Marla

Chapter 6

Training A Bodyguard

S.M. Wolf

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Marla and Kayla are copyrighted by Kittiara and used with her permission. jonwI' is copyrighted by his owner. Master David Wolf, Valentia, Todd, Mike, Sensei Tenchi. Zubin, other miscellaneous characters and this story are copyright 2007, 2010 by S.M. Wolf. This story may not be reproduced by any means in part or completely without prior written permission of the author. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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When Marla and Kayla returned to the penthouse they found Master David waiting for them. They both greeted him warmly. Marla enjoyed her Master's quick grope of her ass. She growled as she kissed him to signal her approval and ready availability. Kayla laughed a bit as she headed for the kitchen to fix a light dinner for the trio.

Halfway through the dinner Master David's communicator rang. He glanced at the caller ID and answered it.

"Yes?"

"There is a package here for Lady Marla, Sir," Marla heard Mike say.

"Please bring it up immediately."

"Yes, Sir."

Marla was burning with curiosity. What package was being delivered so late, and why was it being delivered to her? Surely Valentia and Todd had not finished her clothing yet.

Two and a half minutes later the doors to the elevator opened, and Mike stepped out. He was carrying something wrapped in plain brown paper.

Master David pulled out his wallet. He handed Marla five 100 credit notes.

"Mike's tip," he said as an explanation when Marla raised an eyebrow. "Make sure he takes them."

Marla got up from the table and walked to the foyer where Mike was waiting.

"Good evening, Lady Marla," the male wolf greeted her.

Marla laughed a bit and said, "Why so formal, Mike? No one but us here, and I doubt you are that much younger than me."

"Mister Wolf will kill me if I don't treat you well, Ma'am."

"Ma'am now? You're getting worse, not better, Mike.

"Loosen up a bit!"

Marla reached out to take the package. Her right paw trailed over the back of his left paw before coming to rest underneath the package with their claw tips barely touching. The effect on Mike was electrifying. He straightened suddenly, and his eyes went wide in shock.

"I have to go now," he said hastily.

"One second. Master David wanted me to give you a tip."

Marla held out the bills. If anything Mike seemed to get even more flustered.

"I can't take that! That is way too much for just bringing a package up here."

Marla remembered her Master's orders and the way Mike reacted to her touch. With a small smile she withdrew her left paw and half turned. Dipping her muzzle and left shoulder she adopted a provocative stance.

"Well, I have to give you a tip, so I guess it is either the money or me.

"Do you want to go upstairs to my bedroom or take me here, Master?"

Mike's jaw dropped and his entire face and both ears turned a brilliant red beneath his pelt.

"Well, Mike? If it's any help, I know a few things that should be worth a lot more than five hundred credits to you that we can do in the next hour or so. Some of them are even almost legal.

"Or would you just like to take the cash instead, Mike?"

Numbly Mike held out his left paw. Marla placed the bills in his palm and firmly closed his fingers about them. She smiled at him.

"Next time, just take the money. It'll be a lot easier on your heart."

Mike said nothing but continued to stare at her.

Marla giggled and impulsively leaned forward and placed a sisterly kiss on his right cheek. She took the package from him and gently turned the still stunned young wolf towards the elevator doors. She had to push the button to open the doors. She half pushed him into the car.

As the doors closed, Marla said brightly, "Don't worry, Mike,

"I am sure there will be plenty of other times to earn me as a tip!"

Marla heard a strange gurgling sound as the doors closed.

Marla was smiling as she sauntered back to the dinner table. She was wearing a big grin. It felt good to tease Mike and give him a bit of a thrill. Briefly she wondered if Mike was going to have a wet dream about her tonight. She grinned even more at the prospect of starring in one of his fantasies. She suspected he might not wait for tonight to do something about it either!

The package flopped a bit as she walked. It did indeed seem to have some clothes wrapped up in it. She placed the package on the table and sat down again. Both her pack mates were looking at her with grins on their faces.

"Normally I have to fight Mike for ten minutes before I can get him to take a tip like that," Kayla commented. She propped her muzzle up on her right paw and speculated aloud, "I wonder how well I would do if I just dropped my dress next time..."

"Please don't, Dear," Master David said drolly.

"Mike is too young to be going to the morgue."

All three laughed heartily.

They returned to eating, but Marla's thoughts strayed a bit. Finally she decided to ask the question that was bothering her.

"Master?"

"Yes, Marla?"

"Why did you give Mike such a large tip? I know you can afford it, and he is a good doorman, but, like he said, bringing the package up here was not worth a five hundred credit tip."

Master David paused in his eating. He set down his knife and fork. He took on a very serious demeanor.

"Marla, Mike is part of a very old pack. You can trace them in an unbroken line all the way back to the First Settlers and find their ancestors' signatures on the Compact establishing Elysium."

Marla's ears perked up. She had done only average in school, but she knew the significance of being direct descendents of the First Settlers. It was still a great honor and much coveted on Elysium. More practically, most of the descendents were powerful businessfurs and politicians. Even after a few centuries the First Settlers' descendents still largely controlled Elysium.

"Mike was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth. His pack found him in a dumpster behind a restaurant. They tried to give him up to the Elysium Government because they could not care for him as they thought he should be and would have no other cubs in his pack, but they found out he would be sold into slavery as I was when my birth mother abandoned me.

"Despite the extra burden, they took him in and raised him.

"That was no small feat. Despite the prestige of their pack, they have fallen on very hard times. The young pack members had moved away, died or were not able to take mates into the pack to renew the pack. The pack is on its last legs financially as well as genealogically. What was left were a dozen or so old wolves ready to retire or already forced into retirement with minimal benefits.

"They had to work hard to keep Mike fed and clothed. I never asked, but I bet they went hungry many nights to make sure he got enough to eat.

"Mike is very much aware of what they did for him. He is always trying to repay them for all their sacrifices. He works way too many hours and has too few friends and no social life of which to speak.

"He has little choice, though. He is the only pack member with a regular job. Most of them are too old and infirmed to work anyway.

"I met Mike about ten years ago, a couple of years before Kayla came here. I found out what had happened and decided to help with extra jobs, large tips and anything else I could do.

"More properly, I did everything Mike and his pack would allow me to do. They are still very proud. I could set them up very comfortably and have offered to do so on a couple of occasions. They will have nothing to do with it.

"So we slip as much money to them through Mike as we can. That tip will keep them fed for a few weeks or pay for some medicine. Mike will be embarrassed, but they will take it and use it.

