Chapter Eleven - Thirteen More Days
#12 of Within Escada
Xavier and Jericho have evaded Red Fang. Jacob and Mark return home and continue their lives as normal for the time being. Steve and Karen speak confidentially with Jacob and Mark.
Within Escada - Chapter Eleven - Thirteen More Days
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Xavier Dekoret Heaven - A 34-year-old grey fox who is a lead scientific advisor for the unknown enemy. He has been exposed to 'Dekoret', being named after him since he discovered it, in heavy levels that as a result of the exposure have cause him to suffer health wise. He appears to pose a great threat, but what else could be unknown of him.
Jericho Nicholas De'Turso - A 57-year-old Doberman who leads the group who held Veronica captive. He has been working with Xavier since the fox came across Dekoret for the last few years now. He has been mentioned in a few reports; he has been spotted in only ones that didn't mention Dekoret.
*Warning - Adult Content*
Contains homosexual characters and themes.
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In a flash they stood on a black tiled expanse. Xavier continued his coughing as Jericho walked out of the room to the control room. "Good to see you again sir." One of the furs said as they handed him a file. "So it looks like they keep interfering in our overall plans." Jericho said as he handed the file to a badger. "Well we still have two days." The fox said as he reached inside his pocket for a medical device. "Then I'll finish it then if they get in the way again." The Doberman said as he turned to leave the room.
Jacob and Mark sat in the living room in the early portion of the morning. It was about five in the morning, they had slept on the way home since Douglas had called a limousine to take them back. As they read through the report that they received from Douglas, they both had doubts. "He can't honestly be sure of this, can he?" Jacob said with much tension. "I cant say whether or not he got it right or not. But from what we have here it's accurate." Mark said as he raised a paw to his forehead. They had received the same information as the other sixteen. The mission that would hopefully put an end to the whole mess, but it was relying on a very large chance. "I can say that if the dematerialization doesn't work then we may not make it out this time. We'll be sitting in hot water." The lupine said as he bundled the documents together and put them away into his bag. "Well you will definitely have work cut out for you the day after today. It was a good idea to invite Steve and Karen over for Thanksgiving. At least the four of us can get a chance to collaborate." The lion said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a large tray from one of the upper shelves.
He walked over to the basement door, Jacob following along behind him with a large bowl. They walked down and turned on the light as they walked over to the large storage freezer and the refrigerator. "Well it looks like we're going to need two turkeys, a ham, the vegetables on the two lower shelves," Mark said as he then walked over to a wooden door, "and then some potatoes, and pie crust and..." "Almost everything down here, am I right?" The lupine said with a sneer. Mark just grinned at the wolf. He finished gathering the food they needed and trudged up the stairs. They stopped in the kitchen and began to fill the counter and refrigerator with what wouldn't be needed quite yet. After Mark had set the birds to defrost he groaned. The two of them were still exhausted from the eventful evening. "Come on, we can catch a few hours of sleep before we need to get to cooking." Jacob said as he reached for the lion's large paw. Mark came willingly as he was led up the stairs by the wolf. Just as they got to the top step, Mark decided to gain a second wind and snatched Jacob up and covered the lupine's maw. Jacob was startled at first, fighting to get out of his grip, but soon caught on to the lion's little game.
Once inside their room Mark, in a quick move of shutting the door and jumping onto the bed, pinned Jacob down. "I saw you eyeing me earlier you know..." He said as he lustfully grinded, his swelling pride to that of his mate. "Oh... I didn't think you noticed that." Jacob said as he pushed back with an equal force. " So I was thinking since we have some time before we have to really start cooking that I could find out why you were staring at me," Mark said as he moved so that his head rested to Jacob's chest and began to purr. Jacob breathed deeply as he enjoyed the embrace from his mate. "Because..." He said as he lifted Mark's muzzle to meet him eye to eye, "I love you. That's why." Mark looked back at his love, and then moved into meet him in a passionate kiss. They embraced, rolling in the sheets as they roamed across each other's bodies in this moment. "Mark..." Jacob groaned as he reached for the lion's mane. The lion didn't need to say anything as he began to undress himself as the wolf undressed. Once completely naked, Jacob reached down and grabbed hold of the lion's swelling sheath, giving it a strong squeeze. The cat growled as he looked down to the dark fur of his mate, seeing the dripping cock emerging from the sheath below him.
