FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sorry for the delay, folks. Been busy working and long commutes tend to stifle the creative urges.

No yiff in this one, I'm afraid, it's more about story development, helping set the scene for the next chapter. Hoping to have some yiff in the next one though.

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Clive had been hunting on the Henner farm with his pa for twenty years, and now some stranger had bought it and virtually threatened to set his dogs on him, it just wasn't fair. He wanted revenge, but like many such bitter people, he could be patient, and at last his patience had paid off.

His sister worked in town at the general store, and one day two of the women from the farm had come into town doing some shopping. She'd heard them jabbering away to each other in some foreign language. It'd only taken a couple of casual hints to his cousin, Ned, to get things moving.

Ned worked down at the police station, and he was so far to the right that he made the KKK look like a bunch of left-wing wishy washy liberals. Just the vaguest hint that they might be foreigners that were in the country illegally was enough to make him start digging, and lo and behold, he couldn't find any record of a social security number, visa or passport belonging to the women. That was enough to get immigration involved to take them in for questioning. He'd been on duty, delivering the mail, but he'd rearranged his route, just so he could watch them being taken away and gloat.

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Grrelt was beginning to get a little bit worried. Alec and Leeta were off-planet at the moment, and Ferrowl was left on her own to fend for herself, but disguised as a wolf she should be able to escape any detection, hidden in the woods. Ferrowl would be able to contact the ship when it returned, and if necessary they could find a new location for their base. Grrelt, however, could have problems. They kept on asking her what country she came from, but of course if she told them the truth, either they wouldn't believe her or she'd wind up locked away in a lab somewhere. The best answer was probably to stay quiet until she could get an opportunity to escape, so refused to answer any questions.

The immigration interviewers were becoming increasingly frustrated. No matter how much they asked, she refused to tell them what country she came from. They tried being devious, and began asking her in various other languages, hoping to provoke a reaction, but were becoming increasingly baffled when she understood all of them. How could someone possibly understand over 20 different ones? Little did they know, the translation nanites could cope with all of them, so they weren't getting any clues as to her origin. Eventually, they put her with the other detainees, pending further investigation. She wouldn't be going anywhere until they found out, eventually she'd crack.

Wandering round the exercise yard, she looked for some means of escape. There were chain-link fences, over 12 foot tall, topped with razor wire, no chance. There were a few parts of the site that weren't covered by cameras. She smiled to herself as she thought of something. They'd have a mystery that they wouldn't be able to solve, it would be great to pull the wool over their eyes and confuse them.

She ducked out of sight of the other inmates and the guards, stripped off her clothes and hid them in a bin. Concentrating for a moment, she conjured up an image of her canine form in her mind. Silver-grey fur began to sprout from her skin, rapidly becoming thicker, giving her a dense coat. Her hands began to shrink, the bones fusing together, changing into paws, claws beginning to emerge from the ends of her fingers. Her thighs began to shorten, becoming thicker, her shins shrinking and becoming thinner. Her feet lengthened the tarsal and metatarsal bones fusing together, becoming thinner, toes merging into paws, claws emerging from the ends of her toes. Her breasts began to shrink, migrating further down her body, extra nipples appearing below them. She now resembled a wolf, silver grey in color, no trace of her human form visible.

She had to be careful now, otherwise they might assume she was dangerous and shoot her. Quietly she wandered out into the yard and lay down where she could be clearly seen and pretended to go to sleep. Some of the other detainees were nervous, she could smell that clearly, but one of the guards was approaching cautiously. Lifting her head, she turned it towards him, tongue out and panting gently, wagging her tail. Slowly, the guard held out the back of his hand, offering it for her to smell. Stretching out her head, she sniffed gently, still wagging her tail. Taking a rope, the guard fashioned a loop and put it around her head as a makeshift collar and led her into an office.

"I don't know where it came from, but it seems quite friendly and well cared for. I'll take it down to the pound after work and see if anyone has lost it," he said to his colleagues.

"Good idea," his supervisor replied. "In the meantime, if that animal was able to get in here, there must be a hole in the fence somewhere. You'd better check the perimeter to see if you can find it and check we aren't missing anyone."

Somewhat to their annoyance, they discovered Grrelt was missing and launched a search in the surrounding area, but couldn't find any trace of her. All the guards were kept busy searching until fairly late but were unable to find any holes in the fence either. The one who'd put the leash on her finally was able to go home and dropped off the dog he'd caught at the pound.

"What's this," the vet asked. "We normally tend to deal with domestic pets and animals here, not wild animals like wolves."

"Dunno about that," the guard replied. "Doesn't seem to be behaving like a wolf, seems to be more like a dog but I've no idea what breed it might be."

"Well, there's no sign of a microchip. If it's not a wolf, we'll keep it for a couple of weeks and see if anyone comes looking for it. We'll put it in the quarantine section until then, and if nobody comes then we'll neuter it and put it up for adoption. She's obviously fairly healthy and looks as though she's been well looked after, so hopefully someone will come looking. It's too late to do anything at the moment, so for now I'll get one of the nurses to put her in a kennel out the back and we'll work out what to do in the morning."

