REDEMPTION

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 43
Standoff
 

Myao Shin Tam politely cleared his throat as Richard finished doing an inventory of the armory module and stored his notes in the clamshell device all of them had been issued. When the silver fox turned around, Myao gave the older Fur a polite bow causing Richard’s ears to perk up at the rather deferential greeting, though he also noticed the rather furtive looks the Asian red fox gave any noise that came from outside the dome. “What’s up, Myao? And why are you nervous?”

“My apologies, Richard, but may I speak with you? It…it is rather personal, but I am not sure what to do and…you have been more than a good friend to me. You are Yangfu.”

The silver fox slipped his PBJ into the chest pocket of his overalls and smiled, knowing that the younger Vulps looked upon him as something akin to a favorite uncle or older brother, sometimes even seeing him as a father figure. It was understandable with Richard having learned that the Chinese Fur had grown up with distant relatives after losing his own parents at an early age and was only twenty-one, volunteering for the Furmankind Project as soon as he turned the acceptable age of eighteen. “Sure. I’m always willing to help when I can. You know that,” he said lightly, placing a paw on the other’s shoulder.

Myao relaxed noticeably and gave the older fox a weak smile. “I am having…domestic troubles. It is Enola and Shen-zhyi. I think that they are expecting me to be like you, to be…to be with both of them. How do you live with and love two women at the same time?” The young red fox swallowed and gave the older American Fur a nervous expression. “I do not know if I can do this. The situation is very much a problem at the moment.”

Richard couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up as he guided Myao to a long plastic crate and sat down next to the younger fox. “Do you know how many guys back on Earth would like to have your problem?” The silver fox sobered a little when he saw how uncomfortable the red fox was, even sitting down Myao’s tail tried to press against the backs of the Vulps’ legs. “You know, when Sofiya first pointed out that the numbers of males and females were rather unbalanced and told me that it would be necessary for, eh…sharing, I didn’t know that she meant that more for me than the rest of the guys with us.

“I’m going to be honest, Myao. I was a little angry at first. I love Sofiya with all my heart. I really do. The thought that she wouldn’t be the only female for me was…well, it made me wonder for a little while if it meant that she didn’t want me and that maybe throwing other ladies at me was a way of keeping me distracted. That wasn’t it at all, though. Sofiya knows that all of us, men and women…or Vulps in our case, need affection. It keeps us healthy, it’s part of what we are. Both the human parts and the parts of us that are foxes. She knew that in order to keep the situation from degrading to a dangerous point that certain things we’ve all grown up thinking were proper didn’t have a place with what all of us were getting ready to do. And she was right.

“You see, even though Sofiya wants the same things as the rest of us, a family, love and children, she also has to think about the rest of us and Abeona as a whole. We have a job to do, and she has to make sure we can do that. She did choose who the two of us would be sharing our lives with. Sofiya told me that there were a few other vixens that she trusted not to hurt either of us or cause problems, that’s why Amanda and Elena became part of our family. I was cautious, but soon came to love them as well. It wasn’t the same as the way I love Sofiya, but then neither of them were her; they were their own as individuals, but they were also willing to be part of our family and understood that while none of them would have an exclusive relationship, they were cared about and cared for.”

Myao Shin looked up, his dark yellow eyes widening as his ears stood fully erect for a moment before drooping. “You still mourn Amanda and Elena,” he whispered, chagrined when Richard’s own expression fell.

“I do,” the silver fox admitted as his eyes began to sting. “The logical part of me,” he said tapping his head, “knows that I tried my best to save them. But here,” he added with a claw tip to his chest, “feels that I could’ve done better. They were depending on me and there will always be a part of me that feels I let them down, and now they’re gone.”

Myao felt tears fill his eyes and roll down the fur of his face. “I…I would give my life to have them back, Richard,” the younger Fur told his friend in a shaking voice. “You and Sofiya have suffered much, and I would happily face my death to see your family whole again.”

Richard looked at the earnest young Fur and smiled tiredly. “I know you would, Myao. And the sentiment is appreciated. Sure, we all knew the risks when we signed up and had a chance to back out, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with when tragedy does strike.” The silver fox sighed and shook his head. “But that’s not what we need to be talking about.”

The red fox seemed to sink into himself. “No…it is not.” Myao sighed and laced his fingers together with his elbows on his knees. “Enola is accepting of the thought, and there are times that she seems to enjoy being around Shen-zhyi…it confuses me, Yangfu. I do not know what I should do.”