The lion had him in the perfect spot, slowly reaching for the lengthy cocky and cycling his paw on it; Jacob gasped as he felt the sensation of the cat's pads. Jacob had coaxed out the cat's pride, gently teasing it as it swelled. They continued as the two groaned from the erotic pleasure. Jacob raised himself to where the lion's girth was right by his maw. Pre was leaking from the lion, the aroma driving into the pit of his instincts. The lion gently motioned his hip upward, demanding entrance to the orifice before it. Jacob gingerly ran his tongue along the length to the tip, taking a drop of the translucent fluid that rested on the point. Mark sharply inhaled as he reached for the wolf's swollen cock, giving it a tug behind its knot in approval. The lupine groaned as he then opened his muzzle to allow the lion to slip in. Jacob traced the length with his tongue, every vein and ridge as he could hear the lion grumble in further appreciation. He used one of his paws to grip the base while the other gently tugged on the lion's large sac, the flow of viscous fluid increasing. Mark sighed as he let the lupine work over him with his sense of duty.
Jacob rose off of the lions cock and brought the heavy sac from beneath it to his muzzle and suckled the pair inside letting them back into the warm, musky air. "Jacob... you sly dog..." The lion said as he could feel more of his own self-lubrication flowing down his length. The lupine grinned as he rose from the lion's crotch and pounced on him. "Yeah?" Jacob said as he brought his tail hole to the dripping member of his mate and gently pressed it against it. "Yeah... sly dog..." Mark said as he reached for the lupine's muzzle and kissed it once more. They kissed as Jacob rubbed his aching hole along the swollen dick of his mate. Mark reached over to his cock and squeezed out a large amount of pre from it and rubbed it along the awaiting entrance of his mate. Jacob moaned as Mark pushed a single digit inside and began to work his own skill on the lupine. "Mark... you sly cat ..." Jacob said as he chuckled lightly. Mark chuckled at the statement as Jacob reached over to the bed stand for something to make the intrusion a little easier.
After some light foreplay Mark flipped the wolf to his back and hung himself over him. "What are you thinking there my big kitty cat?" Jacob said as he smiled back to the lion above him, raising himself gently to rest closer to Mark. "Well since I'm a sly cat..." Mark said as he moved himself to meet the lupine's hole. Jacob pushed just enough to feel the cat's pride rub against him. Mark moved forward as he raised Jacob to a more comfortable position and slowly pressed into him. Jacob groaned as he felt the girth fill him, his entire body shivering as he felt the intruder rub against all the most sensitive spots. "Oh Mark... Mein Gott... (My God...)" Jacob said as he reached for the lion's head and brought him into yet another kiss. Mark slowly slid his barbed phallic out of the wolf and slid back again, continuing the dance of his tongue with Jacob's. He quickened his pace as he could feel the grunts from beneath him growing more and more lustful. The lupine growled as he craned his neck away from the lion leaving his neck exposed to the lion. Mark laid his head to the next to the lupine's as he wrapped his arms around his mate. He continued his motion, driving himself to reach deeper into the wolf.
Jacob continued his growls of pleasure as he took in the sensual experience, the musk, the heat, and the connection... the love. "Mark..." The lupine managed to scrap out of his maw as his body tensed and his knot, now swollen and rubbing against lion's fur, brought him to the peak. Mark hit his peak at the same time as Jacob, his swollen girth expanding as he emptied his seed into the wolf who tightened his grasp around it. Jacob only moaned as he felt his own pulsating cock gushing hard and into the fur of his mate. The two groaned, Mark fighting in himself to keep from roaring in his pleasure of release, as they could feel the other empty themselves. Jacob inhaled sharply as he felt his whole body went numb from the intense workout. "You okay love?" Mark said as he breathed deeply into the neck of the lupine. Jacob nodded, his eyes shut as he soon felt his body return to normal. He brought his face to meet that of Mark's. He stared deeply into his eyes in the dark lit room as he licked the lion's nose. Mark chuckled as he looked into the smoke-blue eyes that viewed him.
