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CHAPTER 7

"Your lack of recordings is very discouraging, Admiral Hartford," said Councilwolf Gilder coldly, the aging wolf upset at being interrupted during the night by the incompetent officer. Sighing deeply he suppressed the urge to yell. "You say you were attacked by a large ship, had all of your crew's slaves stolen, a fleet-grade officer abducted, and somehow the environmental computers failed to record any of it? Are you playing me for a fool, admiral?"

"Damn it, councilwolf!" barked Admiral Hartford angrily, stunning even Captain Philips with the outburst. "This isn't a joke! It's a...a..."

"Sir," said Captain Philips as he interrupted the flustered admiral. "I think what Admiral Hartford is trying to say is that this is bigger than anything we've encountered before. Shields were up when they drained the Mourning Son's power, all without appearing on our sensors. Somehow they shifted dozens of slaves and Group Commander Banks off the ship, then disappeared from our scopes, all in a matter of seconds."

Councilwolf Gilder narrowed his eyes in irritation. He had every reason to believe the officers were telling him the truth, and every reason to hesitate. Without much more than a before and after-shot of the evening's tragedy he would have a hard time convincing the emperor of authorizing a mobilization of a task force to the Radon Frontier. His Majesty would be loath to dip into the imperial treasury for unnecessary expenses. If he tried hard enough he could hear the young emperor laugh.

But Councilwolf Gilder understood the implications of inaction all too well. The threat was very real...and threatened to change everything.

"Very well, Captain Philips," he said after a long pause. He could see through the teleview monitor that Admiral Hartford bristled at his exclusion, but the councilwolf couldn't care less. "I'll convene an emergency session of the procurement committee tomorrow to determine a proper course of action. Until we can decide what to do you are to remain in the Frontier. If the admiralty tells you otherwise they'll have me to deal with. Is that understood, captain?"

"Yes, sir."

Gilder nodded gravely. "Very good," he said and the transmission was terminated as soon as this acknowledgement was finished.

"Bureaucratic fool," muttered Captain Philips as he activated the intercom on his desk. "Helm, set a course for home station immediately. We're rejoining the fleet."

"Aye, sir," said Lieutenant Hastings, the helms officer on duty.

Turning to Admiral Hartford he regarded him with a mindful look. The admiral quietly fumed, no doubt angry that his rank and privilege had yet again been insulted, owing to his inexperience. The dangers of nepotism, thought the captain.

"Sir, why do you believe they would have abducted Commander Banks and nobody else?" he asked, both to distract the admiral's anger and out of legitimate interest in the matter.

Admiral Hartford looked up from where his claws tapped an irritating rhythm on Captain Philip's desk and seemed to think for a time as his posture relaxed. Frowning, the grey wolf said, "They may have wanted a prisoner of war, perhaps to ransom or get information from."

Philips nodded, but knew that something didn't add up. "But why him? If they could take anyone they pleased, why not take you or me? They must realize that an admiral or a ship's captain would gain more attention than Commander Banks would."

"Maybe they didn't know that. More likely they chose Scott because they were familiar with him, nothing more."

Captain Philips leaned back in his chair and scratched pensively behind his ear. "That doesn't smell right to me, sir. There are plenty of wolves on this ship with more credentials than the commander. He has slaves, doesn't he?"

"Yeah. Two of 'em. Why should that matter? He has as much stake in losing them as you or me."

"Maybe. You served with him before he retired, right?"

"Yeah..."

"How well did you know him?"

"Well enough. We were junior officers on the Stanza for a few years. We were good friends then; he was the best officer I'd ever known. But the Battle of Procyon changed him. He was never the same after that."

"Sir, did you ever notice any sympathy for the rebels or for any of the foxes onboard the ship?"

Admiral Hartford shrugged indifferently to the question. "No, I guess I never really...Wait, are you suggesting Scott would help these damned foxes?"

"I'm only putting it out as a possibility, admiral," said the snow-white wolf, his face as dead-serious as ever.

Admiral Hartford almost laughed. "That's ridiculous, captain. The wolf's a combat veteran. He was awarded the Medal of Lupine Merit for saving the Stanza, for gods' sake. He saved my life that day, and everyone else on that ship!"

