Saber's War

Chapter 4 - Sabotage

By Goliath Wildcat


Saber finishes eating before his big friend and gives him a wave in farewell, "I'll meet you back at our cabin."

Goliath's response is a grunt as he keeps digging into the food before him. Saber casts a worried glance at the large cougar before he leaves the mess hall and walks down the corridor. 'What happened to him today?' he thinks as he walks down the corridors, 'He looks a little sick, almost pale under his fur.'

The silver panther encounters few people in the corridors. Most are still in the mess hall or on duty so he is able to reach his cabin with little trouble. He places his hand on the reader and waits with impatience the few seconds it takes to scan his palm, confirm his identity, and open the door. Walking in, he starts stripping his sweat soaked clothing, leaving a trail while making a beeline for the bathroom in the process.

'A good shower and some sleep, that's what I need,' he thinks to himself as he reaches into the shower and sets the knobs for a nice relaxing warm temperature. Soon as he gets it to a temperature he likes he strips off his boxers and steps naked into the shower cabinet, enjoying the slightly higher than normal water pressure that penetrates his fur to warm his skin.

He lets the water run down his back as he rests his forehead against the wall in front of him. The warm water soaks into his fur and works its way down to his skin while the jets of water not only wash him, but ease the pain of tense and sore muscles from the crash earlier that day. He looks around and finds a small bottle of shampoo in a recess on the wall. He opens it and gives it a cautious sniff, the fragrance isn't as strong as he was afraid it would be and he dumps a glob of it into his hand. with methodical care he starts to work the foaming lather into his fur. The rubbing helps massage the last of the pain and tension from his body as he soaps himself up. He twirls under the shower head to rinse the soap from his fur. It takes a few minutes to rinse all the lather off, but soon the water coming off him is running clear again.
 
With a sigh of relief he reaches over and turns the knobs to the off position and the spray of water stops. He instinctively shakes, almost like a dog, to get the worst of the water out of his fur but is still quite damp. 'That shower was good, now to dry off. I wonder if they have something around here to do that with,' he thinks as he remembers that he didn't see any towels in the room.

Stepping out of the shower he looks around for something to use for a towel in the cupboard but finds nothing. He goes through the few cabinets trying to find something, even a blow dryer, but his search still turns up nothing so much as a hand towel or washcloth. Then he notices something that looks like a closet to one side of the shower. Walking over and opening the door he finds a small control panel recessed into the wall and perforations in the floor, walls, and ceiling.

"Nah... Couldn't be..." He steps in and closes the door behind him to study the control panel. The control panel is simple, a temperature dial and a speed setting. "I'll be damned, it's a dryer cabinet, guess it'll be better then a towel with all this fur."

With deft fingers he fiddles with the dials and warm air starts to blow out of the little holes and fluff up his fur as the water is blown off. Running his hands through his fur to let the air get all the way through to his skin he is pleased to find the mechanism is quick and efficient. Within minutes he is completely dry, though he needs a severe grooming since his fur is now in complete disarray.

Shutting off the air jets with a twist of the controls he steps out and picks up a brush from the counter beside the sink. Looking in the mirror he starts to brush out his fur with long strokes over his torso and limbs, and short quick strokes over his face. A few strokes through his long hair and he ties it back out of the way with an elastic band. Soon he studies himself in the mirror and nods in satisfaction, "As clean and groomed as I can get myself."

Stepping from the bathroom Saber checks the clock on the wall and notes it took him almost an hour to get cleaned up. Walking over to the door of Goliath's room he gives a soft knock, figuring the larger feline is waiting to use the bathroom himself, but there is no response from his knocks. He checks the handle, and finding it unlocked, opens the door. The big cat is nowhere to be seen in the bedroom. Looking back into the joint living area and kitchenette to make sure he scratches his head with a frown of puzzlement, "Now where the blazes is he?"

***

On the other side of the sprawling base, the large cougar is wandering down the corridors without any thoughts of where he is going, having gotten lost soon after he left the mess hall. But wherever he is, he can tell something is definitely wrong. In the deserted corridor though, no one sees his staggering into the walls, or his limp movements s he fights to stay on his feet.

"Ugh..." he groans as he falls forward and lands with a heavy thud on the metal floor. Pressing his hands against the floor he tries to push himself up but finds his arms without the strength to even twitch. Lying on the cold metal floor he sees a pool of blood forming, slowly spreading out from his nose and mouth to pool under him. The pool spreads, a dark stain on the floor as he watches his life drain onto the floor.
 