It was about eight in the morning, Wolfe wasn't sure since he couldn't really tell since he just glanced at his clock very briefly. The air was tinged in the aroma of spices and sweets. The lupine groaned as he could imagine the sweet taste of pumpkin pie and whipped cream tingling across his taste buds. "NO! God damn it!" A shout was heard as the clatter of pans fell to the ground, Wolfe tucking his ears to his head. 'Looks like Dad tried to do get the pans again.' Wolfe chuckled into his pillow as he groaned from not wanting to get up just yet. He climbed out of his bed, wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants. He opened the window shudders to let the morning light in. The sky was clearing, clouds washing out and away from the skyline. The lupine sighed as he then walked to his door and made his entrance to the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. "Well how many times do I have to tell you to either get a stool or ask me to get them?" Mark said as he handed Jacob an ice pack to put on his head. Jacob threw the lion a growl and a glare as he placed the pack on the growing bump on his head. Mark picked up the pots and pans, placing them on the counter.
Wolfe reached down and helped his dad from the ground. "Thanks buddy." Jacob said as he sat on the bar stool chair nearby. Mark reached for a plate and went to a pan on the range and fished out an omelet from it for the younger lupine. He accepted the plate as he sat next to his elder, who still was trying to get over the pain. Mark cleaned the pans from the range as he then brought out two large pots, tossing the naked, dead turkeys into them. "They will be here at ten." Jacob said as he set the ice pack on the counter. "Hmm? Who is? The grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins of course." Wolfe said with dire enthusiasm. "No they couldn't make their way out here cause of how the weather has been." Mark said as he began to prepare the turkeys with the appropriate seasoning and garnishes. Wolfe sat puzzled, completely confused as to who else was coming being the topic, and just continued to scratch his head. "Erhalten Sie Ihr Selbest aufräumte und ankleidete! Sie werden hier bald sein! (Get yourself cleaned up and dressed! They are going to be here soon!)" Mark said as he looked at the clock above him and realized the time. "Ich Gehen! (I'm going!)" Wolfe said as he looked up to the clock as well and realized that he had about half an hour till their guests would begin to arrive. Jacob began to laugh as he then reached over behind him for his tie, seeing the young pup scamper across the floor.
"So it's just going to be us and them?" Alex said as he closed the front door, double-checking that it was locked. "Yep, but don't you go and start texting him!" Steve said with a glare as he pushed the 'unlock' button on the remote to their Nissan EXterra. Karen giggled as she noticed that the kit had slipped it back into his coat pocket and grumbled. Steve pulled out into the rode and drove off down to the corner; he was conversing with Karen over kitchen designs. Alex carefully flicked the screen on his phone and began to type blindly with his single paw in his pocket. 'Don't you know that being a teenager means that I can text without having to look?' He scoffed to himself. "I hear that..." The elder fox said as she extended her paw to the back seat. Alex was caught and slid his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. "You can have it back when we get there." Karen stated as she set it in the center console.
They continued driving along the snowplowed streets as they passed familiar landmarks. The sun was shining and reflecting off of the snowfall now that most of the clouds had cleared. "Dad, you missed the street." The fox said from the backseat as he turned in his seat as if he could take the vehicle back. "I know, but I'm going to come from the back." Steve said as he turned his signal on. Alex just sat in his seat, as he trusted his fathers' reasons. They drove past a few homes, each being rather grand and exuberant until the SUV came to stop on a lot that was under construction. "Here it is." Karen said as she climbed out of the car as Steve did. "No, it's not. We're four blocks away from their house." The fox said as he undid his belt. "This is wear we're going to live in four more months." Steve said as he walked to the trunk and held out the first and second floor blueprints that Karen removed from a long tube. "Really? No way!" Alex cheered happily as he scampered to his parents.
Wolfe had stepped out of the bathroom after drying and went to his closet to get his suit. One was already hanging over the others with a note on it. 'You needed a new one anyways. -Dad' 'Oh... an Armani... Mark.' Wolfe chuckled as he began to pull the pieces from the hangers. After slipping into his new garments, he gathered the little things he wanted to take with him and went down stairs. He hummed to himself as Mark sat on the couch and adjusted Jacob's tie. "Can't I just wear it open like you do?" The wolf whined as he stood still. "No, you have to wear it correctly cause I said so." The lion replied as he synched the tie up and adjusted it. "But I have a lot of fur too! Why can't I?" Jacob argued. "Cause you have no sense of style." Wolfe said as he went behind his father and fixed the fur along his collar. Jacob growled as Wolfe and Mark chuckled to the fact that the statement was true. "So I see we're all dressed rather expensive." Jacob said as he noticed that the suits all matched. "Yep, we needed a nice new one anyways for our guests who will be over more often." The lion said as he got up from his seat and got their jackets.