"I know that, sir, but we can't rule something like this out. That damn ship managed to sneak in past our sensors and crack our shields. That's almost impossible to do unless you have the frequency oscillation cipher and the correct phase origin."

The grey wolf nodded. The ship's shields were designed to change frequency over one thousand times per second, and unless the enemy knew what the proper order of frequencies was and when each cycle began, it would be nearly impossible to penetrate. The only way through was to overload the shield generators with particle weapons, or harmonize the frequencies with the cipher, and that information was highly classified. He doubted Scott Banks has access to that information, even if he wanted to steal it.

Still...

Admiral Hartford sighed, unwilling to believe his past comrade could have been at any fault. "I suppose it's something we should look into, captain. Who was Commander Banks' sponsor onboard?"

"Ensign William Yard, sir."

Hartford nodded slowly and stood. "Alright, I'll start with him. Please put him in contact with me tomorrow. I suggest you have tactical change the cipher as soon as possible." With that the admiral stepped from the office for a much needed night of rest.

"Oh, one more thing," he said, pausing at the doorway. "I won't allow any unjust slander to come to Commander Banks. Do you understand me, captain? There's nothing I wouldn't trust that wolf with, even my life. But if what you think about Scott is true, then I'll never be able to trust my own judgment of another wolf again. By the gods, I hope you're wrong."

***

"By the gods," Scott whispered.

Five rows of beds stretched out before the wolf, extending the length of a huge room toward a far wall that seemed almost too far to see. If had to guess, Scott would say each row was hundreds of beds deep. Each bed was raised from the ground to about waist level and seemed to levitate by an unseen force. The nearest sixty or seventy had a fox lying completely motionless upon it. A quiet, eerie chill coursed through Scott's body at the sight. There was little scent in the still air; not the usual tell-tale signs of death or sickness, nor life either. For all the universe it looked like an embalming bay aboard one of the empire's nanny ships after a battle: bodies waiting to be enshrouded for their final rest.

He took a cautious step toward the nearest bed. The fox that lay on top didn't stir and wasn't breathing. Completely motionless, as a statue. He wore the same style uniform as Ionious and Bothios; a soft, form-fitting type of material, but the same white color as his own loose-fitting tunic. Scott sniffed closely but didn't find the unmistakable scent of death.

"Are they...dead?" he asked tentatively.

Ionious stepped-up beside him. "Dead? Heavens no, Scott. They're in stasis right now. Most of them are well enough to be awoken right now, but as it stands we're keeping them suspended for the time-being."

A small measure of relief fell over the wolf. He naturally felt alarmed around dead creatures, an instinctual warning to danger. "Where did they come from," he asked.

"From your ship. They're liberated slaves."

This revelation made Scott look around in amazement. "From the Mourning Son? You could transport them all here? Across the galaxy like this!"

Bothios laughed behind him. "How else, Commander Banks? We brought you here didn't we? Why should this be such a surprise?"

"I suppose it shouldn't be. I'll admit, it's a lot to swallow." Walking down an aisle between two rows, he carefully scrutinized the scene. "What's wrong with them? Why keep them like this?"

"Nothing is wrong," said Bothios. "Not after treatment, at least. Sadly, most of these poor souls came to the Center with all kinds of abuses. Malnutrition, mostly. A lot of parasitic infections and congenital diseases. That's been reasonably easy to correct. A few were a little bit trickier."

The red fox tapped the corner of the bed nearest to him and an arc of solid material appeared out of thin air over the fox's lower half. A holographic screen projected in front of Bothios, the fox manipulating the projection with a paw.

"I'll be damned," Scott whispered to himself as he reached out tentatively and placed a paw on the arc. It felt solid and warm against his pads. "Incredible."

"This one broke his leg as a pup, maybe only four or five years old, and it wasn't allowed to heal properly by the looks of it. My guess is whoever owned him never attempted to find him medical care."

