“Why do you say that?” Hurranna asked amused, shucking her ruck and then rolling her shoulders.
“I can smell them. It's old and faint, but at least one I don't know and I think Hera sprayed that tree and clawed it over there.” The big white Liger pointed to a tree on the edge of the field.
“Of course they did. Destiny came here remember? We confirmed that already. The Admiral left satellites in orbit and gave the survivors food and gear. The Major got a message from one of them from him. A log.” Jethro snorted. When he had heard that he'd felt an almost orgasmic wave of relief. So, the virus hadn't done the Admiral in! There was still hope after all.
“Hhrrr. but now we know they got here for sure.”
“And they didn't stay. I checked. They went back to Destiny. Something about winter coming. It's spring now,” Jethro said waving to the sky.
“Of course Destiny was here. Destiny was passing through the system on her way back to Pyrax when we jumped in,” Ox rumbled coming up behind them. He squatted in the dust and picked at his ear.
“She was?” Jethro asked turning to the Tauren in surprise.
“Yup. Heard the comm tech talking about it in the off duty bar last night. Scared the bejesus out of each crew. We jumped in and Destiny was about to jump out.”
“Heh. Yeah. That it would.”
“Wait, was the Admiral on board?” Jethro asked, voicing his hope.
“No. He got off somewhere else. Their last stop before turning back. Switched to another freighter. A down on their luck tramp bulk freighter of all things.”
“Crap.”
“I don't blame him for not wanting to come back right away. Hell, for his sake I hope he doesn't for a while. Why should he go back to that snake pit? Ungrateful bastards are getting just what they deserved.”
“Killed the golden goose?”
“Or at least drove it out of town. He'll set up shop somewhere else. Pyrax had its chance. We need to let go of that and concentrate on the mission,” Ox nodded to the forest around them.
“What about the pride members?” Hurranna asked.
“Curious?” Ox asked turning to her. She shrugged.
“They got off in the same place. On the planet apparently.”
“Oh.”
“One of the pride members is here. The cheetah. She's on the other side of the planet running a medical clinic,” Ox said. Sergei blinked at him.
“Cheetahra?”
“Yes. Perhaps you three can visit her before we leave.”
Sergei glanced at Jethro and Hurranna. Hurranna glanced at Jethro and then shrugged. Jethro's ears flicked back and forth in a shrug as well. “Maybe. We'll see. If there is time.”
“Don't tell me we're going to another team portrait?” she sighed. “I think three are enough.” That was one of the first things they had done before the gunny and bear had gone off for a last minute consult with the local authorities.
“What?” Ox asked.
“Recruiting material. They didn't have you do that?” Miles asked. He adjusted his belt and bloused his pants once more.
“Must've missed that.”
“Oh,” Miles snorted. “Probably a good thing. For some reason they passed on my dashing good looks as well.” He smiled his prize fighter battered face. “Just as well.” He put his cover on.
“This new digicam...”
“It's not new.”
“Whatever,” Asazi said testily. “It cloaks?”
“No. It has a limited chameleon ability. Your sensors will send signals to it to adjust to the colors of the environment around you. It will also cover your infrared signature. But it doesn't do that if you’re not wearing it,” Ox said pointing to himself, Chirby, and the neo’s. Each of them were wearing cut down BDUs. The Neo's preferred as much fur as possible. Fur tended to itch when covered in cloth. Only the humans, medic Gusterson, and the gunny were fully clothed.
“It's ten degrees centigrade out, how can you stand it?” Asazi asked. Ox snorted. His breath fogged around him briefly.
“I have no problem. They have fur.” He indicated the others.
“Yeah.” She eyed the others and then shrugged. “Since we're bored.. any word on any Taurens?”
“No. Unfortunately no. Nor any Malekians or Ssislli here either. I didn't think we would get this lucky this close to Pyrax.”
“Well. Keep looking. We all will.” She slapped his arm and then walked off, hands on the rifle strapped to her chest. She turned then nodded to someone behind him. Ox turned.
