik, under General Order 93, SS 7/B of the League of Nations Charter, I am hereby taking custody of Mr. Kostebek Genc Kova."
Ceran's hackles rose as he read the orders, which he finally slammed onto the interview table. "This is an outrage! My government will hear about this." He then stormed out of the room, shouldering the white-tail deer aside.
Once the wolf was clear of the room, Bogo nodded to Officer Wolford, who handed 'Mr. Kova' over to the LoN MP's. There was another delay as the Jackal was led down the hall, after which Bogo turned to Jacob. "Sgt. Raibert, I would dearly like to know why I was just made to hand over an MOI in our ongoing Thule investigation?" Though phrased as a question, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was an order.
Jacob tried to remain upright in his chair, as the stress of the day caught up with him. "We had a Mr. Erdogan try to gain access to Mr. Kova. He became downright belligerent when I tried to have his credentials inspected. He also received some kind of message that caused him to depart very suddenly just before Mr. Sadik arrived. I feel more than confident that this was a foreign intelligence operative trying to gain access to our mam."
"Are you sure Erdogan wasn't a LoN spy?" Dan looked towards where the group had departed. "I mean, like to create a stir to justify taking him into custody?"
Jacob hadn't considered that possibility, but in the end, it didn't matter to him; El-Masry was back in LoN protection, and if he had any actionable intelligence, Jacob was likely to find out about it soon enough. "If this is some kind of 'False-Flag' op, it's so far above my pay grade you could see my house from there. Now if you'll excuse me," Jacob levered himself up to leave, "… I need to visit a very sick old friend." Jacob stumbled slightly as he headed towards the door.
Wolford caught Jacob, so he didn't fall over. "You try driving in your condition, and you'll be joining your friend alright, in the trauma ward." The wolf turned to the Chief. "I'm gonna take him on down to the duty billets, Chief."
The scowl on the buffalo's muzzle softened slightly as he nodded, hearing Jacob's soft snoring.
…
Jacob jolted awake in the unfamiliar bed. It took him a moment to recognize the shift billet next to the Precinct One gym. He looked towards the door when there was a knock and a call from outside.
"Sgt. Raibert."
He stood up, shivering slightly in his exhaustion, the movement turning the lights up.
"Present."
The door opened, and two mammals walked in: a medium sized cat whose species couldn't be identified through their tactical gear, including what Jacob recognized as a Thermite grenade, and a seven-banded armadillo in an off the shelf suit who was chained to a briefcase.
The un-assuming armored mammal nodded to the hare. "Sgt., under the authority of the Special Intelligence Directorate I am hereby authorized to update your security brief. We will require a secure location."
Jacob looked at the briefcase, then at his own watch. He had only been asleep for three and a half hours. For this kind of turnaround on El-Masry's debrief, the intel must be dire indeed. "I'll coordinate with dispatch to use the station's 'Privileged Information Council' room. If you'll follow me?"
Five minutes later, Jacob was sitting at the table in the only room in the precinct house without some kind of recording device, reading over his new brief. The armadillo sat across from him, the briefcase resting on the table, while his escort watched the door with his rifle at the ready. There was an unsettling familiarity about Jacob's circumstances; yet another classified brief about yet another ideological hate group. This time however, it was his home that was imperiled. Shaking his sleep clouded head, he focused on the pages in front of him. El-Masry had secured evidence that made it highly likely that high-profile officers in the Thule Society, Der Autor and Der Schauspieler, were already inside Zootopia. Jacob recognized the titles but couldn't put them in context in his current state. He'd have to call Jean-Pierre in to get the full scoop.
There was a section that detailed a Britannian Company, the 15th Para. staged out of Vancouver that could be in the city in 45 minutes, should an assault against a Thule stronghold be necessary, though he felt slightly insulted that the addendum stated this information was not to be shared outside the LoN, and then only to Command officers. Jacob sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that; Canidae would have puppies if a British Columbian combat dirigible started raining armed elk on the city.
Once he finished reading, he handed the sheaf back to the suited animal and stood up. The agent wordlessly put the brief back in the case and stood as well. All three left together, the intelligence pair heading downstairs, while Jacob went over to the SLECC.
As he was heading in, Nick jogged up. "Hey buddy, you missed a hell of a party and threw one of your own from what I hear. Is everything okay? And who were the gruesome twosome I passed on the way up here?" Nick nodded to where the SID agents had just left.
