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FOX Academy Flashbacks

Scarlet Necklace

Part V - When One Curtain Opens ...

1989

After their interlude in the Black Knight Club, Scarlet brought Silver back to her apartment a few blocks away. It was small, in the European standard, but comfortable. Scarlet had converted the larger front room into a bedroom and the tiny bedroom into an office. Silver noted that the space allocation was now in proportion to the amount of time spent working in each.

"So, what brings you to Poland?" She asked as she poured them both a drink.

"Just some meetings." He answered evasively. He was here because in January, the Polish legislature had voted to legalize the Solidarity movement, but that decision was soon overturned by the Communist Party. Silver had come to drop in on a few of the communist leaders to persuade them to abstain the next time the vote came up for ratification. If not, he was authorized to use other means to ensure their absence.

Silver had read Scarlet's reports on certain key leaders and would normally have arranged to spend some time discussing them with her. But he did not want to reveal the details of his assignment because too many missions had gone wrong lately for no explicable reason. The number of agents being ambushed and the rate that contacts were disappearing were both going up.

Silver had not had much time to work on the Double-Agent file, and he had not been able to eliminate Scarlet as a suspect yet. He hesitated before drinking, waiting for her to sip hers first.

Scarlet picked up on the distrust immediately and guessed the reason.

"You're worried that I'm a mole, aren't you?" She asked, then sighed and looked away. "I can't say as I blame you." She changed the subject. "How's everybody back in the Heidelberg office these days?"

Silver shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

Scarlet stood with her glass in one paw and the other on her hip, scowling at him.

"I can see that we are not in danger of losing ourselves in conversation tonight. Can you at least tell me how long you are staying?"

"I have to be off tomorrow."

Scarlet drained her glass and began to unbutton her blouse.

"Let's head to bed then."

* * * * * * * *

Silver concluded his mission successfully, despite a lack of sleep before his first visit. Only two Polish communist officials had to be made examples of before the rest decided that it was not worth delaying the inevitable. In April, Solidarity was legalized, paving the way for free elections in June. At the same time that the vote was being held, students in Beijing began to gather on the square by the gate of heavenly peace, Tian An Men Guangchang.

Other agents sent to influence decisions in other Warsaw Pact countries were being successful also. In May, Hungary dismantled 240 kilometres of fence along the Austrian border, allowing anyone who could get to Hungary access to the West. It was the first break in the Iron Curtain. The news overshadowed the announcement of Martial Law in China.

On 4 June, the Polish Solidarity Party won the elections. It was the first time a non-communist party had won power in any Warsaw Pact country. Several hundred elated party workers in Poznan invaded the Black Knight Club for an evening of celebration. At exactly the same moment, several thousand soldiers of the People's Liberation Army backed by a regiment of tanks invaded Tian An Men Square.

The Warsaw Pact states took advantage of the world's sudden attention on China to inch their way out of the old guard. Hungary removed the last of its border controls and declared itself a republic. Bulgaria declared that it was socialist, not communist. The 'Velvet Revolution' in Czechoslovakia forced the communist government there to allow free elections. There was a bloody revolution in Romania. The most visual of these events was the storming and dismantlement of the Berlin wall, the very symbol of the Iron Curtain. The communist government resigned, and East Germany was essentially a leaderless state.

* * * * * * * *

1990

The new year found Silver back in North America, at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. He was attending a conference called to discuss how to take advantage of the chaotic situation in the Warsaw Pact. The allied agents were credited with influencing the political process in those countries, but at a terrible cost in lives. It was debatable as to whether they should risk the exposure of some of their deep-cover agents to do the same in the satellite states of the USSR. Declarations and demonstrations for independence were occurring in several of the outer states. Some independence movements were being ignored, others were being brutally suppressed. The consensus was that the uneven approach reflected an internal struggle in the USSR that could be exploited, but they were divided as to whether it was necessary to influence it at all.

Silver was also using the opportunity to work on the Double-Agent file with his American counterparts. During one of the breaks in the conference, the CIA liaison to FOX suggested that they head down to the smoking area to continue their discussion. He was known to Silver only as 'Red Fox', a codename permanently reserved for the CIA liaison officer. In this case, he actually was a red fox, so the codename came naturally off Silver's tongue.

"The smoking area Red?" It had been a few years since Silver's last visit, and back then everybody smoked at their desk or in the hallways.

"New government regulations Silver. All evil smokers have to go outside any government building, including us." Red said resignedly as he led Silver through a maze of hallways.

Silver was relieved. There was nothing worse than being trapped behind a foot-thick steel door in an airless room with four smokers and a garlic fan. He shuddered at the memory. Red used his pass to open doors and pass security checkpoints, with Silver following along in his wake. After five minutes of walking, they reached the outer doors and stepped into the chilly winter air.

There was a wet snow falling, driven under hats and coats by a stiff wind. The smoking area was occupied by a miserable collection of analysts, clerks and agents. Some were huddled together to block the wind, others tried to stay close to the doors. Silver caught snatches of conversation about football, hockey and Russian ballistic submarine capabilities as they passed through, seeking a sheltered corner. He noted that the smoking area was surrounded by the headquarters buildings, there was no chance of anyone from outside CIA HQ eavesdropping in on their conversations.

"So anyway Red," Silver continued the conversation they had started inside, "I can't seem to eliminate anyone as a suspect. There are just too many possibilities, too many files that could have been compromised, and too many agents that had access to them. I was hoping that you could help me narrow it down."

The CIA agent puffed on his cigarette for a moment in thought, or maybe nicotine induced ecstasy, before answering.

"Normally we don't show certain files to anyone outside the agency." He began. "There's always suspicion when dealing with people that we have not cleared ourselves, that and a significant embarrassment factor when they find a mole in our agencies before we do. But the situation has gotten so serious that I have been authorized to release some particular information to you. You know that one of the ways that we trap double agents is by circulating unique copies?"

