Changes of Responsibility

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

11/25/1999:

Sometimes it's the little things in life that you enjoy, and
some times the big things really take hold and shake you up.
This was definitely one of the big things, but not in a bad
way, nor was it personal.

At the moment Oriana and I were standing on the factory
floor of the shipyard along with about five hundred other
people who made up most of the yard's crews and test pilots,
and that included Milgrove. Moriya was at my side, having
accepted part ownership of the company, and a few feet away
from us Malia stood. The mouse engineer looked on eagerly as
everything unfolded, as this was her baby. The energy in the
group was almost a presence of its own, and even Ravindar
seemed to be showing some of it.

Still, not a word was said as we all watched as a large
piece of super structure moved gracefully through the air,
held up by a crane on the ceiling. Every second or so it
dropped another inch. The motion was part of a controlled
decent towards the construction cradle that sat underneath
it.

Everyone held their breath as the structure settled down
onto the cradle, the supports bending slightly as they took
the weight, but holding nonetheless. As the cables detached
from the structure one by one the sound of applause and
cheering started to fill the group. This was a big day for
the Pandora Shipyard. We had just laid the keel of the first
ship of the new _Nautilus_ class.

I self-consciously joined in with the clapping, feeling a
little out of place. The whole thing was my idea, from the
basics of the ship to the idea of the mini celebration, and
it felt like a put-on to join in.

Of course this was just the start of it, it would take at
least six months for the ship to be completed, then another
five for it to be run through it's paces before it could be
given more than an experimental serial number. Once that was
finished the ship would be named and would go into
production the day after.

Even though it was nearly a year away, I already knew both
the ship's name and its final serial number. It would be
christened _The Silver Phoenix_, as it would become my ship,
and the serial number would be PSY-EC-00001. That was a big
thing for us as well. The PSY-EC prefix would only be used
on the _Nautilus_ class ships that were built at the
shipyard.

A custom prefix was something most shipyards had, but this
was a first for us, and none of the _Red October_ ships
would ever carry anything like it. It had taken a lot of
work on Moriya's part to gain it, and it required the ship
to meet extra specifications. Now that we had it we gained
some additional privileges with the Consortium, one of which
was listing the class in the official registry.

As a thank you for doing this, and for staying on after she
had originally decided to leave, Oria and I offered her one
of the _Red October_ ships that had never been claimed after
someone had bailed out of an order. She had taken it, with
some reservation, as she, like most people, didn't need a
starship. Still she was finding some use for it, which
pleased me.

The celebration around me turned away from the construction
and towards the long table of food behind us. Before I knew
it I had a glass of wine shoved in my hand and was brought
forward to the front of the crowd. I paused, looking at the
faces in front of me, made up of three dozen species. Most
of the people I didn't know, I only saw them in passing at
the yard. They knew me though, as well as Oriana, as their
employers.

"This is a big day for the shipyard," I said to the group,
as the conversation fell into silence. "This is a big day
for all of us. It will be a year before we can go into mass
production, but we already have clients interested in the
ship." This brought a smattering of applause from the group,
as it was news to them.

"As a cargo ship, the _Nautilus_ is quite different from
what we normally build, larger and slower than we are used
to, but nothing beyond what we can do." I said, feeling
Oria's paw on my shoulder. I turned and smiled at my wife as
I continued to speak. "This ship is as much your as it is
mine. It's because of you that this is possible, so to my
loyal staff, thank you for being here today." That brought a
cheer from the group.

Taking a sip of my drink, I waved towards the structure of
the ship. "There are pens by the cradle, and the access ramp
is down. I want each and every one of you to sign your names
on the keel, to sign your work." That brought another round
of applause as I took anther drink. I had nothing left to
say, and turned to face Oria.

"Not much of a speech," she commented as she wrapped her arm
around me. She felt soft to me again, having lost the
hardness that had filled her after her Job. She was back to
the way I preferred her, and wanted to keep her.

"It didn't need to be one," I told her as I finished my
drink. The group was starting to break up, small clumps
wandering over to the ship to sign it. "I'm glad our people
liked this."

"It was a strong gesture," Moriya said, coming over to join
us, a smile on all six of her heads. "It shows that you care
about them. That's a good thing to know."

Oria nodded, "I wish I learned it earlier. I'm just glad you
decided to stay with us. I really don't know what we would
do with out you."

"You're not going to find out for a while," the hydra said
as she sipped her wine. "I'm happy here, I don't have any
plans to leave, for now."