“You know, I had it explained to me by Daniel, Suzette, Etienne and Riva, and what they said made a lot of sense.” Richard leaned back and got more comfortable. “Back on Earth in the wilds, male foxes normally roam before and after breeding season, but female foxes tend to form groups called skulks. They work together for the welfare of their skulk, all of them assisting in raising the kits, hunting and protecting their range. It seems that the urge to form skulks is a part of our ladies now. It’s just another sign that none of us are fully human anymore. We have our intellect and reasoning, but there are parts of us that belong to the fox aspect and will find comfort in behavior that wasn’t with us before our change.

“The females like to be around each other and that’s okay. It makes them feel more comfortable and safe. Considering what Shen-zhyi has gone through, that need to feel accepted and safe may be stronger than what some of the other vixens feel. Just remember, it’s these feelings…instincts I guess, that make us better suited for living on alien worlds than full humans. They make us more adaptable, more resilient. At the same time, we’re still the same people that we were before undergoing the furmankind changes. Even the other Furs that were with us before we left Earth were starting to exhibit the traits of their particular choices and if you think back I bet you’ll remember seeing it.

“The Canis liked to be in groups, or packs, just like wolves or dogs, a lot of the Felis felt the urge for contact with other Felis, not all the time or in a romantic way, but they felt comfortable lounging together but were still independent. The Ursis could and did work as a group or part of a team, but they also liked their alone time. A lot of us Vulps, the guys at least, have little trouble being alone, but we also like spending time with our ladies.”

“I have noticed this,” Myao admitted. “It is strange because before joining the AHCP girls made me…nervous.” The red fox ducked his head again, his ears twitching back in an expression of embarrassment. “Is it the fox part of me that becomes full of…yi-yin…enflamed with certain thoughts of…” Myao gesture to his lower half, his ears all but trying to vanish along the sides of his head, “when I smell flowers?”

Richard looked at the almost mortified young fox. “Um, are you telling me that you and Enola haven’t…um, well…been together?”

Myao shook his head slowly. “I did not wish to be like…like Yun Chu, Yangfu. I…” for the first time since the conversation started to become somewhat personal, the red fox brightened. “Enola fills me with joy and great happiness. I would rather die a thousand deaths before I dishonored her!”

“Myao, you need to talk to her about this. It isn’t dishonorable to love someone and show them that love. It’s very natural and…” Richard swallowed. “Just go talk to her. There is a very good chance that she is hoping for that kind of expression of affection.” The silver fox shook his head wondering just how he got into these kinds of conversations. “Be honest, and talk to her about Shen-zhyi as well. In fact, it might be good for the three of you to go on a little picnic, get away from the colony for a bit and get everything out in the open. This way there won’t be any surprises or confusion.”

“And what of the smell of flowers? Why does that make me-”

“Oh, no. You’ll have to discover that little bit on your own. If things work out the way I think they might, you’ll discover that on your own,” Richard said with a laugh as he playfully scruffed the younger Fur’s neck with his paw-like hand before standing and guiding the red fox to the doorway to send him on his way. “Now, you keep calling me Yangfu. I don’t know what that word means. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with Ukrainian, so you’ll need to help me out on that one.”

Myao Shin grinned as he turned around and gave the silver fox a quick bow. “It means one who is ‘little father’, not my parent… a foster father,” the fox answered before heading to the ceramic blocked house he shared with Enola Bellingham, and now Shen-zhyi.

***

Mina finished depositing the large strainer of local tubers that someone had named bastots, or Bastien carrots despite the resemblance to parsnips, into the enormous pot of soup base and worked on rinsing a basket of greens that would also be added eventually. A few pinches of salt that had been gleaned from sea water before the colony relocated helped savor the slowly cooking bits of vegetables and cuts of meat from one of Kurt Reichmann’s hunts. Other native herbs and plants that had been discovered as edible went in before the vixen turned back to her cutting board to render the greens into strips, scratching her head at the sudden disappearance of her cleaver. Mina scanned the kitchen area as she rubbed at her chin in thought, wondering where she could have possibly set it down.

Looking at the preparation tables, around the plastic cutting board, even on the plastic flooring of the kitchen dome, Mina started to become completely flummoxed as to where she could have put the cutting utensil, wondering if perhaps she’d knocked it between some of the storage containers for dry goods. As it was, the vixen was unaware of the shadow that darted from the doorway while she was preoccupied in her search.

