Chapter Thirteen - Dusty Trails and Turning Tides
#14 of Within Escada
Veronica has survived, making a full recovery. Jessica and Edward go on a date. Wolfe, Alex, and Scott hang out and ponder upon Jessica's new friend. Red Fang departs for Cairo.
Within Escada - Chapter Thirteen - Dusty Trails and Turning Tides
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*Warning - Adult Content*
Contains homosexual characters and themes.
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"She'll be fine. All levels are back to normal at this point." Jacob said as he smiled to the ursine. Douglas broke into tears as he came over to Veronica's bedside and brushed his claws through her head fur. The stallion began to make notes in her chart as Jacob and Mark gave a contented sigh. Uroso retrieved the Reversion from Mark and nodded to him. The wolf walked over to the cart that he had retrieved the scanner from and set it back into its respected place before turning to Douglas. "It's going to be a few hours before she comes out of it. For now she needs rest and an IV." The lupine said as he looked over to one of the medical officers, signaling for the retrieval of hydrating fluids. Douglas just nodded as he continued to sit by bedside to her. The lion, having believed that their duty was done, tugged Jacob to follow him out the door and back to their room.
Walking down the hall, Jacob let out a sigh of relief. "Kind of scary, huh?" Mark said as he draped his arm over the lupine's shoulder. "Yes, but I hope that the Reversion worked on her." The lupine said as they entered the elevator. They had trudged all the way back to their room, opening the door once more a stepping back in. The two climbed back into bed and just embraced in one another's arms.
The morning came too soon once again for them. Mark had reached over and turned off the alarm clock angrily as he shook Jacob awake. "We don't ever seem to get any sleep, you know that?" Jacob said as he got up from the bed and stripped out of the clothes he was wearing from the night before off. "Well that's because we never get an actual day off." Mark said as he did the same. They walked into the bathroom together, Mark moving to the sink while Jacob turned on the shower. The lion had picked up his toothbrush and began the tedious task of brushing the pearl-white enamel in his maw. "We leave around six, right?" Jacob called out of the shower. "Yes. Uroso should have everything loaded by now." Mark said after finishing the ritualistic dental care. Jacob said nothing as he washed out the shampoo from his fur and rinsed himself off. Climbing out of the shower, he had left the water running. He reached for a towel and stepped aside for the lion to enter. "Don't forget to call Wolfe." The lion said as he bathed. "I will." Jacob said as he left the bathroom to put on his clothes.
It was five-thirty in the morning now and the two of them had walked down to the cafeteria for breakfast. They sat amongst their peers talking of times past when a familiar voice called out. "Look at all of you having fun without me." The lupine called out. "Veronica!" Mark exclaimed. Everyone got up to greet her, as they were all glad to see she was better. They were all happy to see her in better condition then they had either seen or heard. She took a seat amongst them as they all continued their meal. "So will you be able to join us on the mission?" Jacob asked. "Well Dad says no, but I always get my way." Veronica said with a grin. They all chuckled to themselves; Douglas's weakness was always his daughter. They had finished and were proceeding back to the conference room for a final briefing when Mark reminded Jacob to call their son. "I almost forgot. Thanks." The lupine said as he fished out his cell phone.
Mark joined the others in the room, going over to Steve and Karen to do the same and call Alex. Karen went out into the hall to do the same as Jacob.
"Well it looks like my dad's are out for the week again." Wolfe said as he hung up the phone from listening to a voicemail and turned to Alex. "Yeah, Mom and Dad are attending a conference for some medical research until Wednesday." Alex said to the lupine having done the same. They sat on the couch and thought nothing of the event and continued watching television. A few hours past until Wolfe's phone buzzed on the coffee table, a message from Scott. "What's it say?" Alex asked as the lupine read the message. "Looks like Jessica is going on that date and Scott is bored. He wants to know if we want to hang out." The wolf said as he glanced to the fox. "Sounds like a plan to me." Alex said as he sat up from being in the lupine's lap. "Okay, I'll tell him we'll come get him in ten minutes." Wolfe said as he typed his reply. "Cool, but first we should go get dressed." Alex chuckled as he ran his paw along the wolf's sheath. "Oh.... Well maybe I should tell him we would be there in an hour." Wolfe said as he retyped his message and hit send before pouncing on the fox.
