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FOX Academy:

Book I - The New Breed

Book II - The Werewolf of Odessa

The Werewolf of Odessa - Chapter 7 - After the Stalker

Silver crashed through the brush after the assassin, gun out and held ready. Following in the dark was tricky, if he went fast to catch up the noise of his passage would wipe out the sound of the prey, if he went slowly and silently the assassin could escape. Silver moved by rushing forward fifty meters at a time then pausing to listen. Silver didn't follow directly behind the assassin, but off to one side. The assassin would have chosen his escape route beforehand and could have included places to turn and ambush a pursuer, maybe even left a trap or two, as Silver would have. When he couldn't hear the sound of movement ahead, he slipped to the ground and began to circle around behind where he had last heard movement.

The night was overcast and there were no lights in this area. The assassin had brought them close to where the Rideau Canal formed the eastern boundary of the Central Experimental Farm, the facility that hid FOX Academy. Silver had lost his night vision to the blinding double muzzle blasts when the Assassin fired, but it was slowly returning. Had the Stalker preserved his by closing one eye? Did he have night-vision goggles? Silver blessed the decision to keep the camouflage suit on during the drive back from the training area.

Thinking of the muzzle blasts, Silver paused to screw the silencer onto his Glock. If he fired, it would be harder to track him by sound and it would suppress the flash as well. How had the Stalker managed to get two shots off so close together and with such accuracy, he wondered? Could there have been two shooters? It did not sound like two persons ahead of him, and he was fairly sure that he had not left anyone back at the scene. Having considered the possibility however, he checked behind himself at regular intervals; he would rather be paranoid than fatally surprised.

The canal bent inwards, so he was moving back towards the Academy as he skirted it. Up ahead there was a clump of bushes near the water's edge. Somehow, it looked wrong. Silver breathed slowly to steady himself and deliberately looked off to one side.

The eye contains rods and cones. The cones, about six million of them concentrated in the centre of the retina, provide colour vision, but are fairly useless at night. The rods are much more sensitive, and 120 million or so are spread out around the rest of the retina. By looking aside, Silver was scanning the suspicious area with more sensitive rods. In particular, any movement would be immediately apparent.

Silver could make out now what had caught his attention. One clump, on the water's side, was too smooth, not fuzzy like the rest; it made the bushes look wrong. The same clump did not sway when the wind gusted, as the rest did. It was the right size for an adult, but there was the possibility that it was merely a decorative rock. Silver opened his mouth and swivelled his ears forward, putting the gun down and cupping them with his paws to concentrate the sound. Nothing.

Silver heard a noise behind him; an engine on the canal. This time of night, the only boats allowed between the locks were the tour boats, and they were lit up like floating discos. Silver picked up his gun, pressed himself into the turf and closed one eye. He aimed at the suspicious lump and waited.

The light increased slowly as the tour boat approached. Soon the lump would be lit up enough to identify it. Light reflected off something artificially straight. Movement! Silver fired.

The sound of a ricochet, a flash as the prey returned fire. Partygoers on the boat screaming, a splash.

Silver scanned the area, the lump was gone, but something long and straight remained where it had been. Silver ran in a crouch to the bush, circling around the other side in case the Stalker was behind it and to keep out of the light from the boat as much as possible. Poking his head around cautiously he could make out a rifle of unusual design on the ground. A trail of flattened grass led to the water, where ripples still spread out toward the far side. Silver crawled to the edge and gazed in, there was no sign of the Stalker.

The boat had turned in the middle of the canal and was retreating back the way it came. Those on board would have reported the shots and the area would be crawling with police in minutes. Silver pulled his own phone out and called the Operations Centre to intercept them and get a team down here to secure the area. Wrapping a piece of camouflage material around the rifle, he picked it up and headed back to the Academy. He met the security team halfway and directed them to the scene.

When he arrived at Headquarters he found it a hive of activity. Another security detail was deployed around the headquarters building, keeping unauthorized persons away from the scene. Silver was recognized and waved through the perimeter. An ambulance was backed up to the main entrance, its lights off, so he angled towards another entrance near the operations Centre that only a few had the code for.

Inside, the hallway leading to the Chief of Staff's and W's offices was cordoned off, awaiting the arrival of the forensic team. The ambulance team was just bringing a gurney out under the tape. The body was wrapped and covered in white sheets, blood soaking through where the long snout should have been poking up but wasn't. Knowing there was nothing that he could do for his best friend right now, Silver headed to the labs with the rifle.

In the labs he found that most of the staff was already there; many of them lived on site or nearby. Rusty, the resident weapons expert as well as combat instructor, was watching the videos of the perimeter, waiting for his chance to examine any bullet fragments or casings found at the scene. He turned when Silver hailed him.

"Got something here for you Rusty." Silver put the rifle down on the table and unwrapped it. "It hasn't been examined for prints yet."

Careful not to touch any surface that might yield a print, Rusty examined the firearm while Silver described the confrontation. It looked like a standard hunting rifle from the breach back, with a shoulder stock, semi-pistol grip and trigger assembly. Up front though, it resembled an over-and-under shotgun; it had two barrels, one mounted above the other. Looking at the muzzles however, they could see that they were rifle barrels of two different calibres.

"This is amazing." The Doberman said, whistling in appreciation. "I've seen double-barrelled rifles in point sixty calibre for big game, but this is a custom job. See, only one trigger. Both barrels fire simultaneously. Then these dials here," he pointed to horizontal and vertical dials between the barrels near the muzzles, "they are for sighting the two together for different ranges. But that's not the best part."

Silver knew that the problem with shooting someone through a window, even an ordinary one, was not penetrating the window, but keeping the bullet from deviating as it passed through. The only sure way to hit your target was to have two shooters using the same point of aim. The first shot took out the window and the second shot, fired an instant later, went straight through the hole and into the target. Both bullets striking the window at the same time would not guarantee a kill. Having noted that one barrel was a different bore than the other, he guessed what Rusty was about to say.

"One of these barrels is chambered for a large hypersonic armour-piercing round. The other holds a smaller round with a lower muzzle velocity. Essentially, they leave the barrel at the same time, so there's no recoil problem, but the larger one reaches the target area an instant before the killing round. It makes the hole and the second one passes through to the original point of aim before the victim can react. Ingenious. One point of aim, one squeeze, one recoil, two outcomes."

Rusty's love for weapons had found a new object of desire. He sounded almost hurt when he pointed to the shattered junction of breech and barrels on the left side of the rifle.

