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Counter Earth Chronicles

Chapter 22: Lea's Confession

Day 89 continued

"Alex? Alex?" Tauren said tapping me on my shoulder.

"Morning Tauren how are you?" I responded in a daze.

"More importantly how are you?" The minotaur countered seeing that I was preoccupied.

I didn't respond, I just handed him the pad that contained the note my mistress had given me to give to him.

"Ah yes." He responded "Ursa did contact me yesterday saying that she may have to leave you with us while on some assignments in the future. I just didn't think it would be this soon." Tauren responded while reading the note.

I heard what Tauren had said, but I was preoccupied concerned about my mistress, what she would encounter on her most dire of missions and whether she would come back safely.

"Come on in, we were just settling down to breakfast." The he beast said to me.

I was snapped out of my daze by his statement. Since my arrival on Counter Earth Tauren and I had become very good friends- but I had never met his family until today. Nor did he ever mention them in any of our conversations. Not that he was afraid to talk about them or ashamed of them- it just never came up.

"Lurie, Sorren could you come here? There is someone I would like you to meet!" Tauren said as I followed him into his lair to meet what I thought would be his mate and calves.

Like my mistress, Tauren and his family lived in a three level domicile in Castle Wundagore a townhouse for all intents and purposes. The floor plan was the reverse of Lady Ursa's and it was nicely decorated- a sectional sofa in the great room, accented rug and high table in the kitchen and tan neutral colors on the walls complemented by artwork. Odd though there weren't any youngling's toys lying around.

The one Tauren called Lurie entered the great room from the staircase on the second floor.

"Sure love, what's up?"

A beautiful female coyote descended the staircase- she was about 5 and half feet tall with tan fur, orange eyes, big canine ears and thin yet athletic build. Her demeanor seemed quite pleasant until she saw me.

"What is THAT doing in here?!" She asked aghast.

(That's right, my mistress did say Tauren had a girlfriend who was a coyote. I also seemed to recall she said the female was very nice. Well maybe not that nice.)

"This is my friend Alex I told you about." Tauren said calming her.

"You didn't say he was one of them!"

"Honey, be nice. Alex is shy but a very kind person..." Tauren started to say but was interrupted by Sorren.

I was suddenly grabbed from behind and squeezed.

"AW, he is so soft and squishy! Can we keep him?"

I looked up to see a red anthropomorphic dragon starring down at me. He was slightly taller than the female coyote but slightly smaller than Tauren. His face was quite angular looking with a pointed snout, yellow eyes and short horns on his head and slight build on his frame. But no wings. In a certain light he almost looked demonic.

"Help?" I squeaked.

"Alex!" Tauren countered. "He is harmless. Well, most of the time."

"Except for the last time he tried to cook dinner." Luire countered- "The grill wasn't working so he tried to light it himself and nearly torched the kitchen instead."

I looked up at the male dragon. "Are you a fire breathing dragon?" I asked as the creature started to snuggle me.

"Would you like me to breath fire?" He asked.

Tauren and Lurie gave the dragon such a look as to silently imply don't you dare.

"Say, I thought all dragons had wings?"

"Shh! He is quite sensitive about that." The coyote female said reprimanding me .

"Anyway Alex, the 'yote girl on the staircase is my girlfriend Lurie." The minotaur said.

"Nice to meet you." I said to the suspicious female canine.

"....and the overly affectionate dragon is my boyfriend Sorren." Tauren said.

"WHOA!! WOW!! Err, nice to meet you too big guy." I stammered.

Sorren stopped hugging me and started sniffing me- all over my body.

"Hmm.... heterosexual, we will have to do something about that...."

"SORREN!" Tauren and Lurie said in unison.

I was taken aback by what I had just experienced. I knew my friend Tauren liked females and males- but he has a freaking' triad?! Talk about the best of both worlds! Whoa! Damn! I guess you don't know somebody until YOU KNOW SOMEBODY.

(On the other hand, they must love each other very much.)

I was snapped back to reality by the coyote girl:

"Well, at the very least he better be house broken!"

"Lurie he is, now be kind, can't you see that he is depressed and he looks quite worried too." Sorren said.

"His master is on assignment and he will be staying with us for the next few days so I want everyone to look after him." Tauren said. "Speaking of which let's settle down to breakfast it looks like you haven't eaten yet Alex."