I smiled, "I'm glad to hear that, because I have a new
project for us, and the yard as a whole. I need to get Malia
over here before I can tell you about it," I said, then
waved for the engineer to come join us.

She walked over with a small smile on her face, and a glass
of juice in her paw. The young mouse looked different than
she normally did, her long blond hair hung loose over her
shoulders and down her back, instead of in its usual braid.
She wore a short skirt and a long flowing top that
contrasted nicely with the dusty color of her fur.

"What can I do for you Fox?" she asked as she came over to
the three of us.

"Something new for us. I assume you all heard about the
Consortium Military Formation Act?" I asked, referring to a
law past a few days before.

Malia nodded, "It's strange to think that my government has
an army now." she said over the juice glass.

"I know. I helped with some of the language," I said, a bit
annoyed about that fact, but it was one of the things I had
to do because of being on the Advisory Council. At least it
gave me some extra control involving forbidden worlds, like
my Earth.

"So, what does it have to do with us?" Moriya asked.

I gave a weak smile. "We got a hand-delivered package a
couple days ago. It went to every shipyard on Prid, and even
more off, but it's still being keep quiet," I said, reaching
into my pocket and pulling out a small Data PADD, handing it
my wife. It contained the plans for the huge battleship
Rachel had shown me nearly a year before.

"Big ship," Oria commented as she passed the PADD to Malia.

The mouse furrowed her brow as she looked it over. "You
expect to build this?" she asked in disbelief.

"No. We are to small for a job like this, but there is a
second project in there, and they are asking for bids on
it," I said, taking a new drink from the table. "A small
three man fighter, for both space and atmosphere. With the
_Red October_ we know how to work the old Council Power
system to get the kind of energy that ship needs, which puts
us ahead of everyone else."

A smile spread over Oria's face as I said this, I had kept
her in the dark about it from the first day, only because I
wanted it to be a surprise... well that and my security
clearance kept me from talking about it until it was
announced.

Malia nodded as she found the specs for the fighter. "I
see... that still doesn't mean we can do it, but it does
give us a running start. When do we need the preliminary
specs?" she asked as one of Moriya's heads peeked over her
shoulder.

"We have three months on the preliminary bid. I suspect it
won't be as packed a field as for the battle ship. No one
gets on the nightly news for winning a contract for
fighters," I answered.

"I should be able to do this one on my own," the mouse
replied, referring to the fact that the designs of the
_Nautilus_ required an outside contractor. This new fighter
wouldn't need any such additional manpower.

Oria gave me a knowing smile and asked, "What are you
calling this one?"

I shrugged, "I have little choice about that, it's already
been designated the _C-Attack_ class. We don't get to change
that. On the other hand, this is still on the Q.T., so we
will call it _Flatbed_ for now."

Moriya lifted two of her heads. "That's an interesting name,
what does it have to do with fighters?"

"Not a thing, but it does follow my usual naming
conventions," I replied, watching as the crowd was staring
to break up. "You guys better get up there and sign the ship
while there's still room," I commented, motioning for the
group to disperse. "We will talk about this more tomorrow."

The two ladies nodded and drifted back towards the ship,
leaving just myself, with Oria at my side.

"So, when are you going to sign it?" she asked me as she
moved a bit closer, her paws touching my side.

I smiled and kissed the pad of her nose. "After everyone
else has, if there's room."

She smiled back and ran one of her paws up my side. "It's a
big piece Fox, you'll have room."

"We will," I corrected. "You own part of this company as
well. You're entitled to part of the glory, so you get to
sign it as well."

"Me?" she asked, her ears perking in surprise. "I don't even
have a desk in my office, how exactly does that give me any
right to sign it?"

"You hired Moriya, and without her the yard wouldn't have
lasted a year," I told my wife, reaching up to touch her
right between the eyes with the tip of my finger. "And you
put up with me, and that counts for a lot."

She laughed, and I could imagine the various responses that
flitted behind her green eyes. "I put up with a lot, Love,"
she said with a purr.

I nodded and took her paw in my hand, as I gently led her
across the floor towards the waiting steel. She followed at
my side, her tail swishing happily as we climbed up on to
the cradle. Together we waited for the last of the employees
to sign, then we each followed suit.

We turned away from the keel, and started back down to the
floor. A few people were left but the party had pretty much
broken up. The tigers fell in behind us as we walked through
the room, wishing a good day to those who were still there
as we left the factory floor.

