REDEMPTION

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 41
Mail Call
 

Richard roused before the sun came up and sat up in the gloom blinking the sleep from his eyes. He was able to make out the shapes on the pallet around him, Sofiya with her back to her mate, Charity on his other side, her paw-like hand moving a little as if seeking him out of its own volition. The silver fox furman may have made it out from the tangle of blankets and limbs without alerting either of the vixens, but a careless paw on the tip of the grey fox’s tail fully woke her and she yipped softly, the sound very vulpine-like, before blinking large eyes as she sat up. Richard gave the newest member of their family an apologetic expression before helping Charity from the bed and exiting the room. Sofiya slept on, her body curled around Nikoli’s and completely oblivious to the activity as she breathed softly.

The kit would wake his mother soon enough with whines, yips and gurgles for his breakfast and the other two Vulps looked on the sleeping mother and child warmly before making their way to the main room of the house. Without even thinking about it, Richard put a pot of water on for the tea that Suzette and Etienne had been using as a replacement for coffee prior to loading the small stove with split chunks of wood and getting the blaze going, ensuring the simple flue was open. As he straightened, the silver fox smiled as arms slipped around him from behind, his tail wagging as Charity ran her finger pads and claw tips up and down his stomach and through the softer fur of his front.

“You’re going to turn me into a hedonist if you keep that up,” Richard mumbled happily. He could feel the vixen giggle as she held him tighter and doubled her efforts, her warm breath making it through the thicker coat of his back.

“You know I had a dog when I was growing up, and between her and being a Fur now, I know that nothing beats a good belly rub in the morning!” she whispered happily.

“I think you might be right,” the male answered in a gently rumbling voice as his eyes closed. “Still feeling up for today?”

Charity nodded, turning the response into an excuse to bury her nose in the thicker ruff around Richard’s neck, finding his scent comforting. “You bet! I wanted to learn more about hunting when we were doing the colony simulation but…well, I got a little distracted.”

The silver fox snorted in amusement. “Yeah. I know. Those domes weren’t all that sound proof, you know.”

“Joel was just brushing out my fur,” the vixen replied defensively, her ears drooping as the insides flared pink. “Honestly!”

The silver fox turned and wrapped his arms around the smaller female and rubbed his nose to hers before kissing her chastely. “Must’ve been one heck of a brushing, then,” Richard continued to tease.

“And who was it that got all happy and growly with some other interesting sounds the other night?” Charity replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she gently poked his chest with a forefinger. “That was just a good brushing!”

Richard squeezed a little more tightly. “Guilty as charged.” He sighed as his throat was nuzzled. “Now, what would you like for breakfast? Kurt doesn’t really stop for lunch when he’s out, though he might with Siobhan coming with us as well, but in case he doesn’t I’d recommend a good, hearty meal.”

“I like it when you do that seared meat and eggs stuff.” Charity pulled away and smiled as she shook her head. “I used to be happy with just a bagel or something. I never thought I’d get to the point that I could do a fourteen-ounce steak and quarter dozen eggs! I still like my eggs scrambled, but just getting the meat warm in the center is good.”

“I think that’s part of being as much fox as we are human, now,” the silver fox answered as he got the vixen to go sit down with a pat to her fur clad rump, admiring the view and the way her tail swayed side-to-side for a moment prior to getting the breakfast request out of a cleverly built storage cubby built into the juncture of the wall and floor, the ceramic blocks keeping things surprisingly cool. It wasn’t as good as an actual refrigeration unit, but for overnight storage or small sundries it was rather effective. Most of the available space was taken up with containers of milk, both cow and goat, for Nikoli when his mother needed a break. “But then I never liked my beef overcooked, and I’ve always been a bit of a nut for sashimi.”

As he began to get the different ingredients out to cook up, the silver fox had to chuckle to himself. Most people on Earth used a cooking spray or margarine when they cooked, or on their toast, but here he was light years away, living with what amounted to technology from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, and using real cream butter to cook with. Granted it was what the colonists themselves had made from cows that they had all helped milk, but it was honest-to-goodness butter. He shuddered at the thought of margarine, the substance just a small molecule nudge away from being plastic.

It didn’t take long for the food to cook, the different skillets, pans and pots that Ella had fashioned working rather well. Everything was put on a sort of communal platter that both he and Charity would eat from, Sofiya joining in if she were awake. There was also plenty for the red fox vixen when she finally stirred; the whole thing would be kept warm from the residual heat of the stove’s fire and the crockery itself.

