A.N. Lately, my updates have come at roughly three month intervals for a variety of reasons. I don't feel that's really fair to my readers, so I set myself the goal of trying to cut that down to three weeks for this chapter. That is today, and here it is! This is the second longest chapter in this tale; the previous was the longest. No guarantees, but I'll try to continue with this faster pace. (Our new dystopian world permitting)
Thanks to: J Shute, pampuru, seakard, and upplet for their kind reviews of Ch. 20. I encourage and will appreciate more, not just for my ego, but as feedback for how I'm writing. Much, if not most fanfiction is written for ourselves the authors. I feel that the readers, who greatly outnumber me, should have some say in the story that they spend their valuable free time reading.
We now find out what is happening with Nick, Dr. Soren and Skye; all of whom I rather left hanging last time!
Tinbuzzard11
Chapter Twenty-one:
Predilections
9:10 P.M. Wednesday, on CRT bus #138, Federal Heights Boulevard, Concordia.
"I'm a couple of blocks down that way," Nick said quietly past his shoulder as they drove through the intersection. "South Arbor street stop is closest coming back—that's the next. How much further for you? I'd like to go by to check it out and get off a stop later."
"Two miles? It'll be the red, gold, and brown three story on the other side; Red Rocks Extended Stay," Kristen said softly back without turning her head from the window. The bus was half full, so the two mismatched undesirables conversing in adjacent seats didn't attract the attention they would have gotten had it been emptier. "Who are you texting now?"
"Mom. She needs to contact my newly revealed namesake as soon as possible so he can report discovering a burglary. So we transfer any blame from him to fugitive me." Nick felt safe in explaining, as the four youthful pigs on the other side of the aisle provided sufficient sonic cover with their gossiping. "Precinct three tells him 'tough shit fox; nothing much we can do about it now'—he cancels his credit card which cuts me off and life goes on."
They became silent as they approached and passed Kristen's lodgings. There wasn't much activity; the parking lots were barely a third full. Fewer witnesses might help, although less bustle to lose themselves in would make them more noticeable. Kristen signaled for the next stop; they got off together, but walked off in opposite directions until the bus pulled away.
Nick crossed the street at the next corner and backtracked to pass the slower skunk on the other side. He sensed nothing suspicious up ahead, but still led her down a side street to approach the rear of the property. She caught up while he watched from a shadow for anyone that might have noticed or followed her.
"I don't want to go in through the lobby. Let's see what we can find back here," Nick told her. They walked along the perimeter wall—contoured and painted to emulate the local geology—until he found a somewhat lower spot that seemed wide enough at the top. Although it was nearly a foot above his head, the jump up was easy and he landed balanced on his feet. His fox ego was delighted by the small gasp of surprise from below.
"Good spot, I only see one security cam and it's not pointed this way." Nick sat on the top of the wall and looked down at her. He leaned and reached. "Give me your paws and I'll lift you." Kristen had to stretch to make contact, although he got a good grip on her.
"Now up!" He pulled but she didn't; he had to lift then lean back and stretch his arms overhead to get her all the way in front of him. Their position was too unstable for him to twist and set her down beside him on the wall. "Can't hold this forever doc! Just wrap your legs around me!" She did; then he put her paws around his neck where they held tight.
Nick lifted one leg over the wall, then shuffled around and lifted the other until he was in position to lower her again. Kristen held a cheeky grin on her face for several awkward seconds before she reluctantly released his neck and allowed him to deposit her—she was rather heavier than Carrots—in the hotel car park. He joined her once she stepped away.
"My room's in that one story extension back from the main building—most places have a section like that reserved for the…problematic guests," she said with an edge to her voice. "Anyway that door at the end is unlocked since it leads out to the pool area behind. That gate in the security fence is locked from this side, so we might still have to go in the front Nick."
"Let me see." He devised a circuitous route that would keep them out of the camera's view for as long as possible. As they approached the gate, he had Kristen walk closely in front so he could shield her from its low-resolution gaze—she cooperated and controlled her tail's sway to leave it pressed against his body. It's just innocently unintentional, ignore it!
They stopped before the gate with its generic pushbutton CypherLok—he reached past her to quickly punch in the default factory code that most purchasers never bothered to change, and unlatched it to her wonderment.
"Nick; how could you possibly have…"
"Fox trade secret Miss." They both took a step back to open the gate more, then went in the building and to her room as soon as they determined the hallway was clear. The skunk hadn't left her penchant for organization back in Zootopia—after her pronouncement that nothing seemed to have been disturbed, she was changed and packed within ten minutes.
Nick utilized some of those to scout down the hall and around the lobby area for lurking threats. He found none, so they waited until the reception desk was unattended—Kristen dropped her keycard in the return slot, then he followed her out front with the luggage.
They separated, to board and leave the same bus individually, and met again at his more modest accommodations. Once inside, they turned to each other in relief.
"We're lucky they didn't track you down before we skipped; that means they're still not pervasive enough in the agency to react quickly. Remember how fast they promoted Jack! We're safe here tonight, since unlike you they had no prior knowledge of my whereabouts. That said Kristen, we'll still have to move on sometime tomorrow so don't get comfortable!
"Well, it certainly isn't as nice as my hotel was," she said looking around his timeworn foxhole, "it's a lot smaller too. Why do you think it's safer? You're still registered here."
"Not part of a chain where they can call up your information with a few keystrokes. This place's reservations website is probably in the same computer that's on the registration desk. I still didn't use it! Called and asked if a room was available and deliberately paid cash in advance when I got here. I'm a cheap technophobic authorial antique, remember?"
"We didn't make you look that old. And you certainly haven't gone feeble," Kristen said while raising her arms and making grabby paws.
"Yeah, about that. You didn't exactly seem…reluctant to embrace your elder here you tail fencing flirt!" Nick said as he wrapped his arms and hugged his shoulders in illustration.
"And you rather seemed to enjoy participating in our PDA back in the restaurant."
"Merely helping a doe in distress deservedly discomfit and debase a discriminatory dude!"
