BORN OF HEROES

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 4
 

Elias’ eye had healed to his physician’s satisfaction and the bandaging had been removed. The sutures had already come out almost two and a half weeks prior, and the fox’s fur had already started to fill in. Unlike most members of his species, Elias Tivnan had fur that turned a dark, silvery gray at his forearms, lower legs and ear tips. The rest was white as fresh snow. He was an interesting contrast to Cerise, who only had white on the end of her tail, when the two of them left the hospital together. Despite the thin, visible scar that ran from his nose to left ear, which also had a notch taken out of it and caused the tip to droop forward a little, Cerise told him that the marring meant little and that she found him more than sufficiently attractive.

  “The way you look now tells me that you will do whatever you need to in order to keep others safe. That’s far more enticing than looking perfect, silly fox!”

  As if to prove the point, the petite vixen took his arm in hers and walked very close to him. Elias had never had a female that seemed so proud to be with him, and she treated him at times like a treasured possession, as if he were something of great value. It was a little unnerving as he’d never been in a situation like this before. He’d been in relationships where his partner had been affectionate and attentive, but not one where he felt as if he was anything special.

  In the taxi ride to the Spatial Police Force field office on the other side of the city, she had sat snuggled close to his side and held his hands with hers. It had felt good to have the female next to him and he relished the feel of her close to his side as he slipped an arm around her. The next thing he knew the taxi was pulling to a stop in front of the SPF offices. It was amazing how quickly time seemed to pass as he was holding Cerise.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go,” the vixen said with a slight pout as Elias opened the door to get out.

  “It’s only for a few days at a time. The Doctor still has me on a very restrictive schedule, and most of that will be taken up by physical rehabilitation. We can still get together and see each other,” he said looking into her deep green eyes. She wore short leg overalls in light khaki with a white muslin shirt underneath. Her hair was held back with a scarf of the same material as her shirt. She never looked anything less than lovely to him, and that was causing Elias some problems as well. He was developing a very strong attachment to Cerise, one that was happening too quickly for comfort. The fox wondered if it was due to the fact that she was the only non-medical or SPF person that he had contact with, or if what he was starting to feel was actual attraction for the vixen herself. To add fuel to the conflicting emotional fire, he was admittedly attracted to her from a purely physical standpoint as well, and he wondered if that were clouding his judgment when coupled with his continued efforts to regain his physical health. Time away from her might do him some good and give him the space he needed to evaluate what was going on within him.

  “You know how to contact me if you need to?” Cerise asked as Elias got out meeting the taxi driver at the rear of the vehicle to retrieve his personal bag.

  “And you know how to get a hold of me.” Elias set the bag down and gave the driver a Dennieran 20 credit note, waving off the need for change. It was SPF funds anyway, so he felt no guilt at not wanting any change back.

  “I’m going to miss you,” Cerise said as she slid her arms around the fox’s neck. She gently pulled his head forward and gave him a lingering kiss that left him breathing a little heavy when they parted.

  “I promise, I will call.” Elias slung his bag over his right shoulder as the left arm was still sore and he doubted that he had the strength to carry any more than a few pounds with it for the next few weeks.

  With one last quick kiss, he entered the field office leaning heavily on a walking stick.

***

  The following weeks were often spent in the company of Colonel Brees as he went over the full operational expectations of Operation Sweeper with Elias. Not only did they confer on the overall plans of the undertaking, Brees wanted the fox’s input on the outfitting of the first of the ten vessels that Brees planned on launching. As such they could often be found at the Okami shipyards a little over a hundred miles from Grandstorm as what Sander Brees called a ‘Q Ship’ was being finished. The primary hull configuration was being built around the company’s H model ship hull. That was the extent of the similarity of this ship and actual Okami H model freighters. As it was, the ‘Q Ship’ was near completion, and workers were simply finishing up minor details or making small modifications according to the results of long discussions between the Colonel and Elias.

  One thing that hadn’t changed was the layout of the cabins. While Major Paris, Brees’ aide, had suggested on putting more than one occupant in each suite, Elias had vetoed this idea, with the Colonel’s approval.

  “The crew isn’t going to be so big that we need to double up on cabins. Figure no more than twelve or so, myself included. Considering the nature of the operation and function of the ship, those individuals are going to need personal space. Vitally need. It’s not going to be like a standard SPF vessel where we can put in at any SPF facility out there. We have to appear to be common freighter rats, and that means we’re going to be on our own for extended periods of time in order to develop verisimilitude. And no offense, Major,” Elias said looking pointedly at the cheetah, “and with all due respect, I am not going to put my hide or those of my crew out to dry on the recommendations of someone that hasn’t run a deep space mission before. I’ve been out there, and I’m familiar with what works, what doesn’t and what changes should be implemented on every ship in the bloody fleet.”

  The cheetah’s eyes flashed angrily for a moment before she relented. “You’re right, Captain. I don’t have your experience, which is why you are Captain of this ship and not me. I apologize.”

