Lost Boys and Golden Girls

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

6/01/96:

    Chapter 1

I pulled myself through the front door. More then a bit
tired from the past week back at home. I had spent most of
it cleaning up after my bio-drone, which had been in my
place sense my ship had showed up.

Don't get me wrong, I still hate the things, and this help
to prove it. The problem was that it was a bad replica of
me, it was too good. It had ended up doing more then I would
have done in it's place, and basically painted me into a
corner.

Slumping down on the couch, I threw my backpack aside.

"How did it go?" Oriana asked, walking down the stairs.

"Ok, I guess. Though I'm starting to adjust to Prid's 30
hour day."

She nodded, sitting down beside me. "So, everything go as
bad as you though it would?"

I shook my head. "Nope, no problems at all."

She grinned, "That's good." Then giving me a slightly
slanted smile, she reached into my hair and yanked a strand
out. Holding it in front of my eyes she said, "Gray hair?"

I gave her a quick shrug. "Ya. Found some the morning I went
back. Kinda strange considering I didn't have any before I
left."

Patting my on the knee, she started to say something, but
before she could start the was a knock on the door.

We glanced at each other, then Oria got up and headed for
the door. Opening it a bit, she stuck her head out. I could
here some talking, then she opened the door all the way.

"Fox, there's a council page here to see you." As she said
this, the teenage female skunk page who I had meet after my
last trip to the council, entered the main room.

"Hello," I said, suddenly just a bit worried. "Nice to see
you again."

She nodded her head quickly. "I can say the same for you Mr.
Cutter. The Council Head has sent me for you."

I closes by eyes, getting even more worried. I some how
doubted she want me for a social visit, more likely
something to do with are little conspiracy. "What does she
want?"

"She requests your services on verse 148278/b, Gratin."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Doing what?"

"Helping her bring them into the Council sir."

I stood a bit, yawning. "Ok, sounds easy enough. Let me go
change." Then I ran upstairs and into my room.

Once there I dug through my clothing, making the mess in the
room a little worse. Then finding what I was looking for, I
pulled out a very well warn jacket.

The jacket it self was an old army jacket of my dad's. Thin,
and a little thread bare in places, it had become somewhat
of a trademark of mine, something I always wore whenever I
went out doctoring. With a couple small patches, and more
the one burn (especially around the left cuff) it would had
felt wrong do go into anything without it.

Slipping out of my room, I headed back down the steps.

"Ready?" The page asked.

I nodded. "Ya. Oria, you going to have to stay here."

She nodded herself. "I had guessed that, but before you go
you need to--"

I cut her off, "I'm sure you can take care of it yourself. I
gota run, I'll see you in a day or so."

She nodded, looking down a bit. "Be careful, ok?"

"I will." I said, then followed the page out the door,
through the teleport curtain, and into Marble Hall. I
followed the page around a few turns, and into a small
meeting room.

She closed the door, and locked it. Then turing to me, she
said. "Ok, we have a bit of a problem on Gratin."

I sat down on the table. "What?" Sounding as annoyed as I
really was.

"Well... Rachel is currently working on getting them full
accesses in the multi-verse. There is a small problem
though."

"Always is." I muttered.

The page gave me a dirty look, then continued. "The
representative of Gratin in this matter is a Sothia Jarlen.
A few days ago, her aid was murdered, and yesterday an
attempted on her life was made."

I nodded, "Ah... So you want me to find the killer for you?"

She shook her head. "It's not that easy. We have also found
signs that whoever the killer is, they are part of the
corruption. Most likely trying to get someone on there side
into her position, so they would be put on the council."

I groaned, "I see. Put me down so I stick out like a sore
thumb, and use me as bait to draw whoever it is out."

"No." She said, pulling a small chip from somewhere on her
person. "Do you know what this is?"

I took it from her, and carefully looked it over. "No I
don't."

She grinned. "It's a Matrix prototype."

I looked at her, my jaw basically on the floor. The Matrix
was, at the time of my exile, a plan for a disguise system
combing simple shielding technology, with holographic
projection and direct mental stimulation.

The idea was that the chip would create a matrix force field
around the bearer, upon which the imagery was projected on.
Each matrix cell was separated from each other, allowing the
ability to make may different shapes, and make it move
realistically. Also each cell incorporated a mental
stimulation system, thus when wearing it, you would know not
only the general feel, but when, where, and if you came in
contact with another object.

"Close your mouth," the page said, "it doesn't suit you."

"When did this get finished?"

She grinned, "Five days ago. It's voice activated, just talk
into it."

I nodded. Then pulling open the top of my watch I slid it
inside. Closing the cover, it gave a slight beep, and
locked.

"The form is already loaded into the system, and it will run
through your translator chip." She pulled out a small blue
disk. "Speaking of which, this is the language download.
Written and spoken."

Taking the disk, I held it up against the back of my skull,
and gave a mental command. Instantly there was a low buzzing
in my ears as the chip downloaded the information on the
disk. After a few seconds the buzzing stopped, signaling
that it was finished.

Handing the disk back to the page, I asked. "Are you going
with me?"

"No. I have other things to do."

I nodded a bit, that had a though. "I don't suppose you have
a sidearm of some kind?"

The caused her to blink a bit. "But your profile said you
hated guns."

I shrugged, "People change."

She shook her head. "No I don't, but you should be able to
find one on Gratin, if you truly feel you need one."

"I don't know if I do or don't."

She shook her head again, a slight smile on her face. "Get
going, Rachel is waiting. Also don't activate the Matrix
until you get there."

I tilted my head to her, and smiled a bit. Then unlocked the
door and ducked out. Heading around a bit, I worked my way
to a fold. Then reaching out to it, I gently pressed on it a
bit. Doing some quick mental calculations, I translated the
verse number into the feeling for the fold I wanted. Then
with a push I shoved that feeling into the fold.

As it opened, I keep some mental control over it. Keeping it
from fluxing and pulling someone inside unwilling, and also
keeping it 'cold' so it couldn't be traced for either side.