"A droll display of doggerel dispensed…uh… Dammit! Anyway fox, you disqualified yourself because I'm not a doe! Most of us prefer skunkette," Kristen said with a smile before it slowly turned serious as she dropped her gaze. "Well…this skunkette thinks she does need to apologize for…taking advantage of the situation earlier…and my other suggestive…behaviors." She abruptly reestablished eye contact. "No. I apologize for taking advantage of your tolerance of me Mr. Wilde. I've been distracting myself from all…"
He stopped her with an extended paw, then gently placed it on her shoulder. "We all need a way to cope with this Kristen," Nick emphasized her name, "I know its been particularly hard on you—not what you signed up for, right?" He waited until she nodded. "One way I deal with stress on the beat is I trade friendly insults with my partners—even with the chief. Other officers abuse gym equipment or hit a watering hole after their shift. We have an on call therapist available if it gets really rough. She's a skunkette too by the way and has her own practice—you might keep that in mind."
I handle stress with wit, deflection, and withdrawal if it gets too bad. Carrots gets depressed. Kristen seems to get friendly. She needs that; pushing her away might be harmful; but I can't let it go too far. Does she recognize that and can she hold herself back?
"We all indulged in a little baiting and flirting back in your den; that's a lot better than dealing with the stress all on your own. We saw Jack lose it right there, earlier at the university it was…Judy's turn. You've had a few scares, but nothing really bad so far—I can certainly withstand a few hugs from an attractive female to help keep your anxieties away."
"I appreciate that Nick, and I'll try to be more…respectful of your sensibilities…your personal space?" Kristen went and sat on one side of the rumpled bed—he had a twinge of embarrassment at its state—and left him plenty of room to join her. She waited for a few seconds, then patted a spot an arm's length away. "I'd really like to explain myself further…if you'll listen."
Why didn't she sit in one of the chairs by the window? They're suitable for us, it's night—curtains are closed. Should've made the bed—why'd she sit there? Does she need that tenuous a connection? She left plenty of room but still wants me there with her, not across from her. Give her what she wants for now—you're going to sleep on the floor anyway.
Nick decided that planting his tail a third of the way closer than Kristen had indicated would be the best compromise. She appeared momentarily grateful after he did—maybe he should have split the distance. A warm smile and being attentive should fix that.
"Whoever said that life's difficulties reveal the truth about a person was right," Kristen acknowledged. "One of the things I've learned about myself recently is that I'm not very good at presenting…accepting my own…artificial appearance to others. That didn't come out very well. I'm basically happy with who I am and don't need outside validation…then I notice that some facet of me always tries to fit in with other's expectations about what I should be when I really don't want to. Is that better?"
"I know what you mean. For years I thought I accepted who I was—was happy with it like you. I really wasn't. A large part of that me thankfully died last year and I'm still scraping off the rest to expose and get used to this new me, but it's hard. Those others make it harder."
Watch it! I'm just as stressed and apprehensive as she is. Helping doesn't mean I should open up to her like this; she isn't Dr. Carlisle at the precinct! I'm not a shrink either, but I can listen, isn't that what they mostly do anyway?
"They do, and that's why I fight changing to please them, although it does make things lonelier. So although I've managed to self-isolate from most of my immediate circle, we're all still further restricted by society." Kristen gave him a resigned, hurtful look. "You're in that with me since we're both considered undesirables by most other mammals. You're a sneaky conniving predator, and I'm…just a skunk."
"Not to me. I'll say that I've found you to be an intelligent, impressive, and accomplished skunk…ette. And if I can mention this without getting into further personal trouble, I value you as a most pulchritudinous new friend." That produced a grin on her modest muzzle—perhaps she was relieved that he hadn't been deeply offended by her flirtatious behavior.
"Such a correctly pronounced cromulent word from our erudite vulpine! Enough to make a girl swoon!" Kristen dramatically put the back of a paw to her forehead; then momentarily touched his arm. "Seriously, thanks for all the playing along and helping keep me together. More honestly, thanks for not seeing the skunk first! It's rare to initially meet a mammal that doesn't take that little half step back, or try to stay upwind or out of enclosed spaces with me.
"Or that hurry away while holding their kits and purse close, demand cash only at the store, or give you that look for being out in public," Nick noted from his own experiences.
"I've gotten a few of those too," Kristen said. "Actually the main reason I was willing to join our band of subversives was that none of you cared at all that I was a skunk—it was incredibly refreshing to be regarded as just me by a whole diverse group of mammals!"
"Before giving us too much credit for our nonchalant acceptance of you, remember that addictively scrumptious dinner you cooked up for us. The way to a mammal's heart?"
"It was wonderful to be able to host a congenial mixed group Nick. I can't remember having one like ours before. However, it was your immediate reaction the first time I met you that mattered. When you saw me in the museum, your face didn't say 'skunk' right off, you admired me! Even in a labcoat! That's why I overlooked your being somewhat crass at first. Your attention would have made my day except for that report we had to discuss." Kristen pulled her closer leg up onto the bed and turned towards him before resuming.
"As for meeting the rest of you, Skye stayed professional, Judy was upset by your behavior, not with me, and Jack was cluelessly sexist, not speciest. Unconscious, species blind acceptance from a hare, rabbit and two kinds of fox—in just over a day! I know you're all in law enforcement and you're expected to treat every species the same, but it's that initial second or two that always reveals the prejudice."
"A uniform doesn't stop that either, sometimes even when I'm with a partner. They usually see the fox first and wonder if I'm legit. Chief uses me for a lot of community outreach to try and correct that, the kits seem a lot more accepting."
"Shame we have to grow up," Kristen sighed. "You know what? I've only ever hugged a few who weren't skunks, and you're the first one who didn't flinch right at first or try to curtail it! Thanks. I never intended to make it anything more between us Nick, I just needed the moment."