Silver knew of the ploy. A document that would be of immense value to the opposition would be circulated amongst the suspects. The distribution list would be long enough to convince the mole that it was safe to pass the information on. The suspects, and a few others with equal access, would each receive subtly different copies. A number, a location or a name would be changed, making that copy unique. Then one just had to wait for the other side to react, or for your own double agents to report back as to which version had arrived. Silver remembered one famous case where two moles were exposed with one document, and neither of them had been on the suspect list.

"How does that relate to my search Red?"

"Back in eighty-seven, in an attempt to show that the leak was coming from another agency we sent out unique copies of a document to FOX and MI-6, without telling anyone. The MI-6 document never showed up in Moscow."

"Go on." Silver's voice had gone as cold as the air Red was sucking through his cigarette.

"The information on the version we sent to your agency showed up there several months later."

Silver pondered the implications. Something didn't add up. Sending the doctored documents without notifying at least the Director was against protocol, but understandable given the paranoia that existed in the three agencies. Did he say nineteen eighty-seven?

"If you knew the mole was in Fox back in eighty-seven," Silver asked slowly, "why didn't you tell anyone?" Suddenly, an image of a river of fake documents being fed to the Soviets through FOX, without its knowledge or consent, leapt into his head. Silver took a threatening step toward the American liaison agent.

The fox stepped back defensively, and kept going as his foot slipped on an icy patch, right into a badger that had been standing behind him, facing the other way. The two stumbled, cigarettes flew left and right as they spun their arms to keep their balance. Silver reached out and steadied the fox, who in turn grabbed the badger before he could fall.

"Sorry Ames, you okay?" The red fox asked the badger.

"Sure, sure. Slippery out here. They should get maintenance onto it." The Badger lit another cigarette and wandered a few steps away. He seemed lost in thought.

"Sorry Red." Silver apologised. I didn't mean to ..."

"Ah don't worry about it." The CIA agent waved it off. "I know how it sounds, but we haven't been using you. The reason we didn't move in was that we couldn't. We couldn't narrow down the leak to one agent, or even one agency. Three copies of the document showed up in Moscow. One was passed to the KGB by a contact in Ottawa, one came in from the Soviet Embassy in Beijing." The American paused, swallowed, and continued. "The third came in from a courier route that services Washington D.C. It came from here, from inside the CIA."

Now Silver understood. He whistled softly. "Three moles ... at least. Are you certain?"

The liaison agent glanced around, but saw no one other than the badger that he had almost flattened earlier, still lost in thought, his cigarette forgotten between his lips.

"I didn't tell you this." He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "We have an asset inside KGB Headquarters, in the North American Department. They confirmed it. Silver, I can get you a list of documents and where they came from. You can narrow down your search, maybe down to a few key suspects."

The news of the CIA double agent and the offer of their services was a bombshell. Silver looked around, nervous out in the open air, even if it was in the middle of the most secure facility in the free world. He saw the badger just opening the doors to re-enter the building. He stared after him for a moment before looking inquisitively at the American.

"The badger? He's okay. Name's Aldrich Ames, works in the Soviet section somewhere. I see him out here all the time."

* * * * * * * *

The third week of September found Silver in Beijing.

Through the spring and summer of 1990 he had worked to influence the break-up of the Warsaw Pact, taking whatever time he could to compare the list Red Fox had given him to the Academy's registry. Since this could only be done when he was in Canada, the work progressed sporadically. By the end of August, he had managed to eliminate most of the Academy's junior agents, and all of the analytical and support staff, as suspects. He was also able to remove the senior agents Black, White and the deceased Green from the list.

It disturbed him that he could not find proof to clear Scarlet, Gold or the Director. All three had been in Ottawa throughout the period when the altered documents were passed. All three would have seen them and would have had the opportunity to copy the information down. Other senior agents may also have seen all of the documents on the list. According to the central registry, some of the reports were read when the agents visited Ottawa, other documents were sent out to the posts. The only way to know who had access to them there was to visit the embassies and check the local records. He arranged to visit each in turn as part of an 'Administrative Inspection', set up by the Chief of Staff.

South America and Africa had been productive. Silver had been able to eliminate several suspects in each of those regions. Europe he would do the next time he was there on a mission. China was turning out to be a bust though, no single agent had seen every report, or even most of them, according to the records at the embassy.

Yellow, the fox that had been senior agent in Asia for ten years now, had delegated much of the routine office work to his junior agents. Under cover as exchange teachers, office managers and sales reps, one of them would visit the embassy regularly to read the reports forwarded by FOX. If the report was of interest, they might sign it out and bring it to Yellow's lair for him to read. No copies were allowed, and everyone who read the report was supposed to initial it, but not every field post was run strictly according to the rules however. That was why Silver was able to use the inspection as an excuse to visit and check the files.

Silver noted that the junior agent in China sent most often to read the files was his old friend from the Academy, Kevin.

Kevin had not distinguished himself as Silver had in his early days. Brash to the point of recklessness and disrespectful to the senior agents, Kevin had made some major mistakes in the first two years in China. He had come very close to burning the entire Asian operation. Only the intervention of Yellow had saved him from recall and dismissal. Although he was more cautious now, the experience had not changed Kevin's attitude and he was disliked by most of the Academy's leadership.

Now that he was a senior agent, Silver knew the routine for promotion. The majority of the other senior agents had to accept you into their ranks, and W had never overruled a majority opinion. Silver's vote had ended in a tie, leaving Gold to cast the deciding ballot. Kevin's status had been brought up at the end of his probation period in 1987. Yellow had recommended that Kevin be retained, but did not go so far as to recommend him for promotion. It was agreed to keep him on as a junior agent, but only so long as there was a senior agent willing to have him on his or her crew, and Yellow was the only volunteer. Kevin's career depends on Yellow's tolerance, Silver thought. Kevin could look forward to continued employment in China as long as Yellow remained, but he would never be a senior agent.

