FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter XXVIII - Debrief, Reunion

Sato Goza had gotten the call and immediately made arrangements to fly, despite the discomfort he knew would be the price more so than the money. True to form, the puddle-jumper to San Francisco had been turbulent, and the flight from there to Chicago had been grounded by bad weather at its previous airport. Two hours of waiting for a new flight had the normally indefatigable wolf nearly climbing the walls in annoyance.

Which didn't, of course, give him any excuse to be rude. He treated everyone with the utmost respect they were due, even when the flight attendant on his second leg of the journey slipped and dumped soda water all over his pants.

The Windy City was a welcome sight, its streets watered by recent rains, giving it a shine that brought the habitual sunny smile back to Sato's face. He liked seeing the city cleaned this way, and made a note to burn some incense for Susano-Wo when he got home in thanks for giving rain and not swatting him out of the sky like a gnat.

An hour after landing, he was inside his uncle's main business office, seated in a comfortable and no doubt expensive black leather chair at the glass boardroom table in which he was reclined, his hurting leg propped up on a foot rest and a vodka tonic in his paw.

Across the table sat the pretty young ferret girl his uncle had brought back from Sao Paolo, wearing a well-cut formal black pants suit and a closed, dour expression that hadn't changed in the ten minutes he'd been patiently waiting for her to come up with something to say. The debriefing wasn't scheduled to start for another half hour, and he still wasn't certain how deeply involved she was in his uncle's business. Letting her start the conversation seemed safer, but he'd gotten to a point where more silence just felt rude.

The silver wolf sipped at his drink, set it down with a soft clink, and spoke while folding his paws in his lap.

"No blossoms and no moon/And he is drinking sake/All alone." His smile curled one edge of his lips, as he raised a brow at her. The girl blinked once and furrowed her brows, before something seemed to light a bit behind her stormy, gloomy eyes.

"Above the moor/Not attached to anything/A skylark singing," she responded, as she uncrossed her arms and set slender delicate paws on the table.

Sato laughed, tossing his head back to do it, before looking at her again and speaking, eyes shining in amusement.

"Very good! I see you know Master Basho's haiku. The American translations, at least. I'm curious at your response, what do you mean by it?"

The ferret girl seemed flustered, an odd combination of shy and confident. A defense, he realized; she was afraid of people, but had a desire to be respected. He marked her in his head as an ambitious girl.

"That I feel detached from the proceedings here, and I want to know what's going on in the hunt for my father's killer."

Sato steepled his fingers together in front of his muzzle, sitting sidelong to her, as he glanced sideways towards the girl.

"Basho-sensei's poem was more about detachment from the world. I think your intent somewhat the opposite."

She bowed her head, bangs sliding forward over her eyes, and gave a shrug.

"Ah, sorry. My command of Zen is a bit lacking."

Sato grinned again and waved it off.

"Everyone's command of Zen is a bit lacking. That's half the point. If you want to learn more, I'm sure I could help, if my uncle can spare you."

"To be frank, Mr. Goza, I'm more interested in learning to fight. Zen is great, but if I'm going to have my way, I need to be tougher than I am."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, giving the girl another once-over as he tried to guess at her ambition and came up with too little information.

"Oh?" The simple response often got the most accurate answers, the wolf knew. An uninfluenced response.

The girl squirmed a bit in her chair, and looked up at him, her eyes piercingly sincere from under the curtain of headfur.

"I'm enrolling in college early, this fall. Once I'm done there, I'll be going to the police academy."

Sato's eyebrows shot so far up he felt like his forehead might stretch.

"A detective? That's a good, honorable career, but hardly an easy one for someone with vengeance on their mind."

The girl was screwing up her courage to say something, when the board room door opened, and Sato sat up in the chair, eyes widening slightly as he saw Tamra hold the door open and heard the sound of a crutch thunking along in the hallway.

Behind him, a slight click told him that his uncle, Kiyosato, kobun of the Yakuza and now CEO of the Goza Security Company had entered through the concealed door in the back. In front of him, he watched as a very young, very pale grey-furred mouse girl in an austere brown dress helped Buck into the room.

Sato sat up straight, then swung his leg down, ignoring the grinding pain of bending his knee as he stood in respect to the older warrior. Buck looked like hell, he thought, his left eye covered in a taped-on bandage, his leg in a heavy cast that went from ankle to just below the knee, and a variety of other bulges in his clothes told him he still had bandaged wounds underneath.