If there's ever the right time fox! He turned, raised his arm and she moved to squeeze the breath out of him and bury her face under his muzzle. This isn't just stress; she's really lonely too; she told you that. Nick let her hold on while he first patted her back a bit, then moved to scratch around her ears. This is good practice for you to be more…sensitive to Judy's moods in the future. Relationship training…female emotions 101…that's it.
He was saved from his awkwardness when she released him after a long minute, sat back up and recomposed herself. Any comment of his was checked by her look of…resigned disappointment.
"Wish you were a skunk Wilde, I'm comfortable with my own species but haven't been able to find one that's right for me…or that considers me…agreeable as well. You said it perfectly with your kind praise earlier. Nothing wrong with what you see!" Kristen did one of her sensuous tail waves. "They just lose interest when they find out more about me—unless I'm careful to dumb myself down and try to be…normal. Even some of my family gets uncomfortable if I don't do that! They're proud of me, supported me, even brag about me, there's a Doctor Soren in the family! But everybody's still happier that I live apart from them. Two lives Wilde, we're all fine being a family, working in the shop, going to races—as long as I leave my brain, labwork, and vocabulary at the museum!"
"Kristen, when my life was changed, I lost the trust of several mammals—and made enemies of a few—that I'd considered friends of a sort because I didn't want to be without any. They were more partners in mutual survival. Maybe I didn't recognize what real friends were then. I do now, and am very happy that you are one of them!"
"Appreciate the extra ego boost Nick, I'm definitely feeling better now," Kristen said more cheerfully. "Although your hug was therapeutic, it still felt somewhat tentative in my professional opinion; should work on that a bit unless you're trying to save them for someone! If not, you know where I live." She tail teased him again.
Still awkward, but she just gave me an out! Now give Dr. Lonely a smooth, positive, gentle letdown so she understands I'm not available—don't want to hurt her.
"You'll find someone, you're too good not to," Nick said encouragingly. "I just hope you don't have to wait as long as I did—but if you do, it'll be worth it to choose the right one!"
"So that's why you've been such a gentlemammal! Got yourself caught. I know that's really important for you foxes; that total commitment thing. So who's the lucky vixen?"
"I'm the lucky one and she'll spend the rest of her life reminding me of that! I'll just try to live up to her lapse of judgement!" Please let me deflect and don't insist on specifics!
"Now I'm really upset, sounds like I missed out on the perfect mate!" Kristen said in mock disappointment. "I had no idea, you and your mom never even hinted about it."
"We generally keep these things very private until the arrangements are finalized. Mom has given her approval; I don't think Skye suspects even though my not groveling at her feet might have been a giveaway." It's technically not a lie on my part if I merely allow her to assume that it's a normal all fox thing!
Her laughter covered the relief in his.
"Now tomorrow's going to be a difficult day for both of us and it's less than an hour away." Nick stood up, appropriated the rolled blanket at the foot of the bed, laid it out on the floor and folded it over several times to remake his comfortable fox sized pad. "My gallantry insists that you take the bed—I'll be fine on the floor with this since it won't be the first time—I had a wolf in here the other night.
"Thanks Nick, I appreciate that. Now I know that I've made you…uncomfortable around me…several times and I'm really regretting that now because I have something I need to…discuss…for you to consider about our sleeping arrangements!" Kristen said nervously.
"I'm fine down here; you can have the bathroom first in the morning," Nick conceded.
"It's not that! It's that…it's become somewhat warm in here and I certainly don't need any blankets…or anything else…to be comfortable…in bed. I'm well…insulated."
"This place has an air conditioner; it isn't great, but go ahead and use it! I'll be fine."
"No! I'm sorry Nick, I've never been able to sleep in anything more than my fur!"
"Seriously? You'd actually consider doing that with me in here…with you?" The room seemed to shrink further, which squelched his idea of offering to sleep in the closet.
"I didn't think about this until now! I'm so much in the habit at home—I'm not the only skunk that is—I didn't think to bring any nightwear since I'd be by myself!"
"It's more up to you than me Kristen…if you'd really be comfortable having me in here. We'll just have to…coordinate. Warn me whenever and I'll turn to the wall…if that would be satisfactory."
"It's more me not wanting to offend you…any more than I have Nick. I won't be embarrassed since there's nothing really for you to look at anyway—I have a lot of fur! That's why we skunks have the white stripes! Otherwise nobody could tell what mammal was underneath all of it."
"That exhibitionist tail kind of gives you away. Now before I think about this too much, get the light and please lets sleep in for awhile tomorrow!" Nick curled up on his blanket pad and made a point of tucking his muzzle under his own tail.
Doctor Kristen Soren's efforts with the room's outmoded coffee machine had heightened her desirability far beyond that achieved by last night's suggestive flirting. Nick sipped at his cup and decided that this particular talent would be prioritized during Carrot's fox care training. A nice fair-trade; she gets to keep the fox in return for being his personal barista.
"Our first order of business will be to get Dr. Ulric on his way to Zootopia," Nick began as Kristen sat across from him with her own cup. "I've already arranged a pick-up for him there that he can contact shortly before arrival. We can't use the main station here; Skye made sure of that. So we'll have to get him out of town to one further out along the southern route. Then we have to find another place to stay and I'm sure both our I.D.'s are already radioactive. That likely means another decline in the quality of our accommodations whether we remain together or not. Unless you want to try leaving this hot zone for home."
"No; feel safer with you right now. But I need to talk with Dr. Ulric before he goes! I've realized something rather…disquieting, and I need to discuss it with a qualified biologist."
"No problem, I'll bring him over, he's staying fairly close—I need to finalize his travel arrangements anyway." Nick opened his phone and answered the question on her face. "Skye gave him her burner, and disabled his. Now while I'm doing this and you're waiting, check the news and see if you can find any mentions of us. Don't search with our names."
"I…know," she said in irritation as he went into the bathroom to try to scrub out some of the dye in his fur. Kristen had brought some more along for touch-up purposes if he'd needed it, but nothing to remove what she and mom had already so carefully applied.