***

Siobhan Hanlon looked at her handiwork, more than pleased with the result of applying her seamstress skills to some of the incredibly fine leathers and furs that her mate had tanned after his hunting forays, her friend looking like a vulpine warrior-queen from some fantasy movie that recently was all the rage with young people on Earth. Her model for the leather garments was less than convinced, despite having more than enough to cover the various parts of her body that the standards of modesty and decorum they’d all grown up with required.

“I am not being so sure of this…” Sofiya said as she tried to look down at herself. “I feel like apoviya!”

“A what?’ the other red fox asked as she looked up from her scrutiny of the tooled design that had been colored by bone instruments dipped in dye. The dye was made from a berry that had had been discovered along the banks of the lake that had proven inedible but when roasted and boiled and mixed with methyl alcohol that was used for lantern fuel made a permanent dark purple stain.

“A... a street girl…” Sofiya explained as she plucked at the half vest that was also fringed with accents of fur that matched the ones on the strange skirt. “You are knowing…a lady of the evening…”

Siobhan broke out with a laugh, already wearing some of the other things that she’d made like a hair catch with pin that had thin strands of leather with feathers and colored rocks or ceramic beads, braided bracelets, though the handbag that she had fashioned for herself was hanging on the back of a handcrafted chair with the hide from a rab-zelle. “Sofiya, you’re wearing more than you do with our furman clothing,” the former Irish tailor pointed out as she eyed the way that the back of the skirt tapered down to a point that would keep her friend more than concealed if she had to go on all fours.

“But the way it is made is making it feel like less,” the blond vixen commented sullenly.

“Then we’ll have to get the opinion of someone else,” Siobhan said. “Kurt! Could you come in here, Love?”

“Ja, leiber…,” the German said, not looking up until he entered from one of the side rooms where he’d been fashioning points for the crossbow and quarrels that Ruiz had helped him make. When he did lift his head, the platinum fox stopped, his eyes widening as his tail fell before wagging in a twitching manner that showed he was trying to calm his response. “Mein Gott! Sofiya…you are stunning!”

“I am?” the vixen inquired in a small voice. “I am not looking like…a girl of the night?”

“Of course you are not,” Kurt told the vixen firmly. “You look incredible and I know Richard would feel the same.” The German smiled before leering at his mate. “In fact, I’m going to insist that the next such dress Siobhan makes is for herself! It is not proper for me to be so appreciative of another’s vixen, especially Mein friend’s.”

“I don’t mind you looking,” the other vixen said with an almost girlish giggle. “You’re a guy, you can’t help it. Just so long as you don’t touch, that’s the important part!”

Sofiya was simultaneously warmed by the affectionate interaction of her friends, but also a little embarrassed by it, though the assessment mollified her somewhat. She had to admit that the clever way in which the designed cutouts were placed in the supple, almost delicate leather kept the outfit from being too warm, and the combination of clean hide with only a little fur left on for accentuation was rather attractive, it did leave her belly exposed, and not even when she was a human woman had she worn anything like that, her swimsuits for the beach always having been one piece. Once becoming a Fur she’d gone topless, but this made baring herself in such a way feel risqué.

“I know what you’re thinking, Sofiya,” the other vixen teased. “And you’re right! It’s what isn’t shown but only hinted at that’s the most enticing.” Siobhan seemed that she would have said more, but a knock on the door caused her to pause as Kurt went to answer.

“Ach. Come in. You are just in time,” the speckled platinum fox said, moving aside so that Charity could enter the house.

“Yeah. I didn’t know that you wanted me here earlier. I sorta left my PBJ on the…holy smokes!” the North American grey fox exclaimed. “Sofiya, you look beautiful!”

“Do you truly think so?” the blond haired red fox asked as she turned slowly, her arms held up.

“Oh, yeah!” Charity turned to Siobhan. “Please tell me you can make something like that for me? I’ll do your chores for a month!”

The Irish Fur almost doubled over with laughter at the reaction from the younger vixen. “You’d better be very glad that I’m not going to take you up on that!” Siobhan informed the third member of her friend’s family group. “As it goes, I already know your measurements and have this for you to try on.”

***

Sofiya and Charity walked back to the house they shared with Richard, the new outfits in their arms, holding paw-like hands in a way that seemed completely natural while the younger vixen tried not to run. “I don’t know why you didn’t want us to wear them,” the grey fox pouted before breaking into a grin. “You look beautiful! It makes me wish I’d chosen a red fox, too!”