"It is about all I can do right now, so we are careful to take every opportunity to tip Mike extravagantly.

"I will have to make sure you get a roll of money to do so as well."

Master David grinned.

"Maybe you will have more luck than we have!"

All three laughed. Their mood lightened considerably at the prospect of Mike being vamped by Marla and having to take the monetary tips she offered him under the threat of a romp in bed if he did not.

As they finished the last of their dinner Marla could not help but wonder about Mike's pack. They were dirt poor yet still they seemed to have loved Mike enough to take him in rather than consign him to slavery. He was reciprocating their love by trying his best to support the entire pack on his own.

In contrast her pack had been relatively well off, but once her parents died the love had gone out of the pack. For all the horrors at the Academy she had probably been more loved there than in her own home for the last several years she had been there. That was why Kayla and the others had been so important to her.

Kayla and Master David picked up the dishes. Marla started to help but they stopped her.

"You have a package to open," Master David told her.

"Get upstairs and change into your new clothes."

Marla took the package upstairs to her room. She tore open the paper to see what was inside.

Marla was surprised to find a pair of trousers, a jacket and a cloth belt. All were made from some lightweight white fabric. As she ran the hem of the arm through her fingers Marla was surprised at how tough the fabric felt.

The wolfess slipped out of her normal clothes and tried on the new outfit. She was surprised at how loosely it fit her. If this came from Valentia and Todd she would have expected something that conformed to her body more. At least the two generous side vents on the jacket did have some possibilities if she got her Master alone.

Marla was turning back and forth in front of the full length mirror when she heard a rap on her door. Looking over her shoulder she saw Kayla standing in the hallway. She was wearing a nearly identical outfit.

"How does your workout suit fit?"

"Loosely," Marla said critically.

"Good. It is suppose to be that way. Sensei does not like us to practice in the nude, and this is the next best thing.

"Not that we don't do it when he is not around..."

Marla's ears pricked up. The thought of working out in the nude was nothing new to her. She had done it all the time at the Academy. The thought of doing so again with her pack mates had interesting possibilities.

More interesting was the word Kayla had said for the second time today.

"Kayla, what is 'Sensei'?"

"A Sensei is a teacher of martial arts. In our case, Sensei Tenchi is also Master David's Head of Security. He teaches us and several other special students at Master David's instructions.

"Unfortunately for you, you are going to get the 'express training'. It is going to be pretty intense - kind of like the Academy in six weeks instead of six months - but we have to do it."

Kayla turned dead serious.

"Things are getting very bad, very quickly. The entire planet could erupt in civil war any minute. We need you able to take care of yourself, even if the city turns into a battle zone, in case something happens to us or you get separated from us.

"So you and several other new students are going to be force fed everything possible as quickly as possible."

Kayla perked up again.

"On the plus side, you get to kick Master David in the crotch on a regular basis as part of your training!"

"What?!"

Kayla laughed at the stunned expression on Marla's face.

"Oh, don't worry! Both he and Sensei Tenchi know enough to wear very large and sturdy cups, but a swift quick or a hard knee to the groin can work wonders on an unprepared male attacker."

Marla started to nod her agreement. There were plenty of guards and other males she had met since becoming a slave whose testicles she would love to rupture. She stopped suddenly as it dawned on her that she was absolutely certain that not only did Kayla know how to unman a male but had done so.

Marla wondered what the otteress had been doing then, but she was not saying anything now. Instead she turned and headed across the hallway to the workout room.

When they entered Marla's gaze was drawn to the other furs in the room. Master David was there dressed in a jacket and trousers similar to Marla's and Kayla's. It was the fourth fur in the room that really grabbed Marla's attention.

The male was a huge feline. He had to stand close to eight feet tall. His head was topped with a close cut crop of black head fur that covered almost his entire head. His pelt was mainly a plain brownish hue like a lion, but he also had faint but clearly visible black stripes and a much lighter belly like a tiger.

Marla had heard of ligers, but this was the first one she had seen in person.

This liger was dressed in a manner similar to the other three furs except his shirt was covered with Oriental glyphs and symbols. Marla recognized the Ying-Yang symbol and could understand the dragon, but the glyphs were beyond her ken.

Underneath the clothes the liger was extremely heavily muscled, yet his movements had a certain lithe quality that many of the Academy sex slaves would kill to possess. His voice was a deep bass rumble as he talked with Master David.

The two males stopped talking when the femfurs joined them. Marla was aware of the liger looking her over. He seemed to be assessing her worth, but not as a sex partner. For Marla, that was a bit of an oddity and somewhat unsettling.

"Sensei Tenchi, this is Marla," Master David introduced the younger wolfess.

Sensei Tenchi bowed slightly from the waist towards Marla.

"You have led us on quite a chase these past years, dear Lady," the liger said. "I and my security furs always ran into brick walls when we sought to find you.

"It still amazes me that such a simple act as finding you proved to be impossible to me and my furs yet my employer was able to find you by seeming chance."

Marla silently bristled at the slight tone of accusation in the ligers last words.

"That is why I was glad to find out after interviewing your last owner and his men that they and others were being paid very well to hide you from us."

"What?!"

"I have more than a few enemies," Master David said. "When I began making inquiries about you and the others from the Academy some of them managed to use their inside contacts at the Academy and elsewhere to get to the bordello before us.

"The split at the bordello had been building for some time, but it appears that the catalyst for the breakup was the impending arrival of my representatives and the large amount of money certain people were paying the owners to keep you out of my sight.

"The group that got the bordello would have sold you to me or at least sold the information of where you went except they had a sudden rash of broken limbs and Government problems that changed their mind.

"Strangely those problems repeated themselves whenever they started considering talking to my representatives.

"Fortunately for us your former owner got lazy and careless with time. He did not recognize me, or he likely would have run with you. The business card I gave him was rather nondescript and did not have my real name or business, so it was not until he showed up at one of my buildings that he and his men realized with whom they were dealing."

Sensei Tenchi interrupted for a moment by quipping, "I was very glad they decided to be difficult. I and the others were able to take out our years of frustration on them."

Marla looked at the liger. As large and powerful as some of the guards of the coffle had been she doubted they were a match for him.

Master David continued, "Once we had their story of what happened and who was paying them, it was pretty easy to put together the missing pieces of the puzzle and find out how we were thwarted.

"It may interest you to know that I have taken certain steps against those involved, Marla. Nothing lethal, but ones that will cause considerable financial discomfort and social embarrassment for some. I also expect a few high placed Government officials to be resigning shortly including one or two at the Academy."