Nick scouted the streets between his and Ulric's lodgings, and squeezed in a side trip to the convenience store to get a better-looking set of sunglasses. He had registered the wolf's room for him under the Holcroft name as being safer to use at the time than the professor's own—he'd also wanted an alternate haven for himself if needed. Now that subterfuge was no longer useful, although it might still confuse their trail somewhat. It was good they'd all be out of the area in a couple of hours.
He spotted Ulric exiting his budget hotel with his luggage at the suggested time, nodded approval for the wolf to proceed, and shadowed him from behind along an indirect route back to his own. He was introducing himself to Kristen when Nick reentered the room.
"We're all set professor, although I decided to make a change from what we'd talked about before," Nick said while unfolding a map on the table. He pushed it a little closer to the corner of the bed where the wolf could sit comfortably. "You'll still take the one-thirty-eight down to the bus terminal and transfer to the two P.M. intercity south. Now, instead of Garden Springs, stay on it all the way down to Animas—it's about three hours total. The afternoon train gets there just before six. Your timing's less tight and that's the train's second stop after leaving here—less likely to be watched there although that shouldn't be a problem at that time of day."
"I still haven't seen anything about myself or Miss Winter on the news," Dr. Ulric said, "and I only saw a brief mention about the scuffle down at the station. Is your hasty caution regarding me really that justified?"
"Hidden conspiracies don't want to advertise their failures professor," Nick deadpanned. "They want to find problems like us quickly and disappear us quietly."
"This might help doctor," Kristen said while she passed her tablet to the wolf. "They have a wanted poster out for Skye!"
"I'm a 'known fugitive' and she's an expert in paw to paw combat?" Ulric said wonderingly and let Nick read. "I'll be careful Officer Wilde."
"Yeah, do that," Nick said, "If we all make it through this, I hope someone saves one of those for her—it'd look good hanging in her den!" He looked at Kristen. "You know, Finn might want one too." The skunk grimaced and waved him silent.
"According to this." Kristen picked up the itinerary and contact list he'd written down for the professor, read it, then passed it on to him. "You have well over an hour before you have to catch the bus Dr. Ulric—and I'd like to have a professional consultation with you about something we may have all overlooked." The wolf nodded and perked his ears with interest.
"You recently excavated and started to describe the remains of several historic, but still morphologically primitive Coypu at the Fairfield site. Dr. Alder and I have been working with equally primitive recent Mara remains found not fifty miles from right here!"
Professor Ulric was suddenly very interested. He looked at Kristen with…hunger?
"We also have—recently found and carefully hidden away—a nearly complete specimen of one of your primitive Coypu including skin and fur." Kristen spoke clearly and carefully. "It is being genetically analyzed as we speak, and lived and died less than one year ago!"
They had to wait while professor Ulric recovered from his shock—Kristen watched him, then thwarted his questions with her paw. His eyes begged—she shook her head no.
"There's a much bigger issue here Dr. Ulric. Your confiscated specimens are some six hundred years old, our own confiscated Mara is somewhere around two hundred maximum, and our Coypu was alive months ago. The idea of living primitive species is no longer just rumors of undescribed, inconsequential rodents in remote areas of the world. We've been forced to accept that more than one reasonably familiar species of these animals remains alive today, and that some in authority know this as well and actively work to suppress it!"
Ulric certainly must know a lot of this background…so she wants me informed too about whatever she's building up to with him. He's being patient for me too. Acknowledge them!
Kristen gratefully took his brief nod and continued. "Now ancestral Mara's and Coypu are both indigenous to Amazonia and shared the same range in the southern part of that continent. I doubt they both suddenly decided to migrate up the LaurAm isthmus once it closed and settle this continent. So who found them and brought them here to exploit? That's what this conspiracy we oppose wants to learn and use against the predatory population. But there's something I don't think they've realized yet." Kristen held her paws up again to both of them.
"Now both these primitive species obviously have living, modern, bipedal, sentient counterparts! That proves both an ancient population separation for these species, and that one population of each gained sapience and the other did not." Kristen turned to look at him alone.
"Nick, a gradual divergence of a single species into two new but related ones can be explained by a large series of minor mutations over time. That's how evolution works—in many small steps. Any immediate and viable major morphological change by a single big leap would be unprecedented! So the probability of two different species experiencing the same major beneficial mutation at nearly the same time is essentially zero! So a specific outside genetic agent inserting the same coded change is the only possible explanation!"
"This…you are right of course," Ulric said. "If part of some original populations were isolated enough to avoid the crucial pan-zoonotic infection…and our two managed to survive undiscovered until nearly the present…to give us…we might be able to actually compare sequences! We could have the first solid evidence for the viral DNA trigger hypothesis!" he said in awe. "The greatest unsolved problem in biology!"
Nick watched and listened as the two biologists launched into an intense discussion of multiple waves, gene activation, latency, and more arcane terms like pleiotropism and transposable parasitic elements. He perked up when they referred to a gene called FOX-P a couple of times like it was important. He'd almost ceased to exist for them—looking at the eager skunk, he wondered if professor Ulric would get the hug treatment at some point. It seemed a good time to pack his things and go check out.
The grizzled old hog at reception surprised him with a padded mailer from his desk. "Priority mail just came for you. You musta known it was coming?"
"Yeah, I…was waiting," Nick stated, trying to cover his surprise, "that should be my contract offer! I can leave now." He dropped off his key and forced himself to wait a minute for his receipt. The neatly lettered address made it obvious who it was from, so as soon as he'd left the lobby, he slit it open and pulled out the papers. A key pinged onto the asphalt, he bent to scoop it up, then scanned the letter while walking back to his room.
The science seminar was still in progress, but stopped as he entered. He waved the letter. "From our wayward vixen. No indication about her present location, although she's advising I leave this one soonest and contact Martin for more details. She also said she didn't want to be found with this so she wasn't feeling secure as of yesterday." Nick showed her key and walked over to check the transit map on the table. "Postmark is from way on the other side of the Federal district."
