Small Changes

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

07/25/1999:

    Chapter 1

"How are you feeling, Hon?" Oria asked as she wrapped her
arms around my shoulders, nuzzling the back of my neck.

I smiled. I hadn't even heard her come into my office. She
could be silent when she wanted to be. With one hand I
reached up to grasp her arm as I turned my head to nuzzle
her in return. "I'm feeling fine, love."

"That's good," she said with a purr, continuing to nuzzle.
Her tongue flicked out to lick my skin, bringing up my own
purr to match hers.

She pulled back after a minute, and put a little more weight
on my back, looking past my head to the various items spread
out over my desk. "Anything exciting come out of your
meeting this morning?"

I nodded. "A few things: some news on the construction of
the new Capital, and that the CSC is starting to be formed.
I might end up with the occasional assignment from them when
they get up to speed. I was also, gently, reminded that I
haven't finished gathering all the items on Graison's little
list."

"I see," she said, with a slight pout. "There's only two
items left?"

"Just the two. Some kind of computer, and something called
an 'Impulse Wave Transducer,' whatever that might be." I
answered as I picked up a PADD, which contained the relevant
information, from my desk.

She nodded, reaching down to pluck the PADD from my fingers.
"And which one are we going to go fetch?"

I laughed softly. "Who said we're going anywhere?" I asked.

She pulled back a bit, removing her weight from my
shoulders, taking the PADD with her. She left her other paw
stroking the side of my face, as she said, "I did. Now let's
see here, the first one doesn't have any humans, which might
cause some problems for you. The second one," she paused,
coming up on the same conclusion I had, "would probably kill
me on sight. I think we can skip that one today."

I nodded, then stood from my chair, and turned to face her.
She glanced at me, with a small smile on her muzzle,
dropping her now free paw to stroke down the edge of the
pale blue skirt that was hanging just over her feet. It went
nicely with the white top she had, tucked into its
waistband.

"Now, why are we going to go on this little mission?" I
asked, pushing the chair out of the way, and taking a step
closer to her, placing my hands on her hips.

"Because you need to get it done, Fox," she said, glancing
back down at the PADD. "And I want to get some quiet time,
just you and me, which we really can't get around here."

I let out a short laugh, and kissed the pad of her nose.
"You think going on an adventure is quiet time?"

She smiled and nodded. "For us it is. It will be the first
time for us to be away from home, just you and me. We'll
need to leave the tigers here; it will just be us," she gave
a soft laugh, "Quiet time."

I gave her hips a squeeze, and pulled her close. "You were
my companion, back in the days when I did adventures all the
time. I'm sure you remember all the deadly danger that came
about because of it?"

She nodded, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and
pulling me closer. "I remember, but I think it would be
worth it. I just want to get out of the house, and to talk.
I think this will be the best chance we'll get."

"Alright, I think it would be fun. I'll tell Ravindar in a
few minutes, if he doesn't know already," I said, and then
kissed my wife full on the lips.

She let out a deep purr, dropping her paws around my arms
and down my back, pulling me tight to her. "I like that,"
she whispered when she broke the kiss for a moment, "but I
think telling him can wait till later." She kissed me again,
pulling me tight to her.

I returned the kiss, pulling her back against me, as we
lowered ourselves to the floor.

* * *

"You want to do what?" Ravindar asked, his muzzle in his
paw, and a nasty look on his face. Santhara sat next to him,
a slightly surprised look on her face.

Oria and I sat on the far side of the kitchen table from
them, clothing back in place after our little bit of fun. We
were holding hands under the table, and her tail was
flicking against the back of my bare feet.

"I didn't phrase it as a question," I replied. "I'm telling
you, telling you both, that you are going to be staying here
for this."

"How can we protect you if you leave us here?" Santhara
asked, tapping a finger on the tabletop. "It makes us
useless as bodyguards if you leave us behind."

Oria shook her head. "There is no Cain waiting for us,
nothing big and nasty. The only problem is where the item
we're going for is located. Nothing else."

Ravindar shook his head. "This is an item that Grasion hid,
for his own retrieval. He also doesn't care much about you,
Fox. Have you considered that he might be a threat to you."

I nodded. "Oh yes, I'm acutely aware of that, but this isn't
your business. You were assigned to us to keep us safe
against Cain, who is dead now."

