A View From Below

©1998 David J Rust


     The sky didn't move, seeming as solid as stone while the ground shook beneath booming 
footfalls of the gargantuan invader.  Larek stood and stared, transfixed by the vision that rose 
above the horizon of the AnStar Building.  He took in the view of the giant vulpine as it strode 
casually through holographic news displays and ray-traced cola advertisements that floated above 
the rooftops.  For kilometers around, the city was in a panic.  Sirens and horns blazed as 
thousands of the men, women and children in Novus Susoculi attempted to flee the dome that 
trapped them with the monster that rampaged downtown.


     While of average height and build, Larek was infitessimal compared to the juggernaut that 
crashed after him.  Its every step sent out shock waves that rocked buildings, shattered glass and 
pushed over teeming masses stupidly standing in its way.  The disaster was nearly beyond 
comprehension, and yet it was happening.


     While the slightly lower Venusian gravity allowed the buildings to be built about twenty stories 
higher than back on Terra and -on top of that- the geodesic dome that covered the city rose to an 
apex of nearly half a kilometer past that, the titanic vulpine loomed over the buildings, nearly a 
hundred times Larek's own height.  Another foot-fall fell nearby as the colossus continued his 
casual walk through downtown.  The skyscrapers that towered far over Larek's grey-furred head, 
shook with each blow against the ground.  The humanoid wolf's yellow eyes had to scan quickly 
from left to right to see all of the scene as the giant fox came into view.


     For a moment, the screams became louder than the sirens as a nearby building splintered and 
fell aside.  One, huge foot-paw casually kicked out it's base as the giant strode towards where 
Larek stood, transfixed amidst the crowds.  Tons of masonry fell in moments, burying local 
millitia men and civilians alike.  Larek continued to stare as the giant's legs strode down the sides 
of the street -thick, bushy red fur rustling in the breezes of the giant's own movement.  His 
massive, black-padded paw came to a stop on top of an abandoned bus, crushing it slowly.


     Larek's eyes travelled up and up and up; over the toned, coiled muscles that held up such an 
impossible mass; past the sex that had enticed him only hours before; past the slowly heaving 
chest, breathing in cubic acres of atmosphere; to the bright, emerald eyes, looking down, 
specifically at him.  Swallowing, the tiny wolf shaded his eyes against the sunlight that glinted 
through Novus Susoculi's dome from over the vulpine's shoulder.  Stammering through his own 
nervousness and not certain he'd be heard, Larek swallowed and said, "H...h..hello, Tain..."


=====


     Small, narrow streets and doll-sized buildings surrounded Tain's feet as he looked over his 
former home ... his former prison.  It sent a thrill through him to look down on those who had 
beat him down for so long; a turn of the tables whose irony was not lost on him.  Everyone who 
had made him feel like he was only inches tall were now on the other end of the stick.  It had taken 
him awhile to come to grips with what had happened, but not too long to forget that Dr. Larek 
Halvorson was responsible.


     Tain slowly craned his head down, peering at the little bugs that swarmed away from his 
crushing paws.  Larek was still there, his little hopping and waving reminiscent of a tiny frog's 
hopping.  Suppressing a chuckle, Tain swivelled his sharp ears, trying to hear what the little 
creature was trying to say.  It wasn't easy over the whine and howl of the civil defense sirens, and 
soon, he just shook his head and pulled back his lips in a snarl.


     The look that crossed the teensy, Larek's face was priceless and sent a thrill of power through 
Tain.  Spreading his snarl into a cold smile, he lunged forward, spearing his arm down past the 
Hammond News building (clipping it and knocking off a cornerstone), and grabbing with his 
large fingers towards the little wolf.


     It was like catching a large bug.  Larek tried to dive aside, but it didn't take much for Tain to 
adjust and slide his other paw around to cut off any route of escape.  His crouched, toned body 
filled the space between the buildings as his tail swished against the stone walls on either side.  
The little, struggling lupine was quickly subdued and Tain leaned back, kneeling, as he lifted his 
cupped palms to his face.


     With deliberate flair, he opened his fingers one-by-one and focussed his eyes upon the now 
shaking and terrified wolf.


     "You've disappointed me, Doctor..." boomed the giant calmly.  "I expected you to take the 
quickest route out of here.  You know that there aren't enough shuttles to get you to Station One if 
you don't hurry..."


