by Robin Roseau
“Maybe this group,” Karen said, “Is set to secure an LZ.” She tapped the athletic field. “They may intend to breach with only nine people.” She tapped the other group.
“I don’t care how well they’re armed,” Eric said. “Any one of us can take nine alone. Even the fox.”
There were chuckles at that, which I thought was unkind. Little did I know.
“No show boating,” Elisabeth said. “I mean it.”
“Of course, Head Enforcer,” Eric said. “I was only pointing out the foolish nature of the plan.”
“If we were what we appear to be,” Lara pointed out, “A large clan of unarmed humans, nine heavily armed mercenaries would have us cowed.”
“They have to know,” Eric said. “How can anyone go against us and not know? What’s the point?”
Everyone looked around. No one had an answer.
“Right,” said Elisabeth. “Michaela, how far away would you hear a helicopter?”
“Twin turbine engines?” she said. “Miles, Elisabeth. Miles. If it’s in the air.”
“Even if it’s over a hill?”
“Two miles minimum,” Michaela said. “If it’s on the ground at an idle, and there isn’t interference, at least a mile, and longer if there aren’t obstructions. But I need to be outside.”
“How about the roof?”
“Yeah, that would work,” she replied.
“All right,” Elisabeth said. “We’re going to give them a chance to show their true colors, but we need to find out if they have air support. Eric, I wish Gia were here.”
“Damn it, Elisabeth. I want a shot at them!”
“You’re on the computers.” She stepped over to a cupboard in the corner and opened it. She pulled out a headset and gave it to Eric. He set it in place and plugged it into the computer. Then she withdrew more and handed them out. I didn’t get one. Then I realized she was giving them only to the people who shifted instantly.
“You want me in fur?”
“Yes. Slow shifters, start now. Portia, get your gear. Take the inside ladder to the roof.”
“Damn it!” Michaela said. “We’re going to have to reshingle. Let’s go, Portia.”
I began my shift. Several people, including Portia, Michaela, Angel, and Deirdre, left. Karen, Elisabeth, and the others talked strategy while Rory and I shifted into fur.
I finished before Rory did, stood, and stretched. Elisabeth turned to me. “Did you hear everything?”
I huffed, as best I could.
“Michaela reports no air support, as best she can tell. The east group is moving to cover the bunkhouses and road out. Bad plan. We’re going to move out the back and give the west group a chance to show their colors.”
Elisabeth, with Lara beside her, led the way from the command room, the rest of us following in her wake. I was glad to be in fur climbing the stairs, and then we quietly moved to the kitchen. When we arrived, Portia and Michaela were waiting.
“Head Enforcer,” Michaela said. “I have a plan.”
“No.”
“Let’s see if they know what we are.”
“No.”
“I’m going to step outside and sniff around.”
“In fur.”
“Yep.”
“Michaela, you aren’t going anywhere.”
“They’re nearly to the field. It’s two hundred yards.”
“That’s nothing.”
“Let them see me,” she said. “Their response will tell us everything we need to know.”
Elisabeth paused then looked at Lara. Lara said nothing, and Elisabeth turned back to Michaela. “Will you obey orders?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“If I weren’t going to obey, I’d be out there already.”
“You’ll go to the corner.” She pointed. “You’ll sniff around. You won’t go meet them in the field. You won’t go skulking. If I call you back, you’ll come back.”
“Give me a headset after I shift,” she said. “One ear only. And get one on Anna and Rory, too. Elisabeth, I’ll follow orders.”
Elisabeth nodded. She’d come prepared and handed something to Lara and Serena, and then she moved to me and knelt down. I held still while she fit the headset in place. “Eric,” she said after a moment. “Say something.”
“Something,” came Eric’s voice in my ear.
“Did you hear that, Anna?”
I chuffed quietly.
“Group 1 is a minute from the field,” Eric whispered. “Group 2 can probably see the back of the bunk houses. They’re settling in.” He paused. “I see something that looks like a rifle. A small rifle.”
