FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

First Contact

The cloudless night with the waning moon was no different from other nights. At least, it didn't look different. But a nagging feeling in the back of Dormin's mind told him something was not like any other night when he worked his shift as he put on the jacket of his dark blue guard uniform.

The campus of Heismann Research, an electronics laboratory with several buildings, wasn't too big for one man to keep an eye on with the amount of security installed. His usual rounds only needed him to do a general tour and double check the local alarm terminals to see if anything was amiss. It had been an uneventful five months with the exception of one heavy thunderstorm which struck just enough times to set off the alarm in one building.

The night was quiet and he enjoyed the cooler night air at the start of autumn and the sound of the few crickets that lived around the campus. He swiped his card at the second largest building which hosted the testing department. The lock at the door buzzed softly, he stepped inside and into the alcove with the alarm terminal.

Everything was red which meant all doors locked and unopened. He stepped out of the alcove and headed towards the reception desk to follow the dimly lit main hallway through the length of the building when that feeling nagged him again.

He listened for a while but nothing other than the faint sound of a coffee machine close by disturbed the silence in the building. It didn't sooth his subconscious though and he sighed. He'd have to take a look at each floor to quiet his mind.

Without making a sound he went up the stone stairs and moved along the thick carpeted corridor on the next floor. Most of the offices and labs had windows so a quick scan left and right was enough to see all was as it should be in the night. Until he spotted one of the lab rooms in the back where all windows were blackened. That's when his mind nudged him to take a closer look.

He opened the door to the main office carefully first and listened. Office equipment and ventilation hummed softly in their night mode. He stepped inside and halfway to the door of the dark lab room he noticed it. All locks should either have a green or a red indicator light. That door had neither. He took out his mobile and checked the daily security log for an entry that might tell him the lock was broken.

Nothing like that was in the list. He put away his mobile and took out his gun. It was standard procedure to have it in hand when confronted by an anomaly, even if it turned out to be nothing serious.

He moved to the side of the door and listened again. This time he heard some faint noises which he couldn't make any sense of. An occasional sharp crack and possible screaming were the only things he thought he recognised through the sound proofed wall. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like what was to be expected and he put his hand on the doorknob. He jerked open the door and aimed his gun inside.

The first thing he noticed were three large screens showing a view of an overgrown urban environment. They lit up the startled face of a fox with her long red-brown hair in two tails at the sides of her head, wearing a large black t-shirt with white line drawing of a cartoon cat's head, and baggy black pants. She had good reflexes because he had to duck t once to dodge the mouse thrown at his head.

The next thing thrown at him were books and file folders and he had to jump back to avoid them. The fox had used that moment to rush past him and ran for the office door. He reached out to her and nearly tripped her when her leg hit his fingers but she was too fast. He bolted the moment she went through the door and pursued her as she ran down the corridor. He ran down the stairs, heard the front door when he reached the ground floor and ran towards it. Outside he saw no sign of her and ran in the direction of the gate surrounding the campus. Looking left and right he still saw no sign of her.

'Shit!' he said and holstered his gun. He went back inside to the lab room and saw it was some first shooter game that ran on the prototype workstations there. He laughed at the realisation that she had broken into the lab only to see how well these new computers ran that game. Somehow he understood since he had picked up on how brutal this game was to hardware and gamers needed to have state of the art computers to run it in all its glory. He shook his head and called the local police department to report the break-in.

Dormin had completed a check of the rest of the building when an unmarked grey sedan arrived at the campus. The black haired and naturally tanned woman in it identified herself as detective Adalet Saliman via the intercom at the main gate, and he let her in by opening the gate via the remote control on his mobile. A few minutes later he welcomed her downstairs at the door. She wore a grey suit with matching teal coloured dress shirt matching her alert blue-grey eyes, and black flat shoes which he thought looked good and were practical. He estimated her to be in her early thirties and that she would turn a man's head even at old age.

'Dormin Oarion.' he said as he held out his hand.

'Adalet Saliman.' she said and shook his hand. Even though she just met him she thought there was more to him than his looks of a late twenties man revealed. His eyes which were as brown as his hair looked much more mature. 'Have you found any other disturbances?'

He led her up the stairs. 'No, nothing else in that office or anywhere else seemed to have been touched.'

'And nothing out of the ordinary outside?'

He shook his head. 'Nothing so far.'

'I've relayed your description of her and the officers on patrol will keep an eye out.'

He showed her the lab room and she chuckled seeing the game on the screens. 'This is a first one for me.'

'She's not dumb. She managed to get inside somehow.'

'No tampering with the security system?'

'Not as far as I can tell.'

Adalet nodded. 'Okay then.' she said and pulled out a card from her jacket pocket. 'How about you come to the station tomorrow for the formalities? If you happen to find something later or someone else reports anything missing or damaged we can add it to the report then. I'll have someone come by here to check for fingerprints by then.'

Dormin took her card and gave her a quick smile. 'All right. I'll come by some time in the morning after I've talked with my boss and most people are back at work here.'

She smiled back and shook his hand. 'I expect I'll still be there so see you then.' she said and left to drive back to the station.

In case there was a need for it he took pictures of the mess and the lab room. When he took the picture of one corner he noticed a black black backpack under the counter. He picked it up and took out the contents.

Two game discs of which one was the running game, and a printout of hardware specifications marked with numbers and a few question marks was enough to tell him the backpack was hers.

The only other item in the pack was what looked like two large but slim pitch black tablets stuck together. He looked closely at the long sides and found a flat button. He pressed it and unfolded the thing into two bezel-less screens that lit up with a couple of thin blue bordered windows with green text inside and a blue and green outlined on-screen keyboard at one side. He knew enough about computers to tell this one was far from ordinary and decided to deliver it personally to Adalet.

He folded the portable and put it back into the backpack with the rest, picked up the books and the mouse that she had thrown and put it on one side of the counter, then wrote a note to inform the room was off-limits until police had arrived, and stuck it to the door. He took the backpack with him for the rest of his rounds and put it in his car after he returned to the guard office.

***

Dormin reported what had happened to his boss and his colleagues in the morning and checked with the people working at the office for anything else the fox might have done. When that was done he changed from his guard uniform into the black suit and the navy blue dress shirt he usually wore and drove off to the police station.

***

The station occupied one corner of a cluster of multi-storey buildings and Dormin parked at the edge of the visitor section of the car park in front. About to get out, he stopped when two men in dark grey suits standing near a large black sedan caught his attention.

The men were looking around too much and the way they held their arms against their body meant they were hiding something. He had seen that behaviour often enough during his military years. A quick breeze flipped the corner of the jacket of one man and the glimpse of a submachine gun told him enough.

The nagging feeling in the back of his head spoke up again and he got out of the car, leaving the backpack in it. Without a glance at the car or the men he crossed the street and went up the two steps to the front doors of the station. At the front desk he showed Adalet's card and the canine officer reminding him of a bulldog gave him directions to find her.

When he stepped into the large and busy office he found her standing at her desk in one corner at the front of the building, talking to a man in what he guessed was his late forties, wearing a very dark blue suit. Adalet saw him coming in and beckoned him to come over.

'Good timing.' she said. 'We were just talking about the break-in from last night. The same suspect might be involved in an earlier break-in and theft at Elecore.'

Dormin gave her a nod. 'Oh?'

'This is mister Davies, head of security at Elecore.' she said as she gestured at the man and turned to Davies. 'And this is mister Oarion, who caught the suspect in the act last night.'

Dormin shook Davies's hand. 'Several portable computers were stolen which contain information on our products.' Davies said. 'They are encrypted of course, and luckily the data on it isn't extremely top secret, but we still don't want it in the wrong hands.'

Dormin nodded. 'I understand. How can I help?'

'We already received the description of the suspect you gave and heard nothing seemed to be missing. Nothing more has turned up?'

Dormin shook his head. 'Nothing out of the ordinary has been reported this morning after work started. Nothing missing or damaged.'

Davies hummed. 'And the suspect left nothing behind?'

'She didn't leave anything that indicated how she got into the building, no. She was unexpectedly quick as she dodged me and ran away.'

Davies nodded. 'Shame. It might have helped if we had another clue to go on.' He flashed a quick smile at Adalet and Dormin. 'Thank you for your information. I hope the suspect can be caught soon and will no longer bring trouble.'

'We'll be in contact.' said Adalet and Davies gave a nod as he left.

Dormin watched him as he stopped to shake the hand of a superintendent for a moment. 'I don't know about that guy.'

Adalet moved to the window and looked down at the street. 'Same here. There's something he's not telling.'

Dormin moved next to her. 'And those guys carry weaponry that's overkill for a simple electronics firm. I caught a glimpse when I arrived.'

'Government or private party?'

'I'd say private. Probably a few former professionals mixed in.'

'Like you?'

He chuckled. 'It's obvious?'

She grinned a little at him and her eyes twinkled for a moment. 'That suit looks to good on you for you to be a simple night guard.'

'I've been in the military for a few years, did a few special missions where a suit was required.'

'Right.' she said and returned to her seat at her desk. 'I'd say you're doing very well at that.'

He smiled back at her. 'I must say that you look good as well. Would have guessed you were a valued manager somewhere.'

She chuckled. 'I did think I'd become one while I was at school, but I found out soon enough working in a business environment was not for me. By chance I came across the police academy and that was it for me.'

He nodded and sat down in the chair next to her desk. 'I found a backpack after you left.'

'You still have it?'

He nodded. 'There were two games in it, one of them the one you saw which is why I knew it was hers. And there was a portable computer in it. A very sleek and advanced model. It opened up into two screens linked seamlessly together.'

'Any indication where it came from?'

'Didn't see. And I didn't take a good look at it. I just put everything back in the pack with the idea to deliver it to you personally.'

She nodded and glanced to the superintendent talking to one of her colleagues. 'Maybe it's best not to do that here and now. If they happen to see you carry it, they'd know you were lying.'

'True.'

'How about I drop by your place tonight before starting my shift? Under the guise of a few more questions about the break-in.'

He smiled. 'No problem. You can even join me for dinner if you eat as late as I do. Nothing fancy though, just some things thrown together.'

She chuckled. 'It would mean I don't have to cook dinner for myself for once, so I'd like that.'

'Okay, it's a date.'

His grin made her chuckle and she grabbed the report of the break-in to steer her mind away from thoughts she shouldn't entertain at work.

After Adalet completed her report Dormin went back to his car, glancing around before getting in. He hadn't noticed anyone suspicious but couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Just to make sure he wasn't followed he took a few detours to buy some daily necessities at some shops before arriving at his home, a small two storey concrete warehouse with narrow full length windows, which he had bought for a low price when he got out of the military. It stood at the edge of an industrial park with several abandoned properties.

He drove his car along the gravel path next to the building to the car park at the back, took the contents out of the backpack and put them in one of the oversized grocery bags and stuffed the backpack into another. Clearly showing the bags he got out of the car and walked up the steps of the concrete raised loading platform at the back to enter the building via the former back entrance to the office section.