Jacob and Mark buttoned the jackets and sighed, Wolfe dusting off a few loose strands from his pants. Mark looked at his watch and grumbled, as he went back into the kitchen to check the turkeys. Jacob sighed and went and sat on the couch, soon followed by Wolfe who pounced on him. "Hey puppy." The older lupine said with a grunt. "Hallo Papa, wei geht isehen? (How are you?)" The younger lupine said with a smile. "Ser gute, Dankes. (I am good, thanks.)" Jacob said as he patted his son with his paw and then played with his ears. Wolfe giggled from the attention, he always loved having his ears some how played with. They sat as Jacob paid attention to his puppy that lay contently with his father. Suddenly, a knick was heard on the door. "Come on you two!" Mark laughed, as he knew that Jacob and Wolfe were most likely trying to sneak in a power nap. Mark quickly adjusted both of their suits and then turned to open the door. "Guten Morgen Herr Stevenson und Familie. (Good morning Mr. Stevenson and family.)" Mark said as he caught Wolfe's eyes widening as Alex came into view. "Guten Morgen Herr Connors und Herr Escada. Prachtvoller Tag und Segen, die wir holen. (Good morning Mr. Connors and Mr. Escada. Glorious day and blessings we bring.)" Replied Steve.
"Alex!" Wolfe shouted as he growled playfully and dashed out the door to the fox. Alex quickly spun around and ran into the front yard, laughing as he tried his best to avoid his attacker. "I guess we can let them have their fun." Karen said as she let Jacob take her coat. "Yeah... but he's going to ruin that suit." Mark said as Jacob stuck his tongue out to him, making him smile. Jacob shut the door as he looked out the window to see the two teens playing. He turned and walked into the study where Mark was already getting into deep conversation with Steve and Karen. "That's what the report mentioned. I think if the dematerialization is finished we can extract all of the 'Dekoret' from them leaving them only to their own power." Karen said as she poured herself a glass of wine. "I have to finish the last of the equations to get it to work." Jacob said as he stood next to Mark. "As long as it works. Do you have it with you?" Steve asked as he took a seat on the couch, setting his case on the small table before him. Jacob went over to his desk and pulled out a black folder. He handed it to the fox; he immediately began to scan over the numbers.
"For now all we have to do is wait thirteen more days. Hopefully this whole thing just somehow works out." Mark said as he looked once again at his watch. "We all know that it never goes by easily." Karen said as she sat next to Steve. "Well we know who the big guys are now, Xavier and Jericho. Department 12 will be running intelligence on them first thing tomorrow if they haven't already." Jacob said as he could hear Wolfe and Alex playing outside in the snow. "It's not going to be just based on whether or not it's easy," Karen said in a threatening tone, "but all if we all make it out alive." She said as she turned to look out the window. They all turned to see what was going on outside. Wolfe and Alex were rolling snow and throwing it at each other, laughing with huge smiles on their faces and joy filling the air. "That's what I don't want to have destroyed." The vulpine said as she continued watching them through the window.
"What do we have?" Jericho asked a subordinate. "We have three test subjects who function but cant walk. They are the only ones to have survived the radiation." An aardvark stated as he handed the dog a printed analysis report. "So none of them are viable, keep running them. This needs to be up and running." Jericho said as he handed the small creature the report with his signature on it. The aardvark quietly left the room and shut the door. Jericho sat in thought for a moment, and then began to shuffle papers across his desk. "I had told you that none of this could work." A voice said from the dark corner of the room. "Xavier you said this would work. This is the last chance we have before we end up getting tanked." The Doberman said as he looked up to the fox. "Look at this." The fox said as he handed the dog a sheet of paper. Jericho looked over the paper in disgust; he knew it would only make matters worse. "So then at the rate of exposure your at..." He stopped mid-sentence as he felt a small object pierce into his neck. "I wont have enough in me to keep going, thanks to you." Xavier said as he removed the syringe he stuck him with. Jericho fell from his chair to the floor, curling in on himself as he tried to fight the contents injected into him. "You bastard, I fucking knew you would try this." Jericho said as he groaned from the pain. "Well it only comes with what's fair. If I don't have much time left then you sure can't." Xavier said as he knelt to the ground in front of the Doberman. Jericho felt himself slowly slipping into the dark; his heartbeat slowing and breathing become more and more shallow. "I'll be sure to get the last of the Dekoret from this whole operation to just take care of the rest of the plan." Xavier said as he stood up and picked up the phone on the desk. Jericho grew weak and he slowly shut his eyes as he heard one final thing. "I took care of him, use the blend in the back and it should all work out." The fox said as Jericho slipped from his mind.
