FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7 :Sharing the Results

Jana had only been waiting a little while before Nicole Nkosi came into the lobby. "Hi Jana. I will be your escort until tonight, OK?"

Jana smiled. "I have a choice?"

Nicole smiled and changed the subject rather abruptly. "We have got some bedding for you tonight. It's a portable bed, the kind used in emergency and disaster relief. They are actually very comfortable. And we have some new pillows, and a sleeping bag. We also got some pyjamas that should fit you, and some toiletries. We can get some clothes from your apartment if you want."

"Some clothes from home would be nice" thought Jana out loud.

She noticed two officers coming into the lobby from the passageway. One was a large Lion who had cut his main on the top of his head quite short. The other was a female Ringtail with a very nice figure. The Ringtail was carrying an ultra light and ultra compact sleeping bag which was no bigger than a large loaf of bread in one hand and a couple of pillow in the other. The Lion was carrying something in a bulky square bag with a shoulder strap. Jana assumed that this was the bed Nicole had told her about.

Nicole got up from her seat and took a couple of steps to meet the other officers. "Perfect timing."

The Lion asked "do you want this set up anywhere in particular?"

Jana was not sure if he was asking her or Nicole, but she was the first to reply. "Anywhere is fine."

The Lion smirked and started assembling the portable bed a short distance away from Jana, between the kitchen and close to the lobby's main tables. Jana quickly saw why it the package the lion had was so bulky. It contained two portable beds which could be stacked on top of each other to form a bunk. Jana watched as the Lion first connected a number of pole segments together and threaded them through the sewn tube like sides of the greensynthetic material which would be pulled taught when the bed was fully assembled. Jana watched as the Lion attached an organizer with many pockets onto the side of the bed. She glanced over at Nicole, who was happily chatting to the other officer, then looked back at the Lion. He had half assembled the bed, placing the wheel like ends of the support beams into the distinctively shaped slots in the bed ends. The bed was lower than what Jana was used to but it was nothing to complain about.

The Ringtail put the pillows and the sleeping bag on the bed. Jana got up from her seat and moved to the bed. While she unpacked the sleeping bag the Ringtail opened up a small bag that Jana had not noticed her carrying before. It contained various toiletries. There were grooming combs, brushes, shampoo, a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, an ultra absorbent microfiber towel, and a microfiber handtowel. The sight of these ordinary, everyday items almost made Jana feel at home.

The Ringtail set the bag down on the floor next to the bed. "Have you been shown around the station yet? Do you know where the toilets and locker rooms are?"

Jana replied "No. Not yet."

Suddenly becoming bouncy and bubbly, the Ringtail offered to show Jana around the station.

"Come on!" she exclaimed happily as she started to walk out of the lobby. Jana had to jog a short distance catch up to the Ringtail. Her new guide smiled impishly as Jana started to follow. She led Jana down the passageway and turned to the right as they left the lobby. They went past the conference room used to train and debrief officers and past the fitness centre on the opposite side of the passageway. At the end of the passageway was a door with a retina scanner. They did not go through that door, but went into the room on the left just in front of it.

The Ringtail explained. "This is the women's toilets, locker room, and showers, all in one convenient location! There are toilets next to the kitchen, just past the drink fridges, and there is another toilet/locker room/shower at the other end of the passageway on the left hand side."

The Ringtail then remembered on other place she should show Jana. "There is also another lobby. It's a lot smaller than the other one, but it is a lot quieter when the station gets busy. Come on! I'll show you!"

Jana followed the Ringtail as she led her out of the locker room. They went through another passageway that was almost directly opposite the women's locker room and past the conference room. They followed the passageway to the end, and turned right at the ninety degree bend, past the officer of the high ranking officers, and to a door just before the end of the passageway.

The Ringtail gestured with her hand. "Here it is. And if you go continue through the passageway and turn to your left you are back in the main lobby."

Jana smiled. "Thanks!"

The Ringtail suggested that they go back to the main lobby. "Nicole probably wants to know where you are."

The Ringtail's playful mood rubbed off on Jana. She ran past the Ringtail while shouting "race you!"

The Ringtail complained "no fair!" as she ran after Jana. But she could not beat Jana in the impromptu race. She ran to the lobby and towards Jana who was already back with Nicole and the Lion. The Ringtail skidded to a halt. She suddenly felt rather sheepish when Nicole crossed her arms and gave her a disapproving look much like the ones her mother often gave her as a child.

Her justification for her less than professional behaviour was humorously child like. "She started it!"

Nicole and the Lion burst into laughter. Nicole was laughing so hard she felt like she would start coughing. And Jana was not helping. She had cocked her head sideways, smiled sweetly, and rolled her eyes.

Elsewhere in the station, Major Carter was in another debriefing. The same officers from the last debriefing were there. There was also one new face. William had noticed the Mouse as soon as he walked into the room. Her whip like tail was covered in dark grey fur, like her body. As far as he could tell she had white on her underside and a white patch of fur around her left eye. He did not recognise her.