  Elias felt a moment of sympathy for the cheetah, but he was adamant about not letting someone without the necessary experience tell him what he needed and didn’t need. History was full of military ventures that had been run by committee, and Elias didn’t recall a single one of those ventures that had ever succeeded.

  “There’s no need to apologize, Major. You have your rank and position because you are good at a certain job, better than others, myself included, or you wouldn’t have it. That’s how it is with me. But that doesn’t mean I won’t listen to another point of view, and either accept or reject that view based on what I have seen works or doesn’t. In this situation, though, it’s my way, or this doesn’t happen. I will need each and every crew member to be at their best at all times. If a little luxury is what’s needed for me to keep them like that for weeks on end out at the sharp end, then so be it.” The fox crossed his arms, absolutely resolute on this decision and the Major nodded her agreement.

  Once that obstacle was overcome work continued with surprising speed. Then again it shouldn’t have been too surprising as the Okami Ship Corporation was noted for not just attention to details, but dependable quality in every ship they turned out.

  Elias was able to see Cerise on average once every two days, and finally admitted that his attraction to the petite vixen was genuine. He was still astounded by the intensity of his feelings for her and often found himself simply gazing at her with deep affection.

  After one long week of going over various additions to the ship that sat in the high security dry dock in the heart of the Okami yards, Brees released Tivnan for two weeks of leave.

  “Apart from your ongoing recovery, you’ve been here or back at the field office going over everything for the fourth or fifth time too often for my tastes. You’re going to burn yourself out before we even get started, son. I’ve already called that little female of yours to come get you and take you away for the duration of your leave. If I see you back here before your leave is up, I’ll shoot you myself. Understand?”

  Elias had no other option than to agree with the Colonel, and with a sigh of exasperation at his own obsessive stupidity, he went to his quarters at the SPF offices to pack a bag with the things that he might need for his time away. Anything else he didn’t have he could pick up at any store or shopping kiosk if need be, and waited outside for Cerise. Less than ten minutes had passed before the vixen pulled up to the pedestrian walkway where Elias waited, sitting behind the controls of a small, open-topped ground car. It hummed with the power running to all four electric hub motors mounted in the wheels. She wore a jumper of light gray and had a kerchief tied over her hair and reflective sunglasses on as the rich early summer sun that shown down on the city of Grandstorm was exceedingly clear and bright. Her smile at seeing the male fox was effused with joy and pleasure as she slid out from behind the wheel and grabbed Elias in a surprisingly strong embrace.

  With a deep kiss that was just as warm as the summer sun that fell on them, she pulled back and smiled again. “I’ve missed you.”

  Elias couldn’t help but respond with the same expression. “I missed you, too,” he said, actually feeling the words instead of replying automatically.

  He slung his bag and followed Cerise to the rear of the car to stow his belongings, holding her close to his side.

  “You’re using your left arm!” she exclaimed with joy. “And no walking stick!”

  Elias gave her a sheepish grin. “Doc says I’m making progress,” he offered by way of an explanation.

  Cerise chuckled. “I’ll say you are! This is great!” She gave him another kiss and let him get in the passenger seat before resuming her place behind the controls. “So, the Colonel says you’re all mine for the next two weeks.” She looked before pulling out in traffic, then turned at the next right and then again, taking them towards the outlying suburbs.

  “I suppose so. He said he’d shoot me if I showed up at the SPF offices before my leave is up. Strangely I think he really would,” Elias admitted.

  “He’s just concerned about you. I think he really respects you, Elias,” she said glancing at the fox. “At least that’s the impression that I get from him whenever we’ve talked.”

  Elias looked curiously at the vixen. “Do you two talk often?” he asked, his tone neutral.

  She nodded, pointedly scanning the street for a break in the traffic. “At first it was to get my impression of you and how you were coping with your injuries. The last few times was for consulting on some project that I can’t really talk about. He made me sign a contract of secrecy.”

  That took Elias aback. What could Cerise know that the Colonel wanted her to consult on? He forced those thoughts away, though. The day was beautiful, he was out with a gorgeous female, and there would be no obligations on him for the next fourteen days.

  “So, where are we headed?” he asked over the rush of wind as the vixen drove the car through the last part of the city and into the surrounding suburban area dotted large houses and sprawling parks.

  Cerise scanned the road around her before making a right turn up a road that was surrounded by domiciles that Elias could only call estates as the small mansions rested on manicured plots with each one at least five acres in size. “We need to swing by my parents’ house first, then I’m taking you to one of my favorite places.”

  Elias felt a twinge of nervousness at the prospect of meeting the vixen’s parents, but tried not to let it show. Some of the older families of Dennier had notions that were a little archaic when compared to the other worlds of the Planetary Alignment. Dennierans were very much into fencing, and if there was anything that equated to a national sport for this world, it was swordplay. Some of those older families still made the suitors fight for the right and privilege to date their daughters. The fights were rarely serious and often stopped once first blood was drawn, or someone yielded. Still, Elias didn’t feel as if he were up to that kind of challenge yet. Never mind that he’d never picked up a real sword, not even a fencing epee, in his entire life.

