Chapter 9

Panther roamed through the Retribution's corridors, not paying attention to where he was going. Everything around him felt like a blur as he passed by, his mind going in a thousand different directions. They lost the case, Sable was breathing down their necks, Wolf would find out about the Hyoodin soon, and Panther didn't know what he was going to do about any of that. He'd been walking all over the entire ship ever since getting back from Fortuna, trying to come up with some sort of plan. But he couldn't focus at all, feeling like he was drowning in his own thoughts. What do I do? The words repeated in his head. What do I do? What do I do?

He paced into the dormitory section of the ship. Panther didn't come down here much, considering like Wolf and Leon he had private quarters in another part of the ship. As he passed through a dirty commons area, his foot clinked against a discarded aluminum can, sending it bouncing across the stained plastic floor. A gray canine in a dirty blue jumpsuit lay spread out across an old couch, the room's only occupant. The canine watched some old black and white martial arts film on a TV. 'Watas' and 'hiyas' echoed around the dirty space. Panther reached the other end of the room, entering a deserted hallway full of cabins. Old boxes and bags of trash lined the corridor, bits of rotting food scattered about on the floor. Panther wrinkled his nose at the smell, considering turning back.

However, he heard a peculiar sound coming out of an open doorway further down the hall. Were those squealing tires? Panther narrowed his eyes as he moved closer, peering through the gap. A large, spherical hologram filled the middle of the cabin. Panther struggled to make out the blurry image projected onto the sphere. The sounds of howling engines and screeching tires blasted out from speakers mounted in the room's corners. Then Panther realized someone was sitting inside the hologram, the bottom of a chair and legs visible underneath the image. Panther had never seen anything like this before, and slid the door open to take a better look.

The speakers went silent, the sphere vanishing to reveal a yellow cat with brown stripes seated where it had been. As he turned around, Panther recognized Giichi's face. He gasped seeing Panther standing there, his greenish-yellow eyes going wide. Silence hovered in the room for a second or two.

Panther decided to speak first. "Sorry Giichi, I didn't mean to intrude."

"Oh, it's fine." Giichi let out a nervous-sounding laugh. "Did you…uh…need something?"

"No, but that hologram… What was that?"

Upon hearing the question, Giichi let out a toothy smile, his anxiety vanishing. "You'd like to know?" Giichi got out of the chair. Now that Panther could get a better look, he noticed Giichi had set up a virtual racing cockpit where the hologram was, complete with a body-hugging racing seat, a steering wheel, a stick shift, and pedals, all mounted to a steel frame. The sand cat pushed a button on the keyboard near the steering wheel. The hologram sphere popped back into existence again. "Come over here. Have a seat."

Panther didn't know what to make of this, but decided to play along. He walked towards the hologram.

"Watch your step," Giichi used his arm to guide him into the racing seat. "It's a bit disorienting at first."

As Panther settled into the chair, he couldn't believe his eyes. It made sense now. You needed to view the hologram from the inside, not the outside. The sphere gave him a full 360 degree, 3-D view of the interior of a race car, with the race track visible right outside. He almost felt like he was really there. Panther marveled at the sight, turning his head to look at every little detail of the interior. The only thing that gave it away as fake was the pause menu floating in front of the windshield, and the fact that he couldn't physically touch anything except for the racing cockpit's controls. "This…this is…"

"It's something, isn't it?" Giichi laughed, his voice disembodied as he stood outside the sphere. "Do you want to try driving a bit?"

"I-I don't know," Panther looked around. "This…it's overwhelming. It's so real I feel a bit scared…"

"Do you recognize it?"

"Recognize what?" Panther cocked his head towards Giichi's voice.

"Look at the cockpit. Look familiar?"

Panther took a second look. Wine red upholstery. White body paint. Wheel and door panels outfitted in duracyclene fiber. Gauges and trim gleaming with shiny chrome. "Wait…this is the Hyoodin."

"Ha, you got it! Your Aquila Hyoodin! It's in all the same colors!"

Panther ran a finger along the top of the speedometer. Even though he couldn't actually touch it, he noticed the light glinted off the chrome in just the same way it did in real life. "Oh my…"

"This game simulates your car so accurately you can even play around with all the little controls. All those gauges, buttons, and monitors you see in the cockpit? They actually work and you can interact with them just like in the real car. You can use them to adjust the suspension, the aerodynamics, and the transmission without ever getting out of the car, just like the real Hyoodin." Giichi's disembodied hand reached inside the sphere. "So are you sure you don't wanna give this a try?" The cat giggled, pressing a button on the nearby keyboard.