With great effort he limply reaches out a hand to the crimson puddle. Dipping his fingers into it, he brings it up and stares at it in shock as it drips off his fingers in slow drops. The coppery smell of blood is heavy in his nose as he coughs and tastes his own blood as it splatters from his mouth. "What has happened?" is his last thought as he passes out and his hand flops into the pool of his own blood with a splat.

***

After a brief search Saber finds the office with the plaque 'Base Commander' on the door. He knocks on the door soon hears a muffled, "Come!" just before the door opens with a quiet hiss. Inside, Lupe is hunched over his desk going over several piles of paperwork. Looking up to see who his visitor is he smiles at the silver feline.

"Hi lad, what can I do for you?" He leans back in his seat with a soft creak. "I hear you two had a rough first day in the testing bays." He pulls out a folder and slips it open to read some notations, "One wrecked experimental mech due to a weapon malfunction and some minor damage to the big guy's armor when his own gun suffered a catastrophic failure." Closing the folder with a quiet snap he shakes his head, "Seems like weapon malfunctions are a bit too common around here lately."

Saber takes a step into the room and lets the door close behind him before he answers, the door just missing his tail as it whips around without conscious control in worried agitation. "Have you seen Goliath this evening, or heard anything about him getting into trouble?"

The wolf's face shows puzzlement as he studies the silver cat's face. He raises his eyebrows in quandary, smelling the worry mixed with the feline's scent in the closed room, "Not since dinner. I think I saw him in the mess hall, why do you ask?"

Saber relates the events of the evening to Lupe as he takes the indicated seat in front of the wolf's desk, "I left him in the mess hall a couple of hours ago to return to our cabin and get cleaned up. When I got done I figured he would be back and want to use the facilities himself, but he still wasn't there. I checked the rec room, the mess hall, even the sick bay. No one has seen or heard from him since he left the mess hall over an hour ago."

Lupe sits up from his reclined position and reaches for his comm unit, "Have you checked with security?"

Saber shakes his head, "Not yet, no clue what I could tell them that would be of any help. But I know him, known him for many years, and this is not like him. He is that rare type of man." At the wolf's quizzical look he smirks, "The kind who asks for directions."

Lupe nods in understanding as he taps a red button on his desk comm unit. It beeps a few times before a familiar voice answers on the other side, "Security?"

Looking at the comm unit's screen the wolf sees the ferret head of security, "Deadeye, check the scanners for Goliath's bio signature. Last seen over an hour ago in the vicinity of the mess hall. His roommate is reporting him missing and he hasn't been able to find him anywhere."

There is the sound of someone tapping on a keyboard over the speaker before the ferret's voice comes back. "Sir, he's in corridor six, near the storage rooms, no one would be there this time of the day so it's likely no one has seen him." There is a brief pause, "But... Sir, something is wrong."

Lupe lowers his ears in concern as he raises his eyes to stare at Saber, "Explain."

"It looks as if he's not moving, since I've been watching this screen he hasn't moved an inch. He's just there in the middle of the hall," the head of security responds.

"You said no one else is in the area?" asks Lupe as the corners of his mouth droops into a worried frown and he returns his gaze to the monitor.

"No one within a hundred feet, sir," replies Deadeye. "That's a fairly remote hallway, mostly used for long term storage of nonperishable supplies."

"Thanks," says Lupe as he shuts off the comm. and stands up from his chair and motions for the silver panther as he steps out from behind his desk. "Come on, let's go get him and see what this is about. I'm sure he just got turned around while trying to get back to your rooms."

Saber nods as they exit the office and walk side-by-side down the hallways. Lupe seems to know exactly where he is going and soon the pair enter the hallway indicated by security. A strong smell tingles in their noses, and the wolf's eyes go wide and he comes to a sudden stop while the feline wrinkles his nose in disgust before he turns to the base commander.

"What is that smell?" asks Saber.

Lupe's ears go flat against his head as he breaks into a run followed close behind by Saber. "Blood!" he shouts without waiting for the silver feline to come to the answer on his own.

As they round a bend in the corridor their eyes spot what Lupe was afraid they'd find. There, sprawled out on the floor in a pool of his own blood is the large cougar. The blood is seeping from his mouth and nose as they run up and kneel next to him ignoring the blood that gets on thier feet and knees.