"You say that you only took one shot? He must have had this up across his chest waiting for you to appear along his trail." Rusty scribbled a rough map of the scene on the table. "You were south of him. He was looking west. Hmm. I'd say that he was left handed."

Silver's PDA started to vibrate. He pulled it from under his shirt and looked at the screen.

"W wants to see me in his office. I'll leave you two alone to get to know each other better. Don't try getting to second base with her until the forensic team is done." Rusty grunted absently in acknowledgement as Silver left the lab.

W's office was at the end of the hall that had been cordoned off. Silver displayed his security pass to the guard; the colour and number code on it allowed him unrestricted access anywhere except W's inner office. The guard lifted the tape to let him in. As he passed Tanner's office Silver couldn't help but look in. The forensic team was inside now, one digging a bullet out of the wall, one collecting glass to reconstruct the window, a third taking pictures of the blood splatter. There was a lot to take pictures of.

In the Directors outer office his personal secretary and bodyguard, the black and white Poodle Mademoiselle Chienne-Caniche, stood guard. Second only to Rusty in unarmed combat skill she nevertheless had armed herself with a pair of Colt Python .357 Magnum revolvers tonight. The butts of the pistols stuck out from under each arm, one to each side of her ample breasts. Silver wondered again why her bust never seemed to get in the way of her draw.

"Go right in, he's waiting." As usual in times of tension, her French accent had disappeared.

"Ah! Silver! Sit down, old chap, sit down." W rose as Silver entered the room and guided him to one of the comfortable armchairs opposite his desk.

"I want you to know something." Silver began before the old Walrus could speak again. "You are going to need me in the field for this one; I'm not ready to take over as Chief of Staff."

"I don't recall offering you the job" The voice came from behind Silver.

"Tanner!" Silver stood and spun. Tancred Williams stood in the doorway, smiling sadly. His normally perfect fur marred by small shaved areas and bits of bandage. His paws were bandaged also.

"What the hell?" Silver crossed the room and embraced his friend, not noticing the wince when he hugged him. He released Tanner and stepped back to look at him again, serious now. "I thought you were dead. I saw your face explode."

Tanner limped over to one of the chairs with Silver's help; his feet were bandaged also. Once they were settled he told them both what had happened.

"I met Constable Hirt after supper and told him that we were going to check him out first thing tomorrow morning. He was all for it, very efficient, he said. Then he started bugging me for the use of a secure workstation again, under supervision if I insisted. Since no one else was around who wasn't already busy I let him use the workstation in my office while I prepared next year's budget submissions."

"So it was Hirt's silhouette I, we, saw in the window." Silver interrupted.

"Yes. We were similar in size and build." Gold conceded. Williams was being modest. Taller than most foxes and built like a wolf he was more than a match for the big German Shepherd Hirt. "It was the Shepherd's long snout and upright ears that fooled him I'd guess"

W and Silver listened as Gold recounted how he advised the dog not to stand in the window just before it shattered. How he had heard the familiar sound of Silver's Glock right afterwards. He had then crawled through the broken glass to the dog's side to see if he could be helped. Seeing the empty hole his face had become he had known that the Shepherd was beyond help, but he held the RCMP officer as he breathed his last.

Silver described what he had seen outside the Academy and by the canal. He passed on Rusty's observations on the customized rifle.

"He disappeared fast once he hit the water." Silver concluded. "Whoever he is, he must be a hell of a swimmer."

"So," W harrumphed as he leaned forward on his desk. "All we know that's new is that the Stalker isn't afraid of water. He's still out there and has never been known to give up until the job is done. What do we do now?"

Silver spoke before Gold could answer. "We've been sitting here watching and waiting for him to show himself or make a mistake. That's too passive; he could pick us off one by one, even if he does take out a side player every now and again. It's time to go on the offensive. I need Algorath."

* * * * * * * *

Kain was walking down the middle of the hall in the old building that was the student's dormitory. His wore only flip-flops and thin grey shorts that clung to his damp fur. His damp fur clung to him, outlining the muscles that were normally hidden under his fluffy arctic undercoat. The regimen of physical training at FOX Academy had given them increased size and definition. If I wash out, he thought, I could always get a job as an underwear model.

He came to an intersection of two hallways and turned left to head toward his room. Head down, he didn't glance at the hemisphere of mirrored steel hung at the junction to prevent the sort accident he was about to have. Neither did Ophelia, and their heads bonked comically before they bounced off each other. Kain grabbed for her arms to prevent them both from falling, and came up with a double paw-full of breasts instead. It was enough for them to regain their balance however and he released them hastily as they both took a step back.

"Jesus, sorry Cass." He said, head down, embarrassed. "I didn't see you there and ..." his voice trailed off as he looked up at her. She wore a thin white cotton undershirt and matching panties, both had gone nearly transparent from the water they had soaked up from her sodden fur. He tried to raise his sights higher than her breasts, with their nipples sculpted into the wet shirt, but had to settle for dropping his eyes, only to notice how the wet panties outlined the mound of her sex. Finally, he looked straight down, and became suddenly conscious of how his own wet shorts were moulding his stiffening member.

He crossed his arms and shuffled his feet, mouth opening and closing as incoherent sounds he wished were clever lines escaped. He saw a paw reach out and felt it under his chin. She lifted his head, forcing it up until it was level with hers.

"Look in my eyes Kain." Her icy purple pupils stared unblinking. "Focus, focus ... good. Now, hold that point of aim. Apology accepted, and I'm sorry for not looking either." She scanned him up and down unabashedly. "Why are you all wet?"

"I was in the shower. I brought my laundry too so I stuck my towel in with it before heading back to the room to blow-dry." He dared to glance at her shirt again and was proud to return his gaze to her eyes afterwards. "Why are you all wet?

"I was in the gym drilling the heavy bag. Someone stole my clothes and towel from the peg outside the shower room while I was inside. This was all I had left in my locker." She indicated the soggy outfit and Kain risked another glance. "I was just on my way to my room to dry off."

Kain was suffering the uncomfortable sensation of owning a penis that wanted to simultaneously swell with lust and shrink from embarrassment. Standing there like a fool in the hallway dripping on the floor with a gorgeous feline who was the next best thing to naked wasn't helping his repertoire any either.

"Say, thanks for the help with the rappelling, by the way. I've never done it in the dark and I felt a lot better after your advice."

"Yeah, no problem. Didn't help myself too much did I?" She frowned; she had almost made a fatal error earlier that evening.