All this took the usual few seconds, after which I stepped
through the fold, and almost off a cliff on the other side.
Snapping the fold closed, I jumped back away from the edge.

It was a large cliff, about two hundred feet above the sea
below it, and stretched as far as I could see in each
direction. I also saw I was standing on the edge of a vast
grassland plain, which stretched on for miles, no sign of
civilization in sight.

I chuckled a bit, I was lost. Which is to be expected, as
the verse numbering never easily translated into the
feelings I used to distinguish folds.

Pulling out my portal controller, a made a note of where I
had landed (it was a nice place in general, I just had to
make sure to go the other way using the fold). Then punching
in the verse number I had been give, I reopened the fold.

Stepping though I found myself in a back alley someplace in
some town. Pocketing the controller I turned, and found
myself facing Rachel.

"Council head." I blurted out.

She grinned, "Your a bit late."

"Ah... Took a wrong turn.

She gave a slight chuckle and opened a door in of the
buildings making up the alley. "I have someone I want you
too me. Come with me." With that she headed inside.

I followed.

* * *

I gave a sigh as Fox left, whatever he was hiding from me,
this was definitely part of it. Sinking down on the couch, I
threw his backpack on the floor, and rubbed my temples.

It had been a long week, with problems showing up every few
minutes. First the generator for the ship vanished some
where during shipping, then there was problems trying to get
the new hull constructed. Even I was having problems getting
the computer I had found on the ship back up and running. It
wasn't that it was broken, but just didn't want to start up,
it was like some critical part of it was missing.

Getting up from the couch, I was planning to get a cup of
coffee, but stopped when I noticed a small painting had
falling to the floor.

Moving to where it had falling, I picked up the small
landscape portrait, when I noticed something. Behind where
it hung was a small patch in the wall. I only noticed
because it was cracked all the way around it.

What stuck me as strange was that I had one exactly like it
on the back wall of my bedroom. I ran my fingers over it,
feeling that it was raised up a bit higher then the rest of
the wall. I pressed against it a some, and it pushed back
into the wall.

"Bad patch job." I muttered, taking my paw away. The instant
I did so it snapped back out to where it had been before.

"What under Thyrn's eyes?" I muttered to myself, invoking
the name of my god. Once again I pushed on the patch,
sliding it back into the wall. I keep on pushing until it
stopped with a muffled click, about an inch into the wall.

A second after it had click, the wall next to me that
blocked off the last few feet of the underside of the
stairs, slowly started to slide down. Inside, illuminated by
the light in the room, I could see a set of stairs going
down some, then fading into the dark. The stairs where all
made of stone, and covered with a thin layer of dust.

Cut into the dust was a single set of shoe prints coming up
the stairs. The prints themselves where actually filled with
some dust as well, and looked at least a year old.

I rubbed my chin a bit, then ran up the stairs into my own
room. Quickly pulling my hair back, I dug out a flashlight,
then headed back down.

Stepping inside the dust covered area, I turned on my
flashlight and scanned the walls. On the outside wall was
another panel, also sunk into the wall. 'At least I can get
out.' I though to my self. Then slow I started down the
steps.

They went forward for about 12 feet, then made a turn to the
right, following the outline of the house. I keep going down
it as it went the length of the house, and then made a 180
degree turn. It continued down the length of the house
again, and turn left. I followed it for another 50 or so
feet, where once again it made a right turn.

The instant I turned I saw that there was much less dust on
the stairs. About the same amount the filled the shoe prints
along the rest of the stairs. Slowly I keep going down,
decided that I must have been at least 150 feat under the
basement of the house.

Suddenly, after only going a few feet, I came to the end of
the stairs. I found myself in small room carved into the
bedrock under the house. Two more stair wells came into the
room, both heading up.

Looking around all I saw was a few lose stones, and a large
rock in the corner. All of them where covered with a layer
of dust.

"I wonder where these other two going," I muttered to
myself, my voice echoing off the rock in strange ways.

Shrugging, I decided to find out. Making an arrow in the
dust on the stairway I came down on, I took the stairway on
my right.

This went up a few feet then to the right again. after a few
more feet it made a 180 degree turn, down the line it again
made a 180 degree turn. At the top of the second leg it did
yet another 180 degree turn, but this time push back farther
about 6 feet to be exact. I keep on following it up one more
short flight. At the top I found myself against a wall.

As I looked for the panel, I saw something very interesting.
The dust on this stairway wasn't as thick as the other one,
but was as thick as at the small room at the bottom.

"Strange" I muttered, as I found the panel, and pushed it
in. There was a slight humming as the door slid into the
wall. Then blinking from the sudden brightness I stepped
out, and found myself standing in my own bedroom.


    Chapter 2

Rachel lead me through a series of hallways and backrooms,
doing her best not to be seen. "Where you briefed?"

"Yes," I said, navigating though a storage room.

"Good," she said, moving though the door, and into a small
office, where she stopped.

Turning to me, she looked me over. "Listen, Sothia and her
new aid are across the hall, waiting for you. They have no
idea what you look like, and really can't conceive of any
species lacking fur."

I gave a nod. "So you don't want me to freak them out to
badly."

"Yes, don't go barging in there. I will tell them your
coming in first. After you meet them her aid will give you
any help you need."

I nodded again, tapping my watch. "And the use of the
Matrix?"

"I do want you to keep a low profile, but it's in your paws,
so I can't control your use of it."

"Ok, and that's hands."

She shrugged, pulling on her blouse a bit. "Whatever. Now
wait here for a minute, the come over. It's the door marked
private." Saying that, she slipped out of the main door to
the office.

Glancing at my watch (which was always set to my home time)
I counted of one minute, then I left the office. Walking
across the hall, I gripped the door handle. Then, taking a
deep breath, I stepped inside.

Inside where two skunk-morphs, though in a constant grayish
colour, and no white strip. The older of the two was wearing
a light dress that came halfway down her humanism looking
legs.