A low wooden platform covered about one quarter of the floor of the otherwise untouched hall. On it were his island kitchen, living space with couch and low table, a big screen he hardly used, and large bed surrounded by bookcases for privacy. At the side was the original bathroom which had been emptied and now featured one opaque glass wall for extra light to enjoy a long soak in the large tub or long shower. Above it all hung a canvas roof to catch dirt and dust falling down from the ceiling.

He dropped the groceries on the cooking island and took the rest over to his couch. He didn't turn on more lights than the one low lamp next to the couch. The narrow windows at the front and the sides reaching up to the ceiling were opaque enough to block the view, but he didn't want to make it any easier for anyone trying to peek.

He unfolded the portable and examined the open windows. The text that scrolled within two of them meant nothing to him, although he recognised something was being monitored. One appeared to be an open file with code in it. He tried scrolling the text by swiping the window but nothing happened. He tried the arrow keys on the keyboard but the cursor in the window didn't move. Trying the key combinations that he knew from his own laptop didn't seem to do anything either and he figured the interface had been locked. He folded the portable, went back to the cooking island, pulled out a panel on the side and placed the portable in the compartment. After that he undressed, took a shower, and went to bed.

***

Dormin woke up early with the usual nightmare. He groaned from the headache while he clutched his head. It took a few minutes for the ache to lessen to a tolerable level and he got out of bed. A long shower helped to clear his head more and by the time he had finished his callisthenics he was back to reasonably normal.

He freshened up quickly, put on a pair of light baggy pants, put away the groceries he had bought earlier, and prepared dinner by cutting beef, chicken, and vegetables in small pieces before putting them in marinade while he cooked pasta. When that was done he sat back on the couch, checked his messages on his laptop and continued where he had left off in the fantasy book that laid in a corner of the couch.

Some time later his mobile played a bird song and picked it up. 'Dormin.'

'Adalet here. I'm sorry to disturb you but I still have a few questions regarding the case. Could I come by?'

He smiled at the deliberate conversation. 'Sure, I'm not due for work for a while yet.'

'Then I'll be over in a short while.'

'See you soon then. Parking is at the back.' he said and disconnected.

He waited at the door donned in his usual black suit pants and navy blue shirt when he heard her car drive along the side of the building to the back.

'Interesting place.' she said when she stepped out of the car and looked up at the back of the building.

'I'm an interesting guy.'

She chuckled and went up to the door, then halted for a moment to look over the interior. 'This is certainly different from most people's homes.'

She didn't wore her jacket and he couldn't resist taking a quick look at the shape her shirt made while he led her to the couch. 'I don't have to feel restrained like this. The little bit of freedom in my life.'

She nodded and sat down, looking around more. 'Any plans on doing something with the rest of the place?'

'Not really. But if I do have plans by the time I retire I will have the space for it, probably.'

'I guess you can fit a lot of model boats and cars in here.'

He chuckled. 'Maybe I will.' he said and moved to his kitchen. 'Care for some red wine?'

She smiled at him. 'Please.'

He opened a bottle of a smooth wine and returned to the couch with two glasses.

'Anything new?' he asked while he poured the wine.

'I asked my informants.' she said, clinked her glass with his and smelled the wine before sipping and humming her approval. 'Nothing. Even at the usual places frequented by gamers and computer specialists.'

'She's probably hiding, or maybe even left the city.'

'If she's seen what you said you saw I wouldn't be surprised.' She leaned back against the couch. 'Did you have a closer look at that thing?'

'I did, but I can't do anything with it. It seems locked.' he said, got up from the couch and retrieved the portable. 'Give it a try.'

He unfolded it for her and she examined it, stroking the material lighter and stronger to the touch than her own designer laptop at home. 'Definitely nothing I've ever seen before.'

'Neither have I. And I think it's something that should be kept out of the wrong hands. Especially those with weapons in them.' He went back to the kitchen. 'I'll start dinner while you fiddle with it.'

She tried to make the interface work but the smell and sounds, and seeing him work the wok on the stove distracted her. Trying different key combination was a simple thing that kept her busy until he arrived with two plates of the mix he had made. She put the portable aside and watched the food with a increasing hunger.

'That looks and smells great.' she said as he handed her one plate.

'I hope that will be the same for the taste.' he said while he sat down next to her. 'It's one of my usual meals since it's reasonably simple and has everything in it.'

She nodded and hummed her approval when her tastebuds were pleased, which in turn made him smile and enjoy her looking like a happy teenager. They talked about food and cooking and when they were both full and satisfied he took the plates to wash them.

Adalet saw his laptop leaning against the edge of the low table. 'Can I use your laptop for a second? Maybe I can find something on the grid on how to unlock this thing.'

'Sure, go ahead.' he called out and started cleaning the kitchen.

She opened his laptop, it came to life and she started to search for specialised hardware. Another windows came alive on the portable and text scrolled along it.

Dormin returned to the couch when he was done. 'Any luck?'

She shook her head. 'Nothing I came across on Gazer was remotely like this thing. It's like it's not of this world if even the biggest search engine can't find it.'

'Maybe it's from one of the other worlds?'

'I thought of that and did a broad search, but it doesn't seem to come from any of the known worlds.'

'I wonder wha-' he said when his mobile interrupted him. He picked it up quickly and opened a screen with the map of his neighbourhood. A couple of red dots moved along the lines of the streets and he tapped on the screen to produce a video feed. 'Hang on. There are two cars coming this way and they look like the one I saw yesterday at the station.' He showed the screen to Adalet. 'Could they have heard I have this thing? Maybe heard our conversation?'

'Not unless they heard our talk yesterday, but then I'd expect them to have come sooner. Or they followed me but then it took too long for them to react.'

He switched over to the feed from his street and watched as the cars dimmed their lights, stopped at some distance, and several figures clad completely in black and carrying machine guns got out and marched further along the side of the street.

'That does not look friendly.' she said and grabbed her mobile. 'Shit! No signal! They must be using jammers so I can't call in for help.' She pulled her gun out of her holster. 'Looks like we're on our own and outgunned.'

He put his hand on her gun. 'Wait. Do you have experience with heavier firepower?'

She nodded. 'Was one of the best at the academy.'

'Good.' he said and hurried to the corner of the wooden platform, knelt and pulled open a concealed hatch. He returned with a couple of tricked out submachine guns and two small shoulder bags filled with ammo and stun grenades.

'That's some nice toys you got there.' she said while she examined the gun he gave her.

'Souvenirs from my earlier years. Kept them but never really thought I'd need them other than for occasional target practice.'

'Looks like we might get some practice today.'

A man in dark grey suit sat in one of the two cars and read the results of the last message he had received. 'Confirmed, sir. The residency belongs to Dormin Oarion, the same man that encountered the fox yesterday.' he said to Davies.

Davies watched his team move swift and silently towards the warehouse. 'Seems he found something after all then. Make sure he can't tell anything to anyone.'

'Yes, sir.'

Dormin stuffed the portable in his shoulder bag. 'We might be able to fight them off now, but we can be sure they're going to come after us.'

Adalet took the safety off her submachine gun. 'So we need to go after the source. But we still need to get out of here.'

'Yes, and I have an extra way out.' he said and she followed him outside to his car just when the enemy team arrived at the back.

Their fire forced Dormin and Adalet to duck behind her car. 'One shot, one kill!' he said to her and she nodded. They couldn't afford to waste ammo.

They laid down on the ground and fired at the exposed feet of the team members in front from underneath the car. The men fell down screaming in pain. Dormin tapped Adalet on her shoulder and gestured back at his car. He stooped low while he opened the backdoor before getting behind the wheel. Adalet fired one extra shot at the team who stayed behind the corner for cover. She heard the car start and jumped into the backseat. Ground flew up underneath the spinning tires as Dormin hit the gas and steered his car towards a section of the wire mesh fence at the back of the lot. Adalet looked up just in time to see it and braced for the impact.

With a sound of hundreds of metallic snaps the car broke through the fence, followed by several thuds of bullets hitting the back. The tires squealed turning onto the street and accelerated along it.

Adalet took a quick glance back, then leaned forward. 'I didn't think you could get through that fence!'

Dormin grinned. 'I wouldn't. Unless I had cut the wire far enough to have it hang on by thin threads.'

She chuckled. 'Now what? I don't think we'll be safe going to the station. That Davies guy seems to know my boss.'

He nodded. 'They now know you're involved and when they send an assault team for this I don't think they'll stop at seeing a badge. I know another place where we can hide so dump your mobile. We don't want to get traced.'

Adalet crawled into the front, disabled hers and the mobile he gave her, threw them out the window and watched while he drove the long way around the city.

***

Dormin steered the car into a backstreet at one of the rougher neighbourhoods of the city. Adalet knew it and looked around at the old buildings with graffiti and posters, boarded up windows and the occasional store that somehow survived on what little the people could spend. She had been here several times before. It was usually in connection to a case from one of her colleagues from homicide. The people here struggled with poverty and unemployment thanks to bad education.

Dormin stopped at one of the roll up doors covered in graffiti. 'A buddy of mine used to live at this place. I still have the key.' he said, got out to unlock the door and pushed it up. He returned to the car, drove it inside and they both got out.

Adalet watched the piles of dusty junk stashed into the garage lit by the light coming in through a broken window while Dormin closed the door. 'So where is he now?'

Dormin took his bag out of the car and headed for the metal staircase going up. 'In ashes. Karl shot himself a year ago.'

Upstairs was the brick wall apartment with a few pieces of cheap and used furniture. A low wooden table stood in the living area, surrounded by four dark wood chairs with cracked brown leather seats and back. Dormin dropped his bag in a chair causing a cloud of dust to puff up. Adalet dropped her bag on the wooden floor next to the chair, ignoring the stale air for now.

'It doesn't look like it but his savings are enough to keep this place. He just didn't care for luxuries.'

A collection of photos on the wall caught Adalet's attention. She looked closely at each of them. Only one face appeared in all of them, but they were still mostly from the same group. Two pictures featured a younger and older family portrait. 'Most of these are from his years of service?'

Dormin opened the faucet in the kitchen to let the water run for a minute. 'Yes. He only had his parents and a sister who lives at the other side of the planet. He hadn't spoken to them since he joined. Something happened but he never talked about it.'

Adalet nodded as she looked once more at the group photos of cheerful men in uniform, thinking that might have been the only time they were happy. Dormin was in several of them. His eyes looked like his age back then.

He opened a small window at the back and at the front to let some fresher air in. 'So, plan of attack?'

She leaned back against the wall while he went back to the kitchen to splash some cold water in his face. 'We know Elecore and a fox are involved. I don't think we'll be able to get much useful information on Elecore so our best bet is finding the fox.'

He came back and sat down in one of the empty chairs after dusting them off with a damp cloth. 'But your informants didn't know a thing.'

'They didn't, but they're not everywhere. There are some places we can go to and check for ourselves.'

He nodded and looked at the daylight outside. 'I suggest we take a rest first and wait until later in the evening. I've got some extra license plates in the car so I'm going to switch those and I need to cover the bullet holes with some masking tape. I'm glad they didn't hit the rear window.'

She nodded. 'Does the shower work? I'd like to freshen up after that bit of excitement.'

'I think it does. You'll have to try.' he said and gestured at the short corridor to the side.