The pause screen vanished, the race back in full swing. Roaring engines and squealing tires assaulted Panther's ears. He grabbed at the wheel out of instinct, only to discover the wheel fought back and resisted, as if he were driving the car at these speeds in real life. He gasped, trying to rein the beast in. The virtual world looked like a rainbow of colors as it flashed past the windows. A turn approached with Panther flying along at well over four hundred km/h towards it. He stomped on the brake pedal. The Hyoodin's tires screamed in protest. Panther turned the wheel as hard as he could, gritting his teeth, but the Hyoodin plowed straight ahead into the turn's outer wall. The Hyoodin sideswiped the barrier with a loud clang, coming to a screeching halt. Engines rumbled as the rest of the cars drove on past, leaving Panther in the dust. Panther breathed hard, his hands still clutched around the wheel. It all felt so real he thought he was about to die for a second there.

Giichi reached inside the hologram again, hitting a button on the keyboard. The sphere vanished, replaced by a more standard flat screen hovering in the air. Giichi smiling down at Panther. "Overwhelming, isn't it?"

"Yes it is…" Panther caught his breath, looking at the pause menu in front of him. "What game was that?"

"Grand Tourer 7. Two hundred and fifty-two tracks. Five thousand and sixty-four cars spanning three centuries of automotive history. Although at least five hundred of those cars are just Cosan GI-R clones…" Giichi coughed. "But it is one of the most realistic driving sims on the market right now."

Panther's eyes widened at the statistics.

"So…wanna try driving your Hyoodin again?" Giichi moved the mouse towards the 'Restart' button.

"Uh… I don't know." Panther looked back at the game. "Actually, I wasn't planning to drive my Hyoodin fast. To tell you the truth, I just got it because I thought it looked great and the ladies would be attracted to it."

Giichi's jaw dropped at that. You'd think Panther just announced he murdered Giichi's family. "What the hell, Panther?!"

"Wh-what's wrong?" Panther leaned back in the chair, not knowing what to make of this.

"There's only twenty Aquila Hyoodins in the entire universe." Giichi growled, his teeth on full display as he glared down at the larger cat. "They're going to be the last cars that Sergei Aquila puts his name on before he retires and hands over the company to his son. Sixty years from now, they're probably going to be worth fifty million credits instead of just two point five million. And you…you're going to use yours to…pick up chicks?! You son of a bitch… How can you be so wasteful, so selfish?! You might as well fingerpaint on Ricasso's works in the Cornerian National Gallery!"

Was this happening right now? Was Giichi actually insulting him and yelling at him? Panther stared into Giichi's rage-filled face, unable to process what he'd just heard. He never expected that he'd one day see Giichi of all people talking down to him like this.

A moment or two passed…the snarl fading from Giichi's face. He seemed to realize what he'd just done, and it was like night and day. Now the sand cat trembled, getting down on his knees. "Panther… Did I just say all of that out loud?"

"You…did?" To tell the truth, Panther was too busy processing what just transpired to feel insulted.

"Oooh…" Giichi closed his eyes, running a hand over his face. "I am so, so sorry. I lost my temper there. Please don't do anything to—"

"Uh…" Panther waved a hand to calm him down. "It's okay Giichi, really…" He still couldn't believe he'd just been yelled at by someone half his size with such a meek personality. Panther thought it might be best to just pretend whatever just transpired never happened.

Fortunately, Giichi seemed to feel the same way. "So…uh…" He rubbed his hands together. "I've got to say…with how realistic Grand Tourer 7 is, I could give you some pointers about how to drive the Hyoodin as intended by Mr. Sergei Aquila. What do you think?"

Panther sat in the chair, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, all those problems he had weren't going to go away while he was sitting here. The case missing, Sable furious, Wolf discovering the Hyoodin… On the other hand, he'd been wandering the ship for hours and didn't feel any closer to figuring out what to do about any of that. Come to think of it, what was there for him to do at this point? They had most of the Retribution's crew already hunting for the case. One extra warm body wouldn't make much of a difference. He supposed maybe he could relax for a bit, clear his head…

He smiled. "Well, okay. I guess I can stay for a while."

Giichi laughed, pumping his fists. "Great!"

The sand cat punched some buttons on the keyboard. After navigating through a number of menus at dizzying speed, they found themselves on the game's career menu. Slow, relaxing lounge music wafted into Panther's ears, a saxophone's rich voice hanging in the air around them.

"This music… I didn't expect that."

"I know!" Giichi laughed, started punching keys on the keyboard, flashing through commands as if he'd run through these menus thousands of times before. "Really helps you calm down between races. I have it on my music player. Anyway, maybe you should try racing in the go-karts first. They're a good starting point."

"Go-karts? Are you serious? Karts are for kids! Like that kart racing game with the mushrooms, the princesses, and the turtles!"

"A lot of professional racers get their start in karts." Giichi kept taking them through more menus. "Don't knock them. Besides, they're a lot of fun."