The sixteen members of Red Fang were all aboard the plane flying over the Atlantic. They were sitting around a conference table once again as Uroso went over the technical specifications for a new assault rifle that was going to be issued. They had been up in the air for hours, the hours adding up and time getting pushed farther ahead as they changed time zones. "Okay now, that finishes the briefing on the SF39K rifle and all it's features. Any questions?" The large ape uttered. No one said anything as they were all suffering from jet lag; the sun seemed to have fallen from the sky rather quickly. Most were getting tired and had wanted to take a nap for the last four, really only being one, hour since they passed over Greenland. "Well if that's all then I'll have the cabin reconverted since we'll be landing in another hour or so." Uroso said as everyone began to rise from his or her seats to make way for the cabin shift.
"You two will be going in first to the site when we land to mingle and collect information." Jacob said as he handed Steve his cane. "Yes, then you two will be joining in the next evening to help us provide extra coverage." Steve said as the cabin began to shift to that of a first class passenger cabin. "We should all be fine." Mark said as he stepped forward slightly to allow the row of seats behind him to emerge. "It's just going to take time to track down these guys. That's why we have a good portion of the week to do so." Veronica said as she motioned for the five of them to stand in what would be the aisle between seats. They waited for the last of the chairs to lock into place before finding seats. Jacob picked up a copy of the 'Wall Street Journal' and began to thumb through it as Mark took the seat next to him and reclined back. "This is your captain speaking. We'll be landing in London to refuel for an hour and do a pilot switch before continuing the flight to Cairo, Egypt. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be your pilot and I'll let you know when we'll be making our landing." The captain's voice said over the intercom. "Looks like we made some good money." Jacob said as he continued thumbing through. "I guess if it's easy money for us than that's the best kind." The lion said as he closed eyes to take a nap, leaning his head on Jacob's shoulder.
Jessica was sitting in a comfortable small café. She was waiting for him to comeback with their drinks as she stared across the street watching the cars pass. She turned her head to see the fox "Got the drinks!" Edward said as he weaved through the row of tables and chairs to her. He was a handsome fox, his gray and white coat being carried on his frame easily. He had a smile that was warm and friendly, the one thing about him that drew her attention the most. He was taller than her, it being a plus since he was already attractive to her. "Thank you." She said taking the drink from him, a chilled tea, with a smile. He smiled nervously at her as he tried to remain as calm as possible in her presence. They sat quietly just avoiding as much eye contact as possible from shyness. "So you know Scott from his Advanced Photography class?" She asked to break the ice. "Yeah, he and I are usually partners in the class. We help each other with assignments and the whole photography process." He perked his ears as he relaxed. Jessica smiled and relaxed as well, being relieved to have truly broken the silence between them. "I remember he told me that his favorite type of photography is portrait." She stated, taking a drink through her straw.
They talk for an hour as they opened up completely to one another, laughing and smiling at each other for being in friendly company. Some how, the two of them were holding each other's paws, taking no notice to it being neither awkward nor uncomfortable. "Hey the movie starts in about thirty minutes." He said after looking down at his watch. "I guess we should head over to the theater now and get in line." Jessica said as she slid her chair back from the table. Edward got up and came around to lend his paw to her. She smiled at the kind gesture as she turned to push in her seat. They walked paw in paw to the theater. Still talking while not running out of things to say. "Let's see that one." She said pointing up at the name of a movie. "Okay. That looks like a funny one." He said as they came up to the window to buy their tickets. She was now hanging on the strong fox; her arms wrapped around one of his as he led her with confidence up the stairs to the theater doors.
