Demarle didn’t recognize at first what she saw coming down the corridor. It looked a heavyset Runge wearing some kind of coat, or some guy she’d never seen before.
When she realized it was the guy she’d let in, and Faisand, she was startled.
A moment later, when she realised he was effortlessly carrying Faisand because she was tied on him, she was beyond startled. Demarle was astonished, which didn’t happen often.
They walked right up to her, while she stood openmouthed with her tail still foofed out from the initial startle, and they rotated to the side so that Faisand could speak directly to her friend, rather than over her shoulder. The grey feline wriggled a bit, and a small amount of wolfcome dripped to the floor.
“Allow me to introduce Anzende Ndeschwin- police chief for the city of Kiesens, and my secret lover who will now be less of a secret. He has information that you all need to hear- we can start with you, Arle. Can we sit on your bed? Anzy is heroic and strong, but deserves to sit comfortably while I’m stuck to him.”
“Um. Sure.” said Demarle. “This is a bit of a… surprise.”
“We’ve kept our secret well.” purred Faisand.
Anzende walked over nonchalantly and sat on Demarle’s “madam’s bed”, a large firm mattress in the middle of the room that Arle entertained clients on. As he sat, Faisand shuddered and mewed sweetly at the jolting of his wolfhood trapped within her. Anzy stroked her back, as she clung to him.
“Okay,” said Anzende. “There’s no easy way to say this- your friend Magarce has been hurt, and what’s more she’s just killed quite a few Verss cops. I must ask that you keep us informed of any contact you may have with her. I’d like to see justice done, and for what it’s worth, not Verss justice- Runge justice, the way it ought to be everywhere on this planet. I’ll do what I can to try and get her medical assistance if she turns up, but she must be taken into custody and charged with her crime.”
Demarle’s surprise and astonishment had turned to a completely stunned look. “You’re kidding. Mags? How did… How can you say that? Listen, buddy, I’ve turned that kitten into a happy puddle, how could she possibly kill off a bunch of cops?”
“He’s not kidding, Arle.” said Faisand.
“But how? Faisand! Back me up here! There’s got to be some mistake!”
“No, Arle. I suspected this might happen. And she shot them. Anzy has an eyewitness. Haven’t you seen Mags shoot before?”
“I didn’t pay that kind of attention.” muttered Demarle, a paw to her eyes. “I got upset when she… I don’t like to think about that night.”
“We can’t behave like that stuff is normal, Arle. Just because the guy she offed was a total punk…”
“What?” interrupted Anzende.
“I’m sorry, Anzy. You know how in Verss sometimes people die and aren’t missed? We had one like that. Mags shot him. Verss cops don’t care about some of the lowlifes in this city. One less problem.”
Anzende Ndeschwin didn’t speak for a moment.
“You know that’s how it is.” said Faisand, gently.
Anzende glanced at her, looking sad and irritated. “Hey, don’t squeeze my dick when you say that, okay?”
“I’m sorry.” said Faisand, her ears going back slightly.
Anzende petted her, but he looked even sadder and angrier. “That’s the whole problem, though, it really is. How are we expected to have justice done when it’s a complete nightmare every day and most of the cops are as savage as the criminals? I could run you in as an accomplice for that.”
“Now just a minute, dear heart…” snapped Faisand.
“I could. Good luck trying to run. I don’t need to cuff you, you’re tied. Admittedly the desk sergeant would give me a really funny look…”
Faisand looked extremely affronted. “Are you joking? You do understand what this city is like, don’t you? Do you expect us to work in a fantasy world where we are safe and the cops police our rough trade?”
“No.” said Anzende. “No, no… I’m not going to run you in. But… I just wish you could have a bigger picture on all this. I have to. It’s my job, okay? I can’t believe you concealed a murder from me. You left that one out when I was asking you about what went on in this city…”
“Do you still love me?” asked Faisand quietly. Demarle stared.
Anzende looked her right in the eye, levelly, for some time. Faisand sat, tied firmly to his wolfhood, clearly not trying to squeeze at him or affect his answer in any way. The only sign of tension was that Faisand’s tailtip twitched ever more agitatedly, but still she didn’t drop her gaze.
