The Death of Worlds

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

11/03/97:

I had just returned to Prid from spending a full three weeks
back home! I was in a good mood, even if my entrance
entailed jumping off the top of the clock tower in
Riverfront Park.

I didn't do much there, really, but I had enjoyed myself
more then I had for nearly a year. It was home.

On Prid though, things were more interesting, the house was
empty when I came back. There was a note saying that Sora
was getting Jadith (who had decided to come back) set up in
the old apartment in the Hall, and Oria had gone back to her
world for a few days to see her family and get her
prescription refiled.

I had also been given a note from Malia that work on _The
Falcon_ had almost been completed, and she would be flyable
in a few weeks. So I called her and got her to set up a
simulator so I and Oriana could learn to fly the thing.

Other then that, there was nothing for me to actually do. So
I decided to go swimming. It's one of the things I almost
never do, even with a lake as my backyard I just never think
about going swimming. It is relaxing, though very tiring,
but worth it.

It was when I came up from a dive to the bottom (it wasn't
to deep near the house) that I noticed someone was standing
on the dock, my vision was to blurred to tell who. Other
then they where not human.

I waved to let them know I had seen them, and swam over to
the dock. Pulling myself out of the water I was handed my
towel and glasses. Putting them on, I found that it was
Milgrove who had been waiting for me.

She didn't look to happy.

"What happen," I asked, as I toweled myself dry, suddenly
very worried.

"Rachel sent me to fetch you," She explained, her voice very
quite.

I started for the house at a dead run. "Let me get into
something dry first. Give me a minute." If Rachel had sent
her, that meant something was really wrong.

I was dressed and back downstairs in under a minute, jumping
over the railing instead of taking the last few steps. I was
still wet every place, and I gather that I looked pretty bad
from Milgrove's reaction. That wasn't my concern for now
though, and apparently not her's either, as she grabbed my
arm and pulled me through the t-curtain.

On the other side she broke into a dead run, her tail
fluffing out behind her. I followed as fast as I could,
seriously worried. I could tell she was just above panicked,
very badly so.

The only thing I could think of is that something had
happened to Page. I didn't have the breath to ask again,
Milgrove was in much better shape then I was, and I could
barely keep up with her.

Finally we came to an elevator someplace inside the Hall
proper. I was to winded to worry about actually being in
one, but I did noting that Milgrove used a key before
selecting the floor she wanted. If I was reading it right,
it was about five floors BELOW the Marble Hall.

This was freighting, unless something really strange had
happened to Page, we would be at a hospital, not headed from
some place that I gathered was above top secret. No... this
was worse then I had though, I just wished I knew exactly
what was going on.

I was answered when the elevator finally stopped, and the
doors opened. Outside was large room, lined with a series of
terminals, the center was a long table, about twenty people
sat along, there conversation ending as Milgrove and I
walked into the room.

Page was there, looking well, but tired. There were a few
council members I knew, and Rachel. She looked ten years
older, her eyes heavy and her fur a matted around her ears.
She smiled slightly when she saw me. "Thank you Milgrove. Go
wait for Oriana if you could."

She nodded and went back into the elevator just after I
stepped out.

Slowly walking into the room, I found an empty chair and sat
down in it. "What exactly has happened?" I asked.

Rachel sighed and walked over to me, squeezing my shoulder
with her paw, she said, "in private please."

I nodded as she lead me into a small office off to one side
of the main room. Rachel sat down in a chair with a deep
huff, her build falling a few inches with her.

I sat next to her and waited for an explanation. Finally she
offered me one.

"Fox..." she frowned, I could tell she was trying to find
the right words. "Two worlds are dead from a plague."

I suddenly felt faint. My first real adventure had to deal
with a plague, I've seen what they can do.

"How bad?"

She suddenly stood, walking over to the desk and leaning
over the front of it. Her whole body was shaking. "Estimated
at ten and a half billion lives."

There is no proper response to a statement like that.

She continued. "Both were limited contact verses. Nether
were members of the Council. They did have significant
contact between each other though."

"One wasn't a colonie world?" I asked, not likening where my
train of though was going.

She nodded. "Both separately evolved."

"This is a virus?"

She nodded again, "there is no genetic similarities between
the two races at all. There base pairs are even different!"

I sank in my chair, that type of virus was impossible to
evolve naturally. Which could only mean one thing. "It's
been made." I said in a very hushed voice.

She turned to look at me. "Magically, and over centuries,
we've confirmed it twice. The DNA inside of it is nothing
like either species. This came from someone else, may as a
test run. Someone is very dedicated to this task."

I nodded. A virus like that could hold even the multi-verse
hostage. Done right no one would be immune. It was gene
warfare at it's peak. "Any idea of where it came from?"

Rachel nodded. "That we do know. It came from an artifact
they traded some low level medical tech for. We don't know
who they traded with, but we do know who was there
representative for all the trades." She turned back to her
desk, pressing some button on the top. "Page, can you bring
in the picture for Fox."

She was starting to stand up a bit straighter then before,
recovering some of her poise. I suddenly know where this was
going. "You want me to find the people they got this
artifact from."

"Yes, the Council itself can not. It is out of are reach for
any kind of enforcement, it's on Mydisia Base."

"What's this about Mydisia?" Oriana asked as she entered the
office just behind Page.

"We've been asked to capture some people there." I said with
a slight sigh.

