BORN OF HEROES

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 31
 

Talking with the children, Elias and crew were able to discern that the younglings had been abducted for an individual known simply as Reicher. There had been no other name forthcoming, but it was something that could be filed away for future reference.

  As the trip neared its conclusion, Elias realized that not letting the SPF Persistent transport the children might have been a mistake. He covered that when the entire crew, save Lena and Randal, who were covering the bridge watch, gathered for supper a few days before making planetfall. He’d discussed the plan with the rest of the crew and they agreed that what their Captain had in mind. As they were all sitting around, watching the children shovel spoon after spoon of the casserole that Melise had made up, Saul began the first maneuver in the plan to misdirect the children.

  “So, Captain. Do you think the Spatial Police Force will have another run for us to make? I like working for them better than I do hauling freight.”

  Elias shrugged and Treena backed what the jaguar had started. “A lot better than hauling freight,” the ocelot added. “Especially when it gets us landed more quickly.”

  Some of the children looked confused, others skeptical. It was Shayla that was the most perplexed. “But I thought you were SPF?” she said with wide eyes.

  Elias looked at her and saw a faint glint of hurt. He hated misdirecting her and the others, but it had to be done. He shook his head, refusing to give anything away. “No. Not really. I mean, we do work for them from time to time, and they let us do things that others can’t, but we’re not officially SPF.”

  “You lied to me?” the red panda asked.

  It was Cerise, sitting closest to the girl that spoke. “We really didn’t lie, Shayla. My uncle is high in the SPF and has us help sometimes. Normally with running supplies or personnel. Then other times it’s a little more than hauling freight, occasionally a little less. You can write and ask him if you want. His name is Colonel Sander Brees. You can get him through his office on Joplin.”

  Elias hated seeing the crestfallen look on the faces of the youngsters, but there was no help for it. Eventually it was done, and he retired for the night. While the children still had respect for all of them, it had diminished somewhat. It rankled him that he couldn’t tell any of them the truth.

  Then the day came that Alexandrius hove into view.

  Needless to say the children were anxious to be home with their families, and vice versa. As per Elias’s request, the SPF offices had established a secure location for the Guiding Angel to land that would be blessedly clear of reporters for the sake of all involved.

  Elias was at the helm and a clear entry vector about seventy miles from the town of Cybria, and only fifty from Geller’s Pass. They had launched Lena in the Cherub before hitting atmosphere and would rendezvous with her later. She was landing the interceptor at the same section of the starport that served this section of Alexandrius, but the fighter wouldn’t be returned to its berth in the Guiding Angel for a few days, and then only under the cover of darkness.

  The true function of Elias’s ship was concealed so that the children would be none the wiser as they exited through the personnel airlock in the cargo hold. There would also be no reunions inside the ship.

  Once down Elias began shutting down the unnecessary systems, noting that before the engines were completely shut down, two buses were rolling across the concrete of the tarmac towards them. He toggled the headset to the cargo bay intercom. “Looks like the parents are on their way, Randy. We’ll get everyone down to the cargo bay before we crack the airlock.”

  “Copy that, Boss. You need a hand herding the kids?”

  “I think we can handle it. Is everything out of sight down there?”

  “Yeah. Just keep them away from the port and starboard storage cubicles. I’ve got the suits hidden, but the only thing I could find to cover them were some old tarps. We might want to give thought to getting a hold of some old shipping crates for this sort of thing,” the wolf chuckled.

  “I don’t think so,” the fox said with a frown Randal couldn’t see. “If I can avoid it this will be the last time that we haul live cargo.”

  “Affirmative. Can’t say I blame you for that call, Captain.”

  Elias signed off and tripped the ship wide address. “We’re down. If everyone will gather at the lift, we’ll get all of you back with your families as quickly as possible. Put simply, you’re home, kids!”

  Even through the closed bridge hatch they could hear the exultant screaming coming from the children.

  It took about fifteen minutes to get the gaggle of youngsters off the ship and to their parents, who were overjoyed to have their sons and daughters returned to them. There were plenty of uniformed officers, both Alexandrian and SPF to help keep things in order and running smoothly. During the confusion, Elias slipped the local Spatial Police Force Officer in Command, a weasel with major’s insignia on his rank tabs, two recording sticks that they could use and share with local law enforcement officials about the details of the abductions. He wasn’t sure how much it would help, but any information was better than none. The parents that showed up to claim their missing family members took a few moments out of their celebrations to thank Elias and crew for their efforts, then almost as fast as the whole scenario started, it was over.

  The last bus pulled out and the crew of the Guiding Angel was left alone on the wind-swept tarmac with the SPF Major.

  The weasel looked at Elias and smiled ruefully. “You’re a better person than I, Captain Tivnan. I don’t know how you do what you do.”

  Elias was still looking in the direction that the buses had taken, though all that was left was a rapidly dissipating dust cloud that swirled in the weak evening sunlight. “It’s what we do, Major Briggs. It’s what we do.”

  “Please, call me Stephan. And it would be my pleasure if you and yours would join me for dinner and drinks,” the weasel said.