“Yes. Yes, I will always love you, and you are still mine.”
Faisand didn’t speak- but her eyes filled with tears, and with a curious dignity she buried her face in Anzende’s shaggy-furred chest. As his arms enclosed her, Faisand’s slim body shook roughly- first in silence, and then a harsh sob escaped her.
Anzy held her tightly, not letting go. Demarle watched with wide, wide eyes, and was for once entirely speechless. Finally, Faisand lifted her tear-streaked muzzle to look at Anzende again.
“I’ll do whatever you ask. What should we do now?” she said.
Anzende petted her. “Start doing it my way. Tell me if you hear from Magarce. It might save her life. The Verss cops are going to try a vengeance killing- they’re going to blow away everybody who left the scene, rather than arrest them. I can get her to safety and she can stand trial and probably end up locked up for the rest of her life- but can you really blame me for that, after what she’s done?”
“There we agree.” said Faisand. “I do really wish I’d been able to stop her.”
“Love- the type that do that one day, are a little beyond your ability to stop just by reasoning with them.”
“Yes… I didn’t say I thought I could have stopped her, Anzy. But I wish it anyhow…”
“Are you really sure?” asked Demarle, in a small voice.
“I’m sorry, hon.” said Faisand. “I’m sure. I believe him. You did see who she ran off after?”
“Yeah. I recognized him. What exactly happened? She’s been hurt, but she also killed a bunch of guys? How can that happen?”
Anzende explained patiently. “Those guys were doing a raid on that anarchist base, the one that calls itself Ungovernment…”
“Excuse me.” said Rairate, who had drifted over silently. “Please repeat, ‘aons?”
Anzende glanced at him. “You again. That’s right- Voustrets had sent you and your friends to try and check the place out. Did you get anything?”
Rairate did not bat an eyelash. “Yes. Their leader told me they were running supplies to a company named Dinsam Industrial Fabrication. I didn’t get any farther than that.” In fact, the feline ninja had gone a great deal farther than that, and had learned this information in bed after seducing and being seduced by that fellow, but Rai kept that to himself.
“That’s actually pretty impressive. Nobody else has learned much from that guy. And they’re not going to be getting any more information out of him, either.”
“Why? ‘aons?”
“Magarce caught those cops as they were finishing up at the base. They’d already killed everybody there.”
Rai stood up suddenly and walked off, away from everybody.
“So what happened,” continued Anzende, “was this- they tried to corner Mags as she was facing off with some Tompar. What I get from the one survivor was, they thought they were going to rescue the little Nerre girl, who apparently was naked as well…”
“She was when she left us.” said Demarle. “It’s not surprising.”
“Yeah, they figured they’d rescue her from the Tompar, and then all bang her. The guy who survived is a friend of mine, who’s tried to tone those raid guys down. He doesn’t succeed, but he tries. He says the next thing that happened was, the Tompar dives out of the way, all the raid guys try to shoot the Tompar and before they know it, the Nerre girl’s nailed all of them in a sort of frenzy. They didn’t even have time to aim. She shot most of them in the eye or the forehead, or sometimes right dead center on the badge.”
“How’d she get hurt?” asked Demarle.
“One of the guys wasn’t quite dead, and she ran out of ammo.”
Demarle cringed. “I guess I believe you.”
“I think we must believe him.” said Faisand. “I vouch for Anzy’s honesty, and Arle- I saw this coming. Didn’t I insist that Magarce couldn’t work alongside us?”
“Yes, you did.”
“What will we say to her if she shows back up here?”
While this conversation went on, Denenke Tieschtet wandered in, and began to pay attention to it- but something distracted her. Rai stood where he’d walked, by the front windows of the Cathouse, stood motionless and too tense, facing away from everyone, and Dene sensed something was very wrong without knowing quite what. She approached Rai cautiously, for she wasn’t sure if it was acceptable for her to try and talk to him.
As she came around to where she could see his face, she saw he was silently weeping, with his jaw set very tightly.
Dene was startled- she’d missed the beginning of the conversation, and she was nervous about asking Rai anything. But she couldn’t bear to see him in such obvious, silent distress, and she took the chance.
