...Sadness For Everyone

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

08/23/98:

    Chapter 1

The summons that Dwight had promised to me a month plus a
week ago had finally come to past. I had received it as a
small message waiting for me as I got up that morning. He
wanted to see me immediately, before I did anything else.

So I had rushed to his office, even skipping breakfast with
Oria to meet him. In the end I don't think I should have
rushed, if I had taken a few minutes to think about it I
would have know what he wanted to see me for.

"Fox," He said, looking a bit haggered as I entered his
office. Most of his fur was rumpled down, sacks showing
under his eyes and he sat down at his desk.

"You wanted to see me?" I responded.

He nodded, leaning back a bit, folding his paws together in
front of his chest. "Yes, I have an assignment for you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? What exactly do you want me to
do."

He smiled a bit. "I want you to go to the Mouse's world.
Your job is to verify that the unleashing of the plague
wasn't an accident. That it was a deliberate attack against
the people of the Multi-verse."

I blew through my teeth, rumors that such a mission was
being planed had been circulating thorough the Hall for the
past few weeks. Though none of them mention that the mission
was for me.

"Did sie tell you if it was an attack?" I asked, using the
accepted pronoun for a hermaphrodite, such as the Mouse was.

He nodded, "We eventually got hir to admit that it was an
intentional act. Sie didn't tell us who ordered or approved
it though."

"That most not have been easy," I commented, remembering
what I had been told about hir world. Cooperating with a
captor was considered one of hir peoples greatest sins. It
went against the basic tenets of there society.

Dwight gave me a smile that sent a chill down my spine, "It
wasn't. For now though we must send someone to confirm this,
if it was an attack steps must be taken."

I nodded slowly, I didn't like how he said that first part.
The implication was that they tortured hir, and that Dwight
enjoyed that fact. My once dismissed worries about him
suddenly came back to the surface.

He passed over a thin folder. "This has the language patch
for what sie was speaking to use with, as much information
as we could pry from hir, and the closest approximation of
the full verse number for the fold sie used."

I raised an eyebrow. "Closest? You don't have the actual
one?"

He shook his head. "No, sie used a complex magical spell to
open the fold. We had are best xenomages ripping it apart
for the last half a year. If it's not the fold itself it
should be on the same continent as the one sie used."

I rolled my eyes. "So i'm either surrounded by guards when I
arrive or have to walk and meet them half way."

He smiled again. "Yes."

"All right, I'll do this, but it will be at double my normal
hazard pay."

He nodded, then bent under his desk for a few seconds,
coming back with a small box, about a six inches square. "I
want you to take this as well," He said, setting it on the
desk in front of me.

I picked it up, fiddling with the top. "What is it?" I
asked.

"I want you to leave that if you can confirm that this was
an attack," he answered, "don't open it till then though."

I frowned. "Why, what exactly is in here?"

"It will ensure that they could not leave the world again,"
He answered with that same smile he used when talking about
the Mouse. "Not unless the Council lets them out."

I looked the box over, rolling it through my hands. The
implication was that it was some way to feedback all the
folds on the planet, keeping them from being opened. But a
device like that, be it magical or technological, is far
larger then just this box.

"All right," I answered him. "I'll see if I can stick it
some place out of the way then."

He nodded, "good, I would appreciate that. That is all, you
may go now." He turned around in his chair as he said then,
flipping through one of his file cabinets.

I took both the file and the box and went back home. I would
be a fool to try and tackle something like this alone.

* * *

Oria shook her head as I finished telling her what had
transpired. "This sounds ugly," she finally commented as she
sipped her tea.

I nodded, looking over the contents of the folder. I had
already loaded up the language patch, and had it set out for
her to use. She hadn't touched it though.

"You know that I can't come along," she finally said.

I frowned, this was unexpected. "Actually, no I didn't know
that."

She smiled. "Fox, there are not very many crossbred
pregnancies, even inside the Council worlds. The doctors
don't want me out running around trying to take care of the
problems in the multi-verse. Frankly I had to fight not to
be put in the hospital until I give birth."

I nodded, sighing softly, this was the first time I had
heard about that. It made perfect sense really, in the end I
agreed with them. It takes a lot of work to crossbred two
species, and I still thought it a long shot that she would
not miscarry.

It was not something I wanted to think about think about
though. "I agree then, I hate to say it but I don't want you
to get hurt or the children." Damn that sounded strange for
me to say, even stranger then having a daughter, I was going
to be real father.

"Maybe you should take Jadith along," she commented as she
finished her tea and set the cup aside. "I think she would
like an adventure."

I nodded. "I'll have to think about it... I never even
thought about not having you along."

She smiled. "I know Fox, but this is how it has to be."

I think I was about to say something truly world shattering
and romantic, but was brought short as the phone system let
out a shrill beep signaling there was a new message waiting.
Sadly, what ever it was that I was going to say was lost.