“You are very pretty, and I am thinking that you are perfect the way you are being,” Sofiya told the other vixen with a squeeze of her paw. “Besides, I am wanting it to be a surprise for Richard, and we cannot do such if we are wearing them now,” she told the other with an almost girlish giggle. “I think he will be liking our new dresses very much.”

Charity nodded. “We’ll know just how much by how quickly he tries to get us out of them!”

The blonde vixen looked at the other, the only thing keeping her from stopping in the middle of the graveled path being the insistent tug on her arm. “Cherry!” Sofiya exclaimed in shock and wide-eyed surprise. “You are being very wicked!”

“Hardly! Wicked is what the two of you did to me last week when…” The grey fox trailed off as she looked at the house the three Vulps shared. “Funny. I thought I shut the door.”

“Could the breeze have been blowing it open?” the red fox inquired.

Charity shrugged as she stepped inside. “I suppose. So what time is Richard supposed to be getting back?”

“It will certainly not be too late. I know he was wanting to be starting an inventory of supplies for the survey teams,” Sofiya told the other vixen as she set the wrapped outfit in the bedroom nook. “I must be getting Nikoli from Suzette soon. She is very happy to be letting the children play together and giving time to us, but I am not wanting to be taking advantage of her offer.”

“I’ll go with you,” the other offered as she put her own new clothing into the storage chest all three shared.

Neither noticed the furred fingers that gripped the leather hanging that separated the main sleeping chamber with the smaller nook that had been added for Nikoli or the flash of steel.

***

“I don’t know,” Richard told the assembled teams as they discussed the new methods of protecting the members of survey forays. “To have every one carry a rifle or pistol with two full reloads is a lot of ammunition,” he said, Hector nodding in agreement. “But with some of the indigenous wildlife I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable with anything less.”

Lu Chin Yao raised his paw, the Asian red fox looking thoughtful. “Then, perhaps, we should take a lesson from history.” A grin slowly spread over the former academic’s muzzle, “And the lessons learned from our own simulation back on Earth.”

“I do not think that I am following you,” Hector said with a confused expression.

Lu chin smiled more broadly. “It is simple. We have limited bullets for our firearms, of this we are all in agreement. At the same time, we must be protecting ourselves. When our own ancestors began to explore, they did not have modern firearms. In many cases they were fortunate to have bronze weapons and tools, and many more had little more than stone.”

The Fur stood and stepped to the spot where he’d hidden a personal project and smiled at the looks of surprise at the seven-and-a-half-foot long spear.

“For thousands of years, all humanity had were simple weapons, yet they carved vast territories and built empires with just such tools. In the process, those early humans met many threats in the form of animals and other tribes. Why must our answer be what we are accustomed to? Why not look to the history of the people we originated from? Even our most honorable Kurt has embraced primitive technology with his crossbow. Why can we not do the same?”

Richard blinked at the spear in surprise before chuckling. “Um, Lu Chin? I don’t know how to use a spear.”

“Ah,” the red fox said with his orange-red eyes sparkling. “But you do know how to use a knife! And what is a spear but a knife with a very, very long handle?”

“What is the tip made from?” Hector inquired. “It can’t be steel! We don’t have any.”

“Ah. That would be the other metal that we have found mining the stone for our homes,” Lu Chin said with a grin. “Silver is not the best metal for this, but it is better than none, and can be hardened a little. As such it is a little more durable, thicker for strength, sharp enough to shave, though we do not need to do that anymore, and more effective than simply sharpened wood.”

Richard and Hector looked at each other for a long moment, grinning at Lu Chin’s answer to their quandary when a scream from inside the colony perimeter pulled their attention away from the meeting. “That was Sofiya!” the silver fox spat as he spun and dropped to all fours, Hector only a moment behind.

Other Furs that had heard the scream gathered around the scene that Richard was desperately trying to reach. No one complained as the American shoved and bulled his way through the crowd as each tried to see what was amiss. As he passed, the path the silver fox plowed immediately closed up, almost as if he were moving through water until he was at the forward edge of the colonists, his heart dropping to his stomach.

On her knees, a look of supreme fear on her face was Sofiya, her arm outstretched imploringly as tears flowed freely from her eyes. Next to the red fox was Charity with the same expression while several yards away in the doorway of the house all of them shared stood Yun Chu, his yellow eyes wide with a mad look and his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth while drool and foam flecked his muzzle. His gaze flicked to Richard once and he held up both paw-like hands to show the American that in one he held a cleaver, and in the second, bawling at being held by the scruff of his neck was Richard and Sofiya’s son.