Lupe checks the neck of the large cat for a pulse and is happy to find one, but it's very weak. Looking up at Saber he smells the fear and worry pouring out of every pore of the silver panther. "He's alive, but no idea for how long without help."

Grabbing his communicator off his belt his thumb smashes down on the red emergency button. "Medical emergency in corridor six, near storage room four," he barks into the mic with a command voice that leaves no room for argument.

Saber sees his friend barely breathing as he feels for the pulse at the cougar's neck to reassure himself. Finding it he notices something making him bite his lip, "Lupe, better tell them to hurry, his pulse is fading."
 
Lupe presses his hand against Goliath's throat again and feels the slight diminishing of the pulse. "Shit, what could have done this to him? He was healthy last time you saw him?"

Saber nods, "He was wolfing down more food then I could ever eat, just seemed a bit broody."

A rush of pounding feet fills the corridor as two human male security officers in full combat armor come rushing down the hall at a full run, followed close behind by three medics with their emergency packs. The security team stops as they see their commander kneeling in a pool of blood next to the prone form of the massive cougar. "What happened sir?" asks one of the security officers as he slips his pistol into back into its holster.

Lupe shakes his head as he and Saber stand to step back and let the medics do their work. "No idea. Saber was worried when he didn't return to their cabin after a longer than expected time, and he came to see if I could help him locate his missing friend. I called Deadeye and he traced him to here using his bio signature." Waving a hand towards the prone feline still in a pool of his own blood, "When we got here, he was like this." Lupe looks down at the cougar hearing a weak cough leave his muzzle, spraying blood and mucus over the inside of an oxygen mask one of the medics is trying to place over his muzzle.

The lead medic, a human female, looks at the two armored figures. "Can you guys give us a hand?" she asks as a male cheetah pulls out an expanding stretcher and deploys it with the press of a button. "We need to get him down to med bay quickly if we're going to stabilize him. He needs a transfusion if we're going to keep him alive."

The third medic, a female lop eared rabbit, is trying to stick a needle into his arm to administer plasma into the weakening feline but grumbles, "Damnit, these combat types have got skin too thick for our normal needles." Tossing the now useless bent needle she digs in her pack looking for a more stout needle to pierce the thick hide.

The two guards nod and bend down and pick up the limp feline. "Urg!" they both grunt as they strain with the medics to lift the large feline, barely able to get him on the stretcher without dropping him.
 
Saber and Lupe help to carry the stretcher by each taking a handle. With grunts they work with the two security officers to lift him off the deck and start carrying him towards the med bay with the medics running along side them as they continue monitoring his vitals and calling reports into their own communicators so a trauma team will be ready when they arrive.

In the med bay they place him on an examination table, his legs hanging off the end as it is way too small for the seven foot six cougar. A doctor rushes in seeing the bloody mess on the table. The human doctor motions everyone except the medics out of the room and pulls a curtain to block their view. Quiet talk can be heard along with the occasional explicative, but no specifics. Once in a while a medic will leave and come back with something, but there is no information being passed on to the two still watching and waiting for any news.

After an unknown amount of time Lupe looks over at Saber and shakes his head sadly, "Our waiting here isn't going to help any. In fact, we're just in the way down here. Let's go back to my office and wait for word on his condition. They'll call me with a report when they know something."

The silver furred feline gives him a momentary heated glare but soon then relents, his shoulders slumping as he gives a slow nod as he sighs with resignation. Without further comment the two morphs quietly leave the med bay and walk the evening corridors to Lupe's office.
Inside, Lupe waves a hand towards a seat in front of his desk before he plops down in his own large office chair. Grunting he opens a drawer of his desk. "I think it's safe to say you're off duty right now," he mutters as he pulls out a bottle of scotch and two glasses, raising an eyebrow inquisitively to Saber who nods in agreement.

"I think I can definitely use a drink right about now," he agrees as he takes the half filled glass the older wolf offers and sips it. "Mmmm... Good stuff."

Lupe nods as he takes his own sip before putting the glass back down on his desk, "Should be; twenty year old scotch." He starts to idly stroke the side of his muzzle in thought while Saber studies him. It's clear to the younger feline that something is on the older wolf's mind.

"What're you thinking Lupe?" Saber asks.

The wolf snaps out of his trance and looks at Saber with a worried expression. "I've got trouble on this base. I don't think what happened to your friend was necessarily an accident. And whatever they did, it's vicious to have left him in such a circumstance. We morphs are a hardy bunch, especially those of us designed for combat operations, and that lad was designed to be one of the biggest and strongest from his test results."