     The little wolf stopped shaking and breathed a bit more easily, as if realizing that he wasn't 
about to be smashed or eaten.  Standing, he brushed off his coat and looked into the giant eyes 
that transfixed him.  "Please, Tain, I don't know what happened, but I can help you..."


     The voice surprised the giant and amused him at the same time.  In all the time he'd known the 
doctor, he'd never heard him say anything that wasn't haughty, arrogant or self-serving.  Now, in 
that tiny, little voice, he was scared.  It was clear from his body language and the subtle tremble in 
his voice that only the sharpness of Tain's ears allowed him to recognize.  He smiled coldly.


     "I ... I didn't intend this, Tain," he continued.  "Please, let's go to the main facilities in West 
Quarter and ... and we'll see what we can do..."


     "I'm disappointed, Larek," he repeated slowly, "what makes you think I'll go back?  Do you 
really think you were that good of a 'master'?  Do you think I liked being your fucking slave?"


     The words sunk in with the coldness of truth as Larek swallowed.


     "You're not in charge anymore, Doc.  And I think you'd better keep running towards that 
shuttle."  Tain slowly stood, the buildings rushing past the tiny Larek.  The fox had to be nearly a 
hundred and seventy meters tall!  To the giant, Larek was little more than a furry cricket, it's tiny 
squeaks only audible when Tain made the conscious effort to listen.  Casually, Tain dropped the 
little doctor atop the 35-story Hammond building and leaned against it, crossing his arms and 
peering at his captive.


     Larek stumbled around for a moment and then fell on his ass.  Tain didn't suppress the chuckle 
this time and prodded the tiny wolf with one finger.  "Oh, come on!  I didn't lift you up that 
fast..."  Larek didn't even scowl -to his credit- but used the huge digit to pull himself to his feet.


     "What do you want?" he squeaked.


     Tain felt a shiver run through him and smiled.  The great Dr. Halvorson was his slave now...  
His expression cooled and took on a more serious air as he focussed on the wolf.  "What I want is 
freedom, Larek.  Not just for me.  Not just for my family, but for all vulpines..."  He watched 
Larek's expression carefully; not seeing any betrayal of emotion, he continued.  "Foxes aren't sex 
toys, Doctor.  We have families; lives!  Maybe centuries ago, sex is what we were built for, but 
we're intelligent beings and we won't be slaves any longer!"


     Tain stood, resting one wrist on the building's edge.


     Larek stammered, "B...but I can't do anything about that!  You want me to stop buying 
vulpines?  Sure!  No problem!"  The little wolf shifted from foot to foot nervously.  "But you 
can't expect me to stop all slavery!  I don't have that kind of power or influence..."


     The giant fox looked placidly down at Larek, his face still.  Slowly, he put his fingers together 
and cracked his knuckles.  With a smile, he replied simply, "No, but I do."  Tain leaned back 
against the AnStar Building (slightly taller than himself) and crossed his arms over his chest.  
"And I intend on making my point..."


     "I want you to run, Larek.  Run for your measelly life.  If you get to the shuttles, you'll be 
free.  If you don't, you'll be a smear.  Either way, I'll show everyone what happens when you 
push a vulpine around too much."


     Larek shouted something, but Tain interrupted.


     "I don't care what you have to say, bug!  This is bigger than you and me!  You're going to run 
because you have no choice.  You're going to run because I'm sick of the wolves, horses and 
humans treating vulpines like second-class citizens!  You're going to run because one way or 
another," he paused and breathed heavilly with emphasis, "...I want you to..."  Tain brought his 
fist down to his side, smashing it easily into the stone surface of the AnStar Building.


     Fractures went through the structure like cracks in a broken window.  Tain leaned forward 
again and snarled at Larek.  "Better start running, shrimp.  I have an agenda and you -quite 
frankly- are too small to have a say in it..."  With that, the massive fox crouched down, stretched 
his huge, lithely-muscled arms around the building, and began to squeeze.


=====


     The tremors ran through the building as Larek lept down stair after stair; occasionally vaulting 
over the handrails in the dimly-lit stairwell.  Floor after floor went by as booming, shattering 
sounds of tons of concrete being pulverised ripped through the air.  Fear filled his every thought; 
this fox ...his slave... was going to kill him!