Over breakfast Tauren recounted to his lovers how he and I had met over three months ago and the special arrangement he had made with Lady Ursa to take care of me during her absence. Lurie and Sorren were intrigued.

"Sounds like you have had a very rough life Alex." The dragon said gently.

"You could say that. It has gotten immensely better since I emigrated here. Lady Ursa has given me a home, love, affection and a stable existence for the most part." I said to the dragon.

"By the way, how are your studies progressing?" Tauren asked.

"Actually due to some of the missions I have been assisting the knights on, I have fallen behind. I spent last week catching up, but missed my instruction yesterday because I was with the knights again. I guess today or tomorrow I will have to visit professor Love to catch up on my studies." I said meekly.

"Make that today." Tauren said sternly. Lurie and Sorren looked at the bull weirdly.

"Hey, just because his master is away and he is living with us, doesn't mean he gets to goof off. All of us are responsible for his well being while he is under our roof." Tauren said to his lovers. They nodded in agreement. "Also he has a appointment with his healer this morning to attend to his 'wounds' from his last assignment."

"Hey 'yote girl you're off today. Why don't you take him?" Sorren suggested.

"I guess that would be acceptable." Lurie replied.

"You will have to forgive her." Sorren said to me. "She doesn't trust humans too much with everything that has been going on here at the castle. But once she OPENS up to you, you will find that she is a lovely person- very kind and very, very warm."

"SORREN!!" The others said again in unison.

After meeting Tauren's lovers, I decided I liked Sorren from the very start. He may have look demonic but he was goofy, very goofy.

Lurie seemed to not like me from the start, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and just be myself. Tauren and Sorren loved her, so she couldn't be that bad.

Everyone finished breakfast and soon headed off to work leaving me with Lurie who had the day off. As the others departed she sat with me on the sofa and looked over the to do list that my mistress had left in the note.

"That doesn't seem hard." She said- "I just have to take you to your healer to have your shots and then take you to see professor Love. That doesn't sound so bad."

"Uh who is my designated healer?" I asked the coyote.

"Looks like Ursa chose that lion girl Lea."

(Helloooo nurse!!!!)

"Yeah she gave me my first physical when I arrived here. That is a good choice." I told the coyote girl.

"Leave your bag there by the table. We will take care of the living arrangements later." Lurie ordered me.

"Yes ma'am." I responded.

I followed Lurie through the corridors of Castle Wundagore. By then it was a around 9 AM and the castle was coming to life with daily activity. We made our way over to Room B in the science wing to see if we could track down Lea. Hopefully she could sneak me in between her other duties and appointments.

"Lurie could I ask you a question?" I said as I followed the 'yote girl down the hallways of Castle Wundagore.

"What is it?"

"I know Tauren works in the holding area of the castle. What do you and Sorren do?"

"I work in engineering and maintenance here in the castle. I help keep the castle running efficiently. Sorren works in food services at the cafeteria."

"Yes. I do remember seeing him there my second day on this world." I said meekly.

"He works behind the scenes. He is one of the cooks there and one pretty good one to boot." The coyote said to me.

"I can't wait to taste his cooking. But then again I probably already have."

When we arrived at Room B, Lurie knocked on the door. Receiving no answer we decided to go in. Lea was there in the room, but for whatever reason did not hear us knock.

"So how is my favorite leonine lab technician?" I started to say as I entered the room. Lea turned to me with shock in her eyes. She was standing at a lab terminal off to my right as I had entered the lab conversing with someone remotely. The individual on the view screen she had been talking to was human! After she realized some one had entered the lab, she abruptly terminated conversation and the link.

"Hi Alex, Lurie." She said after getting over the initial shock. "How is Ursa's favorite pet this morning?"

"Recovering from several dog bites." I said. "After encountering the Bandit Trio and their dog whom hadn't had his shots. My mistress said to see you for a a rabies shot- just in case."

"I can help you with that." Lea said. "Here lie face down on this table- I want to give you a quick look over."

As ordered I laid on the lab bench as if I was preparing for sleep. Lea placed what looked like a scanner over my back and studied my spine, shoulders, back, neck, head, legs and arms.

"Yes, I see where the dog bit you. It looks like it is healing, but let's make sure."