Charity and Richard dressed from a selection of laundry that all of them helped take care of, the silver fox pointing out that colors more subdued would be a good idea. He had to smile and shake his head when the vixen opted for only a pair of shorts with the argument that it would be easier for her to move and that the weather wasn’t all that bad to warrant a top. Richard paused before they departed to give the still slumbering Sofiya a kiss and nuzzle, doing the same to his son with Charity also saying a silent goodbye before tucking a small pale blue flower behind the other vixen’s ear.

The plan was to meet Kurt and Siobhan on the far side of the eastern fields after withdrawing bows from the armory module in the operations dome. Richard grinned at Hector, who was already at the main desk and looking over his PBJ. “Either you’re up early, or you haven’t gone to bed yet,” the silver fox quipped as he moved to the module and entered the code to unlock the unit.

“No. I’m up early,” the South American grey fox answered with a smile for both Furs. “How are Sofiya and Nikoli?”

“Still sleeping,” Charity answered for both. “And how’s Emanuella?”

Hector shook his head. “Morning sickness is her greatest lament; that and heartburn. I wasn’t thinking that we Furs could get heartburn still.”

Richard chuckled as he passed one of the compound bows to his second mate. “Then stay away from Matthew’s attempts at chili. You’ll get to remember exactly what heartburn and indigestion are like. Even Neelu thinks he uses too much in the way of peppers, and she’s from India. If she says something’s too hot, I know I don’t want to try it!”

Hector shuddered and closed his eyes with a frown. “I think I shall definitely pass, then. Where are the hunters heading to today?”

Richard helped Charity sling her bow and got the quiver with ten arrows situated so that the vixen could travel on all fours if need be without worry about spilling the shafts. “Kurt mentioned something about heading to the far side of the hot springs and a bevy of jack-a-woks. Leave it to him to discover everything possible that we can eat.”

“And that it tastes good, too!” Charity added with a grin.

Hector smiled and was about to respond when Kurt entered the dome with an enthusiastic Siobhan. The two vixens greeted each other with hugs while Richard and the German clasped paws. “Today is looking like we shall have very good weather,” he said with a smile.

Richard chuckled as his only reply. As far as Kurt was concerned, any day he could hunt or be out in the wilderness, regardless of the weather, was a good day.

Hector leaned to the side and regarded the speckled platinum fox male. “What is that over your shoulder?” the South American grey fox inquired with a surprised expression.

Grinning even more broadly, Kurt drew the slung item that rested high on his back, holding it in both hands before passing it to the first officer. “A little project with Ruiz. When he began telling me of the durability of some of the woods we have here, I thought I would experiment a little and had him make this. As crossbows go it isn’t very powerful. Only a hundred and seventy pounds of draw and the cable is dried sinew that must be kept oiled and waxed. It's certainly not as powerful as others I have used made of modern materials. The quarrels are of the same wood with the vanes being made of pickled bone that is less brittle and a little more resistant to abuse.”

Despite the lack of metal fittings, the improvised weapon was rather elegant looking and well-constructed, both Richard and Hector looking admiringly at the ingenuity required. “What are the tips made from?” the grey fox asked with interest.

“Ach. Ella was very helpful in firing three dozen heads out of her marvelous ceramics. They are tough with good penetration, but I will not lament their loss should that happen. I was surprised that they sharpened as well as they did.”

Hector accepted one of the quarrels after passing the crossbow to Richard and promptly cut his thumb. “Madre! It is sharp!” he exclaimed as he put his lacerated pad into his mouth before pulling it out and examining the shallow cut.

“I warned you,” Kurt said with a stern look as he took the missile and put it back in the quiver at his hip.

“Is the trigger and cable catch bone?” Richard inquired with interest.

The platinum fox smiled. “No. It is more of Ella’s cleverness with ceramics. The things that she is making are very durable it seems. The tension on the cable will keep it taught without the need for a spring until squeezed to the stock. It is also rounded so that it will not wear on the string.”

“I have always been impressed with the German attention to detail,” Hector commented after determining the cut on his thumb pad was superficial and no real worry. “You’ll have to tell me how you do with this. Maybe we can make more for some of us that are not as proficient at hunting so we may also contribute.”