"I'm kind of eager to see how the new ship will fly. I have
_The Falcon_ scheduled for modifications so it can dock with
it, but that won't be for a few months. We'll have to get a
second ship as well," I said as we walked outside of the
large building and into the mid afternoon light of the twin
suns. That was one of the nice things about the new ship
class, it could dock two _Red October_ ships inside the hull
for a quick release. Good both for moving crew around, and
for defense.

"You want a ship of your own?" I asked.

She smiled and shook her head, "I can't spend more than a
few moments in the cockpits, and you know it," she said,
running her fingers down my back.

I nodded and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "You don't
have to fly it Hon, you just have to own it."

Oria shook her head and smiled. "You just like giving away
starships, don't you?"

"Not this time. We don't have an extra ship lying around. If
you want we'll have to build it for you, custom. It would be
better than _The Falcon_," I said.

She flicked her tail up against my back, and shook her head.
"And how exactly are we going to pay for it?" She asked with
a slight smile.

"We both make a tidy profit from our stake in the yard,
between the two of us we can cover it," I explained to her.

Oriana slowed for a few steps, turning to look at me with
some confusion in her eyes. "What profit?" she asked.

As we came to a stop I realized with some surprise that my
wife didn't know about that facet of her ownership of the
yard. "Well... as we both own the yard we both get a
percentage of the profits. A little less now that Moriya has
a share. We're not exactly a 'Fortune One-Hundred' company,
but we are in the black."

I saw the growing understanding on her face as I gave her a
smile. "You never do look at your accounts do you?" I
teased.

She shook her head. "You always give me enough that I never
have to worry about it. I just keep an eye on my spending,
and stay within my allowance."

"I wish you wouldn't call it that," I said with a shrug; it
was something I had set up for her after the mess with the
Hammerheads, and I had a lucky investment and a good broker.
I was able to give Oriana more money than just what I was
sending to her world to take care of the House, an account
that wasn't being used now that Rose had it in the black. My
broker was able to put the rest around into a few other
investments. It was how I paid for most of the work on _The
Golden Phonix_ and all of _The Falcon_.

"So, we have money?" she asked.

I nodded, "Yes, I even paid off the mortgage a few months
ago. Even combined we're not anything close to being on the
uber side of wealthy... but we have... more than we'll ever
need now." I hesitated to name a figure, firstly because I
wasn't even sure what it was, and secondly I had a hard time
believing it the first time I had seen it.

She tilted her head a bit and flicked her tail up against
the side of my leg. "How much?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure... you have a few percent less
than I do," I said, stalling.

Oria placed her paws on her hips and tapped her toes on the
ground. It was her 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' look that I had
become familiar with over the last couple of years.

I looked around the street at the people moving around us.
The bodyguards kept them away, but they were still a little
too close for this. I leaned forward slightly and whispered
a rough number into her ear.

"You're kidding?" she said as I pulled away.

"Why do people seem to think I have a sense of humor?" I
asked, taking her paw into my hand and starting to once more
walk down the street.

She shook her head in amazement as she followed along behind
me. "I can't believe it, that's more money than I ever
thought I would have."

I laughed and nodded, "Just don't let it go to your head!"

She shared my laugh, her ears twisting as she discovered a
personal joke that only she understood. "Fox, my Father
makes five times that. Remember I'm the poor little rich
girl who ran away from home. I'm used to having more money
than God."

I smirked at her, "Maybe if you tell him that, he will go a
bit easier on you?" I suggest.

"Maybe," she replied as we turned the corner, and both of us
walked into a large low wall of red fur. Ravindar and
Santhara rushed forward, both caught by surprise. Both of
them, and Oria had their weapons out and pointed at the
vixen'taur before anyone of us knew who sie was.

"Elena!" I said as I caught my breath, motioning for
everyone to put their weapons away. "What are you doing
here?" I asked hir.

"Looking for you four," sie said with a knowing smile.

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Us? Why, what happened?"

"Don't worry your pretty heads, no one is going to be hurt
because of this. I just got some information that concerns
me, and I want to head off the problems I see coming before
they start."

"What are you talking about?" Oria asked.

Elena shifted hir bulk to look at my wife. "You'll
understand soon enough. If my sources are correct you'll
have a messenger waiting for you when you get home."

Oria shook her head, and touched her fingers to her temple.
"What's the message."

Sie turned hir head to look past the pair of us and towards
our bodyguards. "The Guild Elders have summoned the pair of
you."

Santhara frowned, "What do the Elders want with us?" she
asked.

"That's why I'm here, I'm going to need to talk to all four
of you. If my information is correct I'm going to have to
take action," sie explained, staying as cryptic as ever.