Marla looked at her Master carefully. He was talking in a light tone, but there was considerable steel in his voice. It was clear he was angry about what had happened, and he had taken strong steps against those who had crossed him. She knew he was not capriciously cruel, but he obviously had no qualms against taking decisive and potentially devastating action against his enemies. She carefully filed away that information about her pack mate.

"For now, though, Sensei Tenchi will be overseeing your instruction," Master David continued. "He is a hard teacher, but he will make sure that you are trained as well as any fur can possibly be. Unfortunately our time is highly limited, so you will be getting very intense training from him, but I have every confidence that, when the time comes for you to use your training, you will acquit yourself very well."

Sensei Tenchi turned and bowed much deeper towards Master David.

"Thank you, Sir, for your kind compliments regarding my teaching ability," Sensei Tenchi said in a reverent tone. Marla silently increased her opinion of the liger. They had at least one thing in common - their respect for her Master.

Master David made a slightly dismissive gesture.

"I only give you your due, Sensei. You have done so much for me, Kayla, and the others I have asked you to train."

Sensei Tenchi turned his attention to Master David and Kayla.

"Go practice your falls for a bit while I assess the young wolfess."

Master David gave Marla's paw a quick squeeze.

"Don't worry. Sensei Tenchi has a good heart, and you will find him to be a good and true friend once you come to know him.

"More immediately you will find him to be an excellent teacher."

Master David released Marla's paw. He rolled over backwards and popped up to his feet. He extended his right paw to Kayla and asked, "Care to dance, Kayla?"

Kayla smiled broadly and replied, "Sure!"

Master David helped Kayla to her feet. Marla gasped as he suddenly fell over backwards without letting go of Kayla's paw. He pulled her forward. As she fell on top of him his feet came up into her stomach. With a mighty kick he sent Kayla flying over him.

Marla was certain that Kayla would hit the floor hard, but instead her supple body twisted in midair and catlike she landed on her feet. As Master David rolled back up to a standing position Kayla grabbed his right arm and threw him backwards over her right hip while sweeping his legs out from beneath him.

Almost magically Master David twisted and rolled through. He caught the front of Kayla's jacket as she closed with him again. Together they rolled over onto the mat. Marla had to grin as they came to a momentary rest with Master David kneeling astride Kayla's prone body. They exchanged a quick kiss before Kayla wriggled her body and somehow sent Master David rolling across the floor. The otteress followed him with a grin that was part predatory, part sexual.

Kayla darted past Master David. She suddenly turned and simultaneously grabbed his right wrist and threw her hip into his body. Master David went flying over her as Kayla hip tossed Master David. Marla gave a little gasp as the suddenness and violence of Kayla's movement. She had always known that the otteress had incredible reflexes, but this went well beyond anything she had seen before from her friend.

Master David did not even bat an eye. He landed and rolled forward. As Kayla advanced on him he bounced up and threw a head high spinning heel kick. Kayla dove under the kick and went for Master David's other leg, but he leaped over her body to dodge her blow. Kayla rolled through and came back to her feet in a crouch with paws extended. Master David turned and met her with a similar stance. They held still for a moment eying each other intently. Then with utmost solemnity Kayla stuck out her tongue at Master David.

Master David and Marla started laughing. They were joined a moment later by Kayla.

Marla heard a snort behind and above her. She turned to her left and saw Sensei Tenchi watching Marla's pack mates. He seemed to be glowering at the two playful furs, but Marla caught a hidden glint in his eyes. While Sensei Tenchi might be outwardly disapproving, inside he was laughing at Kayla's antics as well.

Marla was becoming intrigued by the contradictions she had already seen in her new instructor.

"Come with me," Sensei Tenchi told Marla.

Kayla and Master David began their workout in earnest as Sensei Tenchi took Marla over to one corner. They thrust and parried each other's blows in sometimes frantic flurries. Marla watched them out of the corner of her eyes and silently vowed not to start a fight with either fur until she was much better trained. She had great confidence in her ability to match either sexually in or out of bed, but they were clearly much better in paw-to-paw combat than her.

"Sit down," Sensei Tenchi instructed Marla as he took a seat on the floor. He sat cross-legged, so Marla crossed her legs and dropped down to a sitting position in a single supple movement. Sensei Tenchi raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I have been instructed to train you as a bodyguard for Lady Kayla," Sensei Tenchi began. Marla was still surprised to hear Kayla, a sex slave, referred to as a lady, but the liger said it with a tone of utmost respect as if it were her natural due.

"I am prepared to do so, but only if you wish it.

"The job of a bodyguard is not easy. We must always be on guard, even when there seems to be no danger. We have to stop any threat to our charges without regard to our own safety."

The gold-green eyes of the liger bore into Marla's eyes.

"We must also be ready at any time to make the ultimate sacrifice.

"Tell me, Marla, are you ready to die for Kayla? Will you put your body between her and any danger knowing you will die a horrible death? And can you do it without even thinking, but out of shear instinct?"

Marla was a bit shaken by the intensity of the male's gaze and voice. She realized these were extremely serious questions to him. If she answered yes, then Marla would be committing herself to Kayla absolutely and totally.

For an omega wolf, there was no question of what the answer would be. Marla would always protect her alpha regardless of her training or lack of it.

Kayla was also her friend and cohort. Both of them had been through hell in the Academy, but by working together with each other and their other friends they had managed to maintain their sanity and even some of their dignity and self-worth. They had also managed to give each other considerable pleasure when permitted. Mostly neither ever forgot the support they had both given and received. Despite their differences regarding sexual enjoyment, Kayla had always been a quiet pillar of calm for Marla at the Academy.

More recently Kayla had been instrumental in rescuing Marla from the coffle. That had likely saved Marla's life. She doubted she would have lasted another year before being sold to some Master or Mistress seeking to torture a slave to death for their enjoyment. That placed a heavy burden upon Marla.

There was also Master David to consider. There was no question that he loved Kayla. Marla was also seeing that he was coming to love her as well. He had many options of how he could have treated Marla. He had chosen to bring her into his pack and make her his lover even though she knew there were dangers to him for doing so. Marla owed him as well now.

Marla's growing love of Master David also made her want to protect him and Kayla.

Now Marla would have a chance to repay her friend and her new Master for all they had done for her in the short time she had been with them.

"Yes, I am ready to die for Kayla if need be," Marla said quietly in a level, confident voice.

Sensei Tenchi said nothing. He just stared at Marla and waited for the young wolfess to break eye contact. Marla did not, though. She returned his piercing gaze with her own calm look.