That didn't stop Silver from having a few drinks with him at one of the few bars still open under martial law.

Beijing in 1990 was a dreary place. Still under curfew more than a year after the Tian An Men incident, the streets were deserted after 8 pm, except for the soldiers and the diplomats. With cooking, heating and electricity needs largely fuelled by coal or charcoal, there was a permanent haze in the city and a constant layer of grit on every exposed surface. Silver thought that it looked like a war zone during a short cease-fire. Perhaps it was.

"It never was a really cheery place." Kevin told him as they watched another convoy of military trucks roll past. "Soviet-style apartment buildings, black bicycles and clothes come in either dark green or dark blue. The only colour you see these days is that bright red flag with the yellow stars." He drained his Qing-Dao beer. "And this shit." He said indicating the beer bottle. "This is from a brewery they got when Germany surrendered in forty-five and Shandong province was returned to them. They use formaldehyde as a preservative in it. Gives you the worst hangovers ever. More than three and your head will split in the morning. Literally split."

Silver looked down at the five empty bottles in from of him. "Now you tell me."

Kevin had a good chuckle at that, the humour enhanced by his own five beers. "So how did you draw Administrative Inspection duty Silver? You piss on Gold's desk or what?"

"It's a shit job for the most junior of the senior agents." Silver lied. "You'll be doing it next time."

"You should have left that last bit out if you wanted me to believe you." Kevin said, still grinning. "You're here looking for a leak, maybe even a double agent." His face may have been flushed, but his eyes were cold, and fixed on Silver.

Silver remembered that the stocky light-toned fox weighed a lot more than him, and could always put down a lot more beer before feeling the effects. Was he actually trying to loosen me up, he wondered? That was okay though, he had wanted to reveal the true nature of his mission to Kevin, there was no other way to ask the questions he wanted to ask without raising suspicions. That Kevin had brought the subject up himself made it that much easier.

"I could never fool you Kevin. Want to confess now?"

"You know I didn't do it. I'm no mole. You didn't find anything implicating Yellow either." It was a statement, not a question.

"No," Silver did not add that he had not found any evidence that would clear him either, "but your records a sure a mess." He ordered another round of beer. Silver mentioned the message that the CIA had doctored, without telling Kevin that it had made its way to Moscow via Beijing. Kevin had been the only one who had initialled it. "Did you tell Yellow what was in the message?" He asked as casually as he could.

"No. The subject was of no interest to us, it was more the European district's kind of thing. I did tell someone else about it though." Kevin said offhandedly. Silver waited. "Scarlet was asking about it when I was back in Canada the week after it came in." Kevin continued. "She wanted to know if we got a copy in Beijing. Struck me as strange at the time but I forgot about it until you mentioned it just now." Kevin shrugged and drank from his bottle.

"I've always had reservations about her." A new voice came from behind them. Silver looked around quickly, but not in a panic, he had heard that voice before. It was Yellow, the senior agent in charge. "How are you Silver?" He asked, emphasizing the codename. "I have not had the chance to congratulate you since your promotion." He held out a paw.

Silver accepted it and they shook. Silver had not had many dealings with Yellow, but when he was Green's right paw near the end, he had been able to attend the FOX conferences and observe the other senior agents. As Scarlet had warned him back in eighty-two, he found Yellow to be arrogant and an intellectual show-off, but very good at his job and one of the most knowledgeable foxes in the Academy. Yellow made his presentations from memory, knew his region intimately and knew a lot about everyone else's district. Silver respected him for his talent, but hated the way he treated his junior agents like they were property.

"Thank you Yellow. Kevin was just telling me that he has figured out the real purpose of my trip."

"Please, Kevin could not think his way out of wet paper bag with a fist full of chainsaws." Yellow sneered. Silver took a quick glance at Kevin but his old friend did not change expression at the insult. "I told him why you were really here and told him to cooperate fully. I know how paranoid some agents get when headquarters comes sniffing around, but we have nothing to hide here. I'm certain that Kevin is okay and I know that I am not the mole. I think that you should be looking a little closer to home."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that it's difficult to reason when you are yiffing your way across Europe." Yellow began in a condescending voice. "It's hard to engage the big head when the little one is occupied I suppose. Nevertheless, step back and look at the situation with your funny washed-out eyes open."

This was typical of the way Yellow talked to other senior agents, Silver remembered. Yellow thought that Scarlet was a whore, that Green had been an Irish peasant and that White had mental constipation. He had no respect for the other's talents and considered their tactics childish brutality. He had no fear of the other senior agents either, insulting them freely. The one time that another agent had lost his temper and come across the table at him, Yellow had adroitly slipped aside and let the table collapse. It collapsed because Yellow had taken the screws out before insulting his peer. Yellow was always prepared, Green had told his junior agent, and suggested that that was a good trait to emulate.

"It's been obvious to me that someone in the headquarters has been leaking information for years." Yellow continued. "Despite his genetic limitations, Green realised this also. He was close to finding out whom. Unfortunately for him he seems to have trusted the information to the wrong fox ... or vixen." Yellow paused to study Silver's face.

With six of the strong local beers inside him, it did not take much to bring an angry red flush to Silver's face. The reference to Scarlet, and Silver's affair with her, was all too obvious. He did not go for the older fox however, and Yellow looked almost disappointed.

"I'm willing to bet that Green's death was not a coincidence." Yellow added.

"How so?" Silver asked, anger slipping into his tone.

"It would take too long to explain the reasoning to you. But didn't that bunk mate of yours infiltrate the Red Brigade back in the seventies?"

Silver had a lot to think about, and the beer was interfering with his ability to do that. Leaving the half-full bottle, he threw some of the foreign exchange certificates the overseas visitors were required to use on the table.