"Warrant Officer, may I ask who you are? And what your purpose for being here is?"

The husky voiced Mouse replied. "Sir, Warrant Officer Veronika Mars, investigator from the missing persons unit. I am investigating the disappearance of Jana de la Rey."

William was pleasantly surprised. He had not been expecting this! "You came at the perfect time! We are just about to have a secondary debriefing on what we know about Jana's kidnapping. Mostly it's just to make sure that we haven't overlooked anything."

He turned his head to look at his officers. "Everyone, please be as detailed as possible."

The debriefing was more or less like the previous one. Mostly the officers just reiterated what they had said in the previous debriefing, but there was one difference. Something of interest was also found by one of the officers from the evidence lab had found something of interest on one of the body cameras of an officer who had a hand in arresting Jana.

A middle aged Flying Fox, who would have been over two metres tall, explained. "During the arrest of Jana de la Rey, an individual approached and demanded the return of Jana claiming that she was quote "the property of GeneTech". It was also claimed that she was a "chimera". The individual has been identified as Cornelius Bekker, species Procyonidae, sub-species none, class Raccoon. He is the CEO and owner of GeneTech."

It was interesting, but it wasn't the crucial detail that William had hoped for. Perhaps GeneTech was involved in Jana's kidnapping, but they could have been in the dark about it. Perhaps an overzealous scientist or other employee had done this without the company's knowledge? It was a hit that GeneTech may have been involved, but that was it.

William then turned to Warrant Officer Mars. "Perhaps you would like to tell us about the intelligence you have obtained, Miss Mars?"

The diminutive Mouse stepped forwards and stood nearby William. "I can confirm the intelligence that you and your officers have uncovered regarding Jana's kidnapping is accurate. There have been some developments with regards to the whereabouts of the POIs who are suspected of kidnapping Jana. We now know their whereabouts, and we can expect raids to be carried out very soon. Long story short, the POIs have been ordering goods and 'services' to an address in Joburg. I will keep you updates as I learn them."

Veronika paused for a moment, and looked over her notes. "I am in the process of applying for a financial search warrant to obtain the POIs. I just have to figure out the last details, and double check the wording..."

Then, almost as an afterthought, she said "I will send you copies of all my notes and intelligence."

"I have also contacted Jana's parents to inform them that we may have found their daughter, but I want to talk to Jana myself to make sure she is the Jana I am looking for."

William nodded. He suspected the Mouse was experiencing some stress. She really should not have said that she may have found their daughter, she should have said that she had found some new leads, or that there had been developments and let it at that. But William chose to say nothing. It's easy to say things in retrospect, but when you are under the stress of an investigation it is easy to forget such a thing.

The Mau smiled. "Of course. She should be in the lobby. If you would like to follow me we can go see her. Everyone else...I am sure you have things to do."

Veronika almost ran as Major Carter started to walk out of the lecture room. She seemed as though she was scatterbrained due to lack of sleep more than anything else. When they got to the lobby Jana had a particularly mischievous look on her face, a young Ringtail was stamping her foot and exclaiming "It's true! She did start it!" while Nicole and a few other officers were laughing. William and Veronika exchanged glances. Veronika shrugged.

Jana was the first to notice the two officers enter the room, despite having her back mostly turned to them. She had noticed her 'sixth sense' had become sharper now that she was a Hyena. She somehow 'felt' the two officers looking at her. She turned towards them and waited patiently for them to speak first. That was another thing she was noticing. Whereas as a Wolf she was outgoing and even a little boisterous, now she was calm, content to wait for others to speak first, and felt more in control than ever before. Perhaps this was the nature of a Hyena?

Veronika was the first to speak. "Jana de la Rey, I presume?"

Jana simply replied "Yes."

The Mouse relaxed. Her tenseness in her body melted away when she heard Jana speak. It had a soothing quality to it. "I am Warrant Officer Veronika Mars of the missing persons unit. I need to speak to you. Not about your kidnapping, but about you. Who you are, where you are from, who you family is."

Jana frowned and cocked her head to the side. Veronika explained "I need to make sure you are the Jana de la Rey I am looking for. The circumstances of your kidnapping would help, but it's your personal life that will help me confirm who you are since your biometrics will have changed."

Jana's expression changed. She said nothing, but it was clear she was thinking "Ah! That explains it."

William suggested that they use the smaller of the stations two lobbies. Veronika agreed and followed the Mau to the lobby, Jana following a little further behind.

There was no one in the smaller lobby when the trio arrived. The Mouse sat with the Hyena and listened as she started talking about herself, her hobbies, the job she had been working on at her local museum, and a myriad of other subjects. After a while, Jana started talking about her family. She was slower on this subject, and tears welled in her eyes. She instinctively knew that Jana was worried about how her family would react to her. She did what she could to reassure her. "I can arrange a phone call to your parents. And we will be here to support you no matter what happens."

Jana brushed away a tear. "Thank you."