Just as the neolion leapt rounds slammed into his chest, throat, and shoulder, hurling him to the side and off his attack. He fell onto his side and struggled to get up, weakly kicking his leg and clawing his way to Nohar.
The Neo deputy Bullet stepped over the fallen Tiger and angled his pistol down. He squeezed the trigger, killing the second neolion and saving Nohar. The round entered between the eyes, snuffing the life out of the neolion in an instant.
Bullet turned looking down at Nohar. “Hey there, didn't see you,” he said in amusement. “In here Phantom!” he barked. Nohar winced, ears still ringing from the gunshot.
Bullet's practiced eyes scanned the area. They found the fallen human remains and he winced. “Damn,” he muttered. He spotted the remains of a few other bodies and growled. “But not in vain,” he murmured just as Phantom arrived as back up. “Took you long enough,” he growled to the muck splattered white wolf.
“Got lost,” the Neo wolf said, dropping to his knees and immediately applying a tourniquet to the tiger. “You are going to lose the leg,” he warned.
“You got lost? You got lost? A game warden got lost?” Bullet teased. His eyes roved the area in case of any other attackers, but they then strayed to the tiger's mangled leg. He took it in for a long moment and then looked away. His eyes caught the pathetic human corpse and he closed his eyes in pain. Yeah, they'd gotten lost. Lost but now found... but a little late.
“Yeah, that sucks,” he growled just as Nohar drifted into unconsciousness.
...*...*...*...*...
Nohar knew he was badly chewed up, scarred by the claws and teeth, and his bitten leg... Anyone else would of drifted into a pain filled doze from the loss of blood, but he was just too stubborn. Either that or his implants were forcing him to a semblance of an alert status. He saw flashes of light and felt jostling as someone pulled him out of a vehicle. There was a brief sight of the night sky and then the bright lights of a building interior. He closed his eyes for a moment and squinted. He blearily cracked his eyelid open to see a human medic leaning over him warily.
“Are you sure he's not one too?”
“No, he's one of us,” A familiar voice said.
“Umph,” Nohar grumbled.
“Shit he's awake!” the human said, scrambling back.
“So?” Bullet asked, coming into his field of vision. His camera eye was on the fritz Nohar realized. He reached for it but his arm flopped uselessly.
“That one of Hank McCoy's jobs?” a female voice asked, coming over and snapping gloves onto her hands. “So what do we have?” she asked.
“Mph, sleeper,” Nohar mumbled.
“He's a sleeper doctor,” Bullet said, “Military.”
“Shit. So we've got to be careful poking and prodding. Let's get the wounds under control, we don't have any feline donor blood on hand,” the woman said. She looked up and passed orders to nurses and other medics outside his vision. He could barely hear them, he felt light headed from the lack of blood. At this rate if they didn't do something soon an air embolism could kill him. Or his heart would deflate from lack of blood. Either could kill him so they'd better start doing something, he thought feeling like he was floating.
“Can you hear me?” she asked. Nohar grunted. Morphine, he realized, that was why he didn't hurt so much. Either that or his implants, he wasn't sure. Either way he was grateful. He heard someone call the woman Director, and another called her Richards. He filed that tidbit away tiredly.
“I'd ask you to stay awake but I don't want you thrashing around and clawing my medics when we work on your leg.”
“Is okay,” Nohar mumbled. “I can knock myself out,” he said moving his head slightly.
“You can?” the woman asked, clearly amused. She had brown hair and smelled of jasmine. She was an older woman, but obviously experienced. Nohar grunted, trusting in her hands.
“You'll be fine,” the woman said, leaning over him. “We'll take good care of you,” she said as someone or something pricked his good arm. He turned his head to see the paramedic sticking him with a saline IV. He grunted and then sent a signal to his implants to put him under. After a moment he was out.
...*...*...*...*...