  “Only if you call me Elias. And I think I’ll take you up on that.”

  The crew ambled towards the transports that the Major had waiting after ensuring that the ship was sealed and locked with new security codes. Lena had unobtrusively joined the others during the furor of the reuniting of the families, and walked with Randal holding his hand. She laughed, but there was little mirth in it. “The ship’s going to be a lot quieter now,” she observed.

  “This is true,” the Doctor said. “But I for one will be glad of that. My infirmary was seeing a little too much traffic with all of her friends coming to see young Katerina. As it is, it’ll take a week to recalibrate some of my equipment from all of the jostling and bumping around.”

  “That reminds me,” Odette said with a smirk and sideways glance at the tiger, “how did you get them to stop coming into medical all the time? Melise and I could have used it to help us keep them out of the galley.”

  “No, my dear, you couldn’t. Chef’s don’t threaten others with booster shots,” Lemuel said with a grin.

  “But all you have are the pressure units,” Saul said in confusion. “Those don’t hurt at all!”

  The tiger reached into his ever present bag and pulled out the largest syringe that any of them had ever seen. The needle looked more like a sharpened steel drinking straw than anything used on individuals for giving shots. “It helps if you have props!”

  The major looked at the implement and shuddered. “Cripes, Doctor! Put that away before I arrest you for carrying an illegal weapon! Do you actually use that on people?”

  “Not at all,” Lemuel said laughing. “It’s actually for taking extract samples from plants. See, the end is made so that it can be hit with a mallet. But it does help get my point across.”

  The assembled group moaned at the bad pun and continued on.

  Well after dinner with the Major and the promised drinks, Elias and Cerise prepared to turn in for the night in the hotel room that Briggs had booked them all into. Elias was letting the blower next to the shower blast the last of the water from his fur and shook vigorously when it was done. He padded into the main room brushing out his fur, his mind on other things, not noticing when his mate snuck up and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I think the Major is right. You are a good person,” she said, resting her head on the fur of his back, feeling the muscles move against her cheek.

  “Maybe,” he replied absently.

  “What was that envelope that you handed Shayla?”

  “You saw that?” Elias asked with surprise. “I didn’t think anyone noticed.”

  “You told her the truth, didn’t you?”

  The fox sighed and turned around so that he could hold his wife. “Yes.” He released Cerise and sat down on the bed with a sigh. “I don’t know why, but it felt important for her to know the truth. The look in her eyes when I lied about what we were…it was like a knife sticking in me, seeing the trust she had just…shatter.” He ran his fingers through the fur on top of his head. “I just felt the need for her to know what we really do. Foolish of me, wasn’t it?”

  Cerise climbed onto the bed and began to rub his shoulders with surprising strength in her small hands. “No. Not at all. Sure, Uncle Sandy would blow up like a volcano if he knew, but I won’t tell him. It’s just further proof that you are a decent person. That’s one of the reasons that I married you,” she said brightly, nibbling his notched left ear playfully.

  “One of the reasons?”

  “One of them,” the vixen said teasingly.

  “What are the others?’ the fox asked, turning around to look at his mate.

  Despite all that they had been through for the past eight months, he always seemed surprised at how beautiful his wife was and how deep his feelings for the petite female ran within him. She leaned in and gave him a tender kiss, pressing herself to him provocatively before pulling away just as quickly.

  “Nope. Only one answer a day. It’s written in the rules.”

  Elias smiled. It was a game they played often. “You know, one of these days I’m going to find that rule book of yours and make some changes.”

  “Good luck with that! You’ll never find it!” Cerise said as she slid back against the pillows and made to slide under the covers.

  “You aren’t going to tell me where you hide it?” the fox asked archly.

  “Nope.”

  “I have ways of finding out things,” he said with mock sternness.

  “Hah! I’m immune to your threats!” the vixen proclaimed, though she was smiling broadly.

  “I wish you would tell me. I’d hate for this to get…ugly.”

  Cerise stuck her tongue out. “Do your worst, cad. It’ll take more than idle threats to get me to talk!”

  Instead of responding verbally, Elias slid a hand under the covers and poked her behind the knee. Cerise yipped in surprise, her eyes going wide.

  “Don’t you dare!” she exclaimed.

  “Dearest, you should know better than to defy someone that knows all your ticklish spots.” He poked her just above her hip and she jumped and squealed loudly. “Very, very foolish.”

  Cerise laughed so hard from Elias’s attacks that they both wound up on the floor with her thrashing to try and protect all of the places that he’d discovered were sensitive. They lay there for several moments trying to catch their breath, holding each other while the ebony vixen still had fits of giggling. Once under control, Cerise propped herself up looked down at the male fox that had captured her heart, her hair falling like a curtain of sheer blackness around his snow white head.

  “I do so love you,” she whispered, the feelings for him evident in her eyes.

  “And I love you,” he whispered, stunned by the sheer weight of the emotion.

  They would have stayed there longer, but there really was no reason to forego the presence of such a soft and large bed while it was available.

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.