Fury boiled up in Richard at the threat to his child, and it was only by the barest margin that he kept from leaping forward to attack the threat to his family. Never before had the silver fox Fur come so close to giving in to the portion of his new DNA that shared half of its makeup with vulpes vulpes, and the desire, the need to feel Yun Chu’s blood washing over his tongue, to taste and drink down the hot and coppery sweet fluid was staggering in its intensity.

He didn’t know how long that particular battle raged within, but Richard’s intellect and reasoning reasserted itself, though the pure, animal hatred at Yun Chu lurked in the shadows and ready to take hold again.

“You don’t want to do this, Yun Chu,” Richard told the other fox, his voice rising in timber as he recovered from his internal struggle and pushed up onto two legs, the tremulous quality vanishing by the third word.

Some expressions were difficult for Furs, pouting being one, sneering properly being another, though the Chinese Vulps was able to sneer first at Sofiya, then the American more than adequately. “You deny me my means of having a son! Why should you be allowed to have yours?” the unstable red fox screamed, shaking the kit and renewing the child’s yipping cries of pain.

“You hurt my son and there won’t be enough of you left to bury!” Richard snarled through gritted teeth.

The red fox, his eyes darting to look at Sofiya with every frightened whimper that came in response to her child’s suffering only seemed to fuel Yun Chu’s madness. The fox began to rant and rave as much in Mandarin as he did in English. Then after one particularly long tirade, the mad Fur saw his former wife on the edge of the crowd. With a look of purest malice, he beckoned with the cleaver, the honed steel coming precariously close to Nikoli with the gesture.

“Shen-zhyi! Return to me and I will let our beloved leader’s bastard child go!” Yun Chu screamed in Mandarin. When the vixen straightened, wiping the tears from her eyes and a look of resolve forming, the mad fox smiled without mirth. He would show these others what a real leader was like and command the respect he knew he deserved. “I am waiting Shen-zhyi and my patience is waning!”

The Asian red fox vixen was only able to take one step before Enola leapt in front of her. “You can’t! He’ll kill you!” the English Fur cried desperately.

Shen-zhyi shook her head. “I cannot let him harm the child,” she whispered, her gaze falling on her ex-husband. From the edge of her vision, she saw Richard attempting to edge closer to the tormentor that seemed as if he’d be in her life forever. “I cannot allow that, jia-zi.”

Richard had used the distraction to edge closer, his aim not to subdue Yun Chu, but to grab his son and get the child to safety. Just as he began to tense his legs for the short sprint that also seemed to be a mile, the Asian fox put the cleaver up to the side of Nikoli’s neck. “Do not think I am a fool, hun-dan Richard! The closer you get, the greater your son’s peril!”

Before the silver fox could react to the threat to his son, Myao appeared at the front of the crowd and began speaking in Mandarin, what he said being lost save those that were raised speaking the language.

“Why do you hold a child hostage, Yun Chu Zhyi?” Myao asked the other Fur in English so the rest would understand him as he took a step forward. “There is no honor in this. Take me. I offer myself as your hostage.”

“Myao?” Enola asked, her head whipping around as she heard the male’s voice. “Myao! No!”

The young Asian red fox held his paw up to quiet the vixen’s protests though his gaze never left Yun Chu’s. When he spoke again it was in Mandarin. Whatever was said had a galvanizing on the psychotic Fur who motioned the other male forward, waiting until he could place the cleaver against Myao Shin’s throat. Once his new hostage was secured, the deranged fox looked to where Sofiya still knelt with her paw raised towards little Nikoli. “Come take your wang-ba-dan.” He lowered the kit, letting the child drop the last few inches to the ground.

Sofiya scrambled to retrieve her son, scooping the wailing kit up in her arms and to a point well away from Yun Chu, Valerie there immediately to ascertain the status of the child. As soon as his family was clear of the immediate danger, Richard felt the rage begin to surge in him once more, but Myao motioned the silver fox back with a flick of his fingers.

When Yun Chu spoke again, his voice little more than a growling hiss, his words were once again in Mandarin and intended specifically for the younger Vulps he held captive. As the cleaver was pressed harder against Myao’s throat, something happened that the rest of the colonists couldn’t really be sure of, but it was almost like the younger red fox turned into liquid and simply flowed out of the hold Yun Chu had.