“…Rai? What happened?”
“He’s dead now.” said Rairate, quietly.
“Who?”
“That’s what troubles me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I knew his body.” said Rai. “I knew his passion. I even knew the shudders of his orgasm- but Dene, do you realize, I never knew his name?”
“Rai? Who? What are you talking about?”
“The Runge at the anarchist base. You saw him. They say everybody there is dead now.”
Dene’s paw flew to her mouth. “What? What about the kids? What is this?”
“This Runge cop says they were all killed.”
Dene turned, staring at the new face, sitting naked with Faisand in his lap tied to him. “There were kids there!”
“I’m sorry.” said Anzende. “The survivor didn’t say anything about the raid squad killing any children. That would actually be a little out of character for them. I know they killed the others, and Magarce killed them in turn.”
“How did this happen?”
“It was an illegal settlement. The raid guys from Verss tend to do it that way. If it’s any consolation, I wish I could stop that, but it’s tough to deal with…”
Rai continued staring out the window.
Dene was thinking furiously. “You say they didn’t talk about any children?”
“No,” said Anzende. “This guy would probably have mentioned it, too. He may not have seen everything.”
“I don’t know who you are, but I need to go back there. I met two kids there. If they’re still alive we need to rescue them…”
Rai kept looking out the window.
“Rai!
The deadly little Nerre turned slowly, still silently weeping.
“Rai, can you help me? I don’t think I can do it alone- I mean, if it’s dangerous.”
Anzende said, “The cops are dead, but after a situation like that, they’ve probably got some major looting going on.”
“He mentioned a son.” said Rai.
“I know exactly which one would have been the son of the leader.” said Dene. “Not only that- I know where he hides. They might have survived…”
Rai nodded, slowly. “He mentioned a son. Perhaps in some way I can honor him by rescuing his son…”
“And the little girl is an absolute sweetie.” continued Dene. “Please, Rai!”
Anzende looked between them. “It’s very dangerous, what you’re talking about. But your friend there, he’s very dangerous also… and you know, I can’t really trust any of the Verss cops to do it. You, Runge lady, you say these children know you?”
“Yes, absolutely, and I know where they might be hiding. They might remember my voice.”
“You, mister Rairate, you’re okay with doing this? Can I ask you to try and stay nonviolent unless you guys are truly in mortal danger?”
“How do you define mortal danger, ‘aons?” said Rai.
“Let me put it this way. I want you to not kill any more punks, mister claw-fighter Nerre. I want you to get this lady in there to find those kids, and then back out of there alive- without killing anybody. The guys who killed the adults there are now dead anyhow. Don’t add to the corpses.”
“I understand.”
“Will you give me your word on it?” said Anzende.
Rai hesitated for a long time, long enough to suggest the seriousness of the Runge cop’s request. The very reluctance he showed was testament to the weight of his promise. He clearly didn’t want to say it.
“Mister Rairate- will you give me your word?”
“Yes.” said Rai. “For the duration of that journey, I will not add to the corpses.”
“I’m happy to hear it.” said the Runge cop wryly.
“How shall we get there? Denenke and I walked to Verss from there, and it took some time.”
“Well… there I think I might be able to help you out. My cruiser will go a lot faster than that.”
“You will drive us?” asked Rai.
“Um- you probably don’t want to pay close attention to my lap right now… I’ll just say that I can’t drive you. Can you drive, mister Nerre claw-fighter?”
Dene broke in. “I’ll drive.”
“You sound pretty decided.” said Anzende, an ear quirking in curiosity.
“We need to get there fast.” said Dene. “I’ll drive…”
“You’re sure you can handle it?” said Anzende. “They’re very fast. It’s no use to anybody if you paint yourself across the divider wall on the high-speed conduit.”
“I’m telling you, I’ll be okay. Actually I’ve always wanted to drive one of those.”
“I don’t want you using any of the weapons. I wish I had something more suitable for you to take, but I came here in my police cruiser and that’s all I have to offer.” said Anzende.