  Cerise seemed to sense the male’s trepidation and smiled. “You won’t get to meet them this time around. Momma and Daddy are off world at the moment, though they both want to meet you, especially after listening to me talk about you. You might meet my sisters, though. I should warn you about Keena, she’s a horrendous…hmmm…flirt and might try to corner you or get you alone. Celia and Gey are still too young to be interested in boys, so you won’t have to worry about them. We won’t be here for too long, so it might not be too bad.”

  Before Elias could respond, Cerise turned off of the road onto a wide driveway entrance. Pausing before the huge wrought iron gate, the vixen reached out and tapped a series of numbers on to a small keypad that was hidden by thick, ropy vines of ivy. With a barely audible hum, the gates began to swing open, and as soon as there was a wide enough gap, Cerise drove through. A sensor detected that the car was past and automatically closed the huge gates. The two halves came together with a clang that, to Elias at least, sounded rather ominous.

  The vixen maneuvered the ground car up the winding driveway with a practiced hand and soon the house came into view through the dense trees. Elias had to forcibly close his mouth. What Cerise called a house was like calling the most opulent oceanic cruise ship a boat. The house was built of tan and brown roughhewn stone and looked more like an ancient castle. The front double doors were made of varnished wood with bindings and fixtures of polished brass and the bottom floor windows were narrow, but extremely tall and set into recesses in the walls.

  “This is home?” Elias asked, his eyes wide.

  Cerise giggled. “Daddy was on Tanthe once and fell in love with the idea of having a castle. He figured that Momma deserved it as well, what with having to put up with his absences on a regular basis. So when he retired from the SPF and began working as a consultant and designer for Binfurr arms, he could finally afford what he wanted to have built.”

  Elias stopped from moving around to the back of the ground car. “Wait…what? He retired from the SPF?” He watched as the female smiled and nodded. “Cerise, what’s your father’s name?”

  “Tambor. Rovi Tambor. Why?” she asked perplexed. She knew her father had been an officer in the Spatial Police Force, but not really what he’d done. The effect of her father’s name seemed to bring Elias up short and his expression made the fox look as if someone had just hit him in the back of the head with a club.

  “You father is Rovi Tambor?” he asked in a quiet voice. “’Rovi the Ravager’ is your father?”

  Cerise looked confused. “I don’t know about that,” she said earnestly. “I remember that Daddy was gone a lot when I was little and Momma told me it was because of his job. Then when Celia and Gey were born he retired and went to work for the Binfurr Arms branch here on Dennier.”

  Elias looked at the vixen with shock and a substantially increased heart rate. “Your father is a legend!” he said with quiet awe. “Best small ship pilot ever and an absolute demon in a fighter. His flying is the bar that the Academy still uses to measure new pilot recruits! And I’m standing here with his daughter.” His hand went to his head which felt like it was spinning. “Oh, boy…”

  Cerise stepped forward and took Elias’s hands in hers. “Like I said, I don’t know about any of that, but you are seeing me, not my father, all right?” She made him look into her eyes. “Don’t let the family name distract you or cause any kind of negativity. Aren’t I the same person that you met all those weeks ago? Has the discovery of my family name and who my father is suddenly changed who I am?”

  “No. Of course not,” Elias admitted, his ears flattening a little in chagrin and embarrassment.

  “All right, then. Grab your bag and come on inside. It’s only going to take me a few minutes to get ready.”

  “If you are only going to be a few minutes, why do I need to bring my bag?” Elias asked pausing at the trunk.

  Cerise laughed musically. “Because we aren’t going to drive to where I’m taking you!”

  Perplexed, he wondered if she intended for them to stay here at her parents’ house, which wasn’t all that bad an idea as far as Elias was concerned. The house was large; there was a pool in the back, a heated whirlpool tub, and a tennis court. And that was just what he could see. He wasn’t sure what else there might be, but it might have been fun to explore the property with Cerise. With a slight shrug he shouldered his bag and followed her inside.

  “The bar is over there. Help yourself to anything that you see,” the vixen said before giving him a quick kiss and heading to a flight of wide stairs. Elias watched her go up the sweeping staircase, admiring the view for a moment before heading to the offered refreshments.

  To say that the bar was well stocked was an understatement. There were bottles with labels from all over the Planetary Alignment, and several from non-affiliated worlds. It was almost too much of a selection until he ran across a label that he was familiar with and a grin spread across his muzzle. An Academy mate had introduced Elias to the drink that he now poured a small glass of when both were granted shore leave on Earth. The fox’s friend had taken him to his home for a week-long visit. Elias had to admit that there was something charming about Scotland, and the sheer weight of the province’s history was astounding. While there, Elias’ friend, Alistair Gordon, a human that had grown up in the region and was part of one of the largest familial clans in that region’s history, introduced him to Cock o’ the North, a single malt scotch liqueur.