She went to the small bathroom with toilet and shower, turned on the hot water and steam appeared after a while. Glad to see the heater still worked she turned on the cold and undressed, checked the temperature and stepped under the shower to enjoy the warmth flowing along her body.

Dormin checked and reloaded their weapons and went to the open kitchen at the back to see if he could make any coffee or tea. He was glad to see there were still several good mini packs of coffee and turned on the coffee maker. Looking down at himself he noticed the dirt and a tear in the front of his shirt. 'Of course.' he muttered and walked over to the bedroom. His friend's clothing was still there and since they'd been the same size they should fit him well.

Adalet turned off the water and wiped her face. She reached out to grab a towel and chided herself for not making sure there was one before stepping under the shower. With her mind constantly going over the shooting she forgot where she was. She'd have to check the bedroom which was luckily across from the bathroom. She shook her arms and legs to shed some of the water clinging to her and stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

His bare chested presence startled her when she almost bumped into him. 'Ah! Sorry!' she said in her worry that she might get him wet but the large burn mark covering half his abdomen and left side made her forget it all.

Her sudden and especially naked appearance startled him just as much. Her tanned body looked fit with enough curvature to please any man's eyes and her breasts with dark nipples were big enough without breaking their smooth lines. Even her black pubic hair followed the smooth lines of the Y formed by her thighs. This image of her would never leave his memories again.

'What happened to you?' she asked, reaching out to his abdomen.

The question awoke him from his momentary lapse of reason. He quickly held out the shirt he was holding to her and looked away. 'You might want to cover yourself.'

Her face turned red when she remembered she stood there wet and naked. Taking the shirt she quickly covered her front. 'I was looking for a towel! I forgot to get one first!'

He picked one out of the closet and handed it to her. 'Thanks.' she said and hurried back to the bathroom. The glance he gave her told him her posterior was as fine as the rest. Scolding himself for thoughts inappropriate during factual battle time he grabbed another shirt and dressed himself.

Adalet came out of the bathroom still blushing from the accident. Dormin glanced at her and gestured at the kitchen. 'There's coffee if you want some.'

'Thanks.' she said, poured herself a cup and sat down in a chair. She didn't dare to do more than glance at him for fear of her face turning completely red. Despite her age she hadn't shown any man her naked body before because no man had attracted her enough to get intimate. And now this man had seen it. She sipped her hot coffee and let the smell and warmth calm her down. She glanced at him and the possibility of being attracted to him flashed before her mind. She shut her eyes and took another sip to take her thoughts away from that subject. There were other matters at hand. 'I can think of a place or two where our fox might appear.'

'I've been thinking about that too. What do you have in mind?'

***

Dormin watched the crowd busy with checking out and discussing the games, books, and media at the large open basement store. Unlike a lot of stores he frequented, the amount of otherspecies was higher here. A bird species, boar, and human were playing a game together in one corner with several others cheering them on. 'I guess having to survive the zombie apocalypse brings everyone together.'

Adalet chuckled. 'Over here everyone can forget about the outside world and just have fun. It's one of the few places where no one notices what species you are and can relax while buying the latest thing, groceries, or just hang around and get a bite to eat. It's a perfect place for our fox to blend in and the most likely. The other places I have in mind are smaller and would get her noticed sooner.'

'Let's hope she's thinking the same thing. I'll roam around the left side, you take right.'

They strolled around, looking casually at some of the merchandise and asking a question on occasion about it to make it look legit. Adalet thought it was lucky they didn't have to wait long when she spotted the fox at the convenience section buying sandwiches and snacks. She moved to a more open space to find Dormin. He was browsing books when he glanced at her. She gave a nod in the direction of the fox and he put back the book to move in her direction. The fox looked left and right quickly and headed for the exit at the back. Adalet followed her just out of sight with Dormin close behind her.

The fox went into an alley close to the store. Dormin caught up to Adalet and they hurried after the fox. At an intersection with another alley they lost her.

Adalet gestured in one direction. 'You take that one, I'll take this.' They split up and hurried down the alleys.

The fox kept her ears open for any suspicious sound and glanced back frequently to see if she might be followed. She expected to see police at any moment since she'd been seen by that night guard. She still cursed herself for being too curious about that new generation of hardware she heard about. Turning the next corner brought her eye to eye with a man and a canine in dark grey suits.

Adalet started to think the fox had taken the other alley when she heard a ruckus and loud voices. She ran towards the source and found the fox trying to pull away from the two men grabbing her. The fox bit the human in his arm. He screamed and let go of her but the canine held on tight.

'Let go of her!' shouted Adalet. The canine pulled the fox back with one arm, pulled out his gun and fired at her. She ducked behind a container and fired back once in the air.

The fox took the opportunity to stomp on the canine's foot and swing back an elbow to the side of his head. He let go of her and she scrambled to get away. Adalet ran toward the canine who fired at her again. The bullet barely missed her but she was a better shot and hit him in the abdomen. The human took a shot at her but was too late. She peeked out from behind another container and shot him in the leg. He went down with a scream and she ran in the direction the fox went past the groaning canine and human.

The fox's heart raced as she ran down the alley and desperately tried to think of where to go. She took a left turn at the street and kept running just to get away. She had almost reached the next street when a man grabbed her from the side. She thrust out her elbow to hit him.

'Wait!' shouted Dormin. 'I'm not going to harm you!'

She growled and pulled on his arm, biting hard. He didn't let go of her. She bit even harder but he still refused to let go, pushing his arm further into her mouth. 'I said I'm not going to harm you!' hissed Dormin through his clenched teeth.

His arm almost choked her and she let go, gasping for breath. He turned her around and pinned her against the wall. 'Now will you please listen to me!? You are targeted because you stole something very important from certain people! And we're here to try to stop them!'

The fox panted and glared at him. Her green eyes shot to the right when Adalet came running. She struggled again to get free but he had her pinned down firmly. Adalet breathed hard when she arrived. 'Good, you got her.'

'Who are you!?' growled the fox.

'We're actually the good guys.' Adalet said. 'I'm detective Adalet Saliman. Dormin here found your backpack with the portable, and the company you stole it from wants it back really bad. We can't stop them unless you tell us all you know.'

The fox watched Adalet and Dormin, then relaxed a little. Dormin let go of her. 'We have to go. Someone will have heard something and called the police by now. Will you please come with us?' The fox looked into their eyes and her guts told her it was better to trust them. She nodded and the three hurried away.

***

'Do you want some coffee?' asked Adalet when she walked ahead of the fox up the stairs at Karl's place.

'Sure.' the fox said and scanned the room when they walked in. She watched Adalet turn on the coffee maker. 'Are you really what you say you are?'

'At least until we got shot at my home yesterday.' Dormin said, grabbed a first aid kit from a cupboard, ran the water in the sink, and took off his shirt.

The fox saw his bloody sleeve. 'Sorry about that.' she said looking down.

He held his arm under the water and washed away the blood. 'Don't worry. I've experienced worse.'

She moved closer. 'I thought you wanted to kill me, like those other men.'

Adalet poured the coffee in a mug and handed it to the fox. 'They're from Elecore security. I had a visit from the head at the police station after your break-in at Heismann Research. He said you might have been the same one who stole several laptops with company data.'

Dormin dabbed his arm with paper towels to dry it and clear the blood from the bite wound. 'But that's not all you took, right?'

The fox shook her head. 'No.'

Dormin took a roll of bandage and tried to wrap it around his arm. 'Let me.' said Adalet and the fox at the same time. He chuckled when they looked at each other. 'Thanks.'

The fox dabbed away the blood while Adalet wrapped his arm with the bandage. 'So, tell us your story.' Adalet said.

The fox attached a clip to the end of the bandage that Adalet held in place. 'My name is Therizo Vidya, but everyone calls me Terry. I grew up in a foster home and found out I was good with computers during school. I learned everything that had to do with those and entered the hacker scene where I started making money through odd jobs. Some legit, some not so much.'

The three moved to the living area and sat down. 'I also learned how to pick locks, disable and circumvent electronics security, falsify documents. A week ago I was asked to retrieve documents on new products in development by Elecore. The anonymous client claimed they had stolen research and wanted the documents as proof to press charges. So I staked the place, learned about their security setup and found a hole in it that I could use. I broke in and found laptops with engineering data. And a stack of hardware I hadn't seen before.'

Dormin reached to the back of a small table next to his chair and pulled out the portable from a hidden compartment. 'Like this.'

Terry nodded. 'I took a quick look and knew it was something out of this world. Before I knew it I stashed it with the laptops thinking there were enough of those portables that they wouldn't miss one soon. I dropped off the laptops the same night at the prearranged spot, got my money there and left for home. I tried getting it to work but the interface was locked. When I tried to scan it for any signals coming from it I saw it tried to scan and take control of my machine. Its attacks were too fast for my machine to handle and I shut everything down. I needed something more powerful, which is why I broke into Heismann and tested the prototype workstations. I had heard about those a few weeks ago.'

Adalet looked at Dormin. 'That's what happened with your laptop then, when it connected to the mobile network.'

'I think the operating system on this thing is made to penetrate any system via any form of communication. There are a myriad of connectors hidden under the small cover plates all over that thing. I suspect it might even draw power through them.'

Adalet leaned forward. 'Could that be the reason they came to Dormin's place? It somehow contacted them?'

Terry nodded. 'That's possible. It might be set up to contact home base each time it connects to some network. But I can't tell for sure until I can access it.'

Dormin put the portable on the table. 'Any idea how?'

'A hidden button, special gesture maybe. I haven't yet tried everything.'

'How about asking someone at Elecore?' The women looked at him. 'Try the direct approach.'

Adalet chuckled. 'That might just be it. If they have these things they're bound to know how they work.'

Terry nodded. 'I saw the name Ebo Bankole on a memo concerning network capacity. We might start there. I just need access to my computers.'

Adalet frowned a little. 'I'd guess they'd be watching all the streets by now around the store waiting for you to show up somewhere in the neighbourhood. You can't go home, and we can't go there either. They know our faces.'

Dormin shrugged. 'Then we'll just have to change our faces. It's not that hard to make a disguise. I can get into your place and bring back whatever you need after I get the items I need tomorrow.'

Terry nodded. 'I can tell you how to get into my place and what to bring back.'

'All right.' Adalet said. 'Let's get some rest in the meantime.'

Find and Lose

Dormin woke up with a start in his chair after a couple of hours. His heart beat faster than usual and he felt sweaty all over. The headache pounded while he pressed his hands hard against his head and took deep breaths. When it lessened after a while he went on to do his daily callisthenics strength routine. He pushed himself harder to push the pain away and ended up soaking with sweat.

Still feeling groggy he took a long cool shower which cleared up his head enough to start the day. He stepped out of the shower, picked up his boxer shorts and threw them in the hamper with Karl's last dirty laundry. Wearing that soaked thing again was no option. He'd take a look at Karl's old stuff.

The door to the bedroom was partially open. He peeked inside and saw Adalet and Terry were fast asleep in the dim light. The sheet they slept under only covered a little of their naked bodies, as far as he could think of Terry's furry body as naked. He didn't mean to but his gaze lingered on them both. So different, Adalet's smooth and tanned body, Terry's red-brown fur coat with a lighter front. Her hands, feet, muzzle, and the tip of her fluffy tail were black. He thought he saw a glimpse of a light pink nipple poking through the fur of her exposed small breast.