“It’ll be all right. I promise I won’t shoot anything. I don’t even know how.” said Dene.
“But you don’t know how to run the autopilot either! I’ve always thought it was a stupid idea to make it so complicated that we have to take classes to operate it. They never took into account the idea that we might need to have a civilian operate it… like if they’re driving injured cops away from a situation…”
Faisand wriggled on Anzende’s still stubbornly rigid erection. “I thought you were civilians.” she said.
The wolf cop looked cranky. “You’d be right. I guess it’s easy for the Verss flavor to rub off whether I like it or not…”
“I could hang onto you more, so you can go out and show her how the car works,” suggested Faisand. “Would that help?”
Anzende considered it. “I don’t think so. Put it this way- remember how I’d like you to be obeying the law a little more than you’ve been doing? Walking nonchalantly outside with my dick stuck in you was not what I had in mind for setting a good example. Actually, I’d like it if we could go to a room without outside windows. Can you do that for me?”
“I’d like to know how I could possibly stop you.” said Faisand wryly.
“Um- you could have me walking real funny, I’ll say that much. Please, darling, I’d like to get out of here. Maybe I can tell this lady how to disable some of the automatic stuff.”
Dene was watching closely. “That should work. I’ll need your key, right?”
“Worse.” said Anzende. “My badge is chipped- and so am I. You can’t have my body but you’re going to have to wear my badge even to get into the car. Once there, you hit the pad-scanner…”
“My pawpad? Which one?”
“Nah, your nose. It’ll activate the text entry and then you have t… you… um.”
“Enter text, I assume.” said Dene.
“The pass phrase. Oh geez. Oh GEEZ.”
Anzende’s dismay had aroused the attention of everybody within earshot- Faisand looked fascinated, Demarle’s ears were perked in total curiosity, even Rai looked interested, though in his case he also looked wary, as if the phrase might be distressing.
“Do you want to whisper it to me?” suggested Dene.
“Ma’am, these lovelies can hear a lot better than we do. Oh geez.” Anzende’s facefur was bristling terribly in embarrassment, and he sighed. “Okay… I want you all to understand that this is just private and I don’t mean any harm by it, please don’t give me too hard a time, okay? Oh geez.”
“Oh, just say it.” said Dene. “How bad can it be?”
“I am NOT prejudiced. You might say I’m the reverse, and I can’t help it now…”
“Anzy?” said Faisand, whiskers curling in amusement. “What have you been hiding?”
Anzende gulped. “The password, and it has to be all caps, is ‘once you have cat you never go back, exclamation point one one one exclamation point.”
“Really!” said Faisand, startled. Demarle burst out laughing. Rai backed off a bit and pretended to ignore the conversation again.
“It’s your fault, darling, for being too unforgettable. Since that first time, that’s been my passphrase.”
“Really!” said Faisand again. “Why on earth do you add exclamation points and ones?”
“You have to have some numbers in the pass phrase… and I add exclamation points because I mean them… my darling.”
Faisand purred and melted into Anzende’s embrace. “Keep it. I might say the same sort of thing.”
Dene looked a little cranky. “When you’re done, can you tell me what I do next?”
“You’re going to type, clear inside passengers for multistage transport. Level three- we want you to be able to re-enter the vehicle as well as drive it, so it has to know you’re allowed to open it once it’s activated. I left it powered down because I don’t want it targeting people in the back alley- it’ll be fine in passive mode. I think active mode is pretty bullshit- more military crap if you ask me. A real cop doesn’t need to be a soldier.”
“So pacifist, darling.” said Faisand.
“Come on, you know me well enough. I’m serious. Verss in particular has gone the wrong way. Half the stuff I asked you to spy out has to do with my fellow police.”
“Not half, surely?”
“Maybe not. It seems like it.” said Anzende.
“Shall we retreat to a more private room for our very intense cuddling?” purred Faisand. She visibly wriggled, and her belly muscles were seen to work in an odd motion. There was no telling what she’d done to Anzende’s cock, but he bit his lower lip softly and let out a little whine. The two clung to each other, the wolf cop stood, and they moved carefully towards the hallway and the back rooms.
That had been half an hour ago…