Wolfe, Alex, and Scott were all out to eat at a nearby restaurant not far from the panther's house. They were all eating hamburgers and French fries, Scott being the odd one and dipping his fries in his milkshake. "That's so gross. How can you like the way that tastes." Alex said squeamishly as the panther took another grip of fries that he dunked and tossed them into his gullet. "I wish I knew." Wolfe said as he chuckled to himself at the fox's disgust. "Don't knock it till you try it, you two." The cat said as he continued. Alex just looked away in disgust as he turned his head and stuck it to the lupines chest. Wolfe chuckled as he comforted the vulpine and continued eating. Alex eventually snapped out of it and finished his meal while trying to ignore the panther. "So what do we want to do now?" The wolf said as he finished the last of his meal. "We can go watch something on the television." Alex suggested. They agreed upon the decision and paid the bill.
Climbing into the Mustang, Alex fished out Wolfe's iPod and hooked it into the stereo system. "How do you think Jessica is doing?" Alex asked as he turned to look at the panther. "Knowing her, she was shy at first but now she should be all over him." Scott said as he chuckled at the statement he made. "So who's this fox?" Wolfe asked as he made eye contact through the rearview mirror. "His name is Edward and he is in my Advanced Photography class." Scott said as he stuck his tongue out to Alex who was making a funny face at him. "Well that's good. So are you playing Cupid or something?" The lupine said as he entered a turning lane. "No, he just came up to me one day when we were working on a project and asked who the fox was that I'm always with." The panther said as he braced himself along the seat as Wolfe turned. "Just like that? Wow. I would have thought it would be more complicated." The fox said as he began to drum a beat on the seatbelt strap. "Is he cute?" Wolfe said, getting a glare from Alex. "Oh yeah, top notch. You would love a piece of him." Scott said as he went along with the lupine in his cruel joke.
"That's not funny. I know you wouldn't want to change foxes... right?" Alex said as he looked to Wolfe with sad eyes. "Of course not, there is only on fox on my eye and he's sitting right here next to me." The lupine said as he smiled briefly to the vulpine before resuming his attention to the road. Alex smiled wide as he reached for the wolf's paw after he had finished shifting gears. "God, Alex, you're so gullible." Scott said with inflection in his voice. Alex just turned his head and stuck his tongue out once again, but was surprised when the panther grabbed hold of it. "You keep doing that and I'm going to have to take it away from you." Scott said as he gave the muscle a slight tug. Alex whined for Scott to give him back his tongue, the panther having a cynical grin on his face. Wolfe chuckled in his own chair as he pulled into the driveway of his home and killed the engine. "You can't take that tongue cause I'm going to need it later." The lupine said as he winked to Alex and got out of the car. Alex just grinned as both him and the panther followed suit as they advanced to the house.
Jessica and Edward walked out of the theater as the sun had finally left the skyline, the few stars in the sky twinkling just overhead. "So where do you want to go to eat." He asked her as they walked back over to his car. "There's a nice restaurant on the other side of town called Antonio's" The fox said with a smile. "Never been there before." He stated. She leaned over to the GPS system located in the center of the dashboard and pushed in the address for the eatery. Edward followed the instructions given to him by the navigation unit. "So Scott tells me you were thinking of attending at the University of California. What are you going to study?" Edward said to spark another conversation. "Yes, I was thinking of studying medicine. I would love to be a surgeon one day." Jessica proudly said as she viewed the road ahead. "That sounds fun." Edward said as he cruised onto the highway. "It is, minus the ten years of school I'm going to have to take." The fox said with reluctance. "Well, you got to do what you got to do." He said as he signaled to his right to get off the freeway.
Continuing on the city streets now, the voice of the navigation unit bellowing away, it slowly began to snow once more. "It never seems to stop." Jessica said as she watched the snow fall in front of the headlights to have their crystalline structures shimmer in it's light. With a nod of agreement, Edward pulled into the parking lot and searched for a spot that was free. He found one not too far from the door and made a quick dash to ensure that he would get the spot before anyone else came along and tried to take it from him. Shifting the vehicle into 'Park', he opened his door and came around once more to escort Jessica, her blushing at his flattery. They walked into the restaurant and waited to be seated, both sitting patiently having a conversation while holding paws. "I plan to go into teaching." Edward said as he smiled to her. He began to think inside himself as they continued to discuss their future careers. 'She's so... beautiful. Her smile, her fur, her personality...' He thought to himself.