Scott could see Bothios glance at him from the corner of his eye, his expression guarded, as if study the wolf's reaction to the harsh description. Despite knowing he wasn't directly responsible, the wolf couldn't help but feel ashamed. Ionious stepped up to Bothios' side and whispered something in his ear. The medical officer glanced at Scott and flicked both ears back as if in understanding of his senior's words. The wolf had the distinct impression that Ionious was saying, to the effect, "Lay off the wolf."

His cooperation, Scott realized, must be very important to them.

"He's fine now," Bothios continued with a lighter tone to his voice. "However, with the tibia properly aligned after his surgery it'll take some getting used to. Like learning to walk again."

Scott nodded quietly, watching as the fox tapped the bed again and the arc disappeared. He waved a paw over where it was a moment before and felt nothing, solid or otherwise. Incredible.

Then he had a sudden thought. "Are Sarah and John here? My...um...former slaves."

Bothios gave him a cautious look, turning to Ionious. The director of the facility gave him a little flick of the ear, something Scott had come to understand as a nod. Bothios motioned for him to follow as the fox weaved through the beds.

"I can't say I have any complaints about either one of them. Both were obviously well fed. No defects or major infections...at least, nothing we didn't pull out of you as well." There was something akin to gratitude in the fox's voice.

Bothios stopped by a bed and pointed down at the unconscious fox. "Well, this is the male. Sarah, is it?"

Scott shook his head as he placed a paw on John's shoulder. "No. His name is John. Sarah is his sister." John felt warm to his touch despite the lack of breathing motions. Leaning in close he turned his head and listened for a heart beat, but found none.

"Ah. Well, he's in perfect shape, but her case was somewhat disturbing, commander."

The wolf looked up, his ears perked up and tail fluffed out with concern. "Why? What was wrong with her? Is she going to be alright?"

The fox turned around and stood beside the bed next to John's. It was Sarah, and Scott dashed around John to look down at her, worry written all over his face.

But Bothios assured him there was nothing to fear. "She's fine now, but when she came in we found that her fallopian tubes were obstructed by a porcelain clamp in a crude sort of tubal litigation."

"I don't know what that means," said Scott, confused and stressed.

"She was sterilized by clamping off the passage that the egg would travel down during its release from the ovary during intercourse. So did every female we took."

The wolf nodded slowly. "Yes, I know. It's part of regulations to control rapid birth rates and prevent unregistered births." Scott petted the fur between her ears, feeling the soft warmth there. "It's disgusting, isn't it? You must think very poorly of our kind for doing something like this to yours. I guess you have every right to."

The fox frowned impassively, but behind him his tail twitched. "Well, regardless of how disgusting it may be, commander, it could have killed her."

"What? Why?"

"We removed the clamps from her tubes, as well as a precancerous tumor that had built around the foreign body. Had it metastasized I sincerely doubt she would have survived."

Oh, gods, Scott told himself. "I wouldn't have allowed that to happen," he whispered.

"Under the circumstances I believe you. But let me ask you this: Do you believe every other slave master in your empire would have done the same?"

"I...well..." Scott felt sick to his stomach. "Some would I know, but..." he trailed off, not wanting to say what he knew to be all too true.

Ionious broke the silence. "Then you understand our anger and frustration at what has been happening to our kind. Would the great Lupine Empire tolerate this kind of treatment of their citizens at the paws of another?"

Scott didn't answer. No answer was necessary. He was well aware of just how terribly his kind could treat another. He'd seen it his entire life. And no, the Lupine Empire would not tolerate such an insult, but do everything within their power to crush whoever would dare to commit such an outrage.

"How do you plan on freeing them all?" he asked. "I sincerely doubt the High Council or the emperor will roll onto their backs and accept your demands."

Ionious looked just as doubtful. "No, I suspect not. But how this begins or ends is not really my decision. For that you'd have to speak with Minister Lokagos. He's been given the authority to proceed with the military aspect of this mission. I hope it won't come to war myself."

Scott nodded. Turning back to Sarah he held her small paw in his, rubbing the palm gently. He felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness. While he'd never considered Sarah or John to be his property, they were still his responsibility and his friends.

"Ionious," the wolf asked. "Have you ever served in the military?"

