REDEMPTION
— by Jeff Karamales
Chapter 22
Back to the Grindstone
Despite the success of the
Furs in finding Mickey Ropper quickly, many of the other rescue party
members avoided the camper and large awning that had been assigned to the
four Vulps to use until the weather cleared enough for them to be returned
to the training site. The exceptions were Carol Wilson and Terrence Gibson
and many of the other Park Service employees who found the Furs not only
extremely helpful, but also quite engaging and stopped by to meet the heroes
of the day. None of the four anthrofoxes showed any signs of the supposed
evil that opponents of the AHCP and Furmankind Project said they were.
Before following their son to the hospital, Mr. and Mrs. Ropper demonstrated
how very grateful to the Vulps they were, even getting pictures of their
wayward son and other two children with the Furs and giving all four
exuberant and warm embraces, not seeing them as animals, but people and
heroes that saved the life of their youngest child. As it was, Mickey would
most likely be a staunch supporter of the Anthro Human Colonization Project
if his condition prevented him from joining as soon as he was old enough, as
would his brother and sister who were just as enamored by the foxes.
Rain continued to fall in torrential sheets, obscuring anything outside of
the camper that was further away than twenty feet while the rumble of
thunder and flashes of lightning accentuated the storm. Trooper Gibson had
stepped out a few minutes earlier to make sure the pilot and helicopter were
taken care of, leaving Carol Wilson with the four Vulps. Richard was
wrapping up the story of Sofiya and the bear, the woman completely
enthralled with the tale and looked at the vixen with wide eyed wonder.
“Whatever possessed you to take on a bear?” Carol asked in stunned awe.
Sofiya shrugged. “It was a danger to others. When it turned to attack
Richard something in myself refused to let that happen.” She took the silver
fox’s paw-like hand and looked into her partner’s bronze eyes before leaning
against him, feeling the fatigue from the busy day they all had. “He is mine
and I am his. I know he would be doing the same for me. I will not lose
another that I love if I can stop it.”
The woman smiled. “I guess that confirms that the two of you are definitely
mated. I’ve seen wild foxes act that way when one of the pair is
threatened.” Carol then heaved a sigh. “Maybe if more people were like that,
the world would be a happier place.” She tossed back the rest of her coffee
and snorted a quick laugh. “Of course, if people were like that, I wouldn’t
be in the middle of my second divorce right now.”
Further conversation was halted as Gibson reentered the camper, his police
fatigues completely soaked and his boots squelching with each step as he’d
been securing the helicopter. “Just got word from the weather service,” he
began and deposited a gym bag on the floor of the camper. “Looks like this
storm is going to last the rest of the day and well into the night.” He
looked apologetically at the Furs. “We’ve been officially grounded so I
guess you’re all stuck here until tomorrow. Sorry about that.”
“No big deal,” Richard said. “Hector knows what to do.”
“He was the right choice for first officer,” Sofiya agreed with a nod.
Carol drew a thoughtful look. “You know, I’ve heard of the AHCP letting some
of you Furs out to train in different things with various groups and
organizations and some trades. I wonder, what with the training center not
that far from here, if we could get a few Furs to work with us during the
year? It would be good experience for both sides, and it would sure help us
out. That and I can’t begin to say how great it would be if we have campers
getting lost to have someone that can find them as quickly as you guys did.”
“Asking has never hurt anyone,” Sofiya said with a smile. “And I think that
many Furs would be happy to be outside of the Institute for even a small
time. It would very much enable experience to be gained. Useful knowledge is
always a good thing and grants confidence.”
“I’ll have to see what I can get started, then,” the woman told the vixen.
“You four really came through today. I can’t begin to tell you how much
you’ve helped.”
Carol Wilson had one of her staff use the large SUV that was part of the
park’s small vehicle fleet to drive to the closest store for steaks,
trimmings, sodas and beer to properly thank the four Furs. Trooper Gibson
was able to change into dry clothing from the spares he kept in the
helicopter so he could relax in relative comfort, not wanting to return to
the nearest State Police barracks while his helicopter was sitting in the
middle of a field. Before long Terrence, Richard, Riva and Toshiro and a few
others that stopped by to meet the Furs were kept amused as Supervisor
Wilson and Sofiya started singing along with the different songs that were
coming in over the radio from the human woman’s preferred oldies rock and
roll station. Never mind that most of the songs were several decades old,
the two females sang loudly and without the slightest concern about their
dignity.