"No." Panther pushed Giichi's hand away from the keyboard. "I'm driving the Hyoodin."

"Are you sure? There's a good reason this game starts you off in the karts." He almost sounded like a worried teacher. "If you go straight to the fast cars it'll be really hard, and—"

"Just let me drive my car, would you?"

Giichi looked at Panther without a word, looking like he was debating in his head how to answer. Before long, he let out a sigh. "All right, if you insist." He pointed a finger at the larger cat. "But I warned you."

Giichi flew through several more menus, too fast for Panther to follow. Soon, a screen appeared showing a coastal highway, a ribbon of blacktop hugging a cliff curving its way along deep blue sea. Green grass and pine trees sprouted up wherever a flat patch of ground could be found. The sun shone down from the blue sky, puffy white clouds floating past. It looked as perfect as a postcard. The text at the top of the screen declared it as 'Corneria City Route 101 - Outbound'. The camera panned down to show Panther's white Hyoodin waiting at the start line.

Giichi's words forgotten, Panther grinned as he pushed the 'Start' button. The spherical screen came back, surrounding Panther with the Hyoodin's interior. A smirk on his face, Panther slammed down on the accelerator, and the car let out a mighty howl, the rear tired screaming like banshees. But then he realized he wasn't moving forward very much, as the back of the car vanished in a cloud of white smoke. "Why isn't it going?"

Giichi laid a hand on his shoulder, crouching down to speak into his ear. "Modulate the accelerator more."

"Huh?" Panther turned to look at Giichi.

"You're treating the gas like it's an on-off switch. There's more options besides zero percent and a hundred percent gas."

"Gas?" Panther released the accelerator and letting the car idle.

Giichi blinked, looking confused himself. Then he let out a laugh. "Oh, sorry…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Only car nuts really say that anymore. The word 'gas' is a holdover from back when our cars still ran on gasoline. Gas, see?"

"What's gasoline?"

"Eh, it's not important. Ancient history…" Giichi turned his eyes back to the screen, leaning on the back of Panther's chair. "Now, this time, try pushing in the pedal gradually. Start at maybe a fifth of the way down, then slowly push in as you gain speed."

Panther depressed the pedal as Giichi directed. The car jumped forwards with a slight tire chirp. He started to pick up a little speed.

"Okay…" Giichi watched the speedometer rise. "It's safe now. Full throttle."

Panther pushed the accelerator down. With traction found, the Hyoodin shot down the narrow black lane, Panther's eyes widening at how fast the speed climbed. Giichi was right. The car seemed to cooperate a lot more with gradual throttle input compared to slamming on the gas. He soon found himself flying along at almost two hundred and forty kilometers per hour. That would be slow for his Black Rose, but it felt scary fast doing this in a car on a narrow road. The trees lining the road almost blurred together into solid green stripes. Panther could see the first turn approaching, marked by a barrier colored with alternating red and white arrows. Within seconds he was almost upon it.

"Brakes! Brakes!" Giichi shouted.

Panther slammed down on the brakes and turned the wheel towards the inner part of the turn…but then he noticed the car wasn't turning. It plowed straight ahead, slamming into the wall and bouncing right off. As the car grinded to a halt, Panther realized he could feel sweat coming from his palms, the fluid getting on the steering wheel. It happened again… The car just ignored his steering and went right into the wall, like the first time.

"Good thing I changed it to cosmetic damage only for you…" Giichi smirked at Panther. "Looks like you need practice braking, huh?"

"I need practice braking? But why would I need practice doing that? You just push the brakes and the car slows down."

The smile left Giichi's face. "It's not that simple. If you slam on the brakes too hard, the tires lock up and they won't grip the road. Once that happens, you're just a passenger. The car's gonna go straight ahead until you regain traction…or hit the wall. Whichever comes first. That's what we call understeer." The sand cat glanced at the screen again. "You know…maybe I should have enabled the ABS for you too. I forgot I had it turned off."

"ABS?"

Giichi chuckled. "Oh, Anti-lock braking system. The ABS is meant to prevent what you just went through. If the car's computer detects a tire is locking up from hard braking, it decreases braking force to that tire to allow it to keep traction. It's been mandatory safety equipment on cars for decades now. They're so ubiquitous and reliable that no one really thinks or talks about ABS anymore. It's just another piece of the car, like the wheels or the engine."

"But if it's so useful, why would you turn it off?"

"For some extra difficulty…" Giichi grinned. "You become a better driver if you don't let a computer do the work for you. I always make things harder on myself when I'm driving. It's no fun otherwise. Anyway, you want to enable ABS?"

Panther thought about it for a bit…but then decided he'd take this as a challenge. "No, I think I'd like to keep it this way." He added on a cocky grin.

"You sure?"