  With fond memories of his friend and the visit, Elias poured a modest amount into a shot glass, inhaling deep the heady aroma. With a smile, Elias took a sip, enjoying the sweet flavor of the bright amber liquid before swallowing, then relishing the gentle heat that followed. His eyes were closed in sheer bliss when he heard someone clear their throat. He thought it might be Cerise, but when he turned and opened his eyes, he didn’t see the ebony furred young lady. Instead another vixen stood near the doorway opposite the bar. Her coloration was mostly a russet and a smattering of tan with black fur on her forearms, lower legs and ears, and a patch of white that ran from her chin on down to her thighs and the normal white tail tip.

  She was dressed in a very skimpy bathing suit that left very little to the imagination and when she spied Elias, she smiled, but it was more predatory than friendly. As she regarded the white male fox, her look was very appraising and Elias felt more like a piece of meat being scrutinized for consumption than anything else.

  The vixen walked slowly towards Elias, her hips swaying side to side in an almost exaggerated manner. When she reached the bar, she leaned on the surface, pushing her breasts into a more provocative position. Her pink tongue flicked out to lick her lips and her smile grew wider. “I’m Keena,” she said, her eyes again roving over the male as she seemed to sum him up. “Who might you be?”

  “Elias Tivnan,” he replied with a polite tilt of his head, ignoring the hand that the female extended. There was a niggling feeling that touching the vixen’s hand wasn’t the wisest move, so he opted to be more formal. That and while the vixen might have thought that she was being alluring and desirable, advertising her charms in such a flagrant way, Elias was unimpressed. He’d seen too much in his years with the SPF to be attracted to someone so blatant, that and he had to admit he was too smitten with Cerise. What she thought must be enticing only served to demonstrate that her liaisons must not have been with individuals that had much in the way of mental substance. Her ploy would certainly work with less intelligent muscle boys, though.

  “So your Cerise’s new toy!” She giggled and leaned closer to him. “She hasn’t been able to do anything but talk about you. I can certainly see why, too.” Keena reached out and laid a hand familiarly on Elias’s upper arm, squeezing slightly. “Hmmm. Nice,” she said with a little growl to her voice and half lidded eyes. “Would you mind getting me a drink, handsome?”

  Elias took half a step back. “What would you like, Miss Tambor?”

  “No need to be so formal, sweetie. And a glass of what you are having with ice would be quite fine.”

  The fox retrieved another glass and dropped a few half-moon crescents of ice in the glass before pouring the liqueur, wincing inwardly. Alistair had introduced Elias to the drink, and more common forms of scotch, and had driven home the fact that purists saw the addition of ice as the closest thing possible to religious heresy. Alistair had considered the addition of ice to be anathema.

  He extended the glass towards the female and she took it, grabbing his hand as well. “Why don’t you come out to the pool with me and we can talk, Elias. I would love to see what has my sister so excited about you.” She again gave him a look over. “Though I must say the white fur is rather delicious.” She licked her chops again and ignored the other fox’s attempt to free his hand from her surprisingly strong grip.

  “Do you always have to try and seduce my friends, Keena” Cerise asked peevishly from the bottom of the staircase, a small bag slung over her shoulder.

  “I was doing no such thing, Ceri,” the other female said, disappointment and irritation flickering in her brown eyes.

  “Please. You have never met any of my friends that you haven’t tried to bed. Anytime I invite someone over you act like your breeding cycle has started. Go find one of your other playmates and leave Elias alone.”

  The look in Keena’s eyes was replaced with anger at her sibling and the general feeling in the room became something less than friendly. Not wanting to see the two females erupt into a squabble, Elias moved towards Cerise. “We really should get going if we want to get there in time,” he said, hoping that the black furred vixen would see the unspoken request in his eyes for the two of them to leave.

  Cerise shifted her bag and took Elias’s arm and led him through the room and out the door that opened onto the pool deck. Once outside the fox allowed himself a deep breath of relief. “Is she always like that?”

  “Keena? Oh yes.” Cerise sighed. “She doesn’t act that way around my parents, so they really don’t know what she’s like.” She let out a breath that was filled with annoyance. “She’s always been a pain in the tail.”

  Cerise led him through a path in the trees that bordered the pool area, passed by dual tennis courts, and then turned abruptly. There were several long moments of silence as the two walked along the path in the shade of imported mimosa trees. Then the vixen spoke in a quiet voice. “You weren’t…interested, were you?”

  Cerise was by no means a naïve little girl, but there was no mistaking the tremble in her voice and the tone that said she was concerned about what Elias’s answer would be. He stopped, letting his bag drop on to the mulch of the trail and pulled the petite female towards him, holding her gently by her upper arms.

  “I haven’t really been intimate with a lot of females. To be honest I’ve only been with only a few others in my life. I’m one of those odd balls that you here about. If there isn’t some kind of emotional connection, I just can’t get interested. I have to be friends with my partners at the very least. And definitely not with someone like your sister. She really isn’t my type.”

  “What is your type?” Cerise asked with a twinkle in her eyes that was hard to mistake.

  Elias slid his arms around the vixen and pulled her close. It was the first time that he was the one that initiated affectionate contact. Up until now he’d only ever responded when Cerise was the one that gave blatant signals that it was okay to touch her. Elias kissed her deeply, all too aware of the contact between them, and felt her heart flutter as she pressed herself against his chest. When they parted, Cerise wrapped her arms tightly around Elias and rested her head against him.