Saber thinks quietly for a minute as he takes another sip and lets the liquor burn as it slides down his throat. Finally he shakes his head, "But how? There was no sign of any gunshots or physical wounds, and no one else has come down sick from eating in the mess hall with him. So no one could have poisoned him, right?"

Lupe shakes his head as he comes to a conclusion he doesn't like, "No, but there is one thing he did that no one else did or has ever done for that matter." At a puzzled look from Saber he frowns as he reaches for his comm unit again. "Test that power suit."

Soon the buzzing from the unit stops and a sleepy voice answers, "Yes?"

Lupe speaks, the command in his voice unmistakable, "Moonless, get up, we got an emergency. I want all drug dispensers on that suit of yours checked. I want you to personally verify what was in each dispenser. I don't want any of your techs in on this, just you."

The voice from the other end seems puzzled as it hesitates before asking, "Lupe? What's this all about?"

Lupe shakes his head at the fox on the comm unit's screen, "Your test pilot was found bleeding from mouth and nose, unconscious, and with no visible wounds. No one else is showing these signs, so it has to have been from something he alone did. The only thing that comes to mind is that armored suit of yours."

The vulpine on the screen frowns, "You think someone tampered with my suit?" There is a low growl from the scientist as he throws off his blanket to stand, "They had better not have. I'll get the results for you soon as I can, sir. Moonless out," and with that the comm unit goes dead with an audible click.

Saber casts a questioning glance at Lupe, "What drug dispensers? What are you two talking about?"

Lupe sits back in his chair and drums his fingers against his desk as he looks sideways at a folder on his desk, "The battle suit has dispensers that feed adrenaline and other stimulants to the wearer. It's also supposed to give him nutrition for extended periods. Their purpose is to allow the soldier to operate without support for long periods of time in the field. But, if someone wanted to sabotage it, they could easily slip something else into the hopper for one of the drugs or nutrients and that would only affect the individual wearing the suit of armor."

The comm on Lupe's desk buzzes as Saber opens his mouth to ask another question and Lupe holds up a finger as he answers it, "Lupe here."

"Sir, this is Doctor Stine," the human doctor from the med bay reports from the screen of the comm unit.

"Yes doctor? You have a report regarding the status of our new recruit?" the wolf asks.

"We have some test results back on the big cougar that was brought in, yes. He was clearly poisoned, but we can't tell by what. It's nothing I've ever seen before and nothing that appears in our medical records. And I fear if we can't find out soon, he may die," the doctor warns.

Lupe sighs, "I got someone working on it. How long does he have without knowing the true drug or poison used?"

The doctor scratches at his brow, "Sir, I don't know how he has held on this long. He appears to be stable for now, but there is no telling how long that will be. We're pumping plasma and blood into him to keep him alive. We haven't even been able stopped the bleeding yet. The sooner you get me that info, the sooner we can find out how to save him."

Lupe slams his fist hard into his desk causing a few folders to fall to the floor. "I'll get it for you doc. Lupe out," he says as he hits the disconnect button.

He looks at Saber as he stands and walks around the desk to head for his door. "You should go back to your room son. Things are going to get dicey around here in the next few hours. I promise I'll keep you informed when I know something."

Saber gives him a hard glare, his ears laid back in anger. "Sir, with all due respect, fuck that! My best friend is dying. I want to know why, and I want to know who, and I want to know now!" He clenches his hands into fists and doesn't even notice the sharp pricks of his own claws piercing his palms.

Lupe grabs the younger feline by his shoulders as he surges to his feet, "Look son, I know how you feel. But there is nothing you can do for him right now. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, but you still have a job to do. Now go get some sleep before I have you tranquilized and tied to your bed."

Saber is about to protest when Lupe stands up straight and barks in his command voice, "That was an order soldier, dismissed!"

Saber's military training kicks in and he salutes the wolf before turning and walking out of the office. Without error he heads straight for his cabin, but deep down he knows there must be something he can do to help. He doesn't jsut want to sit in his room and worry while his friend fights for his life.

He reaches his cabin and palms the door open leaving a small smear of blood from the pricks on his palm. The cabin seems so quiet now, too quiet. With heavy sigh he starts to walk towards his room but stops noticing something out of place. A small white card rests on the floor near the door. Bending down he picks it up and reads, 'You're next! Kitty litter!' in simple typed bold font.