What happened next was a blur as Myao Shin turned on the spot, his paws barely seeming to touch the other fox’s wrists, his movements fluid as he kept the older and larger fox at bay and the cleaver clear of his body. Then at some point, the younger Fur that had given himself as a hostage for the sake of his friends’ child simply turned his upper body, though the result was extremely drastic as Yun Chu went flying backwards with tremendous force.

As Yun Chu impacted with the block wall behind him, the air was knocked from his lungs in a grunt while his head bounced off the ceramic structure, dazing the mad Fur enough so that the cleaver fell to the ground. It was all the opportunity many of the other Vulps needed, and Richard led the charge to subdue the psychotic Yun Chu.

“Hector?” the silver fox called as someone handed him several zip-ties that Richard used to truss the offending Fur up with. “Take him someplace and put guards on him. I need to get to Sofiya.”

“It shall be done,” the South American grey fox said, a snarl on his muzzle as he and a few others hauled the still dazed Chinese Fur to his feet.

When Richard turned a splash of speckled white caught his eye as Kurt slid down off of the top of a dome almost halfway to the opposite end of the settlement, one of the scoped hunting rifles in his paws. It made the silver fox feel better knowing that his friend wouldn’t have let the situation escalate and had been ready to kill one of their own. All of that was moot, however, as Richard’s primary concern was his family. He reached the place where his mates and son were being looked at by Valerie, Riva, and Etienne and heard the fennec talking to Sofiya.

“He’s fine,” the dessert fox that had been a pediatrician back on Earth said with a smile. “His neck will be tender for a day or so, but Nikoli is like all children and fairly resilient.”

Etienne sighed with relief but continued to examine the blond haired vixen. “And you, Sofiya, will have a knot on your head, but nothing too serious. You are very lucky that you were only hit with the butt of the cleaver.”

Sofiya nodded silently, still trembling with the ordeal she’d just endured and held her arms open for her son, nestling her head against the kit’s as soon as he was handed to her, the red fox’s eyes closing in gratitude that her boy was safe. Once that part of her was satisfied, she accepted the attentions of her mates, melting into the embrace of Richard and Charity. It took several minutes of holding each other and no few tears before the silver fox was able to get his family indoors and still longer to learn what had happened. It was Charity that had to provide the information, though, as Sofiya was still too distraught and took Nikoli into the bed chamber and curled up around the kit protectively, staring at her son who drifted off with the soothing touch of his mother.

“Yun Chu…he…he was waiting for us when we came back,” the American grey fox told Richard as they sat at the low center table, the vixen holding a cup of tea in her paws. “We noticed a few things that seemed out of place, but really didn’t think about it. Then when we came back from getting Nikoli he jumped out and hit Sofiya. Then he grabbed Nikoli and said he was going to kill him, that if he wasn’t allowed to have sons, we couldn’t have ours.” Charity looked up, her eyes still wide and frightened. “He’s completely nuts, Richard! He’ll kill anyone that he thinks had a part in Shen-zhyi’s asking for a divorce. He also wants to kill Enola and Myao!”

“He won’t get the chance,” the silver fox said with a low growl coloring his words.

“But…what are we going to do?” the vixen inquired, her trembling subsiding as Richard wrapped his arms around her and gave Charity a long embrace.

“There is only one answer to the problem that Yun Chu has created,” Sofiya said as she emerged from the bed chamber. “He is to be exiled immediately.”

Without hesitating in the slightest, Richard rolled to his feet and pulled the red fox to him, feeling her sag at first then straighten as her resolve was solidified. “He could still pose a threat,” the silver fox pointed out.

“No,” Sofiya replied with steel in her voice. “If he returns, he will be shot. He has threatened my family, our son, and I will not be tolerating that. Yun Chu is being more than a danger to us. He is being a danger to Shen-zhyi, Myao Shin and Enola…every Fur that is being here with us! I will not allow such a danger to persist!”

***

The next morning found the entire Abeona colony standing at the gate save the four individuals on the wall, two of those Furs being Kurt and Matthew who were armed with rifles. The rest watched silently as Yun Chu was led from the storage building where the deranged fox had spent the night tied up and alone, save the sentries that had stood guard, on the bare floor without any form of comfort.

“The laws regarding the behavior that all of us were seeing yesterday are being very clear,” Sofiya told the other Vulps in a clear voice that carried on the cool morning air. “I was being assaulted and the life of my child was threatened. As such, with all of you as witnesses, the laws that are being used to guide all colony efforts say that the one guilty of such a crime is to be removed from the others forever.