The immediacy of Skye's advice had him ushering them outside and down a side street within minutes—Ulric helping Kristen with her larger case. Nick called a halt and pointed. "One more block down, then left, we'll hit the boulevard right by the bus stop. I'll take point; you follow at a distance and keep your phone out, I'll text if I see anything. You two get on the bus, I'll watch for problems and catch the next one. Kristen, you get off and meet me at that center you showed me about five stops down and see if you can find me something that'll make me look less like…this." He threw a paw up in front of himself. "I think you have a good idea what size I am!"
Kristen laughed and Dr. Ulric looked perplexed. "I'm good at restoring relics Nicholas, and do remember to ditch that book of yours," she said.
He pulled the last copy of Holcroft's book from his backpack to show her. "Got it." The professor looked at it curiously, put out a paw and thumbed through it.
"I could use the distraction on the bus ride," the wolf said, "It's a long one." He took off the book's dust jacket and gave it back. It was plain enough underneath to not draw other mammal's interest—Nick nodded for him to take it and wadded up the paper cover.
"Do drop it off before you get on the train?" Ulric agreed; they gripped paws, and Nick jogged on ahead. A half-hour later, he watched the eagerly conversing pair at the stop board the bus together and leave without incident.
Your assignment list just keeps growing fox; save society from itself, stop a government conspiracy, foster a scientific revolution.
In a state of indeterminacy.
And then there was pain. Vague awareness of distress concentrated into misery as it drew inwards. It hurts; don't like; can't get away, contain it, curl around it…
Something prevented that, an abrupt tug on her paws. Mine…me! Her compact universe of torment collapsed under a flood of new sensations. Chemical odors, those of other… mammals, and sounds of movement competed for her expanding attention.
Skye took a spasmodic breath; the sharper pains within reflected her exertions and induced another futile jerk against…restraints? Formless pinkish…orangish light spilled across her perception—she cracked her eyes open to a glare that immediately clenched them shut again.
"She's responding now, but not fully conscious yet. This'll take more time; told you she was overdosed!" The voice seemed close and Skye's instincts warned her to remain as…unresponsive as possible for now. The pain in her…side insisted on that as well.
Another harsher voice spoke, although she couldn't perceive what it said. The first replied, although the only discernable part was "too early, it could…" before her sensibilities faded away.
The light was back; it flickered across then moved away. Skye blinked; then did so again for just long enough to gain a visual impression. A heavyset mammal near her size stood close over her; it had a broad face with a dirty white shock of fur from the forehead back, and dark gray masking across the eyes and top of the muzzle. Like a badger, but without the white stripe from the nose back between the eyes she usually associated with one.
Like doctor Barret. I'm remembering things now! I was being…hunted. I've been tranquilized. I'm a prisoner! The other might be too; I saw orange.
The pains were sharp enough to make her concentrate on controlling her breathing for the next several...minutes? It was hard to tell; the residual drugs might still influence her perceptions.
You're functioning again Skye! That was a complex thought. Now assess your situation while you have time. Side hurts enough to be a broken rib, you're restrained…feels like straps. You're at the conspiracy's undoubtedly limited mercy.
Her bout of despair was interrupted by a firm grip and palpitation of her right paw. The pressure squirmed about and settled at a point above her wrist—with another sustained poke into her palm pad—likely by a claw. It withdrew when she tried to shift her paw away.
Skye opened her eyes and confirmed that the mammal was a badger—a tough looking honey badger that closed both of its eyes as soon as they made mutual contact. After a second or two the badger reopened them and reestablished that contact—then firmly closed them both again.
Skye closed hers and tried to relax as hope burgeoned. It was possible the badger didn't want others to know she was awake yet! The claw poked her palm again less forcefully for a second, lifted away momentarily, then…taptaptap…poke…poke…poke…taptaptap. The cadence was halfway through a repeat when her brain embraced the universal keycode for distress! She clenched her fist in lieu of being able to squeeze the badger's paw, and the mustelid responded by shifting it's grip a little to bring her fingers into closer contact.
Keep it simple! Skye flexed her paw and chose her best-positioned finger. Poke…tap…poke poke. Tap. Taptaptap. She got a squeeze back!
"What are you doing with her doc? We've waited long enough!" the harsh voice bleated.
"Trying to monitor her pulse, its very thready! She's not coming out of it very fast." The badger pried one of Skye's eyes open for a bit, then folded over one of her ears and released it. "She's significantly dehydrated too, I need to get some fluids into her."
"Quit stalling. We saw the fox moving, she's awake and we need this now. Juice her." said a different measured almost bored voice.
"Shut it lawnmower. I do that, she dies; it's bad for all of us!" the badger said firmly. Skye decided the voice of her temporary ally was feminine. "Push me into that, and whatever you do to me, you're still responsible! Plenty of witnesses here that'll finger you to save their own hides."
"Looks like you're stayin on your diet another night pelt. Last chance; dis me again and you'll be working without a tail. Now, outta the way!" The semi-bored voice ended on a note of anger.
Skye heard hoof clops come closer, as the badger's claw gave her paw a quick tap…tap poke…taptaptap…tap, before it was released. She's under duress and wants me to…ease?
She slowly exhaled and willed herself limp just before a searing pain in her side forced her to curl against the restraints—a small puff of air escaped through her clenched teeth. It was excruciating to remain limp and not cry out as the agony slowly faded.
"Humfp. She jerked pretty good. How do you know she's not faking it?" The voice was back to its near monotone.
"She's out! That's an involuntary response! Otherwise she would've screamed with that broken rib!"
"You said they were bruised before," said monotone.
"Initial exam. I'd know for sure if we had an x-ray in this forsaken infirmary! Hurts bad either way. At least her lung isn't punctured," the badger said from near her again. "Yet. It will be if you jab her again like that! This bruise looks like a freakin horse kicked her!"
"Alright, enough! How long now 'til she's ready?" said monotone with a hint of irritation.