“Michaela,” Elisabeth said, “To the corner of the house. Let group 1 see you.”
Michaela chuffed. Portia opened the door a crack, and Michaela slipped out. Portia left the door open, looking out towards her alpha. The rest of us waited, hiding in the shadows of the house.
“I see the fox,” Eric said. “She’s slinking along the foundation. Poking her nose around the corner. No reaction from anyone yet.” We waited, and then Eric said, “Group 1 has reached the field. They paused. Wait, I have audio. It’s muffled.”
Then, overlaid, I heard talking. It was hard to understand.
“They’re moving,” Eric said. “Stepping into the field. Idiots. We could just have put Portia and Karen on the roof with rifles. Half of them would already be dead.”
“Save the commentary,” Elisabeth directed. “Michaela, act like a fox. Or a dog out for a little late night potty break.”
“Michaela is moving,” Eric said. “Stepping out. Moving south. Ten fox steps from the house.” He paused. “They stopped.”
“Dog,” I heard, a male voice I didn’t recognize.
“Small dog,” someone else said. “We’re supposed to catch the small dogs. Why the hell does someone want small dogs?”
“Show dogs?” said a third voice. “They’re paying. What do we care?”
From around me, I heard several people begin to growl, but Elisabeth snapped, “Quiet.”
“Range?” one of the men asked.
“120.”
“Try it.”
“Shit,” said Eric. “Michaela, one of them is aiming a rifle!”
A second later there was a yelp from outside!
“God damn it!” Eric yelled.
Two seconds later, Michaela was back in the house. She made a clean leap onto the counter and dropped something from her mouth. A second later she was crouching on the counter as a human. “Tranquilizer,” she said.
“Michaela, can you counteract it?”
“Oh, please,” she said. “I had to leap to catch it. Lara, I want them, and I don’t care how much they scream.”
There was a half second pause, and then Lara said, “Head Enforcer, you heard her.”
“Portia, Karen. Are you better equipped to handle this?”
“Frankly, Head Enforcer,” Karen said. “Yes.”
“Take over.”
“Portia,” Karen said. “Team one. Who do you want?”
“You’ve got the ones hunkered down. Give me Anna, Angel, and Rory.”
“The rest with me,” Karen said. “Yours are further, Portia.”
“I want to come at them from behind, but if they rush the house, we’ll have to change our plan. Give me a headset after I shift.”
“They’re moving forward, cautiously,” Eric said. “You’ve got maybe three minutes.”
“Anna, can you keep up?”
I chuffed.
“We’ll circle, come at them from behind. If we get there ahead, we can slink forward, but it might be a mad rush.”
She didn’t have to worry about me.
“Anna, if we slink forward, you and Angel will take the right flank. Rory and I the left. Angel, let Anna lead until contact. Rory, I will lead. If we have to rush, Anna and I will attack the center and split apart, Anna right, me left. Rory and Angel to come at the sides.”
&n
bsp; “Got it,” Angel and Rory said. The three stripped from their clothing and shifted to fur 15 seconds later. It took a moment for Karen to outfit Portia with a headset, and then we were out the door. We turned left, away from the barracks, and then we were running.
The wolves were fast, and I knew I couldn’t keep up this pace all day, but I’d only need to run a few hundred yards. No problem at all.
We circled all the way around. Eric kept everyone up to date now on what both mercenary groups were doing as well as each of our groups. Karen took her entire force, including Michaela back on two feet, into the woods, intending to come up behind the other mercenaries as they watched the empty barracks.
Portia led us around to the far side of the athletic field. We came to a stop, just inside the trees.
“Portia,” Eric said. “They’re fifty yards from the lodge and spreading out. If you want to catch them in the open, you do not have time for a foxy stalk, but you have a minute or two.”
Portia turned to me and then pointed to the fight with her nose. I chuffed and began moving through the grass, my stomach low. I could move quickly this way, and thought it would be enough.