The question surprised the fox. "No, I haven't."

The wolf laid the vixen's paw down on the cushions and turned around to meet Ionious' eyes with a stare of his own. "I spent fifteen years of my life in the imperial navy. I've seen a lot of pain and death in my time, however brief that's been. One thing I can tell you is that nobody hates war more than the warrior, because it's us that fight and die when others won't. We do it because we think that it's right or necessary to protect what we love...that the cost is worth it." He sighing deeply. "Please let me speak with this minister of yours. I may be able to help."

The fox's brow furrowed as a frown pulled at the corner of his muzzle. "Why should you do that, Scott? Wouldn't that amount to treason?"

"I don't mean to help you fight against the empire. I wouldn't betray it like that. But if I don't try to reason with my government I'm sure that war will follow. I've seen such things before. From what I've seen of your abilities it will not be a war we can win." No, not at all, and far too many would die before it was over.

Ionious considered for a moment before respectfully dipping his nose toward the floor. "Very well, Commander Banks. I'll do as you ask."

"You mean you'll trust me so easily?"

The fox grinned slightly. "You forget the behavior modifier. With it on you're incapable of overtly lying to me."

Scott raised his paw to his temple and felt the rough metal that still clung there. He had actually forgotten it was there.

The clapping of paws rang out from the doorway and the wolf and foxes turned quickly to see the sound's source. A silver-furred fox sauntered toward them, a cocky grin on his face. At his flank followed two burly looking foxes in thick vests with pistols in their paws.

"Bravo, wolf," he called out as he approached the trio.

Scott disliked the creature immediately. The way he sneered, the arrogant strut, and his insulting remark told Scott all he would need to know about the silver fox.

"An excellent performance. You may be able to fool these civil servants, but I think you'll find I'm less than convinced."

Scott's body tensed and he growled angrily, despite his better judgment.

"What the hell is the meaning of this!" barked Ionious. "What makes you think you can bring armed guards into here at your leisure?"

The silver fox shoved a computer tablet into Ionious' paws. "I believe this warrant from the Bureau will explain it all so I don't have to."

Ionious quickly scanned over the tablet and growled, tossing it back to the intruder, who almost dropped it onto the hard floor in a huff.

"Who the hell are you?" Ionious hissed, surprising both Scott and Bothios with his anger.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Stepping up to Scott the fox bared his fangs in a mocking grin. "My name is Sozo, and that is all you will need to know, wolf."

Stepping back, Sozo motioned the guards forward with a flick of his paw.

"Wolf, by the authority given me by the Bureau of Security and Defense, I am placing you under arrest. Should you resist lethal force has been authorized to ensure your control."

The security guards moved forward and Scott stepping back protectively, his lips pulled up in a snarl, his ears flicked back dangerously, and his hackles up at full attention. Sozo grinned bemusedly, the silvered fox grabbing the remote pad from the guard nearest him and raised it high to taunt the wolf, ensuring he would notice the device.

"Resisting will only make it harder for yourself, wolf," he said around a sneer. "But if that's how you want to play this game, just know I have no reservations."

When Sozo pressed his claw-tip to the small pad Scott instantly felt a great rush of regret and self-loathing wash over his consciousness. This is terrible, he found himself saying. I'm behaving like a wild animal! I should be so ashamed. But wasn't he in danger now? He should be ready to fight or run at a moment's notice. Scott's tense body relaxed measure by measure as his eyes moved confusedly around the room, searching desperately for what to do. Who were these new creatures? Were they friends? Enemies? Should he trust them? The two foxes dressed in armored vests were still staring at him suspiciously, paws held dangerously close to their weapons. Then he glimpsed the third newcomer. Sozo he said his name was. He was smiling at him now...or was he sneering? He wasn't here to be civil. Did he want to hurt him?

Urr...it's so confusing!

"Has a strong will, doesn't he?" said Sozo to Ionious and Bothios before running his paw over the behavior control pad again.

At this, Scott's inhibitions melted entirely. With a huge release of breath the wolf slumped forward suddenly and the two guards had to rush forward to catch him by the arms and keep him from falling to the floor.