  “Does that answer your question?” he asked smiling and resting his chin on top of Cerise’s head, again relishing how good it felt to hold her.

  “Mmm-hmm.” She sighed happily. “It definitely answers my question.”

  They stood like that for long moments before Cerise looked up at him. “We do have to hurry, though. I want to get where we going before it gets dark. Not to mention that I am ready to take a page from my sister’s book and drag you into the woods!” She pulled away, though she did take his hand and waited for Elias to pick up his bag. “C’mon!”

  Minutes later they emerged from the woods in a clearing that had a small metal building. Not far from the white structure sat a small corporate model helicopter. It only had room for four individuals, but despite its small size, it had a very lean and powerful look about it. There was a female hyena in what had once been dark blue overalls, but time along with dirt and grease had turned the clothing a shade of mottled light blue, gray and black, sitting at a small wooden desk just inside the building. She smiled when she saw Cerise and Elias approaching.

  “She’s been fueled and checked, Honey. I went ahead and uploaded your flight plan and destination, so there shouldn’t be any delays,” the hyena said. “Oh, and recent weather reports have also been downloaded. It looks like clear skies and a right fine day for flying.”

  “Thanks, Dona,” Cerise said with a grin. “This is Elias. Elias, meet Dona Briggs. She’s normally the pilot for the Dragonfly, but occasionally lets me take it out for a spin.”

  Elias extended his hand, noticing the odd look that Dona gave him. “Pleasure, Ma’am,” he said with a small smile.

  Dona took the hand in a firm grip. “Elias Tivnan? Cerise has told me all about you. That was some impressive flying you did. I don’t know any pilot that would have been able to keep that ship in the air, much less do what you did. Believe me when I say the honor and pleasure are all mine.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a self-conscious smile. He moved to the left side to stow his bag, his ears twitching when he heard the two females talking, though he wasn’t trying to eavesdrop.

  “You didn’t tell me he was that cute!” Dona said with a giggle.

  “Shhh! And just because I normally tell you everything doesn’t mean I can’t keep a few things to myself!”

  “Just keep Keena away from him. That one’s a keeper. And did you see that a-“

  “Dona!” Cerise said, knowing that the hyena had been watching Elias walk around to the other side of the ‘copter.

   “I was just looking! I wasn’t going to touch.”

  “Keena’s already marked him as a challenge,” the vixen admitted with subdued anger.

  “Hey, I have a really big wrench if you want to clock her one.” Dona leaned to the side to look at Elias once more. “And if I had my sights on someone like him, believe me, I’d be swinging away!”

   There were other things said, and a great deal of giggling before Cerise stowed her bag and plastic container that Dona had waiting by the aircraft.

  “Well, I think that’s everything.” Cerise gave Dona a friendly hug before turning back to the fox. “Ready?”

  “Sure.”

  They climbed into the ‘copter, Cerise taking the right seat and running through a preflight check after settling a headset over her triangular ears. Elias strapped into the left seat, shut the door and put his own headset on. Then Cerise powered up the engine and threw a quick wave at the hyena, who had retreated to the metal hangar building.

  Once the engine had reached its optimal output, the vixen engaged the rotor drive and the huge blades began to turn, slowly at first then with increasing speed until the flexible airfoils were nothing more than a blur. The air outside thrummed deeply as the blades chopped the air and the whole aircraft vibrated with barely reigned in power. With one hand on the control yoke, the other on the cyclic, Cerise increased the bite angle of the rotors while adding power and the little helicopter lifted from the ground with surprising speed.

  Still climbing, she turned the aircraft and added forward motion to the craft, and soon the small ‘copter was passing over the main house. Elias was surprised to see just how big the Tambor estate was, and surmised that Rovi Tambor was doing fairly well for himself, indeed. It was also a joy to see that Cerise handled flying so well. She was a natural pilot, it seemed, and the smile that was on her face bespoke volumes of her love of flight.

  “So how long have you been flying?” Elias asked over the headset.

  “Let’s see…I got my license when I was sixteen, so about eight years now.” She shook her head. “Wow, I didn’t really think it was that long ago. But yeah. A little under a decade.”

  “You’re good. Very good! I know several people with more flying time, but they aren’t as smooth as you are. That was a good take off.”

  Cerise grinned. “Thanks! I’ve always loved flying. I guess it makes sense that I would work at the starport when you think about it.”

  “What about working on getting your ship’s rating? If you like flying that much and as good as you are I would almost expect you to be running interstellar flights. Maybe shuttle runs at the very least.”

  Cerise laughed and shook her head. “I brought up the thought of flight school to my father when I was seventeen, just before finishing school. I thought he was going to go through the roof! He said he’d pay for college, but not for his ‘little girl’ to go through flight training. I think he was more than a little scared of what could happen to me out there. Then considering he was SPF, like you, I imagine he saw some pretty awful stuff, so his reaction is understandable.”