One of Sofiya’s favorite songs came on from the 1970s, a period that Richard
was more than happy to leave in the past, and started singing even louder
with Carol, both sporting wide, toothy grins. Even Terrence joined in on the
chorus, smiling just as wide. When the station took a commercial break,
everyone was trying to catch their breath from laughing so hard.
“What?” the vixen asked with minor irritation. “Andy Kim is great artist of
that time and Rock Me Gently* is his best song!”
“Yeah, but we all look like that old commercial where all the animals jump
into that guy’s car as he’s driving through the woods and sing the same
song!” Richard told her, holding his sides where they ached from too much
laughing.
When the station came back from the advertisements, the song that came on
was Sweet's Fox on the Run*, something that thrilled Sofiya to no
end. The impromptu sing-along continued for the next thirty-five minutes
with the woman and Fur singing along with the Bee Gees and ELO until a large
figure appeared in the gloomy downpour outside the light of the lamps that
had been set up under the large pop-up shelter. As soon as he stepped under
the protection of the open sided tent, Major Lambert removed his hat and
regarded the furs with a sober expression, his earlier hostility gone.
“Huh,” Richard said with a neutral expression after several moments of no
one moving or speaking, though his voice carried to everyone. “Now this is
really awkward.”
The moment continued until the senior State Trooper hung his head. “I…I owe
all of you an apology,” the man began in a deep voice. “My behavior earlier
was inexcusable. I doubt if the day would have had the happy ending it did
were it not for you four, and I…” the man paused again, swallowed hard, and
when he looked back up his eyes held deep pain. “My daughter and her
husband…they’re…they were volunteers. Like you. Furs, that is. They
didn’t make it. I…I let my pain…my loss…I let that prejudice me against
you…against what you are.”
When the man lowered his head again, everyone glanced at Terrence who only
looked at his superior with a stunned expression having never heard this
before.
Richard watched as Sofiya stepped up to the Trooper and put a gentle paw on
his arm, doing what she always did in situations like this. She acted like
the leader she was.
“You are not the only person that has let feelings change the way of viewing
others,” the red fox said softly. “It is something I have had to work very
hard with myself. It is something all are guilty of.”
Lambert shook his head. “I can’t afford to do that in my job.”
Sofiya smiled and gave the arm under the raincoat a reassuring squeeze. “But
you cannot always be the police man. You were thinking as a poppa would.”
With gentle nudging, the vixen encouraged the tall man to join them and
guided him to a chair, getting him a cup of black coffee and putting it in
his hands. “Tell me about your daughter,” Sofiya said. “Why did she join?
Where did she and her husband go?”
Major Lambert, who the others were instructed to call Aaron, sat looking at
the ground as he told the others of his daughter and son-in-law.
“They were so proud to have been accepted into the Furmankind program.
Shawna and Thomas had met in college where they both shared a few classes,
though it was astronomy that they were both crazy for.” The man paused and
chuckled. “If the weather was good and the sky clear you could always find
them outside at night, their telescopes and notepads out looking for
whatever they could. I won’t forget the first time she asked if he could
spend the night.
“Being a father…well, you know what I thought that meant, so imagine my
surprise to find both of them outside wrapped in blankets asleep at those
doggone telescopes! Looking at the heavens was fine for both, but what they
really wanted was to go out there, to make their way on another world.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any openings for colony personnel, so they put
in their applications for the Furmankind Institute.
“I was a little upset when they told me, but it was their decision. Then
Shawna sprung the news on me that she and Thomas had eloped. I think that
hurt a little. I’d always wanted to walk her down the aisle. We had a sort
of make-up ceremony, but I think that was something they just did for me and
her mother. It wasn’t a bad wedding as those things go, I guess. Lord knows
it went better than when I married her mother. They didn’t wind up knocking
the cake over.
“Then the day came when they got their letters telling them to get to the
bus station to head to New York.”
Aaron paused and rubbed at his eyes.