A familiar smell of antiseptics woke him an in-determinant time later. His nostrils flared and then he coughed. “I hate hospitals,” he mumbled, left hand reaching up to wipe at his good eye. It was all gummy and trying to leak from the strong smell. From the feel of his body he'd gone twenty rounds, but it must have been a day or two since it'd happen. He still felt like raw meat, but not like dead raw meat.
“Well, sorry to hear, that,” a female voice said. He opened his eyes to see a brown haired female, most likely a doctor or nurse standing over him. She had a white jacket on, a doctor he thought. Nurses wore those goofy Victorian dresses and aprons, he thought. She had Richards embroidered in purple or black thread on her left lapel. He snorted and then sneezed at the smell. “Sorry doc,” his hand slipped to cover his nose. It was beginning to run. “It's just the smell...”
“Antiseptics?” she asked. He nodded and growled softly, ear flicking. He was rapidly regaining his equilibrium, but he still felt like a chew toy. His fingers felt the scabs on his nose and muzzle. Probably looked like one too, he thought, hand dropping with a sigh. He looked over to see an IV drip attached to the hand. He snorted.
“Yes, I know, sorry, we had to shave the area to put the IV in and tape it down,” Helen replied, checking his vitals.
“It's okay, it'll grow back,” he mumbled.
“Possibly. Can you tell me your age, I can't tell from this side,” she said. She poked at his titanium canine. He snorted. “From the look of you I'd say you are an off worlder. Judging by the 501st ranger tattoo I'd say you are a sleeper.”
“Quite observant doc,” Nohar sighed, rubbing his brow.
“Headache?” she asked with a thread of concern laced into her professional voice.
“No, not yet, thankfully, but I'll get one soon if someone doesn't open a window,” he growled. She snorted and took the hint. After a moment he heard her crack a window. He opened an eye to see the breeze flutter some lacy white curtains. “Thanks,” he said.
“You're welcome,” she said. “So, I was in town for a conference and they called me in since I'm the closest to an expert on Neo surgery there is around here,” she said.
“I'd hope so Director,” he said, finally putting the name and role together.
“Oh, so you've heard of me?” she asked, smiling a tight lipped smile. She checked something off on a clipboard. “Cognitive functions, check.”
“Cute doc,” he growled. He waved a hand. “Motor skills check,” he moved his left foot and wiggled his toes. She snorted.
“Don't claw the sheets,” she urged.
“Not to worry. Unlike Terran big cats we Neo's have retractable claws,” he said.
“Ah,” she said nodding. “I hadn't known that. Just the same...”
“I'll be careful,” he said. She snorted. She looked at the clipboard, noting his vitals.
After a long awkward moment he sighed. “Doc, what's the breakage?” he asked. He was fairly certain the human PI Magnum was dead. No one could survive that.
“Um, some damage to your arm, epidermis, you've lost some fur... the leg...” she indicated each with her pen. He growled, getting her to stop.
“No Doctor. Fall out. How... did Magnum...”
She shook her head sadly. He chuffed a sigh. “And the crap from the people?” he asked bitterly.
“Well, Magnum is being credited as a hero.”
“He should be. He earned it. Stupid, but he earned it,” Nohar sighed.
“I take it things didn't happen the way I heard?”
“Depends on what you heard. I'm guessing I'm not under arrest,” he said making a show of indicating no restraints on his wrists.
“Yes, there are some detectives waiting to ask a lot of questions,” Helen said with a frown. “I'm not
allowing visitors for some time,” she said.
“Thank you doctor,” he sighed in relief. “I'll set the record straight, not that they'll believe me,” he growled. “They never do, even with my video recording,” he said, pointing to his right eye.
She looked at it, peered into it and murmured softly about connecting tissue to implants. He snorted softly, getting quite a look down her front. He wasn't into humans though so turned his head away. He felt her gentle fingers trace the side of the eye implant and then down, feeling the wiring embedded under his skin.
“That's the power cord doc,” he murmured.
“It is? Oh.” After a moment, her fingers traced his right arm and then stopped. She pulled a stool up and sat. “Why don't you tell me about what happened?” she asked.
