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CHAPTER 9

Scott sat uncomfortably by himself in a small chair at a table so low compared to his height that his legs barely fit underneath. The room he was could have been spacious where it designed for taller creatures. The wolf had found that the ship itself was far less plainly decorated than the prison block. Every so often there were colorful geometric shapes and curves set into the otherwise cream-white walls, adding a not unpleasant air of culture. Scott thought it strange once again to consider this a military vehicle, for it didn't have the feel of any conventional war machine he'd ever been on.

Of course, what about the past few days were especially normal?

His breakfast had been surprisingly good-again, very uncharacteristic for a military operation. While he had no idea what precisely he was eating, he was sure every bite of it had never been preserved or stored away for longer than a few days. Fresh fruits, some unidentifiable kind of meat, sweet bread. What else was surprising was that they fed him in the crews' dining facility. He was still under guard, of course, but in full view of the other foxes that ate there. Most of them completely ignored Scott as they went about their normal morning schedules. Some of them did stare as he ate, however; not with fear or horror, but more like distrust, suspicion, and the curiosity. It was very unsettling.

Scott's "bath" had been very unsatisfying, on the other paw. It appeared that bathing for these creatures no longer involved water at any stage, but a bizarre scourging of everything foreign from the surface of the body. Without prior explanation the wolf had been directed into a small booth, the door was closed, and the soft white light was turned off and replaced with a faint blue. He almost panicked when the light in the cramped quarters began to pulsate rapidly, joined with a low humming noise. When the lights finally returned to normal and the hatch was opened, his fur was ruffled with static and his skin tingled...and he was completely naked. The same two guards that had been with him since waking laughed at his embarrassment, explaining to him as he dressed into a new outfit (specially made for his size) that the "quantum shower" used teleportation technology to scan his entire body for dirt, grime, pathogens, and the like and remove them. This apparently included his clothes. As incredible as this was for Scott to imagine, the poor wolf still felt dirty in the absence of the comforting flow of warm, soapy water through his fur.

The fox guards had left him alone in the spacious room after that, without the benefit of knowing how long he would have to wait there, and for what. Without the aid of a clock it was difficult to say how long he waited, but he was sure he'd spent over half an hour aimlessly studying the subdued artwork on the walls. There was also an interesting-looking computer console on the wall, with symbols in a language he couldn't read. He decided it was best not to fool around with it.

And so he sat waiting in a chair far too small to fit his rump and tail, at an equally uncomfortable table. He was close to nodding off to sleep when someone entered, jarring the wolf from a lethargic stupor.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, wolf," said Sozo in a tone that made it clear he wasn't.

Scott's hackles rose instinctively at the sight of the silver fox, but he didn't say a word as he watched him saunter confidently to the computer console and tap on it a few times before taking a seat across the table from the wolf.

"This entire meeting will be recorded," he said, a perpetual sneer plastered on his muzzle. Scott fought the urge to wipe it off his face for good. "I'll tell you honestly, wolf, that I'd rather not interrogate you like this...so formal and proper. But the terms of our mission have afforded you that...right," he spat as if the very idea left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Scott was strongly irked by the brazenness of this creature's contempt, even when being monitored like this. The way he kept saying "wolf' like it was an insult rubbed his fur the wrong way.

"My name is Group Commander Scott Banks," he muttered, "and I believe I've earned the right to be addressed by my proper name and title."

Sozo continued to sneer. "Have you now? Well then...Scott...you already know my vulpine name is Sozo, but you may refer to me by my wolf name, Travis. That's what my mother called me before she was taken away."

Scott's ears perked as he realized what Sozo, or Travis, was telling him. "You were a slave then?"

The smile on the fox's lips lost its smugness by a small measure at the statement. "Yes, wolf, I had a master before I escaped. And you need to remember who will be asking who the questions here," he said defiantly. "How long have you been in the military?"

Scott's memory flashed back to the days of his training, specifically the instructions on capture and interrogation. At the time the idea that he'd one day need to use that training was laughable. How ironic.

"What makes you think I'll tell you that, fox?" Dodging the question was a part of the protocol. Being blatantly difficult was not: Scott had added that himself.

But it didn't seem to impress Sozo. "Would you prefer I had your mind probed? I can do that just as easily, but I guarantee you will not enjoy it."

Scott growled angrily and Sozo grinned maliciously. He produced the feared object-the small behavior control card-from a pocket and set it on the table-top, pressing a button.

"For the purpose of expedience I'll try this the easy way. Now I'll ask you again: How long have you served in the military?"

Scott groaned and fought an internal battle, but quickly lost-his will power soundly shattered.

"F-f-for...four-t-teen years."

Putting the card back into his pocket the fox smiled triumphantly over the wolf. "Very good, wolf. You're a very good boy. What did you do during that time? What was your job?"

