Chapter 21
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The group walked silently through the school building, following the quokka in charge as he led them through and out into a central courtyard out back. Different buildings, from teaching blocks to the sports hall to the swimming room changing rooms and toilets and even the canteen opened up onto it. All accessed by a large veranda that circled the quad, the covered walkway containing stacks of lockers. Judy looked on, noting that they looked very similar to the ones in both the ZPD locker rooms and Kris and Ash's school. It was as she'd heard, they were used pretty much everywhere.
They cut across diagonally, past one of the many lamp posts that studded out of lawn, almost antique in design given the large perch or weathervane like branches sticking out from near the crown. Judy mused they were almost as long as her arm, but was pulled to attention as they walked back under cover.
"Right, that's the one," the quokka said, pointing up to an indistinct one amongst the stacks. Making their way over, a koala custodian handed over the key and let Nick open it up, the fox sniffing in.
"Well, besides this guy's lunch… which I'm guessing is vegemite based, because it's new to me, strange, and quite disturbing… There's the night howler smell."
"Anything else?" Basil asked.
"No. His lunch is the only thing there visually and nasally, or… Hang on, there is something else, but it's a bit too faint…" the fox mused, closing his eyes and breathing in. "I'm afraid it's most likely scent-block or something, so… Hang on." He paused a bit, bringing up a torch and shining it in. "-What is that?" he asked. "Almost like a bunch of small flakes, but I can't…"
"Want a closer look?" Judy asked.
"Yes, but by someone who can really get up close I'm afraid," he said, paw reaching down and pulling out Basil. He stuck him into the locker, the mouse pulling out a little magnifying glass and looking in at whatever Nick had spotted.
"Ah, no cigar," he said, looking back out. "Just flakes of moth wing and stuff."
"No bleedin' surprise there," the koala muttered. "Those lights end up buzzing like beehives with 'em when they come on. Coming in through the bottom and either frying on the bulb or dying on the glass, and guess who has to go and clean them up after, huh?"
"Well, no leads here," Nick said, looking back to Wade. "I'm guessing the offending items are in the lab or…"
"Locked safely away," the camel said. "And yeah, the full nasty deal."
"Well if it was gonna be any dog," the janitor muttered, crossing his paws. "It woulda' been that…"
A sudden flapping broke them off, and they turned to see a flying fox dressed in a modified school uniform grip and hang down from a bar under the veranda lip. "Woah. What's going on?" he asked, head turning to face them.
"None of your business Clive," the quokka said. "And what are you doing out of class?"
"Need the dunny, sir."
He pointed over to the toilet block on the other side. "Not a word, you understand?"
"Yes sir," he said, turning himself around before pulling out his wings. A few flaps to pull him halfway to the horizontal and he let go with his feet, curving around the lamp posts and up and through a raised opening in the toilet block wall. Judy's eyes followed him, before lingering back to the bar he'd perched on. It ran under the veranda the whole way around, and she blinked with recognition as she looked over at the perches on the lamp posts. Indeed the more she looked, the more she saw them. At differing levels over certain lockers, or above water fountains, or notice boards. And as she looked she noticed something else.
"Did you capture anything on the security cameras?" she asked.
"No," Wade said. "We also asked if he did it and he said no."
Judy's nose twitched. "Let me rephrase that. Do they cover anywhere close or not? Entrances or exits?"
"Ground level entrances and exits covered," the quokka said, pointing around. "As are things like the entrance to the IT servers and other high value places." He gestured to a locked room a few doors down. Up above, the same camera that had spurred Judy on was mounted, keeping a close and ever vigilant eye on it."
"What about from the sky?" Basil asked.
"Whole quad is covered by that big guy up there," the koala said, pointing in the opposite direction and up. Mounted on the wall of the front building they'd entered through was a well built camera.
"And we scanned through it and saw nothing," Wade added.
"Visual wavelength only?" the mouse carried on, rubbing his chin.
"Yeah," the camel agreed.