“After consulting with Hector, I would be well within the rights given to me to be having Yun Chu Zhing shot for his actions. However, I am not wanting his blood to be on the hands of any of us that are standing here. With that being said, my decision is that Yun Chu will be exiled. Should Yun Chu ever be returning, for any reason, he will then be facing the punishment of death.”

Sofiya looked at the crowd of foxes, her yellow-green eyes hard as agates.

“I am not the only one that has been threatened by this Fur, nor is my son the only one that is being in danger. Yun Chu has also threatened others that are standing here. He has brought the worst of many problems that we thought we were leaving behind. But, as his actions directly affected me, that he has put my family in such peril, I am being less than impartial and will not be making this decision without all of you also being heard. If there is being anyone that is believing exile is not the punishment that should be given, speak now to Hector who I am giving full authority to in this matter.”

The South American grey fox stepped forward. “This will be rather simple, with the choice in the matter being exile,” Hector paused and let his eyes flicker over the other Furs, “or execution. Those in favor of exile from this colony and any other subsequent settlement endeavors, raise your arms.” Hector looked around, also taking into account the sentries on the wall. “And those in favor of execution?”

Again he looked, but there were only five Vulps that raised their arms.

“Richard and Charity, you have abstained from both votes,” Hector pointed out.

The silver fox shook his head. “Like Sofiya, we’re both more than a little biased. We can’t face this with impartiality either, so we’re abstaining.”

“Understood.” The grey fox turned to face Yun Chu, the bound Fur glaring hard at Hector, Sofiya and her mates. “Yun Chu Zhing, you have been found undeniably guilty of assault on your colony leader, threatened a child, have stated that you wish to do grievous harm to others of Abeona and demonstrated that you are a danger to the entire colony. As such, by the authority granted to me by both the Anthro Human Colonization Project and the Terran Colonization Coalition along with our colony Captain’s endorsement, I declare you to be an exile with a sentence of death should you return to this or any subsequent settlements.

“As such, you are to be given the following items for your banishment. One canteen, one change of clothing, one unused fire starter kit, and one rain poncho. You will not be allowed a weapon but must fashion your own. You will not be given food from the colony stores and will be forced to obtain subsistence through your own wit.

“Your personal belongings are forfeit with said materials being turned over to the colony supply cache, though personal mementos, religious symbols, and personal correspondences will be sealed in a container on the chance that it may one day be returned to any family you may have left behind on Earth.”

As Hector spoke, Toshiro stepped forward with the small bundle of listed items wrapped in the poncho and tossed them down on the ground at Yun Chu’s feet with a look of contempt at the other red fox before stepping back to the other colonists, his paw finding Conchita’s. Victor Rushenko was the Fur that had been tapped to act as guard, the Russian only a little smaller than the largest of the Vulps, Richard, and cut Yun Chu’s bindings before stepping back with his shock baton at the ready.

Yun Chu’s look had only grown more angered and hostile as he picked up the poncho wrapped items and took a step backwards, turning only after leveling a glare at the Vulps he hated the most. “I should have cut the little bastard’s throat,” the red fox snarled as he grinned malevolently at where Sofiya stood with her kit in her arms. With one final glare, Yun Chu stepped to the gate, only pausing long enough to urinate on the post, making sure that he made the final, defiant gesture as obscene as possible before pulling his furman shorts back into place and walking away.

There were several sighs from the assembled foxes, and once Yun Chu was out of sight, many turned to go about their daily chores with shaken and subdued behavior, though Sofiya pulled her family closer together, letting them salve her still reeling emotions.

Atop the wall, two of the sentries looked on as the exiled Fur passed the fields of livestock and crops and to the copse of woods almost two miles away. Kurt waited until the red fox slipped into the gloom of the Bastien vegetation. When the platinum fox looked at Matthew, the American red fox nodded slightly before turning for the armory to stow the rifle he carried.

***

Three days passed since Yun Chu had been banished and Richard had let the vixens sleep in, making sure that there was a good breakfast waiting for them when they finally rose for the day. With the immediate threat to his family gone, the lack of tension had enabled Sofiya and Charity to show off the leather clothing that had been made for them, the silver fox completely thrilled with the affect it had on him. The shared intimacy of the previous night had been therapeutic for all of them, a reaffirmation of their bonds as mates, and if anything, had served to bring the trio even closer together.