"Well it must be hard to think with those tailholes getting on your case all the time. And the American jokes! Christ I'd like to nuke the smug little maple syrup sucking bastards."

His outburst made Ophelia laugh, and the tension seemed to slip away.

"Oh, hey, I forgot to thank you for those notes on Intelligence doctrine you lent me Kain. Couldn't have gotten through the test without them."

"Sure, no problem." Kain looked around. "Look, we're flooding the hall out here. Somebody's going to slip and break their tail bone."

"Let's get Nelson and tell him there's a call for him in the lobby." She giggled.

"With our luck Rusty will come by first and then he'll have to run us into the ground tomorrow on crutches." They were both giggling now. "My room is right here, come on in and I'll lend you a towel." The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. The giggling stopped. He kept his eyes locked on hers.

She stared back, a contemplative look on her face. "Sure."

He stepped to his door and reached into his shorts to get the key, turning his back to her as he did. He swung open the door and allowed her to enter. She stood in the middle of the room, taking in the unmade bed, the piles of books and clothes, the desk covered in circuit boards, tools and bits of wire. Kain hastily gathered up the nearest piles and threw them in the closet; bringing back his last clean towel. He held it out for her to take.

Instead of taking the towel, she turned her back to him and locked her arms above her head. "Dry my back for me will you?"

Kain gulped. Taking two quick deep breaths, he stepped forward and opened the towel. He rubbed her back and shoulders with it and felt her lean back against the pressure of his paws. She spread her arms and he began to towel them.

"My sides?" she enquired. Opening the towel more he ran it up and down from her armpits to her hips.

"Don't forget my legs." She parted them slightly. Kain had to go down on one knee to do them. He tried to finish quickly, but could not help lingering a bit while he admired the curve of her buttocks and the line of her thighs. He forced his eyes to avoid what was outlined in the gap between them.

Her tail began whipping back and forth, demanding attention. Kain struggled to run the towel up and down it; it was like milking a snake. His paw bumped against her ass when he slipped and he apologized, fumbling for the dropped towel.

While he bent to pick up the towel Ophelia turned and took his head in both of her paws. She lifted him back up so that their faces were level with each other and only centimetres apart. He was holding the towel up between them, just below their chins and she lifted his paws to bring it up in front of his eyes. From behind the towel he sensed her moving and he looked down in time to see her step out of the wet panties. Another movement and the soaked undershirt lay beside them. Ophelia's paws rose up and pressed down on his. The towel lowered steadily, revealing her unique eyes, the broad flat nose, a playful smile, the delicate fur of her throat, the tops of her perfect breasts ... and she stopped.

Taking the towel from him, she wrapped it around herself, tying it tight under one arm. She stepped back. The towel hung like a toga to mid-thigh, and did nothing to disguise her curves. Her gaze drifted downwards, her eyes widening when she got halfway and her smile broadened.

Kain suddenly realized that lust had won out over embarrassment and that his shorts were no longer stuck to his groin; in fact, they had developed a distinctly tent-like appearance. He didn't dissolve in humiliation this time however, he finally knew exactly what to say; the perfect words to tell her how he felt about her. He opened his mouth to speak just as the pounding began on the door behind him.

"Algorath! This is security! Open up!"

* * * * * * * *

In the Operations room Gold, Silver and Rusty were pouring over the results of the forensic analysis as it came in while a small army of technicians, analysts and scientists examined individual items. As each was cleared for prints, fibres and booby-traps they were laid on a long table in front of the senior agents. The collection now included the contents of Constable Hirt's pockets.

Once they had confirmed that the cuffs and badge were standard RCMP issue, they had pushed them aside. Hirt's personal items, wallet watch, comb and the like, soon followed. The single item remaining was the listening device disguised to resemble a blister pack of sugar-free gum that they had discovered in the Academy foyer earlier.

Bill 'Professor' Hanlan approached the table and Gold nodded for him to come forward. The Grey Fox carried a stack of printouts in one paw.

"This is all of the information that Marcel was able to get from Sharon and her friend Alvilda from the bank in Bern. It has account numbers at their bank as well as others on both sides of the money laundering chain. There's pass codes, authorization codes, account holder information, the works. We could shut down both the Werewolf and the Stalker and freeze their assets with this information."

Silver examined the data then looked to Hanlan. "Can we use this to track them?"

"Yes and no." The Professor shrugged. We're not set up for this; we'd have to send it over to the Treasury Board. It would take a while even then. The Werewolf will be the easier of the two; he needs physical facilities for what he's up to. The Stalker will be tricky; if he suspects that we're on to him he just has to abandon his old accounts and throw out his computer. If he's smart, he'll be using a wireless modem and resetting the assigned IP address regularly, using multiple ISPs and multiple accounts. We may never get closer than a neighbourhood. We'll need to triangulate when he's connected to narrow it down to a probable address, and even then he could be accessing it remotely."

"I don't want to visit him, much as I'd like to." Silver responded. "We don't have time for that. What I want is to get into his system and draw out whatever information we can."

"You would have to go to the communications intelligence boys and ask them to loan you one of their white hat hackers."

"Maybe not." Silver said, watching the entrance to the Operations room. A burly Rottweiler in a security guard uniform dragging the Arctic Fox Algorath had just appeared and was headed in their direction. The dog pushed Algorath toward the table and dropped a black canvass bag on it.

"That's everything electronic from his room. We would'da been here sooner but we had to let him dry off and get dressed." The Rottweiler went on to describe how they had found him dressed only in shorts in his room with the towel-clad Cloud Leopard. Silver kept his eyes on Algorath throughout, noting anger, tension and embarrassment; but no fear. While the dog finished his report Algorath picked up the listening device that he had helped them examine earlier.

"Excuse me." He interrupted the security escort. "You haven't been discussing this case with this around have you?" He held up the device.

"It's okay." Gold replied. "We disconnected the battery before turning it over to Hirt."

"You've never heard of capacitors I take it?" He pointed to one of the bulges on the fake blister package.

Silver remembered the police reports from the Perfect Stalker's last hit. A large capacitor dropped into a witness protection candidate's pool. It had had enough stored up energy to turn the government's witness into barbecue. An annex to the report had discussed the different types of capacitors, ones built for sudden massive discharge and others for slow steady release, like a battery. Shit!

"Hanlan, get it out of here. Put it in a safe outside the restricted area." Hanlan complied immediately. Silver studied Algorath for a minute then, reaching a decision, pushed the printouts across the table. "Take a look at these."