"Forever if you don't listen!" Badger lady couldn't hide her own anger. "She was overtranqued! Under deep anesthesia for too long without treatment. She's lucky to be alive, let alone showing signs of recovery. It's normal to wake temporarily and drop off again like this—she won't remember having done that. Sometimes that happens more than once! Now she needs fluids and since I don't have any more I.V. paks, I can't use that bottle of saline you so thoughtfully provided! Even if I did, she's dehydrated enough I'd have trouble sticking her. So get me a liter of water mixed with a couple grams of salt and at least six times that of sugar and we'll see if we can get it down her!"
Skye had to admire the competence of her fellow prisoner. The badger had quickly confirmed her own status, bought time for her to recover and listen in with the medical excuses—she really didn't feel dehydrated—then strongly hinted that they were likely in the old Deer Trail prison. And the keycode, does she know who I am, thus assume I'd know it?
"Just let me unstrap her already so she can drink! The only resistance she's capable of now is sitting up without passing out and maybe trying to puke on herself!"
Paws undid the straps over her arms, but left the ones on her legs. Skye let the badger fuss over her and made a show of slowly returning to consciousness after something wet wiped her face. She was pushed to sit up—she let her muzzle hang down and started to incrementally blink her eyes open—they widened in dismay…
She was completely naked. Her tail made a feeble attempt to rise and relieve her humiliation—the badger's paw gave it an assist to crude laughter from around in back of her, then came up to lift her muzzle gently.
"Okay Miss. follow the light. That's right. Now drink this slowly; just sips." The badger helped her at first; then after she had it steadily in her own paws walked around behind her and out of the room with two of the casually dressed sheep.
Skye kept her head down and concentrated on lapping at her drink. There was another snicker due to her gauche behavior—good, let them think I'm instinctually still out of it. That, and her undersized ears compared to more common foxes could make them complacent about how good her hearing actually was.
"Mix up another; she'll need it," said the badger softly but understandably from the other room. "It could take up to ten minutes more for a decent recovery after she gets that down."
"Then a little bit of this and she spills," said monotone with intent.
"Thank you for reminding me that you don't know shit about pharmacology, Ramses! Again—these aren't truth serums! The best outcome you get for most species is a dissociative state where they're partially sedated, unwary, and suggestible. What you get is up to the questioner, not the drug. You're good enough in your field to be dangerous in mine, so keep your alchemy away from my patient. She's already had enough thiopental from the tranq—canines and vulpines retain some of that in their adipose tissues so any more just delays her recovery! Unless she dies because I don't know how much more she can tolerate!"
"We were told to have her ready with this by now! They're waiting," harsh voice added.
"Can't be helped—they shouldn't have messed her up so much! Now give me the ketamine, it's safer and it's also a painkiller she badly needs! I'll also want the saline and my bag so I can cut it down and make the dosing more controllable—I'll need to monitor her while I slowly…" The badger was interrupted by a ringtone.
"Get her back out there and watch what she does!" Ramses said before a door closed.
Doug Ramses, Bellwether's chemist! He's obviously still useful to the conspiracy and this has to be Deer Trail! They're not just sequestering undesirables; it's a center of operations. They must have him working on something more than just torturing prisoners for kicks. I shouldn't have been so circumspect with my letters! Jack; read between the lines!
Skye kept her head down and straight as she watched the sheep scrutinize the badger's actions off to her right. The mustelid had turned just enough that she could be seen filling a small syringe from a saline bottle then squeezing it out on the floor.
"What'd you do that for? Tell me why you're doin' stuff!" the wary sheep muttered, obviously trying not to attract Skye's notice.
"I don't get the supplies I need out here so I have to reuse shit," the badger whispered, playing their game. "Just rinsing this out; cleaned it with alcohol earlier. Now I'm taking two milliliters of this ketamine—that's a regular dose for someone her size—but I'll cut it down with this saline and start her with a third."
"We need you to use the whole thing; she has to be fully doped before…" harsh voice said, then paused as the door reopened.
"Then it's her naptime again sheep dip and you'll all have to wait. She'll get all she needs with this, you'll see that easily enough. Now four of saline and we're set, I'll slowly bring her up to the edge of the cliff and hold her there; I can't pull her back if she goes over!"
"I heard, and the…supervisor says to follow the doc's advice for now," Ramses stated. "Here's your hummingbird food—maybe teach it to drink properly or use a straw?"
The badger took a quick swig out of it before she walked over and set it beside Skye. "Finish yours up Miss. Here's another one."
"What was that? Thought the fox needed it!" harsh said.
"Checking the concentration first, just like I did the other one." Skye's paw was taken up again. "She's showing some improvement already, shouldn't be too much longer," she said for the benefit of the sheep as her claw went to work.
'Be brave tha nd u helte fr pub trial ltr', was tapped out on her palm almost too fast to interpret while she finished her glass of rehydration solution. Skye tapped back 'understd', more slowly, then set down the empty. The badger helped her briefly with the full one and tapped 'Leave some'.
Skye did, then croaked out a "thank you"; she was eased back prone and her arms strapped down. A minute later there was a bleat of outrage and a brief scuffle down by her feet.
"Not yours pelt! You ask first, you don…" Ramses' voice ran down as he struggled to contain whatever the badger's provocation was.
"Benefits my patient. I felt a bit peckish and didn't want to lose my concentration for this—since my blood sugar seems to be low."
She's been baiting those sheep since I woke up! She knows her value, and that her captors are restrained from significant retaliation by superiors regardless of their threats. Is that her regular attitude with them, or did she just start that for my benefit—to prepare me—help me deal with threats during my interrogation. She let me know I have lasting value. Or is this good cop-bad cop to soften me up—crush my hope. But then why did she give me time to recover and orient myself—which would be counterproductive for an interrogation. Don't overthink and question unexpected help with a difficult situation—go with the badger!
That badger was leaned closely over her again with the flashlight and a small scale. The latter was placed alongside one of her eyes—Skye's puzzlement was answered when she saw the tiny eyedropper held nearly hidden alongside the light. She held still as she got two drops in each—the scale blocked her blink response from the sheep. She heard one clop closer.
"What's the hold up now!" that was Ramses.