Kurt shrugged and accepted the device back from his silver fox friend. “It only took three weeks to construct. I am sure that making more will not be difficult as Ella still has the molds for the lever trigger. Of course, she is also most intrigued and wishes a report on the function of this,” he added a pat to the stock of his new tool and turned to Richard and Charity. “Are you ready?”

***

“There…between those two hummocks of grass,” Richard whispered, leaning so that the vixen could sight down his arm to where he pointed. “Do you see it?”

Charity strained to look at the rab-zelle that her mate pointed out, ready to growl in frustration when either the animal or the feathery tipped grass must have shifted slightly as one moment to the next the animal was suddenly there. “Ohmigosh! I see it!” she whispered happily. Then the vixen’s expression became confused. “So what do we do now?”

Richard smiled at the grey fox and lay back in the grass, his paws behind his head. “Nothing. We have enough game for now to take back.” He lifted one arm to poke the other fox gently in the stomach, “Including the two jack-a-woks you already ate!”

Charity smiled and lay next to the silver fox, nestling against the fur of his body with a happy sigh, more than a little pleased with the day, having caught her lunch plus three others by not shooting them with the bow but running them to ground with Richard’s help. Then a thought crossed her mind and the smile faded as a small furrow developed between her eyes. “Richard?” she began softly. “Do…do you still miss Elena and Amanda? I mean…well, I still miss Joel sometimes, but not like I did when he was first killed. I mean, it still hurts sometimes, but not like it did.” She sighed in frustration. “You know what? Forget I said anything.”

“No,” the silver fox said and pulled the vixen closer, his hand stroking her hair that she kept in something like a pixie style cut, never having liked long hair to begin with, even when she’d been human. “That’s an acceptable question and the answer is yes. I do miss them from time to time.” He gave the female a sympathetic look. “It’s okay to talk about them. Joel and Elena and Mandy were important parts of our lives. You don’t forget about the important people you loved.”

Charity nodded, her frown becoming more pronounced. “It’s just that…jeez, this is going to make me sound like a total tramp, but when Joel and I first hooked up, I looked at him more like a consolation prize because I was still hung up on you. It wasn’t until we had our simulation and then in Seattle at that hotel that I realized I really did love him. I just wish I could have told him that more often, you know?”

“Hung up on me?” the silver fox asked in surprise.

The vixen nodded. “I was hot for you from the time our group boarded the bus to go to the Institute! You were handsome, kinda quiet and shy, but you also made me and Tipper aware that you were there for us. I mean, we were really scared and all, but you were so calm and cool with everything! I think that’s what helped us out so much. Then you also kept Matthew from bothering us too much as well, and a girl kinda gets certain ideas when a guy gets all protective over her.

“I was so ready to let you do whatever you wanted with me after our first week. And you made me and Tipper not feel like ugly freaks when our hair fell out…then again, letting us draw on your bald dome with magic markers was fun! But you made all the weird and scary stuff so much easier to deal with.

“Now here we are, I got what I wanted after all, and I know I’m not just another…and I hope you won’t be mad about the pun, but just a piece of tail for you or a notch on the bed post. I really like being with you and Sofiya and I love little Nikoli, but I feel kinda guilty because I loved Joel, too. I’m happy, but I don’t want to forget him, either, and it sometimes makes me feel like I’m the worst person ever for being happy and Joel not sharing that.”

Richard let her finish and felt the tension that filled the young vixen. It wasn’t difficult for him to pull her up so that she was all but laying on him, knowing that she was like him, or any of the other Furs, and that comfort was derived from touch and contact. He also stroked the short triangles of her ears alternately, letting his forefinger and thumb pads massage the tips, something he already knew soothed the anthrovixen.

“It’s not wrong to remember the people we loved, and it doesn’t make you a bad person. Sofiya and I still think about Mandy and Elena, so you aren’t alone. Like I said, we don’t forget the people that mattered, and we shouldn’t. There are still times I wonder if I could’ve done something different or maybe if I’d been a little faster or a better swimmer that things would have been different.

“And it hurts. I know that Elena and Amanda will always have a substantial place in my heart, just like Joel will for you. It’s when we forget what they meant to all of us that we do wrong, and I don’t think either of us will ever do that. At the same time, we all knew that what we were volunteering for was dangerous and that bad things could very easily happen to anyone. But we also have a job to do, and the best way we can honor Joel, Elena and Amanda is to do that the best way we can, just like we honor the Felis that came before us. We have to make this the kind of world all of us talked about because they are worth it.”