Grumbling to myself I walked over to the phone and punched
up the message. To my surprise it was just simple text. It
just read 'Someone wants to meet you at the bar in an hour.
Braden'.

"Braden," Oria said, looking over my shoulder. "Why does
that name sound familiar."

"He's the bar keep on Mydisia base." I answered.

She frowned, a lot of things had changed for her when she's
been on that rock. "Who would want to meet you there?" She
asked.

I thought that over myself. I don't know many people who
frequent the base, its not exactly a friendly place to
visit. Why someone would want to see me there was a mystery
to me.

Unless they wanted to talk to me about my just assigned
mission. The rumors about it would have reached Mydisia by
now. Even without knowing I had just been given it, I was
the perfect person to ask about it.

I could see from the look in Oria's eyes that she had
figured it out as well.

"Elena," we said, almost in unison.

* * *

The bar on Mydisia is just like any sleazy bar you find in
any sleazy part of space. No matter what world, what
universe, if there was a dark underbelly to it there was a
bar like Mydisia there.

The large room was mostly dark, light provided here and
there by candles and other assorted things. None of the
clientele who frequented the bar wanted to be seen, or seen
with each other.

This was the realm of the smugglers, assassins and black
markets. It offered total anonymity to anyone who entered
into the bar. This is where I bought the weapon systems for
_The Golden Phoenix_, this was even where the Mouse was
selling hir plague infested artifacts.

And where, in one dark back corner, a vampire sat, watching
me as I moved towards hir.

Even without being bale to see hir clearly I still knew who
it was. Sie didn't move at all, sie was perfectly still, not
even the twitching of an ear to prove that sie was more then
just a mannequin.

I moved accost the room, sliding into the empty side of the
booth sie was occupying. Sie moved then, lighting the candle
at the table with one quick move.

"Hello," she said, looking me over slowly. "I see that you
have recovered from your curse," hir eyes moved down to lock
on my fingers. "Mostly."

I nodded, flexing my claws out a bit. "It's still there,
just it's livable right now."

Sie nodded, "Clear eyes, interesting."

I chuckled. "Disconcerting."

That seemed to break the stillness about hir as sie smiled.
"Yes, I can see they would be. Almost like they could look
into a persons soul. Tell me Mr. Cutter, what do you see in
my soul?"

I titled my head a bit, looking at hir closely. Looking at
the scars on hir face, at the lump of flesh that was all
that remained of hir left ear. I could only think of once
answer.

"Life."

Sie seemed to be socked by this statement. I think sie was
expecting some kind of witty response, not something so
counter to hir basic nature.

"Your welcome," I said, as sie started to recover.

Sie gave me a hard look with hir eyes, the light from the
candle reflecting off of them. "I've heard talk," sie said,
"Talk of sending an envoy to my world."

I nodded, "Yes, that would be me."

That brought a simile to hir lips. "This is far more
fortunate that I had planed. You see, I am going with you."

Oh, that didn't sound good. "What makes you think I would
allow it," I responded.

Sie laughed. "Because you want to live long enough to find
out anything. You will need a guide if you want to survive
this trip. I feel it's time that I returned to my home, both
can be accomplished in one move."

"Do you think a guide is needed?" I asked, already believing
that it was myself.

"Yes," sie answered, "if you were to appear to any
Theriamorphs that saw you as you are would kill you on the
spot for the crime of being human. You would have to be made
to look like an Elf, and to hide your eyes as well."

I smiled. "Pointy ears we can do. I'll keep my eyes as they
are thank you so very much."

Sie sighed, "if you insist on such folly I can't do anything
to stop it. Be warned though that how people will react will
be unpredictable at best."

I nodded.

"Also, we will need to create an ear piece for Oriana. It
won't stand up to a close inspecting but it will suffice for
most things."

"Oria isn't coming on this trip."

"Oh?" sie asked, leaning forward. Sie twitched hir nose a
bit as sie took in a long smell of the air around me. "I
see, she is with a child."

Ah, the joys of an enhanced seance of smell. "Twins
actually."

Sie nodded. "Congratulations, but I do agree with not having
her along. I would prefer to have more people then just you
and I."

"Agreed," I answered, "I already have someone in mind to
ask, and she already has the pointed ears."

"There is one more thing," sie said, shifting a bit in the
seat.

"What?" I asked.

Sie reached up to touch the base of hir missing ear. "My ear
must be replaced."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because our names are displayed on the left ear. To not
display a name is to not have a name, and to not have a name
is to be killed." Sie spoke the words softly, as if
explaining something extremely obvious to a small child.

"Your in luck then," I answered. "Jadith is a healer, she
should be able to repair it. If not there are other ways."

Sie smiled slowly. "Jadith is who you planed to ask for
help?"

I nodded.

"Then let us go and meet your healer." Sie said with a large
smile.

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is (c) 1998 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.
Elena is (c) 1998 by Chris Bradford.