Kain studied the printouts, skimming through them quickly, sometimes doubling back a sheet or two to check some bit of information.

"Oh yeah, this is sweet." He grinned. "You got your log sheets with all the codes and account access data. I could siphon off this dude's money and charge about five million worth of pizza to him before the bank got wise. He's not a fried of yours?"

"I don't want his money." Silver answered. "I want to get into his system and steal his data."

"Let me see here. Hmm, coming in with multiple identifications, using a number of different machines, probably using an anonymizer. Looks like it's linked through the servers for Tilia World. Makes sense, lots of bandwidth and lots of users logging on and off at all hours. Can't do a drive-by download on this guy. With somebody this cautious you are just going to get one shot at them. You have to catch them unaware and strike fast while you distract them, otherwise they'll just shut down and change everything over."

"Can't you sneak in and build a back door, or trapdoor, or whatever?" Gold asked.

"Not likely. It's not like a big government server with thousands of users and millions of hits a day; this is a personal computer with one authorized user who probably has secure remote commands, alarms and firewalls and still checks his logs every day. I could probably get in eventually but it will take a lot of time; this guy isn't the type to leave his machine connected for our convenience."

Silver pointed to one of the workstations. "Let's see what you can do."

Kain sat down and opened the workstation's control panel. "Can't do much with this; not much memory and the display card sucks. If he's hiding his connections in Tilia World we'll need lots of graphic power." Algorath scribbled down some figures and handed them to Silver. "Something like this, but I doubt that you'll find one with that kind of power around here."

Silver showed the note to the Chief of Staff. "Sounds like the machine we bought for Joel the Lemur last month." Gold noted. "Said he needed it for the high-end graphics and holograms he had to copy in the forgery shop. He was in there processing the video from the security cameras; if we hurry we can still catch him."

Leaving Rusty to continue the ballistic analysis Silver and Gold led Algorath out of the operations area and toward the labs. Silver stopped beside the car he was recently assigned and threw the camouflage suit into the trunk.

Kain whistled. "Nice. What year?"

"1969." Silver responded. "Firebird 400 with a four-speed manual." He checked the skies. "Guess I should put the roof up." He climbed in and then realized that the key was still in his pocket; he almost had to stand up to get it out.

"I could rig up a remote that would start this thing in the winter and let you put the roof up and down from 300 meters away." Kain mentioned

"You have better things to do at the moment." Gold injected. "Silver, you better park that thing in the garage for security."

Silver grunted agreement. Wouldn't want the addition of a couple of pounds of plastic explosives interfering with the performance. He told them to go ahead to the labs and he would meet them there.

Gold used his pass to get them into the lab building. Halfway down the hall he stopped in front of a solid steel door.

"This is Joel's workshop. It's a high security area since you could print money on his equipment. Although everybody has had their background checked, we've found that it's best not to tempt the staff too much." He swiped his pass to open the door and held it for Algorath to enter.

Kain took two steps and froze. The Chief of staff bumped into him as his eyes were also fixed on what Algorath had seen.

In the centre of the room, with its back to them, stood a creature, some sort of primate. It was hard to tell because it was wearing what looked like body armour. The creature was twisting and jerking, waving its arms in all directions, but that is not what caused them to stop. Mounted on the wall above the creature was the largest display screen that Kain had ever seen indoors, and on the screen was a fantasy suitable for the Marquis de Sade.

Rendered in full-colour 3-D on the screen was a dungeon scene. Along the back wall of the dungeon was a rack of evil looking devices. In the middle of the dungeon stood a Ring-Tailed Lemur dressed in a schoolgirl's uniform; Kain couldn't tell if it was male or female. The Lemur wore a blindfold and held out its paws, which were tied at the wrists. To the right of the Lemur there was a large red Dragoness, to the left a Mare, a Clydesdale from the size. The females were twice the size of the Lemur. Both wore heels, garter-belts and stockings, and black leather half-corsets that exposed their enormous breasts. They each had a whip.

"Now are you ready to submit slave?" The Mare demanded, cracking her whip for emphasis.

"Please no." The Lemur begged. I'm still a virgin, don't!"

The horse raised the whip and brought it down with a snap of her wrist. The uniform skirt was flicked away. Again the whip cracked and the schoolgirl blouse was torn asunder. The Lemur was terrified, but untouched. It was obvious that it was a male now, although a Lemur of such proportions had never existed ... hopefully.

"The tail should offset the weight of that, I should think." Gold whispered into Kain's ear. Was that envy in his voice? Kain took a step to one side, away from the Chief of Staff.

On the screen, the Mare was down on her knees fondling the Lemur's prick into hardness. The creature in the lab controlling the action waved one arm and the view zoomed in for a close up of her lips on the stiffening cock. Kain noticed that there were rings on it similar to those on the tail. As it rose, impossibly long and thick, the mare smiled and turned around, exposing her glistening vagina. The Lemur avatar sniffed and twitched, twisting about as he sought the source of the alluring aroma. The Dragoness took his shoulders and aimed him toward the waiting Mare. The knob of his cock touched the opening, he gasped and the Dragoness shoved his ass hard, forcing the full length of his shaft into her partner's moist cavern.

"Oh God, no!" the Lemur cried. "I can't do this! I promised to remain chaste until taking my vows!" However, his hips had already started to move back and forth on their own.

"It's too late slave." The Dragoness chuckled. "You will be damned forever now."

"My God will forgive me for being forced to do this," The Lemur said bravely. "Even for enjoying it a bit ... maybe more than a bit ... okay, this is great." Down on the floor of the lab the creature in the strange suit was bucking his hips back and forth in time with the Lemur on the screen. He waved an arm and the point of view focused on the entrance to the Mare's vagina. The ringed penis slid in, the ridge underneath and the veins that crisscrossed it bumping along her clit. When it pulled out the inner lips of her sex were pulled back with it, to be driven back inside with the next stroke.

The view zoomed out as the Dragoness walked to the back wall of the dungeon and selected an artefact. Moving back behind the Lemur, she held what looked like a leather goalie's jock, but something was protruding from it, a black pole as long and thick as the Lemur's penis.

She rubbed the pole between her legs and it came back shiny with moisture. Raising first one leg then the other she stepped into the straps that hung from it. A quick tug or two and the jock-like plate was seated over her groin, the gleaming pole pointing up and out, toward the Lemur's backside.

The Lemur, unaware, perhaps, of what was going on behind him, was bucking against the Mare and praying for forgiveness at the same time. He slowed when the Dragoness raised his tail.