After several seconds Sensei Tenchi said, "Very well. For now I will accept your good intent. We will see if you feel the same after you are in training. You will find it rigorous and demanding. It will even be physically painful at times."

Marla just smiled inwardly. He had just described her time at the Academy. If she could live through that forced training, she knew she had the internal fortitude to survive whatever this liger would put her through. This time she would go through the training as a willing participant, not a prisoner coerced into obedience by violence and intense psychological conditioning, and her motivation would be love, not fear.

Marla glanced over her shoulder at her pack mates. They were still going at it hard and fast. Their blows looked like they would be deadly, but somehow each managed to block, parry or avoid the other's blows. She had always loved extreme things, and this matter of life and death to protect her alphas was as extreme as it got.

Besides, it looked like a lot of fun, and Marla never liked being left out of the fun.

Marla turned back to Sensei Tenchi and asked him, "Where do we start, Master?"

Sensei Tenchi frowned a bit.

"We begin first by correcting your address of me. You are to refer to me as 'Sensei' which means instructor or 'Sensei Tenchi', never 'Master'. 'Master' is reserved for your owner, Lord David."

Marla cocked an eye at Sensei Tenchi's honorific for Master David. It sounded more like he was referring to a feudal warlord than a modern day businessfur.

Sensei Tenchi stood up and indicated that Marla was to rise.

"First, I want to assess your agility, quickness, balance, strength and flexibility so that I know what I must improve and what you already possess.

"Show me how far you can raise your right leg. Lift slowly."

Marla lifted her right leg above her waist. The doctors and nanobots had done a great job repairing the damage to her joints caused by the many years of sexual torture and bondage. She felt no pain. She continued to lift her leg higher. Her foot went past her bosom and then her neck. Sensei Tenchi lifted his eyebrow in mild disbelief.

Marla was far from done, though. Her right foot continued upwards past the top of her head. Marla had to shift her weight a bit, but she was able to bring her knee up to her right breast before she had to stop.

In a dry voice Sensei Tenchi said, "Let me guess. You shared aerobics and agility training with Lady Kayla at the Academy."

"Yes, Sensei."

Sensei Tenchi sighed.

"I should have guessed before.

"Perhaps I should send more of my less capable students to that hellhole for training. Both of you have considerable physical flexibility from your training there."

"Did Kayla raise her leg straight up as well?" Marla asked.

"No, she put her knee behind her head and then asked me if I wanted her to cross her legs."

Marla gave a little laugh. That would certainly be like Kayla when she was being mischievous.

Sensei Tenchi told Marla "Put down your right leg and let's see what you can do with your left..."

Sensei Tenchi took Marla through a whole range of motion and standing balance tests. Marla did well since the Academy had stressed suppleness, balance and body control in most of her classes. She also had some other training in her childhood that helped as well.

Marla did better than Kayla when Sensei Tenchi had her push against him with her arms and legs. Her wolf body was built more for strength than Kayla's otter frame. She was a bit surprised when he had her press her head against his paw as well, but he explained that there could be times when her only weapon might well be her head.

Next Sensei Tenchi had Marla grab things as quickly as she could with her paws and run over obstacles. She did reasonably well but both knew she had much room for improvement.

Master Tenchi picked up a pair of small, heavily padded red leather gloves that looked much like a baseball catcher's mitt and put them on. He held his paws up at Marla's shoulder level.

"Now, I want you to hit my paws with your right paw," Sensei Tenchi instructed Marla.

Marla wound up and threw a wild roundhouse punch that barely struck the padding.

Sensei Tenchi blinked.

"Have you ever been trained in fighting, Marla?" he asked.

"No, Sensei. I never fought much growing up beyond a couple of small tussles with my cousins.

"In the Academy most of the resistance was conditioned out of us in the first week with the hypnotic drugs and psychological training. Later any physical attempt to fight back brought long and painful public punishments since it was deemed to be rebellion.

"When I was at the brothel and on the coffle I was beaten severely enough to draw blood the few times I accidentally struck a client even a glancing blow.

"So it was safer not to learn or even think about fighting back physically."

"If you are going to be a bodyguard, Marla, you are going to have to learn to punch, kick and even kill.

"Let's start with a simple punch..."

The training session went on well into the night. Marla started by standing in front of Sensei Tenchi and throwing punches. He taught her how to throw the punch from her shoulder and get her weight behind it without overdoing it and losing her balance. Her prior training with body control helped her immensely.

Next he taught her how to throw a front kick. Her sex training really helped her since she was able to raise her foot up to even the tall Sensei's jaw. Her muscular legs allowed her to deliver a very strong blow. Mostly he had her kick the gloves repeatedly as he held them waist high.

Before breaking for the day, Sensei Tenchi showed Marla how one of the training machines worked. It had four padded targets that moved up and down. A light above one of the targets would come on at random, and the trainee would hit the illuminated target as quickly as possible. The machine recorded both speed and force.

"Start training on this tomorrow morning. I will see you later in the day to continue your instruction," Sensei Tenchi commanded Marla.

The four furs shared a light meal before bed consisted mainly of fish and rice. It was served at a small knee-high table in one corner of the practice room. Marla would have proffered something more substantial, but instead she sat cross-legged at the low table and partook of the simple repast with the other three furs. Marla noticed that Sensei Tenchi gave the simple act of eating a certain dignity and solemnity.

That night Marla slept very well. Between the emotional and physical stresses of the day she was very tired. She was barely able to get three orgasms in with her pack mates before falling asleep in her Master's arms.

The next morning started with a solid hour of weight training before breakfast, Marla spent the rest of the morning practicing her punches and kicks. Kayla helped her by correcting her mistakes. She appeared to know exactly what she was doing. Marla suspected that Kayla was secretly a very capable fighter, and she had to wonder why she needed a bodyguard.

At one of the breaks Marla sat beside Kayla drinking water and eating an energy bar. She was tired, but she was determined to continue her training as long as she could that day.

"Kayla, why are we being trained to fight?" Marla asked her pack mate. "You and I both know it is illegal, and our Master and Sensei Tenchi would be publicly executed if the Government were to find out."

"Oh, yes, it is highly illegal to do what we are doing. However, Master David has made the decision that we need to be able to fend for ourselves."

Kayla turned and looked her pack mate full in the face. There was a fierce intensity in her gaze.