"I have to go file my report. Headquarters will want to know what you told me about that file Kevin, and about your theory Yellow. I'll see you two again before I leave." Silver headed toward the door, stumbling a bit on the uneven tiles.

"What a moron." Yellow said shaking his head. "They'll make anyone a senior agent these days." He turned back to Kevin. "What's this about a file?"

* * * * * * * *

Two days later Silver was finished with the Asian files. He had dutifully recorded what Kevin had said about telling Scarlet about the CIA document, and Yellow's suspicions, and sent it all back to the headquarters for Gold's eyes only. He was contemplating how he wanted to arrange the final meeting with them when a message came in to the embassy for him from FOX Headquarters. Something had come up in China and he was to assist Yellow for the next few days. He arranged to meet the Asia district head in the Summer Palace, near the marble boat.

The park was almost deserted. Crowds were still frowned upon and with no cars or trucks being allowed in the city except on official business it was difficult for people to get around. Still, most of the creatures wandering around the park looked like foreigners, so Silver did not feel too exposed. He found Yellow reading the multi-lingual plaque that described how the imperialist Manchurian court had squandered the riches of China building private parks, like this one, and pleasure craft, like the marble boat. The plaque went on to say how this display of decadence had been preserved by the People's Communist Party as an example, and for the enjoyment of all. Silver recalled reading somewhere that Mao had lived in the Summer Palace during the hot season while he was alive, before the park was opened to the public.

He exchanged code phases with Yellow, not for recognition but to let each other know whether they were here under duress or if they had been followed. All was good today however.

"What's up Yellow?" Silver got to the point, he had no desire to pass the time in idle chatter.

"One of my most senior contacts in the communist party has called a meeting for tonight." Yellow explained. "He claims that the Wangs are going to fake a revolt by the army." The Wangs were a pair of Pandas, half brothers. Between them, they controlled about one-fifth of the votes in the party. Enough to swing the balance of power one way or the other.

"Apparently the armies surrounding Beijing will attack in order to punish those responsible for disgracing China. The Wangs are going to rally the local garrison to 'protect the creatures of Beijing' and the army will surrender, on the condition that the Wangs take over from Chun Yun and Deng Xiaoping." Deng and Chun each controlled about two fifths of the votes. They were currently locked in a power struggle, and whichever ended up being blamed for the slaughter the year before would lose all their influence to the other. The winner would emerge so strong that no one would be able to oppose them. Obviously, the Wangs wanted to see both leaders blamed, leaving their shares to be gobbled up by the untainted Wang brothers. "My contact is supposed to give me the details of the plot." Yellow concluded.

"You need extra protection at the meeting?" Silver enquired. It was one of the things he did best, providing fast and accurate firepower to cover the retreat of important persons.

"No, there is a problem. The Japanese resident agent and the German's undercover guy both had similar offers in the last few days. Both have disappeared. I think that it could be a set up."

Silver pondered that information. He and Yellow would not be discussing it if there were not some possibility that the information could be legitimate. If it was, it would be invaluable, the holder could essentially choose which side they wanted to come out on top. Then, by revealing that they had the information to the side they wished to support, they would place that leader forever in their debt. It would be a tremendous coup.

If it was a set-up, the head of the Asian district would be captured, and it would be assumed that everything he knew would be compromised. The network would collapse, none of the contacts would be considered trustworthy again. It would set the Academy's Asian efforts back ten years. There was an alternative however, and Silver guessed that that was why he had been called here today.

"This contact does not know who you are, has never met you, I assume?" He queried the other senior agent.

"No. It's a blind contact, we have never met."

"So you want me to go in your place." Silver knew that he was right.

"Bingo. Kevin said that you were smarter than you look. For extra points, tell me why."

"If it is your contact he will pass the information to me because he doesn't know what you look like and I will have all the proper codes, courtesy of you. Of course if I am captured it will mean torture and probably death. But I have no knowledge of your network or your other contacts, so I can't give them up under torture. I know what you look like but you can change that and your cover identity in minutes, can't you?" The older fox smiled and nodded for him to continue. "I could blow Kevin's cover but you don't care about him anyway. If he can't get away in time, it will just be too bad for him. I don't know any of your other junior agents, so the rest are safe. All-in-all, it's a good deal for you. A once-in-a-lifetime intelligence triumph if its legit, and one less moron if it's not."

Yellow laughed out loud at that. "You bugged the table before you left us, you sly fox you." He looked at silver with shinny, challenging eyes. "But that is an accurate assessment Silver, except you forgot to mention that as the agent who brought the information back you will get most of the glory. You also forgot to mention your chances of shooting your way out of a trap. I hear that it is one of your specialities." The fox looked out over the lake that the Summer Palace bordered. "But it's up to you. I can't order you to take it on."

Silver realised that he was being challenged, and obviously at that. The arrogant fox was deliberately pushing certain buttons to make him take the mission. Yellow could lay it on as thick as he wished however, Silver would go to the meeting. Was there any other choice, he thought ruefully?

* * * * * * * *

Scarlet arranged a meeting with her controller early in October, flying back to Ottawa on a pretext to do so. He selected a hotel frequented by hookers and cheating spouses, one with free parking, something rare in downtown Ottawa.

Scarlet burst into the room and started talking as soon as the door was closed behind her.

"The Chinese have Silver."

"Yes," he replied calmly, "I know." He was sitting in the middle of a small couch, one arm thrown over the back, the other resting on his thigh.

"We need to get him back."

"Why? It is too late to bring him over to work for you. He is on a campaign now to find the mole for his friend Gold and for the honour of FOX. Ideologically, he is locked in, and I don't think that money, blackmail or sex will pursue him, sorry dear."

Scarlet slumped down in an easy chair, dejected, but not quite defeated.

"Do you have something that you could trade to the Chinese? Something that would make them release him?"

"Of course I do. It is what I do, essentially, collect information and use it at the opportune moment."