Wolfe leapt into the air and tackled the fox to the snow where they rolled, laughing as they hugged tightly. "I didn't know you guys were coming to spend the holiday with us." Wolfe said as he rolled in the snow with the fox. "Neither did I till we were getting in the car. They made me not tell you cause they knew you would find out eventually." Alex said as he pushed the lupine off of him and sat upright. Wolfe was happy for the fact that he wouldn't be bored all day talking to his relatives, being as they were not coming anyways. They got up from the powder and brushed the remaining snow off of their coats and walked back to the house. Opening the door he could see that Jacob and Karen were talking on the couch while Steve was helping Mark gather utensils and plates to set the table. "Mark?" Wolfe asked as the lion set the dishes upon the table. "Yes sir?" The lion said with a cheerful tone. "I'm hungry, what do we got to snack on?" The young lupine said as his stomach rumbled for everyone to hear. "When are you not?" Mark laughed as he stepped into the kitchen to prepare something, followed by Steve.
"What do you want to do? Dinner isn't going to be ready till about five." Wolfe said as he looked at the fox. "We can go play video games, watch a movie, or whatever just kills the time." Alex said as he chuckled and walked into the living room. Wolfe followed Alex as they then stood before the large familiar rack. They grabbed a few movies and then climbed up the stairs. Alex set the movies on the bed as Wolfe loosened his tie a bit to breathe. "I like suits but they get so uncomfortable." The lupine said as he sat in the bed. "Yeah," Alex agreed as he did the same, "But you look really hot." He said with a toothy grin from the corner of his eye as he got up to slip a movie into the Blue-Ray player. Wolfe only smiled as the fox came back to the bed and handed him the remote. "Here they are Steve," Mark said as he entered the room, "got some good stuff to hold you growing whelps to dinner." The lion said as he handed the two a tray filled with various delectable foods to calm their stomachs. "Thanks Dad." Wolfe said with a smile as he stuffed some crackers into his mouth. Steve chuckled and set down two glasses for them and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. "Don't you two get too full now, this cat made one delicious looking meal." The elder fox said as he took a few pretzels from the tray. The younger chuckled as the two adults left the room and shut the door. "Let's get this movie going." Alex said, signaling Wolfe to press play on the remote.
"Okay, those two are distracted again." Steve said as he passed the couch where Jacob and Karen sat. They got up from their perches and proceeded back into the office. "We got a new report on Xavier." Jacob said as he cleared his desk to let the tabletop light up for all to see. They all looked at the information held before them. Apparently Xavier was involved in a numerous amount of genetic studies and experimental drugs while he was still in school. "So that confirms him being both a genius and a sick individual on that part." Karen stated bluntly as she looked at the next screen shot that came into view. "Yes, but judging from the information that was pulled from the hard drive that I got we can see that he had failed not once but numerous times to get the Dekoret to bond with living tissue." Jacob said as he brought up a chemical formula. "We all know that Dekoret is not bonded to us because of the process we use to tap our needs from it." Mark said as he pointed to the chemical structure. "Exactly, but he seemed to have another idea with this." Karen said as she enlarged a portion of the image to bring the bonding structure of the chemical into view. "They looked at the notes that were written and it appears that they want to break the molecule into two." Steve said as he brought a video into view.
The video was only three minutes long. It was without sound and showed a piece of Dekoret being inserted into a large machine. The camera was watching monitors that looked to be gauging something. A flash of light occurred and the camera was moved to a small window just on the opposite side. Inside was a clear fluid expanse that began to pull into the material until it was emptied, but it did not stop there. Soon the containing machine began to be pulled and then one of the crewmembers was pulled in. Red lights were flashing and furs were running across the room trying to stop it. Eventually the movie skipped and it went to the end where the room had been pulled into what could be a spiral, but one of great force. Like a bad dream where everything was spinning to a center but placed on pause the room had caved in and was covered in flames. A few furs could be seen running around with fire extinguishers and some trying to save whatever information they could on the computers. The camera was picked up and showed the shadow of a fox, but it then went completely blank.