     A shuddering boom rocked the landing to the 4th floor as the far wall, two floors above broke 
away under the external pressure.  Concrete and dust exploded into the stairwell, throwing Larek 
bodily down the next flight.  Crashing into the floor he yowled as his elbow caught the twisted, 
iron railing.  He flipped over onto his back, trying to get some purchase in the shaking earthquake 
of his tormentor's powerful arms.  Above him, through cracks larger than his own arm, he caught 
a glimpse of waving red fur against the smokey skies beneath the dome.


     Barely managing to keep his footing in the collapsing building, Larek limped to the first floor 
and ran staggering across the lobby.  Outside the shattered, glass doors, debris and rubble 
surrounded the office tower's base all around.  To one side, he could just see a huge, living swell 
of fox-fur (a knee perhaps?) as Tain continued to rock the structure.


     Larek massaged his right ankle and looked out again.  It was Tain's knee; the giant had grown 
larger and was now kneeling to crush the building!  He swallowed his fear and fixed his eyes on 
the curve of the dome where it came down about seven blocks away.  The shuttle port.  
Swallowing, he bent low and dashed out of the building along the front, crumbling masonry and 
ran towards his goal.


     A shudder ran through the ground as Larek dashed into the shadow of the next city block.  
Looking back, he watched as the Hammond building was crushed in the casual embrace of the 
giant fox.  Tain paused as Larek tried to find better cover.


     "I'm still getting larger Larek;" he boomed, "or maybe everyone else is getting smaller..."  
Huge fingers sifted through the rubble, discarding tiny desks, lamps and unlucky office workers 
as the giant looked to see if his prey was present.  "Your experiment was about how all things 
were relative on a super-string level; so maybe it doesn't matter.  The point is," Tain's eyes moved 
towards where Larek ran, narrowing as they seemed to close in on him, "I'm going to prove a 
point about your experiments.  About ALL of your experiments..."


     The giant stood.  The huge buildings around him were idly pushed back by the tiniest brush of 
his mass, cracking as the fox flexed and balanced at his new height.  "You should never create 
something you have no respect for..."


     Larek stifled a scared yelp of fear as he watched Tain rise to his full height.  He was easily a 
good twenty percent larger than he'd been before.  As the wolf ran, looking back at his casually 
walking pursuer, he realized how much this must look like a cat playing with a mouse.  Larek's 
right leg was already numb and Tain slowed his pursuit to give the wolf the illusion of a better 
chance.  Even the Hammond building had lasted longer than it should have.  Tain was playing 
with him.


     Six blocks...  Five... Four...  In the distance, a flash of fire and smoke outside the dome 
spoke to another shuttle evacuating citizens to the orbital space platforms.  how many had that 
been?  There were only a dozen such shuttles in the port; had he seen nine go by already or ten?  
Maybe more while he'd been in the building?


     Looking back, he watched as Tain slowly stomped his way down the street coming to a sky-
tram crossing at the level of his knees.  A chartered business group had rented the facility as they 
often did in Novus Susoculi, and the tram was rapidly trying to make its way back to the terminal.  
It was obvious that Tain saw it too.


     With one, casual kick from his right foot-paw, the fox shattered the main support beam and 
sent the sky-tram spiraling towards Larek a full two blocks away!  A bark of terror escaped 
Larek's muzzle as he dove -without consideration- to his left through the window of the outskirt 
building he'd been running past.  The oncoming tram -its passengers screaming and holding on 
for dear life- hit ground about a half block away.


     Larek continued to run deeper into the building away from the front wall.


     With an explosive boom that knocked the wolf off his feet, the tram crashed into the front of 
Larek's hiding place, sparks and flames filling the foyer and sending shockwaves and cracks 
through the concrete foundations.  He dove through a swinging door away from the flaming 
lobby, his grey fur alight with sparks as he felt the heat wash over him.  His body half-propelled 
by the impact behind him, Larek fell forward onto the smooth, abandoned floor of the Velvet 
Whisper nightclub.


     The booms were muffled behind the walls to his rear as Larek rolled to put out the small burns 
in his hide.  Faint whimpers escaped his muzzle as he pulled himself up to a sitting position and 
looked back through the half-open door to the flaming wreckage and unrecognizable cargo that 
had once been the sky-tram.  A cold feeling came over him; one of recognition.


     It was no accident that Tain had forced his hand to come in here.  It couldn't be a 
coincidence...


     He looked up at the stage, it's normally polished surface of mock-mahogany dirtied by fallen 
debris and dust.  Standing, he looked through the gloom at the posters that lined the wall.  He 
nodded to himself coldly as he saw the one that had caught his attention almost a year ago:  "SEE: 
The Alluring Arts of a Vulpine in Chains!"