"You also collect people and use them, don't you? Like you use me, and all the others."

"You knew this before we started. It's a harsh cruel world, one that requires sacrifice on all our parts if we are to make it better."

"All our parts. That's a laugh. What was the last sacrifice that you made? Taking domestic wine with dinner because the ship you sank to remove a threat to your little empire also had the shipment of your favourite Chablis on board?" Scarlet stood with her paws curled into fists on her hips, her chest thrust out and her hips pushed back as she let her anger rise. He admired the pose, the paid skirt and white blouse she had worn that day went well with it.

"What is Silver to you? You are willing to write him off simply because it takes an effort to do something to change his fate. You may see no use for him now, because you see him as a mindless blunt instrument, currently in someone else's control. I say that that is a narrow, nearsighted view of the world, bucko. Some day you are going to need a steadfast guy like him for one of your schemes and he won't be there to use, just because you were too lazy to step in when you could have."

She stood there, chest heaving with anger, her russet fur ablaze. He had not seen her this worked up since the early days. Reluctantly he admitted that she had a point and, after all these years, that she had finally learned how to manipulate him. Still, trading for Silver's life would entail some risk, with no guarantee of return in the future. That in itself gave the act some value that he might cash in on. He had already decided to grant her wish, but he wanted to see just how much she wanted this, partially in order to understand her motivation better, and partially for is own amusement.

"I don't know Scarlet. It could be risky. Silver has already reported that document that we passed to Moscow a few years back. What if he finds out that you traded for his freedom? Do you think that will stop him from killing you?" While he talked, his eyes left her face and drifted down to where the top two buttons of her blouse had come undone.

"Leave that to me." She noticed that his gaze had shifted to her chest. She absently undid a third button, revealing that she still had no need for a bra to help fill out a blouse.

"It is very dangerous Scarlet, and probably too late. He has been in their paws for a week already. Who knows what they have done to him?" Her controller shifted around on the couch, placing both arms along the back. She could see a slight bulge in his pants.

We can do better than that, she thought.

Scarlet undid the last two buttons of her white blouse. She let it hang open, exposing the soft fur down to the top of the plaid skirt. Her nipples were still covered, but thoughts of what she would do to gain his cooperation made them harden, and they dimpled the translucent material. Scarlet had not had indulged his sexual requests for three years now, not since Silver came back from Finland. But today she had deliberately dressed in the schoolgirl-like outfit, down to the knee socks and black buckle shoes, to provoke his desire. Scarlet knew how to get her way.

She gripped the waist of the skirt and rotated it as she pulled it up over her taut belly. When the waistband was just under her breasts the plain white cotton panties that she wore were visible below the hem. Scarlet reached under the hem of the skirt and pulled the panties tight, outlining her sex with them. Holding the skirt up with one paw, she hooked a thumb into the panties and pulled them down, just enough to show that she still had the little red heart design. She giggled and dropped the skirt.

Turning abruptly, she bent over at the waist, keeping her legs straight and tight together. She lifted her tail high in the air to give him an unobstructed view of her ass in its cotton sheath. She pulled on the panties again and felt them slide between her cheeks and around her vulva. Looking back around, she saw that the protrusion in his pants had grown bigger, but not big enough.

Scarlet put a paw under the elastic of her panties and forced it down between her legs. The digits undulated under the cotton. At first, he could see all of them, clearly silhouetted. Then one disappeared. Where could it have gone? Another disappeared from view. Scarlet let out a low moan. When her missing digits reappeared, they were damp and stuck to the material. They disappeared again. Soon the crotch of her panties was soaked and transparent.

Head thrown back, eyes closed, she pulled the underwear tight with one paw while the other explored further. He saw one sodden digit pull out of her vagina and follow the line from its base to just below her tail. It circled her tailhole and retreated. Dipping into her for fresh moisture, it returned and circled again, close this time. The third time it rubbed the puckered hole. The fourth time the tip disappeared inside.

Sneaking a peek at him she could see that the show was effecting him, and not only by the tent in his trousers. His eyes were wide and fixed, his mouth hung open just a little. His knuckles were white where he gripped the back of the couch, holding himself back. How he must want to reach out and tear these panties away, she thought, but knew that his will was stronger than that. She would have to crank it up a notch.

Scarlet pulled her dripping paw out from inside her panties. They were so wet now that they clung to her like a second skin. She undid the button above the tail and peeled them off, pulling slowly as if they were attached, a layer reluctant to part with her. Inch by inch she brought them down, first exposing the pink puckered hole that glistened with the juices she had spread there. A little more and the ruddy lips that protruded from her mound began to show. At last, the only thing still covered was her clitoris, as the last bit of sticky cotton clung to it. Scarlet gave a sudden jerk with her arms and the panties ripped apart. She tore them from her body and tossed them across the room.

Straightening and turning, she faced him, grinning. Her bright red fur shone with excitement in contrast to the pure-white of her teeth, blouse and knee socks. The skirt still rode high enough to show the moist pink slit between her legs. Scarlet rubbed her thighs with her paws and licked her lips. Then she opened the blouse to expose her breasts, the nipples hard and protruding. Pulling the sides down and inward squeezed her breasts together.

"Do you want me?" She asked.

"Not at all." He lied. One of the springs in the hotels cheap couch gave way with a 'poing-g-g' from the pressure he was putting on it.

Scarlet advanced, swaying one hip in front of the other, hardly lifting her feet from the floor. She kept her breasts trapped between the halves of her blouse so that they pointed toward his eyes. When she was standing between his legs against the couch she leaned down, letting just the tips of the hairs on her breasts touch his face before drifting down. She rested her chin on his shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"Now do you want me?"

"No." He did not even shudder when he said it. She had to admire his control.