"Baseline measurement." The badger held up the scale briefly for him to see it, and that gave Skye time for a couple more needed blinks. "Pupillary response, muscle tone, pulse and respiration are how I'll monitor her! You'll know how she's doing when I do!"
She stepped away briefly and returned with the syringe, followed by the other sheep. "It's time for your relaxant and painkiller Miss. You'll get more if you tolerate this dose."
Skye winced as her side objected to her shoulder being pulled up—a spot on the back of it was wiped down. She was barely aware of the needle due to the pain from her ribs.
"Okay, that's two milliliters intramuscular. Didn't use a vein since that'd kick her off too fast. Need to go down gently. That should start within a minute or two." The badger put on a good show of monitoring her vitals and checking her eyes periodically. A few more minutes elicited a 'hmmm' from the mustelid and Skye got another injection.
I don't feel any different other than my side hurting a bit less. Maybe that's why I got the shots where I did. Room's getting a lot brighter. Badger doc's giving me quite an act to follow—that second shot really satisfied those sheep. Wilde would appreciate her hustle! Hope I make it worthwhile.
The sheep blocked out some of the harsh light as they leaned over in turn to peer at her dilated eyes, and the badger faked them out some more by using a stethoscope on her chest and neck. Pronounced ready, an opaque moist cloth was draped over her eyes and tied behind her head before they left her alone with her apprehension.
That's a good sign, they don't want me to identify my interrogator later. I'll have a later!
Sounds behind her indicated that a large mammal, no two, had seated themselves. Her nose identified their species as…deodorants.
"Agent Winter," a rather resonant voice started, "You have certainly earned that dubious classification with your recent activities. Could you please tell me how those recent activities served the agency you're sworn to?" The direction back to the voice revealed a tall mammal.
A leading question that gives me room to admit things they might not suspect. They know I'm not a fully trained field agent and expect me to make simple mistakes. And that guilty reminder shows they've chosen to use the 'pride and ego down' method with me. They don't know that Jack and I have researched and drilled each other on these techniques!
"I…always follow my…supervisor's lead and carry out…my assinm…I was last assigned to chief…Tarija in western regional…she was satisfied with my I.T. work. Do you…have clearance to talk to me? For me to?" That ought to annoy him.
"Yes, you may consider this an extraordinary debriefing to address questions about your performance. Alpha clearance. Now, can you detail those tasks you were assigned? There have been some conflicting accounts from others regarding those that we need to clarify."
"I arranged a…confiscation of certain fossils, and was needed to do a data extraction from the museum in Zootopia. I was told those had been falsified to cause interspecies discord…"
"Yes, three of the individuals involved with the fabrication and distribution of that false evidence have now been taken into custody. Could you detail what contacts you had with each of them for me? Did you have any suspicions about them at the time?"
That's his first attempt to catch me out! Am I supposed to count myself as one of the arrestees? They want me to reveal who I think they might be—they might not have them at all! So be unaware.
"I don't know which you mean; several people were involved, I met with ZBI, ZPD, and the museum staff that made the initial police report. Agent Savage got that first, he was my lead, he'd know more—I was reassigned to a prisoner transfer detail and flew back early."
"Please start with those that created or had outside input to that report, and the later files they received that you extracted. Also the origins of those files if you determined that."
That means they're going to work around to my intercept of Ulric at the station soon enough—I can't deny being there, so maybe just admit it first, then try to turn it back on them. They shouldn't expect that—I'm supposedly doped, and already showed my spycraft naivete by not asking for his I.D. or proper authentication!
"Dr. Soren was the one I had the most contact with, she was studying the…skeleton we…confiscated along with her papers. She seemed convinced it was all real and was upset when we took her work. Dr. Alder was the other—I only met him twice—Soren wrote the report at his direction and he had also received the files from Dr. Ulric that I later scrubbed."
There was a stifled "bronk!" and a chair scraped the floor beside the interrogator, who tried to quickly speak over them.
"The Dr. Ulric that you knew would arrive in Concordia, and who evaded lawful arrest with your aid? Your direct betrayal of this agency Ms. Winter?" His voice made a smooth transition from accusation to anger.
"I followed my instructions and kept him safe! I was told to secure him to thwart an unauthorized in progress seizure." Do or die Skye! Will they swallow this excuse?
"Then why did you run Miss Winter? Why didn't you report in or come back with him?"
"Told to stay away—would be suspect after—agency wasn't safe!" she said, voice rising.
"What made you trust your instructions to intercept Professor Ulric? Was that directive given to you in-person?" The interrogator made a noticeable effort to remain calm.
"No, by phone! Emergency alert—had my pin and used my I.T. passcode." That's enough, make them resolve the ambiguity.
"So…a coded alert? The agency hasn't issued one in the last several days Ms. Winter. Why did you alone receive it, and from whom did it originate?"
"I was…closest? My day off at Cherry Creek…in the mall," Skye offered passively.
"Now, the alert supposedly had your internal passcode. That will be very simple for us to verify. Professor Ulric has already admitted to the fabrications, and has recounted to us his adventures with you. You should be able to corroborate his narrative easily for us—and help us determine the source of the misdirection that so unfortunately placed you here with us."
They don't realize that I know the Fairfield evidence is genuine! So they're lying about Ulric and almost certainly don't have him. Just in case they do have some relevant leads, I'd better stick to some harmless truths. They're really desperate to know who my imaginary operations contact was, and offered me a rope. Oh Jack! I hope this works!
"Verify? You already have the alerts in my phone and logged in Omnivore," Skye said in puzzlement. "After we evaded the…others at Central Station, we walked back to the mall, had dinner in the food court and waited. The second alert around 7:30 gave us a bus number and stop—it was only three away from the mall. It was less than a minute before the car—a silver-gray Entourage with pool plates—pulled up and we did the pass-off."
Useless details for veracity! There has to be over a hundred of those around Concordia!
"Ms. Winter, can you recall the occupants of the car and how they identified themselves?"