Lurie watched curiously.

Now relax Alex I am going to apply some gel that will alleviate the residual pain in your arms from the dog bites."

Gently and deftly the leonine female administered the gel in gentle circular rubbing motions on both my arms. In effect it was a gentle massage I was receiving from this sexy lioness in the white lab coat.

Lea still was a hot looking female even for a she-beast. If I was a lion, I would so bust that body of hers. I guess that also meant I would have no problem selecting her as my primary healer. Why not. After all she has seen me naked. I kinda of wish I could see her naked just once.

"Alex how does that feel?" She asked snapping me back to reality.

"Wonderful. I would have never thought I would have received relief this quickly."

"That should take care of the pain." She said.

"Just like that?" I asked astounded.

"Just like that." She responded. "Now let's take care of the bite marks. Lurie you can help out too. Alex, now stretch out your arms in front of you."

Lea then handed Lurie a cylindrical device with a pointed tip. She then picked up another one of the devices as well.

"Eh what is that?" I asked.

"It is a dermal regenerator- it will erase those bite marks you received and reform your skin." Lea said as she and Lurie started erasing any sign of wounds on either of my arms.

"That is incredible! This would have taken weeks to heal on my world!" I said to the females.

"We are a technologically advanced society..." Lurie said to me. "Now keep still we are almost done.

The females worked on me for about 10 minutes. When they had finished the bite marks and the pain I experienced when I touched them were completely erased only to be replaced by some momentary pain from the next procedure.

"Now there is just one more thing- your shot." Lea said as she put the dermal regenerators away and produced the biggest needle I have ever seen in my life It looked to be about a foot long in length.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked horrified.

"Stick you with it you silly boy!" Came the sexy she beast's response.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Since when does a technologically advanced society use needles?!" I said looking up from the table.

"Some times the old ways are the better ways." Lea countered. "Decisions, decisions- the deltoid or the gluteus?"

"Neither! I think I should go!!" I said trying to get up from the table. Lurie noticed my distress and pinned me.

"You aren't going anywhere Alex- it is for your own good now take it like a man!" The 'yote girl growled at me.

"Oh I remember!" The lion girl said. "It should be in the deltoid muscle- if administered in the gluteus muscles it will not be as effective. Which is a shame- Lurie have you seen him down there? Alex here has quite an adorable, tail-less, hairless rump!"

"Lea!!" I countered. "Whatever happen to healer patient privilege?!"

All too soon I realized that that was a ploy so that I wouldn't see the needle coming.

***POINK!!!!***

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

"Wow, that looked like it hurt!" The 'yote girl exclaimed.

"You have no idea!!!" I said rubbing my aching shoulder.

"Sorry honey these types of shots usually do." Lea countered gently.

"That was quite entertaining to watch!" Lurie responded. "Let's do it again!!"

"Watch it you!" I growled at her. Just then there was a knock on the lab door.

"Looks like the next appointment is here. I will see you later, let me know if the pain returns, she said as Lurie and I departed the room.

"Thanks I think?" I responded as I walked out.

"Are all your visits like this?" Lurie asked.

"Yeah, all of them." I said to the curious lupine.

"I would love to escort you on your next visit..." I gave the 'yote girl such a look when she said that.

On our way out of Room B we saw who was Lea's next appointment for the day- he and two guards nearly ran me and Lurie over.

"Sir Wolf?! How nice to see you!" I started.

"Congratulations on the promotion!" Lurie said.

"Thank you my dear." He said to her.

"What promotion is that?"

"Sir Wolf is now the commander of the Knights of Castle Sevren in World Three." Lurie said to me.

"Wow! I didn't know. Congratulations."

"Alex and Lurie is it- nice to see you too. I am helping out the Junior Knights here while the others are on assignment. I wish that I could talk further, but I am also here on official business."

"What type of official business?" Lurie asked.

"After an internal investigation we discovered a spy who has been passing information to the rebellion and has been the cause of the numerous rebel incursions here and in castle Sevren." The wolf said. "Excuse me."

(It looked like Lady Ursa and Lord Tiger's work behind the scenes to discover the mole was about to see fruition.)

I looked at Lurie. "I wonder who they discovered was the spy?" I said to the coyote female.