His stiff whiskers poked her sensitive skin, but she rubbed her head against his ear. Standing up, she let her breasts caress his chin and wiped the nipples across his lips. He did not move, but she caught him licking his lips. She leaned forward until his head was all but buried between her furry mounds. Reaching down, she felt along the bulge in his pants. The material was tight, the protrusion was hard, he was ready.

Scarlet dropped to her knees between his legs. He was still leaning back against the couch with his arms up and it was easy to find and open his belt buckle. Unzipping his fly was more difficult, the material around it was stretched so much she was afraid the stitching would rip. She had to press down on the protuberance to get it halfway open. It stuck there, his sudden tremor and gritting of the teeth telling her that it was in danger of being caught in the zipper's works. She reached in and worked it around, still trapped inside his shorts, until it was clear, and then unzipped him the rest of the way. A quick pull and his trousers were down around his ankles.

He still wore his open jacket, shirt, tie, buttoned vest and a pair of loose white boxer shorts printed with little red hearts. Scarlet undid his vest and unbuttoned his shirt, staring up into his eyes with promise as she did. She ran her paws over his chest and stomach, still well muscled for a guy his age. She even leaned in and nipped him on the navel. Then she grabbed the waistband of the boxers with both paws and pulled them apart. With a tearing noise, the shorts went the way of her panties and she tossed the two halves aside.

She looked down at what she had uncovered, or rather across, because it stood straight and came up past her snout to the level of her eyes. She admired it for a moment. Guys like Silver may have strength, technique and stamina going for them, but ones this big could literally turn you inside out, and that was a good thing. But first, you had to prepare.

Scarlet let her breath out softly, warming the massive penis. She took it with one paw that could barely encircle it and, working her mouth to build up saliva, licked it from balls to tip. At the top, she let the juice drip from her mouth, and the foamy liquid slid down one side until it was stopped by her circled digits. She rotated the paw to spread the fluid and then she slid it up and down a bit. She repeated the manoeuvre, licking and lubricating his length with her mouth, spreading the moisture with her paw. Every few turns she tipped him down on an angle and sank it into her maw, until she felt the knob press against the back of her throat. She didn't dare take it in any farther.

Licking and rubbing, sucking and caressing, she made his cock slick. But she needed to prepare herself also. She dipped her free paw between her legs and found the still-damp slit with her middle digit and plunged it inside. Bending her wrist at a painful angle, she found the sweet spot inside, just within reach, and she tapped it with her digit. Three taps then she pulled it back out, letting its length rasp against her hardened clit. A quick rub there then she sank it back in again. Tap-tap-tap pulll rub, Tap-tap-tap pulll rub, Tap-tap-tap pulll rub. She had perfected this pattern over many years when her work forced her to seduce inadequate lovers.

Soon she could slide two digits inside with no problem. Her labia were swollen and pliant, and the flesh around her vagina had softened so she could penetrate deeper. She was slick inside and out, and eager for more. If she were alone now would be the time to add a third digit, but she had had something better handy.

Scarlet pulled her paw out and released him also. She stood up and pulled the blouse off, letting it drop to the floor. Hiking the plaid skirt up as far as it could go she was exposed from the navel down. She put a paw on each of his shoulders and stepped up onto the couch, planning a foot on each side of his hips. Only now did he release his grip on the back of the sofa. He grabbed her hips, and helped to lower her gaping hole onto his throbbing cock.

Just a hair's breadth away from contact, Scarlet froze. She took his head in her paws and looked deep into his eyes.

"Do you want me now?" She breathed.

"Yes." He gasped, beyond pretence now.

She took the paw that had recently been inside her and let him suck the juices from its fur.

"Will you save Silver for me?"

"If there is anything left to save."

"Promise?"

"I Promise."

Although he had told her many half-truths, misled her occasionally and omitted facts when convenient, he had never broken a promise. Scarlet close her eyes and lowered herself onto his spear.

Slick as they both were, it was still massive, and it slid in slowly but surely, like a cruiser coming into dock. Scarlet cold feel the flesh around her opening being sucked in as her insides rearranged to accommodate him. Her clit was pulled back so that it was in constant contact and she shuddered each time it bumped across a vein. She sensed the tip approaching the limits of her canal, but she did not pause. Never desiring children, Scarlet had her cervix removed early in her career to accommodate males like him. The knob progressed into her womb unobstructed, and her thighs came to rest on his.

With a sigh, she flexed and began to rise up. Ever the gentleman, he lifted her by the hips to help, but he let her set the pace. When the tip was left just touching the outer lips she reversed and slid back down his length again.

Up and down she went at a steady pace, raising and lowering more than a foot each rotation. Paws on his shoulders for balance, breasts rubbing his bristly face. When she was at the apex, he licked and kissed her nipples, sucking them gently. When she was at the base she nipped his lips, and licked his nipples. She wished that she could be behind herself, watching the immense grey shaft as it disappeared and reappeared from within her. Maybe I should get one of those new compact video cameras and a tripod, she thought.

The pressure-friction on her insides, combined with the steady stimulation of her clitoris had started a harmonic vibration inside her. Even the head of his cock popping in and out of her womb sent tremors through her. She was finding it difficult to breathe, and head to suck air in through her snout and puff it out her mouth to keep from fainting. The sensation was so intense that she could not feel her legs or arms anymore. She doubted that she could feel anything aside from the waves of pleasure radiating from her cunt ... until he stuck one of his digits into her tailhole.

He must have let it trail in the juices leaking from her, or rolled it in the pool that gathered in the hollow between the base of his cock and his belly. It was slippery enough to slide in to the first knuckle without sticking. He had thick, blunt digits, and the unexpected stimulation of the sensitive tissues shot through her like lightning. She arched her back and yipped at the ceiling as she clenched her buttocks and tried to suck it further in.