"It was night…I didn't get a good look at either of them. I could tell the front passenger was a pronghorn when they lowered the window briefly, the driver was around the same size. Their I.D. phrase's in my phone; it seemed…unique."
"Oh? I'm curious, can you recall it for me?" interrogator kept his voice reasonably calm.
He seems to have readily accepted that my phone is missing for reasons unknown, and that there's a hidden mole or two within the conspiracy. Wilde and I have definitely fed their paranoia, and I'm the first possibly unwitting adversary they've been able to interrogate. They've gone easy so I'm not spoiled too soon—which opens them to disinformation!
"It was…High Kalasie? No, High Kalasaya! Said by the pronghorn—sounded male."
"That should be helpful. Now Miss Winter, could you tell me who this Cassie Neal that so strongly resembles you is?"
"Oh that? It's mine—sometimes I don't want to be me because of my overenthusiastic fan base. Works most of the time," Skye admitted, keeping her breaths shallow to ease the pain.
"And why not have your agency I.D.?"
"My day off. Using my driver's license is a lot less…off-putting for most mammals. I knew it didn't matter anymore once I saw my own wanted poster! That's when I really knew I'd been set-up!" That's it! My way out from under! Set up by who, them…or?
"And who in the agency would have reason to set you up?" You seem certain about that."
"You and these non-agency minions of yours for one! I'm darted, beaten, subjected to illegal interrogation—not exactly following the procedural manual are we? Then there's whoever sent me to intercept Ulric before your group could—they didn't exactly follow the rules either," Skye said through gritted teeth. "So which of you factions arranged to send me to Zootopia with Savage in the first place? We were told to fish for certain information—Tarija was after it. She reassigned both of us in the middle…of our investigations…set me up to take a fall if anything went wrong!" Pain finally won out; she had to pant and moan for a minute before continuing.
Ketamine's wearing off—rib has to be broken. They're waiting for me…listening! Get going while you can before they interrupt, spin your conspiracy theory!
"I was also tied to that ZPD Officer Wilde, well before he disappeared. I was shown an internal ZBI document by his chief. It accused me of some kind of corrupt favoritism—to give Wilde a reference…I was ordered to write! This was arranged before he joined the force…year before we ever met. Someone there was prejudiced against foxes…being in public service…had the connections back here…to set us up for eventual prosecution!"
"Why would the ZPD chief consult with you about a confidential document you were not cleared to discuss with him? This is a serious violation for both of you!" her interrogator tried to redirect the proceedings.
"It was a publicly available recommendation…chief Bogo wanted to know if I was the S. Winter who'd signed it off. It wasn't classified, so I said I was!" Skye tried to sound indignant, but her ribs only allowed stressed to come out.
"I was referring to the ZBI document you referenced that accused you of colluding with Wilde! That was…apparently classified!" There was a faintly heard non-verbal interaction behind her that coincided with his hesitation.
"And not true! The chief asked me about it before I saw it! He was concerned about his officer! I'm supposed to ignore an accusation against me? I wanted to report it to my own supervisor, since chief Tarija was not…well disposed towards me."
"Then why haven't you reported this supposedly false document to your superior? You've been in Concordia since last Friday miss Winter."
"It's a year old, so I felt it could wait…until I came in on Tuesday. I did my assignment report over the weekend." Skye paused and marshaled her remaining strength. "Some back here at the ZBI had to be sympathetic…with whoever wanted to discredit Wilde in Zootopia, and generated that document to…get rid of both of us. If they waited this long to use it against us, they're probably still the same ones that set me up with the Ulric intercept! To use me one last time! All the politicians and you directors and managers consider us foxes to just be expendable assets—pawns for your power games!"
That last bitter accusation drew another subtle 'honk' from the passive observer behind her. It registered as vaguely familiar before it slowly faded out like everything else.
Skye awoke on a softer surface with a blunted ache in her ribs and limits to how deeply she could breathe. Her eyes traced over the fine cracks in the faded paint on the ceiling while her memories slowly came back online.
I must have passed out after my...interrogation. Must have given them a more dramatic performance than I'd expected. Did I? Yes, I planted the idea about being directed by another faction within the agency to retrieve professor Ulric. Whined about prejudice against foxes specifically, not the plot against predators! Be nice if I somehow implicated Tarija with that Amazonian phrase—I think I made it sound Amazonian.
She reached to explore the more diffuse pain in her right side and discovered that she wasn't restrained; they'd even given her a small pillow for her head. The tightness was due to a wide bandage firmly wrapped around her torso—she'd likely been given another injection too. Of course, she was still naked.
I hope I was convincing enough to feed their paranoia and buy us some time. They didn't push me to expose anyone, or reveal our evidence. They'll be back for that after they try to check out my assertions. They gave me more care; I'm still valuable—for now.
Skye slowly looked around her cell, grateful for her lack of dizziness or nausea. There was a no-longer-stainless toilet and washbasin combo mounted to the wall opposite her wolf-sized bed—which had some of her clothes piled on it by her feet. A small shelf was in the corner behind her; it had a plastic pitcher and a package of those generic energy bars designed to nourish many species and satisfy few. The cell door with a blocked viewport was in front. Above the door, a weak lightbulb glowed within its wire muzzle. She got up gingerly and discovered that donning pants was a painful process. It was night outside the slit window next to the shelf, so she got a drink and sat back on the bed to think.
Of course I wouldn't recognize my interrogator—but the other's surprised little honks were from a large mammal…who reacted when I said…Deputy Director's an elk! Bastard's still using me! Wish I could tell Jack. Now all we can do is wait and see if our subterfuge takes effect—certainly for my sake!
Notes:
I actually like Skye as a character. I'll try to treat her better in the future.
PDA: Public Display of Affection for any cave dwellers out there.
Pleiotropism: Refers to individual genes within your DNA that have multiple functions.
Transposable parasitic elements: Mobile sequences of mostly non-coding or 'junk' DNA within your genome.
FOX-P2 A gene crucial for language ability.
Our next exciting installment—Chapter 21: Predispositions