We didn't have long to wait. We soon heard a commotion from Room B and entered just in time to Sir Wolf's guards a black wolf and a white wolf apprehend Lea!

"I am sorry Lea, but you are under arrest for spying against the empire and offering assistance and aid to the rebel factions trying to overthrow the High Evolutionary. Take her away!" The wolf ordered.

"What me?! There must be some mistake!! I am a loyal subject of the empire!!" Lea protested as the guards hauled her away.

"Sir Wolf!" I stammered. "There must be some mistake- Lea a spy?! She works for one of the knights- how could she be a spy?"

"I have evidence that transmissions coming from this room have provided information to the rebellion and have compromised castle security." The wolf warrior said coldly. "Miss Lea will be judged and punished for this serious, serious crime. If you would like to visit her she will be in holding at castle Sevren." Sir Wolf said as he departed.

"Lea a spy and traitor? I would have never guessed in a million, million years." Lurie said to me.

"She isn't." I told the coyote female. "I can't accept that. I won't accept that."

"It sounded like Sir Wolf had sound evidence to the contrary. Anyway it is out of our paws. I guess we should go and see professor Love next to get you caught up on your studies...."

"Lurie, that will have to wait. As much as it pains me to say it, I have another mission."

I was tired of missions, risking life and limb for the greater good. Despite my misgivings, I had walked right into another one. Just like my mistress had only hours ago.

"What do you mean mission? Alex, this is my day off!" Lurie protested. I didn't want to do anything today but rest- let alone run errands for a human?!"

I was silent.

Lurie noticed this, thought for a moment and then responded:

"She means a great deal to you doesn't she? Since when does one of you care about one of us?" The coyote asked.

"Lurie let's go somewhere we can talk." I said grabbing her paw. We soon returned to Tauren's lair.

"Alright out with it, why does that lion girl mean so much to you- human?" Lurie asked.

"Because she, like Tauren is a dear, dear friend of mine. I am not sure how much Tauren has told you of my accidental arrival on this world months ago. But both Tauren and Lea became my friends at a time when friends were in very short supply.

My second day on this world I met Lea. Although she was assigned to poke, prod and collect samples from me for her superiors- she explained to me why I had been imprisoned and took the time to explain where I was, why I was there and just what was this new world I wound up on. She also introduced me to Tauren. My impression of her at the time was nothing more than a loyal subject to the empire. If she had been working for the rebellion- why didn't she have them attempt to rescue me?" I asked the inquisitive coyote.

She didn't have an answer.

"Lurie, I know you don't trust humans- but this one desperately needs your help. I have to prove that Lea is innocent of that which she is accused of but there is no way I can do this on my own."

"How and I supposed to help?" The coyote female asked.

"I am still new to Counter Earth and still figuring out your laws and customs. I know on this world Lea is guilty until proven innocent which means she is done for unless we act now; I could use your help getting to castle Sevren to see her and Sir Wolf." I said turning to the skeptical coyote.

Grabbing her paws I looked her right in the eyes:

"Lurie I know you have no reason to trust me- but believe me you can. Your lover is a very good friend of mine. By that extension I feel that you and I will be fast friends as well. Will you help me?"

The coyote female thought for a minute.

"Very well, Alex- but you will be in my debt for some time- I want daily massages and you will have to personally pay me back for my day off I am spending with you." The 'yote girl said to me sternly.

"Yes ma'am." I replied.

"So what is our first move?" She asked me.

"We pay Sir Wolf a visit and determine in detail what Lea is being charged with." I said to the inquisitive coyote. "Then we visit Lea and get her side of the story. By the way how do we get to Castle Sevren?"

"That is a good question." Lurie responded.

"You don't own a vehicle?" I asked the 'yote girl.

"Nope."

"How do you get around?"

"The boys and I usually bum a ride from a friend or take one of the shuttles to one of the cities. I think there is one leaving for the castle this afternoon. But you better check the hub to make sure."

On Counter Earth in home entertainment is provided via the hub, a communications/entertainment device that provides on demand entertainment either prerecorded or realtime on a view-screen. It is also the primary communications device that allows users to reach friends and family over great distances. I only had a rudimentary understanding of the device using the one at my mistress' lair. But during my time with Tauren and his family - I would learn the true capabilities of the device.