Behind him, Rene walked in looking a bit bruised up around the eyes but not really the worse for wear. Behind the hare was the one Sato had hopped on the plane for. Certainly he would have come for the debriefing if it was just the others as well, but his tiger was the reason for his rush.

Arlen looked...Fine. Unharmed, which gave Sato's heart reason to pump hard and happily as he walked forward and the tiger moved around his slower companions to wrap the silver-furred wolf in a hug that took the lighter fur off his feet.

No one spoke, as Sato rested his forehead against Arlen's, hugging as tight as his wiry arms could, his emotions a roil of relieved worry and suppressed fear.

Arlen's voice broke the silence first, as he kissed Sato's forehead and blushed red to the tips of his ears thanks to everyone looking at them. It didn't stop him, though.

"Sorry to worry you, wolfy. I'm fine."

Sato just nodded, not trusting his voice, and released the hug only to take Arlen by the paw and limp along with him to sit.

Kiyosato, ever prim and proper, had not seemed to notice the exchange of affection, and was fiddling with the projector set on the table as everyone quietly took their seats while Sato greeted them all with nods and smiles.

Buck waved Sato off when he asked about the eye.

"They managed to save it. Don't ask me how, I have no idea. They're telling me its pretty shot though."

Then they went quiet, as Maasa dimmed the lights, and the kobun took over conversation, aerial photographs of Sarajevo in flames on the screen.

"As you all know, our primary objective was to prevent Simon Gecko from obtaining a number of classified documents. While your primary objective was a failure, it has become something of a serendipity."

He clicked the projector controller, to show black and white footage of Buck limping across the lines with Lamia under his arm and children following them, being chased by Serb tanks.

"It has taken much time and money to see that your face was not put on international news, Captain. However, the footage could not be completely suppressed. The United Nations is willing to drop their charges against you, and we have won some good will for your actions."

Buck gave a grim nod, his eye showing nothing. Arlen stiffened up seeing the photograph, and Sato squeezed his paw to remind him to relax.

"Additionally, the documents themselves may lead us to Gecko. They are Nazi German records pertaining to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Jews killed during the Holocaust. We do not know the net value of the accounts, but the person who ends up in control of them stands to make tens of millions of dollars in profit. However, their use comes with the risk of finding nothing of worth...Our intelligence indicates that the documents contained only pass codes and bank account numbers, not balance amounts."

Another click showed a city somewhere else in the world, impoverished and run-down.

"My contacts indicate the sale will be made in Mogadishu, in two months' time. You all have until then to heal and make yourselves ready."

All eyes looked to Buck then, and he shook his head slowly, before lowering his eyes toward the table. It was a posture of concession not one of them had seen before in the grizzled old veteran.

"Mr. Goza, I'm afraid I'll have to decline barring medical miracle. A bad eye means no depth perception. Thus no marksmanship. I'd be a liability."

The words left a silence lingering in the air, like someone had just smashed the sound waves flat. Goza seemed to meditate on the statement, before responding.

"We will re-evaluate leadership and membership in the field unit one month from today. You are all free to go if you wish."

With Lamia's help, Buck stood, and within minutes all but Sato, Arlen, Tam, and Raven had left the room. The ferret girl didn't look as surprised as Sato was expecting. She looked like she was carefully concealing anger, if the smoldering in her eyes was any indicator.

The girl fixed Tamra with a glower, before speaking in a hushed tone.

"So my dad died because this Gecko guy wanted...What...Money? That's it? No...No grand ideological thing...No religious fanaticism? Just...Cash?"

Arlen and Sato turned their heads simultaneously, meeting eyes. The tiger shook his head ever so slightly, willing Sato not to give her the whole truth. The wolf just smiled and shook his right back, before giving her a look the girl could only interpret as apologetic.

"He was looking for me."

Her eyes flashed and she slid to her feet, paws resting on the top of the table as she stared into his eyes, hunting for the truth.

"So my dad died...The last family I had...Because Simon Gecko was after you. For what?"

"Because I was the heir to his primary business rival. I am sorry for your loss, and my part in it. If there were more I could have done to keep others out of this, I would have."

Raven stared, her eyes and posture shifting from rage to grief then to anger, and then her shoulders sagged. The girl turned and stalked from the room, Tam watching her and holding the door as she went.

Closing the door, the calico spoke in a tired, tired voice.

"So who else needs a vacation?" She held up her paw, like a kit answering a question in school.