The other was a teenageish looking male, wearing a simple
pair of pants and shirt. His tail was dyed in places, and a
bit ruffled. Nether of them had any head fur to speak off,
it was all of a constant length, at least what I could see.

The female, who I guessed was Sothia had a bit of a puzzled
look on her face. Her aid looked me over, then burst out
laughing.

"That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen!"
He stutter out between his laughter.

Sothia gave him a stern look, and he did his best to stop.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Rethin has only been my aid for a
day, and still has much to learn about diplomacy."

I shrugged, "It's ok. I happen to agree with him."

Rethin let out another small laugh, but did his best to
suppress it.

Sothia shook her head a bit, then looked at Rachel. "So, how
exactly is he going to be able to find your killer. It's not
as if he just vanishes into a crowd."

I raised a finger. "You'd be surprised."

Grinning at me, Rachel said. "Fox, show them the Matrix."

"Oh-kay." I said, then raising my arm a bit, I spoke into my
watch. "Matrix on."

The second I said it my vision filled with glaring white
light. In a few seconds it was gone, and I was left blinking
a bit. Instantly I noticed two things: one, there was a
short muzzle blocking a small part of my vision and two, I
had the feeling of carrying something behind me, which I
gather was how the Matrix made me feel the tail.

"Wow." Rethin said.

I shrugged, "Your tell me. This is the first time I've used
this thing. It will definitely take some getting used to."

Rachel poked at the illusionary tail, and I felt a twinge in
my mind right about the same place.

"Actually Fox, your the first one to ever use it." She said.

I shook my head, "Fun..." I muttered.

Turing to Rethin, Sothia said, "Take Mr. Cutter here
upstairs and show him what we have."

He nodded, "Follow me." Then started for the door.

"One more thing," Rachel said, handing me a card. "Take this
with you, and have him explain it."

I glanced at the card, finding it to be a typical picture
ID, with a bit more information, and a picture of my self
with the Matrix on. At least I assume it looked like I did.

"Come on," Rethin said, and headed out the door. I pocketed
the card and followed.

* * *

Dusting my fur off, I moved out of my bedroom. Walking
passed the kitchen I entered Fox's bedroom.

Kicking some of his junk out of the way, I moved over to the
back wall. Setting my hand on it, I said, "Now where would
that be."

Looking over the wall, I saw that there was only one thing
hanging on it that was large enough to hide another panel.
Pulling out the thumb tacks I took it down. I grinned when I
found it.

I pushed the panel in, and found that it was harder to do
then with the others. After a few seconds of work it finally
clicked, causing part of the wall next to me to side into
the rest of the wall.

Turning my flashlight back on, I ran the beam over the
landing for the stairs. I found that it was covered in a
thick layer of dust, which was totally undisturbed.

"Strange," I said to myself. Steeping inside, my feet kick
the dust up. Slowly I headed down the stairs, which where
set out the same my the set leading to my room did.
Eventually I found my self back in the little room under the
house.

Humming to myself, I bushed the dust off the large rock,
and sat down on it. I pulled my tail in my lap to keep it
out of the dust.

"Strange," I said to myself, "Who would go to all this to link
the bedrooms and the main room. It just doesn't make sense."

Moving my the flashlight beam around I noticed that the
ceiling had a few stalactites on it. "Old cave." I muttered,
referring the fact that it was entirely dry in the small
room.

Looking closer at the floor I saw the places where the
stalagmites had been removed. Rubbing my chin a bit, I
though out loud. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to make
it easy to get down here. Why though?"

I glanced over at the stairs to my room. "If that set is
that's been used the most maybe there's something off the
stairs that I missed."

I knew it was a long shot, but I decided to try it out. So I
started back up the stairs, making sure to look over every
each of the walls.

An hour later I was back in my room, even dustier, and still
having found nothing. Well nothing expect the doors
automatically close after some unknown about of time.

Brushing myself off I headed to the kitchen to get something
to drink, and to do some series thinking.

* * *

Rethin lead me to a small office on the second floor. As we
entered, he motioned for me to take the chair behind the
desk. Moving behind me, he reached over my shoulder and
turned on a computer.

Slipping a small crystal into a slot on the side, he said.
"Ok, the file on the murder is in, and should load up in a
minute."

I nodded, "Thanks."

He pulled over a chair that was to the side, and sat down
next to me. "So, you ever done this before?"

"Once, well over a year ago. Of course I was the prime
suspect at the time, so I had some motivation." I said,
leaning forward as the file opened. For a second the
language looked extremely strange, but after a second the
translator kicked in the new information, and I could read it
like english.

"Have you worked for her long?"

"Sense my exile was revoked, about two months ago." I
skimmed over the file, getting the jist of it. Sothia's old
aid had been killed in the time period between 9:57am and
10:00am. He was killed by a single shot from a gun in the
back of the head. The killer had shot from a standing
position, and the aid had been sitting in his chair,
apparently bending down to get into a file cabinet.

Leaning over my shoulder, Rethin asked, "Find anything
interesting?"

I shrugged, "Nothing new. The victim was getting something
for the killer. So that implies that he had to have a reason
to be there."

"Killing him I would have to say."

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Well something the victim
would find a good reason."

He nodded.

Leaning back a bit, I pondered. "According to this he was
going through a drawer when he was shot. You know what was
in the drawer?"

He shook his head. "No, but we can go look. It's only a few
doors down."

I stood. "Lets go then."

Rethin lead me out of the office, down the hall, and to
another one. The door was blocked by that worlds equivalent
of police tape.

Slipping inside I looked around. The office was pretty
normal, though behind the desk was a ghastly sight. The chair
faced back towards some file cabinets, the bottom of which
was open. There was dried blood on the metal of the
cabinets and over some of the open drawer.

I forced down some bile, "Why haven't they cleaned this up
by now?"

"Sothia requested it not be cleaned until she said so."
Rethin explained.

I nodded. "I don't suppose you have some rubber gloves?"

He nodded himself, and handed me a pair that he pulled from
a pocket someplace. "I figured you would want to see the
office when Sothia told me I was to escort you. So I grabbed
a pair."