"I mean we're a school," the koala said. "Not some military base."
"Right…" the mouse mused on, before the coughing of the principal cut them off.
"Listen, period will be ending pretty shortly, and I'd rather we kept this quiet. So if you follow me to our student of the moment."
They followed on, all while Judy came in close. "I'm guessing you're thinking that a certain bat might have done the drop."
"Yes," Basil agreed.
"But then the issue comes as to how to prove that or not," Dave added. "By the sound of it he didn't come in during the day, but it could have been a night time job."
"And then you've got to deal with the things we did before," Judy said. "Was this a random student? Was he chosen? If so, how did they know which locker to choose?" She turned to the koala. "Where do you keep the records of which student has which locker?"
"Nowhere, it's first come first serve. Half of them aren't even used."
"Right," Judy muttered, rubbing her fingers on her chin. She was broken off though as they slipped through a small passageway and out onto a cricket oval at the rear of the school. A few small portacabin like rooms were sitting there, a thylacine in police blues sitting outside and looking bored. To Nick's slight disappointment he didn't do the obtuse yawn thing, instead just scratching his head, fingers running through a long spiked bang of head hair sticking out from under his hat. By the look of it it wasn't a cut out of a full head of head hair, just an isolated bunch of follicles that, as genetics sometimes deigned to do, decided to go long. While Nick's instincts were to trim that down were it on him, heck he even shaved his whiskers, the tazzie seemed to make it work. Of course Nick had seen a silverfox with bare a nickel sized pocket of long growing head fur make it work via some creative braiding, so advantage still in the vulpine court.
"How's he been Sunny Trunks?"
The thylacine rolled his eyes. "Stewing and grumbling, cocky little fella."
"Ah, knowing who his dad was I just knew you'd get along," Wade chuckled. "What was his reaction when you told him 'bout Shazza."
"I ain't telling him about my Sheila. Now get in. I've been standin' here for three hours and my throat's parched like a well used barbie."
"There's a sink over in the pavilion," the quokka said, "I'd just like to avoid anything with the students."
"I got ya," he said, looking to Wade. The camel nodded, and off he went.
Judy looked up to the camel. "So, it seems this guy's father is important somehow?"
"Yeah," the quokka said. "Caused a whole lot of ruckus during the Nighthowler crisis. Bit of a yipper."
"Ah, I'd say his heart was in the right place," Wade said, leaning in a bit. "Anyhow, think we've kept the boy waiting long enough?"
"Probably, yeah," Nick said, before looking over to Judy. "Shall we?"
"Yeah," she said, walking in.
"Hold on a sec," Basil said. "Could I go have another look back around there?" He pointed back to the main building.
"Sure," he said, paw out. "On the shoulder, and don't ask about riding in the you know what."
"I don't follow you," Basil said, scurrying up his arms. Dave followed.
."I think he's had experience in the past of mammals believing he has a pouch."
"But male marsupials don't have a pouch," Basil began, eyes suddenly widening. "Ah, I see."
And with that they climbed on the quokka's shoulders, held on tight, and then held on far tighter as he began hopping off.
"-This -is -worse -than -that -plane," Dave said.
"-Yes. -Quite…"
And with that they were gone. "You know," Wade said, "there is one male marsupial with a pouch." He crossed his arms and smiled as the thylacine walked back, drinking down a bottle of water. "G'day again."
The tazzie looked up for a second, eyes narrowing. "Pulingina you perv." The camel chuckled, as the predator glanced down at Nick and Judy. "Trust me, unless they break rules one, three, five and seven AND are into some really cussed up stuff on top of that, they wouldn't enjoy it."
Judy's nose began twitching, as Nick guided her to the door. "I think it's about time we…"
"Yes," Judy agreed, as she opened up the door and stepped in. There was only room for a dozen or so mammals at any one time, and was plain apart from some tacky school posters about staying safe in hot weather or how pred and prey could work together. A table sat in the middle, and across from them sat a red and white furred dingo, school uniform loosely worn. Paw pulling out from under his tie, his eyes briefly widened before narrowing hard.