“I got letters and mail on the net while she and Thomas were
undergoing…whatever it is they do to you folks, sending pictures as she and
her husband changed and she was happy, they both were, talking about the
things they were learning, stuff I never even heard of before and had to
look up. The excitement never faded and they were so ready to go out into
space, to do what they’d always dreamed of. I was able to see them before
they departed. Funny thing was, I didn’t see her as she was, her new body or
Thomas’. I saw her as my little girl still. They were so happy, couldn’t
help smiling. Always smiling…”
When the man paused again it was to lower his head as he wept silently.
“Then…then the news came. It wasn’t just them but their whole group that
died. Some kind of illness or something…it just took all of them,” he
snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”
Sofiya’s eyes were bright and damp looking. “They were on Bastien?” she
whispered.
Aaron nodded. “And I had just gotten the news a couple of weeks before that
I was going to be a grandpa.” He gave the Furs a raw look full of hurt and
loss. “I never got to say good-bye. I can’t even put flowers on her grave.”
Without even hesitating, the red fox vixen reached out and took one of the
man’s large hands in both of her dainty paws. “We are being sent to
Bastien,” she told the Trooper softly. “I would take flowers for you if you
would like.”
It was heart rending to see the vulnerable look on the man’s face, the way
his jaw and lip trembled with the emotions he tried to hold in. “You…you’d
do that for me? After the way I treated all of you?”
“Of course we would,” Richard said, Riva and Toshiro both nodding in
agreement.
“I…I don’t know what to say…” Aaron murmured.
“There is no reason to say anything,” Sofiya replied with a smile. “You are
a father that loved his daughter and if it will be helping you, we would be
very happy to do this for you.”
The man looked as if her were about to lose all composure and accepted the
embrace the Fur offered, letting the loss of his child go while his eyes
seeped sad, bitter tears. “Your mother and father must be very proud of
you.”
“I am hoping so,” the vixen said, her own voice catching slightly.
Hector Alejandro de la Vega looked out the door of the smaller operations
dome at the rain that was visible from the safety lights while it pattered
on the upper panels, the sound soothing and took a sip of coffee from the
plastic cup in his paw-like hand, wincing at the flavor of the instant brew.
He would certainly lament the loss of being able to have real coffee, but
saw that as a minor inconvenience for the grand adventure they would all
soon embark upon. A snarled curse behind him caused the grey fox furman to
turn with a curious look at the individual covering the present operations
shift. “Whatever is the matter, Tipper?”
“I just completely lost my connection to the net!” the female lamented, her
expression sad. “My friend was telling me about going to the hospital to
have her baby, then I lost the connection and I don’t know if she had a boy
or girl!”
The Argentine fox made a sympathetic sound. “I told you the release of the
lock on the PBJ’s was only a temporary thing. Now that Sofiya and the others
found the boy they are back to being closed to outside traffic.”
“That’s so not fair,” Tipper grumped and set the clamshell device down while
crossing her arms over her chest. If she’d been able to, she would have
pouted.
“Well, as this is a simulation, consider it a simulated solar flare that has
temporarily interrupted communications,” Hector informed the other with a
wry look. “And, when we are done with the simulation, you will have
something that will be worth reading instead of the mail that I received
offering me a deal on time shares in Costa Rica or skiing in the Alps.”
“Really?” the Arctic fox Fur snorted before growing thoughtful. “I wonder if
it snows on Bastien?” Then her eyes lit up. “I wonder if we could make skis
to fit our new feet? I haven’t been skiing in years!”
The Argentine grey fox chuckled. “If anyone can figure out how to make skis
for us Furs, it will be you and Ruiz. You two are quite the innovative
pair.”
“He’s sweet,” Tipper agreed, a rather dreamy expression on her furry face.
“Just yesterday I found a bunch of wildflowers in my dome…” The vixen sighed
happily. “Hector? Are we allowed to get married? I mean, being Furs and
everything?”
The grey fox shrugged. “To be honest, senorita, I don’t know. I’m not sure
if marriages between furman are recognized yet.” Then he chuckled. “Then
again, I am not even sure that it matters! Why do you ask?”