“Group 2 is still waiting,” Eric said. “Group 1 paused, but they’re focused on the lodge. Anna, you’re not keeping up with Portia.”
I picked up my speed, Angel traveling in my wake. She was making too much noise, so I turned to her and lifted a paw. She came to a stop, and I pointed to the ground with a paw.
Angel whined, very quietly, but then chuffed, just as quietly.
I turned and began moving silently, but as fast as a were jaguar could move while silent.
“Oh god, Anna. You’re a streak.”
I closed to within thirty yards and dropped to the ground, just off the right flank of the rightmost member of group 1. They were creeping slowly, their weapons out.
“Anna is in place,” Eric said. “Portia is in place. Angel held back. Oh, she’s moving like the fox. Um. Group 2 is moving. Group 2 is moving.”
I coiled and sprang.
“Anna!” Eric yelled. “Portia, go, go, go!”
My target never heard me. I landed with my front paws on his shoulders, my four hundred pounds following along behind. I thought it likely I killed him, but I didn’t care. We went down, and I slashed with a paw, hooking his weapon and sending it flying away. Then I leapt again.
I heard snarling from Portia and Rory.
My second target heard me with the first. He was turning to me, but I came in low, barreling into him and sending him flying, but I kept the gun. He screamed, and I would discover later I broke both his legs and one of his hands, and he would dislocate a shoulder when he landed.
The third one got a random shot off. I had no idea where it went, but I ripped his gun away and then smacked him across the side of the head with a paw.
Angel ruined my fun. She got the fourth.
I got the fifth. By the time I stood over that one, Portia and Rory had the rest.
But I lost my headset, and so I didn’t learn what happened to the other group until a while later. We did hear sporadic but very brief gunfire, and a half-minute later, Lara howled, then cut off.
Our men were screaming, babbling, clutching at body parts. Several weren’t moving. The four of us stood over them. I roared in the face of one, who proceeded to piss himself. From the smell, he wasn’t the only one.
Portia shifted back to skin.
“What the fuck?” One screamed. “What the fuck? What the fuck?”
“All of you, on your stomachs, arms and legs spread,” Portia ordered. “Now! Or die.”
Two rolled over. Two sat on their asses and tried to scramble away. I leapt at one and landed with my claws buried in both feet. Now he really had a reason to scream. Then I bent down, wrapped my mouth around his leg, and flipped him on his stomach.
I wasn’t the only one moving. Rory and Angel were both standing over two men, snarling viciously.
Mine tried to get away. I pounced again and pinned him to the ground with my jaws around the back of his neck. He began crying.
“Cat!” Portia yelled. “Don’t kill him if you don’t have to. You. That’s a jaguar. She can bite your head right off. Spread your arms and legs as wide as you can, and if you move again, you aren’t going to like it.”
I waited until he spread, crying, “Don’t bite. Nice kitty. Don’t bite. Don’t bite.”
It took a minute before we had them arranged the way we wanted, Angel, Rory and I prowling around them. One began reaching for his waist, and I was on him before he could get whatever he was after. I knocked the wind from him but didn’t kill him. Pity.
“Hold him, Cat,” Portia ordered. “You two, watch the others. Cat, if I scream, kill that one and any others that are moving.”
I roared into the back of this one’s neck. He hadn’t wet himself, but he did then, and I imagined his hearing was shot as well.
Portia moved over and began divesting him of all his equipment. It took time, and I had no idea what half of it was.
“Cat, it’s too much work to pull off the body armor. Can you shred the straps?”
Gladly, I thought. I lifted my mouth from the back of his throat but pushed on the back of his head with a paw, letting him know I was still there. Then I went to work on his armor. It was actually a little work, but I managed to shred it enough Portia could strip it from him.
“Now his clothing.”
That was more fun. I ripped the back of his shirt. Then I turned around, sat on him, and went to work on his pants. Portia pulled everything away, and we left him buck naked on the ground.