They stood quiet as they all tried to take in the video. "I remember seeing this when we did the expedition to Antarctica. This same kind of process occurred but it was more controlled when inside a smaller vessel." Jacob said as he shuffled through the desktop and pulled out the expedition report. "Right here." Mark said as he highlighted the portion of the report.
'The leader then programmed a small, quickly put together device and broke of a piece of the black matter. Opening its small door, he put it inside the device. He then pressed a small red button that turned it on and sat it upon the table. As it sat for a few seconds nothing seemed to happen, but as the leader went to pick up the device it slowly started to cave-in on itself as what seemed like runic symbols appeared around the table and compressed into the device.'
"They seem to have made a much larger device to do this same process. But the thing is that the last time it was to purify the material." Jacob said as he flipped it back to a section of the video where the compression occurred. "What could it be?" Steve said as he looked once again at the equation. "What if they are trying to create something using this compression? Like a weapon or better refined Dekoret?" Karen stated as she looked back at the report that Jacob had made. "What if it's both? What if in the process of creating a more purified form they want to kill two birds with one stone?" Jacob replied as he pulled up a calendar of events. "Hey isn't there a summit of some sort?" Mark suggested as he looked to the calendar with the lupine. "There are a number of them. The problem we have is that we can't know which one they are going to hit at cause they could speed up the work on it." Steve said as he began to weigh out the possibilities. "We just got a new message from HQ." Karen said as she brought it into view. "24 hours till mission start. Briefing is tomorrow before we leave. Looks like Douglas may have the same idea." Jacob said as he called into the Head Chief.
A series of calling tones rang as they waited for Douglas to pick up. "There won't be much time since we'll have to be ready to act on the drop of a needle." Mark said as he secured the line in to HQ. "I knew you all would be calling. My guess is you know why." The ursine said from the other side of the line. "Yes sir. We also have an idea of what might happen." Jacob said as he began to type onto the tabletop. "Please send it. At this point you all go active tomorrow due to how delicate this matter is. New information has come in about a shipment of equipment disappearing into the desert of Egypt." Douglas said as he could be heard adjusting in his seat while the sounds of shouting furs and computers were in the background. "Sent." The lupine said as he sent their hypothesis to him. They waited as the ursine could be heard opening documents on his side. "Looks like a good possibility agents. Get here by 0800 hours tomorrow." He replied. "Will do." They all said as the communication was terminated.
"So back to work it is tomorrow." Karen said as she helped Jacob cleanup the desktop and put papers they had brought out away. "Seems to be so." Mark said as he left the room and went to the kitchen.
Wolfe had been asleep on Alex's chest when the movie ended, his arms wrapped around his waist. The fox had turned off the television and had pulled a blanket over them. He had his headphones plugged in and was reading a book about a great city back in the Middle Ages. Alex enjoyed this kind of moment; Wolfe just asleep while he comforted him and read, it had become a ritual. A light knocking made it's way at the door; Karen opened it lightly as she came into the room. Alex looked up to her as she sat on the edge bed next to him and looked at the wolf, so content. She smiled and showed the younger fox her watch; it was time to go down for dinner. Alex nodded and smiled as she got up and left the room. He carefully removed his headphones and set them, along with the book he was reading, on the bed stand.
He looked down and brushed his paw along Wolfe's head fur and smiled before speaking. "Wolfe, it's time to get up now." He said in a soothing voice. The lupine's ears twitched as he heard his name. Alex continued to brush his paw along the wolf's hair. "I don't want to..." Wolfe said in a drowsy voice. "Yeah but they are down there waiting for us." The fox said as he could hear dishes down stairs being moved. Wolfe let out a long groan, the kind you make when you first really awaken. Alex chuckled as the lupine sat up and looked at the fox. "What's so funny?" The wolf said as he yawned. "Nothing, just you lazy bones." The fox said as he licked the tip of Wolfe's nose. Wolfe smiled and then climbed out of the bed, stretching as he began to fix his suit. Alex helped him straighten out his tie and then focused on himself.
Wolfe and Alex left the comfort of the room where they were bombarded with the aroma of food. Mark was handing out the dishes of food to be set at the table to Steve as Jacob and Karen began to fill drinks and talking to each other. Wolfe and Alex took seats at the table and waited patiently as the others finished getting the last of the dishes out. "Here's the last of it." Mark said as he brought out the last dish, the slaughtered birds who looked quiet delicious. "I can taste it now." Steve said as he sniffed the air. "Now just a second, I got to get the knife so I can cut it." Mark said as he dashed off into the kitchen.
