Binding Foxgirls III

by Simon Archer

  “Would you be able to do it?” I asked him. “You won’t get in trouble, I promise you. I’ll make sure of that personally. However, I wouldn’t take any more loads out until we get back to the city if I were you. But you said you don’t make that many trips anymore, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Uh, yeah, if all else fails, I can just say I threw out my back,” Iggy said with a chuckle. “Jami’d buy that excuse any day.”

  “So, will you do it?” I asked, and we were all staring at him now.

  “Well,” he said, scratching his head again. “I guess so. I can manage it, anyway. But is this really all that important? It seems like an awfully big risk just to see a whole lot of nothing on the other continents.”

  “Think about it, Iggy,” I said, realizing I’d have to come up with some kind of excuse to appease the old man. “Achilles Tibor knows that wherever he goes in Termina, we’ll find him. So he thinks by running away to one of the other continents, he’ll escape us. But no one in Termina will sleep well at night until he’s locked up again, even if he isn’t much of a threat to us because he’s acting alone and stupid enough to leave the city. So we have to go after him, we have to find him. Otherwise, faith in TelCorp will plummet, and we won’t be able to get anything done.”

  “So why didn’t ya say that at your press conference?” Iggy asked. “Why not be honest? Why tell everybody that you’re goin’ down into the tunnels?”

  “Well, you know better than anybody how hard this all is to believe,” I reasoned with him. “Look around, Iggy, you’re still struggling with this, and you’ve had most of the day to process it. And you don’t hate us and suspect us of acting in bad faith like so many people in Termina do, right?”

  “‘Course I don’t,” Iggy scoffed. “Those talkin’ heads don’t know what they’re talkin’ about. TelCorp’s done so much for the south side since you got in charge.”

  “Exactly,” I said, nodding and smiling at him again. “But that’s not how a lot of people see it, especially on the north side. So we can’t tell them about this until we get back, and we actually have Achilles Tibor again so that we can prove to them we’re in the right and he’s trying to destroy our home.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Iggy said at long last, nodding slowly. “It’s just so hard to wrap my head around it all, is all.”

  “I know that, Iggy,” I said. “And that’s exactly my point. Now, we should probably get going. And Malthe needs to erase all traces that you stopped here while we’re still in range.”

  “Oh right,” Malthe said, pulling out his E-pad and getting straight to work on that, always the dutiful hacker.

  “Okay, Mr… I mean, Nic,” Iggy said, laughing under his breath. “It’s gonna take me a while to get used to that. Okay, so do you wanna come upfront with me as we leave? The view of the city is to die for the first few miles.”

  “Of course,” I said, nodding to him. “That sounds like an excellent idea. How’s it going, Malthe?”

  “Only one picture so far,” he said, his nose still buried in his E-pad as we all followed Iggy up the narrow wooden path between all the cargo and onto the starboard side of the ship. “I erased it and will keep watching until we’re out of range.”

  “Good,” I said, just as we were reaching the front of the ship. I heard Cindra gasp and then gave a sharp intake of breath myself.

  “Wow,” I said, staring out at the literally breathtaking view as Iggy raised the anchor and got us on our way. “You weren’t kidding, were you, Iggy?”

  The view of the city was spectacular as we rounded the Void and left it and the wider island of Termina behind us. The fluorescent lights that shone throughout the city wafted up to create a kind of glowing sensation around the entirety of the city, up above the skyscrapers and along the shores and beaches.

  It was the most beautiful thing I think I’d ever seen, as the water rippled softly beyond the shore. It was a peaceful night, without a cloud or a raindrop in sight, which was pretty much impossible to find in Termina itself, with all the cloud and light pollution. But out here on the water, I could still look at my city while seeing clear skies and even a star or two up in the atmosphere.

  “I wouldn’t steer you wrong, boy,” Iggy chuckled as he swiveled the wheel around to go around the bend and out into the ocean. Pretty soon, we wouldn’t be able to see Termina or the Void at all anymore.

  “How’s it going, Malthe?” I asked, turning back to the hacker.