"Marla, Elysium is on the verge of civil war. It has been building since before we were taken to the Academy, but it has been getting much worse, much faster over the past year. The issue of slavery is driving it, but the massive Government corruption being revealed almost daily is inflaming more and more furs against the current Government.

"In our lifetimes there will be open fighting in the streets. My guess is we have about three years until that happens. Master David thinks it will be even sooner, and I would not bet against him.

"Master David and Sensei Tenchi both want to make sure when it happens that we will not be helpless if fighting or Government agents catch us by surprise."

Kayla smiled and added, "We may still die, but at least we will go down swinging!

"Mainly though, they are worried that someone will try to kidnap us. Master David's emotional attachment to me as a fur is known to enough to be reason for concern. That makes me a high profile target, and it will make you a kidnapping target as well once furs see you with us on a regular basis."

"So I am to be your bodyguard?" Marla asked.

"Yes," Kayla replied, "though we will actually be fighting side-by-side or back-to-back as equals when the time comes."

Marla silently made a promise to herself that if the time came she would get Kayla to safety regardless of the cost to herself.

"And Sensei Tenchi will teach me how to fight?" Marla asked to return to the original subject.

"He will teach you quite a bit. He will teach you all of the unarmed martial arts. He will teach you most of your knife fighting. He is very good with pole arms. You will like the Oriental battle axe he favors.

"Sensei Tenchi is not as proficient with guns and blasters as others, so he will bring in an expert to train you in those."

"Kayla, did you enjoy your training?" Marla asked tentatively. She was ready to do what her Master and alphas wanted, but the large liger intimidated her some.

Kayla smiled and asked, "Tenchi scaring you already?"

"Not exactly scaring. He is just... daunting."

Kayla laughed and said, "Yes, he is, but inside he is a pussy cat who truly cares for Master David and us. Wait and see. Once you get to know him you will like him."

While Marla believed Master David when he said the same thing, it was good to hear Kayla echoing his sentiments in private. It gave Marla confidence.

That afternoon Sensei Tenchi appeared shortly after lunch and took Marla through an intense workout. He reviewed the kicks and punches he taught her yesterday and started on sidekicks and simple tosses. Marla was skeptical at first that she could even move the much larger and heavier liger, but Sensei Tenchi showed her how to use leverage and momentum to overcome his superiority in size and mass. She eventually came to understand how his size and bulk could even be an asset to her if she used it properly.

By the time that dinner rolled around Marla was ravenous. She was very thankful for the large meal placed in front of her by Kayla. She was eating as much as when the nanobots had been working on her body, but now her muscles ached from all the exercise. Her day was still not done as Master David took her into the workout room again and had her show him what she had learned that day. He also gave her some good tips on how to handle an attacker as well as she practiced her tosses upon him.

That night Marla could barely move from the whirlpool bath to the bed. Her pack mates were solicitous of her pain. They lay her down in the middle of the bed and began to massage her aching limbs.

"Does it always feel this bad after a workout?" Marla asked wearily. She hurt more and was more tired than she could ever remember being at the Academy.

"You, unfortunately, are getting the express course," Master David explained as he worked on her arms. "Normally what you did today would have been stretched out over several days. You also would have been allowed to build up your muscles more gradually."

"This way you are going to be hurting a lot at the end of the day throughout most of your training," Kayla commented as she massaged Marla's aching thighs, "but at least you have a pair of pack mates to take your mind off your discomfort."

Kayla dropped her head and started licking Marla's slit. Marla sighed in pure pleasure and opened her legs to allow the otteress better access. She started to turn to pleasure her Master, but he gently but firmly pressed her back down onto the mattress.

"Just lay back and enjoy, Marla. We do not want you expending any more energy tonight."

Master David dropped his head and began to lick her nipples. Marla normally would have protested, but their attentions felt so good and she was so tired that she just melted instead. She came a couple of times before drifting off to sleep cuddled between her lovers.

The first days set the pattern for the next three weeks. Marla was up early in the morning to do her workout. Normally Kayla and often Master David would join her. After a hearty breakfast she would attack the training dummies and other devices in the penthouse dojo. In the afternoon Sensei Tenchi arrived to test her and teach her more. The evening was still more training with Master David. She learned quickly and was soon sparring well with her pack mates. She lacked their experience and depth of training, but she had considerable enthusiasm and some natural skill.

Once Sensei Tenchi was satisfied with Marla's progress with unarmed combat, he began to teach her to use weapons. The first ones were knives.

"Why would I want to use a knife?" Marla asked Sensei Tenchi as she sat on the mat examining the stiletto he had handed her. Kayla sat to her right watching Marla.

"It is silent and deadly in the paws of a trained expert," Sensei Tenchi responded.

"Yes, but still..."

"Lady Kayla, show her."

Marla turned her head to look at her friend. A throwing knife appeared in the otteress' paw from nowhere. Kayla did not turn her head but threw it blindly off to her right. It traveled nearly thirty feet before the blade was buried up to the hilt in a dummy. Had it been a fur, the knife would have gone through his heart.

"I found out I like sharp, pointy things, especially when they can keep me from going back to the Academy," Kayla said with a wicked smile.

Marla was taken aback by the unexpected proficiency of the otteress and the intensity of her words, but she at least understood the later. She had no desire to go back to the Academy either.

Marla looked over at the dummy. If the knife had been about sixteen inches lower and the dummy had been the wolf at the Academy who so enjoyed flogging Marla and all of her friends...

Marla echoed Kayla's smile. After a moment, though, it turned to a frown. Kayla had just let slipped that at some point she had been in danger of being sent back to the Academy. Marla could not help but wonder how that had happened. That Master David had apparently not been in a position to help Kayla helped drive home the need for Marla to be there to protect the otteress.

During her week of training with knives, throwing stars and such Marla never rose to Kayla's proficiency at knives. The otteress had incredible natural reflexes and speed that had been heightened by her training. She proved to be at least the equal of Sensei Tenchi in a knife fight and with throwing knives.

Marla found that she did much better during the following week with the fighting staff and other pole arms. Her heavier frame and greater strength allowed her to deliver heavy blows with the length of wood than Kayla. Sensei Tenchi insisted that she learn to use common articles as substitutes for her straight shaft. Marla was surprised to find she could fight almost as well with a hat rack as her six foot staff.

At the beginning of the fifth week Marla entered the training room and immediately slid her paw down to the handle of a knife hidden underneath her jacket.

Standing slightly behind and to the right of Sensei Tenchi was a large wolverine. Marla recognized him instantly as the driver of the taxi on many of her trips with Kayla into the city. She had no idea why he was here in the penthouse, but she was taking no chances.