His trance was broken when Terry shifted position. He quickly went over to the closet, opened it as quietly as he could and held up the choice between boxer shorts and briefs.

'I think boxer shorts look better.'

Dormin looked back at Adalet quickly. She smirked sleepily at him. Terry moaned softly and rubbed her eyes. '..time to wake up already..?' she muttered. Adalet chuckled. 'Depends on whether you like what you see.' Terry blinked her eyes and saw Dormin putting the briefs back on the closet shelf. 'Ah.'

'Har-har.' he said as he put on the boxer shorts and grabbed a fresh shirt and socks out of the closet. 'I'm going to get something to eat for us at the convenience store. You just get back to sleep.'

Both Adalet and Terry grinned as he walked out of the bedroom and laid back down. Adalet's heart beat faster and she hoped he hadn't noticed her blush. Terry still grinned at the memory of his cute and tight behind. She had seen enough pictures on the grid over the years, but the real thing this close actually made her a little excited.

Dormin stepped into the convenience store while casually looking away from the security cameras. He picked up several packs of sandwiches and energy bars, a couple of regular t-shirts, pants, a coat, two large and two small bottles of liquor, and a make-up set before heading to the counter to pay.

'Oh, and three of those cheap mobiles.' he said as he gestured at the rack behind the clerk. 'The kids break them so easily.'

The clerk chuckled. 'Just like my nephew who needs a new mobile every few months.' he said and bagged the mobiles.

Dormin paid the clerk, went out the store and walked a bit down the street until he headed into an alley. A bit further down he found what he was looking for.

The homeless man looked up in a daze when Dormin nudged him and held out the clothes with the small bottle of liquor on top. 'I want to play a prank on a friend of mine. Care to trade your clothes for this?'

Dormin left the alley later with a foul smelling bag and headed back to Karl's place, picking up pre-paid mobile subscriptions on the way at two other places.

***

Dormin had just finished setting up the new mobiles when he heard one of the women go to the bathroom and turn on the shower. He walked over to the kitchen, laid out the packs of sandwiches and energy bars on the counter and prepared the coffee maker. Back in the chair he checked the news for any mention of the attack on his home or Adalet going missing. Nothing was found by the time Terry walked into the living area and the shower ran again for Adalet.

He gestured at the kitchen. 'There's something to eat if you're hungry.'

She looked at the sandwiches on the counter. 'Thanks. I lost my late night dinner during the fight.' she said and grabbed two packs and an energy bar. She ate one pack as she sat down in the chair opposite him and scrunched her nose. 'What's that smell?'

He tilted his head to the bag with the foul clothes. 'The way to get into your place without getting caught. You should make a list of what I need to take back.'

She nodded. 'There's only a few essential items.'

Adalet appeared a minute later and noticed the bag as well. 'You want to disguise yourself as garbage?'

He chuckled. 'Yes. Because who wants to look closely at that?'

She nodded. 'When do you want to go?'

'When it gets dark. It'll give me extra cover.'

She looked at the mobiles on the table. 'For us?'

He picked one up and tossed it over to her. 'I've set them up already.'

She activated it and opened the contact list. 'Amanda, Dave, and Tammy?'

'Our new contact names. Keeping it simple.'

Terry picked up one and checked its hardware. 'Mind if I upgrade them to a secure OS? These things leak data and it'll enable an array of software that could be useful.'

'Please, go ahead. Anything to give us an advantage.'

During the hour until it started to get dark Terry replaced the entire software on the mobiles while Adalet and Dormin found something to read from the small selections of Karl's books.

Dormin upturned the bag with the homeless man's clothes. 'Time to get changed.' He took off his shoes, pants, shirt, and heard whispering and giggling behind him. 'What?' he asked when he looked back at Adalet and Terry leaning back in their seats watching him intently.

Terry grinned at him. 'Oh, nothing. We were just hoping there was some appropriate music for the show.'

He shook his head and tried to ignore the smell while he dressed in the unwashed garments. For shoes he had taken a pair of old flat sneakers from Karl and dirtied them with motor oil and some paint he found in the garage. Adalet helped him apply make-up on his face to hide his features and mess up his hair.

He took the small bottle of liquor and put it in one of the coat pockets. 'They shouldn't recognise me now.'

Adalet hummed her approval. 'I like the look from this morning much more.' she said. Terry nodded in agreement.

He refrained from agreeing about what he saw that morning and pulled an old cap over his head. 'Let's just get this over with.'

***

Adalet parked the car at an underground car park far enough from Terry's place. Dormin stepped out, drank some of the liquor and spilled some down his front. Adalet leaned out the window. 'Be careful.'

He flashed her a grin. 'No worries, it's almost like the old days.'

The women saw him go to the ramp, then go forward with a light sway and stagger and disappear around the corner. Adalet sighed and leaned back in her seat. 'And now we wait.'

Dormin had gone a few blocks and was glad he pulled of the drunken look judging from the reaction of people passing him on the street. He turned the corner of the street close to Terry's place when he spotted the large black car parked between other cars on a barren lot between two buildings. A man in dark suit stood behind it, shook his arm and stepped back into the car.

Dormin grinned a little as he staggered past the car and saw two men in it with a glance. He continued his way, crossed the street, went down an alley and entered the back of the building where Terry lived.

It was quiet inside, he hurried up the stairs and staggered along the hallway past the door of Terry's apartment to the other end, then returned after he was satisfied no one was present. He went inside her apartment quickly and looked around.

Various computer cases stood in one corner, their contents spilling out of their open sides. A table held stacks of books and papers and a disassembled laptop. One corner was occupied with a couch, a low table with large screen on top, and three different gaming consoles underneath. At one wall stood a rack with large plastic bins containing electronic parts. Two of them contained laptops with bits and wires sticking out and large labels marked defects on the side. From these he pulled out the two laptops that Terry had instructed him to get, together with three power supplies. He took off the coat and sweater, taped the laptops and power supplies to his front and back, then dressed again and listened at the door for activity before slipping out and going back to the street.

For the way back he took a different route. One block further he saw two bulky men in plain jeans and jackets standing at the side of the street. They were looking around and one of them was smoking. He took another swig from his bottle and continued his walk, muttering to himself.

The one who smoked threw his cigarette away when Dormin passed them. 'Hey, you!'

Dormin kept walking and muttering until the other man grabbed him by his arm. 'Hey! Are you deaf!?'

Dormin swayed and rolled his eyes looking back at the man. The man held up a photo taken by a security camera of Terry. 'Have you seen this fox around here?'

Dormin put his face close to the photo for a moment and cackled. 'S'fox..? Or dog..?'

The man grabbed his arm harder and leaned closer to his face. 'Have, you, seen, this, fox!?'

Dormin swallowed and let out a long burp. The man pulled back in disgust and pushed Dormin away. He fell on the ground and groaned. 'D'you di that forr? S'not nice..'

'Get out of here!' the man said and waved him off.

Dormin staggered to his feet and muttered louder as he continued on his way. One block further he chuckled and staggered less to get to the car quicker.

At the back entrance to the car park he glanced around, moved inside and slipped in the back of his car. 'Got it. Let's go.'

Adalet started the car and drove onto the street.

***

Dormin was glad he could take off the dirty clothes back at Karl's place. Terry and Adalet peeled off the tape and Terry scrunched her nose at her laptops. 'Gross! I'll smell that for days!'

Dormin chuckled. 'Just be glad I didn't have to drag them through a sewer.'

'You might have as well.'

Adalet stashed the clothes back into the bag and brought it down to the garage while Terry wiped her laptops with a damp rag and Dormin hurried to take a shower.

When he returned after a good scrub he saw Adalet looking over Terry's shoulder while she was busy typing. 'You have everything you need?'

Terry nodded. 'With these I can crack the few wireless networks around here and use them to make a secure connection to servers I own at different data centres. From there I can go where I want.' She and Adalet grinned again as they watched him in nothing but his pants. 'That's better.'

He rolled his eyes and grabbed a glass and bottle of liquor from the kitchen. 'Don't ogle, you'll damage the merchandise.'

Adalet sat down. 'Seems we can't damage it more than it already is though. How'd you get that burn?'

Dormin poured himself a glass and took a drink. 'Mission that went wrong. Was lucky that I got away.' he said and looked at the pictures on the wall.

Adalet nodded and looked at Terry who was busy typing again. 'I found some info on Ebo Bankole. He's a software specialist at Elecore and specialises in communication protocols.'

Adalet leaned closer when Terry turned the laptop screen towards her and looked at the black man's picture on his company profile page. 'So he might be the one who knows how and where those portables connect to.'

Terry nodded while pulling up his personal page in a social space on the grid. 'He's married, has a young son, and it seems he's keeping in shape by jogging at a park near his house. Judging from the photos he does that in the evening.'

Dormin stretched his legs. 'Sounds like a good opportunity to have a chat with him tomorrow.'

Terry put her laptop aside and gave a nod to the bottle on the table. 'Since we'll have to wait that long anyway, let me have some of that.'

'I'll join.' said Adalet as she stood up and fetched glasses from the kitchen.

Terry played music through one of her laptops. Adalet let out a laugh and Terry looked puzzled at her. 'I'm suddenly reminded of the time I had to show up at some guy because his neighbour played loud music.' Adalet said. 'I rang and knocked on the neighbour's door but there was no answer. Thinking something might have happened I picked the lock and entered the house only to find no one there but a cat. I turned down the volume on the stereo and checked every room for the guy living there. When I came down I sat down to write a note.' She chuckled. 'While I was writing it I noticed the cat walking up to the stereo, it was on a low shelf, sniffing the front and and rubbing its cheek against the volume knob, turning it up until the music was too loud and it hurried away!' She chuckled and grinned. 'I turned down the volume and at that moment the guy came home, confused about what was going on. I told him what the cat had done. The guy groaned when he realised why. He was busy preparing fish and needed to get something from the store, turned down the volume on the stereo and left. He was so distracted he hadn't washed his hands and the volume knob smelled of fish!'

Terry and Dormin laughed and drank to that. More funny stories followed from all three and halfway the second bottle Terry gave up. She stared at Dormin, looked at Adalet who giggled, then back at Dormin again. 'How come you're not as drunk as us?'

He chuckled. 'For some reason I can't. I used to, and then I didn't get more than tipsy all of a sudden.'

'That's unfair. All the work but none of the pleasure.'

He laughed. 'Yeah, you could say that.'

Adalet chuckled. 'Some people are like that. And some can't handle even one drop of alcohol.'

'Well, I'm going to bed.' Terry said and pushed herself up from the chair. The next moment she fell forward. Dormin shot forward and caught her just before she hit the ground. She looked up at him in his arms. 'Whoops.'

Adalet giggled hard. 'My turn.' she said and pushed herself up from her chair. She was more careful and only swayed a little on her feet. 'Aww.. I don't need to be saved by the strong and handsome hero.'

Dormin lifted Terry up on her feet and supported her with one arm around her waist. Adalet took one step and stood still. 'I think I do need to be saved. The world is spinning too much.' She looked at Dormin. 'What the hell is in that stuff?'