I walked to the 50" view screen that was placed on the wall in front of the sectional Lurie was reclining on. I pressed the on button and the device came to life.

"I know that you can watch programming on this- but how can you look find transportation information?"

*Sigh* "You still have a lot to learn little human about our technology." Luire said picking up the remote. She pressed a few buttons and in an instant a menu for scheduling information appeared. When she pressed another button for departure and arrival times from Castle Wundagore the screen turned red and displayed a message- 'System Error'. Lurie then tried to watch local weather information on demand and received the same message.

"It appears you have a lot to learn about your own technology little beastial." I chided.

"It just needs a software upgrade- the coyote said pressing a few buttons on the remote. the screen then turned blue stating software upgrade in progress time of completion is 6:00:00.

"Six hours?! Oh well. I am pretty sure there is one transport leaving around 1PM at the loading docks." The coyote female replied. "But it isn't for several hours. So in the meantime I am going to relax and you little human are going to spoil me rotten. You can start with a sensuous back massage and then make us lunch." Lurie said as she rolled over on to her stomach on the sectional.

"Yes ma'am." I replied as she removed her shirt and motioned me to start rubbing her back. In a certain light she reminded me of my mistress.

That afternoon we caught the shuttle at the loading dock. For some reason, I thought that it would be transporting beastials. But it turned out to be a supply shuttle that ferried supplies between the High Evolutionary's Castles. We hopped in the back with the rest of the containers and boxes and settled in for the ride. It took us an hour to reach Castle Sevren which was located outside World Three.

"While en route I played with my PDA to pass the time, by doing so I discovered a record function on the device I hadn't noticed before. It was most likely used to record personal memos. In my case it would be quite useful for recording interviews.

"Alex, is that the device I heard about?" Lurie asked after observing me.

"What have you heard?" I asked the inquisitive she beast.

"That was the device you used to arrive here on Counter Earth."

"Actually it is. This was the invention that the crackpot professor wanted me to test back on Gaia. This PDA was supposed to allow the user to transport to other planets in the galaxy. But instead it allows or rather did allow its user to transverse realities. That is how I wound up here on Counter Earth."

"Does it still work?" Lurie asked.

"Other functions on it do, but the power source that powers the transporter burned out months ago and no one knows how to replenish it. Otherwise Sir Ram would have kept it for himself." I said.

"So what are the other functions?" The curious canine asked.

"Well the big one is the translator- that is how we are able to communicate right now. By the way do you speak english?" I asked her.

"No." Lurie replied.

"So right now you are speaking to me in Animalian and I am speaking to you in English. The PDA is taking the words that I am speaking to you and resynthesizing them into Animalian but you are hearing it in my own voice as if I was speaking Animalian directly to you. When you speak to me the same process is taking place just in reverse." I said to Lurie.

"That is a fascinating device, can I look it?" The inquisitive canine asked.

"Sure, just please be extremely careful Lurie. If the translator goes down you and I will have a hard time understanding each other- because I haven't started learning Animalian and you don't speak English or Gaian." I said handing the 'yote girl my PDA.

"This is quite a device- what else does it do?"

"It takes atmospheric readings and displays them on the screen and also has the memo function which we are going to use when we see Sir Wolf. It can also stun enemies passively or on demand."

Within the hour we arrived at castle Sevren. Unlike Wundagore, Sevren was not as new and modern- it looked like it had been around since the time the High Evolutionary had come to power or earlier. It had a square-like floor-plan and was constructed entirely of brick with four towers in each corner of the square and a big central tower in the center.

The shuttle dropped us off at the loading dock with the rest of the supplies at the rear of the castle. Lurie guided me down the corridors that looked like they had come directly from a children's fairytale book.

"Interesting decor." I commented to my travel companion. "I still like castle Wundagore's better though- newer and more modern looking."

We soon arrived at the knight's offices and we found Sir Wolf in his having a late lunch. For a proud and honorable warrior of the empire, Sir Wolf's office was quite small. In fact it looked more like a hole in the wall with a desk, bookcase and three chairs. One behind the desk two in front.

"Sir Wolf?" I asked

"Yes, what is it?" He asked. "Alex, Lurie what brings you here?"

"Lurie and I wanted to talk to you about our friend Lea." I said to the honorable knight as we entered his office.

"Yes what about?"