"Marla, come here and meet your next instructor," Sensei Tenchi instructed the wolfess.

Marla walked over to the pair, but she kept her paw near her knife and her eyes on the wolverine.

The wolverine just grinned.

"She's going to be good, Tenchi," the wolverine commented with a large grin.

"She is good, Zubin," Sensei Tenchi corrected the muscular wolverine. "That is something you should keep in mind before you decide to try anything with her."

Zubin grinned and said, "I don't mind a few nicks here and there if I get a roll in the hay at the end of it."

Zubin looked Marla up and down.

"And she is definitely worth more than a few nicks.

"For now, though, put away the play toy and get on some regular clothes. We have to go elsewhere for me to teach you to shoot."

Marla turned to Sensei Tenchi and asked stiffly, "Am I to follow the directions of this male, Sensei?"

"Yes, Marla. Despite his rough exterior and questionable manners he is an excellent marksman and a good instructor. Give him his due and kick him in the groin when he tries to grope you."

Zubin nearly doubled over laughing at Sensei Tenchi's instructions.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" the wolverine crowed.

Marla changed her clothes and descended to the lobby. Zubin met her in his taxi driver's uniform and was a perfect gentlefur in front of Mike, but he shot her a few leers as they drove away.

Marla was uncomfortable being alone with this wolverine, but he was obviously trusted by Sensei Tenchi. Master David had to trust him as well to allow him to drive Kayla and Marla. She had little doubt that the wolverine was one of Master David's private bodyguards. Not knowing what else to do, she settled back in her seat and glared back at the wolverine when he looked at her in the mirror.

"Okay, I'm going to teach you how to fight, but I'm also going to start giving you some driving lessons.

"First off, always assume someone is trailing you. That way you won't be surprised when they are. Keep an eye out behind you for cars that follow you. Police and most professionals will hang back four or five cars at least so they don't stand out. They will also try to change cars a few times along the way to throw you off as well."

Despite her animosity towards the wolverine her ears perked up as she started to absorb his teaching.

"Next, never go directly from where you start to where you are going if you do not have to. I know your David will frequently take the quickest route, but he is expected to do that and would arouse suspicions by not doing so. He also has a dozen heavily armed pairs of furs backing him up. You haven't seen most of them yet, but the Government knows who they are. They also know how dangerous it would be to try to take them on, especially in public where they cannot use heavy arms."

Marla caught the slight inflection when Zubin said "your David" and wondered how much he knew. She also realized that hidden within the words was the implication that Master David was important to Zubin as well. That knowledge softened her acrimony towards the wolverine slightly.

"Try to work a few loops or reversals into your route. Any car that goes around a block with you probably has no good intentions.

"Finally, forget everything they taught you in Driver's Ed when you were growing up. The only thing that matters is getting away. Let David worry about paying for the damages afterwards. He's got the money. He wants you and Kayla alive and well more than anything else. Cut people off, ram them in the side, slam on the brakes so you have them hit you and rupture the radiator, go the wrong way on a one way street, tour the inside of a large suburban mall from the comfort of your limousine - ANYTHING you have to do to get away.

"Let me demonstrate."

Marla felt herself pressed back into the seat as Zubin floored the accelerator. He weaved in and out of the traffic cutting off several cars. He turned left from the right lane. He headed towards the starport and then doubled back into an industrial park. He found an alleyway between two warehouses and shut down the taxi.

Marla was ready to kill the wolverine for his antics, but she held her peace.

An unmarked police cruiser drove in front of the taxi and continued on down the road.

Zubin turned around and calmly said to Marla, "They picked us up as soon as we left the apartment building. I don't want them to see where we are going."

"Do you think they suspect something?" Marla asked in an equally calm voice.

"Almost certainly. Not that it really matters. David has made a lot of enemies in the Government and industry that would do anything to get to him. You and Kayla are just two means to that end in their eyes.

"Lady, you better be careful every time you walk out of the penthouse and keep your weapons close even there."

Marla was touched by the gruff concern in the wolverine's voice. Her antagonism towards the wolverine melted away.

"I will," Marla promised him.

"If you don't I'll put you over my knee and give you a good long spanking."

Zubin turned back and turned on the taxi ignition.

"Not that I wouldn't mind doing that someday anyway!" he added with a laugh.

Zubin felt the tip of a very sharp knife barely touching the side of his neck.

"What makes you think you've got the balls to do that, Zubin?" Marla asked in a sweet voice.

Zubin just laughed and pulled the taxi out into traffic. Marla slid the stiletto back into her wrist sheath and sat back.

Marla recognized their destination. jonwI' was still behind the far counter when they walked in. This time Marla recognized all the little details she had missed the first time they had been there. She picked out the hidden remote control lasers and the previously unseen surveillance cameras. She even had a good guess about the weapon control in jonwI's hidden paws.

"Mornin', jonwI'!" Zubin greeted the lion.

"Hello, Zubin," jonwI' replied. While he addressed Zubin the lion kept his eyes fixed on Marla.

Marla realized that she had instinctively shifted her paws so her knives and other weapons were within easy reach. She casually changed her stance, and her empty paws moved away from her weapons. jonwI' nodded, and his paws came up above the counter.

"Do you have her weapons ready?" Zubin asked.

"Yes. Come this way."

jonwI' locked the front door and flip over the OPEN sign to read CLOSED. He led the other two furs into the back. A table had been setup in one of the side rooms. A heavy felt cloth covered the contents, but Marla could see many lumps underneath the cloth.

"Remove your clothing," jonwI' instructed Marla.

Marla looked over at Zubin.

"Do as he says, Marla," Zubin instructed Marla in a level voice. "jonwI' needs to finish fitting your holsters and blasters. You are going to be wearing some of these concealed under your clothing most of the time, so he needs you in the fur for now."

Marla removed her clothes and set them on top of a chair. She had no qualms about being naked in front of the two males - her training and natural exhibitionist nature prevented her from suffering any embarrassment - but she already felt strange setting aside her weapons.

Zubin and jonwI' recognized her reluctance to be bereft of her weapons and nodded in approval.

"Tenchi was right. You are good," Zubin commented.

"Now let's see if we can make you better."

jonwI' removed the cloth from the table. Underneath were a plethora of lasers and blasters holstered in black leather holsters.

Marla's eyes lit up, and she gave a pleased sigh.