Jacob keyed into the door. "They were the LoN Official Bearers of Bad News, and no; everything is not okay. First and foremost, I have to call in and put up with Secret Agent Super Douchebag Jed Swayze on no coffee and an empty stomach. Snarlov," Jacob nodded to the wolf still on security detail, "…I'm calling in that Boston Creme and Coffee you owe me."
Luckily, Sgt. Rambrant was coming on duty, and was an authorized security mammal, allowing Snarlov to head out to pick up the requested foodstuffs. Jacob, meanwhile, got onto the phone tree and called up the ZATC, as well as Sgt. DuPrey. They were understandably annoyed at the rude wake-up, so soon after their late night. There must have been something in Jacob's demeanor that managed to keep the group from pressing the matter too much. Once Sgt. DuPrey arrived and was seated, Jacob began his report.
"Last night, a MOI in the Thule case was arrested and brought in. Through political shenanigans, LoN secured our mammal and got him talking. We now know that the Grand High Bitch of the Thule Society sent the… The Producers…"
DuPrey looked at Jacob with concern. "The Who?"
"You know, the Mel Brooks film; two mammals write a play about Hitler as a tax write off and fail upward spectacularly."
Jean clicked his jaw closed for a moment. "Der Autor and Der Schauspieler?"
Jacob nodded frantically. "Yeah, Mutt and Jeff. Ooh! That's their code names from now on!" Jacob giggled to himself. "I have photos of the two, but considering they've been evading capture for the last decade and a half, I wouldn't bid Jed's family jewels on this bet paying off." He then proceeded to pass a pair of pictures to the ZATC members as if dealing cards for a game of Blackjack.
Aurelia furrowed her brows slightly. "That seems rather trite, considering the gravity of the situation."
Jacob waved her off while still treating the pictures as a Blackjack hand. "Omnicidal Neo-Nazis who've come to sow terror in my hometown get called by my lame-ass code names: Mutt and Jeff." He then turned to Jean-Pierre. "Take it away, Sgt.!"
Judy stood up and took Jacob by the paw. "With respect, councilors, I'm going to get Jacob down to the billets."
Capt. Kamel looked at Jacob with some concern. "That might be for the best. We'll brief you on the highlights when you get back up."
Swayze turned to say something as Jacob and Judy passed, but the almost feral look of anticipation in the hare's eyes made him hold his peace. Once back in the shift billet, Judy spent five minutes humming a soft tune while petting Jacob's forehead, until he fell back to sleep. As she was closing the door, she caught sight of Nick who had a paper sign in his paw. At her raised eyebrow, he held it up for her.
Beware of Attack Hare
(I'd turn back, if I was you!)
She chuckled slightly and taped the sign to the door.
…
Jacob awoke without a start, feeling entirely rested and almost completely refreshed except for one detail: he was beyond famished. He was also in clothes he had been wearing for… he glanced at his phone, only to see it was nearly dead. He saw he had slept about 10 hours, so he had been in uniform for more than 35 hours. He didn't have an assigned locker at the First anymore, so a change of clothes and shower would have to wait; food wouldn't. He stood and stretched, re-secured his duty belt, and headed out.
Jacob, Nick, and Judy noticed each other at the same time. Nick approached with his normal, if subdued swagger, while Judy all but stormed over to him. Jacob held up a paw before the other two could speak.
"Whatever disaster is in the works can wait. I haven't eaten in more than 24 hours, and I am in desperate need of a shower."
Nick laid a paw on Judy's shoulder to calm her.
"No problem, buddy. We were going to head over to McGruff's to welcome all the new blood."
Clawhauser was just coming out of the precinct locker rooms.
"Oh, hey Jacob! Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, big guy; hungry, but better."
The cheetah's eyes lit up. "Oh, that reminds me! Snarlov left you a pastry for when you woke up, but…" he looked sheepishly at the floor, "…I eated it."
Everyone looked aghast at Benjamin until he started laughing. "Just kidding! I've got it here behind the desk. You're coming to McGruff's, right?"
Jacob immediately set upon the pastry while nodding. "Snarlov promised me breakfast, and McGruff's serves every meal at every hour."