Panther nodded. Giichi clapped him on the shoulder. "That's the spirit. Anyway, get the car back on the road. Let's try again at the next corner."

Panther moved the car away from the wall, pointing it back down the road. Using Giichi's accelerator technique, the Hyoodin surged forwards, flying down the straight, beckoning Panther to go faster and faster. Giichi fed him some more tips about braking as he drove along. "Remember what I said about the gas? You need to do the same thing with the brakes. Push the brake in slowly. Don't slam down on it. If you can feel the tires shaking, you're pushing too hard. Ease back a bit if that happens." Giichi's eyes narrowed, gazing far ahead down the road. "Now here comes the next turn… Let's see how you do."

Feeling more cautious this time, Panther braked earlier. But he realized he'd slowed down too much, taking the turn at a pitiful slow speed.

Giichi grinned. "It's OK, better than slamming into the wall. Racing's all about feel and timing. You need to spend some time learning how the car behaves and what its limits are. How soon you can apply gas, when to brake, all that stuff."

Carrying on, Panther pushed down the throttle to exit the turn…and then found his car's nose turning towards the inner guardrail. Panther crashed right into it. First he was surprised, then he growled at the spinout.

"Ah yeah…" Giichi flicked one of his messy bangs away from his face. "Now that's oversteer…the opposite of understeer. Your rear tires lost traction from too much gas. You gotta take it easy when launching this car, especially coming out of turns. It's best to not put your foot down fully until you've exited the turn."

Panther felt himself getting a little pissed off now. Why was this so hard? Race car drivers made all of this look easy. He felt stupid wrecking this car again and again in front of Giichi.

Giichi appeared to sense his feelings. "Well Panther…" he started. "I'm sorry. I know this is hard…but I did warn you about starting with the Hyoodin, didn't I?"

Panther didn't answer that. He thought this would be a nice way to relax, but instead he felt even more upset now. This game was supposed to be true to life. So if he tried driving his Hyoodin in real life, he'd wreck it in no time. Not only had he put his life on the line to get a hyper car, he couldn't even drive the thing… Panther jumped out of the chair, almost knocking over Giichi as he stormed towards the door.

"Hey! Panther!" Giichi followed after him. "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

Panther halted in his tracks, still feeling a little steam seeping out of his ears. "This…this is…" He wanted to say it was all too hard, but he couldn't spit it out. He thought after flying a fighter for so long, driving a fast car would be no problem at all. But it turned out he'd been completely wrong on that count. He'd been such a fool, and now it was going to cost him his job in Star Wolf, and maybe his life on top of that. His terrible performance driving in this game was just an insult added to injury.

The sand cat stepped in front of Panther, looking up to him. "Look… It's okay. Driving fast isn't as easy as it looks. It's something you need decades to perfect. And there's not many people in Lylat that can take the Hyoodin to its maximum potential. That's why I wanted you to try something like karts first." Panther took another step to the door, but Giichi slammed a hand around his wrist. "Come on… Just give it another chance. I was just like you when I was first starting out too, but I didn't give up."

Panther gazed back at the chair, looking at the monitor along with the steering wheel and the pedals. That game humiliated him…but would he feel happy about running away? No… It was just a video game after all. He faced death in real life again and again in his fighter, but now he was getting flustered over a damn video game? Panther narrowed his eyes. No… I'm not letting this game beat me.

Panther sighed, sliding back into the chair. "Okay…let's do it…" He gripped the steering wheel.

"Do you wanna try karts this ti-?"

"No." Panther squeezed the rubber on the steering wheel. "I'm doing this in my car."

Giichi grimaced at the sound of that, but shook his head. "So be it." He pushed the 'restart' button on the pause menu, sending them back to the start of the point-to-point track. "Okay…since you want to stick to this car, let's try doing some warm ups before we get really serious. How about you try going around the course at about sixty to seventy percent?"

"Percent?" Panther raised an eyebrow.

"When I say percent, I mean about sixty to seventy percent of your limit. How fast you think you can go. See if you can get to the end of the course without crashing. Once you're able to do that, up the percentage a bit. Just keep working your way up until you can do it at one hundred percent, doing a perfect racing line without making mistakes."

With a sigh, Panther gripped the steering wheel. "Okay, I'm going again."

Carrying on, Panther pushed down the accelerator gently, sending him away from the starting point. Although he felt like a little old lady not taking the first straightaway at full blast, it paid dividends once he got to the first turn. Going this slow, he discovered he could pass through the corner without even needing to slow down. The second corner was too sharp to do this, so he braked. It ended up being too early, although since he stayed at sixty percent of the limit it was easy to get out of the turn without spinning out, unlike last time. Carrying on, Panther accelerated into the next straight, continuing down the highway. For most of the following curves he either braked too soon or left the track, but Giichi just kept giving encouragement and tips for how to do better at the next turn. After a while, Panther discovered he kind of liked taking it easy. It gave him time to look at the pretty scenery. He really did feel like he was out in a coastal area on Corneria somewhere, as he glanced down from the cliffside road to the deep blue sea. Before he knew it, they made it to the end of the course. He'd finished in a little over ten minutes.