I pulled them on, being careful not to snap them. Then I
looked over the file tabs, they where all labeled,
"Barsetine." Then with two dates on them.

"What's Barsetine?" I asked.

"The next country over. About 2000 klicks away from here."

I nodded, "Well these are all records about there. Hardcopy
too."

This caused him to blink, "Hardcopy? Are you sure?"

I chuckled, "Ya, pretty much."

"The only thing put on hardcopy anymore is something to
sensitive to be on the computer." He said.

I stood, "Meaning there classified."

"Yes."

I pulled the gloves off, and threw them in a waste basket.
"That's all I need from here. Come on back to the office."
As I said this I head out the door.

A few minutes later I was sitting back behind the desk,
though I was turned to face Rethin. "Ok, I just bet you need
special clearance to access those files, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, that's why he had them in his office.
Sothia is the chief diplomat." The word came accost a bit
ragged, I guess the translator was trying to squeeze the real
word into the closest thing in english. "It was his job to
keep track of all them."

I leaned back a bit. "Ok then. I have a scenario for you.
Assume I walked into the office and requested some of
those documents. What exactly would happen?"

He though for a second. "He would scan your code in, and see
if you had clearance for them."

"How long would that take?"

He though for a second, "If the network wasn't in a slow
down..." he paused, doing some mental calculations. "Two and
a half minutes."

I nodded. "And if it was in a slow down?"

"Four minutes, at least."

I moved back from the computer, "Can you check to see if
there was a slow down at the time of death?"

He didn't answer, but just moved over to the computer. After
a few minutes of some fast typing he said. "Yes, there was
a major transfer on the main lines."

"Which means checking his clearance would have taken one
minute to many."

Moving away from the computer, he gave me a perplexed look.

"That means he knew whoever it was well enough, that he
didn't need to check to know that he or she had clearance."

Rethin's eyes widened a bit. "Of course! The killer came in,
asked for the file. He knew who it was so didn't bother to
check, and while he was bent over, bang!"

"Right! So the question now becomes, who had clearance."

He nodded, then motioned for me to move away from the
computer again. Moving over to it, he put his left paw under
an a small light like attachment, palm down. The light
flashed for a second, and the computer popped up a box that
said, "Processing".

This time I looked over his shoulder. "What did you do?"

"I scanned my code into the computer."

I gave him a bit of a strange look.

He explained. "The code is tattooed under the fur at birth.
It's how we sign in and out, and how we pay for things. The
light does a flash of some kind of radiation which causes it
to glow for a split second."

I let out a small grunt, "Nice way to control the
population."

He was about to respond when the computer beeped. Turning
he typed some stuff in, and it put up another "Processing"
screen. "I'm getting a list of everyone who has my clearance
or higher in a days distance from here."

I looked at him, "You have that kind of clearance? How old
are you?"

"43." He said.

I blinked, "Compared to?"

"Um... I think the oldest person was two-hundred thirteen."

I whistled, "Long lifespan."

"Really? How long is yours?"

"Oh well... 80 years is the average."

He reached over and patted me on the back, "That's short.
How old are you, 50 60?"

I laughed, "I've been mistaken for being older, but not by
that much. I'm 18."

His face suddenly contorted. "Your telling me I'm working
with a _CHILD_?" He yelled out the last of the sentence.

I took a step back, "Whow! I'm an adult by my society's
standards."

He grumbled, definitely angry. "Well here you should still
be in scholl, let alone working."

"Well to bad. I'm here, and I'm doing the job I was given."

He turned and looked me right in the eyes. "Listen, this
puts everything you've though of into a different light.
I'll have to go over it all before we continue and--"

I cut him off, hard. "Damn it listen! I have more experience
at this then you ever will. So maybe by your thinking I
should still be in school. I just have one thing to say
about that, *get over it*. I'm here, and with your help have
gotten farther then anyone else."

He growled, and started to say something, then stopped.
"You do have a point." He voices was very strained, it
sounded like he was doing his best not to lash out at me.

"Fine, then lets try and continue. Your search has
finished."

He turn back to the computer, and made a few keystrokes. "The
system found a total of 27 people with kind of access." He
did some more keystrokes. "And only 5 where in the building
when he was killed."

"So we have 5 suspects, unless then came in though the alley
like I did."

He shook his head, "No. That door is always guarded unless
ordered not to, and that kind of order is logged. If you read
all of the file I gave you would have seen that that has
already been checked."

I nodded, really getting annoyed at the tone he had taken.
"Ok... Is there any way to check to see if any of them got
any of the documents?"

He shook his head, "That's not logged."

I 'hummed' thinking. "This guy loved order didn't he?"

Rethin nodded, "Yes. So?"

"Well, you would think he would keep his own records about
who did what."

He ran this over in his mind for a second. "Maybe..."

"Do you have access to his files?"

He nodded, "I've taken over his position, I have full access
to his system. I'll look." With that he started back on the
keyboard again.

After only a few minutes he said, "I found it."

"Good. Now cross-reference that with the list of 5 people."

He hit a few more keys. "Ok, only one is on the list at all,
a Natarn Jorcim."

I grinned, "We have a prime suspect."

He stood, shutting off the computer. "Yes, come on, lets go
talk to him." With that he stormed out of the office.

I followed, quickly moving up next to him, "Rethin, I have a
question."

"What?" He spat out, still clearly angry.

"Well, if Sothia is killed, will you replace her?"

He shook his head, "No. The government will decided on someone
to take her place."

"And she will become the Council member?"

"Yes."

I stopped in my tracks. "I have a motive!"

He stopped as well, and looked back at me. "What?"

"I know why the aid was killed."

He walked back to me, "Why then?"

I grinned. "Because he would have been a liability when she
was killed. Most likely he saw something he wasn't suppose to
see, but didn't know it at the time. What ever it was, he
would have figured it out when she was killed."

He looked me over, "One of the gas mains was tampered with
so gas was feed into Sothia's office."

"Right, and where was that tampering done?"