"What the ..."

He stopped completely in mid-stroke when he felt the tip of the pole against his tailhole.

"Oh no! Not that! Please, I don't even touch myself there!"

"Beg me not to."

"Nooo! Don't make me! I'm afraid!"

"Afraid of what?" The Dragoness demanded.

"Yeah, afraid of what?" Gold mumbled.

"Afraid that ... that ...that I might like it too." The Lemur wailed.

"Take this bitch." And with that the Dragoness drove the pole into him. Both the creature in the suit and the animated Lemur went up on their toes as a drawn-out sign filled the room.

"Uh, Sir?" Kain leaned in to the Chief of Staff. "Silver should be here any minute."

"What? Oh, yes. Sorry, just uh, contemplating the ramifications, I mean the implications, of this technology."

Gold walked up behind the creature and tapped it on the shoulder. "Joel?"

Its head swivelled around "What the fu ... funny to see you this time of night Chief." One paw tapped at a series of buttons on the opposite wrist and the screen went blank. "What can I do for you?"

"Is this what I authorized all that equipment for?"

"I was just, umm, testing it." Joel took the interactive helmet off. "The suit came in today and I thought I would give it a good workout."

"Joel, Joel, Joel." Gold shook his head. "What if the auditors from the Treasury Board found out about this?"

"Uh, that was them, actually, in the dungeon just now." Joel looked down sheepishly. The door behind Kain opened then and Silver stepped inside.

"Has Joel been demonstrating the graphics capability for you?" Silver asked. "Think it will do?"

"Oh, yes. He was able to handle anything they threw into him ... at him." Gold answered.

"Good. You ready Kain?"

"Give me a second to get set up here." Algorath sat down at the workstation and began tapping at the keyboard, watching the small screen on the desk. Silver saw what looked like a horse and a dragon fighting over a limp monkey disappear to be replaced by rapidly scrolling lines of text. Gold and Joel wandered off to a corner deep in discussion.

"Hey," Kain sat up, "it looks like he's there."

"Where?"

"In this section of Tilia World." Kain pointed to some lines of text. "He's writing to a folder called 'Silver_Hit_Notes', to a file with today's date.

"Can you copy that folder, and any others you find?" Silver asked.

"Not from here. This stream only describes the activity. I'd have to get in the same virtual room and try to intercept his communication stream." Kain turned to Silver. "I have something in my bag that may be able to do that, but I'll need two things from you."

"What do you need?"

"Administrative permission to install new hardware and software on this computer and someone to occupy an avatar in the virtual space."

Silver thought fast. There was a big risk to letting someone who they had not cleared yet have full access to one of their most secure workstations, but the system was backed up regularly and could be restored if necessary.

"Why don't you drive the Avatar yourself?" He asked, indicating the suit that Joel had hung up nearby.

"Because he'll probably run when he sees us. In Tilia World it will look like he's gone through a door but if you try to follow the doorway will be blank or the next room will be empty, a dead end. I need to stay here on the keyboard to monitor the stream and keep the doors open for you. You need to get close enough to him to shoot him."

"Shoot him?" Silver shouted incredulously. "You want me to shoot a 3-D rendering? What good will killing his avatar do?" Joel and the Chief of Staff wandered back to see what the fuss was about.

"It won't kill it, or him." Kain tried to explain. "I designed this program to use in these virtual worlds, see? It's a worm that seeks out certain files and transfers them from the communications stream to the graphics stream, where I can copy them. It was supposed to be for fun so I made it look like a pistol over there, so others could see me coming and have a chance to duck." Algorath reddened but continued. "If you hit the other's avatar the data stream will cross over and any temporary files or backups that are in the buffers will be transferred."

"So you can copy them on the console."

"Not quite." Kain's face turned a darker shade of red. "You have to scoop them up with your avatar's free hand as you chase them. It was supposed to be, like, a game." His voice trailed off. "I can change that latter but it's all I have right now."

Silver looked at Algorath with one brow up and one down. He looked at Joel and raised both inquisitively.

"Should work, in theory." Joel answered. "I'll enter the administrator's code."

"Don't bother." Kain waved him off. "I cracked it already. I was just waiting for permission to enter it."

"That can't be!" Joel protested. "I've got 32-bit encryption on those files! I couldn't even crack it if I forgot the 25-digit password."

"Script kiddie." Kain muttered as his paws flew over the keyboard. He dipped into his bag, brought out a grey box about the size of a paperback and plugged it into one of the computer's USB ports.

Meanwhile, Joel helped Silver don the suit that would mimic his movements in the avatar, giving him a quick lesson on the controls at the same time.

"You can change the screen view with these controls here Silver." Joel showed him. "The screen camera follows the avatar unless you change it; the helmet automatically gives you the avatar's point of view."

"What's this thing for in the pants?" Silver asked Joel, pointing at a cluster of tubes and wires. "Looks like some sort of medical device, or a milking machine."

Joel took the pants away from Silver. "That's uh, not part of the suit ... it's my personal property. I'm sure you won't need it."

Silver shrugged and continued dressing. "Ready" he announced.

The big screen lit up again, this time showing a 3-D model street scene. Several creatures, some fairly normal, some mythical, strode by. A pure white Arctic Fox, larger even than the Chief of Staff if Silver had the scale correct, was standing in the centre of the street with its back to them, naked. None of the other citizens of the 3-D world seemed to notice.

The Fox on the screen looked left then right. It looked up then down. It stared at something down in front of it.

"Algorath. I appear to be naked."

"Sorry, had to pull my avatar out of memory and I forgot that I had left it that way."

"And what is this ... appendage you have equipped yourself with, and why does it have rings on it?"

"Just something I found hanging around." Joel flashed Kain a dirty look.

"I've seen bigger." Both Gold and Joel's ears perked up.

"Where?" They asked simultaneously. Silver ignored them. Clothes appeared on the white Fox. A western-style six-shooter appeared in his paw. A glowing red arrow appeared on the screen, pointing to the door of a building advertising itself as a casino, although the posters seemed to concentrate on the female companionship available inside.

"He's inside there." Kain told Silver. "Just follow the arrows and be ready to shoot.

Silver moved his legs and the white Fox moved to the door. On entering the red arrow moved to a door at the far end of the foyer, one guarded by a large Rhinoceros. As Silver approached the second door the Rhino moved to intercept.

"Hold out your left paw and say 'Bondo'." Kain advised.