"I'm aware of that," he replied, in a terse voice, "but
there are other threats to your life. The Guild Elders think
so, which is why we haven't been removed from these
positions yet."

I blinked, slightly surprised. "Can you be? Removed, that
is? I know having five Crystal Masters is odd, and a first,
but can you two be re-assigned, and to doing what?"

The two tigers shared a glance between them, that had quite
a bit more conversation in it than I was privy to. Oria
understood some of it, as she shifted uncomfortably in her
chair.

Ravindar gave a short shake of his head, and returned to the
conversation. "We will be going with you. Whether you like
it or not, that is our job."

I sighed, squeezing Oria's paw. "You're staying here, like
it or not. If I want to, I can slip out of a fold fast
enough, and cold enough, that you couldn't follow us even if
you wanted to. It's one of the benefits of being a Natural."

He let out a long growl, tapping his fingertips on the
table. "All right, if you insist on this I want you to
activate your tracker implant before you go, and tell me
exactly where you're going to be. If you don't come back in
two days, we're coming after you."

I shifted a bit in my seat this time. I hated to be reminded
of the damn tracker chip. I guess that now that I know I
really am an animal, it makes sense to keep it. I had hoped
to get it removed, back when I thought I no longer had to be
on all fours. The soul sickness changed that.

"We can agree to that," Oria said, answering for us,
squeezing my hand to offer some comfort.

"When do you plan to leave?" he asked.

"In about an hour," Oria replied, rising from the table.
"I've already made arrangements for the children to be taken
care of, and we'll get you the information before we leave."

He nodded, "Go armed."

I stood up next to my wife, wrapping an arm around her
waist. "Of course," I said, and pulled her away from the
table. "We'll see you in an hour."

The tigers rose as well, and followed a few feet behind us
as we slipped though the hallways, and into our bedroom.
They took up positions just outside the door as we went
inside.

"I hate activating the tracer chip," I said as the door
closed. "It always itches when it's on,"

Oria just smiled, and walked over to her dresser, pulling
open the top drawer. "That's just your imagination, hon."

I sighed, and rubbed forehead. "Probably," I replied as I
walked over to her. I peeked over her shoulder this time, as
she lifted a small lock box out from among her under things.

She set it on the top of the dresser, and typed in the code
to open the lock. It was the same code that was on a larger
version of the same box in the bottom drawer of my dresser.

With a beep, the box unlocked, and she lifted open the lid.
Inside was her Needler, along with the necessary ammunition.

She picked up the weapon, and slid open the base. With
practiced fingers she selected the various canisters she
wanted to use. Each one was no more than an inch long, and
provided the chemicals that made the crystal needles
effective.

Then she retrieved the holster for the device. It looked
more like a cell phone case then any holster I had ever
seen. On the outside of the holster were slots for extra
canisters, which she filled, taking her time in selecting
which ones she wanted.

When that was finished, she slid the Needler into the
holster, and then clipped it onto the band of her skirt,
untucking her blouse a bit to hide it. It looked perfectly
normal, not like the potentially lethal weapon it was.

"So, how are we going to sneak you in?"sShe asked as she
closed the box, and then locked it. "Going to go under cover
as a lioness again?"

I turned her around, and hugged her for a moment, giving her
a short kiss. "I've thought about it, but both Ken and
Milgrove want me to try spending more time in my fox form.
It's the one that's the least used, and still isn't
completely stabilized."

"Is that why your fur patterns are always different?" she
asked.

I nodded.

She smiled and tilted her ears slightly. "Can you control
that form yet?"

I shook my head. "No, I can't directly change my shape at
all yet. It's starting to frustrate Milgrove during our
lessons."

"You're only on the second lesson, Fox; You'll get the hang
of it soon enough," my wife replied with a smile. "But I
wonder how you intend to go vulpine for this? Do you have
some toy I don't know about, or are you going to use the
Matrix chip?"

"I have some toy," I replied, kissing her nose and pulling
back. "Ken gave it to me the other day. He said that now
that he understood what was going on, he could make real
spells to control it." I walked over to my dresser as I
spoke, picking up a small jewelry box. "I haven't even
opened it to be honest, I didn't have the time before."

Oria came up behind me, and touched the box, purring softly.
"Oh, there is magic there, I can feel it. This isn't another
placebo like before."

I nodded, "Which is good, as that trick stopped working on
me," I said, and opened the box.