He though for a second, "In the maintenance room, right down
the hall from conference room 12. The same room the victim
was in half the time!"

"Yes. So some time he was working late or something, and was
going to or from the conference room when he saw the killer
duck into the maintenance room."

He grinned, "That's an impressive leap there."

I shrugged, "I do it more often then you think."

He shook his head, turned and headed down the hall.

A few minutes later we where outside of Natarn's office. I
gave a quick knock on the door. Inside a voice called out,
"Come in."

Opening the door I steeped inside. I quickly noticed Natarn,
as he was standing in front of his desk, a gun in his paws.
I barely had time to move before he fired.


    Chapter 3

I tapped my claws on the kitchen table, really racking my
brain for an idea.

I had been down in the small cave two or three times trying
to find some kind of secret down there, with less luck each
time.

Taking a drink of some coffee, and started to go over
everything I had found so far. Something Fox had once
refereed to as playing 'What do we Know'.

"Well first," I said, thinking out loud. "I know that over a
year ago someone apparently used the stairs in my bedroom a
lot to get down there. I also know that they spent enough
time down there to clean it."

"I also know that whoever it was didn't use the stairs in
Fox's room, or he didn't know about it." Taping my finger on
the table I though of something else. "I also know who ever
it was used the first level stairs once, maybe they found it
the same why I did."

"Whoever it was used that place a lot if they cleaned it up.
Which seams to say that they found what I'm looking for."

"So how did they find it?" I asked myself. "Did they just
stumble over it..." I trailed off as I said it. The comment
made me think of the large rock, I already went over it
carefully so I knew that wasn't it, but it sparked an idea.

Grabbing the flashlight, I dash back through my room, and
down the stairs. When I finally reached the cave I was
panting hard from the running. Sitting down on the rock I
slowly ran my flashlight over the wall.

Unlike the last time I did this, I wasn't looking for cracks
or holes, but for something I had noticed and forgotten
about. As the light reached a corner, I saw exactly what I
though I saw. One wall of the small chamber was of slightly
different stone then the rest.

Moving over to it, I made a closer inspection of the walls.
Running my paws over the corner. There was a slight texture
change in the wall, as well as a slight colour different.

I shook my head, I already had looked all over all the
walls, and I doubted I would find anything new here. Turning
to go I stumbled a bit on one of the lose stones. Falling
back against the wall the beam of my flash light passed over
something that looked a bit wrong.

Running the beam over the ceiling, I went up and down the
stalactites. After a quick search I found something. On one
stalactite, someone had carved something into the stone. At
first glance it looked like just some random lines, but
after really looking at it for a second it came to me.

The carving was of a crude down arrow.

Bending to the ground I moved under the stalactite. The only
thing under it was dust, and the rough spot where a
stalagmite had been removed.

Running my paw over that spot, I pushed a bit. The area
rocked gently. Suddenly I had an idea of what it was.
Standing back up I placed the tip of my foot on the spot,
and pressed down.

The area swiveled one edge going up, where I pushed going
down. Near instantly a loud grinding noise stated, and the
wall that had been of the wrong stone slowly started to move
to the side.

After the wall had moved a few feet, it came to a grinding
halt, and the peddle under my foot locked. Lifting my foot
off of it, making sure that it wouldn't close on me, I
approached the new doorway.

Shining my flashlight inside I found a matching peddle it
the one outside, once again I had a way out.

The hall that had been reveled moved on for about 30 feet,
ending in a room much the small cave. Though with only the
one entrance.

Swinging my light around I found a single lever next to the
door. "I've gone this far," I said under my breath as I
reached out and pushed it down.

The second I did there was a slight hum, and a steal door
slide across my entry way, locking me in. Just after that
the floor gave a lurch and started to sink.

As it descended the walls started to spread out becoming
more open, and the support beams for the descending floor
were revealed.

After a minute or later the floor of the elevator (what else
could it have been) slowed, and came even with the floor of
a large room.

Shining my light around I saw that it was huge, maybe 200
feet to a side. Bits and pieces of furniture and exercise
equipment littered the floor. All covered with the same
layer of dust.

What really caught my attention was a small room built in
one corner. I couldn't see inside as it had no windows, just
a single door.

Moving over to it, I knocked on the door. After a few
seconds I tried the handle, and found that it wasn't locked.

The room it's self was a mess. Everything was covered with
dust, the unmade bed, the desk with it's terminal, the
clothing in the floor, the bookshelfs, and the dresser.

On top of the dresser there was a small picture in a silver
frame. Hoping to maybe find out who the person was who lived
down here, I picked it up.

Looking at the picture I let out a slight gasp, and dropped
it. Picking it back up, I looked at it once more, just to
make sure it was who I though it was.

"Oh my." I said, when I knew I had been right.


    Chapter 4

When the sound of the gun going off reached my ears, I was
already out of the office. Not of my own doing, but from
Rethin's quick reflexes. When he saw that Natarn had a gun,
his reaction was to grab my collar, and pull me back, saving
my life.

Pulling myself off of the floor, rubbing my neck from where
the collar's claps had bit into my neck, I looked to Rethin.
"Thanks."

He shook his head, "Now's not the time, he's running."

I glanced back into the office, and saw that it was empty,
and the side exit was open. "Where does that door lead?"

"To the back offices."

I nodded, "Listen, get them to lock the exits." Then with
that I headed into the office, and through the other door.
Inside I found a long hallway with cubicles on each side. At
the far end I could see Natarn ducking through the door.

I guessed he was thirty seconds ahead of me. Which, giving
how well I could run, was a lot.

Kicking my legs into high gear I ran down the hall, which
caused some looks from the people inside. Going through the
far door I found myself in another office.

Running out of it, I found myself in a short hall. Each side
a T junction. Looking at someone who walk towards me I
asked. "Have you seen anyone running though here?"

He nodded, and pointed me down one of the halls. I only got
maybe ten steps before I was slowed to a crawl. The hallways
was full of people and I had to elbow my way through.