Silver complied without question. A white substance issued from the avatar's paw, hardening as it coated the bouncer. Silver stepped around him and entered the door. He followed the arrow down the interior hall to the end. What appeared to be a solid-steel door with a keypad barred his way.

"Hang on a second." Kain's paws tapped busily and the door opened an inch with a loud 'click'.

Silver entered. A large and ferocious-looking Tiger was hunched over a simulated computer at a desk nearby. It looked up, startled. Seeing the stranger it immediately picked up the computer monitor, threw it at the intruder, and tumbled backwards toward a second door. Silver ducked and fired simultaneously. The projectile entered the Tiger's thigh as it rolled away and several sheets of paper appeared on the floor where it had been.

"Grab them!" Kain urged. Silver bent, but the avatar came up short. He straightened, moved his feet to get closer and bent again. This time he was able to reach them.

"Damn," he swore, the Tiger had disappeared.

"Go through the door, I can't hold it much longer." Silver could hear the tension in Algorath's voice.

Silver ran to the door and into another room. The red arrow was pointing to a window that stood open. He made a diving pose and the avatar leapt through. Instead of outside he found himself in a long corridor lined with doors. The Tiger was far ahead, but Silver was catching up. The Tiger turned ninety degrees for one of the doors but hit the jamb. It backed up a pace and tried again, getting through this time but losing more ground. Silver wondered why the Stalker wasn't able to control his avatar better than this. He caught up to the Tiger as it rushed through the next doorway, hitting it in the back with a well-aimed shoot. More papers appeared.

"How many shoots does this thing have?" He shouted at Algorath, forgetting that he was right beside him in the lab.

"Unlimited. It's like a movie six-shooter." Kain shouted back, caught up in the action.

"Why is he moving so jerkily? I thought that he practically lived in the simulated world?" Silver asked as he caught sight of the Tiger moving across a large room by turning in sharp angles. He fired but the Tiger changed direction at the same time and the projectile sailed past harmlessly.

"He must be using a keyboard on a remote access." Kain responded. "He's heading for that middle door."

Silver stopped running and the white Fox gripped the pistol with both paws. He fired several rounds at the Tiger, not stopping until it had disappeared. A pile of papers stood in the doorway. He moved forward and scooped them up as he passed.

On the other side of the door he was confronted with a room full of Tigers. It resembled a ballroom and a banner at the far end advertised 'Tigercon 08'. He scanned the room looking for a running Tiger or other suspicious activity but saw none.

"Hey buddy," a high-pitched nasal voice came from behind him, "only Tigers are welcome here."

The view on the screen swivelled to show a large Tiger in battle gear bearing down on the white Fox.

"Bondo" Silver turned back to the room ignoring the muffled curses behind him. The other Tigers gave him a wide berth. He recognized the Tiger he sought sitting at one of the large round tables. He brought the gun up and approached cautiously. The Tiger didn't move. Silver poked it with the gun and it fell over out of the chair, empty and lifeless.

* * * * * * * *

Ophelia closed her laptop and put in back in her trunk. She turned out the desk lamp, lay down in her bed, and wondered what the hell was happening to her. She never would have made a mistake like she did on the rappelling tower before, never would have considered flirting with a Fox, let alone trying to seduce one, before tonight. Her compass was askew, as her father would have said.

The stress was taking its toll on her. The physical demands of the course, the lack of sleep, the constant need to be alert and ready for any challenge they threw at them. The students were approaching a crucial point in the course, where those without the physical stamina or the mental vigour to make it through usually collapsed. Added to that was the stress of trying to remain calm when Knight and his cronies taunted her, of playing it cool, especially when Silver was there. She couldn't risk doing anything that would get her kicked out before her mission was accomplished.

Great pressure can change coal into diamonds, or shatter them. She was susceptible to emotional swings and suggestion now. A trained interrogator could not have softened her up better. She thought about love.

She had loved her father. He had taught her all of his combat skills, how to fight, how to shoot, how to swim, how to survive ... how to have fun. He had disappeared while on a mission so secret that she and her mother didn't know what continent her father's body was buried in, or even if it was buried. Her mother tried to make up for the loss but Ophelia could tell that she was affected by it too.

She concentrated on her studies in biotechnology, entering university before her seventeenth birthday. Her mother, a navy Pharmacist, kept up the survival training and coached her in chemistry and biology, but there was a hole in both their lives. After graduating early from Norfolk State University, she married someone that reminded her of her father; an outgoing, popular and athletic Panther two years older than her that she met in her senior year.

It was a mistake. Immediately after saying 'I do' he had convinced her, and her mother, to pool their assets with his and put them in an account under his control. She should have been suspicious when his contribution didn't amount to anything. Once he had control over her savings, her mother's assets and her father's pension he changed completely. Oh, he was still outgoing and popular, just without her. She was expected to work, clean, fuck and shut up. She decided to divorce him after less than a year.

Unfortunately, his financial control was ironclad. When she told him of her plans he just laughed and slapped her around, threatening to put her mother out on the street, penniless. Although she could have easily broken his neck that night she had held back. She had another plan.

She studied his habits, biding her time. She still had her father's personal weapons in the basement, but that would have been too obvious. Her work in the biotech industry gave her access to all sorts of new and exotic compounds however; some they had not developed tests for yet. Shortly before their second anniversary her husband died in a downtown massage parlour shortly after soiling the fur of a female Siamese just recently in from Bangkok.

As was routine in cases like this the police investigated the spouse. It might have ended quickly and quietly if her attempts to divorce him the year before had not come to light. Her knowledge of biochemistry, her access to exotic compounds, her weapons training, it all looked very bad against the odds of a perfectly healthy 25-year old panther dropping dead for no known reason.

She survived the investigation, but at a great cost. From the onset the tabloids had a field day with the story; daughter of a missing Special Forces operative, bruised and bloody pictures of her filched from the hospital's files, mother's fortune stolen by abusive husband, revenge killing. With no physical evidence and not even a trace of foreign substance found in her husband's body, but plenty of evidence of domestic abuse, the prosecutor had decided to drop the unpopular case. It was her mother who suffered the most from the stories, from the unspoken truth that they held.

Her mother started to fade away long before the first signs of cancer appeared. Within a year, she was gone.

Ophelia had to leave Virginia, but not before visiting a few old family friends, people who might know what had happened to her father. She moved north, to Canada where no one knew her. There she settled in, doing contract work for security firms, sometimes for the Canadian government itself, while she perfected her killing skills.

Now, for the first time since leaving the States five years ago she was beginning to doubt her chosen path.