“Well, a lot of the others are sort of pairing up, but there aren’t enough
guys to, you know, go around. And Mina and I are both…well, we both like
Ruiz. As in like like. I
don’t mind him being with someone else, but he says he could never…um…you
know…without being, um, married.” The vixen found it difficult to look at
the other fox and had her head lowered, looking at the flooring of the
operations dome.
“Ah. I think I understand the problem,” Hector told the female as he moved
away from the door and sat down in what was essentially a modified camp
chair of folding frame and nylon fabric, though there was a square hole at
the bottom of the back rest for tails. “Ruiz comes from a rather old
fashioned family. He was raised to honor women, to respect them, of which I
have only the highest esteem for. He is truly much more courteous than many
other men from that part of the world. It is his way of respecting you,
senorita. Do not take offense to it.
“I’m sure that he will eventually, what is your phrase, come around? Perhaps
if you and Mina were to both sit down and talk to him, be honest with not
only each other, but yourselves, I’m sure you will find that everything will
work out. As for weddings, I think that the colony leaders on other worlds
have performed such. Maybe you should talk to Sofiya when she and the others
return. I’m sure that she will know far more about it than I do at the
moment.”
Before Tipper could reply, another fox sauntered into the dome. “Your shift
is over, Tipper,” the other vixen said with a smile. “Mina made sure to save
you some supper and has it waiting.”
The Arctic fox Fur smiled. “Thanks, Neelu.” She then looked at Hector. “And
thank you. It might be time to do what you recommended.”
The grey fox gave an almost courtly bow from where he sat. “It is my
pleasure, senorita. Just remember; Honesty.”
Tipper nodded and all but skipped the few feet to the door of the Great
Dome, her ears perked and her tail held up off the ground.
The male took a sip of the coffee in his cup, again wincing at the flavor.
“Madre de Dios! If this terrible coffee is the worst that must be dealt with
during the rest of this exercise, I shall be very happy, indeed!”
Despite the damp weather of the previous night, the morning sun broke
through chinks in the clouds that gave small glimpses of the flawless blue
sky beyond. As it was, the weather was good with hardly even a breeze as the
four Furs of the impromptu rescue party were conveyed back to the AHCP
training site. Gibson didn’t linger long, he and the pilot, Trooper Keechan,
being requested in another area as soon as they dropped off Sofiya and the
others with a quick stop at a small airfield for refueling. The rest of the
Abeona colonists gathered round the four in the Great Dome to listen to the
tale of finding Mickey Ropper. Once the story was over, Sofiya, Richard and
Hector headed into the operations dome so the First Officer could brief the
red vixen on the happenings while she was away.
“I am thinking that having everyone train in search and rescue would be a
prudent thing,” Sofiya told Hector when the rest of the colonists dispersed
to tend to the various chores and duties that were a part of their
day-to-day lives. “That and the lessons that you and Richard have been
working on. Staying calm is very important should one of our friends become
lost.”
The grey fox nodded. “A calm attitude and knowledge that help will come is
important. We can fit in practice scenarios during our remaining time. Also,
simulating different injuries would help in teaching the others how to tend
to one of our number that’s incapable of returning on their own.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Richard agreed. “Everyone has some knowledge of
first aid, but field triage is a completely different story.”
The three Furs discussed plans for starting training later that day and came
up with different injuries. As Richard left to finalize different situations
on his PBJ, Sofiya told Hector of learning about the cartoon that was based
on the Furs that Robert Knowles had met at the Adirondack Institute. “I was
expecting the boy to be afraid when he saw me, not to be so happy!”
Hector laughed as he was told of the child’s reaction excitement at meeting
the four foxes, seeing the good that could come from the encounter. “Then I
would have to say that while the event was harrowing, the result is
certainly something to be proud of.”
“So I am hoping,” the vixen agreed. She also related the story of Major
Lambert and his request.
“Then I must say that I agree with your decision. What a terrible thing. No
parent should ever have to lose their child thus,” Hector said with a shake
of his head. “Fortunately things were far from exciting here. I am coming to
learn that boredom may not be such a bad thing as it means there are no
crises to tend to! The worst we had was a little rain and a young raccoon
that wondered into the operations dome while Neelu was on duty.”
Sofiya smiled. “Uneventful days will be most welcome!”
— NEXT CHAPTER —
Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.