He worked his digit in and out as she drove herself up and down on his prick, harder and faster. She was snarling and swearing at him under her breath. Sweat and musk combined to lubricate her tailhole and he sank his digit to the second knuckle. Their thighs smacked together with each thrust. The muscles between her legs squeezed tight as if they were reluctant to let him go. Her tail flew wildly around them in total abandon.

Then she shuddered. Her whole body began to shake, from the inside out it seemed. She stayed down and ground her clit against his pelvis at the next descent, and the spasms that brought only made it rub harder. Then, slowly, she rose up again, the lips of her sex trailing behind her, sealed tight around his prick. When she reached the top, when just the head was left inside, she let the spasms take over. The shaking made the tip of cock rub her just where she wanted to be rubbed, and she screamed as she squeezed him with her twat and came.

So tight was her grip that her cum shot out in powerful jets around his prick. Her scream changed to a moan and her legs collapsed, forcing his cock into her like a piston that powered the steamy fluids out under pressure. One digit still buried in her anus, he lifted her up to the top again, just in time to fill her with blast after blast of his cum.

Spent, her muscles relaxed and released their seal on him. His cum began to drip down the sides of his cock, over his balls and onto the couch. After one final ball-emptying spasm, he lowered her. His still stiff prick, glossy with cum, slid in easily, and filled her with warmth. She collapsed on top of him, her head against his smooth chest, her arms wrapped around his wrinkled neck. He rubbed her head and kissed her between the ears.

"Get him back for me." She mumbled into his chest. He nodded in reply, afraid to speak in case his voice betrayed the regret he felt, the sense of loss he experienced when she talked about the fox Silver after making love to him. He tilted his head back so that the single tear that slid down his cheek would not drip on her, and give him away.

* * * * * * * *

Silver squatted in the middle of the small dirty cell that had been his home for only God knew how long. Home is where you are safe, his mid told him, so the cell was home. It was home because all the bad things happened somewhere else.

He tried to keep his home as clean as possible. It was only four feet wide by four feet deep, not even large enough to lie down full-length in. There was a hole in one corner, that was the toilet. There was a small raised shelf in the opposite corner, that was the dining room. It was important to keep the two functions separate. They only gave him one jug of water a day for drinking and washing his cell and his self. Silver took a lesson from the Muslims, he ate with his right paw and wiped himself with his left, and saved his water to clean his wounds.

Still, there was not enough water to clean his wounds effectively. Looking down at his chest he could see two horizontal slashes and one diagonal cut that bisected them, almost like an incomplete X's and O's game. The diagonal cut had almost severed his left nipple, leaving it hanging. It had become infected and refused to reattach. Silver had too rip it off and throw it down the toilet hole. Once it was gone he was able to clean out the infection, so his chest wasn't so bad, but the scarring would be ghastly. His back worried him more.

He could not see nor reach his back to wash it properly, but he could feel the flaps of skin hanging off and smell the pus. They had given him the same treatment on both sides, so the damage would have been just as dreadful to start with, but without care, how long before the infection turned to gangrene and contaminated his blood? Each day Silver tried to save a little water to pour down his back but he didn't think it was doing any good.

He ignored the blood leaking from his anus. His mind refused to acknowledge it.

When he heard the click of military boots in the hallway, he became alert, although he did not move a muscle. There were three of them. When they stopped in front of his cell door, he tensed. When the key turned in the lock he sprang back into a corner, pressing himself against the stone. His eyes were wide but cold. His teeth were barred and his lip was curled. He was weakened by abuse and starvation but he intended to fight, to the death if need be. They would not humiliate him again.

The cell door swung open to reveal Colonel Sun, the half-breed interrogator, and two of his guards. Half civet cat, half tiger, Colonel Sun had inherited the diminutive stature of his southern Chinese mother, but the ferocity of his northern Siberian father. The perverse sadistic attitude was all his own.

"Good day Monsieur Argent, or should I say, agent Silver. Yes, I know who you are." The Chinese State Security agent said with a sneer. "Your presence has been a great disappointment for us. No knowledge of the Western spy network. No names other than minions that we already knew about. You have been a distraction to me. If you had not served as entertainment for my troops you would have been dead a week ago."

The guards behind him grinned, remembering the day that the Colonel had given up trying to elicit information from the fox and left him strapped to a bench for them. The Colonel did rigorous personality profiling on all his potential staff, and only selected the ones that failed to display any moral or ethical values.

The Colonel pulled a folded paper out of the breast pocket of his tunic. "Do you know what I have here?" He waved the paper in from of Silver. Silver could see that it was covered with hand-written Chinese characters. "This is your death warrant."

So this is it then, thought Silver, the end of the line.

"This is the note that told us where to find you and how to take you." The cat continued. "It said that we would capture the head of station from FOX. Almost as good as capturing the CIA or MI-6 boss, yes? But you know nothing, so you are worthless to us, except to amuse my troops."

Silver pressed back harder, ready to throw himself on the bayonets of the guard's rifles if necessary.

The Colonel folded the paper and put it back in his pocket, but instead of buttoning it closed, he pulled out another paper. This one was smaller, and covered in typed characters, like a message form.

"This paper however," the feline said with a hiss, "contains information about the western espionage network in Asia that is very, very valuable. Valuable enough to buy your freedom." The colonel looked disappointed, his guards looked devastated. But the expression only lasted a moment, an instant later the colonel had a large grin plastered on his face.

"So, all good friends now. Let us go and get those scratches looked after and then we can escort you back." The Colonel gestured for Silver to come out of the cell. Silver did not move. He sent a guard in to bring Silver out. Silver tossed his limp body back. Eventually the chief medical officer of the facility was able to convince Silver that it would better to accompany him than to be shot. Silver went with him as long as they let him keep one arm around the doctor's throat.