The information flowed from the wolf's muzzle like a dammed river that, once released, flooded forth, threatening to destroy everything in its path. "After gr-graduating from the Naval Officer Academy I was assigned as a tactical officer on a small sc-scouting ship called the...the...Outreach for one year before I was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the Highlander. It was a long-range heavy battle cruiser, and I was assigned as the officer in charge of the fighter battle array..."

Scott growled and dipped his head to his paws, fighting to control the flood of personal information. It was so hard! It was so humiliating to not be able to control it! And what was worse was being fully aware of it.

Sozo watched patiently for a long moment before pressing a paw into his pocket, out of view of the wolf and the monitoring equipment. He tapped the small card with a claw and said, "Yes? Go on."

Scott heard the voice from somewhere distant, and the temporary barrier he'd made collapsed.

"The Highlander's tactical officer was killed in battle when the bridge was hit by a torpedo, so I replaced him until-"

"In battle?" interrupted Sozo. "What battle?"

"The Fif-fth Fleet was disp-p-patched to the border with the Procyon Republic as part of an effort to control the Procyon expansion into Lupine territory."

"And what happened, wolf?"

Scott, his face still buried in his paws, muttered, "They were annexed and subjugated."

The fox laughed cynically. "So your kind has enslaved more than just my kind, has it?"

"N-n-no...the raccoon race was d-deemed superior to the foxes by the emperor's council and was made a protectorate of the empire."

"They didn't stay like that for long, did they, wolf? You were at war with them again, right?"

The wolf nodded, beginning to tremble from the pressures put on his mind.

"What happened then?" Sozo leaned forward to speak into the wolf's twitching ears. "What did you do to destroy their way of life? To destroy their culture and kill their-"

The wolf drew in a sharp breath and slammed a fist onto the table top, making the fox jump back in surprise.

"A few years after the annexation a fleet invaded their homeworld and destroyed their resistance. Their leadership were all ex...ex...executed..." Tears started to flow down the wolf's face, pooling on the table below his nose as he wept openly.

Sozo knew all of this already. He was well aware of the history of the Lupine Empire, but hearing it from the wolf's own lips like this brought the terrible history to life in a way the historical records never could. He secretly tapped the control card again, delighting in the way his subject whimpered as he did so.

"What was your job in this war to suppress the raccoon race, wolf?"

Scott trembled harder, rubbing the top of his head with the flat of his paws, his claws scraping painfully at his skin beneath the fur. "I w-was the ex-ex-ecutive officer aboard the St-Stanza."

"Did you kill anyone, wolf?"

Scott began to cry and whimper and he stammered, almost incomprehensibly. "I had to. I had to. I had to! We would have died...the ship...crash..."

"What ship?"

Scott opened his eyes but couldn't see the milky-white tabletop an inch from his nose. Instead, all he could see was the scene he'd tried to forget for so many years. The Stanza's bridge was full of choking smoke, and the entire left side of his chest and back ached in a searing pain from severe burns.

"I can't breathe," he whispered through the haze of this fateful memory.

The commander was lying on the deck unconscious...was he dead? He crawled under the smoke on his paws and knees to his commander's side ...he could see only because of the light of a fire burning nearby. Then a proximity alarm blazed through the noise.

"Ship...an enemy ship...collision," he muttered. The lines between reality and memory were so hazy now. "Have to stop it."

Sozo listened with keen fascination, straining to hear the wolf's narrative through his desperate sobbing.

"What did you do next, wolf? Tell me!"

Scott jumped at the distant hiss, tightly closing his eyes.

Lying on the deck of the bridge he was tired and shocked, but he crawled painfully to the tactical station. The tactical officer was dead, his body slumped over the controls. As Scott pulled the officer out of the chair his body flopped on the ground like a sack of grain. Oh gods, not Lieutenant Terrell! He has two cubs at home! He peered through stinging eyes at the console control. Pulse cannons were down...shields down. Wait! Torpedoes were still operational. Frantically he aimed the system at the approaching vessel and selected "Fire," watching through the overhead monitor as the streak of ion-blue light rocketed form the ship's port side, connecting squarely with the enemy transport ship. The last thing he remembered was being thrown against the bulkhead as the transport buckled and exploded in a massive wave of steel fragments, and the Stanza shook violently from the impact of debris.

"It was a transport ship, was it?"

The wolf rocked back and forth, but didn't answer.

"Do you know who was on board?"

Scott shook his head aggressively, sobbing uncontrollably.

Sozo was likewise trembling. "Were they refugees?" he hissed. "Were they trying to flee the battle, escape slavery or death? Tell me, wolf!"

"I don't know," sobbed Scott.

"Did you kill helpless refugees just to save your own hide," growled the fox.

"No...no...I had to save my crew..."

"Liar! They were as good as dead anyway. You killed 'em! Innocent creatures!"

"No!"