'Something I'm not giving you two again.' he said and manoeuvred next to Adalet with Terry to wrap his other arm around her waist. 'I didn't think I'd have to put you to bed.'

Both women giggled while he led them to the bedroom. Adalet turned her head to whisper in his ear. 'Is that really a problem, taking two pretty women to bed?' He blushed and let the women down gently on the bed. Terry grinned at him. 'He doesn't get drunk, but he can turn red in the face.'

Dormin smiled and shook his head. 'Sleep tight, ladies. You can tell me how much you regret what you did when you wake up.'

Terry stuck out her tongue at him. 'Spoilsport!' she said and giggled.

Dormin gave them a little wave and headed back to he living area. Adalet let herself fall back on the bed and hid her face with her hands. 'Oh geez.. I can't believe I actually flirted with him. I've never done that before.'

Terry moved back and rolled on her side. 'Never?'

Adalet shook her head. 'Never. I don't know what's come over me.'

Terry giggled. 'Well, I must admit he's the first guy that caught my interest as well.'

Adalet looked at her between her fingers. 'You never dated before too?'

Terry started undressing while she laid back on the bed. 'I only had an interest in computers ever since I discovered those. Guys I knew tried to get close to me but I was just not into them. Thought maybe I was more interested in girls for a while but that wasn't it either.'

Adalet followed Terry's example and started undressing. 'Maybe it's just a temporary thing. Maybe we'll be over it in a few days.'

Terry dropped her clothes and shorts next to the bed and crawled under the sheet closing her eyes. 'Maybe. It's interesting though.'

Adalet moved under the other side of the sheet when she was done undressing, giggled once and closed her eyes. 'Yeah. Or weird.'

Dormin finished his drink and made himself comfortable in the chair. He didn't want to imagine what might have happened if he hadn't restrained himself and how much they might regret that later.

***

By the time Adalet and Terry had woken up and flushed most of the fog in their heads down the shower drain, Dormin had made a quick trip to another convenience store. He handed them both a hot mug of coffee with a little grin. 'And how are you doing now?'

Terry gave him a smile. 'Okay, actually. I don't really suffer from hangovers.'

Adalet grinned. 'I just need a little more time to really wake up.'

Dormin returned to his seat and his own coffee. 'Good, because who knows what will happen tonight when we visit Bankole.'

***

'This doesn't make much difference from hacking.' Terry said from the back of the car parked in the street where Ebo Bankole lived. 'Waiting for something to happen.'

Adalet chuckled. 'I'll call you next time there's a stake out.'

'As long as I get to use a computer.'

They were waiting on one of the small car parks. It was clear to them he did well for himself, the neighbourhood was made up of single stand alone three storey homes. The street was empty at this time. Seemed the people preferred to stay in their homes and stare at their big screens, judging from the views inside their living rooms. Trees lined up the street and the streetlights in between gave the street a relaxed atmosphere.

Adalet sighed at the thought of having one metre of empty space between her and her neighbours. 'This house here, your warehouse place, I'm only living a step better than Terry's apartment.'

Terry shifted in her seat. 'Actually, that's just to keep up appearances for my cover.'

Adalet leaned her head back against the headrest. 'Don't tell me you have some luxurious place in the country.'

'No, I don't. But I could buy at least a few with the money I saved up in the last few years.'

Adalet stared at the roof of the car for a few moments. 'After this whole thing is done, I don't ever want to see you guys again.'

Terry chuckled and Dormin smiled a little.

Ebo appeared from the side of his house in a blue training suit with white stripes, looked left and right, and jogged towards the park at the end of the street.

Dormin opened his door. 'Time for a walk.' he said and started his jog along the other side of the street in a training suit he had found in Karl's closet.

Ebo took a deep breath when he jogged into the park. Despite still being in the city, the dense population of trees here made the air more breathable than downtown or at the office park he worked at. The ring of trees surrounding it also blocked the view of the city and with a little imagination he could pretend to run in the country each time.

He took his usual round which was long enough to counteract the damage from working at a desk all day but didn't take up too much time before dinner. And he could squeeze it in at a time when there were few people at the park. Like the jogger who passed him now.

'Good evening, mister Bankole. I'd like a word with you.'

Ebo looked sideways at the man jogging next to him. 'Do I know you?'

Dormin glanced at him. 'No, but I know a little about you, the important part being you work at Elecore and you've been working with some very interesting hardware.'

Ebo's heart pounded harder. 'Who are you!? What do you want!?'

Dormin gave him a polite smile. 'Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that we know the hardware you've been working on is important enough for security at your company to try to kill certain persons for. Including law enforcement. We don't really like that.'

Ebo stared dead ahead. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

'We saw the hardware trying to gain access to anything it could get in contact with. Someone must have taught it how to do that and we want to access it to stop doing that. And since your name was mentioned on the paperwork for those things, you're our lead.'

Ebo glanced around him. 'I can't tell you anything. It's all top secret and it's not safe to break the rules. I can't even quit my job for fear of what they might do.'

'Well, I'm good at breaking rules, and other things.'

Ebo swallowed and felt cold sweat running down his back. 'Look, I would endanger not just myself, but my family. So unless you can do something about that, all the breaking you think of doing won't make a difference.'

Dormin glanced at Ebo's face. 'All right, what if we could make you and your family disappear? Can you start a new life without going back to anything in your current one?'

Ebo's eyes went wide. 'What? You mean like a new identity and all?'

'Yes.'

Ebo thought about the current situation of being dragged into working on a project he suspected wasn't quite as legal as they had made it out to be. There was something about the origin of the portable units and the code source that worried him. He didn't want to think about getting arrested by some agency one day over this. Or get killed. Even if this chance was low, he needed to take it. 'Get my family to safety and I'll tell you what I know.'

Dormin nodded. 'I'll get back to you.' he said and held out his fist to Ebo.

He hesitated for a moment, then bumped his fist with the stranger. The man took a different path and jogged out of sight between the trees. He let out a quick and deep breath and let the shakes take over his body. He had no idea what would happen from now on, but if it meant keeping his family safe he'd do whatever it took.

Dormin slowed down near the car, put his foot on a low stone planter and retied his shoe, glancing around. The only other person in the street was a woman walking away with her dog at the other end of the street. He slipped quickly into the car. 'Can either of you get a new identity for his family?'

Adalet raised her eyebrow. 'What, why?'

'He's not talking because it would put his family in danger, so we have to find a way to make them disappear.'

Terry leaned forward between the front seats. 'I know a guy who can make all sorts of identifications. And I can add new records to several official databases to create a legit background. They'd have to move to a city on the other side of the country though.'

Dormin nodded. 'I get the feeling he'd have no problem with that.'

Adalet started the car and drove away, passing Ebo on his way back home.

***

Terry returned to the car after the visit to a small shop specialising in gaming hardware, located in an obscure part of the city with enough small streets to look like a maze. She stepped into the back after a quick check for people watching her. 'They can provide the items in one day when we supply them the photos.'

Adalet watched the antique neon sign flashing at the front of the shop. 'I know a few people in this business, but I've never known about that shop.'

Terry grinned. 'You can get a lot more done in the gamer scene than you could with your standard criminals.'

Adalet chuckled and drove off. 'Guess I'll have to start hanging around some new places in the future.'

'Just don't tell anyone you know me.'

Adalet stopped the car a few blocks down. 'I need some new things to wear while I can't go back home yet.' She turned to Terry. 'Don't you?'

Terry nodded. 'Yeah. Otherwise I might end up wearing the same outfit as Dormin.' she said and chuckled.

He gave her a look. 'Hey, I need some new things too. Karl's taste in clothing isn't the same as mine. Do you have enough cash though? Don't pay with a card.'

'Oh right.' said Adalet. 'But then I don't have enough for all the things I need.'

'No worries.' said Terry. 'I have a card for a decoy account. No one will know it's us.'

'I don't want you to need to spend on me though.'

Terry grinned. 'I can take it. Besides, you saved my life so it's just a little pay back.'

Together they went into a short covered shopping street with a few clothing stores in between, keeping their faces away from the cameras at the entrance. Dormin went into a men's shop and the women into a larger fashion store further back.

He was the first one to return to the car with the women coming back just minutes later, then drove back to Karl's place via a detour to avoid traffic cameras.

Dormin first took a shower back at Karl's place and when he came out he saw Adalet had changed into a white night shirt with thin vertical black stripes, and Terry into a black night shirt with one of the animal characters from a popular game. The shirts hung loose but hid little of the smooth shape of the top of their breasts and the tiny bumps sticking out. He only took a glance to avoid creating a shape of his own in his pants and sat down.

Adalet chuckled when she watched Dormin wear only his black pants. 'We might as well share outfits with you only wearing the bottom half and us wearing only the top half. Saves money too.'

Terry leaned back in her chair with her laptop and smiled a little mischievous. 'Actually, I wear nothing at all when I'm home, so if I do that here it would save even more money.'

Adalet chuckled again. 'I'll bet he wouldn't mind if you did.'

Terry gazed over the laptop screen at Dormin. 'Oh? Wouldn't you?'

Dormin gave her a little smirk. 'I don't think my heart could take the extra strain on top of the both of you looking so sexy now.'

'Even when you've already seen me in my fur yesterday, including her?'

He chuckled. 'I can survive if it's for just a moment. All day is something else.'

Terry looked at Adalet blushing. 'I'm tempted to see what happens. You in?'

Adalet glanced at Dormin before getting out of her chair and heading to the kitchen. 'I think I'll have a snack. Anyone want some?'

Terry chuckled. 'Depends on the snack. But I'll have a shot anyway while I set up a couple more fake bank accounts for you. Then we don't need to carry a lot of cash around.'

Adalet grabbed an energy bar and the leftover liquor and glasses. 'But what about the money for those?'

'No worries. I've manipulated funds from several criminals who were busted because of some anonymous info I sent to the police. I had sent most of it to charities and kept some of it for myself in case it ever came in handy. Like now.'

Adalet nodded as she sat down. 'We can really use someone like you on the force.'

Terry smiled a little. 'Too many restricting rules. And I'm not completely clean either.'

'Well, if you don't mind I'd like to ask for your help in the future when I can use your skills on a case.'

Terry gave her a smile. 'Sure. Happy to help.'

When she was done later Terry gave Adalet an account in the name of Amanda Silva, Dormin one in the name of Dave Ostberg, for herself a new one with the name Tammy Vaughn, and had sent photos and a request for new identifications to her contact.

Dormin looked up from Terry's other laptop which he used to work out a plan for Ebo and his family while distracting him from glancing at the two pairs of shapely legs in front of him constantly. 'Facial recognition will pick up our duplicate photos though when they do a search.'

Terry shook her head. 'I've manipulated the photos so they look different to the algorithms scanning them. But they still look like us.'

Dormin smiled at her. 'Nice job.'

She grinned and stretched. 'It's just something I have an affinity for.'

Adalet yawned when she was done checking the police network through the connection Terry had set up on her mobile. 'They're looking for you, Dormin, in connection to the disappearance of me. They have no matching ballistic reports on the shells found at your home.'