"She is as bad as you," jonwI' commented to Zubin as he picked up a small laser pistol in a shoulder holster.

jonwI' outfitted Marla with a pair of shoulder holsters, a tail holster, and two ankle holsters that could be hidden beneath her normal clothes. He made minor adjustments so they would fit snuggly against her fur with only a small revealing bulge,

jonwI' also produced a new outfit for her that conveniently allowed her easy access to both her knives and her new toys. It was billowy enough that it hid her weapons from casual observers.

"Valentia said you would like this," jonwI' commented as he handed her the outfit.

Marla did indeed like the black outfit that complemented her gray fur.

Next jonwI' handed Marla a much more utilitarian pair of pants and turtleneck long sleeve shirt.

"Put these on," he told her.

Marla quickly changed her clothes. This time jonwI' had another pair of shoulder holsters for her, but he also outfitted her with a pair of hip holsters. All four had heavy military style lasers designed to do serious damage in a firefight.

"I hope you never need these," jonwI' told Marla as he adjusted a buckle on her belt, "but I want you to have them in case you ever do. They are the largest caliber lasers I could get without arousing too much suspicion. I had to import them from off-planet through a dozen intermediaries, but they give you a fighting chance against anything short of a mech or an armored vehicle.

"The rest of your weapons are local manufacture, but they are virtually untraceable to you or your Master."

Marla's eyebrow shot up.

"Yes," jonwI' said, "I know that you are David's pleasure slave just as I know Kayla's past. I have my reasons for helping both of you as well as your Master.

"For now, though," jonwI' said as he exited the room, "I leave you to the old Marine."

Zubin took Marla to a storage room at the back of the building. It was dark and smelled badly. Marla had come to expect the unexpected, and she was not disappointed. Zubin moved aside a crate to reveal a high security door in the floor. He punched in a security code and pressed his eye against a retinal scanner. There was a beep, and the door opened. A light came on in the room beneath them.

"After you!" Zubin told Marla as he bowed to her.

Marla descended the steps. The basement room was a high tech shooting range. Zubin closed the door and joined Marla.

"We have complete privacy down here. Officially this place does not exist, and the odds are good the shielding and other protective measures have kept it a secret. Only a handful of furs even know it exists, and none of us are talking to others about it.

"We will be spending the next two weeks at least together down here. I will teach you to shoot the weapons you got today and many others up to and including military grade heavy rifle lasers. From what Tenchi tells me I expect a lot of you.

"The first thing we will do is learn how to install the cells on your laser pistols and release the safeties..."

Zubin proved to be as proficient with modern ranged weapons as Sensei Tenchi was with paw-to-paw combat. He taught Marla to shoot several styles of lasers and blasters. He even taught her to use the older guns that relied on gunpowder.

"There are places on Elysium and elsewhere," Zubin explained as he handed Marla a Walther PPK pistol, "where they have all sorts of detectors for energy weapons, but nothing for detecting a simple gun. That gives you an advantage, especially if they are using personal armor that can only stop energy weapons, not high speed projectiles."

The shooting range was more than just a simple range. It also had high quality holographic projector system and computer controls to turn it into a simulation room where she could walk through a scene. The first time through she shot everything that moved, but she quickly learned to distinguish between friend and foe. It was a bit embarrassing, though, when she instinctively slashed the throat of a fur that popped up close to her with a knife rather than shooting him. Zubin nearly fell out of his seat laughing from the consternation on her face. He did point out that her reaction was good and the enemy fur would likely have died in real life.

jonwI' joined Marla and Zubin in the shooting range much of the second week. He acted as both her partner and charge. Sometimes they were fighting back to back and other times she had to get him through an attack to safety. It was a tough week, and she often failed in her assignment of protecting jonwI'. She was getting very depressed after yet another loss in the simulation when jonwI' took her aside.

"Try not to be too hard on yourself, Lady Marla," jonwI' told her in a comforting voice. "These simulations are deliberately hard. You are new to this with far less training than you really need. You are actually doing better than I would expect."

Nearly on the verge of tears, Marla replied, "But if I fail in real life Kayla or Master David dies!"

"Yes, they might, but they also would be giving you a lot more help than I am in these simulations.

"If - or more likely when - an attack comes it will be small, sharp and swift. They will use stealth, surprise and overwhelming firepower to achieve their goals. You are good at seeing the attack develop and identifying the attackers. That is half the battle right there."

"But these are simulations! I know an attack is coming.. What about in real life? I never know when or where an attack can occur!"

"Yes, which is why bodyguards have to always be alert and ready. You will have to walk through the rest of your life just like it is one of these simulations looking for an attack that may never come.

"Is it any wonder so many bodyguards burn out in the first year?

"You have what it takes to do this, and you have the motivation. You also have the distinct advantage of several furs such as Zubin, Tenchi, I and many others you have not met yet out there watching your back."

"Do you think I can do the job, jonwI'?"

jonwI' gave Marla a decidedly fatherly hug.

"Yes, I do. Now relax a bit and try again."

Marla still failed as often as she succeeded in the simulations, but she did get better even as the simulations got harder.

During her training Marla grew quite proficient with her weapons. She particularly liked a small laser pistol. She was deadly accurate with it to one hundred yards, but she could hide it under a slinky evening gown with no telltale bulge. It took several trips to see Valentia with jonwI', but eventually she managed to get a concealed holster and several sets of clothes that allowed her to wear her laser pistol undetected.

Zubin also taught Marla the basics of explosives.

"You will not use explosives much if ever, but a little knowledge will help. I also want you to carry a few small charges concealed in your shoes and elsewhere just in case you get into trouble.

"This little beauty," he said holding up a limpet mine disguised as a silver credit piece, "is useful for when someone tosses you in a room but forgets to tie you up. Peel and stick it on the door near the handle, activate it, and then wait three seconds for the door to go boom. It is also useful for getting into a locked room to rescue someone when you do not have the key."

Marla could not help but think how useful some of these little bombs would have been the time that the femfurs had tried to escape from the Academy.

"There are a few other specialty items we will cover. If you use them, just remember you do not want to blow up David and Kayla along with whatever else you are trying to destroy! Always use the smallest explosive possible to get the job done.

"Now here are a couple of other possibilities..."

On her last day of training with jonwI' Marla surprised jonwI' with a big hug and a kiss as she was leaving.

"I'll be back someday," she promised the older lion, "but that will help you remember me until I get a chance to come by and practice."

"I hope I get the opportunity to see you again one day, Lady Marla, but I fear our time together for now is at an end. The Government is closing in on me, and I think it would be best if I disappeared on my own rather than wait for the Government to do the honors. I have only been waiting for you to finish your training to leave."