Uroso checked the last bundle of equipment before it was to be loaded onto the plane. "I take that they are going to bring the dematerialization last, correct?" Veronica said as she helped him tally the bundles contents. "I would say so. We're having most of this taken to the port in Cairo for the time being." The large ape said as he closed one of the cases and locked it. Veronica sat on an empty crate as he ordered the bundle to be loaded. "Do we have a definite answer on what we are doing?" She asked as she ran her claws in her hair. "New information has been flowing in for the last ten hours. The only problem we have is where to go." Uroso said as he helped her up. "Thank you." She said as she followed the ape back to the medical suit.
"Did they find anything unusual?" He said as he walked into the room. "No, apparently they didn't get a chance to do anything to me." She said as she hopped into the bed and waited for the medical lead. Douglas walked into the room wearing a white coat with a stethoscope wrapped round his neck. "We went over a everything we could think of. Include having created a Dekoret scanner that we got from the hard drive that Jacob copied." The ursine said as he took her vitals. "So I have a clean bill of health then?" The wolf said with a smile. "Yes sweetie your fine. Even the Dekoret scanner showed us that you are well under the accepted exposure rate for it." He chuckled as he patted her on the head. Uroso grinned happily from his seat at the desk nearby. Veronica smiled and gave the large ursine a hug as a way to show her relief, Douglas comforting her as well. "I'm glad I'm back here safe Papa." She said as he ran his paw along her back. "Me too sweetie." He said.
Wolfe had fallen asleep on the living room floor after eating a whole pumpkin pie on his own. Alex was drinking coffee along with his parents as Jacob and Mark finished the last of the dishes. "How on earth does he eat so much and still have room for an entire pie?" Karen asked in astonishment. "I really have no idea. I think he has my great grandfathers appetite." Jacob said as he closed up a tuba ware bowl. "That or he's just a bottomless pit. He ate nearly the entire platter that Mark brought up for us." Alex said as he sipped on his coffee and bit into a piece of apple pie. They all laughed as they looked at the sleeping wolf in the opposite room. "Here you go Karen, a nice big sample of the food." Jacob said as he set a large bag aside for her to take home. "Are you sure we shouldn't leave this here? You have a monster to feed over there." Steve chuckled as he heard Mark trying to fight going into a laughing fit. "No, trust me. He would go through it in a few days." Mark said under a bubbly laugh in his gut.
They finished up their coffees and pies and all went into the living room, it was still an early evening. Mark went around and poured everyone another cup of coffee while Jacob went into the other room. Taking a seat in the center of the couch, he shuffled a deck of cards and grinned. "I heard that." Wolfe said sleepily as he rose from the ground like a zombie. "Oh? Do I hear a challenge?" They all grinned as Mark took a seat next to the elder wolf. "What's the wager?" The younger lupine said as he brushed away a few pie crumbs. "Hmm..." Alex pondered as he reached into his wallet, "How about a ten spot?" The fox said fishing a ten-dollar bill from inside. "Well does everyone feel like that's a good amount?" Mark asked round the room as he fished out some cash and the poker chips from under the coffee table. "Sounds like a challenge to me." Karen said as she signaled for Steve to fetch her purse.
'Time to clear them all out.' Wolfe thought as he took a seat. "Jacob, we best tread carefully in this game." Mark said as he began to hand out chips. "Yeah you should." Wolfe said as he held out his paw for the deck. They waited in watch as the lupine began to really shuffle the deck and toss it around in careful patterns. He dropped the deck to the table where Mark split it in half. Wolfe picked it up and shuffled one more time before dealing the cards. "So what's our game Wolfe?" Steve said as he waited for the first round of cards. "I would have to say our good old standard poker should be fine." The young lupine said as he continued dealing. "Sounds easy but you are warned." Jacob said to the others, he knew they had no clue. "How bad could it be?" Steve asked jokingly.