  “All wiped clean,” he said, closing his E-pad and putting it back in his jacket pocket. “And I just lost my signal. We’re done. Away from home for the first time in… well, ever.”

  “It’s… weird,” I admitted, shaking my head. “I can’t really wrap my head around not being able to talk to anyone. Get in contact with them whenever I want.”

  “It’s different, all right,” Iggy said, looking back at us with a grin. “You’ll get used to it after a little while, though. It all comes and goes in time.”

  “How d'you get used to it?” I asked him kindly.

  “Well, I’ve been comin’ out here for God knows how long,” Iggy said with a shrug. “My dad was a shipper before me, ya know. But you never quite remember when you leave what it’s like to be cut off from everybody else, ya know? We’re all so connected all the time these days, you feel like you’re missin’ somethin’ when you’re not plugged in anymore.”

  “Yeah, that’s the feeling exactly,” I said, nodding along. “It’s weird. I keep feeling like I want to… need to… reach for my E-pad and get in touch with Semra about TelCorp. But she might as well be a world away now.”

  “Me too,” Clem said, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. “And we just left, too. It’s weird. I don’t know, I just didn’t expect it to feel so weird right away, I guess.”

  “It gets worse before it gets better,” Iggy said helpfully. “But give it a couple of days. Then you’ll be glad for the peace and quiet out here.”

  “Really?” Clem asked incredulously, as if he didn’t quite believe him.

  “Yes, sir!” Iggy cried, holding his hands out to show off the wide-open ocean in front of us, without a light or a continent or another ship in sight. “Just look at her! Ain’t she beautiful? Have you ever seen anything else like it? No, sir, I’d bet not! Not sayin’ you won’t be glad once you get back to civilization, but you’ll enjoy the ride in the in-between times, anyway.”

  “I could get on board with that,” I said, rubbing my stomach as it began to grumble.

  “You all’s hungry?” Iggy asked, looking back at us as if he’d heard my stomach rumbling. “I bet so. You can head down to the cabins if ya like. There are all kinds of food down there, and a little kitchen for you to cook it in. You all are bunkin’ on the left-hand side. The rest’s mine, so leave that for me.”

  “Will you be joining us, Iggy?” Kinley asked him. He shook his head.

  “Ah, I’ll head down in a bit,” he said dismissively. “I like to see my good old ship here out for the first several miles. We’ve been through a lot together, her and I. And I have a feelin’ this one’s gonna be an interesting voyage. So I’m just gonna enjoy the moment for now. I’ll be down in a bit, put her on autopilot then.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kira said, placing a hand on his shoulder kindly as we all turned around to find the cabin he had been talking about.

  “Where is it we’re going again?” Clem hissed as we made our way back through the piles of cargo on the narrow ship. At least it was long, so hopefully, we’d have a fair amount of space in the cabin Iggy had set aside for us.

  “I think it’s down this way,” Cindra said, leading the pack back to the center of the ship where we’d climbed on back at the Void. “Here.” She reached down and pulled on a handle smack dab in the middle of the floor. It opened up a square opening to reveal a set of stairs leading down into the cabin.

  “Good catch,” I told her.

  “Thanks,” she said with a shrug.
“I nearly tripped over it when we got on.”

  “Double good catch, then,” I said, flashing her a grin. She smiled back at me.

  Single file, we all made our way down the rickety wooden stairway.

  “I don’t know,” Clem called out warily as we made our way down. “This whole thing gives me the heebie-jeebies. I don’t like being out here in the middle of the ocean on this tin can.”

  “It’s more like a tree than a tin can,” I laughed.

  “Don’t joke about that,” Clem snapped, and I laughed some more. “It’s just not like any of the boats I’ve been on before.”

  “That’s because it’s not a yacht,” Lin said, and I could practically hear her eyes rolling into the back of her head. We all laughed then, except for Clem.

  “Hey, don’t you tell me you all feel safe on this thing,” he said.

  “It’s a small wooden boat, Clem, not a death trap,” Malthe said. We had all reached the bottom of the stairs by then, which led into a dimly lit hallway, also made of wood.