“So we're going to look into this mess in the back hills here and here, there's been talk about a predator on the loose. Something's preying on live stock and has graduated to people a couple weeks ago,” Valenko said coming up behind them. They turned and came to attention. Letanga dropped out of the tree to land in a crouch and then came to attention. The grizzly nodded.
The gunny came over and handed him a tablet. Valenko glanced at it and nodded. “We're also supposed to scout a couple areas for a possible training base. Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouths shut.”
He shouldered his ruck. “Gear up people. We're getting dropped off at the base of the hills in five. We're meeting a group of locals at the falls in two days.”
...*...*...*...*...
Hurranna picked at her halter top, grimacing. It didn't quite fit right. Her multiple breasts were getting squashed. The middle ones felt like they were in a press. The cool ten or twelve degree centigrade air was doing wonders for her nipples though. They were standing up and out like... She grimaced and shook her head trying to dismiss the thought.
“Just between us girls...” Asazi asked sitting across from her. Hurranna looked up. “I was wondering why you've got um, you know.”
“No I don't know unless you tell me,” Hurranna said looking down to adjust the digicam some more. She was tempted to take the damn thing off, but it gave her breasts support when she moved. Besides, she didn't need the males ogling her. Not that they did. But after being a stripper she wasn't interested in people looking at her in that way anymore. Besides; her team was her family.
“The breasts she means,” Miles said giving Asazi a look.
“Then it isn't exactly between us girls? Well, then again, you may qualify,” Hurranna said. There was a small smattering of chuckles. Miles flicked her the finger then sat back and drank from his coffee cup.
“You want to know what about my breasts?” Hurrann asked. She thought about taping them, then thought about any fur getting on the tape. Pass.
Asazi blushed a little and then shrugged. “Well, why, I mean, why are they up on your chest instead of down low.”
“You mean why I've got real breasts and not udders?” Hurranna purred a chuckle. “Ah the wonders of genetic engineering.” She shook her head. “I had this one john who had a fur and mommy fetish. I think our creators had the same thing.”
Miles sputtered his coffee, spraying it all over Ox who snorted. The others chuckled softly as the Tauren pulled out a rag and cleaned himself up. Miles wiped at his mouth with his free hand then flicked droplets onto the bed of the truck. “Cruel.”
“True,” Hurranna said, purring a chuckle. Her ears flicked and her eyes twinkled with humor. “The only reason I remember him so well is because he was a big tipper.”
Even Valenko chuckled at that.
“So you haven't had kids though? Or ah, kits I think you call your babies?”
“Kits. No. If I did I'd really have udders,” Hurranna said rolling her eyes. She framed her boobs with her hands then pretended to swirl them about. “They'd make great weapons though. Bash a guys head in.”
Ox didn't see the humor, but chuckled with the rest of the troop. Sometimes it was best to go along with it. He looked over to the Bear. “I am curious. Have you considered becoming a parent Ensign?”
The bear leaned back, eyes closed. “I am one,” he said softly.
“Oh?” Jethro said looking up from his supposed nap. “And
here the girls were trying to hook you up with the two female brown bears we had in the corps.”
“My daughters,” Valenko said chuffing. He snuffled and rubbed his nose with the back of a paw while the group looked at each other in surprise.
“Your daughters?” Hurranna asked startled.
“Their mother and I got together a couple weeks after I arrived on Anvil. I was the only brown. The others were polar bears,” he shook his head. “I must've gotten damn lucky to have arrived when she was about to go into heat.”
“Yeah,” Sergei rumbled a laugh. “Some would say that.”
“I was hired to work for Mendela the security chief. I was big, young, and strong. Fearless,” he sighed, eying the others with slitted eyes. “Boy I was dumb.”
“Then things haven't changed much,” Chirby said with a chitter of laughter.
“Watch it,” Schultz growled. He wasn't about to put up with insubordination to a superior officer on his watch.