  Elias looked out of the ‘copter and saw that Cerise had set a northeasterly course, and was heading to a mountain range that looked to be about sixty miles away. “So, where are we headed?” he asked, fishing a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket to cut down on the glare of the sun coming through the cockpit.

  Cerise took her hand away from the cyclic to point out the forward windscreen at a section of the distant range. “See that section of the mountains that’s white? That’s where we’re headed.”

  “Are those high enough to have snow?” he asked looking at the series of white peaks.

  “No. The tallest peak on the range is only six thousand feet. That section of the range is called the Cathedral Mountains. Their comprised of white granite so they always look like that.”

  At the speed they were flying, an astonishing one hundred seventy miles per hour, the trip was relatively short. For a while, Cerise kept the ‘copter at a set altitude. Then she looked down and grinned broadly. “Are you all strapped in and your bag is secure?” she asked, her grin getting even broader.

  “Yeah. Why? Is there someth-“

  Before he could get the words out, Cerise shed almost three hundred feet of altitude in seconds. Elias felt the familiar sensation of freefall, and his eyes grew a little wide before it occurred to him that there wasn’t a malfunction. The vixen continued to trade height for speed, and headed for the opening of a narrow valley. With a ‘Whoop!’ of delight, she began to fly the little ‘copter nap of the earth, following the contours of the land beneath with stomach churning precision.

  Elias was caught unaware at first, but being a pilot himself, he knew what a visceral thrill this kind of flying was. He smiled broadly as Cerise flew with deft precision and even laughed out loud a few times. Then when Cerise took a turn at a steep bank that had the helicopter turned almost ninety eight degrees from level, she pulled them out of the ravine they’d been following and shed some speed in a shallow climb.

  After a few more minutes, Cerise pointed out the window. “That’s where we’ll be staying,” she said.

  Elias looked to where she indicated and saw a small stone and log cabin nestled behind a screen of trees. There was more to the place than what he could see clearly, but the location was very appealing. Not far away was a clear stream with a pool that formed under a short waterfall. The entire location was lush and green and looked like something from a storybook setting. All around the cabin were patches of wildflowers that ran all the colors of the rainbow in vibrant swatches.

  Cerise brought the ‘copter in low over a small dirt clearing that had been well packed, and the rotor wash only stirred a little dust and debris. Once firmly settled, the vixen went methodically through the shutdown procedure and the engine whine dropped in pitch before going quiet altogether.

  “I want to show you inside!” Cerise said with a smile as she opened the door and slid out. “Actually I want you to see everything. This has always been one of my favorite places. My parents used to bring all of us kids up here two or three times a year. Now it seems that I’m the only one that enjoys coming out.”

  Elias shouldered his bag and shut the doors, making sure they were latched securely before going to where Cerise was wrestling with the plastic box.

  “I got this,” he told her with a grin, then grunted as it proved to be heavier than anticipated. “Whoa. What’s in here? It weighs a ton.”

  “Just a few groceries. We’re going to be up here for almost two weeks, so there were some things that I wanted to bring. Most of what we already need is inside. I flew them up here last night after talking to the Colonel. As for other things, I was thinking that we might want to try the river. The fishing is good and I haven’t done that in a long time. There’s nothing like fresh fish cooked over an open fire.”

  The vixen led the way to the cabin and Elias saw that he was right about there being more to the place than he could see from the air. In the back was a hot tub that he was looking forward to soaking in. It was surrounded by a wooden deck though the whole set up was surrounded and well shaded by large trees. A screened awning kept the hot tub clear of leaves. The entire place looked too well maintained for being abandoned for extended amounts of time and Elias asked his companion about this.

  “There’s a couple that lives further down the mountain that helps keep the place up to par. That and Daddy let’s certain friends come up here to stay when they need time away from the stress of their day to day lives. That and I come up here whenever I can. Sometimes I don’t even use the cabin. I’ll sling a hammock or just use a sleeping bag instead,” Cerise was telling him as she opened the door.

  As Elias entered, he noted that the cabin was anything but primitive. There were all of the modern amenities that most individuals enjoyed throughout the PA, but they were cleverly concealed or chosen so that they fit in with the rustic, but comfortable looking, décor. The main room and kitchen opened into each other, and there was a rectangular table that could seat four, possibly as many as six if they were friendly. In the center of the main room was a sunken section that was tiered with piles of cushions upholstered in thick, rick looking cloth of various earth tones and geometric patterns. At the end of the sunken area was a gigantic stone fireplace with polished copper hood. Wood was already laid in it and waiting, with a pile of split logs to the right in a wrought iron rack and a matching carousel with poker, tongs, and brush were on the left. On the plank paneled walls were pictures of Cerise’s family.

  Setting the box on one of the counters in the kitchen, Elias tossed his shoulder bag next to the table and turned to help Cerise get things settled. The vixen smiled at the offer but waved him away. “You are supposed to be relaxing. These are just a few things that wouldn’t sit well before we got here,” she said indicating the small crate. Cerise reached into the refrigerator and removed a brown earthenware bottle with wax top. She deftly pulled the wax off of the top before removing an old style cork. “Here,” she said as she handed the fox the bottle, “go soak in the hot tub while I get things situated.”