  “Same difference,” Clem grumbled.

  “Looks sturdy enough to me,” I said, wrapping the palm of my hand against the wall next to me, making a satisfying thumping sound. “See, not hollow or thin at all. It’s old school, sure, and it’s small. And it’s certainly not elegant. But it’s not a death trap.”

  “Well, just you wait until we all find out we have to sleep in the same tiny bed,” Clem grumbled.

  “I don’t think that’s the case,” I said, though I was secretly rather worried about this myself.

  “No, here,” Cindra said, opening a nearby door on the lefthand side of the hallway to reveal a wide-open living room area next to a small kitchen nook and surrounded by three wooden doors. “See, it looks like there are three bedrooms plus the couch.”

  Still skeptical, Clem walked over and opened one of the doors to reveal a small but cozy bedroom.

  “We call it!” Clem cried, throwing one arm up in the air and grabbing Lin’s hand with his other arm.

  “Okay, fine,” I laughed. “But it looks like there’s two more. See? Nothing to worry about.” I swung open the next door to reveal a second, slightly larger bedroom.

  “Ah, dammit,” Clem said, obviously annoyed that he’d chosen the smaller of the two.

  “Alright, I’ll take this one,” I said.

  “Which leaves this one for us,” Cindra grinned, opening the third door to reveal the final, biggest bedroom.

  Clem groaned again.

  “Looks like you spoke too soon, buddy,” I said, elbowing him in the ribs good naturedly, then I realized that Malthe was still left over, “We can switch off if you want.” I gestured between the couch and the room I’d chosen for myself… and whichever foxgirl was staying with me on any given night, that was.

  “Oh, are you kidding?” Malthe asked, giving me a goofy grin and plopping himself down on the couch, spreading his arms wide. “I get the biggest room of all!”

  “I suppose that’s true, on a technicality,” I laughed, looking around at the living room and kitchen. “But you’re going to have to share.”

  “Ah, I’m a good-natured fellow,” he shrugged, still grinning.

  “Something about this room seems… off,” Lin said, looking around the living room area. I followed her gaze and saw she was right, though I couldn’t quite place what was missing. “Oh, I know what it is! There’s no holovision.”

  “Oh yeah,” I said, scratching my head as I peered at the wall across from the couch. “That does feel kind of strange. Though I suppose there wouldn’t be anything to watch out here without a holonet connection.”

  “I still can’t quite wrap my mind around that,” Malthe said, shaking his head as he remained sprawled out across the couch. “I mean, what am I supposed to look at when I’m sitting here!” We all laughed.

  “Well, I suppose we’ll just all have to find some other way to entertain ourselves,” Lin said, rolling her eyes. “Now, who’s up for finding some dinner? I’m starving.”

  “Me too,” Cindra said, crossing over to the kitchen. “I’ll check and see what we have.”

  My stomach grumbled again, and I realized that I hadn’t eaten since the board meeting that morning. And now, the sun was just about getting ready to set. Or at least I thought it was. I glanced over to a nearby window and realized that we were underwater. This should have been obvious, but I’d never been underwater like this before, so it still managed to catch me off guard. I crossed over to the small oval of a window and leaned down to look out at the surrounding sea.

  It was somehow even more wondrous than the view from above. Fish and other sea creatures zoomed past my field of vision. Everything else was a deep blue with a slight green hue to it, not unlike many of the fluorescent lights back home in Termina. But this was all-natural, which made it even more beautiful, somehow. Off in the distance, I squinted and saw what looked to be some kind of shipwreck.

  “Hey, Malthe, am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?” I asked, looking over at my friend, who was still sprawled across the couch, his hands back behind his head in his characteristic lazy position. I pointed out the window. He quickly rose and came to look for himself.

  “Hey, yeah, that looks like an old ship,” he said after studying the scene for a moment. “Cool. It’s got moss and shit on it, too.”

  “What, what are you talking about?” Clem asked, jumping to attention, his leg suddenly perfectly fine now that he was afraid he was missing something. He ran over to stand between Malthe and me at the window.