Then Portia kicked him in the side. “Move, and the cat isn’t going to kill you. She’s going to take your leg off at the knee. Cat, that one next.” She pointed.
We were on the third when Portia screamed, “Cat!”
I snapped the man’s neck, lifted my head, and pounced. A shot rang out, and Angel screamed, but I came down on the back of the man who had fired, breaking his back. He went limp, but I was too enraged to realize I’d probably already killed him. I nearly took his head off when I bit into his skull, treating him like prey.
“Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” I heard from more of the men.
“That man is responsible for two deaths,” Portia said. “Angel?”
Angel whined and moved towards Portia. I climbed from the dead man and roared at the rest. From the other end of the row, Rory snarled.
Angel lay down on her side and shifted. When she came up, she was holding her side. Portia knelt down and pushed Angel onto her back. “I can’t tell, but it looks like it bounced off a rib. Angel, if you shift a few more times, it will heal, but if it’s lodged in there, we’re going to have to go digging for it.”
“It stings,” she said. But then she began prodding at her own side, wincing. “I don’t feel anything though.” She paused. “Fucker.”
“They probably have first aid kits,” Portia said. “Find one.”
“I’m fine. Let’s get the rest of them stripped. It’s not silver, so even if it’s still there, I’ll be good for ten or fifteen minutes.”
“All right. Help me with them then.” She stood up. “Any of the rest of you ready to go up against a jaguar and four werewolves? Just try it. Cat, if I scream, don’t kill anyone. Cripple them.
I roared.
The remaining mercenaries became very meek after that. Portia and Angel got them stripped of gear, and then Angel went through their gear. “I think this is a first aid kit,” Angel said. “And what are these?”
“Ah, perfect. Those first.”
A minute later Rory and I were able to relax, as Angel and Portia got the men, even the corpses, bound in sturdy zip ties, ankles and wrists both.
“I lost my headset,” Portia said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I see it,” Angel said. She moved over, finding not Portia’s, but mine. She handed it to Portia then sat down and opened the first aid kit. Port
ia got the headset in place and began talking quietly.
After a moment, Portia said, “Group 2 is also secured. Elisabeth got winged, but it was in and out. She shifted a couple of times. Angel, no shifting until we’ve seen that in light.”
“Yes, Portia. Fucker.”
“The alphas want a count,” Portia said. Four of the men were clearly alive. Portia went between the remaining five then stood and said, “Four dead. One unconscious. Four blabbering. They’re sending help.”
Help came in the form of an SUV towing a flatbed trailer. Karen and Lara hopped out, moved to the pile of gear, and tossed it onto the flatbed. They drove away, were gone about a minute, then came back.
We tossed all the mercenaries onto the trailer. Lara took a look at Angel for a moment. “It looks clean, but let’s get you inside.”
Black Hawk Down
We dragged everyone inside, even the bodies, plopping all of them onto tarps spread on the floor. I stood over the men, and when one shifted, I sprang on him and wrapped my mouth around his leg.
“Cat,” Portia said. “Wait.”
“Please don’t,” blabbered the man. “Please don’t. Please don’t.”
“Cat,” said Karen, “drag that one over here. Don’t cripple him yet.”
I shifted my hold around his ankle. He began screaming, but I didn’t know what the big deal was. I dragged him across the floor right to Karen’s feet, then let go. He continued to scream.
What a baby.
Karen, now dressed, knelt down, rolled the man over, and yanked his face towards hers. “You fucked with the wrong people.”
“We didn’t know! We didn’t know!”
“You’re going to answer my questions. You pause, and the jaguar is going to rip a foot off. Cat, show him your teeth.”
I opened my mouth. I didn’t roar, but I gave him a good snarl.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” he screamed. “Keep her away from me! What are you people?”
“What were your orders?” Karen demanded. He babbled for a minute, so she grabbed his hair and slapped him, although it didn’t seem that hard. “What are your orders?”
“We were supposed to secure the bunkhouses!” he said.
“What else?”
“That’s it! Secure the bunkhouses.”