"Helpless females...cubs...old creatures that couldn't fight!" hissed Sozo. "You killed 'em all, you murderous piece of shit wolf! That's what your pathetic race does, doesn't it. Kill or enslave the weak and innocent!"

"NO!"

Scott howled as he jumped from the chair across the table and wrapped his paws around the stunned fox's throat. He slid across the surface of the table, plowing directly into the fox as he tried to jump from his chair and away from the wolf's vengeful paws. But the force of Scott's body knocked him to the floor, and the full weight of the mad wolf came down on top of him.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" Scott shrieked with fangs bared and ears turned down in rage. As hot, stinging tears rolled down his cheeks and frothy saliva spat all over he throttled the silver fox with all of his desperation and anger.

"You son of a bitch," he cried in a blind fury. "I'll kill, I swear it!"

The butt of a pistol connected with the back of the wolf's head, sending a bright white flash across his field of vision. In that moment he forgot why he was so angry, his face creasing in an expression of confusion and shock. Releasing his grip on the fox he slowly reached a paw to the back of head-he was sure it was spit open-but moaned gutturally as a wave of pain enveloped his consciousness. His eyes rolled to the top of their sockets and the wolf collapsed onto the fox beneath him.

Sozo hacked and coughed, taking deep painful breaths into his lungs as he clutched at his throat, the weight of the wolf on his chest making all the more difficult to breathe.

Two guards, having heard the sudden howl from outside the room and rushed in, pulled the limp figure off the fox and Sozo arched his back and rolled onto his side as he inhaled sharply in, and coughed painfully out.

"Sons of Heaven," hissed one guard to the other. "Get medical in here now!"

***

"She looks irritated," remarked Ionious.

"You think," replied Bothios sarcastically. "I suppose I would be too, under the circumstances."

The two foxes watched Sarah through her quarter's wall using a trans-matter scanning devise normally used to look at wounded tissues within a body without cutting. It worked just as well with walls. The vixen was pacing back and forth across her room, an especially distasteful expression on her face.

"Well I'm not going in there," said Bothios.

"You're not?" Ionious said it as if it was naturally assumed he'd be the one to do it.

"Are you joking? I'm the one that 'invaded her brain' to use her words. I think she'd try to kill me again if you left me alone with her."

Ionious snickered. "You sound like she's a monster."

"Worse: she's a wrathful female."

Ionious turned to an attending orderly named Froura and gave him a knowing look.

"Don't worry, Master Bothios," grinned Froura. "I'll protect you."

The door was opened and Ionious padded cautiously in, half expecting to be attacked outright. Thankfully that didn't happen. The vixen was waiting for him with arms crossed, her tail lashing rhythmically behind her. Ionious looked back at Froura, who shrugged expressively. The vixen had been quite the pawful after being woken.

"Hello, Sarah. My name is-"

"I know who you are, Ionious," she interrupted scornfully. "Remember?" She pointed to the small metallic plate attached to her temple, referring to Bothios' exploits in her mind.

Ionious considered explaining that the small device bonded to her skull actually had nothing to do with the link. Considering how it had been employed on Scott, however, he decided it was a generally bad idea to discuss its true intent and let the subject drop. He stepped into the room, Froura in close tow, and took a seat on the sofa included in the room's moderate furnishings. He offered for Sarah to do the same. She glared at him and did nothing.

"Yes, I suppose you have the right to be upset about that, but it was very necessary to help you more easily understand what has been happening."

She narrowed her eyes at the fox in suspicion. "That aside, why do you think you can lock me in here like this? And where is my brother?"

"Your brother hasn't yet been broken from stasis. We decided to use the more conventional rehabilitation method with him, considering how you reacted to the link with Bothios. In hindsight it was a bad idea to attempt it with someone unused to the concept of linking two minds together. It can be very unsettling. For that I must apologize."

Sarah was not as unsettled as she was angered by it. She felt violated in a way. During the process of linking with Bothios some of his personal history managed to sneak into her consciousness. His thoughts, his feelings...his loves and desires, some intimate. And she was sure that he had learned some of hers as well.

"How about Scott," she asked. "What are you going to do to help him?"

Ionious studied Sarah doubtfully, finding wonder in how this former slave would be so concerned for the wellbeing of her former master. Their relationship was clearly not what he had expected to encounter. She was not at all like Sozo.

"Well, as I'm sure you know he was arrested and taken by an official of the military. I can't tell you precisely what he is doing now or what his condition is because I honestly don't know. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it. Believe me; I've tried to rectify it. What I can tell you is that he'll be treated well there. We have rules governing such things."

As soon as Ionious had said this, a light on the room's computer console flashed, accompanied by a low-toned bell that indicated an incoming call. Ionious moved to the console and pressed the light.

"Yes? Ionious speaking."

Hera from central control spoke through the intercom. "Yes, sir. Sorry to disturb you but we received an important message from the Excedra that I thought you would want to hear as soon as possible."