     It was where he had met and purchased Tain.


=====


     The flames blossomed like the fire lilacs that dotted the upscale Ellerby parkway on the North 
end of town.  Tain had been there on a few occasions to serve the sexual fantasies of bored and 
thrill-seeking aristocrats.  Now, as he watched the chartered sky tram burn with tiny, 
reverberating explosions, he sighed at the mental comparison.


     He wasn't a violent man.  Certainly his children and wife would never have thought so.  But 
here he was, reveling in his chance to pay back those who made him and his kind their slaves.  
He'd been told as he grew up that Vulpines had been engineered as exotics centuries ago and that, 
while Equines and Lupines had eventually earned their emancipation, a fox's lower intelligence 
and heightened sex drive made them poor candidates for self-governance.


     For Tain, it hadn't even been that bad of a life.  His good looks and bisexual nature allowed 
him to rise as far as any vulpine in Novus Susoculi.  But it still bothered him.  Broken and sad 
foxes whose looks weren't good enough filled the poor houses and welfare housing of every city 
on Venus, Earth and even the Mars colonies.  The prejudices and preconceptions of the wealthy 
elite barred them from any real education or chance at growing out of their slum-ridden existence.


     The giant bent down, his giant paws casting a dark shadow over the wreckage as the flames 
slowly ebbed with little to feed them.  Larek probably got smashed beyond recognition between 
the tram and the Velvet Whisper, but he had to be sure.  Crispy bodies amidst twisted metal and 
shattered glass met Tain's vision as he scanned for the remains of a vulpine.  Any vulpine.


     Why Larek had chosen him was a mystery even to this day.  Probably he was one of those 
people who had secret sexual fantasies and didn't want them to sully his upscale, respectable 
lifestyle.  Perhaps that damnable wolf had merely wanted a fox to abuse and tease out of some 
sick desire to be the big bully.  Maybe it was even something so simple as he needed someone to 
experiment on.  For whatever reason, though, Tain had been in Larek's possession for the past 
ten months.


     And now, it was payback time.


     Tain shook his head slowly as he pulled as many of the bodies as he could from the wreckage.  
Most of them were too tiny for his fingers to adequately pull out without demolishing them.  Still, 
it was pretty obvious that there were only humans here.  With a cynical smile, appreciating the 
irony, Tain's eyes looked over at the still-burning foyer and smashed front wall of the erotic 
nightclub.


     Kneeling, his huge foot-claws dug furrows in the pavement.  Tain licked his muzzle and 
peered carefully inside.  If Larek was in there, he was probably in back.  This was going to be 
fun, he thought as he reached down and grew larger still...


=====


     The exotic dancers in their sparkling costumes and the cheesy, mid-21st century music were all 
the more noticable by their absence.  The hours Larek spent here last year had made the place as 
familiar to him as the campus bar had been back when he'd taught at MIT.  At the present, the 
empty, dust-and-damage-ridden stage and dining area seemed alien and condemning of his past 
transgressions.


     "It's not my fault!" he screamed to the blackened lights overhead.  "It's not like they're 
sentient!  I ... I needed them...!"


     Larek's voice echoed in the room, before fading into the muffled and fainter sounds of the 
burning wreckage outside.  All of them, every vulpine he'd ever 'hired' ... how could they act like 
this?  Surely they knew their place!  All his life, they'd been servants, dancers ... slaves.  How 
could this one, arrogant, sex-crazed fox have gotten the upper hand?


     Grey fur wisping in the faint heat-inspired breeze from the burning lobby, the wolf climbed up 
onto the stage.  Tain was insane; that was the only explanation.  Everyone knew that foxes loved 
sex; it's what they were bred to enjoy!  He'd even lowered himself to pleasuring that damnable 
vulpine -purely for it's own enjoyment, of course- for nearly a year now.  If this was gratitude...


     A new rumble shook the building, throwing Larek to his hands and knees.


     He suppressed a whimper as pain shot through his injured leg, his face turning upwards to 
watch as one, then two, then three strong, titanic fingers punched through the wall and relentlessly 
peeled it away.  Larek screamed up at the giant face, his mind failing to grasp the outcome that 
faced him.  "N...n..noooooo..." he moaned, "I ... I did everything a fox would want.  I ... I 
only gave you what you wanted - what you deserved..."