Inside it lay a small coil of silver chain, flat and about
an eighth of an inch wide. On one end was a simple clasp, on
the other was a stud.

"It's an ear hanging," Oria said, recognizing it as
something like her own world had. I recognized it as well,
and felt something heavy fall into my gut.

"Can I see?" she asked.

I nodded, moving the box closer to her paws. She picked it
up, and fished the hanging out of it, running her fingers
over it. "It's really pretty," she said with a purr, moving
it so the silver chain caught the light. A moment later she
paused, lifting it closer to her muzzle. "There's something
written on the chain."

I nodded again, closing the empty jewelry box, and setting
it back down. I then turned and looked closely at the word
engraved on the piece. "It's in Ken's language," I said.

"Oh," she replied, "can you read it?"

"No, love," I said.

Still, I knew what that word meant, down to the letter. It
was Ken's name for me, from when he and I were lovers. The
whole hanging dated back to then; he had given it to me when
we started to be close, before we got intimate. When I was
still to shy to be physical with anyone, let alone a dragon
I had strong feelings for.

The last time I saw it, was the day Ken left me. Without
understanding why he was doing it, and feeling like my world
had fallen apart, I had taken it off. Taken it off and
shoved it into his paw, telling him to take it with him.

And now it was mine again, another magic item in my growing
collection. I wondered what his motive for giving it back to
me was? Was he trying to get back together? It was something
I knew Oria would allow, but I wasn't ready for that. Maybe
he was trying to remind me of us back then, or maybe he just
found it in his lab, and thought it would be proper to
return it to me.

"You all right love?" Oria asked from behind me. "You look
deep in thought."

I nodded, reaching up to take out the fox-head earring that
was currently through my left ear. I had originally gotten
it pierced just to wear the hanging, even if I had to take
it out when I went back to Earth.

Oria held the hanging out to me, but I shook my head. "You
do it love, I want to feel your touch."

She smiled, and shifted to my left side. With careful
fingers she removed the back from the post, and lifted it to
my ear. As soon as she had put it though the hole, I
suddenly found myself a few inches shorter.

She adjusted, and placed the back on the post, pressing it
against the now thinner ear. When it was firm, she took the
clasp part and put it over the upper edge of my ear,
pressing it firmly closed. Technically it was supposed to go
through a second piercing, but I had decided it would have
been too hard to explain back home.

"It looks nice on you," she said, running her paw over the
fur on my neck.

I nodded, looking at myself in the mirror. The wide chain
hung slightly below my ear and glittered each time I flicked
it. "That it does," I replied.

"You had better change into some smaller clothing, before
those fall off of you. I'll grab some extra rounds for you,
and write up where we are going for Ravindar.

"Right, Love," I said, shrugging off my shirt and throwing
it onto the bed, followed by the rest of my clothing. I took
the opportunity to take a quick look over myself in the
mirror before heading to the closet. The fur coloring hadn't
changed much since the last time. That was a good thing, it
meant the form was growing stable.

It took a minute to regain my balance as I walked, as I was
out of practice walking digitigrade. Mostly I just had to
relax, and stop fighting my tail, which was doing a good job
at keeping me balanced.

The last time I was in this form, Oria and I had taken the
opportunity to go shopping and picked up some clothing that
fit me. Which was what I reached for now.

I pulled them on, adjusting them slightly to get the proper
fit, and rolled up the bottom of the denim shorts to keep
out of the way of my knees. When I was satisfied I had
everything in place, I headed back towards Oria.

She was at my dresser, copying the information from the PADD
into a note for Ravindar. Her tail was flicking slowly
behind her, brushing the floor behind her feet. She was
taller than me now, not that I was complaining much. At
least I was a fox.

I transferred the items from my discarded pants into my new
pair, and changed over the holsters as well. I couldn't wear
the small plasma gun on my leg, as I preferred to do on
these adventures, because it would stand out in my current
form.

"Ready, Fox?" Oria asked, walking towards me. In her paws
was the silver and red box that controlled the tracker
implant. I winced when I saw it, but nodded.

"Do it," I said, closing my eyes.

I felt her paw on my shoulder, as she pressed the box right
next to the base of my tail. There was a slight buzz that I
heard, but mostly felt in my tailbone. Then it was done, as
she pulled away.

I sighed, opening my eyes, as I scratched right where the
chip was. "It itches," I muttered.