“Sorry. Sorry sir. No offense,” the Veraxin used his lower set of arms to show apology.
“What happened?” Hurranna asked quietly.
The bear opened one eye. “What do you think? Do I have to spell out the birds and the bees to you at this late a date?”
“Lions, Tigers, and Bears oh my?”
“Cute Dorothy,” Jethro gave her a look. “Missing a Leo though.” He shook his head.
“No. It's another reference,” Valenko grunted. “It means that the powers that be were already concerned about us. We eat five times what humans do, and we put out about the same amount of work. I may not need to hibernate, but that doesn't mean I still don't pack on the pounds.”
“Ah.”
“So when she had three cubs instead of the maximum of two...”
“You were forced to choose,” Hurranna asked softly, suddenly feeling sick.
“Yes. Oh I wanted to leave. But she didn't. Not until the cubs were born. But by then it was too late,” he grimaced. “I thought my position would protect them. So did she. We were both wrong.”
“Ouch.”
“So my son died. I tried to be a good father, but she didn't want me around. She blamed me. I couldn't blame her.” He shrugged remembering the accusing eyes with pain. “So I left. I kept sending her the checks though.”
“Oh.”
“Well, at least one of us has had kids,” Jethro sighed.
“What do you mean one?” Chirby chittered. They turned to the Veraxin. “I too have had young. Several. Two have survived to near adulthood.”
“Good for you,” Miles said slapping the Veraxin on the arm. “At least you got to home plate from time to time, I barely ever got around second.”
“Next time try a base hit. In the dark. Or get them really really drunk and try all three,” Asazi said with a laugh.
“Funny. Real funny,” Miles sighed sitting back.
“I thought so,” she grinned, closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall of the truck. As a marine she knew to get as much rest as she could, whenever she could.
...*...*...*...*...
“You folks want some mounts?” the rancher said, coming over to where the team was dropped off. The air cars turned and moved off.
“Cool huh? That Admiral fella sent down stuff for us to fix them,” the man said tipping his hat back. He looked over to Asazi who was busy checking her ruck.
“I'd say you'd need it miss. This areas under some sort of... uh...”
He paused when he saw her pull her side arm, check it, then holster it again. She checked her assault rifle then looked up to him in polite disinterest.
“Um...” The man turned as the last lorry left. As it moved off he caught sight of the Neo's on the other side. “Okay, you don't use animals.” He shook his head.
Valenko came over and held out a mighty paw. The man blinked and then shook it. “You're a Neo right?”
“Last time I checked.”
“We don't get many. In fact last one on the planet died out over two hundred years ago. Most of the others either left or died.” He shook his head. “Disease, regressing, or inbreeding. Take your pick.”
Jethro winced. All three were major sore points with Neo’s. “Well, if it's not Neo’s that rules that out,” he said softly as he turned to the bear. Valenko nodded.
The grizzly grimaced. So much for the easy excuse. But if it wasn't Neo's and it wasn't a local predator, what was it? Human? They'd have to find out. He'd wanted to start at the last crime scene but they had been denied. “So you don't have any like us. Hmmm.”
“Nope,” the rancher spat. “None of them there hilgard raptor things either. Last one was run down in my grand pappy's time.”
“Ah.”
“We've got chimps and gorillas. Them are in the city, what's left of it. Got some come by every now and again. Fewer and fewer every decade though.”
“They are Neo’s as well,” Hurranna said patiently.
“You don't say. Huh. Well don't that beat all.” He shook his head. “You fixin' to go huntin' this thing killing folk around here?”
“Yes. We're also scouting for a training base.”
“Okay. Let see... I tell you what. You bag what evers been killing my kin folk and neighbors and I'll put on the biggest barbeque you ever did see. I'll roast a couple hogs or a whole Neo buffalo,” he blinked as Sergei stood up.
“Someone mention a steak?” the big Liger growled licking his lips.