He glanced at her and then shrugged. He laid it out, the entire thing. When he was finished she tapped her chin with the end of the pen. “I see that article has to be rewritten,” she murmured. “I'll call Jerry. He'll set the record straight,” she said softly.
“Don't bother doc, it'll still get mangled. Besides, we took care of it,” Nohar said looking away.
Helen patted him on his artificial arm. He turned to her. “and sadly they won't acknowledge that we humans also do these terrible things. We've been doing them for thousands of years before you were uplifted, and most likely for thousands of years from now. A never ending cycle.”
“True doctor. It's sad but a part of nature.”
She nodded sagely. “Humans tend to think they are above or outside nature. They don't understand that they are a part of the cycle of life too. We strive to be better than our basic savage nature, we humans think we are above and beyond that, but it only takes a little bit to push us over the edge again. The Xeno war for instance. We... I know it's a slippery slope into savage madness if we don't keep a clear head. It's a constant struggle.” She eyed him. “For you Neo's as well, perhaps even more so.” He nodded.
“I'm sorry about the leg,” she said, indicating his lost right leg. She apologized for the leg? He looked down and scowled bleak. She sighed. “I couldn't do anything with it. It was too mangled. It was hanging by a thread and blood loss...”
“You're lucky she was here at all. Doctor Richards is one of the finest surgeons on the planet,” a nurse said from the open door. Doctor Richards looked towards her. Nohar grunted as the woman indicated she could leave with a head jerk. He could hear the nurse leave.
“We have a prosthetic. It's not as good as...” Richards indicated his right arm, eye, and ear. “But...”
“Sleeper, I get it. I'll see if Hank can fix me up.”
“Oh, you know Hank?” Helen asked, lips puckering again in amusement. Nohar flicked his ears in humor. “Ah well, he's a good man. Neolion. Whatever.”
“I know what you mean doctor,” he murmured. She blushed.
“You are lucky you had so many implants and such a strong constitution,” Helen said, indicating his artificial ribs and other work. He grunted.
“Just as long as the all important stuff is still there,” he said, making a show of peeking under the sheet. Helen snickered, shaking her head.
“Men,” she laughed, shaking her head, when he pretended relief and wiped his brow as the sheet settled once more. He wasn't quite pretending she thought, amused at him. “I can have someone look into some cosmetic work if you'd like...” she said. He shook his head and flicked his ears no. She sighed and nodded.
“The scars will heal in time. In fact they are already healing. I'm leaving some of the ones I didn't have to stitch up open so the air can heal them faster.”
“Thanks doctor,” Nohar replied.
“We have a prosthetic leg. I'm sorry, but due to your size and well...” She indicated his body. “We had to use a piece of a bent carriage spring for the, um, foot,” she said. He nodded glancing at the thing next to his bed. “It's adjustable.
“What about the bill?” he asked.
She frowned. “It's substantial, but well, you did a service for the community so you'll get my hero discount. Just don't go abusing it or you'll get the stupid hero charge.”
“Stupid hero charge?” Nohar asked. “Dare I ask?” he asked, flicking an ear to her.
She smiled again. “Yes, then I charge double since I've have to do the job twice,” she said patting his shoulder. He chuffed, laying back. “Seriously...”
“I'm okay doctor,” he said looking at his body. Most of the claw marks weren't that deep, he'd heal fast enough. “I just need to get up...” he said. He struggled to get up but she pushed him back down.
“Rest,” she ordered.
“Yeah, but um...”
“I said rest,” she said more firmly.
“But um...”
“Stay!” she said pointing a finger at him. His ears went flat.
“I'm not a dog doc,” he growled. She smiled slightly. He noted she was visibly trying to cover her teeth when she smiled. Good for her, at least she knew some Neo etiquette. “Doc...”
“Yes?” she asked with a hint of exasperation in her voice.
“Seriously, I need to get up. I gotta um...” he indicated his privates. She looked down and then snorted. “Oh.” She turned from left to right and then found a bed pan on a shelf nearby. Beside it was one designed for male needs. She took it down and handed it to him and turned her back.