"Okay…now try it a bit faster," Giichi said. "Seventy percent this time."

Panther hit the restart button, beginning the track again. The challenge went up a bit with the increase in speed. He needed to brake for turns he coasted through before but didn't experience any real mishaps. In fact, doing this track once at sixty percent seemed to have prepared him well for seventy percent. Now he had a feel for the course and where some of the trouble spots were. He finished the course in nine minutes and thirty seconds.

Panther looked up to Giichi, who replied with "Eighty." Reset, back to the start again.

This time Panther almost wiped out on the last hairpin, but other than that the run was good. Giichi made him do eighty again. It took him a few tries, but with Giichi's guidance he figured out how to clear that hairpin while losing minimal speed. Then Giichi ordered him up to eighty five. That lap actually went a bit easier than the eighty-percent ones, considering by this time he knew to brake earlier for the final hairpin. Ninety now. That turned out to be a mountain to climb. The whole way down the track, Panther felt like he was just on the edge of control, like riding a massive wave on a surfboard. One mistake and it would all come crashing down.

Several times he slammed hard into the one of the turn barriers, although each time Giichi encouraged him to try again. "Just try to learn something from every mistake you make. Try to get a little faster each time."

Once Giichi felt confident enough in Panther's abilities, he ordered him up to ninety-five. Panther needed razor-sharp focus to keep his wheels firmly planted, but now he was clearing the circuit in almost half the time of his sixty percent runs. Giichi looked excited as he watched Panther roar round the track again and again. However, he noticed himself starting to make amateur mistakes again, like when he'd first begun. Panther paused the game, giving himself a breather. Turning to Giichi, he said, "Giichi… How do you know so much about racing anyway? You sound like you could be a coach or something."

Giichi giggled. "A coach? Me? Well anyway… I've had lots of practice over the years. I used to drive quite a bit…in games, that is." He added on the last part in a hasty way.

Panther raised an eyebrow. "Used to? But you're playing these games right now."

"Yeah, guess you're right. Didn't meant to say that. Anyway, maybe you should take a break." Giichi stepped away to go to a mini fridge in the corner. "We've been doing this for like an hour and a half now."

"We've been doing this for that long? Really?" Panther wiped sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah, sure have…" Giichi reached into the fridge, taking out two sky blue cans with 'Cosmic Cola' written on them with red lettering. He handed one to Panther before popping the top on his own can.

Panther frowned at the drink. To be honest he didn't drink soda anymore. Too much sugar. He'd rather have coffee, tea, or a fine wine. Nonetheless Panther realized he felt quite thirsty from all of that virtual driving, and gulped the can down.

Giichi gazed back at the monitor, still showing the Cornerian highway behind the pause menu. "I love that track… It reminds me of my student days." He took another sip from his own can.

"Your student days?"

"Yeah… A year or two after the Lylat Wars, I went to CTI to get my computer science degree."

"What's CTI?"

"Cornerian Technical Institute," Giichi smiled as he pointed to a framed degree in the corner. "Best technology college in the Lylat System, more or less. That was a wild time. I made a lot of new friends… George, Stephen, Phoenix… And I got to see systems beyond my little backwater planet too."

"Speaking of your home planet… Thaljista, I mean." Panther took another sip. "I wanted to ask you about it. Sorry to say this, but I've never heard of it."

Giichi's big ears perked up at that. "Oh, it's fine. When I was a student on Corneria, nobody knew what I was talking about when I said I was Thaljistani. Anyway, what would you like to know?"

"What's it like there? Climate? Culture? Women?" Panther added a sly grin on the last one.

"I think you'd love it there. It's paradise if you're a cat."

Panther's eyes widened. A planet for cats, like himself? How had he never heard of this place? "Is that so? Tell me more…"

"Okay… You know how Corneria and most of the Lylat System is full of dogs? Thaljista's like that, but switch the dogs for cats. Lions, tigers, cougars, wildcats, bobcats, lynx, cougars, leopards…you name it." Giichi got a faraway smile on his face. "It's such a warm planet… Deserts, savannahs, jungles… No matter what kind of felid you are, there's a place for you. Most parts of Thaljista don't really get winter, so you can just laze out in the sun year round."

Panther could almost feel his skin glowing just from Giichi's description. With how much time he spent in space as part of Star Wolf, Panther suddenly realized a good stretch out in the sun would feel really great right about now. When was the last time he'd done something like that? And Thaljista was full of cats like himself… He adored Krystal, although he wouldn't mind getting with a panthress at some point. Sadly cats were few and far between in Lylat.