My bodyguard spoke up at this. "How could you possibly know
what the Elders are planning?"

Sie smiled happily and flicked hir ears back. "I have
contacts in the Guild, just like I have contacts at your
shipyard. It's how I knew where you would be when you went
home. You really should vary your routine more."

Ravindar sighed and shook his head, "I don't believe you."

"You will in about an hour," sie said, then turned to face
me. "You should take the nearest fold back to your home. I'm
going with you."

I nodded with a soft sigh as I brushed my hand through my
hair. "This had better be good; I have a nice dinner planned
with my wife and a night on the town. I would like to keep
the reservations if at all possible."

Sie nodded, "This won't take too long... now come on." Sie
turned away and started to walk down the street.

I shared a glance with Oria, then shrugged and followed
after the 'taur's large swaying tail. Sie took us unerringly
to the nearest fold. As I reached out to open it sie fished
out a hanky from the pocket of her jacket and held it to hir
face.

We filled through the fold and into the house, Elena
following right behind us. Hir nose was bleeding as sie
crossed the threshold, and sie cleaned hir self with hir
hanky. It was normal for hir as sie lacked the implants that
protected everyone else. The only reason that the trip
didn't kill hir was that sie was already dead.

My fingers bounced over the keypad as I opened the heavy
steel door that locked the fold away from the rest of the
house. We walked as a group down the hall to the main room
only to meet Sora halfway there.

She smiled when she saw us, "I thought I heard the door
open. I'm glad you're back, there's a messenger here for
Ravindar. He's waiting in the living room."

Elena chuckled and gave the tiger a smirk, "As I said."

He shook his head and brushed past Sora, heading for the
front room, Santhara following a few feet after him. Oria
and I shared another glance and followed as well.

The messenger was a small human, dressed in casual clothing.
I couldn't helped but notice the Guild insignia on a
bracelet that wrapped around his left wrist; a dagger over a
heart. The dagger was copper in color where Oria's was
golden and Ravindar's was clear as crystal.

"Mr. Cutter," the man said as we entered. "I've been sent by
the Guild Elders. They wish to speak to your bodyguards.
Immediately."

"What's this about?" Oria asked.

The man looked at her and nodded. "Nothing of any true
consequence to you."

She frowned at the brush-off, crossing her arms in a
defensive position. I could see that she wanted to protest,
but she was outranked.

I thought about it for a second, then nodded my head.
"Ravindar, Santhara, go with him."

"Come back right away, no matter what," Elena said pushing
past us and into the room. "I want to talk to you after it's
all said and done."

Ravindar looked a bit puzzled by this, but said nothing more
as he and Santhara followed the human out of the house to a
waiting car.

I turned to Elena, looking hir in the eyes, or rather
looking down into hir eyes as even in hir 'taur form sie was
still a foot shorter than I was. "What exactly is going on?
And no dancing around it this time."

"I can't be sure," sie responded, smiling up to me. "If my
sources are correct I'll have a job for your bodyguards when
they get back."

Oria shook her head and dropped down on the couch. "Sending
a Copper Master to fetch two Crystal Masters. This can't be
good."

"You think something is going on?" I asked her as I settled
down on the couch next to her and wrapped my arm over her
shoulder.

She gave me a smile, "With the Guild there is always
something going on, it's part of the job description."

I nodded and turned my attention to the vixen'taur. "What's
this offer of yours, Elena?"

Sie settled down on the floor, tucking hir legs under the
bulk of hir body and smiled at us. "You will find out all
about it in good time. We will just have to wait."

I hated it when sie got like that, when anyone got like
that. Of course I did the same thing when it was convenient
for me. So I decided not to protest, at least this time.
Instead I leaned back and settled down next to my wife.

* * *

The tigers came back a little over an hour later. Ravindar
came in first, looking a little annoyed and a bit flustered.
Santhara followed right behind him, nearly boiling over with
anger, her tail flicking rapidly behind her as she stomped
into the room.

"What happened?" I asked as they came inside, jumping to my
feet.

Santhara started to speak but Ravindar hushed her for the
moment. "The Elders have decided that you and Oriana no
longer need the Guild's protection."

Elena snorted, "Shortsighted fools," sie said.

"So you have been reassigned?" Oria asked

"Worse than that," Santhara snapped. "I've been busted back
down to Copper."

A look of shock fell over my wife's face, her muzzle hanging
open as she looked at her former bodyguard.

Ravindar nodded, closing his arms over his chest. The
muscles in his arms tensed as he held them tightly together.
"Both she and the Crystal Master that took my old position
have been demoted, and I have been reassigned to said
position."