In the infirmary, he had to release the doctor to allow him to clean and stitch Silver's wounds. The doctor was able to close the wounds on his back and chest, but Silver would not let him examine his anus. As soon as the stitching was done Silver asked for a shirt, and he clung to it protectively, even after he had buttoned it up. As he stood to leave, he stumbled and fell across the doctor's table, scattering the papers and prescription pads. The doctor helped him to stand, offered a shot to give him strength, but Silver refused. Silver stumbled out into the hall back into the custody of Colonel Sun.

The Colonel had his troops half-drag Silver outside. Silver had to close his eyes to slits against the unaccustomed brightness of the sun. There were several large black cars parked in the forecourt of the Ministry of State Security compound. Colonel Sun led Silver to one of them. Just at that moment, the wind caught the flag of the People's Republic mounted on the sedan's fender. The flag snapped in the breeze as the sun made the red ensign glow and the yellow stars sparkle.

"Beautiful, is it not?" The Colonel indicated the flag.

Looks like piss stains on a bloody rag to me, Silver thought, but held his tongue, he wasn't safe yet. But the thought of the flag being a rectangle of blood stuck in his mind. Where had he seen that image before?

Once inside the car the Colonel ignored the foreign fox as the car wound its way through the twisted narrow streets and crowds of bicycles. Eventually they reached one of the wider boulevards and they moved faster, headed west. They drove out to the western reaches of Beijing, almost as far as the coal-fired steel smelters that helped keep the city a uniform grey. They stopped beside a dried riverbed, at one end of an ancient white marble bridge.

Colonel Sun got out of the car and dragged Silver out behind him. He led him across the bridge, between hundreds of intricately carved lions, dragons and phoenixes. At the midpoint stood a large creature in a slouch hat and trench coat. Only the tip of the yellow over white snout showed to indicate that it was a fox. Something about the way the fox stood was familiar to Silver.

"This is the fox you wanted." Colonel Sun said with distain after halting in front of the contact.

"Yes." Silver recognized the voice from somewhere in his distant past.

"He is yours then." The Colonel released his grip on the back of Silver's shirt and let him fall forward.

Silver used the last of energy to twirl and reach out. He managed to grab the Colonel by the lapels before he could turn away.

"One day." he snarled, his crazed eyes locked onto those of the Chinese official, "I am going to come back here and kill you."

The Colonel was unruffled, it was not the first such promise he had heard. He picked the weakened fox's digits from his uniform and shoved him backwards. Silver's head bounced off the stones of the ancient bridge before the other fox could catch him. The contact glared up at the Colonel while cradling Silver's head, but did not say anything. The Colonel had a lot of power in this country, and Silver would not be safe until they were on a foreign airplane and outside of Chinese airspace, well outside.

The Colonel touched the pocket of his tunic as he watched the fox support the prisoner and walk him off the bridge to their waiting car. The rustle of paper reassured him that all was well. As was his habit, he had arranged for some special entertainment tonight to celebrate his victory. The embarrassment of taking the wrong agent would be overshadowed by the information in the message he had in his pocket. It was enough to give him leverage over two of the three main contenders for the leadership, and that kind of influence meant elevation in the party ranks, and more perks like the one he was about to enjoy.

Rather than return to his office to register the information and lock it away, the Colonel had his driver take him to his villa in the hills northwest of Beijing. He wanted to keep the information with him for the next few hours. Being the only one who knew this particular secret filled him with a sense of power, and lust. Tomorrow would be soon enough to process it.

At his villa his aides had prepared his special treat, and then left. He dismissed the driver in the street and entered the compound alone. The courtyard was deserted, the house empty, except ... there was a soft whimpering coming from the bedroom. Colonel Sun undid his wide brown service belt and dropped it by the door. Pausing in the doorway to the bedroom, he undid his tunic and hung it on the doorknob, touching the pocket once more to feel the paper inside before entering the room. He pulled off his shirt as he contemplated the figure on his bed.

It was a young female panda, only a cub really, from the southern provinces. Its parents had been told that he had died in an accident. It looked healthy and strong, for its age. It had chosen to rest on the bed, even thought the chain around its ankle allowed it to range over half of the room. The Colonel wondered how long this one would last, as he dropped his trousers and selected a cane from the rack on the wall.

* * * * * * * *

Three hours later, on a South Korean airliner over the Sea of Japan, Gold whispered something into Silver's ear that made him relax. He had one of his paws on Silver's arm, had held him there since the bridge. Silver's paws had been clenched tight the whole time, his body tense. Now that they were safely away, he slumped back in his seat, but he kept his paws closed. He asked Tancred to help him stand and walk to the washroom, then excused himself and went in alone. Once the door was locked, he opened his paw and unfolded the two slips of paper he had hidden between his digits. One was covered in hand-written Chinese, the other looked more like a message form.

Silver used the tip of one claw to break the stitching on the end of the belt they had given him. He refolded the papers and slipped them between the layers of fake leather before relieving himself. Folding the tip of the belt back under the last loop in his trousers hid the opening and kept the papers from sliding out accidentally. He would tell no one about them, not even the Chief of Staff, until he was sure who at FOX he could trust. He had a feeling that the list would be very short.

* * * * * * * *

Colonel Sun may have been surprised to find out just how much the western spy agencies knew about his personal habits. He would have been shocked to learn that they entrusted this information to what he would consider lowly field agents. The fact that Silver had read the particular report and could recall it under the circumstances may have brought admiration or astonishment. But when he put on is tunic the next day, and pulled several sheets of blank prescription paper out of the pocket, he felt only anger.

He forced himself to remain calm and think. His opportunity for advancement had disappeared but the loss of the windfall information could be covered up. He could pretend that he traded the useless enemy agent back as a gesture of good will. After all, the Olympic Committee would be in town soon to evaluate the city's bid for the 2000 games. Yes, that could work. Maybe he could release a few burnt-out dissidents and start a campaign of openness of his own. It was bound to expose a number of nonconformists in the party ranks and their subsequent arrests would silence any criticism.

But one day, he vowed, he would make the silver fox pay.