Steve was sitting with his paw scratching his head in frustration. "Want to raise the wager to two more in?" Wolfe said as he looked upon Steve's dwindling stack of chips. The other four had been knocked out of the game five minutes ago. They were all watching as Wolfe sat amongst the high stack of chips just minding his own business. Steve had a bad hand since he knew that the lupine must have had good cards, he was pulling slaughtering hands out of thin air. Karen had been watching the way that Wolfe had been playing, carefully taking notes on how he analyzed the entire game to give himself the advantage. Alex sat quietly next to Wolfe, waiting for his dad's decision. "I'm all in." Steve said as he shoved his chips into the middle then turning his cards over. "Well sorry to say," Wolfe said as he flipped his over, "But I win again." The others began to cheer as Wolfe waited for Mark to retrieve his winnings from the chip box. Wolfe counted out the nice sixty he had easily made. Karen chuckled as Steve just got frustrated and groaned. "I still can't think of how the hell you did it pup, but good game." The elder fox said as he extended his paw. "I don't know either sometimes," Wolfe chuckled as he accepted the gesture, "just luck, I guess."
They all laughed some more till Mark looked at the clock. "Looks to be about shut eye time." The lion said as he stretched. "Yes it would be that time." Karen said as she stood from her seat and smiled. Jacob began to shuffle up the chips and put them back into the box. Alex picked up the cards and put them back into their box. Steve had gathered his and Karen's coats as they said goodbyes to Jacob and Mark. "Hey wait for me!" Alex said as he gave Wolfe a quick hug goodbye. "Aren't you going to stay the weekend with Wolfe?" Steve said as he looked to Mark. "Uh... I don't remember that. Is it okay if I do?" Alex asked as he looked to his mother. "If it's okay with them. You know I never mind." Karen stated. Alex looked to Jacob and Mark who just nodded. "You don't need a welcome or permission. You are always welcome here." Jacob said as he nodded to Steve.
Wolfe and Alex cheered as they left up to the lupine's room. "Thanks guys," Karen sighed in relief, "we didn't really know what we could say to where he could be this weekend." "We figured, best he is here and safe." Jacob said as he led the way for the front door. "They should be fine here for the time we are gone since were leaving tomorrow morning." Mark said as they gathered in the driveway. "Should we be here in the morning?" Steve asked as he stood before the two. "Yes, Uroso will do the pull again so we can get there in no time." Mark said as he shifted to carefully view the upstairs windows. "Then we'll be here at 0600 hours tomorrow." Steve replied as he led Karen to the car. "See you guys later." Mark said with a wave as he led Jacob to the front door. They waited as Steve and Karen pulled away and left back to home. "We're in for another early day." Jacob said as he locked the front door. "Please don't remind me." Mark said as he picked up the lupine and carried him on his back up the stairs.
Wolfe and Alex were upstairs listening to music on the lupine's iPod; many of them the old bands that Jacob had listened to when he was young. "You're dad listened to some really good stuff Wolfe." The fox said as he flipped through the music. "Yeah, they had some good music back in that time." The lupine said as he lay with the fox. Alex continued listening as he changed to a different artist and snuggled up to the lupine. The wolf closed his eyes and breathed gently, twitching his whiskers on occasion. "You're too cute." Alex said as he tapped his claw to the lupine's nose. Wolfe just smiled as he rested his head gently to the fox's chest. Alex held him tight just waiting for either one of them to say something or to just fall into sleep. Soon though, it looked like sleep took them over first.
"Karen, darling it is time to get ready to go." Steve said after turning the alarm off on his bed stand that rang at five in the morning. "Yes." She said as she climbed out of bed. They trudged through the morning rituals, as they got ready to leave. Time seemed to pass as they went through the usual process of making sure they were ready for the next few days. "It's almost six, are you ready to go?" Steve asked as he waited in the foyer of their home for his wife. "Yes, do you have my coat?" She asked as she carried a small black tablet and began to access pages on it. "Yes I do." He said as he greeted her by taking the tablet from her and helping her with her coat. "Best be off before we miss the pull." She said as she took the tablet from him. "Conveying reports with HQ?" He asked as he looked the front door and walked to the taxi outside with a large bag slung over his shoulder and cane in his hand. "Yes, and also with Jacob on the dematerialization equation." Karen said as she turned off the tablet and slipped it into her coat before entering the taxi.
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See you all again in the next on, Chapter 12 - The Sinking Sand.
Wolfe Dimitrivich Escada
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All characters, structure, scenario, and plot © 2010, 2013 Wolfe Dimitrivich Escada aka XenialShadow
All artists, music, brand names, company names, slogans, registers, and trademarks are copyright to their respective entities and used only to enhance the story.
The majority of the story is purely fictitious and is not to be taken into account in the event of coincidental reality.
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