"How'd Thaljista end up with so many cats anyway?"

"Thaljista's actually got a local religion to explain where we all came from…Thaljism. We named our planet after it." Giichi got a dark look on his face. "Supposedly a long time ago, the god Thaal-Ja struck Thaljista with a lightning bolt, sending it deep underground. And then there was this cave all of the cats came out of. And from there we spread across the planet. Why did Thaal-Ja want to bring us to life? Why'd he pick a cave? What purpose does he have for us? Nobody can really agree on that… But anyway, because of that legend, a lot of cats on Thaljista are fond of living underground. In caves, in homes built into the sides of cliffs, up in the mountains, you name it. In fact, our capital city of Gerrant is completely underground."

"An entire city?" Panther's eyes widened. He'd heard there were some underground communities on Corneria. People would retreat there in times of war. This sounded like something on a whole other scale though. "You're talking like hundreds of thousands of people in a city, all underground?"

Giichi nodded. "Yeah, it's quite a sight to behold. It's built under a gigantic mountain. You know how most cities have districts or neighborhoods? Gerrant refers to those as chambers instead."

Panther's eyes raised at the last sentence. He'd never heard of anything like this before. Something nagged at him though. "I don't understand. If it's such a wonderful place, why would you leave? Why are you out here working for us?"

Giichi let out a sigh. "Well… It's not without its problems. Remember how I said it was a great place if you're a cat? What do you think it's like if you're not?"

Panther blinked at that. He didn't like the way Giichi put it.

Giichi continued though. "Many native Thaljistanis are xenophobic, distrustful of anybody not of the felidae family. Racism's institutionalized there. Sure, I'm a cat, and I don't have to worry about any of that on a personal level… But…" Giichi sighed. "It's nauseating, being around that casual hatred all the time. I hated seeing it happening around me every day. That's why I originally decided to come to Lylat to study. It's a lot more accepting of all races."

"I don't know about that…" Panther crossed his arms. "After the Lylat Wars, primates and lizards had a hard time getting accepted back into society for several years. Everybody thought they were all still closet Venomians, spying on the population and secretly getting ready for Lylat Wars II. That's why so many of them work for us and the other less-than-legal outfits."

"That may be true about the Lylat Wars, but you guys seemed to get over that pretty quickly…within several years that is. On Thaljista, racism's been the order of the day for generations. Remember that religion I mentioned? Thaljism? It sounds like a harmless fairytale on the surface, but it's left a very ugly legacy. A lot of Thaljistani cats use it as justification for calling themselves a superior race, a chosen people. On Thaljista, if you're not a cat, you can't go to certain places… You can't go into certain stores, restaurants, or parks. Can't have certain kinds of jobs. Can't live in certain neighborhoods. Sometimes entire cities are off-limits too. There is one thing that gives me hope though."

"What's that?"

"Growing up, I thought I was the only person I knew who didn't have casual disdain for non-cats. But people are waking up now…realizing it's better for everybody if we just get along and live side by side. We're nowhere near as prosperous as Lylat… There are a lot of places on Thaljista where people still live like it's fourteen hundred years ago or something. Lylat, I think, is more what we need to be like, where all the species get along much better. I want us to be more like Lylat within the coming decades. We waste so much keeping this racism tradition alive."

Panther chuckled. "You almost sound like a politician or something there."

Giichi gave a little chuckle, finishing off his drink. "Oh, me? Nah… My family was…is pretty well off. Because of that, I just have extra time on my hands to think about things like this. I wished I'd noticed these problems earlier though. I was a lot more selfish and spoiled when I was younger."

"Are you sure you want Thaljista to be more like Lylat? Lylat's got plenty of its own problems too, you know. Andross was Lylatian, after all. Plus the Cornerian government wants to police the entire system and bend it to its will."

"That's nothing compared to some of the things Thaljista's government has done. I'd much rather have a Cornerian-style system in place compared to what we've got now. Besides, now that Andross is gone, things have been pretty peaceful, right?"

"Well… Aside from the Aparoids, I'd say yes… A little too peaceful, actually. It's getting harder for us to find jobs from time to time. That's why we took this job to get that case back."

Giichi gave Panther an odd look at the mention of the case, but didn't say anything. Panther couldn't tell exactly what the sand cat was thinking. But before he could think about it too much longer, his wrist communicator squawked at him. "Sorry," he apologized to Giichi. Sighing, he raised his hand, answering the call.

Wolf's face popped up in the hologram, and he did not look pleased. "Panther! Where the hell have you been?" The canine's sharp teeth snapped at him.