The plane landed at seven in the evening, the lights of the city, bazaars, and homes below shining bright in the dark desert landscape. Walking out of the airport in a large group, the pack of six furs were all dressed in rather casual attire. "Our hotel is going to be two blocks from the conference." Uroso said as he flagged over the driver for their limousine. They all nodded in agreement as Uroso led the way to the vehicle. Inside the limo, they took seats one by one till they were all in. Driving through the city, they sat in silence all the way to the hotel, the six just getting comfortable to rest from the trip, with the exception of Steve and Karen who had changed into formal evening wear. The lengthy vehicle stopped in front of their temporary home and exited, reluctantly. "You two need to get to the conference. The four of us will be watching from here. Don't forget the earpieces and your data kits." Uroso said as the other three left through the door. "Read you loud and clear." Steve said as he cast his paw over his cane to change its shape and style. With a nod of approval Uroso left them to go.
Jacob and Mark proceeded to the front desk to get their room while Veronica gazed upon the sculptures in the center of the lobby. She walked around casually, affixing a small radio-transmitting device to various locations. Uroso came by with her as he took note of the locations and waited for her to finish. "They have our bags on the way up now. I believe a little room-service would be in order when we get in." Mark said to the group as he motioned to the fact that they did need to actually be going. "As long as I get a good hard drink from the bar brought up, I'll be good." Jacob said as he nodded. The group rode the elevator up several floors and entered a room that was way too large for it's own good. They were in the penthouse of the hotel. It was complete with all of the amenities you could ask for. The key feature was a large and expansive view of the great city of Cairo in its electrical lighting. From where they were, they could see the conference center where Steve and Karen were located. "Thank you, sir." A chimpanzee said as he received a hefty tip from Uroso. Uroso shut and locked the door tight before turning to the small sofa table. He immediately slid one of the lamps aside and pushed a countersunk switch underneath it that cause the table to display a screen. "Alright you guys clear up the space in here and stand aside." He said to the others as they quickly moved their luggage and watched as the windows flashed and brought up a large screen.
The room, as seemed customary with the airplane, changed into a central command for their operations. Veronica opened one of the bags that was brought up and retrieved a programming device and entered in a series of codes to activate the small radio devices she had set along their way to monitor the hotel. "Get the drives unpacked and plugged in, Jacob. Mark, get in contact with the Ulysses and Fortuna and get us synced with them." The ape said as he walked over to the newly set up hardware and began to activate the system. Red Fang has always made an imprint in major places in the world. From having penthouse/command centers to the simple commodities of surveillance technology the size of a grain of sand. Nothing was sparred of being left out. "All frequencies are reading and ready to be synchronized." Veronica stated. "Drives installed and ready for load." Jacob reported. "Ulysses and Fortuna reporting encryption, decryption, and transmission, ready. All security is verified and functioning" Mark said. The ape nodded for them to take their seats as he accessed the mainframe and executed its command for complete synchronization. "Let's begin." He said, taking his seat.
Steve had taken glasses of wine from the passing server and walked cordially with his wife. "Roger." Steve said under his breath as he received the word from Uroso of having activated the system. The two scouted the room carefully as they mingled amongst the crowd of foreign leaders and diplomats who all seemed to be conversing in friendly terms. "We have received notice that the foreign minister of China is linked to the shipments of the weapons grade material. It would be best advised to spark conversation with him." Uroso said to the two as they moved round the room. Uroso could see them moving amongst the furs in the large banquet hall, undercover agents having bugged the entire facility for their purpose. "Over there." Karen said as she guided Steve in the direction of the one they were looking for. The two made their way to a red panda who was conversing with fellow leaders of surrounding nations on the prosperity of new, cleaner oil. Moving carefully, they approached him.