"Let's get this over with," he groaned, huffing as he looked at them.
Nick and Judy glanced at each other, before Judy pulled in a breath and put on a smile. "Okay, now I know you're probably scared, but we're here to sort this all out and help you."
He rolled his eyes around in their sockets before resting them on the two once more. "I guess I'll give this a try then."
"That's the spirit!"
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"Now that's there, and that's there, and that's there…"
Basil looked up, eyes closed and fingers meandering about in the air.
The comparatively large eyes of the quokka looked at him like those of a giant squid content on spooking a submariner through their ship's window.
"Now this is quite elementary," the mouse mumbled to himself.
"Oh, how so?" the marsupial asked.
"That's what I'm trying to work out."
His eyes narrowed before widening slightly. "Might want to hold on tight, I'll get you somewhere under cover," he warned, as a bell rang out.
"Hang on!" Basil barked, pausing as he looked around. The doors to the various classrooms were opening, mammals beginning to pour out. "Pull up next to that column and stay quiet, chances are they won't see us."
"That's what I was worried about," the quokka muttered, complying anyhow. Already, a whole mob of macropods were bouncing around the courtyard, going to and from. Mixed in were other marsupials: koalas, wombats, a bilby or two, even the odd kangaroo rat or dunnart scurrying their way along designated small mammal top it off there were dingoes and a mix of other mammals more expected on the mainland.
Meanwhile the air was full of flapping, as fruit bats began flying about, from one part of the school to the next. Up above, a huge flock began roosting up in the rafters of the veranda, opening up their lockers and swapping out one or two books from their belt bags or… front packs… for another one or two and then locking up and flapping off. Basil nodded at the sight and then lowered his gaze, looking on as various mammals bounced past the wall in front of them, the lockers left almost entirely alone.
A red kangaroo doe came to rest at her one, a few to the right of the suspect one, and undid the lock with her key. She was met down below by a numbat, pausing and looking up. "Where's Jira?"
The kangaroo shook her head. "Something about a family emergency," she said sadly, pulling out a bag full of gym clothes.
"He didn't have family expecting pups?" the numbat asked, ears going back.
"He didn't say, but…" The kangaroo shook her head. "I hope it isn't."
"Yeah," the numbat said. "You know I don't even know how those plassies cope."
"Yeah, right? It's, like, totally dystopian."
"I mean, how can they even cope with getting preggers when they know it can kill them?" The numbat threw her arms out. "Something must be a bit wrong with them to just rationalise it like they do.."
"God, it's just lunacy… And they just… take their chances! How?"
"I wouldn't even touch a boy if that could happen to me. I'd probably lock myself in a room all day."
"They're just all nuts. Or gays. Or inters."
"Nah, we know who the inter is here," the numbat said, arms crossed as she pulled out a comparatively large laptop device.
The kangaroo stomped her tail on the ground.
"Knew it," the small predator teased.
WIth a little huff the kangaroo turned on her heels and began bounding off. The numbat locked her locker and darted the other way. There was some flapping as a few mid-sized fruit bats swept into the veranda, around to a small perch, opened a hatch like door over the main classroom's one and then shuffled in.
Quiet spread across the area, as the next round of classes began.
The quokka, mice attached, hopped out into the open again. "You know," Dave said, crossing his paws and giving him a look. "You have some wonderfully mature students."
"You don't know many teen girls, do you," the quokka spoke.
"Oh I hope to get aquantined shortly," Basil said, smiling.
The macropod gave him an odd look, only for Dave to clear his throat. "Family friend aging into that range."
"I don't think that clarification was necessary Davey boy."
"On the contrary…"
"Anyway," the mouse said, pointing around a bit. "Hmmmm… Uhhhh… Ah! Right." He turned back down. "I think I've got it. Can you take us to the camera room?"