"Sir Wolf exactly how did you determine that Lea was working for the rebellion?" Lurie asked.

"Come in and sit down you two- I see where this is going. You two are conducting your own investigation to try to free your friend. Well, you are welcome to do so. But what I found is quite damning." The wolf warrior said.

"What was that sir?" I asked the new commander of the Knights of Castle Sevren .

"After your mission with Lady Vermin, Alex- you reported that you met your double here on Counter Earth and that he had information about you that no one outside of the four most senior knights and your two friends at Wundagore Castle should have known."

"That is correct Sir Wolf." I responded.

"You relayed that information to Lady Ursa who then notified Lord Tiger. As a result, an internal investigation was opened. I was chosen to lead the investigation because the most serious incursion happened here in this castle. I started the investigation with the four knights, Tauren and Lea. Schedules, routines and individuals these beastials had contacted were observed and investigated. I also cross referenced the dates and times of the rebel incursions at both castle Wundagore and Sevren as well as communications that were made days prior to those rebel incursions. By doing so I was able to rule out Tauren, Lady Ursa, Sir Ram- Junior Knight Ram and recently Lady Vermin and Lord Tiger."

"Last week there was a knight's briefing at Castle Wundagore about the rebels and their so called rebellion. Lord Tiger, Lady Vermin, Lady Ursa were in attendance at that meeting and Lea sat in for Sir Ram who was being demoted.

After that meeting, Lea made several communications from her lab and lair outside of the castle. Lord Tiger, Lady Vermin and Lady Ursa placed none. Nearly twenty four hours ago Lord Tiger and Lady Vermin failed to check in from their assignment and are missing. I analyzed the communications Lea made from the Castle Wundagore: Each call was made to a resident in the slum area known as the basement." The wolf said sternly.

"No beastials inhabit that area- only impoverished humans." Lurie said.

"Those are the facts. What would you conclude?" Sir Wolf asked.

"That explains the human Lea was talking to when we walked into Room B this morning." I said to Lurie.

"Oh really?!" Sir Wolf countered. "Most likely her rebel contact." The wolf said solemnly.

"There is one thing I don't understand." I said to the wolf warrior- "Why would Lea betray the empire? It doesn't make sense."

"Hard to say- love, money?" Sir Wolf responded. "Punishment for crime on this world is quite severe- any crime, so why risk it? Alex, Lurie. It looks very bad for Lea right now. The High Evolutionary will be stopping by in the next few days to review the facts of the case and pronounce judgement. At this point she could be banished or sentenced to devolution and most likely returned to the wild." The wolf said grimly. "Her charges are quite quite serious."

I looked at Lurie and then Sir Wolf.

"Can we visit her?" I asked. "I would like to hear her side of the story."

"I don't see that as a problem." Sir Wolf responded. "This way."

Unlike Castle Wundagore which had a 'holding area' for less dangerous prisoners in addition to a dungeon, Castle Sevren only had a dungeon. Sir Wolf explained that the castle was repurposed from an old armory. That was why it was quite older than Castle Wundagore.

(And most likely why it was not as nice either.)

Sir Wolf guided us to the most inner sanctum of Castle Sevren deep deep underground where prisoners and the enemies of the High Evolutionary and his empire were housed.

I wasn't allowed to see Castle Wundagore's dungeon and now I know why; Sevren wasn't great to look at either- it contained numerous 'cages' which despite being clean were staked next to each other and on top of each other. Each cage was a 9 x 9 cell with a bench and table and a view of the adjoining cell. The room that housed these cells despite being clean was painted red and black- drab, dark and dreary as if to say to the prisoners there was no escape from there.

Sir Wolf guided us through the dungeon past the curious looks from prisoners beastial and humanoid. The dungeon housed about a hundred prisoners- the vast majority of them were human rebels and terrorists. There were also a few beastials as well- 'bad beastials' Sir Wolf called them (most likely awaiting to be de-evolved) But they were outnumbered by the human prisoners.

"How many cages are in the dungeon?" Lurie asked.

"We have about 500. With the capacity to add more if needed." Sir Wolf replied.

Rounding the corner we approached another cage with a lone leonine female in it. She was seated on a bench in the cage crying. We had arrived.

Sir Wolf unlocked the cage so that Lurie and I could enter. "Just ask for the guard when you are ready to leave." Sir Wolf said to Lurie and myself. "Take care."