"We have developed a new process to clean the oil and infuse it with chemical properties to serve in diesel products. We have been working with the French to develop it for the last two years now." The Panda said proudly to the others who all wore a grin of approval. "Ah, but good sir, it is impossible to create such a thing with the way that oil breaks down upon ignition. There is no way to produce such clean oil." Steve said with enthusiasm as the gathering turned toward him in offense. "And how would you know the development process that we are using. For all you know, it could be the best thing to happen to Central Asian Commune that would make all of our countries more prosperous than those of the west." One of the other leaders, a proud standing crane, said. "Because I, myself, have tried to do it and can find no way to succeed." Steve said as he sipped on more of his liquid courage and stared down the group. "That's from your own attempts fox, but we have been working on this for some five years now and have been coming closer to a break through." The Panda said as he grumbled for a passing server to give him another drink. "He's our guy, Karen." Veronica said to Karen as she relayed the information they had just received to the others of the Ulysses and Fortuna. "Would you care to explain then how this process is to be done?" Karen inquired to the Panda, seeing as he had downed another glass of wine and was more than likely to spill the beans of everything he knew.
Aboard the Fortuna, a submarine drifting in the depths of the Atlantic, Douglas sat on the command bridge as he was relayed every piece of information they were receiving. "Sir, we have come across that the room they are in has varying spikes of Dekoret exposures." Jacob explained over the connection. "Well we have another hour before the first evening closes on this so we need those two to get whatever they can out of this bear." The ursine said as a badger handed him the exposure level reading that were just surveyed. "Roger, sir. Message to be convened." Uroso replied. "Can we confirm any connections as to the supplying of the titanium?" Douglas demanded. "None sir, according to the conversation, he hasn't hinted anything to neither Dekoret nor titanium." A cheetah said as he held a pair of headphones away from his ears briefly. "Veronica, do we have any suspicious activity being seen or heard?" He hypothesized in frustration for a good answer. "None, everyone in the room and surrounding vicinity has been identified and accounted for." The wolf replied.
Douglas reclined slightly in his chair as he sat in thought, knowing that at any moment someone could strike a chord and give them the answers they need. He looked at the roster of active agents who were ready to be dropped in, minus the six already their. "Echo squad, continue surveillance till the opening banquet has concluded. Alpha and Beta squads, launch into the north and south desert and begin surveillance for suspicious activity as well as Dekoret scans." He said as he stood up in his seat. A series of confirms were heard as he looked over the many monitors before him.
It was late in the evening now when Jessica and Edward had finished their meals. They decided to go over to the park located near town hall for a late stroll to work off some of the extra weight they had picked up. "When I was a kit, my mom and dad loved bringing me here." Jessica said as she walked paw in paw with the attractive fox. "Mine used to do so as well when I was too. I remember the playground over here." He said as they walked into it. There were many of the typical items you could find. The customary jungle gym, a slide, a sawhorse, and a merry-go-round were all situated in a circle. But every one has their favorite, especially Jessica, being the swings. She let go of Edward's paw and trotted over to the swings and hopped aboard one of them and began to work up the momentum of the back and forth motion. Edward chuckled as he came from behind her and began to lightly assist her in building force. She smiled to him in a shy manner as the swing began to climb slightly higher. "So did you have fun today?" Edward asked as she continued the light swinging. "I would have to say most definitely." She proclaimed on the way back down, passing him since he was no longer helping her swing. "I'm glad to hear that." Edward said shyly as he sat on the swing next to her and began to swing himself gently.