Saber stares at the card in shock as he reads it again several times before he speaks into the quiet room. "It was no accident. Someone tried to kill my friend," he says quietly as he lets this thought sink into his head. Suddenly it's as if something snaps in his head, he rears back his head and let's out a roar that causes heads to stick out of cabins all up and down the hallway. Someone calls security, afraid of what's happened to cause such a roar of pain and anger.

When an armored security team arrives they find a very pissed off feline punching the solid steel wall screaming, "No! No! No!" Each word accompanied by another punch that dents the wall even more and leaves a smear of blood from his bloody knuckles.

The personnel try to calm him down with words, but the words have no effect, as if the enraged feline doesn't even know they are there. They briefly try to restrain him, but the silver panther is quicker and lashes out at anyone who gets close. Not pursuing anyone to actually cause harm, but definitely not in a mindset to be calmed or held against his will by strangers.

Lupe is called and appears at the doorway within minutes. He takes a rifle from one of the armored guards and ejects the clip. He holds out his hand to receive a green clip from the officer whose rifle it is and slams it home. Raising the rifle to his shoulder he grimaces at Saber. "Sorry lad," the wolf whispers.

Seeing the gun pointed at him he launches himself towards the door as Lupe pulls the trigger and the rifle gives a soft kicj into the wolf's shoulder. A feathered dart appears in Saber's back and he quickly falls to the ground, sound asleep before he even hits the floor.

Lupe sighs as he lowers the rifle and hands it back to its owner. "This isn't what I need right now." He turns to the security captain at the scene and gives him a steely gaze. "Take him to medical and have a guard kept on him. Tell them to restrain him if they have to, but I don't want him harmed. I've got enough mysteries to investigate for one day."

The captain salutes and two members of the security team move in slinging their weapons. Bending over to pick up the unconscious cat they grunt and carry him, feet dragging, towards the med bay. The rest of the team disperses to their primary duties and the captain gets on his comm unit to brief Deadeye on the situation, securing the door to the suite as he leaves.

Lupe shakes his head as he walks back to the command wing. "This is turning into pure chaos," he mumbles as he stomps back to his office, the onlookers in the hallway jumping out of his way when they see the frown on his face.

***

Moonless is in the battle suit lab and shaking his head at what he has just found in one of the hoppers. Lupe comes up behind him and taps him on the shoulder, "I can tell you've identified something. What did you find?"

The black fox jumps at the touch then calms as he realizes it's just the base's commander. "Well, someone fooled with the suit alright." He scrubs his face with both palms and frowns, "There was something else in one of the hoppers that definitely shouldn't have been there."

"What should have been in there?" the wolf asks.

The fox looks up at him with a worried look on his face. "Should have been a simple nutrient solution, but the liquid actually in the tank is a very slow acting poison according to my tests. It actually causes the person to bleed from the inside out by slowly rupturing the capillaries throughout the victim's body starting with the internal organs and working its way to the skin's surface. It would be a very painful way to die."

"Well, is there a way to counter it? Surely if you were able to identify it there's a cure," Lupe asks with a glimmer of hope in his eye.

Moonless holds up a small data disk, "I'm not a doctor. My specialties are in robotics and computer engineering, not biology. But if we get this to medical they should be able to figure something out. The record I found didn't list a cure or treatment regimen."

Lupe puts out his hand, "I'll take it down to them and get the pros on it immediately."

The black fox places it in the outstretched hand as he gives the wolf a worried look, his ears lowered in fear. "Sir, I hope that lad survives. I see a lot of potential in him, and not just because he can pilot my little toy."

Lupe places the disk in his pocket, "So do I." And with that he turns and walks quickly towards the medical wing.

***

Lupe reaches the med bay and looks around for Doctor Stine. Seeing him sitting at his desk he walks over and hands the disk over, "Here's what it looks like he was given. Looks like someone tampered with a nutritional dispenser on his suit."

The doctor takes it and inserts it into the side of his workstation. After a few minutes of reading his frown deepens, "Hmmm... I don't like the looks of this. He was given this for a sustained period of time, more than two hours it looks like. I hope there is something to counter it in our records."

Lupe nods with agreement, "But doc, where would someone on this base get such a thing?"

The human shakes his head in the negative, "Not sure, maybe one of the labs. I know we don't have anything like it here in medical, but the biological warfare team is always working on new toxins and contagions. In the process they usually have a treatment or cure for the nasty things they design."