Dormin nodded. 'I'm not really surprised at that.'

Adalet put away her mobile and stood up. 'Well, I'm getting to bed. Staring at a screen for too long always makes me sleepy.'

Terry put away her laptop. 'I don't have that problem, but I'm tired enough to call it a night.' she said and stood up. 'Good night, and don't do anything weird while thinking of our sexy looks.'

'Terry!' Adalet said and blushed.

Terry sniggered. 'Kidding.'

Adalet sighed. 'Good night.' she said and followed Terry to the bedroom.

Dormin chuckled. 'Good night, ladies.' he said while watching Terry's tail sway seductively and the curves of Adalet's behind underneath the cover of her night shirt. He sat back and continued working on his plan to distract himself again.

***

Dormin joined up with Ebo on his run the next evening. 'We can arrange everything for you to start a new life at another city. How do they feel about turning their life upside down at once?'

Ebo looked up at the early evening sky for a moment. 'My wife knows the stress I've been having lately, she has no problem leaving and starting somewhere fresh. My son is a bit of a loner. I don't think leaving will be a hurdle to him.' He glanced at Dormin. 'Can you guarantee we'll be safe?'

Dormin pondered about the answer. 'I can't guarantee anything more than us trying to prepare for any contingency. It's going to be your decision in the end.'

Ebo and Dormin jogged in silence for a while, the only sounds their steps on the gravel path and the occasional bird up in a tree.

Ebo clenched his jaw for a second before he could get himself to make his definite answer. 'All right. At least you're honest.'

Dormin gave a nod. 'We'll be in touch.'

Ebo saw him take a different path again and sighed. He doubted he'd get any sleep that night.

Dormin stepped into the car with Adalet and Terry. 'It's on.'

Terry took out her mobile. 'I'll confirm the order for IDs.'

Adalet drove away and glanced at Dormin. 'Have you got a plan to get them out?'

'I think so. I'll need your help to make it work, Terry.' he said.

'Okay, what do you need?' she asked.

'We're going to substitute the family and make them dead.'

***

Terry looked at the login from the system used by the city morgue. She took a shot at several names and standard passwords and got in fairly quickly. 'Okay, I'm in. What are we looking for?'

Dormin tried to ignore certain instincts while she sat on his lap in her night shirt. When he had asked her to infiltrate the system she picked up her laptop and sat on his lap with the excuse of letting him look at the screen at the same time. If he'd lose his cool now she'd definitely notice. 'Three bodies similar to Ebo and his family. Check for homeless people.'

'You want to use them to think they died?' she asked. 'They won't look the same.'

'I know, which is why we also need to stage a little fire and you need to change their dental records so what they find will match. A lot of these homeless people are used for medical experiments and education, so we designate three for delivery to one of the schools, then pick them up later and remove their records to make them disappear. No one will know.'

Terry nodded. 'Okay. Let's see who's available.' she said and shifted a little on his lap.

He hoped they'd find the right bodies before the warmth, softness, and scent of hers became too much for him. Especially with Adalet trying to hide her grin.

A little later he was relieved they were done. Terry's tail stroked his crotch while she stood up and he got an eyeful of her behind. She looked at the bottom of her laptop for a few seconds before returning to her seat, satisfied with the blush she had created on his face.

Adalet leaned her head closer to Terry's while Dormin concentrated behind the other laptop working on the rest of the plan. 'You're going to make him attack us in our sleep.' she whispered.

Terry grinned a little. 'You don't have to thank me.'

Adalet opened her mouth and closed it again. 'You really are a fox.'

Terry nodded and returned to her usual information gathering.

***

Adalet woke up at the end of the day and sat up in bed, waiting until she could stop yawning. Terry stirred next to her and rolled over, facing her. 'Time to get up again?' she mumbled.

Adalet nodded slowly. 'Yeah.'

'Aren't you disappointed?'

'Why that?'

'That he didn't try to take us while we slept?'

Adalet snorted and coughed while Terry chuckled. 'You really are bad!' she said when she could breath normal again. 'I can't believe you had no interest in men before.'

Terry rolled on her back and grinned sleepily. 'Well, you're suddenly interested in him too.'

Adalet blushed. 'But I'm not behaving like a cat in heat.'

'Only when you were drunk.'

Adalet looked up at the grey ceiling. 'Oh geez, don't remind me.' she said and stood up. 'I need a shower.'

Terry sniggered a little and stretched to chase away her sleepiness.

Adalet came out of the shower smelling something she had first smelled some days before. She found Dormin cooking a similar dish he had made before at his home.

He threw a mix of chopped vegetables in the wok and started stirring. 'I turned on the gas and and bought a wok when I did the groceries after I woke up. Thought we could use a good meal to start the night.'

Adalet peeked into the wok. 'Only meat and vegetables?'

He nodded. 'Don't want to make it too heavy with pasta, rice, or potatoes. And it's chicken only this time, although in two flavours.'

Terry came up to them. 'Smells great.'

'He said it's one of his favourite style dishes.' Adalet said.

Terry smiled. 'Ohh.. Good looks and can cook. We'll have to keep him.'

Dormin chuckled. 'Shut up and grab some plates.'

***

Dormin parked the second hand car they had bought from an elderly man, who retired to a nursing home, on one of the small car parks in the street behind the block where Ebo lived. He took a path between two houses to the small backstreet, walked along it to Ebo's place and jumped the fence after making sure no one saw him. He knocked softly at the backdoor and a surprised Ebo showed up. He let Dormin into the kitchen quickly.

'We've got a plan to get you and your family to safety.' Dormin said. 'We're ready to execute it tomorrow.'

Ebo nodded. 'Okay. By the looks of it the project with that hardware is done and I haven't seen some people who worked on it since several days. And no word on where they went.'

Dormin frowned. 'I hope it's not as bad as it sounds.'

'Ebo?' came a voice from the hallway. The next moment his wife Lilli walked into the kitchen and was startled by the presence of Dormin.

Ebo took the slim, blonde woman gently by her arm. 'Lilli, this is the man I spoke with in the park. He said they have a plan to take us away tomorrow.'

Dormin gave her a nod. 'But it does mean leaving everything behind, even things with sentimental value that can identify you.'

She looked at Ebo, then back at Dormin and nodded. 'I understand, but it's better than what spooks Ebo.' A knock on the front door startled her.

Dormin peeked out of the doorway to the front door but saw only a silhouette through the small window next to it. 'Are you expecting anyone?'

Ebo peeked from behind him. 'No.'

Dormin looked at Lilli and gestured to a corner of the kitchen. 'Stay here. Where's your son?'

Lilli looked up. 'Paki's upstairs in his room. Probably listening to music through his headphones.'

There was another knock on the door. 'Good.' said Dormin and turned to Ebo. 'See who it is, and if it's trouble lead them here.'

Ebo nodded quickly and hurried with a racing heart to the door. He opened it and stared into the grim face of one of the security agents he had seen at work. A glance at the pistol he held was enough to drain the blood from his face.

The man pushed him back and stepped inside with another man following him and closing the door. 'Where's your family?' Ebo gestured back with a trembling hand. The man pushed him forward to the kitchen. As soon as Ebo stepped through the door he was pushed aside hard by Dormin. He twisted the man's gun from his hand and fired it twice in the man's stomach. The man behind him was too startled to react quickly and Dormin shot him twice in the chest.

'Shit!' Dormin said and reached a hand out to Ebo to help him up.

Paki almost stumbled down the stairs when he rushed down. 'Mom! Dad!' he shouted and froze at the sight in the hallway.

'Paki!' said Ebo. 'It's all right! We're safe!' He gestured for the boy to come and he moved quickly to his father.

Lilli hurried to them and cupped Ebo's cheek and touched his chest. 'Are you okay!? You're not hurt, are you!?'

Ebo took her by her shoulders. 'I'm okay. Just scared.'

She nodded and hugged him and her son tight while he glanced at the two bodies on the floor. 'The first one works security at Elecore. I don't know the second one.'

Dormin nodded and checked for any identification but found none. 'This wasn't planned, but maybe it's a good thing.' he said and called Adalet. 'Change of plans. We move them tonight.' He disconnected and scanned the back through the window. 'With any luck no one will have noticed the gun shots.'

'These houses have thick insulation.' said Ebo. 'The neighbours will have heard nothing.'

Dormin nodded. 'Good, because we need time now and not more people showing up.'

By the time Adalet and Terry arrived at the house, the family had packed their essential things and was waiting in the living room.

'Oh great.' said Adalet when she saw the bodies and smelled the burned gun powder. 'More complications. When these are found they'll have a new mystery on their hands.'

'Maybe not.' said Dormin and looked at Terry. 'Can you add a record to the ballistics database?'

Terry nodded. 'You want to plant evidence pointing to Elecore?'

'It just so happened that out of all the unregistered weapons one was indeed registered.'

She grinned. 'Consider it done.'

He turned to Adalet. 'Did you bring the bodies?'

She nodded and gestured back. 'I borrowed the van from the morgue.' She gave a nod to the dead men. 'Make it look like they were killed in a struggle?'

'Yeah. Husband wrestles first assailant, second one shoots wife and son in the back as they try to flee, husband gets lucky and shoots the first one, but gets shot when he shoots the second assailant. During the struggle a couple of burning candles fell and set fire to the kitchen, household cleaners accelerate the fire.'

Adalet gazed at him. 'You're good at this.'

He glanced at her. 'Don't ask.'

She nodded. 'Let's get to work then.'

Terry took Lilli and Paki out the back where they kept out of sight in the shadows. Adalet and Dormin retrieved the bodies from the van while Ebo set the table in the kitchen as if for dinner, put some food out, and lit a couple of candles in the living room.

He couldn't watch while Dormin shot the bodies with the guns from the security agents and laid them out with Adalet while trashing the kitchen step by step according to the scenario he thought up. She felt squeamish and was a little surprised about how cool Dormin kept during the whole thing. She suspected he didn't have a regular career in the military.

Adalet left to take back the van while Dormin took Ebo out the back and lit the tablecloth on the floor on fire. To prevent the fire alarm going off too soon in the house he had shot the unit hanging from the kitchen ceiling and made it look like an unfortunate shot.

He waited for a moment to make sure the fire spread and joined the rest at the back. 'Okay, time to start your new life.' he said and led them unseen to the car he came in.

He drove while Terry handed Ebo the new identities for him and his family, the address of a simple apartment in a middle class apartment building in their new home town, and a paper with their short history written like a homework essay. 'If someone sees this they won't think it's weird.' she said. 'Now for your end of the deal.' She pulled out the portable and opened it. 'How do we get in?'

Ebo showed her the sequence of presses on a couple of flat buttons on the side to unlock it and the combination to lock it. Terry unlocked and locked it a couple of times and nodded, then folded the portable. 'This thing tries to automatically connect to anything it can see. How do we stop that?'

'I don't know.' said Ebo. 'I only worked on it to make it talk in any protocol ever used through any medium on the known worlds. The workings of this thing, I don't know. But from what I've glimpsed I'd say it's way more advanced than any operating system in use in any world today. Just like the hardware.'

Terry nodded. 'This is going to be fun.'