About 20 feet away I could see Natarn was stuck in the same
jam, but was slowly making his way towards a stairwell.

There was little chance of me getting near him before I
would have lost him. Right then what I needed was some way
to clear the hall.

My first though was a fire alarm, but I had no idea what to
look for. All the time Natarn was getting farther away.

Shoving my way through the crowed was staring to give me a
headache from the Matrix. It was getting to much input and
was having problems feeding it though with out causing some
overload.

Then it hit me, I had everything I need to get people out of
my way right there with me. Raising my watch to my mouth I
said, "Matrix off."

Instantly my vision was filled with other explosion of
light as the illusion shut down. All around me I could here
people gasping. As the light cleared everyone in the hall
had stopped, and where staring at me. The only one moving
was Natarn, who appeared not to have noticed what happened,
and he was making good time.

"Out of my way!" I yelled, and the crowd parted, just at my
prey slipped into the stair well.

Running again, I covered the 30 feet in under ten seconds.
Bursting through the door I saw him dive through the door of
the first floor. Taking the stairs three at I time, and
nearly falling twice, I hit the door running, and skidded
into the hallway.

I saw him turing a corner a few feet away. Still following I
saw that I was right in locking the front door. For in front
of me was the two story lobby of the building.

I also saw that Natarn had stopped in the middle of the
lobby, and what I guessed where security guards where
approaching him.

Natarn turned around to start running, and saw me. His eyes
widening, he took a step back.

I slowly walked into the lobby, causing a more gasps,
and some of the guards.

Looking at me, he sneered. "Cutter, who else." He said. Then
he started running again. Not to one of the exits, but the
side, towards a window.

Pulling out his gun (which if I had forgotten he had) he fired
one shot. The bullet went through the glass in a neat hole,
cracks spiraling out from the impacted like some kind of
demented spider web.

Natarn hit the damaged spot of the glass with his shoulder.
Causing it to shatter completely, and fall down on top of
him as he ran.

The whole event took less then five seconds, and as the
guards tried to follow, he vanished into the city outside.

Some of the guards went though the window after him. The
rest turned towards me, most had there guns in the paws, and
pointing to the floor.

"Put your paws up." a guard said.

"Now there's a cliche." I said, doing so.

The guard who had spoken approached. "Who or What are you?"

I shrugged. "My name is Fox Cutter."

"Would you please come with us." He said.

"Why not, I have nothing better to do." I and followed him
as he left the lobby.

After a short walk I found myself in what I guessed was the
security office. I was sat down in some back office and left
there. A few minutes later A women came in and sat down at
the desk.

She looked me over, "Your a sight."

I shrugged.

"How did you get into the building?"

"Through the front door."

She sighed. "Give me your right paw."

I held my hand out to her, and pushed it under the same kind
of scanner I saw Rethin use. There was a quick flash, and
she gave a puzzled looked. "There's no id code." She stated,
letting go of my hand.

I grinned, "Let me guess. That's impossible, right?"

She shook her head, "No, just rare. Some people are allergic
to the dye. Give me your card."

I shrugged again, and pulled out the card Rachel had given
me, and handed it over the desk to her.

She looked at the card, then back at me. "Who did you steal
the card from?"

"Obviously from the person who's name is on the card."

She sighed. "Give me your paw again."

I held my hand out to her again. This time she pulled out a
small box and pressed it against my palm. I felt a slight
stinging, and she pulled it away. Taking the small box she
put it into a device hook into her computer.

"What was that?"

She hit a few keys, "Getting a sample of your DNA."

I grinned, "That should freak it out."

She shook her head, and turned back to the computer. After a
minute or two she said, "It's found a match. Now we'll see
who you really are."

Reading over the screen, she shook her head. "That's
interesting."

I leaned forward, "What?"

"According to the records, this," she tapped the card, "is
you. Not only that, it makes a note of a possible photo
discrepancy, and that your have diplomatic ammunition."

I leaned back in the chair and chuckled. "Not what you
expected?"

"Damn right."

We paused, looking at each other. After a few seconds her
intercom buzzed. Stabbing at it, she said "yes?"

"Sorry to bother you, but someone is here to see it."

"Send them in."

A few seconds later the office door opened, and in walked
Sothia. "Hi." I said.

Sothia walked up to the desk. "I'm sorry to barge in here,
but Cutter is an aid to the foreign diplomat I'm working
with."

The women behind the desk nodded. "That's ok. I was about to
turn him lose. He has diplomatic ammunition."

She nodded, "Well then. I'll take him back with me. I'll
also have my office call you about this." Turning to me she
said, "come on."

I stood up, and started to follow Sothia out of the office,
when I heard the women in the office mutter to herself. "I
wonder where there from."

I turned back and said. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far
far away." Then with a wink I closed the door, and caught up
with Sothia, humming the Star Wars theme to myself.

* * *

Standing out side of the small bedroom, I started thinking.
I still had no idea how had hooked this large cave into the
house through such round about means, though I did know who
had cleaned it up and used it.

Looking up at the ceiling, I played my flashlight beam over
the stone. It only took a few seconds to find a light
suspended above me. From it's mounting ran two power cables,
one head to each side of the cave.

Picking a direction at random, I followed the cable to the
left. When I finally reached the far side I saw that it went
over about 20 feet, then headed back to the other side.

I started walking along the wall, still looking at the
cable, and how it looped back and forth accost the ceiling.
When I reached the far corner I found what I was looking
for.

The cable went into the wall though a small hole. Right
under it was a door. Opening it, I found myself in what
only could be called a maintenance room.

One one wall was a stenciled outline of the cave I was in,
outlining the route I had taken in. It also showed four
hallways leading to other caves. The only other thing in the
room was a large bank of switch, and meters.

All the meters where reading zero, and all the switches
where off. Writing along the front of the case, in
standard, was the word "generator." Each of the switches
and meters where also labeled.

On a bit closer inspection I found a small panel on the
front, that with a little preying swung open. Inside I found
some more controls, and taped to the inside of the panel, a
note saying how to start it.