With a cup of tea in hand, Richard stepped out of the house, looking down when his foot impacted with something soft. One eyebrow raising in curiosity, the silver fox picked up the bundle that had been wrapped in a length of scrap cloth that that came from most of the older clothing the Furs had originally started off with.

Whatever was inside was pliable and almost felt as if it was padded and as Richard parted the last fold, he wasn’t sure what to feel about the object within. As he looked at the white-tipped, orange-red section of fur, he knew that there was only one Fur that the tail section could have come from. Tacked to the raggedly severed end with a stone thorn, a curious plant that grew in the cracks of some rocks and was used by many of the colonists for pins and needles, was a note with clean, crisp script.

Problem solved. No, this was not done by me, but Bastien herself.

If you wish for the details, find me later.

~Kurt~

Looking about as he rewrapped the caudal appendage remnant, Richard ensured that no one else saw what had been left for him to find, glad that he’d been the first one out of the house, though Sofiya and Charity both would have probably been thrilled by the find, he carried it to the burn pile where the garbage would be incinerated later that day. With Yun Chu’s tail concealed deep in the pile of wood, the silver fox angled away from the Great Dome to the house the German shared, knowing full well that the platinum fox was as early rising as he was. It came as no surprise to find Kurt sitting outside of his house with his own cup of tea, lounging in one of the chairs that the canny hunter had made.

“I see you found my little gift,” the platinum fox said softly as Richard drew close, motioning the other male into the matching chair.

“I did,” the silver fox answered, looking at the thin, deep orange and magenta colored clouds on the horizon. “And you didn’t do it?”

Kurt shook his head. “Matthew and I left to go hunting, though game was not our primary quarry,” he admitted. “We found what was left on some of the rocks near the waterfall. It looked as if Yun Chu had been trying to get to higher ground when he slipped. There was a fresh spill of rocks and the ground was still damp from where they had been dislodged.

“It looks as if every scavenger in the area helped to get rid of that beast. The only reason we knew that it was him was his tail and the packet that he was given were still intact. Oh, I’ve returned the supplies he was given to the colony stores. No reason for us to do without.”

When Kurt snorted in dark humor, Richard cast a look at the other fox. “What?”

“I just find it very ironic. The trail that Yun Chu was attempting is one that Matthew and I have used several times and never had a hint that it was unstable. That he would try it and have such a thing happen…forgive me, but I am finding this result something along the lines of divine justice.” Kurt shrugged. “Of which I am not too terribly concerned about.

“I’ll admit that I went out with the intent of ensuring Yun Chu would never threaten anyone again. Our new world saved me from that task. I don’t think I will complain about the means to the end. Especially when it means that those I care about are safe.” The platinum fox smiled. “No, I will definitely not lose any sleep over this turn of events.”

Richard nodded and sipped from his cup. “I won’t, either. I suppose we should set up a hunting trip so that we can ‘discover’ this for ourselves. It’ll have to go into the reports.”

“As our safety officer, I will bow to your judgment. I can save you an unnecessary trip as I have plenty of still pictures in my PBJ.”

Richard nodded and stood. “That might be for the best.” The silver fox paused before looking at the platinum fox. “I wanted him dead, Kurt. I wanted him dead for what he did…to Sofiya and Nikoli. I wanted to taste his blood…”

“And you are not the first to have felt this way, mein freund. It is natural when that which we love and have fought for is threatened.” Kurt looked up and nodded. “We are both human and animal, and those of either part that do not feel these things when the most important parts of their lives are in danger do not live very long. There is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I suppose we should go out and bury what’s left. An unmarked grave is rather fitting, but I’m more worried about the reaction that others might have at finding his remains.”

“Yes,” the German Fur agreed. “We could do that. Or we could simply let Bastien have the bones. They will not last long where they are. In fact, I don’t think that we would be able to find much if we went out there.” Kurt stood and placed his paw on the other Fur’s shoulder when the other looked away and frowned. “It is survival of the fittest out here, Richard. Much more so than when we were on Earth. And if you consider the events that forced us to exile Yun Chu, I think you’ll see that what has happened is quite fitting.”

“You’re right, but I wasn’t thinking of that,” Richard said with the slight upturning of his mouth.

“Oh?”

“I was actually thinking that we still have to clear out that small pile up in the river to prevent flooding again and that this might be a long day.”

Kurt smiled nodded. “Yes. Today will most likely be a long day. It will, however be a rewarding one.”

— NEXT CHAPTER —

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