She had thought of herself as cold and determined, but the stress and abuse at the hands of Knight and the like had brought forth an anger that she had long suppressed. Its resurgence only served to highlight the absence she first felt when her father died, a hole that widened and deepened on the death of her mother. She was open and vulnerable, and the hole longed to be filled. Dreams of love had come unbidden in the night, tender dreams where her father cuddled her again and her mother smiled, erotic dreams where she danced naked in the moonlight with a faceless male of indeterminate species. Lately the erotic dreams were coming more often than the tender ones, and the creature she danced with was becoming distinctly fox-like.

Maybe that was why she almost let herself go with Kain tonight, she thought. He had been the only friendly face she had encountered here, the only person that had reached out to her for years. It made sense to want to sleep with him; but after Silver had saved her from a fall and then treated her like her father would have her sense of paternal love and sexual attraction were all mixed up.

She lay awake, afraid to sleep, afraid to dream those dreams again, afraid that the face of the creature conjured by her desire would be Silver's; the fox she had come here to kill.

* * * * * * * *

Silver spent the night pouring over the evidence with Bill Hanlan. Rusty concluded his examination of the exotic rifle and left around dawn. Gold had gone to bed in his suite on the Academy grounds after the episode in the lab to allow his wounds to heal. Silver had sent Algorath back to his dorm with orders to keep himself available. Notice had gone out to the senior student that classes were cancelled until further notice.

Hanlan's analysts had examined the data captured while chasing the Stalker in minute detail, but could find no obvious leads. Most of the notes dealt with descriptions and the habits of the key staff, the observations that the Stalker must be collecting as he formulated his plan, Silver supposed. They held nothing in the way of intelligence, but served as a warning that they should avoid the routine. Silver found the lack of personal information about him reassuring; the Stalker wasn't so close as to know his hobbies or social routine.

The remainder dealt with ideas for assignation methods. A description of the double-barrelled rifle was found amongst these. The specifications for a capacitor large enough to deliver a lethal shock in a 27,000-gallon pool were there also. An entire file dealing with supersaturated solutions of salt, gelatin and Sodium Acetate was found, with a note dismissing them as impractical.

Put it all together however, Silver mused, and they added up to not much of fuck all.

"What does this leave us with Professor?" He asked Hanlan, throwing the last of the papers on the table between them.

"Nowhere Silver. We're no farther ahead than we were before, although Hirt's been eliminated as a suspect."

Silver winced at the unintentional pun. "Could he have been the intended target? I didn't see anything in the Stalker's notes about hitting the wrong guy?"

"Could have been, sure." Hanlan replied with a shrug. "If Algorath was right about the bug still working the Stalker could have overheard his plans for the background checks. Maybe he told Hirt something in an interview that wouldn't hold up and had to eliminate him. What happens now?"

"Gold will have to deal with the RCMP today. Even though Hirt wasn't their favourite son, they'll take his loss personally. They'll probably demand that we be shut down until they conclude their investigation, and that could take years; effectively it would be the end of FOX. We need to find this Stalker before that happens." Silver ran a paw across his head, starting to feel the fatigue. "I'm going out for a few hours. Gold will know where I am."

Before he left he checked his Glock, unloading it and dry firing to verify the action. He reloaded with a fresh magazine and made certain that his spares were full also. Stopping by his office, he opened his safe and pulled out a snub-nosed .44 magnum and a wicked looking switchblade. He strapped a weapon on each ankle.

The sun was just about to show and he had no problem following the trail that led from the rear of the lounge through the woods to the Gazebo by the pond. Once there he removed his shirt and jacket, exposing the old criss-crossed scars to the rising sun. Adjusting the Glock in its holster, he bent and started pulling weeds from around the structure.

When he was finished with the weeds he moved down to where the wheelbarrow rested. Taking the old shovel out and putting it aside he filled the barrow with rocks that he had collected on previous visits and rolled it up to the section of wall he was currently working on. He examined each rock carefully before fitting it into the wall, adjusting some, rejecting others for now. When he had created an enclosure he rolled the barrow down to where he had stacked a number of bags of compost and soil and slit open one of each, mixing them in the wheelbarrow with the shovel. When he turned to head back and pour the mixture into the enclosure, he sensed a presence above.

He stood still, paws still on the handles of the barrow but every muscle tensed and ready to leap into action. His eyes scanned the garden from right to left, opposite the normal reading pattern of left to right; this kept them from jumping ahead and missing something. Someone was inside the gazebo, standing with their back to Silver.

He eased the wheelbarrow back down on its legs and knelt. Gripping the .44 magnum in his left paw, he stood and walked toward the gazebo. The figure inside was large, and had an exceptionally broad back, with ridges down the middle. As he stepped into the shadow and his eyes adjusted, he recognized the uniform of the Academy ground keeping staff. It was the Turtle hired under the special designation program, watching the sunrise.

"This is a beautiful place. The sun lights up the pond and the garden when it rises." The Turtle's voice was flat and emotionless, almost factual. He didn't turn to look at Silver as he spoke.

Standing directly behind the Turtle now, gun ready and close enough to blow a very large hole through the ground keeper, shell or no shell, Silver answered, "You should see it at sunset."

"I have. Last night. It was beautiful. This is a beautiful place." The Turtle turned to face Silver now. "You are very lucky to have it."

Silver began to feel a little self conscious, standing there with his shirt off holding a paw cannon in front of a stranger.

"Did you build this all yourself?" The turtle asked innocently. "It is a lot of work. My job is to tend the flowers around the buildings. If you ask my boss, he could let me help you. I could plant the flowers and water them for you." He sounded hopeful.

"I prefer to do the work myself." Silver hadn't meant to sound abrupt, but the hurt expression on the Turtles face told him that he had. He added hastily, "But you can come and sit here and watch the sun set sometimes if you like. I'd just prefer to be alone when I work."

The Turtle smiled a little. "I understand. I like to work alone. It's peaceful, like this place."

"Yes. Well, you must have to report for work soon." Silver realized that he had no idea when the outside staff started their day.

"Oh yes. Thank you for reminding me. Good bye." The Turtle shuffled off up the trail toward the Academy. Silver waited until he couldn't hear its movements anymore and reached for his shirt. The mood was broken and he wouldn't find peace working on the garden today.

He stopped by his suite and cleaned up, changing his clothes. After a quick bite at the cafeteria, he went back to the Headquarters. The Firebird he had been assigned was parked out front, but he hadn't asked for it to be brought over. He went into the Operations Centre. There he found a rested Gold and a sleepy Bill Hanlan, going over the situation one more time before Gold left to appear before the Minister to argue his case.