     Before him, Tain's giant, impassive face came into view; the giant fox -larger than ever before- 
peering in through the absent wall.


     "Hello, doctor..."


=====


     The breezes in the Venusian domed city were light; controlled by monitors and machineries 
hidden deep in the center of town.  Night was settling quickly; long shadows on the plains outside 
stretching rapidly past the environmental processing units to envelop the small colony city.  Tain 
looked out at it and sighed.  It was a view he'd never seen before ... a Venusian sunset over the 
badlands of Axis Minor.


     In Novus Susoculi the tallest -and wealthiest- buildings were near the center of the dome; the 
smaller ones on the outskirts couldn't see over the protective barrier that covered the bottom third 
of the protective shield.  In all his life, he'd never imagined such beauty ... it was almost a shame 
that it would all end in a few centuries of terraforming.  Sighing, he looked down into his paw.  
The small wolf looked barely over a centimeter tall to Tain now; his battered, burned body 
unconscious after the swift rise to be on a level with Tain's face.  In all honesty, the giant would 
have thought of him as dead if it weren't for the occasional twitch the little creature made.


     He turned his eyes back to the devastation he'd caused and looked through the dome into the 
murky, acidic skies overhead.  Green and yellow clouds raced by in winds that topped a hundred 
and twenty kilometers an hour.  It was a desolate land, Venus ... centuries from any real use 
outside the domes.  But it was his home.


     Somewhere, beyond those clouds of sulfur, would be the space platforms and military vessels.  
Those ships would probably be descending soon, bringing heavy artillery to deal with the vulpine 
'monster'.  He'd be gone by then.


     A faint tickle against Tain's palm caught his attention.  Tiny Larek had stirred and sat up.  The 
little creature's tiny muzzle moved and the little sounds of his shouts barely reached the fox's ears.


     "Please don't kill me!  I'll do anything; I'll set you free ... get you any whore in the city!  Just 
don't ... kill me!"


     Tain closed his eyes and sighed.  "You just don't understand, do you Larek?" came the 
booming reply.  "I'm not your sex toy ... or anyone else's..."  He looked around and held his 
palm out so Larek could see the rest of the domed city far below.


     "See that?" he boomed, "what makes you think I'll spare you after I've already killed so 
many?"


     Larek broke down, whimpering like a non-sentient dog, his tail between his legs.  Tain 
couldn't even chuckle at the predicament.  Instead, he coiled his fingers around the little wolf 
carefully and began striding back towards the city center.  His huge paws slammed against the 
pavement, leaving huge, paw-shaped craters with each step.  Cracks radiated out from each 
footfall, spreading to the bases of buildings he'd not yet destroyed and fragmenting their 
foundations.


     "I want everyone to know that vulpines won't put up with it anymore, Dr. Halvorson.  That 
time's over..."  As he walked, he concentrated on the buzzing he'd felt in the back of his mind 
ever since earlier that day in Larek's laboratory.  Each step seemed to sink less and less into the 
ground than the one previous as his mass diminished and his height faded.  "But you're right; I 
won't kill you; just give you what you deserve."


=====


     Larek woke, his body still bruised, but obviously having been through a medic-unit at some 
point.  He was in an odd room; it's furnishings simple and rustic, yet reminiscent of the mock-ups 
one would find on a department store's sales floor.  Oddly, he'd been re-dressed.  He looked at 
himself as he turned over in bed; he was no longer in his work clothes, but instead in a rough, 
blue pull-over shirt and a burlap-like pair of yellow pants.


     He tried to focus on how he got here; on what had happened after Tain had picked him up.  
"I'll get even with you fox, no matter what..." he muttered as he walked to the door.


     A huge, booming tremor froze him in his tracks; quickly followed by another.  A loud, muffled 
voice -somewhere outside the room he was in- rumbled; answered by another, lighter voice.  
Larek plastered himself flat against the inside wall, looking towards the curtained window.  A 
huge, staring eye looked back from the other side.


     Larek screamed.


     "There, honey..." said Tain, lightly, "A new dolly for your dollhouse..."


     The small vulpine child smiled up at her father with bright, blue eyes.  She hugged him and 
grinned.  "This one moves, daddy!"


     "That it does, honey.  It talks too.  But you'll have to take good care of it..."


     She nodded and smiled.  "I will, Daddy...  I will!" she promised.


     "Good," he answered, ruffling her hair.  "After all, it's what he deserves..."


'fin