Panther reared back, the speakers on his communicator squealing from the volume strain. "I've…I've just been talking to Giichi." He glanced over at the sand cat, noticing his ears twisting backwards too at the noise.

"I just got a call from Captain Jamal. Apparently Sable called earlier, and you told her you'd tell me to call her back. Is that right?"

Panther's eyes went wide, remembering their first conversation. She had told him to get Wolf to call her back. "Y-yes…"

"So why didn't you tell me?"

Panther went silent. He knew the reason, but didn't want to spit it out.

"Well, what is it you big black fluffball? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I-I…" Panther struggled to come up with an excuse, but he just couldn't think of anything that sounded convincing. Giving up, he told the truth. "I…I just forgot."

"You….you forgot?" Wolf narrowed his eyes, his voice deathly quiet. "You know how much we're being paid here, right?"

Again, Panther couldn't speak. He wanted to switch off the communicator right now, but knew that'd just make things worse in the long run.

"This is not what I need right now, Panther!" Wolf snarled, shouting again. "Now on top of giving her the bad news about the case, I've got to explain that we just forgot to call her back! I bet she'll take all of this real well." A quiet growl murmured up through Wolf's throat. Suddenly his eyes shot back to Panther's, the growl stopping. "On second thought Panther, no, I'm not going to tell her that we forgot to call her back."

"You won't?"

"No. You are."

Panther could feel his black fur turning white at that suggestion.

"Come to the bridge, right this instant. You're going to call her back right now and you're going to tell her what you just told me."

"Right now?"

"Yes! Now!"

"OkI'llbethere.." Panther stammered, shutting off the communicator. He wanted to weep, as he ran a hand across the top of his head and ears.

"That sounded really bad…" Giichi stepped closer, looking up at Panther. "Are you going to be all right?"

Panther didn't know how to answer. That call felt like a massive jolt back into reality, like a bucket of ice water dumped on his head. So much for Giichi cheering him up and helping him to temporarily forget his problems. Now Panther felt like running away in his Black Rose and never coming back.

"Panther… I'm sorry." Giichi said.

"You're sorry?" Panther tilted his head. "Why?"

"I-I don't know…" Giichi clenched his hands together, pacing around the room and looking nervous. "That Hyoodin… You thought it'd make you happy, but it looks like it's been causing you nothing but misery. I just feel bad for you."

Panther reminded himself Wolf ordered him up to the bridge right now. But his feet felt rooted to the spot. The last thing he wanted to do was head up to the bridge. It would feel like walking to his own execution. But what else could he do?

"Well…" Giichi started. "I guess you'd better go. Uh… I wish I could think of something I could say to make you feel better, but I don't know what."

"I-it's okay…" Panther lied. He was too stunned to think clearly right now. "I-I'd better be going…"

He pushed past Giichi. But before he could leave the room, the sand cat latched a hand around his wrist. Turning around, he met the sand cat's eyes. "I just thought of something." Giichi said. "If you can't stay here anymore, I'm sure Thaljista would welcome you with open arms. Just…just think about that, OK?"

Thaljista… If what Giichi said was true, it'd be the perfect place to go if he had to run. He'd fit right in, and Wolf would never find him there. To think he was actually considering leaving Star Wolf at this point. He never dreamed in all his years he'd be thinking about something like this. However, knowing about Thaljista… He felt better. Not by much. But the weight on his shoulders felt a little lighter. Just knowing about that option was like finding a rock to stand on in the middle of a raging ocean. It gave him some of his sanity back, and for that he felt very grateful.

Panther gave one last look to the sand cat. "Giichi… Thanks."

And with that, he stepped out into the hallway. Looking towards the end of the corridor, Panther clenched his jaw, and started his long, long walk up to his little meeting with Wolf, taking the scenic route. Even so, the next several minutes just felt like a blur in his eyes…a whirlwind of anxiety and terror coursing through his whole body. The walk to the bridge felt too long and yet not long enough somehow.

In time though, he found himself outside the door to the bridge. It whooshed aside, revealing Wolf and Leon standing in the middle of the room. The lupine turned around at the sound of the door opening, spotting Panther. Wolf looked like he wanted to run over and tear Panther's throat out with his jaws, and was only just barely keeping himself contained.

"It's about damn time!" Wolf roared, his voice echoing around the bridge. He thrust a finger at the floor next to his feet. "Now get over here! We're calling Sable back right now."

Panther rolled his ears back as he strode over, keeping his eyes focused on the floor. Once in position next to Wolf, he kept his eyes trained at the bottom of the front viewscreen. He wanted nothing more than to simply melt into the floor and disappear right now. Panther could hear the communications officer mouthing off some commands, but they just sounded muffled and quiet to his ears.