Following the directions I had the generator humming in about
five minutes. Then I went through and hit all the switches.
After the third one, the lights came on.

After I had finished with all the switches, and everything
else the note said to do, I went back into the cave, and was
a amazed.

It was a large as I had first though, and now with the
lights on I could see more. The cave was clearly natural,
with the floor leveled out and the ceiling trimmed. In the
distance I could here a light thrumming sound, as I started
to smell fresh air. Mean that fresh air was being pulled
in. I could also feel the temperature starting to rise (which
was rather fast considering the size of the place) though I
hadn't really noticed the cold.

In a far corner of the cave, I could see a practice mat, and
a line of mirrors, along with more exercise equipment. Along
one wall was a workbench with some tools laid out over it.
Off to one side I could see a small cleaning robot, the same
kind they used at Mabel Hall, starting to clean up the dust
on the floor.

I grinned, this place really was a find, and with some of the
things in the bedroom... well I couldn't wait to tell Fox
about it.


    Chapter 5

Rachel was fuming, "What the hell did you think you where
doing shutting the Matrix off in the middle of a crowd!!!"

"It worked did it not? My goal was to clear the hallway so
I could get to Natarn, and that achieved it."

She sighed, "Really, we don't have him do we?"

"We have more then we would of had if I had not done that.
He's out of place now, and unless there is another agent
here, Sothia is safe, and if the police on this world are
anything to write home about, he shouldn't get far."

Sothia, who was behind me spoke up. "His picture and indent
code have already been distributed. He can't do anything
without fifty flags going up."

I nodded, sitting down in a chair near by. "Ok then. I have
two questions. First, how did he know Rethin and I where
heading to his office, and second, why didn't who ever was
investigating this do something like I did?"

"The second on is easy to answer," Sothia explained. "With
as high of a ranking as he held, the only one qualified is a
government investigator. It will take another week for one to
get here as there over worked."

"Ok," I said nodding again. "What about the first one?"

She thought this over for a few seconds. "Well... they way
you found him was doing a search through the records. He may
have had a watch on his, when you hit it, he was warned."

"I have a question of my own." Rachel said. "Do you have his
DNA profile on record?"

Sothia nodded, "Everyone is on record."

"Good. I want you to run it against unsolved murders in the
past few years."

I looked at her, "Why?"

"Because I'm rather sure you will find a match. Whoever this
group is there not the kind of people to leave an agents DNA
laying around for us to find."

"You have a point there." I said.

Sothia nodded, "I'll do that. Also, you do have access to
his records, I had guessed you would want them."

Rachel grinned, "Yes actually, I did."

Sothia returned the grin and walked out of the room. The
instant she did Rachel slumped back down in her chair,
letting out a soft sigh. "This is so strange."

I moved over to her, "What is?"

"Why there are doing this. If Natarn was a agent of the
corruption, which seams likely, why did they put him here.
I mean, we only decided to open Council negotiations with them
six months ago. So why act now? And why like this?"

I was a bit puzzled, once again I was at a lack of
information. "What do you mean exactly?"

She sat back up a bit, "Well, this is the first time sense
we've know the corruption has entered the Council that they
have tried to kill a prospective member. Why do it that way,
why not keep to there usual pattern."

"That being?"

"From what we can tell, bribing them, or there replacements,
and getting them on there side."

I though for a second, "Time."

She blinked, "What?"

"They don't have Time. Convincing the people, or waiting for
them to be replaced takes time. It looks more like they
found someone they either could easily get on there side, or
already is, and is trying to get them on the Council now."

She paled a bit (a good trick with through her fur). "I
think I see what your saying. Whatever there agenda is,
they need it soon, so they can move."

"Right, so the rushing to get more Council members on there
side so they--"

She cut me off, "75 percent. There trying to get 75 percent!"

Again, I didn't know what she meant, "75 percent?"

She nodded, "Yes, 75 percent is the majority vote needed to
do anything major in the Council or the multi-verse."

"You know what that means?" I asked.

She nodded, "They only need a few more..." she trailed off,
a very worried look on her face.

* * *

Three days later, I found my self being awaken from a
strange dream. Opening my eyes I saw Rethin. "Hello." I
muttered.

"The police have found Natarn." He said.

I sat up in the cot I had been using, in the spare office I
had been sleeping in. "That's good." I said rubbing my eyes.

He handed me my jacket, "Rachel has said we are to go see
him, and that you need to put our Matrix back on."

I nodded, muttering the activation command in my watch, as I
pulled my jacket on, squinting my eyes from the light it
caused. "What time is it?"

"About five in the morning. Come on." he was already
heading out of the office. I followed him in the hall,
hopping I didn't look as wasted as I felt.

Following him I dredged over what I had learned over the past
few days. Basically Natarn had only been working in the
building for six months, and on close scrutiny, didn't exist
before then. His DNA, as Rachel had expect, match a murder
victim from six months before. A day or so after the Council
had decided to open negotiations to this for membership. That
one thing had all but confirmed are conclusions.

I followed Rethin out of the building, handing my card out
for a scan, and was lead to a waiting vehicle. Climbing in I
found myself sitting next to Rachel.

"Hi Council Head." I muttered out.

She shook her head, "You look terrible."

"Only a couple hours sleep." I offered as an explanation.

She nodded, "I would think. Find anything new?"

I shook my head, "No. How goes the negotiations?"

She grinned, "The trade deal is almost finished, a few more
hours and Gratin will be the ninety third member of the
council."

"I though there was already 93 members?"

She shook her head, "No. There are only members 92, and
there's me. The other's represent there worlds, I represent
sanity."

I yawned, "Ok." Then watched out the window as parts of the
town flashed past. Sothia and Rethin where in the front.

I leaned forward a bit, and asked. "Is there any normal part
of the police procedure so as to get his DNA?"

"No," Rethin said, sounding a bit gruff, I guess he still
though of me as a child.

"Well, we need a sample."

"Why?" Sothia asked.