Grrelt was a bit concerned for a moment. She had to escape some time within the next couple of weeks. Whilst the nanites would be able to repair any damage, she didn't fancy undergoing any sort of operation on this planet. As far as she was concerned, they still used things like anaesthetic and scalpels. She might as well be in the hands of witch doctors, medicine was so primitive here.

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Looking around the kennel, the walls were lined with cages, stacked all the way to the ceiling. She was larger than most of the other dogs, so they put her into one on the bottom row. Fortunately they had wire doors and were held closed by a bolt. Thank goodness. If it had been a padlock she would have had trouble. As things stood, all she needed was some time unobserved and she'd be able to free herself. She turned round a couple of times and settled on the blanket at the bottom of the cage and pretended to go to sleep.

She didn't have to wait long, it was fairly late so the staff were eager to go home. Luckily, they didn't leave anyone behind to keep an eye on things overnight so she could work unobserved. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her natural form. Her muzzle began to shrink slightly, head becoming slightly wider, the hair on her head increasing in length. Her paws began to stretch, the bones splitting once more into fingers, the pads shrinking back into her fur.

Stretching her fingers through the bars, she managed to get a clawtip underneath the end of the bolt. Flicking it up, she carefully slid it back and opened the door of the cage. Heading for the door at the back of the building, she searched for an exit. Cautiously, she opened the door, peering around the corner, quickly drawing back when she saw a security camera. It wasn't pointing in her direction, but it covered the outside door to the street behind the clinic. She couldn't risk being seen in her native form, appearing on camera could give away the secret of their presence on Earth. A loose animal, however, was another thing. She crouched down on the floor again, concentrating on her appearance. Her outline shifted and blurred, bones realigning and changed back into her canine form.

Pushing the door open with her nose, she wandered out into the corridor, heading for the exit. There were a couple of security bolts securing the door, plus a lock, but the fools had left the key in it. She was having trouble with no fingers, but she didn't dare change again because of the camera. Gripping the key in her teeth, she finally managed to turn it. After that, the bolts were easy. Pulling the door open, she fled into the night.

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Ferrowl had fled into the woods, as instructed. Grrelt had been working in the Observers for some time and was an experienced operator. If anyone could manage it, she'd survive, but this was Ferrowl's first assignment. Hiding in the woods wasn't a problem, but she had to find some way of letting Captain Harrll know their base had been compromised, and ensure he wouldn't fall into a trap. She kept an eye on the house, watching to see what they'd do.

Eventually the investigators left, none the wiser to her presence. They had searched the house and barn, but hadn't found any trace of the off-world equipment. Not really surprising as all of it had been heavily disguised to look like things found on Earth. Only if they detected the presence of the nanites within their bodies would they reveal their true shape and purpose. Paralleling their route, she followed them towards the road, making sure they hadn't left anyone behind. They left someone watching the entrance to the farm, but the house was far enough away from the road. If she set the silent alarm system, there would be plenty of warning if they came back.

Going into the house, she opened a hidden doorway, closed it behind her and descended a stairway into a concealed cellar, automatic lights illuminating her way. Down there it was a sealed environment, like on board a spaceship, with supplies which would last a couple of months. She could stay there undetected until the ship arrived. Activating the computer console, she programmed an automated warning signal. Hidden detectors and cameras would reveal any activities above the ground, ensuring that when the ship arrived it would be able to land without being observed. All she had to do was wait for collection, and hopefully Grrelt or Alec might be able to solve the problems.

She was awakened by the lights flashing on and off. It had only been a couple of days since the immigration people had searched the place, but someone was approaching the house. Checking the cameras, to her relief she saw that it was Grrelt. Carefully checking to make sure she hadn't been followed, she opened the door and rushed up to meet her, welcoming her with open arms, relieved to have company once again. Anxiously she asked about what had happened and was reassured to find how Grrelt had escaped, laughing at the confusion that had resulted. All they needed to do now was wait.

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Alec and Leeta were looking forward to getting home. They'd enjoyed their trip to Lupus, but no matter how novel and exciting space travel was to begin with, after a couple of weeks it was very boring. On Lupus, not only had he found out a bit more about his past but he also had been given the opportunity for a new job. It'd take a lot of hard work studying, but he would become one of the League's formal representatives on Earth. Up until now, communications between Earth and offworld had been fairly slow, messages carried between planets by spaceship. As Earth was now becoming of more importance, it's technology level increasing at an unexpected rate, they were taking with them a Galnet terminal. It was kind of like the internet, but on a galaxy-wide scale, enabling instant communication between planets. He'd be able to use it for his studies and education in galactic law, ethics, philosophy and keep up to date about new technologies. As they approached orbit, however, Captain Harrll called them to the bridge.

As they entered, Harrll looked up, a frown on his face. "We've received a message from Ferrowl and Grrelt warning us that our landing site may be compromised. "Grrelt was detained by Immigration as a possible illegal immigrant. Fortunately they thought she was merely from another country, here on Earth, rather than from another planet though. She managed to get away but unless we can do anything then we may have to abandon our base here on Earth. If they discover the truth behind our presence here, it could result in chaos, riots, panic and even religious wars."

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Sorry this is a short one, but the next part of the story really needs to be a separate chapter. I'm still in the process of writing it, but hoping it won't be too long before its finished.