"But they've already looked. They found nothing."
"Ah," Basil said, smiling. "That's because, unlike me as of right now, they didn't know what to look for!"
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"First deployment, first deployment, first deployment!"
Jack jumped up and down, excited, even giving the odd little arm kick and jog. An 'improvised combat tutorial' down, and suddenly he was being dragged out for something 'very real'.
"I suppose I have a slight interest in how this goes," Doug added, sitting next to him and slowly munching on some grass.
In between the two, Skye sat, keeping a cautious eye on the pair, and the vixen up front.
"What was originally intended to be a small recon and evidence gathering investigation into the Tundra-town pileup last night, has been shelved," Lt Vixen said. "Given that our social media monitoring system has picked up something very interesting."
Clicking on a PawerPoint, she pointed at a grainy picture, revealing a far off wolf in a trench coat. "I believe this is Elsa's face of public operations. A group of mammals out dining last night spotted him carrying what almost looks like a bazooka, or other shoulder fired rocket." Tapping on the item, she then moved the picture on. "We can't confirm this, but a few hours ago a few social media posts highlighted some other, suspicious, lupine activities."
Clicking over, she revealed a picture taken from some kind of public balcony near the top of an office building in the city-centre section of Tundra Town. The camera pointed up, over to the top of a nearby building, where a pair of wolves were busy setting something up. The caption below read: 'I KNEW IT! Wherever we go, they're here to project 5G into our faces!'
"Tinfoil hats aside, I think that something is up here," Lt Vixen mused.
"Yeah, naturally, because they're wolves," Doug said, confidently.
There was a pause.
"-In an industry almost entirely dominated by species accustomed to mountain living. Caprids and sneps and that kind of thing. One wolf isn't too unusual, but a sole wolf team?" He looked around. "Happy now that I had to spell it out for you."
To his slight surprise, Skye smiled. "Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I just thought there was going to be some other suspicious stuff that they got caught in."
"O-kay," Doug said, as Lt Vixen carried on.
"Indeed, there has been some recent unusual activity taking place," the red fox carried on. "Taking down whatever they were doing after a few hours, they left. Following on, my media scanner found this."
It flicked to a rough tik-tok style video of some mountain goats playing vertical netball. Clambering alongside a snowy slope and around it, passing the ball this way and that to two goals, they were interrupted as a team of lupine mountain climbers began to make their way up. The caprids were not impressed, but their venting and anger was cut off as Lt Vixen freezed the frame and zoomed in on one of their ears. While the wolf was grey, the ear tip had a white patch.
Bringing in the previous photo, she zoomed in and paused. These wolves were far further away, and so as she highlighted one of their ears it was hard to see. "It could be a bit of fluff or something," she said, "buuut… Those few pixels there look very much like a white ear patch."
"So," Jack said, paw up. "These wolves are going around and climbing high places to set something up or something."
"That it appears to be," Lt Vixen said. "Why, I don't know. That's what you're going to find out." She pointed to Jack and Doug. Go in, catch them on the way down, see if you can get a tracking chip on them or something."
"So no attack?" Jack asked.
"Well, if you see our one-eyed wolfy boss boy, call me." She smiled. "All four on deck and a bit of surprise should be enough to deal with him. Any questions?"
Skye raised her paw. "What about Doug going out into the public? Might mammals recognise him?"
"Well I mean that is a possibility," the sheep agreed. "I could wear my wolf costume for this."
Skye's mouth gaped open, but she kept it closed. Jack's though didn't. "You have a wolf costume?"
"Yes." A silence hung in the air for a moment, before Doug crossed his arms. "Oh I see. The ZPD have a sheep costume for wolves and that's all cool, but a sheep has a wolf costume for himself and then that's nefarious? Double standards, I thought you were the cool one."
"Oh I am the cool one," Jack said. "I just thought the wolf costume sounded cool. So, is it a full on suit or a set of prosthetics or something else entirely?"