Charity lay against the other fox, absorbing what he said, his words as comforting as his touch and eventually felt a strange lightness fill her, like a weight was pulled off her heart and shoulders she’d been unaware of. It wasn’t until Richard sighed that the vixen lifted her head to look at her mate.

“You know I didn’t push things with you because Joel came to me to say that he was very interested in you.”

The vixen jerked upright and stared with wide eyes at the silver fox. “Are…are you serious?”

“Very,” Richard answered simply. “Then I fell in love with Sofiya and that was it for me.”

“If…if you and I had gotten together, would Sofiya still be a part of our…our family?”

The silver fox shrugged, turning the gesture into a hug. “I honestly don’t know. I can tell you when she first talked about bringing Amanda and Elena into our group I was more than a little opposed to the idea. At first I thought it was some kind of test like some wives and girlfriends pull to see if their guy will be faithful. Then I was a little sore when I found out she was being completely honest.

“Sofiya pointed out that things were going to be a little unfair with some of you vixens going without a male because of the disproportionate numbers, and that sharing was inevitable, but at least this way she could share with others that wouldn’t hurt or try to sabotage what she and I had. And she was right, both from a logical and emotional view point. Then as things progressed, I found myself loving all three of them. The way I felt for each of them was different, but not any less in its intensity. That they all loved each other helped as well. Elena was like a sister to Sofiya, and as for Amanda, her heart was just too good and pure not to love her back.

“What really made the difference was that all of us really cared for the others. We could depend on each other, no matter what. It didn’t matter if it was help with chores or duties, or giving a hug when we were down, or even just something as simple as a smile. None of us were alone, and being so far away from everything we had on Earth, that made all the difference.”

“Never mind that you were with the three most beautiful vixens out of our group!” Charity snickered.

“I thought so, too, but then I was biased,” the other fox quipped with a grin. “But you aren’t anything to turn away, either. Sofiya and I both think that you’re a complete knockout.”

The vixen’s eyes grew wide and her ears perked up significantly. “Really?”

“Really.” Richard went so far as to cross his heart and hold up his fingers in a scout’s salute. “Cherry, for a Fur and when you were human, you are very beautiful.” He fished in the pocket of his shorts and held his closed paw up. “In fact, Sofiya and I were wondering if you’d be interested in wearing this.”

When the silver fox opened his fingers, between the claw tips of his finger and thumb was the end of the chain that Amanda had gotten the fennec back on Earth, many of the other Vulps chagrined that they hadn’t had similar thoughts.

“Are you serious?” Charity whispered, her gaze softening as it locked on to the slowly swinging, gleaming links of white gold.

“Very serious.” Richard swallowed before meeting the vixen’s eyes. “We care about you, Cherry, and we’d like to let everyone know that you are a special part of our family.”

“Put it on me, please!” the grey fox asked as she sat up and spun so that her back was to the silver fox as her left paw lifted her hair so he wouldn’t have any difficulty with the clasp. No sooner did the little mechanism click into place than Charity spun again, throwing her arms around Richard, her enthusiastic kiss driving him backwards into the grass, leaving the silver fox breathless when they finally parted.

“Wow. I guess that helps answer my question if you’d be okay with this,” he chuckled.

“I am so beyond ‘okay’!” the grey fox giggled.

***

Nikoli had woken Sofiya up with soft yipping barks, wanting his breakfast. Nursing her son had the same effect it always did of filling the anthrovixen with a sense of completion that was both powerful and subtle, and she enjoyed looking into the kit’s eyes, marveling at what she and Richard had made with their love. Was what she felt the same joy that her own parents had experienced because of her? It was an interesting thought to turn over and examine as the child nursed until he had his fill. It only required a few pats to Nikoli’s back before the kit belched loudly and smacked his tiny muzzle in drowsy satisfaction.

“You are so your father’s son!” the vixen laughed and buried her nose in the fur of her baby’s neck.

Ensuring that the sleep sack that the other mothers of the colony had developed was still clean, learning quickly that traditional diapers and fur were a very messy combination, Sofiya nestled her son close to her and snuggled back into the bed, the kit already falling back to sleep, happy and warm. Sofiya had no qualms about lazing about, Hector having taken the brunt of duties for the week, and just drifted off when her PBJ chimed with the instrumental piece Air on a G String.