Before long, he could see Sable's image shimmering back into view on the screen, a furious scowl upon her face as she looked down upon Wolf. The lupine opened his mouth to speak, but Sable cut him off. "You!" She screamed. "Where the hell have you been?!" She made Wolf's shouts before sound like polite dinner conversation.

Wolf's ears flattened backwards at her words, eyes squinting as if he could feel her spittle flying out of the screen. Panther watched as Wolf gathered up his courage. "I'm…terribly sorry Sable. Panther here has something to say…"

Glaring at Panther, Wolf motioned for him to take the floor. Panther stepped over, eyes downcast. Yet when he risked a glance upwards, he saw Sable appeared to have calmed down, waiting for him to respond with nothing but a blank look. Quite a contrast from how she shouted at Wolf just before.

"I-I'm sorry Sable." Panther started. "I… Well, a lot's happened since Wolf crashed on the surface of Fortuna. In all the confusion I just forgot to tell him to call you back. I'm terribly sorry about that."

"Oh…" Sable blinked. "I see, Panther. I suppose it happens from time to time."

Off to the side, Panther noticed Wolf's stunned look, his one remaining eye wide open. Panther himself didn't understand why Sable seemed to be giving him a break…not that he was complaining.

However, when she turned her attention to Wolf again, that harsh scowl came right on back. "Okay Wolf," she snarled. "Now what happened? Why did you crash?"

"There was a…a problem."

"A problem?" While relatively calmer this time, Sable sounded like she would explode again at any moment. "And what sort of problem is that?" She shook her head. "Never mind, I don't care about your stupid problems. Just show me the case."

Wolf chewed his lip, Panther spotting beads of sweat rolling down his face. "Umm…I…uh…don't have it."

Silence. Sable stared at Wolf, sitting completely still on the screen. It looked a glitched monitor with the image frozen. Wolf looked back as well, also rooted to the spot. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, almost looking like two statues facing each other. Panther wasn't sure if he preferred things this way to her shouting Wolf's ears off.

"I'm….I'm sorry…" Sable looked away from the camera for a moment, as if her brain struggled to process Wolf's words. "You…you said you don't have it?"

Wolf hesitated, but almost imperceptibly nodded yes.

Sable stared back at Wolf, quiet for another uncomfortably long moment. She picked up a pen off the desk in front of her, twirling it in one hand. "How much are we paying you, again?" Her voice had settled into a monotone at this point.

"One hundred million…ma'am." That was the first time Panther heard Wolf use 'ma'am' in a sentence.

"And you think this is an acceptable level of service for the money I have paid, do you?"

"No ma'am, certainly not." Wolf shook his head.

"What's this problem you have had?"

"I was intercepted by the CDF on the way back to Fortuna, and the ship was shot up. I had to make a crash landing on Fortuna. The c-case fell out while I was on the way down. It's down there in the jungle somewhere."

Sable laughed at that. "Oh, wonderful job you stupid dog! So how are you planning on getting it back?" Her voice dripped with biting sarcasm.

Wolf for his part took a deep breath. Panther watched him, wondering if Wolf was going to mention the fact that someone stole the case after it landed on Fortuna's surface.

"Well, we're searching for it right now. I've got most of the Retribution's crew on the job."

"Pray that they find it soon, dog. My patience is wearing thin. Do you have any idea how hard has been to contact you? This is the first stable connection I've been able to make with your ship in several hours."

"I apologize for that, ma'am," Captain Jamal said. "We've been having some problems with our ship systems today too."

"Problems?" Sable raised an eyebrow, turning to the rhino. "What problems?"

Wolf moved to intercept the question, stepping in front of the captain. "Just some problems with our computers. That's all. They need…updates or something." He grinned at the screen, although anyone could tell he was faking it.

Sable paused again for a rather uncomfortable time frame. The silence on the bridge was deafening.

Again, she was the first one to speak. "That's very interesting Wolf." Her hostile demeanor appeared to have diminished somewhat. "Tell me… Does it feel like you're suffering routine problems? Or does it feel like there's a hacker messing with your systems?"

Wolf's eye shot open. He couldn't speak for a moment. "H…H-how did you-?"

"Hmm…" Sable kept twirling the pen in her hand, looking off to the side. "I wonder if it's those two…"

"Those two?" Wolf raised an eyebrow.

"Let me put it like this. There are others out there who don't want us to get that case. And they're very determined towards that end. It seems they've found out I called you for help."

"Who are they?"

Sable pulled a keyboard into the camera shot, and typed into it. "I don't know how many of them there are, but I have a feeling these two will be somewhere close by."

Two images popped up on the screen. One was a gray canine with yellow eyes, the name listed as 'Augustine Strafer' beneath him. Panther thought he seemed familiar. However, the other one he knew all too well. A sand cat. Yellow fur. Greenish-yellow eyes. The name listed as 'Giichi Twinkieland'.