“Um...”
“I'll go check your chart. I must admit, I'd love to study your arm and implants, they are quite fascinating,” she said. “But, I think I'll check with Hank.”
“He probably has the specs ma'am. He's the best on the planet,” he said, lifting the sheet up.
“Fine,” she glanced back, saw what he was doing and then coughed delicately. “I'll, um, be doing my rounds. Don't harass my nurses or they'll shave you.”
“I'll behave doc,” he said.
“That'd be a first,” Helen said from the hall as she exited. Nohar snorted and did his rather urgent business. When he was relieved he put the rather full jug onto the table next to his bed and then laid back, now tired. “Now, it'd be nice for a couple feline nurses,” he murmured, feeling sleepy. He let himself slip into a doze.
...*...*...*...*...
“So, do you have any ideas what brought this on? This killing spree?” Bullet asked him as he sat in the wheel chair. He'd tried to get up and walk on the new leg, but it chafed at the still healing flesh. The doctor had told him to take it easy and let the swelling go down before he tried again. He'd had enough of hospital food and smells. He'd been in hospitals far too often in his life. A week here and he was ready to climb the walls... or at least claw the curtains to shreds.
“Um...”
“Come on, you the expert and all,” Bullet teased. Nohar looked up at him and then to the white Neowolf. He snorted.
“Just because I'm from a different time,” he sighed. He was going to have a hell of a time getting any more creds out of Solaximara. The damn red cat was balking already, lovingly pointing out he'd dropped the contract before Nohar had taken himself off to Crater city.
“The humans would have you think it's our primitive minds, that the lions killed cubs to bring the females into heat. That may have been how it started, but it wasn't the only driving force here.”
“True.”
“I think, if the people in Ring City, the Neo's I mean, had they been honest and not closed ranks, we might of seen this. I'm betting the hopelessness of their situation, and the possibility that their mother was a prostitute. That can scar a cub.”
“Possible.”
“I'm fairly certain the twins did an act. I didn't get much from the Neo's in Ring City, they didn't want to talk about it, but I'm wondering if the two played a swap game. Where one would be in the public, then swap places.”
“Possible.”
“It would explain how effective they were in the kill. That otter incident for example one drew us off as a distraction while the other cut the otters apar
t.”
Phantom nodded. “You hit em high, I'll hit em low,” he murmured.
“Exactly,” Bullet replied.
“The twins probably got into killing. Hunting rats and other animals to eat. A lack of empathy towards them and towards themselves,” Nohar murmured softly.
“Possibly,” Phantom replied, equally subdued. “You get what you put into a child. If the mother was like you said...”
“We may never know that for sure,” Bullet warned.
“I've seen enough in my life to see the signs. But unfortunately some turn a blind eye to it until it's too late. But then...” he scowled, ears flat. He took a deep breath and turned to the Neo dog and wolf.
“But some are just bad. In the wild usually it's due to injury, these two just liked the killing too much, they got off on it. The blood lust, I think it came to that. And when it kept going and no one stopped them they thought they were invincible. They recognized that the community was turning a blind eye to the problem, that some didn't care. So they used that.”
“I don't think we'll ever know all the reasons,” Bullet murmured.
“No, but some can learn from it. Learn to see the signs, to put in preventive measures. I don't ever want this to happen again,” Nohar vowed, thinking of young Rajar. He owed the kit his time. Perhaps that was a part of it, a part of the prevention, giving the kits time. We're all so busy, caught up in our own lives, we just don't seem to care, he thought. Not about the little things, he thought, turning away.
“Well, Magnum's red air car has been repo'd by the rental agency. Since it's one of 3 on the planet they'd kept track of it. My boss tried to hang onto it, but that didn't work out.”
“It figures,” Phantom grumbled. “My boss could use the thing too,” he said.
“Yeah well, I think with so many people trying to take it someone got cute and boosted it. Bribed the damn impound yard guard. Or so the sheriff was saying,” Bullet said flicking his ears in amusement.
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