Oria laughed and kissed my nose-pad. "It will go away soon,
dear," she said, handing me the small bag I kept my spare
clips in. From the weight I could tell she was good to her
word, and had loaded them for me.

"Thanks," I said, clipping them to my belt. "Do we need
anything else?"

"An auto lock-pick," she replied. "I sent Kalie to get one
for us before we talked to our bodyguards; she should have
it by now."

I chuckled, thinking about something Page had told me,
before she went back to her own time; eventually I was going
to have to learn how to pick locks. It was nice to see that
I would have a reason to do so other than, 'That's what
happened'.

"You going, she's going to be ticked we're not bringing her
along. She wanted to do this herself a few months ago, and I
told her to hold off."

My wife smiled, "She'll understand," she said.

"I hope so."

She nodded, walking over to the closet and pulling out my
jacket, followed by her trench coat.

"I don't think that fits with your outfit," I said as she
came back to me, holding my jacket out. I took it from her
paw, and slid into it, adjusting the cuffs around my smaller
wrists.

She just smiled, and pulled it over her shoulders. "It's
meant for these adventures, love. I would feel naked without
it on."

I smirked. There were so many things I could say in response
to that. From the look on her face, she knew what they were,
and already had the comeback prepared.

The tan of the coat was bland compared to the rest of her
outfit. In fact the only other color on it was the small
golden dagger over a red heart. It was the symbol of her
rank in the Assassin Guild. It was placed over her own
heart, out in the open for anyone to see.

Not that it would be recognized; most of the people who knew
the sign of the guild are either in it, or know enough not
to mess with it. Or dead, but they weren't a problem at the
moment.

"Let's get going," I said, and started for the bedroom door.
I was brought up short by the feeling of a paw on my tail.

I stopped, and glanced back at Oria with a smile. "Did we
forget something, love?"

"Just this," she said as she walked up to me, lowered her
head, and kissed me deeply.

I kissed her back in return, my paws drifting down her back
to stroke her tail before we finally pulled away.

"Now we're ready to go," she purred, heading for the door.

I let out a laugh, and followed her out the door, with a
smile on my muzzle.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me," Oriana said, as she looked
over the square in front of us.

I nodded, and let out a slow chuckle as I looked over the
large expanse of pavement that extended out around us. At
the center was a clock tower, over a hundred feet tall,
keeping the local time.

The square surrounding it was bustling with activity, the
buildings on all four sides climbed five stories into the
air. Even though we couldn't read the names on them, it was
clear from the people and vehicles around us what they were
used for.

Our little quest item was in the middle of the central
police buildings for a city more than twice the size of New
York. We had to steal it from under the nose of a few
thousand cops.

"This isn't funny," Oria said, smacking my shoulder with her
paw.

I smiled and shook my head. "No, but it fits Grasion's sense
of humor perfectly. No one would look for it here. I
wouldn't have even tried, but it's exactly what he would do.
And he would have no problem at all getting it out. Us on
the other hand..." I smiled and shook my head.

She nodded.

"Come on, let's take a look at the door," I said, and
started across the square. The people around us, a mixture
of five different species, didn't even notice as we moved
past them.

Around us buzzed a language that our translators hadn't
picked up yet, but that was all right. We couldn't do
anything till dark, which was a few hours away, so we had
time to burn.

The door was on the far side of the tower from where we
started. It was simple-- two doors, one behind the other.
The first made from bars, with a heavy lock. The second was
a plain outside door, with a simple lock on the handle.

I turned around, and scanned the buildings behind us, trying
to see where we might be spotted when we snuck inside. On
the building right across from the tower, on the top floor,
was a balcony that ran most of its length.

"I would bet even money that whoever is in that office is
police commissioner, or the local equivalent," I said,
pointing at it.

Oria nodded, scanning the rest of the buildings. "It would
make sense," she said, and turned back to the door. "The
lock won't be too difficult, it should only take a minute."
She sighed, and turned back to look at the buildings. "I
suspect that will be the only part of it that is."

I nodded, running over the location of the item in my mind.
"It will take at least an hour, once we're inside, to get
his little toy. The trick will be in not getting noticed. I
wish we had brought along some sort of night vision gear."

"Why, when we can both see in the dark?" she asked, wrapping
her arm through mine.

I chucked softly, and shook my head, sending my pigtail
swaying over the back of my neck. "I had forgotten about
that."