"We have the coding of everyone who has access to a control
on file," Rachel said behind me. "We'll run it though and
find out who is his."

I nodded, not wanting to mention the fact that if he was a
natural like me, he wouldn't be on file.

"That's easy then. We'll just prick it from him." Rethin
said.

"For some reason, I doubt he will let you do that." Rachel
said, "Some of are information says that the agents are
implanted with a destabilizer. If he sees a DNA sampler, he
would use it and literally melt in seconds."

I winched, I had seen a destabilizer used once, It was not a
pretty thing.

"So how do you plan on getting it then?" Rethin asked.

I sat back down, "Well," I said, yawning again, "I have a
bit of an idea. First, I'll need someone to show me how to
use one of the samplers."

"Then what?"

I grinned, "We let the fun begin."

* * *

I paced a bit inside the police station. Through the door
next to me Natarn sat, waiting for us.

I scratch my arm, feeling a bit nervous. I had my Matrix
off again, as he had already seen me without it anyways. I
was now just waiting for Rethin to return from getting me a
sampler, then we would both go in.

It was a short wait, as he came in a few moments later.
Handing me the sampler, I cupped it in the palm of my right
hand.

"Ready?" Rethin asked.

I nodded. "I guess."

He nodded back, and opened the door. Stepping inside Natarn
saw me instantly, he grinned. "Well, if he has not returned."
He said sarcastically.

I shook my head, "Nice to see you too."

He leaned back. "Sending a hairless monkey to catch me. What
an appropriate choice."

"It worked didn't it?"

He nodded, "Yes, my superiors were surprised you came at all,
though they found it interesting that this is the second
plan of ours you fucked up."

"Yes, I know."

He laughed, "They should have listen to us, and let you die.
But no, that little jerk has to have initiative."

I walked over to him, and placed my right hand on his
shoulder. Activation the sampler, I also squeezed hard,
hopping to mask the feel of it. "What do you mean?"

"That little ass is the only reason why your here. If he
hadn't spoken up about letting you stay you would still be
back on your little planet, not ever knowing."

I sighed, and turned away, pulling the sampler off his
shoulder. After a few paces I turned back around and looked
at him. Holding my right hand behind my back, I held the
sampler between my fingers. Rethin took it.

Reaching forward to crack my knuckles I asked, "Who are you?"

"No why would I tell you that?" was his reply.

"Ok then, why not confirm what we know, and tell us why
you're here."

He gave me a hate filled grin, "Because of you."

This gave me a start. "How do you mean, because of me?"

"Your little trip to Catarn. If you had left well enough
alone we could have keep to are schedule. But no, who had to
fuck it all up."

I leaned forward, "You mean whatever your labs where making,
I revealed it, so you destroyed the whole planet to keep it
secret!"

He nodded. "Right..." He said it in such away that he could
mean anything, or nothing.

I sighed, and turned to Rethin, "I guess we can't get
anything new out of him. Lets go."

As Rethin knocked on the door, Natarn called out, "Fox."

I turned, "What?"

"You can't stop us, and if you keep trying we'll take
everything you love from you."

I shook my head, and left the room. I may have not had any
answers, but I did have his DNA.

* * *

About twelve hours later, I sitting in Sothia's office.
Rachel was with me, and looking happy about herself. The
final deals had been made and Gratin had joined the Council.
Sothia was going to go back with us to get a crash course in
the multi-verse, and also get her implants and a controller.

Rethin came into the office, holding a data crystal. "The
DNA scan." he explained, handing it to Sothia.

Setting down he said, "I also have some bad news. Natarn is
dead. Apparently he used that destabilizer you mentioned."

I nodded, I had expected as much, and from the look at
Rachel's muzzle, so had she.

"Interesting," Sothia said as she read what her computer was
showing her.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Well... According to this Natarn had only had three helixes
in his DNA, not the normal four."

I shrugged, "So what I have 2."

"Five myself." Rachel said, grinning a bit. "But that just
confirms he was planted here."

Sothia nodded. The standing up, she shut off her computer.
Walking around the desk, she handed the data crystal to
Rachel.

"Rethin, your in charge here until I get back." She said.

He gave a nod, grinning himself.

Rachel moved behind Sothia and hook an ear piece over each
ear. "This is only temporary, will get you implants when we
reach Prid."

"What are they for?" She asked.

"Living, when you go through the fold." Rachel said.

That wasn't a bad joke. The folds are basically weakness in
the universe, when one is opened you're ripping a hole in the
universe. When you go through a fold, you get all of the
pain from that pressed into your mind.

This means that if you go through unprotected you would come
out brain dead or, more likely, with out a head at all. The
ear pieces, and later the implants, block this out. As a
natural I have a natural resistance to it. The side effect of
this is that I'm telepaticly dead.

Sothia nodded, making sure they where on tight. "Well then,
lets go."

* * *

I was laying on the couch, relaxing a bit, when Fox came
through the front door.

He looked over at me, "Hi." He said.

I jumped from the couch, and ran over to him, hugging him.
"Fox!! You wouldn't believe what I found!"

He pushed out of my hug, and said, "What?"

I grabbed his hand, and pulled him over to the wall I had
first found. "This" I said, as I hit the panel.

He was startled as he saw the wall descend into the floor.
"What that?"

I grinned, "There's one in both of are bedrooms. Come on."
Grabbing his hand I pulled him down the steps, and into the
small room at the bottom.

"What is this place?"

Hitting the switch on the floor, I grinned, "You'll see."

Into the hallway we went, and into the elevator. He looked a
bit panicked as it started to descend.

He calmed down a bit as he saw the large cave spread out
under us.

"Wow." he said.

"That's not what I really want you to see." I said, as the
elevator stop. I headed for the small room in the corner.
Going inside, he looked over the mess. "Is this Ted's
stuff?"

I shook my head, and pointed to the picture on the dresser.
Walking over to it, he picked it up and looked at it. Seeing
who it was, his hand started to shake.

The picture, as I knew, as of two people. One of the two was
Fox.

"Becky." Fox said, naming the other.