  “But-“

  “Now,” Cerise said, her hands resting on her hips and the look she gave Elias indicating that she wouldn’t accept any other response. “I’m not the one who just got out of the hospital.”

  Elias knew how to recognize a lost argument, so he did as he was told. As he turned, she popped him playfully on his rump with a flicking backhand and let out a throaty chuckle to send him on his way. The fox flashed a wide grin as he danced out of reach, then headed to the sliding glass door that led out to the back deck. “Leave the door open, but close the screen,” Cerise called with her head in the refrigerator. Elias turned back to look at her, and smiled a little as certain thoughts came to mind seeing little more than her posterior sticking up in the air as she was putting something away, her tail waving back and forth slightly.

  He sauntered over to the hot tub and knelt to stick two fingers in the water. It was already heated, and there was a slight metallic tang to the smell of the water. He’d been to a park on Kantus once that had natural hot springs, and the mineral laden water had the same kind of scent to it, so he knew that it wasn’t because the water was stagnant. With the idea of a good soak firmly in mind, Elias realized with chagrin that he hadn’t packed any shorts.

  “Um, Cerise? There wouldn’t happen to be an extra pair of shorts lying around somewhere, would there?”

  A rather wicked giggle came from inside. “Why would you need shorts?”

  He could feel the insides of his ears getting warm and turning pink with embarrassment. He had been raised on Alexandrius in a region that had taken to the concept of wearing clothes rather quickly, and his parents had raised him in an extremely modest way. Basic Training had been a bit of a shock to him, as had the times he’d spent on other worlds where some furs were comfortable with casual nudity. While he’d gotten over his youthful hang-up about exposing himself, there would always be some of his upbringing lurking within him.

  “Don’t worry, Elias. There isn’t anyone that will see you!” Cerise called from inside, as if reading his thoughts.

  She was right, of course.

  Overcoming his initial embarrassment, Elias pulled the shirt he was wearing off, then his soft boots and trousers. The open air felt good ruffling his fur, and he arched his back, hearing several pops from his spine as he stretched, his tail stuck out rigidly. Then he shook vigorously, glad that the action didn’t hurt the way it would have just days before. He was getting better and the physical therapy had helped to start toning the muscles that had been going soft during his recovery.

  “Rowf!” Cerise barked from inside the cabin. “The view just got so much better!”

  Elias felt his ears redden again.

  Before she could make any more comments, Elias stepped down into the tub, sliding into the water slowly until he was completely submerged, stayed there for as long as he could stand it, then rose so that his head was just sticking out. The heated water was soothing and just on the comfortable side of being hot. He could already feel muscles that had been pushed during his rehabilitation session that morning start to loosen, and sighed contentedly. Then he remembered the bottle that Cerise had given him.

  Whatever was in it smelled slightly floral and yeasty at the same time, and he took a tentative sip. The liquid was certainly alcoholic, but what really impressed him was the semi-sweet flavor with undertones of honey and something else he couldn’t identify. Though it was certainly good.

  “One of Daddy’s friends makes this. He calls it mead. It’s a wine made from honey and used to be very popular on Old Earth. Daddy loves a lot of the drinks that come from there,” the vixen said as she exited the house. Elias saw that she had her own bottle of the drink and was wearing a terrycloth robe of simple unbleached white. “No two batches ever taste quite the same, which is one of the real appeals of it.”

  “It’s amazing,” he admitted.

  The vixen smiled at him, and there was a curious look in her eyes that caused Elias’s heart to beat faster. “So, do you mind if I join you?” she asked as she set her bottle down on the edge of the tub.

  “Um, not at all…”

  Speech wasn’t really something that he was capable of as Cerise let her robe fall open then drop to the deck planks. She didn’t have anything on either. He watched as she stepped daintily into the water, a smile splitting her muzzle, and with only her head above the water, glided directly to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him once she was close enough, a kiss that he returned with enthusiasm. Then they parted and she turned so that her back was against his chest and Cerise pulled his arms around her and held them there with hers.

  “You know, this is the first time that I’ve ever been here with someone else other than my family. Or just myself. I have to admit that I like the company that I have this time much better than being alone.”

  “Really?” Elias asked before nuzzling the part where her neck met her shoulder. She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a contented sigh with a barely audible low growl.

  “Be careful, Mister Tivnan,” she said leaning into the nuzzle. “That is a dangerous thing that you are doing.”

  As it was, Elias didn’t push things, instead he simply savored the time spent with this fascinating female that had, for some reason, been drawn to him.

  Cerise insisted on spoiling the other fox rotten, and after almost two hours in the hot tub, decided that it had been far too long since they had both last eaten. What Elias hadn’t known was that she had already gotten supper mostly ready, placing a roast in the oven of the kitchen while he had been sitting in the hot tub. The roast, a pork loin cut of meat, along with various sides, had come out perfectly, tender and juicy, and the fox must have been more hungry than he thought as he had consumed half of the dish himself. When it came time to clean up Cerise waved away all of his attempts to help her.