Judging by the empty cages surrounding her- Lea was in isolation.

"Alex! Luire! What are you doing here? Are they coming to release me?!" The depressed lion girl asked wiping her tears.

"The only thing you're going to get is the living death sweetheart!" Someone yelled from the distance. "The High mucky muck doesn't like traitors!"

"Do you mind?!" Lurie barked back. "We are trying to have a conversation here!"

I sat down next to Lea. "No I am afraid that is not going to happen." I told her grabbing her paws. "Lea you are facing serious, serious charges. From the sounds of it - you are guilty, you will be judged and punished by the dictator in the next day or so."

Hearing that the lioness burst into tears- "I don't know how this could happen I have been nothing but loyal to our master!" She stammered.

"Have you ever given aid or support to the rebels that are trying to overthrow the dictator?" Lurie asked her.

"Not at all! I don't even know any rebels!"

Luire and I looked at each other.

"Lea I know in my heart that you aren't a traitor to the empire, but it is going to be quite difficult to prove your innocence because of the evidence Sir Wolf has is quite damning. Sir Wolf has monitored your communications and has noticed a pattern of activity. Particularly before any missions the knights have gone on and before rebel incursions." The lioness gasped. "Lea if we are going to save you. I need you to be completely honest with me right here and right now." I said to her. "To start who was that human you were talking to this morning in Room B?" I asked her as I started recording our conversation. Lea looked liked a child who had been caught stealing.

"That was my boyfriend Michael." She said quietly.

"Your boyfriend is human?!" Lurie asked shocked.

"You say that like it is a bad thing." The lion girl responded. "We met about year ago at the World One museum and hit it off. We have been together ever since. I call him every day. If not he calls me."

"How much do you know about him?" I asked.

"He has a great personality and a wonderful sense of humor." The lion girl said. "He works in a medical clinic in World Three. He loves museums, art and entertainment.

"I also wonder if he has additional hobbies Lea- like giving aid and comfort to the rebellion." I said to the lion girl skeptically.

"He isn't a rebel if that is what you are asking Alex." Lea said. "He is a wonderful person."

"I think that is our next lead Alex." The coyote girl said to me.

"Lea I am going to need Michael's address and his work address. I think it is time I pay him a visit...."

"It won't be today Alex. It is getting late and we need to get back before the boys start to worry." The coyote girl said to me.

Indeed we had spent the last few hours interrogating Lea.

As we departed, I hugged the lioness and gave her the same advise she gave me during my imprisonment at Castle Wundagore- keep your head up, obey the rules and be a model prisoner- although in her situation I doubt that she would be granted mercy and special privileges.

Lurie and I caught another transport back to Castle Wundagore and arrived back at Tauren's Lair around 7 pm where we found Sorren and Tauren watching the weather report on the view-screen.

"So there you two are- it looks like you are hitting it off swimmingly." Sorren said as Luire and I entered the great room.

"We have come to a understanding." Lurie said to the reclining dragon.

"What she means is that we are becoming fast friends." I countered smiling at the coyote girl.

"Um yeah." She replied.

"You will never believe what happened to us today...." I began but was interrupted.

Just then Tauren entered the room- "Hey you two- it is about time you got home. Sorren, did the system update the software?" The bull asked.

"Yeah, it is now synched with the hub and we are up and running again."

"Good! Looks like the latest news report has become available." Tauren said.

"Let's see whats going on."

Sorren pressed a button and the day's news instantly appeared on the screen. All of us we were transfixed at the view-screen as the news program opened and the presenter- a female lynx read the top story of the day.

_We start today's broadcast with an update on a story from Castle Wundagore. Earlier today a subordinate who worked for the knights of the castle, was arrested and charged with giving material support and aid to rebel factions trying to overthrow the High Evolutionary. _

_We have an update on this story- we have learned that the High Evolutionary this evening issued a preliminary judgement on this subordinate turned spy. It was assumed that the subordinate would be sentenced to devolution. In a surprise to citizens everywhere, the High Evolutionary decreed that the spy be spared the usual punishment for their crimes. Instead they would become one of the few beastials in history to be sentenced to the living death on Counter Earth for their crimes against the empire. _

To Be Continued.....