“Ah, yeah. That'd be me partner. By the look of you, you could eat a whole side of beef. Maybe I'd better toss two Neo buffalo on.” He shook his head. This was getting expensive fast.
“We'll see. Let's not count our steaks until this thing is dead,” Valenko said nodding. He put his cover on and then motioned to the team.
“Nice meeting you sir. We'll be back in a couple days.”
“Looking forward to it pardner.”
“All right people, lets' get our game faces on,” gunny Schultz growled checking each of them over. They nodded and moved to obey.
The gunny had each person check their gear and camouflage. Asazi rubbed her chin, marking her face up with face paint. Hurranna stood back, rubbing her own chin as she crossed her arms holding a can of spray paint. “I feel like a sculpture.” Chirby chittered as Hurranna added a few more touches here and there with the paint.
“Better to look like one than to be one bub,” Sergei growled. His white fur was being tinted with a rub on dye. He shook his head as Ox rubbed dye over his own hide. “Actually you look a bit like a tree.”
Miles was the first to finish painting his face and hands. He went with a simple effect, breaking up the normal shadow lines with slashes across his face. The gunny had him gear up and then jump in place. If anything made a noise they identified it and locked it down with flat black zip ties or digicam riggers tape.
Schultz glanced over to the Liger who had taken a drink and was about to put his canteen back on his belt. “Drink it all and then refill.”
“Crap,” the Liger sighed, going over to a trough. The gunny was right, the canteen did slosh a bit when he moved. He took the cap off and dunked the canteen. The canteen was designed to clean the water it contained, so he wasn't worried about catching anything from the local water supply.
“Stow the stethoscope doc,” Jethro pointed out.
“Huh? Oh. Okay,” Gusterson grimaced as he packed the stethoscope away. He was pretty sure he was in over his head. Join the navy, see the galaxy. When he had joined he'd figured he'd be in a nice clean, warm sickbay somewhere on a ship. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind. He rubbed his beaked muzzle and then tweaked his nose a little. It was nice to be outside though. His ears flicked at the sounds of the animals and rustling leaves.
“Almost finished?” ensign Valenko asked, coming over. Most of the animal sounds quieted when he spoke.
“Just one more sir,” the gunny answered looking up from checking Asazi's paint.
“Who?”
> “You.”
“Oh,” Valenko sighed as the gunny ran him through the check.
“You know the great thing about being a Neo?”
“Fur?”
“Yeah. That and our body shapes don't match normal humans. No offense,” Sergei said, elbowing Miles.
“Some taken,” Miles joked, adjusting his field cap and netting. “Sucks having to cover my neck and shoulders.”
“Biggest thing to give a person away is the head. Most distinctive shape,” the gunny said as he adjusted the bear's shoulder straps and had him bounce.
“Done?” the bear asked. The gunny nodded. “All right then.” Valenko picked up his weapon and attached it to the front straps of his outfit. “Lets move out.” He pointed in the direction of march.
“Head em up and move em out,” the rancher said, waving his hat. They waved and walked on. “Good huntin' ya'll!”
...*...*...*...*...
Two hours after they were dropped off Valenko had them pause on a hill so he could get his bearings and report in.
“So I heard second is going to field test the LAVs. How come we didn't get that?”
“Cause they've got a couple drivers. We've got the recon experts. That was the plan the entire time,” Valenko replied absently, not looking up.
“Oh. Still, it'd be nice tooling around in one right about now.”
“On this terrain? Get real Sergei,” the grizzly said. “Besides, if one of those break down, and I expect they might, I'd hate to have to fix one out here.”
“Or drive one off a cliff or something,” Jethro said coming over to them. “Ensign I'm getting a weird metal reading in that direction.” He nodded his chin, suppressing the urge to point. He ended up doing so anyway with his binoculars.
“Eh?” The bear said looking up and then toward where the panther was pointing with his binoculars. “Downed air car or farm you suppose?”
Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) Page 38