"Sons of Heaven, what the hell do you think you're doing!" barked Ionious.

"Taming a wild beast, my friend," Sozo said as he moved toward the wolf, who was just regaining his balance. "He's a dangerous animal, prone to violence without the slightest provocation. But don't worry..."

The fox raised a paw to pet the wolf gently between the ears. Scott bowed his head submissively and his tail curled down like a pup being scolded by his mother.

"...He's perfectly harmless like this. Almost pleasant even. You won't try and run or argue will you, wolf?"

Scott shook his head enthusiastically, eager to obey. Of course he'd be as good as possible. He wanted to be a good boy.

"How does it feel to be powerless, wolf," whispered Sozo, barely audible to any except Scott.

Sozo grinned evilly, tapping his prisoner on the muzzle none too gently, then laughing when the wolf recoiled and whimpered.

Ionious growled angrily. "You have no right to do this! Don't you realize how important his cooperation would be to us?"

Sozo glared at the other fox severely. "The right?" he hissed. Pressing the warrant from the Bureau into Ionious' snout he snarled "This gives me the right, not to mention twenty years of bondage. Twenty years!"

A spark of realization dawned in Ionoius' eye, and he made a sour face at the silver fox. "Ah, I remember hearing about you. The whelp brought on to entertain the Bureau with your stories."

"What would you know about it, Ionious? Nobody knows what I had to go through...except for them." He pointed to the comatose figures around him, then to Scott. "And him."

Sozo's eyes burned with hatred for the wolf, and Scott shrunk down in surrender against the harsh words and venomous glare.

"Take him to the Excedra and put him in confinement," he barked to the guards, who dragged Scott away, trembling fearfully. Turning to Ionious he leveled the red fox with a serious stare. "You don't understand their kind as I do, and never could."

Sozo took one more glance around the room before leaving silently.

Ionious turned to his assistant and chief medical officer, a furry in his eyes Bothios had never seen in his superior before. The older fox stormed off heatedly, motioning for Bothios to follow him.

"That damn arrogant, self-righteous, ignorant, psychotic...Thinks he can come in here as he pleases arresting whoever he feels..." He continued mumbling under his breath as he stormed off to his office. Stopping at his desk to pick up a teleport module he said, "He thinks he has friends at the Bureau, does he? He's not the only one. Bothios, I want you to wake up the twins. I think we'll need their help."

"But their rehab isn't complete, sir. It might be dangerous to unplug them now."

"I know, but we can't wait. Link them if you need to. This Sozo whelp has no idea how much trouble this will cause us all. I read his file when the Bureau granted his clearances, and from what I know he's got a hell of a motive to do heaven-knows-what. Just get them up and contact me as soon as possible."

Bothios flicked an ear in affirmation and waited silently for his boss to slip the bracelet-like module over his wrist, state his destination to the small device, and disappear in a flash of light. Using Ionious' intercom on his desk he contacted central control.

"Yes, Bothios? How may I help you?"

"Hello, Hera. Please tell Mialo to meet me in ward twelve as soon as he can, and tell him we need to perform a linkage operation with two of the refugees."

There was a short pause before the receptionist at control replied with "Yes, sir. He's on his way now."

When Bothios returned to the stasis ward he found the monitoring and linking equipment already set and ready. Bothios was admittedly nervous as he took a seat on a low chair above Sarah's head and glanced briefly to his only conscious companion in the large room. Master Mialo, the Center's resident expert on cognitive therapy and rehabilitation, stood above him and gave a reassuring nod before lowering a visor over his face and activating the monitor.

Bothios took a deep breath and closed his eyes, adjusting his headgear one last time. Linking with another was a dangerous procedure for both of them, involving a temporary synchronization of brain activity. Should either one of them become so distressed or uncontrolled as to break the contact suddenly, the other was likely to suffer severe and irreversible brain damage. Bothios felt skilled enough to tolerate the unsettling feeling of melding his mind with the vixen's, but he seriously doubted the vixen would react positively to the mental invasion. After all, the purpose of this procedure was to insert one's consciousness into that of the patient's. The first time was always unsettling for the receiver...especially if they don't expect it.