Oriana nodded slightly. "We're being paid of course."

Rachel crossed her arms. "Of course. Fox can fill you in on
everything."

"Is all this in the news?" I asked.

Rachel nodded slowly. "Only that it happened."

I looked at Oriana. "We're going to find who started this
Plague."

She paused a few seconds, her ears twitching as she though
it over. Finally she nodded. "I see."

"How about that picture?" I asked Page, holding my hand out
to her.

She gave it to me, and I looked at it, it was of a
horse-morph. I frowned "oh hell. I've seen this guy before."

Oriana looked over my shoulder. "He does look familiar."

I turned to Rachel. "The trading has been with a trio of
ladies. A Mink and a Cheetah, both very military looking--"

"--and a mouse scared out of her wits doing the actually
trading." Oriana finished for me. I looked over at her, and
she smiled. "I remember them."

"I want them all if you can, the mouse at least," Rachel
said, "and from here on in you're on your own. We can not
legally provide any help. Sending you is barely legally as
it is."

"And as always," I recited, "if you or any of your team is
capture or killed we will deny any knowledge of you or your
mission."

She frowned, "Yes."

I nodded. "Understood, come on Oria, we got to find a trio
of goons."

* * *

I surveyed the bar from the doorway, thinking that if
anything, it was darker then the last time I had been hear.

"Do we wait?" Oria asked.

I shook my head. "No, not wait. We will deal." I walked over
to the bar. "Braden," I said with a smile.

He gave me a sharp look. "You've been spending entirely to
much time here Fox."

I shrugged. "This time it's business, you know that goon
squad I was talking about last time?"

He nodded as he cleaned a dirty glass with an even dirtier
towel.

"I would be interested in some of there things."

With a sharp look he turned around. "Come back at this time
in three days. They will be here for you, and watch yourself
Fox, these people are tough."

"Thank's," I said, and headed for a table in the back.
Oriana followed. Sitting down I looked out over the bar,
trying to find the best table to meet the trio at.

"You have a plan, don't you Fox?" Oriana asked with a slight
smile, already sipping on some coffee.

"Yes, I do, but I know you're not going to like it."

She raised her eyebrows and ears. "Oh?"

I nodded. "I need you to fetch Marn."

Her ears fell and she started to growl. "Why?" She demanded
in a suddenly very quite voice.

"I need someone who knows the base, the bar, and how to
fight. You already count, but I want two more. Marn would
work, and we know he can keep secrets and we've worked with
him before."

She let her ears rise slightly. "I see. I will try and find
him then. Who do you plan for the fourth though?"

I blew air through my teeth. "I don't have a clue. There's
no one I know who will do that for me or the council. I was
actually going to try and find someone here at the bar who
knows it and can fight."

The waitress (a kangaroo, dressed in almost nothing) bent
over the table to take Oriana's coffee cup and replace it
with another. Oriana didn't like that as she was only half
finished.

"I'm not done," Oria said, pulling the cup back.

The waitress shook her head. "If you need someone to fight
for you, try that lady in the back, the tall one, you can't
miss hir," the infliction was clearly 'hir' not 'her' the
lady was a hermaphrodite. The waitress finally got Oria's
cup and left the full one in it's place, walking away
quickly.

"How many people know what we're talking about?" Oria asked,
looking down at her fresh coffee.

"A few people, though I'm sure Braden has the tables
bugged," I said, knocking on the table top.

She nodded. "So, do you see who we're suppose to be looking
for?"

I looked over the room, once I was looking, I really
couldn't miss hir. Sie was a tall vixen, hir fur a dusky tan
colour. Sie was reading a book of and taking sips of a
drink.

"I'll go see if the lady would be willing to help," I said,
sliding out of the table. Walking quickly accost the bar I
slipped into hir both.

"I'm not a whore, or a dealer, so leave." Sie said before I
had even sat down.

I chuckled slightly. "I'm not looking for either."

Setting hir book down, sie stared at me. Sie was imposing,
hir face was hard, not really male or female, the rest of
hir that I could see was female though, a pair of large
breasts under a long neck. Sie was rather pretty actually.

"Then what do you want?" Sie demanded, lowering hir voice
just slightly, but enough to be threatening.

"You were recommended as a bit of a fighter."

Sie suddenly stood, "I'm not interested in body counts. You
want my sister." Sie then started to walk out of the bar.

I swore to myself, and followed right after hir. As I closed
in on hir I grabbed hir arm and turned hir to face me.

There was fire burning in hir eyes, sie didn't have to say
anything to let me know that if I didn't let go I was going
to be hurt.

I did let go. "Lady," I whispered, "the body count already
stands over ten-billion."

Everything about hir seemed to stop as sie froze, the number
slowly sinking into hir mind. I could see in hir eyes how
much trouble sir was having trying to comprehend it.

Finally sie seemed to come back to life. "What exactly do
you want done?"

"There are three people I wanted captured, one is a must,
the other two would be nice as well. I don't want them
dead."

Sie nodded. "When?"

"Three days, about an hour before this time."

"It will cost."

"I can pay."

Sie nodded again. "Your name?"

"Fox Cutter."

"I am Nai, and I will be there." Then sie turned and was
gone before I could say anymore.

Now I just had to wait.

-----

This story is (c) 1997 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a 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.
'Milgrove' is (C) 1997 by J. 'Packrat' McCoy, and is used
with permission.