The mammals all convoyed to the restaurant, quite ready to head elsewhere afterwards. Jacob managed a call to Redmane's office on the way and was informed that he would not be needed until the next scheduled meeting in three days, and that he should report for police support duties at the Seventh. A second call to the Seventh Precinct watch officer confirmed he would be on the morning roster, and so would not be needed until 7:00 the next morning. Once he arrived at McGruff's, he sent a text to Val letting her know he was up, but shutting his phone off to save power, and that he would have someone text her when he was getting ready to head to the hospital. Her text reply of, 'MFN, political aftershocks', left him wondering what fresh hell had erupted while he was asleep; the old Efrafan phrase for things happening in their own time, M'saion Frithrah Narn, implied she might be awhile.
Jacob, Judy, Nick, and Benjamin all headed into the restaurant and walked into complete bedlam. There were almost three times as many people inside as normal, most in uniform. There were more than a dozen reserve officers, based on their badges, as well as the current ZPA class in their Police Auxiliary Polos and Khakis. One such Plebe, a female dhole whose nametag read 'L. Darling' was sitting across from a pair of identical female Eurasian Jungle cats in reserve uniforms.
"Soo… I've never really traveled much. What's Burma like?"
"We're not from Burma!" The two cats sniffed haughtily and replied in unison, "We are Siamese, if you please!"
Ben led their group to a series of half-moon booths where several First Precinct officers were waiting, most in street clothes, though some were in uniform with service caps on to show they were on duty. Jacob hopped into a seat and left his beret on.
Ralph Fangmeyer looked up at the new arrivals. "Oh, come on! You can't still be on duty?"
Jacob tapped his hip where his duty carry weapon was resting. "Cover stays on until this little prick gets put to bed." The assembled officers all nodded in understanding. Jacob looked around and noted a few new faces. "So, care to let Rip van Winkle here know where all the fresh blood came from?"
Ralph's sister Nadine talked while watching a lioness reserve Sgt. walk by. "Whatever you told the ZATC before passing out lit a fire under their collective tails; the entire police reserve has been activated, plus the graduating class of cadets. I hear their taking the field duty as their finals for everything except weapons quals… huh?"
She looked at her brother who nodded meaningfully at the retreating Sgt.
"Sis, either you go ask her out or I will Jim Kirk her out from under you out of spite!"
There was good natured chuckling at the retreating tigress' hurried departure.
Jacob speared a short stack of hotcakes from the center of the table, as well as two strips of what appeared to be Ostrich or Emu bacon. One of the Plebes at their table looked on with alarm.
"Um, Sgt.? That's meat you really shouldn't, eat…" The young red wolf almost passed out when Jacob finished off one strip before he had even set his plate down. This earned another round of laughter from the table.
Grizzoli's massive paw descended over the divider between the two booths. "This little guy needs all the protein he can get to keep up with the Lapina fireball he's dating."
Jacob batted the bear's paw away while guarding his plate. Once the table calmed down again, he glanced around as he drowned his hot cakes in syrup. "I get the activation of the reserves, but what's got Judy's ears in a knot?"
Nick had just finished ordering and turned to the hare, while resting a paw on Jud's shoulder; her teeth could be heard grinding from across the table as she let out an exasperated, "Ughh!".
"Patience, Fluff." Nick patted her shoulder. "About two hours after you crashed, the ZATC held a presser, which Canidae and Kamel proceeded to mercilessly politicize. I'm pretty sure that if someone had dropped a knife between them, we'd need another new mayor. I'm starting to think that job is cursed."
Judy snatched a chicken nugget from the communal plate, much to the Plebe's continuing horror. "All the Ughh! I wanted to believe in them soo bad!" She slumped in her seat while gnawing on the nugget. "I mean, Swayze was better behaved, and he had a good idea."
Nick nodded. "Word is, all active duty officers are to report in street clothes for the foreseeable future; the activation of the reserves allows the same number of in-uniform patrol officers…"
Jacob nodded and finished, "…while the active force patrols incognito, doubling our effective patrols. Makes sense; Jed cut his teeth as an undercover officer in the Vice City PD, La Florida."
"And how do you know that?" Phillip Eilerson gave Jacob a squint with hour-glass eyes.
Judy rolled her eyes as Jacob began gesturing with his fork as he worked on a hot-cake. "Yeah, yeah, we get it; NDA, five years, blah-blah-blah."
Jacob finally finished his cake and gave Judy a pointed look. "I was actually trying to say, let me finish chewing and I'll tell you." This triggered a new round of laughter, during which Jacob started nibbling on his second bacon strip. "As for the rest of it, Swayze's service history is now public record: seven under-cover cases, six successful convictions. That last one ended with the target, one of the Lt's. for the Medellin Cartel, to turn State's Evidence in return for asylum. He's made a career out of worming into and breaking up organizations. Combine that with the positively toxic political environment at the J. Edgar Hoofer building, and I'm genuinely surprised he's as well adjusted as he is."