  “I think it’s a shipwreck,” I said, pointing to show him where to look.

  “Awesome,” he said. “I bet it’s haunted.”

  “Right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’re a binder, Clem, you know as well as I do that spirits cross over to the other realm when they’re done with the physical world.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you always have to ruin the fun,” Clem said, giving me an annoyed look. But he grinned at me, showing me that he was joking.

  “If you boys are done, we could use some help in here,” Cindra called.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said, rushing over to her side, with Clem and Malthe following close behind me.

  “Is this all we’ve got?” Clem asked, clearly disappointed when he saw the offerings. It was all canned goods and freeze-dried food, though the selection had more than its fair share of variety to it. We had fish and other meats, fruits, vegetables, and even some desserts.

  “We’ll make do,” I said, giving him a pointed look before turning to Cindra, “How can I help?”

  “Open all of these,” she said, pushing several cans in my direction. Clem, Malthe, and I all got to work on those as Cindra scurried about the kitchen. Though small, it sported surprisingly updated steel appliances.

  “They don’t skimp on these, do they?” Lin asked, practically reading my mind as she ran her fingers across the smooth steel countertop.

  “Iggy hates all the updates they do to the ships,” Kinley explained as she helped Cindra deposit some canned vegetables into a skillet. “Resists most of them. But he let ‘em update the kitchens ‘cause he hates to go hungry.”

  I laughed. “So not all the ships are this old and outdated?”

  “They only look outdated from the outside,” she explained. “From the inside, they’re the same as the rest.”

  “I don’t know, it looks pretty run down to me in here, as well,” Clem said, looking around the small room at the aged walls. “Except for the kitchen, that is.”

  “By from the inside, I mean internally,” Kinley explained. “The ship itself is just as state-of-the-art as any of them, but Iggy likes the rustic look of it.”

  “So we won’t sink?” Clem asked, though he still looked skeptical.

  “No,” Kinley laughed, rolling her eyes at him. “We won’t sink. Though I’ve never been on a boat before, so I won’t lie and say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind.”

  It occurred to me then t
hat none of the foxgirls had probably ever been on a boat before, and nor had Malthe most likely. As he grew up on the south side, yachting probably hadn’t been much of an option for them like it had for Clem and me, and maybe Lin, though she hadn’t grown up rich and powerful like we had, the daughter of a disgraced member of Parliament.

  “Who here has been on a boat before?” I asked everyone. “I know Clem and I have. What about everyone else?”

  “I was on one for a fundraiser once, back when I was working for the nonprofit,” Lin said with a grimace. “I wasn’t a fan, to be honest. Too many drunk schmoozers.”

  “Yeah, that’s been my experience, as well,” I said with another laugh, handing over the contents of some of the cans I’d opened to the foxgirls.

  “There aren’t many opportunities for boating on the south side unless you’re a shipper,” Malthe said, as I predicted, and the foxgirls all nodded.

  “But you seem to know Iggy pretty well, anyway,” I remarked, turning to Kinley.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” she said with a shrug as she chopped up some of the canned fish and other assorted meats that I’d handed her from the cans. “I used to spend a lot of time down there. You know, before.” We all knew without her telling us that she meant before those TelCorp clients had taken her and Kira. The ones who had worked for Achilles, unbeknownst to us at the time.

  “Iggy’s a good guy,” Kira said, giving me a warm smile. “He’s not the brightest needle in the haystack, and he may be a little weird at first, but he won’t sell us out. Not for anything. I am worried that that’ll get him killed, though.”

  “No kidding,” Kinley said darkly, shaking her head as if pushing away the thought. “I don’t want to be responsible for something like that.”

  “Well, no one will know about us until he’s long on his way back to Termina.” I tried to sound as reassuring as I could. “And hopefully they won’t even know about us after that, since we’ll be keeping a low profile. And he won’t go out at all until we get back, we’ll make sure of it. And Semra and the rest of the board will be watching the docks and the surrounding area in case anyone from Achilles’s group shows up to mess with the city.”