She smiled. "I guessed as much, Fox," she said, and glanced
around, her ears twitching up slightly. "There's a park over
there, across the road. You can see it between those
buildings. We have time to kill, and we both need to pick up
the local language."

I nodded, and started walking towards the park. "We only
need a couple more hours," I commented, "The park looks busy
enough for that. I just wish we had some money so we could
get a bit to eat from one of the street venders."

"I can't think of any way to do that, other than pick a few
pockets, which isn't something either one of us is very good
at."

I smiled and pulled her close to me. "Maybe we should learn
how to do that?"

She shook her head as we walked out of the square and
stopped at the sidewalk. "Better not. We don't want the kids
picking that up from us. We'd have no end of trouble."

I chuckled, as we waited for the people around us to start
crossing. We garnered a few dirty looks while we were
waiting. Maybe mixed species relationships were frowned upon
in this world, or perhaps they just didn't like our public
show of affection.

We ignored them. It was easy enough. All the training in
high school pays off for that. When the light changed we
crossed with everyone else, and stepped into the park.

A soft purr slipped out as the pads of my feet touched the
grass. All the walking we had done on the sidewalk and
street had given my feet a beating.

Oria was used to it, having gone barefoot her whole life,
and smiled slightly as she saw my reaction. "Feet hurt?" she
asked with a knowing smile.

I didn't say anything, just luxuriated in the feel of the
grass.

She laughed and wrapped her arm around my back. "If you stop
wearing shoes, you'll eventually get used to it. The pads
will toughen up over time."

I nodded, wrapping my arm back around her as we moved
through the park. We followed along in the grass, next to a
paved path until we found an area that had a lot of people
loitering around.

We took a seat on the bench, and I folded my feet up under
me, as we watched this world go by. Oria gently brushed her
fingers over the back of my neck.

I twisted my fingers over the marriage bracelet on my right
wrist, fingering my love's blood stone. "I love you,
Oriana."

She leaned close, and kissed my neck. "I love you too, Fox,"
she whispered into my ear.

Another purr rose from my chest, as I cuddled up to her. She
purred in return, and giggled softly. "It's strange hearing
a fox purr."

"Strange?"

She nodded, "And cute."

I laughed and turned around to give her a kiss, which she
returned happily. We held each other like that for a minute,
before pulling away.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught an elder couple who
were walking past. They were trying not to be obvious as
they looked at us, both of them were smiling widely.

"I did snag a few small pieces of jewelry we can pawn," Oria
said, nuzzling. "A set of five ruby rings. If they are
valuable here, we should get some money."

"That seems kind of a big thing to pawn," I said, trying to
remember if I knew the rings. She had a lot of items with
rubies.

She let out a giggle. "Not really, they didn't cost very
much back on my world." She saw the quizzical look on my
muzzle, and smiled. "Rubies are common on my world, don't
you remember? They're not worth a lot. They seem pretty rare
in the multi-verse, though, so we should be able to get
something for them."

"Oh yes, I remember now," I said, fishing that little piece
of trivia out of the back of my mind. "As long as they
aren't of sentimental value to you."

"Not at all I picked them up while you were exiled. I had a
special client who had a thing for a women dripping in
jewelry. It was fun to dress up for him," she said, licking
my ear.

I tickled her a bit. "You miss the old job?"

She nodded slightly, her face falling just a bit. "Yes, hon,
I do. I still think of myself as a whore, it's hard to step
away from that. It's been a year now, and I'm still not used
to it."

I touched the side of her muzzle with my fingers. "That's my
fault. I know your culture allows people to be with others,
but it's frowned upon in mine." I sighed softly, "Of course,
as I'm taking on your culture as mine, I suppose I should
get over that."

She sighed, "Don't do it for my sake."

"Who's sake should I be doing it for then?" I asked with a
smile.

Oria shook her head, but didn't answer.

"I've thought about this a few times, hon. It's something I
know I should deal with. I want you to be happy, and I don't
want to hold you back."

She nodded, "And you could spend time with Rachel again,"
she pointed out.

I sighed, but with a smile. "It's tempting, very tempting.
It will take some time for me, but when I'm ready, you can
go back to the job you love."

She nodded, with a smile, which turned into a slight frown.
"That's not the only job I'm thinking about going back to."

"Oh, really?" I asked, straining a bit to figure out which
job she was talking about.

Silently, she reached up to touch the Guild badge on her
chest.