Sighing with mild frustration at having failed to turn off the sound, Sofiya picked up the device and flipped it open, her yellow-green eyes widening as she read the message, the news waking her up fully with a sense of anticipation. Rolling out of bed and placing the pillows and blankets around Nikoli, the vixen rushed about the room in an attempt to make herself presentable, brushing her fur quickly, especially her cheeks where she’d been laying down, and threw on a fresh outfit of shorts in dark blue and green vest. She then found the sort of sling that had a pouch for Nikoli and got her kit situated before heading for the operations dome.

Sofiya paused long enough to get some of the meat that Richard had cooked for him and Charity before taking the other vixen hunting, the quick breakfast getting wrapped in a loaf of flatbread that she tore into on her way to where Hector was.

“I thought you were taking the week to relax?” the South American grey fox chided good naturedly.

“Did you receive the message?” the red fox asked as she pulled a tiny shred of meat out of her sandwich for her kit.

Hector shook his head. “I have the sound muted. I was reading Toshiro’s report and didn’t want to be distracted. Is something wrong?”

Sofiya grinned. “I will be letting you read the message for yourself.”

It was amusing to watch the myriad reactions as Hector read the message from Earth before he looked up at his leader. “It’s here? Is it my imagination, or did that seem rather fast?”

“Hector, it has been a little under a month and a half for us, which means a little longer for Earth. Call in the scouting teams. I am sure that everyone will be wanting to watch the drop of the cargo pods from the automated ship!”

***

“There it is!” Kurt exclaimed as he pointed up to the swath of stars overhead, one of the small, bright points moving quickly in a Northeasterly direction. From the surface of Bastien it looked like a plane moving across the night sky, something that seemed marvelous to the Furs that had gone for so long without such things.

“It doesn’t look like it is moving very fast,” Myao Shin said from where he sat with Enola, the two red foxes sitting close on the blanket they’d spread on the turf of the commons.

“Figure it’s cruising along at about fifteen thousand miles per hour,” Richard quipped where he sat ensconced by Sofiya and Charity, his son in his arms with Nikoli looking up in an effort to mimic the adults around him.

“When will it drop the cargo pods?” the Chinese Fur asked as he continued to look up without blinking.

Toshiro chuckled from near-by. “It already has. The pods need to hit the atmosphere at the right angle so they don’t tumble and slow down enough for the parachutes to eventually deploy.”

“Is that them?” Enola Bellingham asked excitedly as four spots of light seemed to flare for a split second before leaving a trail of red fire behind each of them.

Hector smiled. “That would be the pods.”

Everyone watched in rapt fascination, Rupert recording the drop with a small video recorder from the colony equipment locker. It was several minutes from the pods growing dark as they slowed enough to deploy parachutes to the point the locator strobes began blinking, three of the bright blue-white lights around the circumference of the cone shaped pods and one on the top. Each flash of the lights illuminated the bright, reflective fabric of the chutes, and several Furs gasped as jets of maneuvering thrusters pushed the slowly descending cargo units closer to the colony.

It was quite evident that the pods were going to come down outside the wall of the Abeona settlement, coordinates having been relayed to Earth for the meadow that claimed the southern portion of the land around the colony. The animals that normally grazed in that portion of ground were already on the north side. Everyone rushed to the top of the wall to watch as the first pod landed in a controlled crash, a series of landing bags deploying at forty feet to further cushion the impact.

“They must have taken lessons from Soyuz missions. Landing in water is fine, but Russia is having more land than water!” Victor Rushenko laughed. “Still, is feeling like holiday and instead of reindeer and sled, Father Christmas is using rockets!”

Charity blinked where she stood holding onto Richard’s arm. “Wow! Those things are as big as one of our houses! We could live in one of those!”

“They are being made to be dismantled and recycled by colonists,” Sofiya said as she watched the second pod land, the bright orange chutes collapsing slowly. “For being run by computers on Earth, the drop was being fairly accurate,” the vixen observed.

Richard nodded, no less excited than the rest of the Vulps. “A lot more accurate than some of the resupply flights I saw in the military,” he agreed. “I know that everyone wants to go and crack them open, but we should probably let them cool a little before we get close. I don’t think they’re going anywhere.”

“While we are waiting I will be starting my report for Stockholm,” Sofiya said with a pleased expression. “This could make it easier to be helping colonies keep going instead of having to send rescue missions!”

— NEXT CHAPTER —

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