Dormin pulled over near an intersection to a road leading out of the city. 'This is where we part.' he said and he, Terry, and Ebo got out. He shook Ebo's hand before he'd drive further. 'Good luck.'

Ebo gave him a nod. 'Thank you, for everything. All of you.'

Terry and Dormin watched the family drive down the road for a while until Adalet stopped his car next to them. 'I heard the fire department is busy extinguishing the fire and have alerted the police about possible foul play.' she said as they got in. 'I expect they'll have analysed the bullets tomorrow, then you can use that data to add a registration, Terry.'

'Okay.' said Terry from the back behind her laptop. 'I just removed the bodies from the morgue database.'

'Then all we need to do now is wait for them to take a look at Elecore.' Dormin said.

'And find a dead zone where I can have a close look at this thing.' Terry said as she gave her bag with the portable a pat. 'But I think I already know where.'

***

Adalet parked the car in a small street at another warehouse district of the city. The buildings here were cheap steel construction and housed mostly one man shops. Terry pointed to one from an artist who mostly welded pieces of rusted car parts to other pieces of rusted car parts.

Dormin stared at one piece for a few moments. 'Very post apocalyptic.'

Terry fiddled at the door knob and opened it. 'The lock's busted enough to get the door open if you twiddle it just right. I know this through a hacker friend who had a thing with the artist for a while.' Inside she put her bag on a work bench and used her mobile to do a scan for signals. 'As I thought. All this steel made this a dead zone for radio signals.' She pulled out the portable, unfolded it and unlocked it. She watched the activity in two windows for a while, then started typing in another one.

'Lucky.' she said. 'I see it knows familiar commands. That makes it easier.'

Adalet and Dormin checked out the art in the meantime, or what they suspected could be art.

After a few minutes they heard Terry call out 'Got it!'.

Adalet looked at several documents on the screen. 'What do we have here?'

'Someone left some documents in a temporary directory which describe plans to infiltrate the government with people to widen the company's influence and increase their power and revenue.' Terry said. 'They basically want to control the decision makers.'

'Oh, this makes for some juicy news.' Adalet said. 'I see they want to get rid of governor Mueller first.'

Dormin folded his arms. 'I think the man should get some anonymous mail.'

Terry attached a memory stick to the portable and after testing the commands copied the documents over to the stick. 'I'll make sure it arrives at his desk.' She searched and tried a few more things and finally found a command to block the OS from communicating. 'We're done. Let's go back before we're found here.'

On the drive to Karl's place Terry used an automated print service to print the documents and send them to the governor's office.

Close Contact

All three needed a drink and when they came back to Karl's place they had made sure to have brought enough to satisfy that urge. Dormin poured a round and held up his glass. 'To the downfall of those messing with us.' Adalet and Terry chuckled and clinked with him.

The women showered first and when Dormin got out they already had a buzz going. They were exchanging a few more funny stories and smiled at him when he came in wearing only black loose pants. His still moist toned body glistened in the dim light and drops of water fell from his wet hair. He saw them stare. 'What?'

Terry chuckled. 'Nothing, just enjoying the view.'

He chuckled and sat down.

She turned to Adalet. 'So, when we finish tomorrow and Elecore gets an official visit, you can go back to your job?'

Adalet nodded. 'Yeah. No need to worry about men in suits trying to kill me.'

'But what are you going to tell them where you've been these last few days?'

Adalet stared at Dormin. 'Oh shit, that's right.'

Dormin chuckled. 'I guess I need an excuse too.'

Adalet frowned. 'Can't tell them about anything we did. Even the shooting at your place.'

'Well, none of the guns used were registered, right?' asked Terry. 'So no one knows you were involved.'

Adalet nodded. 'Yeah, we could say we weren't there at the time and it could have been rival gangs who happen to cross paths there.'

'But that still leaves us disappearing for days.'

Terry slumped back in her seat and grinned. 'Now, what would be a good reason for two people to be gone for a few days? A handsome and somewhat mysterious man and a beautiful woman, hmm?'

Adalet and Dormin stared at each other and both knew the answer. Adalet looked away and blushed. 'That's too difficult for me. I can't lie about that. They'd see right through me.'

'Then why not make it real?'

Adalet's eyes went wide. 'What are you saying!?'

Terry grinned at Adalet. 'I'm saying he's just as interested in you as you are in him. He's been glancing at your hard nipples poking your shirt all this time.' She turned her gaze to Dormin. 'And between my legs from the moment I spread them in my slumped posture.'

Dormin chuckled and emptied his glass. 'How could I not? You damned women are too attractive to keep my head cool for long. I had to take cold showers here.'

Terry smiled deviously at him. 'Looks like that didn't help, judging from your bulge there. What do you say, Adalet?'

Adalet glanced at the bulge in Dormin's pants and licked her lips. 'I, don't know.'

'I think we should just give him some release and get some ourselves.'

Dormin smiled at her. 'You're sure you want to do this?'

Terry stood up, took Adalet's hand and pulled her up and along to Dormin's chair. 'When a woman comes across a man who raises her interest for the first time in her life, I'd say that makes it sure enough.' she said and smiled at him.

Adalet couldn't take her eyes off of him. She was nervous, but also more excited than ever before. She might as well give in because she thought she might never feel like this again if she never saw him again.

Terry pulled Adalet down on her knees and Dormin raised his hips so she could pull down his pants and reveal what it hid. She licked her lips. 'Now I understand the hunger some women feel.'

Dormin chuckled. 'That's dangerous coming from you.'

She grinned and put her hand on him. 'Better hold very still then.' She looked at Adalet whose eyes were transfixed on him. 'Feel how hot it is.'

Adalet reached out, hesitated for a moment until Dormin took her hand and gently pulled her hand against him. The heat was more than she had expected.

'Now imagine that inside you.' whispered Terry and both women experienced a similar tingle between their legs.

Terry leaned closer and stroked him with her muzzle from base to tip and back. Dormin smiled softly. 'That feels nice.' Adalet let go of all her inhibitions and leaned closer as well, using her lips to stroke his other side. 'Very nice.' whispered Dormin, the muscles in his abdomen tensing lightly.

The women parted their wet lips a little and caressed him. Dormin thought the blood pressure couldn't go any higher before he would explode when they began to use the tips of their tongues. Terry's was rougher and wide, Adalet's was softer and smaller. The itch inside him grew with every stroke. 'Wow, this feels weirdly good.' The women chuckled and pressed their lips harder against him, sucking intermittently and their tongues leaving wet trails. One moment their mouths moved in unison, the next in opposite directions. And ever further around him. Adalet moaned softly when her lips touched Terry's around him and Terry growled softly in return.

Short electric shocks shot from his tip down to the base and through his legs into his toes when they ran their tongues together around his sensitive tip. He gripped the arm rests of the chair tight. 'Oh damn!' he groaned. He trembled when they continued to lick him there until he relaxed when Adalet closed her mouth around him. 'That was torture..' he sighed 'Although the best I could experience.' Adalet grinned and played with her tongue around him and sucked gently while Terry wrapped her lips around his base and stroked him firm with her tongue.

When a salty taste hit her tongue she pulled back. 'Taste him now.' she whispered to Terry while she licked her lips and spread it all over them. Terry wrapped her tongue around him and sucked gently, then pulled back to let the taste roll over her tongue and through her mouth. Adalet closed her lips around him again and bobbed her head slowly up and down with her soft tongue exploring every detail of him. Dormin groaned harder as the itch in him grew. 'Damn.. This feels good..'

Adalet pulled back, smiled at him, and Terry slid her muzzle over him. Her rougher tongue made him tremble down to his toes again and groan harder again. 'But damn.. This is also good.. '

Terry pulled back and Adalet took her place until Terry took her turn again. Alternating between them they continued to push Dormin between two sides of pleasure and deeper groans. 'How about us both at the same time?' Terry said and she and Adalet locked their mouths together around his tip and let their tongues play and dance around each other. Dormin trembled with the itch inside him about to explode until the women bit gently on him. 'Can't hold back..' he groaned.

The release almost made his heart implode and his whole body stiffened while he pumped their hungry mouths full of his essence with a guttural groan. Terry and Adalet licked and swallowed every drop eagerly with hungry moans, their hands interlocked around his throbbing base.

Dormin smiled softly at Adalet and Terry while he caught his breath and let his heart calm down. 'That, was, fantastic.' The women smiled back as they licked their lips and he leaned forward. 'Let me return the favour.'

He stood up, took their hands to have them stand up and pulled them close with his strong arms around their waists. First he caressed Adalet's lips with his own, then Terry's before returning to Adalet, kissing and pulling on her lips with his own. The smell of liquor was still on their breaths. He pulled back, slid his hands down to let his fingers roam their behinds and kissed Terry softly.

The women twisted their hips slowly, grinding against his strong thighs and his hands. Adalet moaned softly when the desire grew in her abdomen and she slid her tongue between Dormin's lips when he returned to kiss her. He took her invitation and let his tongue slide along hers in a sensual dance while their mouths closed on each other.

Out of breath she pulled back and he caressed her nose with his, then caressed Terry's nose who looked with longing in his eyes for her kiss. She opened her mouth and he slid his over hers, sliding his tongue along her agile one and her fangs. She wrapped his tongue with hers, pulling him in to take all of her while she pressed her chest firmer against his.

When they let loose they were both out of breath but Dormin kissed Adalet softly again before another kiss with Terry. They smiled wide at him and pulled him hard against their bodies. He squeezed their behinds gently. 'Off to bed. I need more room so I can use my hands and more to play with your bodies.' They giggled and took his hands as they moved to the bedroom.

Adalet and Terry sat on their knees on the bed with Dormin's knees between their legs. Terry's ears twitched and her tail swayed in excitement while Adalet licked her lips and stroked her thighs. Dormin leaned forward to kiss Terry and Adalet again, then moved down their necks, kissing each of the women in turn while his hands moved along their abdomen and sides. Adalet and Terry both sighed while he kissed and nuzzled the sides of their necks. He moved further down and alternated his kisses between the top of their chests. Their desire for more made them raise theirs to meet his lips.

He smiled softly and stroked their thighs while he lowered his kisses and went around each small hill in ever tightening circles. 'These feel so good, I could touch them all day long.' Adalet and Terry used one hand to stroke him and run the fingers of the other through his hair at the back of his head. They glanced at each other. 'And neither of us would mind you doing that.' whispered Terry.

When he reached their hard tips he caressed each with his lips, then teased them with the tip of his tongue until they had to hold back pushing his head hard into their chests. At that moment he bit gently and made their chests shiver while they let out high pitched moans one by one. 'Ohh.. You can do that more often for sure..' sighed Adalet.

Terry and Adalet breathed heavier while he gave their rock hard tips his full attention. Terry smiled a little at seeing the usual lighter colour of her own become darker now, although they'd never become as dark as Adalet's. She imagined if she'd shave off all her fur, she'd be in stark contrast to Adalet's tan.

Dormin pulled back and pushed gently against their chests to have them lie back. They grinned a little in a mix of nervousness and excitement for what they knew what would come next. They lay close together and watched Dormin sit on his knees between their legs, smiling at the patch of wet fur between Terry's thighs and the wet and red plump skin between Adalet's. He bent forward leaning on his hands, kissed the curves from the lower half of their chests and went down, stroking their tightening abdomen with his nose and lips.