"Actually the latter," he said, lighting up a little. "I planned to wear it in line with a heavy trenchcoat and hat, covering up as much of the potentially less convincing fur as possible to minimise the risk of visual detection. Thankfully the use of real wolf fur and wolf pheromones took care of the olfactory issue."
Skye almost spoke at that, but held herself back, not that it stopped Doug turning around. "The donor wolf in question had died in a car crash, and we were able to acquire his cadaver."
"That's… not making the world a worse place for anyone," Skye said, smiling. "Resourceful."
"Is she trying to butter me up?" Doug said, turning to Lt Vixen. "I'm a sheep, not some grilled bread product."
"No, you're not," Lt Vixen instructed. "But this chance will be if you don't get moving. So…"
"Hang on?" Jack asked, even as he slipped out and started on his way. "We still haven't fixed the old Doug is Doug thing."
"Interestingly enough, a lot of sheep look very similar to Doug," Lt Vixen began. "And as there's been no big news cast or anything about one Douglas Ramses escaping prison…"
"Ah, the refuge in audacity of acting like you belong spliced with a hearty dash of occum's razor," Jack said, as they walked off. "Thank you for assisting in my lampshading."
"Okay," Doug said. "Now you're not the cool one, just weird…"
The two walked off, the vixens hanging back for a bit. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Lt Vixen asked, smarmy look on her muzzle.
Skye gave a glance back. "You tell me, Sis."
The red fox gave a small chuckle. "I'll tell you that getting too emotionally invested in assets is usually not a very good choice. Especially the more unusual ones."
"Let me guess, your patented 'arms length' they are what they are approach?"
"Just going to say, I've had a lot of experience playing with fire, and I've never got burned before," Lt Vixen mused, as her expression slowly both hardened and softened. "So maybe I'm a little concern that you're jumping right into a different path."
"Well," Skye said, rolling her eyes. "I guess I can be thankful that my always right sister is here to yank me out if it turns out I've really cussed up."
"Presuming you don't jump in too far with your little plan, though I'll still try my best to save you of course," the red fox said. And with that she stood up, her regular self-satisfied smile back on her face. "Either way, good luck."
Skye nodded, and off they went.
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Stepping through the gates, Ash, Kris and Haida looked up. All around them, the main courtyard of the temple was built out, various modest yet grand in their own way buildings rising up around them, very much styled like the outside walls but more open. Large wooden doors were opened up to the ground or withered wooden balconies in front, letting the rooms on the inside breath, revealing the living spaces or art that was stored there. In other places, blank walls were covered with flowering plants, or some other garden feature was in place. Waterfalls or entrances to other parts, lined with trees and hedges.
This was all the perimeter of the wide open space, with the large area inside just left open, paved with stone and sweeping out, small in reality yet seemingly vast. In the centre, near the back, the pagoda seen from outside rose up tall and proud. And closer to them, sitting in a lotus position, a female tiger sat, meditating.
"This is very beautiful," Kris said, looking up at the panda who led him in.
The bear smiled, crossing his arms, before leaning in. "And AWESOME!" He then turned, running off towards the tiger. "And if you think that's awesome, watch this! Hey, Tigress!"
"Yes Po," she said, eyes opening.
"Do the awesome thing!"
Her eyebrows went askew for a second. "Why, you've…" She paused as she saw the three new visitors. "I suppose I can give them a demonstration."
"That's the spirit!" he cheered, grabbing two tiles out of a pocket while the female tiger untied her legs and got into a crouched position. There was a pause, before he tossed them straight up into the air, spinning around as they approached the zenith of their arc, slowing down and down until gravity reigned them in and… They were smashed to pieces as the tiger leapt up between them, legs kicking out in a perfect split. She let the pull of gravity take her too, but managed a backflip, landing prone and crouched with two feet and one paw on the floor.
"WASN'T THAT AWESOME!?" Po exclaimed, pointing at her as if the three new mammals weren't already clapping. The tiger let a smile grow on her face, before returning to her meditative position.