Jessica continued her swinging, keeping her eye on the fox as she passed by him. She let gravity take its power over her swing as she began to slow back down to a near stop. The foxes turned to face each other in the semi-lit playground as the moon provided much of the remaining source of light. Gazing at one another, now having stopped swinging, they chuckled. The two had had one of the finest evenings with each other and didn't want it to end. "We should be getting home. We do have school tomorrow after all." Jessica said reluctantly. "Yeah... It is getting late." Edward said as he got off of the swing and helped her get out of hers. They walked once again back to the parking lot where before even entering the car, Edward stopped and turned to face her. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment before embracing in a delicate kiss. Jessica was in heaven, never before had she felt an emotion as serious and surreal as the one she was experiencing. She closed her eyes and embraced the fox that she had obviously fallen for. Breaking apart, the two smiled to one another before climbing back into the vehicle and being on their way home. They continued holding paws the entire ride, enjoying the silence of the drive in its comfort. Edward pulled into Jessica's driveway and made his around once again to assist her in exiting the vehicle. "Such a gentleman." She said with a smile on her face.
He blushed as he shut the door and escorted her to the front door. Standing in the archway of the front porch he held her paw before briefly kissing her once more. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Jessica." He said with a smile as she retrieved her keys from her purse. "Yes, and I'll see you tomorrow too." She said with an equally emphasized smile. She leaned forward to him for one more kiss before allowing herself to let him go. She smiled once again as she turned the locks and waved goodbye to him. He waved back and went back to his car, leaving the home that was the castle for whom he believed could be his princess.
Jessica came straight into the house and walked up the stairs to her room. First she stopped by her parent's room to tell them about her day and to say goodnight. She skipped out of their room and into hers just down the hall. Once in her room, she plopped down onto her bed and hugged one of her pillows tight. 'Could he be my dream come true?' She thought before she got back off her bed to change into appropriate attire and then retired for the night.
Wolfe had set Scott up in the guest room and had carried/dragged him from the couch into the bed so he could sleep more comfortably. 'Jesus, he sleeps like a log...' The lupine thought as he shut the door a bit to allow the panther to sleep soundly. Walking back into the living room, he turned off the television and turned out the lights before climbing up the stairs to his room. Inside his room and on the bed was a sleeping fox, Alex. He was sound asleep under the covers and hugging a pillow tight within his grasp. The lupine smiled at the image and then went over to change into pajamas and set his alarm. After turning out the lights, he climbed into bed with his mate where he exchanged the pillow for himself in Alex's grasp. Wolfe laid in the dark for a moment before he rested his head to the fox's. "Wenn alles ewig und für immer duarte. Ich liebe dich, Alex. (With everything eternal and forever lasting. I love you Alex.)" He said as he gently kissed the top of the fox's muzzle before falling into slumber.
"Sir, Alpha and Beta squads are reporting varying levels of Dekoret through the area. It's a sure sign." One of the advisors said as he brought up a few samples of the scans that were picked up. "Good, looks like dusty trails and turning tides are to be coming soon. Send Alpha and Beta squads to continue patrolling until they have found a large enough spike in the levels to pinpoint a strong location." Douglas said as he got up from his seat. "Sir, the conference has ended and we are sending all packets for the information we have gathered." Uroso said. "Go ahead and get Steve and Karen back in too. When morning comes we'll pick up right where we left off." The ursine said as he looked around for a pen to write down a few reminders for his self. "Roger." The ape replied. Douglas looked down to his watch and noted the time on his reminder note. 'Let's hope that we get what we need and that this thing doesn't dead end.' The bear thought to himself as he left the bridge and to his quarters.
Xavier looked back upon the group of subjects that had been recently exposed. "How do you think they will do?" The fox inquired to his subordinate. "So far they should all be viable, but we wont know until we get them up in the next twenty-four hours." A raccoon replied to the fox. "It better, Jericho's brother doesn't like failures. I really don't feel like having to do his dirty work when someone messes up that bad." Xavier stated coldly to the raccoon who was now shaking in fear. "Yes sir." The bandit said as he trotted off to monitor the group of furs in the room before them. Looking over the group in the room, the fox glanced over the screens above that showed their vital levels. 'This better work, cause if not... I'm going to be the next one that he gets rid of.' Xavier thought as he left the room to return to his office.
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This is another short chapter. Like I said at the end of twelve they were put together with each other but now split up. See you next time in Chapter 14 - Through the Wind You Hear the Sound of Birds.
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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