  “You’re still recuperating,” she told him. “And because of the regimen that you have been following to get back into shape, your body needs the protein and fuel. And there’s no reason to apologize for having a healthy appetite. Besides, I like cooking, and you are worth any trouble, so will you just shut up, go sit down and relax?” Cerise delivered all of this with a kiss to his muzzle. “If you really want to do something, go light the fire. It might be summer, but nights can get chilly up here. And maybe put some music on. The audio controls are behind the panel to the right of the fireplace.”

  Elias smiled and moved to do as he was told, feeling lighter in heart and soul than he had for almost three months. The fire caught readily enough after he was sure that the flue was open, and then moved to the panel that Cerise had pointed out. If she hadn’t told him what to look for, Elias would never have realized that there was a sound system built into the cabin. The sheet of wood, which fit in with the wall so well that a professional burglar could have missed it, opened with a touch on a cleverly devised spring latch. Inside the recess was a top-of-the-line unit, with the music it held being stored on crystal recording sticks that were of the highest quality. He made selections that sounded interesting, relieved that there wasn’t anything that was so popular with younger people lately. This, he lamented, included far too much Pixly Dixly. How that even rated as music he was unsure of.

  From several points, the sound focused in the middle of the room, the soft voices of several violins converged, followed moments later by other instruments he couldn’t identify and a female voice that was singing something that he couldn’t understand, but her voice was clear and pure. Then the female’s voice was answered by a male baritone. The music and voices seemed to tell a story in a way where comprehensible words were superfluous. It was a song that seemed to put all of the feelings of what love should be in sweeping tones that spoke on a visceral and emotional level.

  Elias was surprised when he realized that the fur around his eyes was damp. Cerise was standing next to him and he saw that she had the same reaction to the music as he did.

  “This is my most favorite piece of music.” She listened alongside of the fox, and had taken his hand at some point, and he hadn’t realized it. Then the piece was over, and another composition started. Cerise then described what she felt whenever she heard that particular song and it was all of the things that he had imagined. Put simply, the song was Love.

  Without saying anything, Elias took Cerise in his arms and began to dance slowly to the music with her. He hadn’t danced with a female since he was in school, well before joining the Alexandrian Navy and the SPF, though it had been a favorite pastime. They moved with the music, the sounds passing around and through them. Each became so lost in the in the moment that it was a shock to Elias when he realized that they were no longer dancing.

  Amid the sweeping sounds that caressed them, they made love in front of the fire, the joining seemingly timeless and as if there was nothing else in the universe except the two of them and the endless moment of NOW. Then it was over after what seemed like forever and at the same time just a fleeting fragment of a second.

  Basking in the afterglow, they lay holding one another on the thick burgundy carpeting of the sunken area, simply looking into each other’s eyes. Elias realized that at some point Cerise had let her hair down and it was far longer than he’d originally thought, reaching down to the small of her back in gentle ebony waves. The fire light caught her fur and caused it to shine with red and gold hued highlights. Her silver necklace with its curiously shaped pendant was like a single star against the black of her fur. The fox’s breath caught because the vixen was simply the most beautiful thing that he’d ever seen.

  It was Cerise that broke the silence between them.

  “Now I can see why my sister acts the way she does towards males,” she said with a smile and half lidded eyes.

  Elias tilted his head slightly, unable to fathom what she meant. “What do you mean?”

  Cerise kissed him quickly, but with feeling. “I’ve never been with anyone. I dated, but I never met anyone that I wanted to be with before.”

  It took several moments for what the vixen was implying to sink in, and Elias felt a sharp pang of consternation for himself for not realizing it sooner.

  “If it was your first time, it shouldn’t have been with me,” he said, his brow creasing with concern. “It should have been with someone special.”

  He started to sit up, but her small hand on his shoulder pulled him back to her and she buried her face in the crook of his neck and took a long shuddering breath, reveling in the spicy musk scent that spoke to primitive parts of her.

  “It was with someone special, Elias. Someone very, very special.”

  “No,” he whispered, his frown deepening. “I’m not special. I’m just…well, me.”

  Cerise pulled back and gave him a drowsy smile. “That’s why you are special.” She saw the look in his eyes that wanted to argue that point and put a finger to his mouth to keep him quiet. “Not once have you tried to force things. You have always treated me with respect and tenderness. You haven’t lied to get your way, and I know that you never will. You make me happy that I met you, and glad that I’m female. So how is it that you aren’t special?”

  He couldn’t voice an argument to counter what she said, which only caused his frustration to grow. She snuggled closer and again buried her head in the junction of his shoulder and neck, the fingers of her hand running through the fur at the back of his head.

  “How do I make you feel?” she asked softly.

  He took a deep breath before speaking, when words did come out of his mouth, they were bluntly honest. “You make me feel like that song that was on. The first one. It’s…it’s how I feel whenever I see you. It’s really hard to explain.”

  “I know what you mean. That’s how I feel, too. But if you can’t tell me, then show me.”

  The night that passed was unlike any that Elias had ever known in his entire twenty eight years of life.

— NEXT CHAPTER —

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