I frowned, and touched her arm with my paw. "Back to the
Guild? Why, Oria? After we fought so hard to get you out of
there?"

She sighed, and dropped her head, staring hard at the ground
under the bench. "I don't want to, Fox, but I'm starting to
feel like I have to. If the Hammerheads are still around, I
still owe them their favor. I need to protect myself, and to
protect the children so they can't do anything to them."

I wrapped my arms around her, and pulled her close to me.
"You don't have to do that, you have me. You have Ravindar
and Santhara."

She nodded, "I know love, but I feel so helpless. When I
found out that Golem was made by the Hammerheads, it felt
like my whole world was crashing down. I immediately thought
back to the Guild training; how much I learned, how much I
forced myself to forget. If I'm going to be able to defend
my family, I need to know such things."

"But the Guild, love? You can be trained by others. Terminus
would be more than willing to help. Even Ken could show you
some ways to use your magic to defend yourself."

"I know, I've thought about that a lot over the last few
weeks," she said, shaking her head slowly. "I know the
Guild, I know the teachings, and still remember some of
them."

"But love, if you go back to the Guild, you'll have to kill
again," I protested.

She nodded. "I know, Fox, and my quota would start over.
Five people in two years," she sighed again. "I've taken two
lives with my own paws. If I can decide which contracts to
take..." she trailed off, staring down at her fingers.

I pulled her closer, and nuzzled at her neck, but didn't say
a thing.

Oria changed positions, wrapping an arm around me, and
squeezing gently. "I feel like I have to do this, Fox. I
know what it will cost my soul, and I can deal with it, with
Thryn's help, and yours."

I ran my fingers through her long hair, and shook my head.
"I can't approve of this love, I just can't. If you do this,
I'll help you in any way I can, but I can't approve of it."

She nodded, and held me close. She didn't say anything else
for the next hour, and nor did I. At the time there was
nothing else either one of us could say.

* * *

Under the cover of darkness, Oria and I moved briskly
through the square. It was approaching local midnight, and
no one was about for now.

Some lights burned in the buildings around us, but no one
was at their windows. It was useful for us, being seen was
low on my list of things to do that night.

"You have the lock-pick?" I asked Oria as we moved to the
door of the clock tower. Our past conversation pushed into
the back of my mind for the moment. I planned to bring it up
again when we got back home, but that was for later.

"I've got it," she replied in a half-whisper, fishing the
small black device out of her coat pocket. She held it ready
in her paw as we approached the first door.

I took up a guard position next to Oria, as she bent down
towards the lock. I had time to scan the square only once
before I heard the hinges grind as the gate opened.

"That was too fast. Was it already open?" I asked, turning
back around.

She nodded, reaching for the inside door. Twisting the
handle, it moved easily; she pushed it forward an inch,
sending light falling from the crack.

"Someone's already here," she said in a whisper, flicking
her ears back. "Do you think we should go in?"

I nodded, "Yes, but be careful, we don't know what to
expect," I replied in the same whisper.

She nodded again, and pulled her Needler out. Then she
slowly pushed the door open further, enough that she could
see inside. Moving carefully, she glanced inside quickly
before pushing it open the rest of the way, and stepping
into the tower.

I followed right behind her, closing the door as I entered
the building. We were in a small room, about twenty feet
square. On one side was a set of stairs, leading up to the
clock. The far wall had another door, closed to us.

"Looks clear," I said, glancing up at the tower above us. I
couldn't see anyone moving up near the clock works. The
tower itself was open, and would have made it hard for
anyone to hide.

Oria paused and walked around the small room, glancing under
the stairs, before going to the second door. With a twist of
the handle, she opened it, and frowned. "Fox, you had better
see this," she said.

I walked around to her, looking over her shoulder. Inside
what was barely more then a small closet, was the corpse of
a young wolf. Blood pooled under his body, coming from a
pair of bullet wounds in his chest.

"Well, shit," I said with a slight hiss, placing my paw on
the small of Oria's back. From the look of it, he had been
dead for an hour at least. I was surprised by the lack of
smell. I had come across enough dead bodies in my time to
have become familiar with it, but there was nothing there.

"What do we do about this?" she asked, as she put her weapon
away.

Her response came as the sound of a gun being chambered from
behind us. A gruff voice ordered, "Both of you, put your
hands up, now."

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is copyright 2003 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
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