"Yeah it was," Haida agreed. "And if I can get there eventually…"
"Oooh, ambitious, I like it," Po said, coming up and holding his paw. Only to them give a slight aside glance down at the ground. "Except when those who do it go all evil… but most of the time that just ends in us winning in a kung fu battle, so no real problem there. Anyway, if you come with me, it's time to go to the most important room in this temple!"
Stepping out of an exit from the courtyard, they went past the buildings and meandered a bit through some back alleys, before making their way over a set of landscaped gardens on a raised stone bridge. Past stone gardens here, or koi ponds there, Po turned, showing them the unassuming back entrance to a long, wide and low slung building. "We're actually not meant to do this, but I'm fourth in charge, practically second at this point as my old master is usually off doing important things and his master is in the know and is just as guilty and is off doing things too!"
"What about the third guy?" Kris asked.
"Third guy?"
"Yeah," the silverfox said. "You mentioned your master, and his master, but you're fourth in charge here…"
"Oh, that guy!" Po said, face lighting up. "Nah, he wouldn't mind, and he gets his food delivered to him anyway, and he's really the higher up in a different department so it's not like he had authority over me… There at least, because elsewhere hooo hooo!" He shook his head. "He has authority over me, know what I mean?"
…
"No," Kris said.
"I might do," Haida said, smiling. "What department, exactly? MR? Pensions…"
"Pyrotechnics!"
"No, I do not know then," Haida said.
"And what's behind there anyway that's so important, but also we shouldn't be doing it?" Ash asked.
"Oh, I'm glad you asked," Po said, opening the door and leading them in through a blast of steamy air and into a realm where fires roared out, the air was filled with gasses that made the eyes water, and razor sharp blades sliced and cut without rest.
"The kitchens?" Ash asked, pausing as a goat ran past to fit a tray of wontons into a bamboo steamer.
"The backdoor to the kitchens!" Po said, two thumbs stuck up. "Beats the queue. Now… I always get the noodle soup, but there's all kinds of…" He carried on talking, while Kris shook his head.
"This wasn't what I… mmffffff…" He was cut off as a chicken katsu bun was stuffed in his muzzle. Eyes narrowing, he looked over to see Ash munching on the same, giving him a look.
Biting down and taking the remainder of the bun in his paws, the silverfox looked back. "I'm just making an observation," Kris remarked, turning to Haida. "I mean, don't you…"
The hyena finished his bun down whole, sparing a glance at the vulpine by his side. "What? Free food. And you gotta admit, it's good, right?"
Licking his lips slightly, Kris took another bite, then another. "Okay," he said. "But I still have a valid point."
"-And here's some stuff to start out with!" Po said, bringing back a full tray. "But go ahead, ask about, try stuff and feed yourself well. It's all part of the kung fu experience, all part of building yourself up…"
"So, treating your body, mind, spirit to their fullest?" Kris asked. "The best food, the best experience, matching with the hardest work, combining together on the path to perfection. Respect for all and such. Is that it? As that's… that philosophy, I think I can understand and appreciate it."
"Well," Po began, "the founder of the temple said, '-Getting hit and hurt all day isn't all that fun, but that can all be solved with hot soap and water, good rest and a full tum'. But I like how you put it."
Kris looked on ambivalently, before following the others as they picked and sampled some dishes for themselves. Ash kept an eye on him and, finally, after the gaze got disgruntled enough, the silverfox relented. Passing by the desert area, he paused, nose sniffing slightly. Apple? He always liked apples… Apple juice and all that. And looking on, there seemed to be what he guessed were tempura apple fritters. Slowly, cautiously, as if expecting a harsh scalding, he picked up a plate.
The catering staff around him… carried on.
And slowly, cautiously, he carried on with the other three, until they left the kitchen once more and sat down to eat.
It was all delicious.
Including his tempura apple fritters.
Especially his tempura apple fritters.