Lupe gives him a nod, "I'll leave you to it doc, and I'm going to try to search for this chemical on base. I'll start with the head of the bio warfare team and see if she can point me at something, or someone."

Leaving the med bay Lupe shakes his head in thought at the situation, "This is a nightmare coming true. There is a saboteur on my base who's trying to kill one of our recruits, and I have no idea who it could be." He looks at his comm unit and frowns, "But dammit, I gotta trust some people." He highlights the contact information for the head of the bio warfare team and holds the unit up to his head, "Tammy, we need to talk." He pauses to listen to the response before he answers, "No, I'll come to your quarters if you don't mind, be there in fifteen minutes."

***

Lupe and Deadeye are going over inventory lists for hours before they finally strike the gold they were aimed at by the head of the bio warfare team. "Hey, look at this," says the ferret as he points to a list on his screen. "That's the stuff ain't it? And it's the only location that keeps it stored too."

Lupe goes pale under his fur as his ears droop, "Research lab two. I should have guessed." Hanging his head he starts to shake it, "Get a team together. I want every person who works in that lab located and questioned. I want to know who did this, and I want to know now, not in the morning, not as soon as possible, now."

Deadeye snaps a salute as he stands up. Pulling a com unit off his belt he starts barking orders to his on duty teams as he walks towards the weapons locker. A few minutes later he comes back through the office wearing full armor and carrying an carbine which he is racking the bolt on with a loud clack. He looks at the wolf still sitting at the desk, his eyes showing no emotion, "You going to wait here, sir? Or would you rather join the teams rounding people up?"

The wolf shakes his head and leaves the security office, "Call me when you've got who did this in custody. I want to know who it is as soon as you find out."

The armored ferret gives him an unobserved nod and takes off in the opposite direction at a jog, his gear rattling as he moves. He makes a brief stoop at the security teams' ready room and pounds on the door. Several more armored figures come out and at a silent nod from Deadeye follow him as he runs further down the hall, their feet thumping on the deck as they proceed about their task.

***

Lupe enters the med bay again and looks around. It's much quieter then the last two times he was in here as it is now deep into the night hours and there have been no other drastic injuries of note. Walking over to the open door to Doctor Stine's office he knocks politely on the doorjamb. The doctor looks up at him and waves him in as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Come in Commander," the doctor offers and gives him a worried look as the wolf steps in and takes the chair in front of the doc's desk. "I guess you're here to find out how your men are doing?"

Lupe nods, silently asking him to continue, "Well, the panther is doing well. We've kept him sedated but even unconscious he has been struggling. Could be nightmares, could be him fighting the sedative, we're not entirely sure. We've had to tie him to his bed to keep him on it for his own safety."

Lupe sighs heavily, "Was it just a nervous breakdown, doctor?"

The human behind the desk nods and picks up a piece of paper, "And with what happened to his friend, I can't blame him. And this probably didn't help any either." He holds the piece of paper out to the wolf.

Lupe takes the paper, noting the clear signs of blood stains on it, and reads, "You're next! Kitty litter!" He looks up at the doctor with a flash of understanding, "Is this some kind of a sick joke?"

Sadly the older man shakes his head, "Afraid not sir. It was found clutched in the cat's hand when he was brought in. Took a bit to get it out of his grip he was clenching his hand so tight and had injured himself pretty badly from punching a solid steel wall."

Lupe brings his hand up to massage his temples, "What about the cougar, Goliath? Tammy said she was going to call you with everything she could find on the substance from her labs."

The doctor relaxes fractionally as he eases back in his chair, "He's showing signs of recovery I'm happy to report. And quite frankly, I'm not sure how the hell he's doing it."

Lupe slowly lowers his hand and looks up at the doctor. "Wait, what do you mean you don't know how?"

He brings something up on his data pad then hands it to Lupe. "Read the highlighted part."

Lupe accepts the pad and starts to read. Suddenly a look of pure hatred crosses his face, "There is no known cure or treatment for this poison. The person who did this wanted to kill, and in a cruel way."

The human nods at Lupe's statement. "And I don't know how, but somehow, your man is alive still. It's almost as if he just healed himself after we got him stabilised."

Lupe sets the pad down on the doctor's desk and thinks for a few moments. Suddenly a look of realization crosses his face, and his ears perk up.

Cocking his head to the side, the doctor asks, "Something wrong sir?"