"Is it confidential?" he asked, concerned about the present company hearing classified or sensitive information.

"No, sir."

"Alright, what is it, Hera?"

"The wolf has been hospitalized with a severe brain injury."

"What!" barked Sarah.

Ionious swore under his breath, but figured the damage was already done. "Alright Hera," he sighed. "What happened to him?"

"According to the report he became violent and attacked Sozo during an interview earlier this morning. The security guard on duty had to give him a blow to the back of the head to restrain him. He sustained a four centimeter laceration to the head with substantial external bleeding, a concussion with compound fracturing of the skull, contusion, and hematoma."

Sarah growled, outraged. "What the hell are you people doing to him!" she yelled at Ionious, who made a frustrated gesture of helplessness.

"Is he going to be alright, Hera," he asked.

"Yes, sir. They rushed him to the Extra-Vulpine Institute of Medicine at Vulpa Hospital for emergency surgery. It says his operation to repair the damage to his occipital lobe was a complete success, but he'll be in the hospital for an additional day of observation."

"So he's fine, then," he sighed in relief, but one look to Sarah told him that she was not one bit impressed. "Vulpa Hospital is the foremost medical center in the Confederation. Their Extra-Vulpine Institute specializes in alien species. He'll be well cared for there."

"You keep saying that," she snapped.

He almost shot back a response of his own, but stopped himself. "Thank you, Hera," he said to the intercom.

"You're welcome, sir. Have a nice day."

"Take me to see him," Sarah demanded, stepping up to nearly rub noses with him.

Ionious stepped back and rubbed his face with his paws. This had clearly been more trouble than it was worth. Maybe he could slip her back into stasis...No, wait! Vulpa Hospital was a civilian hospital and outside of the military's immediate jurisdiction. He was sure he could call in a couple of favors with the clinical director.

"Bothios?"

The fox poked his head inside the room. "Yes, sir," he asked, to which Sarah's lips pulled into a snarl at the sight of him, making Bothios' ears droop in unease.

"Take care of things here for a few hours. Sarah and I are going to Vulpa City."

Bothios stepped fully into view. "Is that such a wise idea, sir, considering the Bureau's warning?"

"Probably not, but I fully intend to find out what happened." And how to exploit it, and keep it from happening again. Turning to the vixen he calmly said, "Sarah, I really do intend to help both you and Scott."

She looked uncertainly from fox to fox, her resentment having faded measure by measure. Her anger at being treated so rudely was only so deep. She really did believe what he said; that in their own way they had done what was necessary to protect her and themselves. Despite her uncertainty of strange worlds and creatures, and the unsettling state of affairs, she knew that these foxes had the best of intentions. Her intimate bonding experience with Bothios had shown her his sincerity and hopefully, by extension, Ionious' as well.

But so far her pool of trustworthy allies was very small, and what she'd seen so far left her doubting just how easily it could expand. By the sound of it, these few allies of hers were having their own set of problems.

"Would you really help him," she asked. She didn't say 'even though he's a wolf,' but she didn't have to. Her voice said it for her.

"Sarah, I don't expect you to believe I'd risk my career for an enemy, no matter how noble he may be. But I want you to know that this is in all of our best interests. Sozo is a dangerous fox, and while our government seems to think he's fully capable of bearing the glory and values of the Vulpine Confederation to victory, I don't trust him anymore than I can trust the politicians that put him in that position. I'm afraid his motives are entirely set on revenge and causing harm."

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know anything about him," she said, and her eyes fell on Bothios, silently asking if he'd withheld that information from her.

Bothios shrugged, reading her expression easily. He knew practically nothing about Sozo as well.

"Let me put it this way," Ionious said. "Everything in his life that has ever been terrible and painful-of which there's no doubt been a lot of-has come from Scott's kind. He was a slave for most of his life before he escaped. Four years ago he was found drifting in space in a small craft, starving and dying. And now he has your former master under his arrest with the authority to do just about anything short of torture him. Even that I wouldn't put past him."

A worrisome frown creased the vixen's face. "But Scott never did anything to hurt us. Never."

"Sozo wouldn't care. He's waited years for this, and now that his time has come he's going to do whatever it takes to avenge his suffering. By the sound of it, he's already started."

Sarah looked down to the floor, shivering slightly as a sudden fear gripped her. She glanced up at Bothios, the fox giving her a strained expression before looking away. He knew what she felt then, didn't he? That damned link of his!

"We should go now," said Ionious. "As I recall Vulpa Hospital keeps regular business hours and it's already getting late."

He moved from the room and Sarah followed behind, passing Bothios on the way out. The fox watched her as she went by. There was something distasteful in his eyes, and Sarah blushed shamefully as she passed from his accusatory stare and into the corridor, suddenly feeling very alone and alienated.