Slowly, slowly, Bothios felt himself slipping into another world. He would liken it to walking down a long corridor that led to an open expanse-a consciousness he'd never set paw in before. Every step he took gave him a better picture of this new world, feeding him with new smells, new sounds, new feelings all around him. When he finally reached the end of that proverbial corridor he was no longer in Ward Twelve.

Bothios stood alone in a high-ceilinged room. The walls were a soft blue, the floor a hard wooden patterned design, and sunlight poured in through wide, crystal-clear windows. The fox padded quietly around a wide cushioned sofa, carefully sniffing the air. There was a sweet scent flowing into the room from a hallway, very inviting. It was sugary, fruity; like desert.

'Bothios,' he heard, more in his mind than his ears. It was Mialo. 'I think she can sense your presence now. She's a bit nervous.'

"Hello?" he heard from behind and turned to find the vixen regarding him cautiously from a wide archway that opened into another room with a table and high chairs set around it. A dining room, perhaps.

"Um...hello, Sarah. Is this your home," he asked softly, amiably. "It's very nice. Comfortable."

Sarah stepped slowly toward him, clearly concerned about the stranger's unexplained appearance here. She nodded, softly saying, "Yes, my master's house."

Bothios smiled appealingly. "My name is Bothios, a new friend of Scott Bank's. Can I talk with you for a few minutes?"

The vixen considered this with a frown. "Well, it can only be for a minute. John and Scott will be back from the field soon and I need to get dinner on the table. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Bothios' smile broadened as he remarked to himself how real this dream of hers was, for the both of them. She took a seat in one of the chairs in the room and Bothios found another that sat opposite.

"Don't worry about that," he said. "What I need to tell you is even more important than that. But I need to ask you something first, okay?"

She nodded, still unsure but agreeable.

"Is Scott kind to you and your brother?"

Sarah sat back, surprised by the question.

"Yes, of course," she said without hesitation or consideration. "Why are you asking me this?"

"I need to know if he's someone a fox like you or me can trust with something important."

"He's never done anything to hurt us, if that's what you mean. But why would you need to trust him with anything? And why are you here? Does your master need something?"

Bothios shook his head a little sadly, but his mind had been made up.

"There are a lot of things you need to know, but I'm not going to tell you about it so much as show you."

'Now is as good a time as any to open the link, Bothios,' said Mialo silently. 'She seems to be calm enough to begin the process.'

Bothios' ear flicked despite his colleague's inability to see it.

"Sarah, I need you to close your eyes for me and remain as calm as you can. This will be very strange at first, but you must remain calm, okay?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm..." How to put this? "You're asleep in a hospital right now, Sarah. This is actually a dream and isn't real. I'm here because I can speak to you through a mental bond. I guess that sounds outrageous, doesn't it?"

The vixen frowned, an eyebrow cocked oddly to one side. She didn't believe him.

"Please, just give me a chance," Bothios ventured. "I promise I'm not here to hurt you. Just close your eyes and keep your senses on me, okay?"

Sarah relented and did as he requested but remained tense, ready to respond to danger should it arise. Closing her eyes she cupped her ears forward to listen intently for the stranger's next moves. But all she could catch was his slow, deliberate breathing.

Bothios took a deep breath to reassure himself and closed his eyes, concentrating on opening his mind to the vixen's. As he began to share his most recent experiences with Sarah, he could feel her mind and body shudder in amazement.

"What are you...how..."

Her heart rate was growing quickly and Bothios could feel her fear and discomfort building quickly. Kneeling on the floor in front of Sarah he took her paws in his and squeezed them tightly, hoping the contact would ease her nerves. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, but she didn't reject him outright.

"Shush," he purred quietly, sending her calming thoughts and a mental picture of the situation. "You see, Sarah? Really, the only person in danger here is me. You only need to relax and let me do all the work, alright?"

Sarah nodded, and as he poured more of his consciousness into her Bothios was assaulted by a sudden wave of heated anger. The vixen sat up straight, her eyes wide and cross. Bothios almost fell over, his head spinning.

"You did WHAT to him!" she barked.