Lupe gives a negative shake of his head, "No, nothing is wrong. But tell me, from your knowledge, how are we ani-morphs made?"

Doctor Stine shrugs as he sits back in his chair, "Well... Nanites are used to restructure your human DNA into what you have now, in layman's terms at least. Depending on the specific abilities and mutations of the individual, there are other steps involved, such as the addition of certain inorganic compounds used to strengthen bone and muscles in you combat types."

Lupe snaps his fingers, "Right, and what happens to those nanites when the transformation is complete?"

"They remain in the..." suddenly the doctor realizes what he's saying and his eyes widen in surprise. "My god, you know what this means?"

Lupe nods, "We're tougher to kill then most would think. It's a good thing too right now I'd say."

***

In a small storage room, a huddled figure hides in the darkness. The lone human looks at the data pad in front of him. Reading about the little surprise he had been working on for the last six months and finally got to test on those freaks. "Surely that big moron of a mountain cat is dead by now," he chuckles to himself happily. He knows they are looking for him since he's missing from the scanners and didn't show up for his last shift in the labs. He fears what will happen if those animals find him. Maybe other humans will help him, but those morphs will kill him outright if they get their claws on him he's sure.

'Stupid animals,' he thinks to himself, 'You think you're the perfect soldiers, scientists, commanders. You think you're the best at whatever you do. Well I got you guys back this time. I've killed the biggest and strongest of you freaks ever created. Soon, the rest of the humans here will side with me and we will teach you your places, as our slaves, not our equals!
'
There is a loud explosion as the door to his hideaway bursts inward and several black armored figures storm in through the smoke. One of them raises a pistol and fires without hesitation. A dart appears in the man's arm where he huddles on a bedroll and he drops to the floor like a rag doll.

Slowly his world darkens as he sees the one who shot him remove his helmet. "How... How could a fellow human betray me for those freaks?" he thinks seeing the human who shot him glaring at him with the hatred he himself showed the morphs.

He looses the last of consciousness as the human guard bends down to make sure he's still alive with two fingers on his neck.

Looking over his shoulder to the armored ferret and security specialist nods, "He's still alive, sir. But he'll be out for a while with that much drug in him."

Deadeye takes off his own helmet and nods in agreement, "Good, take him down to lockup. I want full security on him every second; don't want anyone to take their eyes off of him for any reason. Full suicide watch, I don't want anyone to say we let something happen to him before he can stand trial for his crimes."

Another guard steps forward and helps lift the unconscious man. Soon they are dragging him out of the storage room and down the hall. Deadeye turns and starts jogging off towards Lupe's office to report in person on the results of the round up and investigation.

***

Lupe turns his head towards the door to his office at the sound of a hard knock. "Come!" he barks.

The door opens and Deadeye walks in still wearing his body armor and carrying his carbine. Stepping up to the desk he comes to attention and snaps a crisp salute, "Sir, we got him."

Lupe gives him a salute in return and motions towards a chair in front of his desk. "Who was it?"

The ferret relaxes as he takes the offered seat and leans his weapon against the edge of the desk, "One of the lab techs from the lab where the stuff was made. The same man who tried to take a swing at the big guy in the hall outside the mess the other day."

Lupe leans forward and laces his fingers together on top of his desk as he studies the chief of security, "Why was he loose to do this?"

Deadeye hangs his head in shame, "He was held for a cooling off period sir, and then released as normal. We were in the process of filling charges, but he's now facing some worse ones then just assault."

The commander gives a sharp nod, "Damn right, the little bastard tried to kill someone. We may not be human anymore, but by god, we're still people, and we got rights. The UCMJ still applies, even to us."

The ferret lifts his hands in surrender towards the wolf, "I know sir, but some people still want to think of us as inferior, you know that as well as any of us."

Lupe slams his fist down on his desk making things on the desk bounce and sending a few files to scatter on the flor, "Damn it, I know that! But soon, things are going to have to change. And they are going to have to change for the better."

Deadeye leans forward and rests his hands clasped together on the desk, "Sir, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Lupe shakes his head as he sighs and leans back in his chair, a hand coming to his forehead to rub his temples, "I don't even know what I'm saying. But things are going to change. There is a storm coming, and it's not going to be a pretty one."


James 'Saber' Storm is © his player (RIP my friend). All other characters unless otherwise stated are the property of Christopher Gilman. Story © Copyright Christopher Gilman 2001-2024 all rights reserved