"Morning Silver." Tanner greeted his old friend. "How's the garden?"

"Occupied. That new fellow in ground keeping, the Turtle, Dubois? He was there watching the sunrise. Did Hirt ever clear him?"

"I don't know; Hirt wasn't big on sharing. We'll have to start all over again. Who do we still have to do, Hanlan?"

"Most of the students have been done except Algorath and Sommer, but Silver said that he could vouch for Sommer." Gold gave him a quizzical look and Silver indicated that he would tell him about it later, alone. "Then there are the three new employees, the Ground Keeper Dubois, the Stationary Engineer Miss Turnbill and the Dispatcher, McPhee."

"How are groundhogs at swimming?"

"Generally lousy, I checked, but with the proper training, who knows?" Hanlan answered. "Shouldn't we eliminate Algorath as a suspect? He was with you when you were chasing the Stalker through Tilia World, wasn't he?"

"I've been thinking about that." Silver said. "Algorath conveniently finds the Stalker right away, but we only have his word that the tiger we were chasing was really the Stalker. Even if it was the Stalker's avatar Algorath could have been controlling it while pretending to hack the route he was using. It looked like we were getting a lot of material but it all turns out to be inconsequential, then the Stalker simply disappears. Its suspicious."

"You are paranoid Silver." Tanner noted.

"Thank you, can you put that on my annual evaluation?"

"The material might not be inconsequential Silver." Hanlan pointed out. "We've only analyzed the text version so far. There could be layers of data hidden amongst it. We need to send it to the experts for a thorough examination."

Silver thought for a moment. "Lets try something. Get Algorath in here and have him check it out; he's supposed to be the best. Send another copy to our people and compare the results. If Algorath is straight we'll get valuable information quicker, if he's bent we'll know as soon as the analysis gets back."

"I'll send for him before I leave for the Hill." Gold went to an isolated phone and made the call then left the Ops Centre.

While they waited, the Professor brought Silver up to date.

"So the last message we received from Aleksy in Odessa was that they had a positive ID on the Werewolf. They've been playing for a few hours now. He promised to update us again when they took a break."

"Good. Even if we don't get any more we can take that bastard out." Silver's eyes arrowed in anticipation of that. "I'm going to call the garage, find out what's up with my car." He moved to the phone and dialled.

"Garage." The familiar voice of Gus the retiring Dispatcher came through.

"Gus, Silver. Did you bring my car over to the Headquarters this morning?"

"No, the new Dispatcher, that Beaver McPhee must have. I found a note here on the desk saying that Gold wanted both his and your cars over there because he had to go downtown and you would need yours to check out some group home. The keys are at the guard post."

"Right." Gold must have assumed that Silver would take the initiative and follow up on Hirt's investigation, Silver thought. "Thanks Gus, catch you later."

"Hey Silver." Gus added before he could hang up. "If you see that lazy beaver send him back over okay? This is supposed to be my last day!"

"Sure thing Gus. Later." Silver went back to the table.

The door to the Ops Centre opened a few minutes later and the guard escorted Algorath over to join them. Hanlan explained what he wanted Kain to do. Silver watched him out of the corner of his eye as he set to examining the data. A true professional himself, Silver could tell another when he saw one, no matter what their field, and Algorath was proficient, if nothing else.

Silver shook his head. 22 years old and already acknowledged as one of the world-leading experts in his field, and here he was, already discontent, trying to become a secret agent. At 22 Silver had been in the Army for five years, had been shot once and had killed for his country, and for himself. He was already well on his way to becoming an alcoholic then. He wondered where he would be today if the opportunity to join FOX had not come along.

An hour passed. Algorath Claimed that there was no additional data hidden amongst the files they already had, but there were some loose words, probably bits of lost strings.

"What are they?" Silver asked.

"Let's see, 'chapter', 'Genesis' with a capitol 'Gee' and 'three'."

"Genesis Chapter Three, the confrontation in Eden." Hanlan said wearily, half asleep.

"Hmm." Silver didn't bother asking how Hanlan had known that. The 'Professor' could tell you why fire engines were red in ten thousand words or more. He made a mental note to look up the reference.

"I have to go downtown, you need a ride home Hanlan?" Silver offered.

"No, I'm going to sleep here. I'll call my wife. Thanks anyway." Hanlan didn't even raise his head from the table to answer.

"Can I go with you?" Algorath asked hopefully.

"Why."

"There's no classes today. Maybe I could run some data for you. My laptop can access the net from anywhere south of the Arctic, if you give it back to me that is."

Silver looked at the young Fox for a moment and decided that it may well be better to keep an eye on him for now.

"Okay, you can come. But I hold onto the laptop until we need it."

"Deal." Algorath's ears perked up. "Let me go get the car started for you." He was halfway out the door before Silver could say, "Okay, the keys are at the guard post." Silver acknowledged the possibility that he might have been that young and enthusiastic once.

As he packed the laptop and rechecked the address of the group home, the phone across the room rang. It was the outside line and the duty officer answered it. Within seconds, he stiffened, and the sudden change caught Silver's attention. The DO waved him over to the phone and held it out for him for take.

Silver put the phone to his ear and said his name.

"Silver! This is Gus. I just found the body of that Beaver, the new Dispatcher, under W's Rolls! He's been ripped open, clawed from balls to brisket. He's dead Silver. Silver?"

Silver had already dropped the phone and was running out of the Ops Centre and down the hall. As he burst through the security doors into the lobby, he screamed at the guards, "STOP HIM." But he was too late, Algorath had already left the building.

Halfway across the lobby, the world outside was filled with a blinding white light and Silver dove to the ground, throwing his arms across his head. The light was followed by a roar and an instant later the doors blew in, spreading safety glass like confetti. Silver felt the beads of glass bounce off his arms and back and the wave of heat that accompanied them. After a few seconds, that seemed to take hours to pass, the air grew still and silent except for the crackling of distant flames.

Silver raised his head cautiously. Glass and metal were strewn about the room. The guards, all ex-military, had also gone for cover when he shouted and were now starting to emerge. Outside he could see a fiery ball that roughly conformed to the shape of his car. Something with a familiar shape was on the floor just in front of his nose. He refocused.

A pair of rimless glasses, cracked and blistered from the heat, lay a centimetre from the tip of his snout ... Algorath's glasses.