"Can they do that?" I asked.

"No," Oria said, regaining some of her composure. "At least
that is what I was told."

"They said that having five Crystal Masters was an
extraordinary situation, one that needed an extraordinary
solution," Ravindar said, then turned to look at Elena. "Is
this what you were expecting?"

Sie smiled and nodded as she rose up to all fours. "Yes it
was, but I had hoped that my information was wrong. Your
Elders cannot see past the Guild, it colors every decision
that they make. Cain was a problem for the Guild and now
that he's dead they have finally decided that any threat to
Fox is no longer their concern."

"Then why now?" Oria asked, standing up and walking to my
side. "Cain has been dead for months and they seemed more
than willing to leave them here. What changed."

"You," Santhara snapped though her anger wasn't directed at
my wife. "Now that you are once more a member of the Guild,
they feel that you are now capable of doing the job they
personally gave you."

She sighed and shook her head. "So this is my fault."

"No, it's the Elders' fault," Elena replied. "They can't see
past Cain, but I can! You have others who are interested in
bringing you to harm. I want you to be protected."

"Who?" I asked.

"My people for one," sie replied, looking a bit annoyed by
the fact. "They don't much like you Fox, not only are you a
human, but you threatened to kill them all, and slammed shut
their access to the multi-verse. There are members of my
government who would pay to see you hung by your own
intestines."

I stuck my tongue out at that image, feeling my stomach
start to turn.

Sie turned hir attention to my wife. "Don't forget, Oriana,
you have someone that has been hunting you, someone who
might be attached to the former HammerHeads. That means you
need to be protected as well."

Oria shifted uncomfortably at this fact, pressing herself a
little closer to me. I wrapped my arm around her back and
stroked her side.

"So as you can imagine, I want to see that you two continue
to be protected. Having your bodyguards removed distresses
me," sie said.

I nodded, "So, what are you planning?" I asked hir.

Sie turned around to face the tigers. "I would like to offer
the pair of you a job, once more protecting Fox and Oriana."

Santhara jumped slightly. "Deal," she said happily.

Ravindar reached out with one paw and gently took her
shoulder. "Don't jump at it so fast... working for Elena
would put us in conflict with the Guild. We cannot do both."

"Oh," she said, her face falling.

Elena nodded, "I would give you both matching pay to what
you had previously, plus I would not object to your
relationship. Something that many people in the Guild,
including the Elders, would disapprove of."

"I cannot simply walk away from the Guild," Ravindar said.
"It is my job, and my career. I spent many years getting to
where I am; walking away from it doesn't appeal to me."

Santhara shook her head. "I've been busted down from a
Crystal Master. Whatever the reason for it, my future in the
Guild has been severely curtailed. I'm not going to be going
anywhere from here. I'll take the job."

Elena smiled and nodded happily, "You will have to come to
my offices to fill out the paperwork, and I imagine it will
take some time to resign from the Guild."

"Not that long," she replied, turning to Ravindar, "How
about you, Hon?"

The tiger frowned and shook his head, "I can't just walk
away at the drop of the hat."

"Do what you fell you must, Ravindar," I said with a smile.
The thought of not having him an my shadow was a pleasant
one. Still, he was a friend. It would be strange to have him
gone, but Elena was right, there were people who wanted to
do me harm. "I think sie's right, I still need some
protection and I would prefer not to train someone new."

He sighed and shook his head, "I'll need to think about this
one," he said placing his paw on his head.

"Don't wait too long," Elena said. "The Elders are going off
planet in two days. You'll be going with them unless you
decide."

He looked at me, like he was expecting me to say something.

"I can't tell you to do this, but you're a friend, and I
like to keep my friends close to me. Your girlfriend is
staying here as well, that would be as good a reason as any
to stick around."

He glanced at Santhara. She gave him a small smile but said
nothing.

He groaned and rubbed his temple. "Gods! I can't believe
that I'm in this position. This isn't an easy choice for me
to make."

"You don't have to make it," Oria said.

Ravindar sighed and shook his head, "But I do have to make
it, don't I? My case worker always told me that I need to do
what makes me happy," he reached out and touched Santhara's
shoulder. "You make me happy. I will stay here for you."

Elena clapped hir paws and smiled, "I knew you would see it
my way. Come to my offices in Praxis tomorrow and I'll get
the paper work done."

"I'm glad you are staying," Oria said. "I think you made the
right choice."

He gave my wife a weak smile, "I hope I can convince the
Guild of that."

-----

This story is copyright 2004 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.