He found Terry's navel and teased it with his nose like Adalet's and made them giggle, and continued further down to kiss around their wet spots loaded with their most intimate scent. He inhaled it deep into his lungs and it fed his primordial instincts. Growling softly he ran his mouth down the insides of their thighs, biting gently in Terry's, licking on Adalet's while they shivered.

The women squirmed and spread their legs more while Dormin worshipped the area around their hot and itching centres. Adalet clutched Terry's fingers in hers while pressing closer to her. Terry grabbed her hand firmly, rubbing her hip against Adalet's while Dormin's fingers ran through her inner thigh's fur and closer to her sensitive spot. The both of them sighed and moaned when he stroked a finger against their centres of pleasure.

'You both look so tasty I don't think I could ever satisfy this hunger. I'm going to eat all of you.' he said, leaned further down and placed his mouth against Adalet's hot and soaked folds, exploring her slowly and thoroughly, taking in every scent and taste while she moaned and gripped his shoulder tight. He used his teeth to bite gently and pull on her flesh, sending sharp bursts of electricity through her body. He pulled back and she was able to breath a little better before he used his thumb and finger to knead her and force her to moan again.

Terry gasped the moment he slid his tongue along her wet folds. She wasn't sure he'd do this because of her fur, but when he pressed his mouth firmly against her there was no doubt she'd give her all to this man. 'Oh yes!' she groaned 'You're fantastic!' The hot surges of pleasure made her squirm and press herself harder against him with growls of pleasure.

Dormin lavished the women in turn with his hunger for every drop of their juices and a massage from his strong fingers. He pushed their pleasure, only to slow down and then push them even further again. They begged for more and pushed heir hips up against him and he used all the access they gave him.

Terry and Adalet held their hands tight, sweating hard from the heat Dormin stoked inside them and clutched at the bed sheets. Terry was the first to reach the end, gasping for breath as her body trembled uncontrollable and her whole world turned black before her eyes. Adalet sensed it through her own pleasure and the fear of losing control pushed her over her own edge when he bit her firm and send her mind into a kaleidoscope of colours while her whole body stiffened.

Dormin sat back up on his knees, stroking their abdomen gently and enjoying the sight of the two panting hard and hearing their lingering moaning. He wondered if this would be the only time they would do this, if he'd get to see either one after all this has been wrapped up and not be a one time wild fling. This was something special to him, the first time he really wanted to be with someone, and it turned out to be even two gorgeous creatures at the same time.

Terry smiled at him and reached out a shaking arm to him. 'Take me?' she whispered with her hoarse voice. He smiled back at her and saw Adalet looking at him with half closed eyes. 'I need a few minutes before you can do me.' she whispered. He chuckled and moved between Terry's legs, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up on his lap. 'I'll take you deep like this.' She regained the hungry look in her eyes as she reached between her legs, grabbed him and guided him to the right spot. She closed her eyes and sighed long when he slid smoothly all the way inside her.

Dormin thought he'd burn up inside her hot body. 'Damn, you're hot.' he groaned soft. 'I'll do you slow before I burn myself.' Terry opened her eyes gain and smiled at him, then put her lips to his and opened her mouth for a deep and passionate kiss with him. She rocked her hips slowly and he followed her rhythm, pushing slowly and determined inside her, the pressure against her sensitive spot firing up her arousal. 'I didn't think any man would have used his mouth down there on furry species.' she whispered in his mouth.

He ran his fingers through her fur from the sides of her thighs along her tight behind and up her spine into the back of her neck and her hair, sensing the shiver it caused through her body. 'I can't imagine loving anyone and not wanting to taste them all. And I wanted to see you as satisfied as I could make you.' She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeper, pressing herself harder against him. 'Now satisfy yourself as much as you want in me.' she moaned in his mouth.

Dormin felt the pressure rising fast inside him at the touch of the fantastic girl in his embrace. The warmth of her fur enveloping his body and the heat between them made her front wet from his sweat but she didn't mind and kept her body pressed tightly against him. The mixed scent of her sweat soaked fur filled both their noses and urged their arousal on. 'I'm never going to lose your scent on me.' panted Terry. 'Cover me and fill me up with it.'

The itch that spread from his tip to his abdomen reached its breaking point. 'I'm going lose it all inside you.' he groaned hard in her mouth and pressed himself as hard as he could against her. She didn't think he could have filled her up more but he did and her body reacted by tightening more around him. 'Yes!' she growled. 'Let it all out!' He lost control and the surge of heat and the pounding of his blood inside her made her join him in a shared peak of passion. They kissed as they panted hard, grinding slowly while the throbbing inside her lessened.

When they had caught their breath Terry pulled back and grinned as she squeezed him. 'Still going strong?'

He grinned back at her. 'I guess there's a very good reason for that.'

She chuckled and sighed as she slid off of him and looked at Adalet who had watched them with interest. 'See if you can subdue him.'

Adalet chuckled and sat up on her knees, leaning close to Terry and taking a whiff of her wet fur. 'Mind if I touch your fur?' Terry smiled at her and shook her head. Adalet ran her fingers through the wet fur on Terry's stomach. 'You're soaked from his sweat.' she said and leaned closer to inhale the scent again.

Terry grinned a little, pulled Adalet against her chest and looked at Dormin. 'How's this?'

Dormin smiled as he watched the curves of Adalet's behind in front of him. 'A wonderful view.'

'And how about for you?' whispered Terry in Adalet's ear.

Adalet glanced back at Dormin, then gave a quick shy nod.

Dormin crawled closer to Adalet as she raised her behind to him, her heart beating fast from exposing herself completely to him. She gasped at the touch of his hands on her round flesh. He traced the back of her thighs with his fingers and up around her firm curves. 'So smooth and a delight to touch.' he whispered. 'Another reason to desire your body against mine.' The moment she felt his hot touch between her legs she held her breath and released it in a moan when he entered her completely with ease. 'I can feel all of you..' she said with a husky voice.

'And I'll enjoy feeling the rest of your curves.' His hands caressed her hips and went up her sides to slide in front on her chest. Kisses left hot marks in the back of her neck and her shoulders before he moved in the same slow rhythm inside her. She arched her back and pushed her behind up against his hips to let him as far in as he could while she moaned in Terry's chest.

Dormin ran his fingers around her chest, massaging her firm flesh and hard tips. Adalet inhaled his and Terry's scent deep, grasping the wet fur between her fingers. The bouts of pressure against her filled her body with smooth waves of warmth and desire. She pressed back against his hips and tightened around him for more. 'So good..' she moaned. 'You're filling me all the way..'

Dormin rocked his hips to grind hard against her. 'I love how you're so tight around me.' he groaned, his body eager to repeat the earlier peak of pleasure.

The rubbing against her sensitive spot sent electricity through the front of her body and made her chest tingle. 'Push it all in..' she moaned. 'Push it as hard as you want..'

He pulled back a little and pressed hard against her in steady rhythm, increasing her excitement with every push against her. 'Your body is so wonderful to hold and make love to.' he groaned. The sensation of her smooth flesh in his hands and against his hips, and her constant squeezing around him brought him to the finish line soon. 'Losing it again!' he groaned and buckled his hips as he kept increasing the pressure against her heat. She sensed his pressure increasing inside her and moaned harder. 'Yes! Fill me!'

Dormin grabbed her hips and groaned loud as he pushed hard inside her in his release. The sudden explosion inside her made Adalet cry out in Terry's fur and stiffen her body. The shock wave left her sensitive all over her body and she trembled while his heat pumped inside her. Her strength left her and she let go of Terry, who let her down gently onto her lap.

Dormin panted while he caressed Adalet's back and waited for his heart rate to come down. 'Damn.. I haven't felt such excitement in a long time.'

Terry chuckled and smiled. 'I don't mind repeating it.'

Dormin smiled back at her. 'I was hoping you'd want to.'

'Can we wait until I've had some sleep though?' mumbled Adalet with her face buried in Terry's lap.'

'So, you want to continue this thing too?' Terry asked with delight.

Adalet buried her face deeper in Terry's lap. 'Don't make me say it. It's too embarrassing for me.' she mumbled.

'I guess I'll be cooking for more than myself from now on then.' Dormin said and smiled softly.

'Yes, because honestly, I'm a lousy cook.' mumbled Adalet.

***

Dormin woke up after a few hours again with his usual headache. Only this time it seemed less harsh. He wanted to press his hands to his head again but his arms were occupied by the sleeping Adalet and Terry. The headache could not prevent the soft smile on his face. He would just have to endure lying there until the headache went away on its own. It was worth it.

When Adalet and Terry woke up much later they smiled wide at Dormin. He had been able to doze off a little in the meantime and felt rather refreshed. He found out how refreshed the women were when two hands slid down his chest and abdomen to get a firm grip on him.

Adalet was the first to ride him while he lay on his back and satisfied Terry with his mouth, then Terry rode him while he finished off Adalet. His luck wasn't over when Adalet and Terry satisfied their hunger and cleaned him with their mouths during the shower.

While Dormin made breakfast Terry slipped into he police systems, found the ballistic report from one of the guns used at the Ebo shooting and created a registration pointing to the security at Elecore with the data. When the department would check the gun they would find the registration and take a closer look.

Adalet called the department and explained to a colleague she fell head over heels for Dormin and the two of them had planned to take only a day to themselves somewhere secluded but things happened and they got stuck and lost their phones. She feigned shock when she heard about the shooting at Dormin's place and said they would come to the department as soon as they got back.

Dormin grinned at her. 'Head over heels?'

She shrugged. 'At least one thing wasn't a lie then.' she said and kissed him. 'I heard they were going to check out the circumstances of what seemed to be a botched homicide involving employees from Elecore. They want to hear from me what mister Davies told me during his visit to the department. I'll drop a subtle hint about possible foul play.'

Terry put away her laptop and stretched. 'Good. That should bring them down, together with the documents that should be on the governor's desk by now.' She looked at Dormin and grinned. 'Can we eat now? There's another hunger that needs satisfaction.'

Epilogue

Governor Mueller stepped into his main office and greeted his staff. He was never quite awake enough in the morning but he never let anyone see it. If there was something important he always let his staff collect more information and provide options so he had time to get his brain in gear. That made an assistant like Josephine so valuable. She worked a year now for him and had proven herself to be very capable. She was still young now, but he saw a great political career ahead of her.

'Good morning, Erik.' she said when he walked into his personal office. He preferred to have her be informal when others than his close personal staff weren't around. She was checking the mail and reading several documents that had come in a big envelope.

'What have you got there?' he asked while he hung up his coat.

She held up one page quickly. 'Some documents sent anonymously and talking about a conspiracy and bribes from several companies at one of the departments. I'll just forward these to the proper authorities because it reads like the usual goose chase.'

He nodded and sat down. 'You do that. They should really learn to send these things through the right channels.'

'I'll come back with your coffee.' she said as she walked to the door.

'Thanks.'

She dropped the normal mail at the desk of another member of staff, stepped into the archive room and fed the documents from Elecore to the shredder before going back to get the governor his morning coffee.

###