The combined officers, less the new blood, all looked slightly ill at the possibility of a less civil Agent Swayze. There was a slight commotion at the bar as one of the second-shift officers had the T.V. volume turned up. Growley and Moosebridge were apparently mid report about something.
"…expecting an upset in the stock market, as in a surprising turn Horace Oswald Hornblower the Third has apparently sold his stake in the Bull-Horn Telecommunications group." He looked to his co-anchor.
"That's right Peter. The young Mr. Hornblower has shocked both his family, and this organization with his declared intent to pursue the Mayoral post. In a prepared statement, he cited this morning's hotly debated press conference by Mayoral hopefuls, Councilmammal Canidae and ZPD Capt. Kamel ibn Kamel, which critics of both candidates claim the opposing candidate of grandstanding, at the expense of the victims of the recent string of attacks. Hornblower the Third has stated that his relinquishing his stock in this station's parent company, is to ensure that he avoids any conflicts of interest. He is the youngest Mayoral candidate in Zootopia's history."
Jacob whistled quietly. "Val wasn't kidding about political aftershocks."
…
Once fed, Jacob asked Judy to text Val and let her know he was headed for the ZUTH to see Rabbi Loew. From the earlier texts from the FCDC, he knew the old lion was in the Hospice Care Ward of the hospital; at 93 years old, there was precious little the medical community could actually do for him, save keep him comfortable. Jacob parked a block away, not wanting to deal with people's absurd reactions when he was near his car; especially not outside a hospital. When he arrived at Dusan's room, he found most of the family filing out, while Jean-Pierre and Jeannette sat on a bench just outside. He feared he had arrived too late.
When DuPrey glanced over and saw Jacob's stricken look, he waved the hare over. "Relax, Sgt. Raibert. He's just very weak, and the hospital is minimizing visits to reduce stress induced cardiac incidents."
Jacob sagged against the wall in relief. "Thanks, Sgt. I needed to hear that. The last 48 hours have been a veritable vair-flay banquet, and not getting to say goodbye would be an absolute steamer of a cherry on top. Sorry, by the way, for ditching you at the commission, but I was completely out of it. How have you two been dealing so far?" Jacob looked back and forth at the two seated mammals.
Jeannette gently rested a hoof on Jean's shoulder and looked at Jacob. "Our office has been almost non-stop since last night. Out of those mammal that were caught, I'd say a quarter of them have been tripping over themselves to plea down, though there are a couple of true believers. I'd say you wouldn't believe the things they're saying, but I think you probably already have a good idea. One of them tried to intimidate your sister." The doe giggled lightly. "Thirty seconds in, she jammed a ruler in his maw to keep it open, then hopped up on the table and used her pencil to dislodge something between the wolf's teeth, then began lecturing him on proper oral hygiene." Everyone started chuckling at that. "Once he started his whole, 'Wir sind Jaeger!' schtick, she went off on him in Turkic for about five minutes. He actually started whimpering at one point." Jeannette smiled proudly. "She's gonna make a crack DA, one day."
Jacob smiled fondly, then looked at the puma. Jean-Pierre's smile faded. "We nabbed 23 mammals in the Seventh, and roughly the same number in the Ninth. With the interrogations so far, we think this represents about half the active membership, with maybe a quarter of those taken being blooded. Raids on associated homes and workplaces have netted confirmed Thule paraphernalia; trophies, and about a dozen Goldene Schusseln. It's a ritual bowl, made from…" Jean waved a paw over the top of his head, while Jeannette rubbed his back. "All of them were in the homes of lifelong Zootopians. That probably means between 30 to 50 mammals have been murdered by these monsters, at least in the last two years." Jean took a shuddering breath. "We're starting to dig into the associations of those we captured, but it'll take time, and with Mutt and Jeff in the city…" Jeannette snorted. "Don't look at me; Jacob's the one who called them that."
Jacob shrugged at the doe's arched look. "I was punch-drunk tired and famished at that point, so I make no apologies. Anyway, give the data-mining to the CLEAn; they've got the mammal power for that kind of task. Like you said, with them in the city we need to be focused on stopping whatever they come up with." Jacob levered himself off the wall. "Take care, Jeannette. Sgt." Jacob nodded to Jean-Pierre, "…I'll see you at morning brief."