"Will you be back?" Marla asked. She had come to like the gruff but amiable older lion.

"If things go well for us, yes, after the revolution.

"I think I will drop out of sight and work from the underworld against the Government for now. I have many shady contacts that can help us. Your David may not like them, but they have their uses.

"I can also look for my mate and two cubs more. The Government may not have killed them, and I hope to be able to rescue them someday.

"Regardless, I will always remember the short time we have spent together, Lady Marla."

jonwI' took Marla's paw and bent to kiss it, but she was not having any of that. She wrapped him up in a tight hug and kissed him full on the muzzle. She even slipped her tongue past his half parted lips.

"I wish you luck, jonwI', and keep your head down! I want to meet you and your entire pride when this is all over."

jonwI' still had a slightly bemused expression on his face as Marla and Zubin left.

That night Master David made it a point for all three of them to watch the late news. A gang had tried to rob jonwI's shop. Things had gone terribly wrong, and the shop and several adjacent buildings had been largely destroyed in a massive fire and several explosions touched off by illegal blaster fire. jonwI' was thought to be dead, but no body had yet been recovered.. The reporter insinuated that the owner of the store had been a known subversive and deserved his fate.

"Master David, is jonwI' alive?" Marla asked.

"Almost certainly. I suspect since all the gang members were able to get out alive and get away from the police that he carefully staged the entire event. However, I would never try to find out. That would blow his cover.

"If the regular police had gotten him, we would be hearing about it. Even if the Government's secret police got him there are some signs he would have left to let us know. We saw none of them.

"No, I am pretty certain jonwI' has just gone to ground and will stay there until he has something he wants us to know. So do not grieve for him yet. When he is ready, jonwI' has several ways to contact me.

"In the meantime, you have temporarily lost a training partner and friend."

Marla would have missed jonwI' more, but her training shifted again. She returned to the penthouse and intensive training with Sensei Tenchi. She had her weapons and training on how to use them. Now Sensei Tenchi pressed her hard to learn what to use when, and when to do nothing or simply run. The later proved to be the most difficult lesson since Marla had the natural instincts of a top level predator, but her need to protect Kayla and Master David helped her set aside her natural inclinations and run before clearly superior foes.

Three weeks after jonwI's disappeared Sensei Tenchi brought along a package on Saturday. After the afternoon training session he stayed for dinner with the other three furs. This was a bit unusual, but the far greater surprise was when he rose with the package and asked Marla to accompany him to her bedroom after dinner.

Marla glanced at Master David and Kayla as she rose from the dinner table, but they just nodded for her to go with their Sensei. Marla wondered if Sensei Tenchi had arranged with Master David for an evening with Marla. She was a bit surprised since Master David had always said she had control of her own body, and Sensei Tenchi did not seem the type to take advantage of a student-teacher relationship, but she honestly liked him and would not mind a roll in the hay as it were if he was feeling randy and wanted her. She hoped he had something interesting in the box he had kept near him throughout the day.

The pair entered Marla's bedroom. She was still dressed in her martial arts jacket and trousers with nothing underneath. As Sensei Tenchi placed the box on the bed she was already starting to unfasten her belt and open her jacket.

Sensei Tenchi opened the box and took out another martial arts uniform. It was pure white and seemed to be made from a single piece of fabric.

"This was originally worn by the Ninja. The Ninja have a long history - sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Originally they acted as spies and keepers of secrets for samurai warriors and lords. Later they fell into disrepute as they turned to murder and crime.

"Lord David revived the original Ninja tradition for his own needs, but he has given it a decidedly high tech advancement. He needed people to get in and out of places they should not be without letting others know of their presence. He also needed people to watch but not be seen when the Government and others acted. For that he revived the old Ninja tradition and brought some honor back to the craft.

"We are training several new ones right now. They do not know who each other are or how many there are in the class. We run training simulations on a regular basis with the students at various Wolf Enterprises facilities. While stealth and quickness are emphasized, any time members of the two groups find one another they have full contact fights.

"You need to learn more stealth and have a lot more variety in your sparring partners. These classes are a perfect place to drop you into a situation where you will get a chance to fight without anyone being aware who you are or why you are there.

"Please do up your jacket and come here, Marla, so I can explain this uniform and its function to you."

Marla hastily closed her open jacket and tied off her belt. She blushed a bit at her misinterpretation of what was happening. She found herself intrigued by what Sensei Tenchi had with him and what it might mean for her.

Sensei Tenchi carefully laid the uniform out on the bed. The uniform was one piece from a hood and mask down to the ankles. There was even a sock of sorts for her tail. It reminded Marla of some of the full body latex bondage suits she had worn over the years. This uniform was much looser and made from what appeared to be silk or polyester.

At first Marla thought her feet would remain unshod, but Sensei Tenchi brought out a pair of boots. Each boot had a slit in the end to leave her big toe separate and able to move freely even while wearing the boots.

"These are Tabi boots," Sensei Tenchi explained. "Ninja can use their feet almost as adeptly as their paws after training for years."

There was a wide belt. Sensei Tenchi showed Marla many well hidden pockets. As he exposed each he named its contents.

"Flash-bang grenades, explosives, folding caltrops, smoke, incendiary bombs, throwing stars..."

Finally Sensei Tenchi brought out a visor. It wrapped around Marla's eyes like a blindfold yet provided complete visibility.

"The uniform looks traditional but it actually is bleeding edge technology. The visor has light enhancement and infrared imaging technology. The outer layer contains organic phosphors that can mimic your surroundings and provide a random camouflage pattern. The inner layer is cooled to keep you from showing up on infrared scans. There is light body armor in the torso made from a new polymer that is ten times better than Kevlar.

"The uniform also has shape memory alloy wires throughout it that act as actuators."

"What do they do, Sensei?" Marla asked curiously.

"I will teach you about them shortly," Sensei Tenchi replied as he removed the visor from Marla's face.

"This evening we will be doing without most of the high tech gadgetry. The visor will stay here, and you are not to use anything in your belt."

Marla nodded her head affirmatively, but she was a bit surprised at the restriction. She wanted to play with some of her new toys.

"Once you are inside the uniform the suit can be hermetically sealed at the seams, even around the visor if you are wearing it. The outside sheds virtually all organics. Combined they prevent DNA evidence from being left by you.

"It is still a good idea to start as clean as possible.

"Take a quick bath, and then we can be on our way."

Marla walked towards the bathroom. As she did so she shed her uniform and tossed it into her closet. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Sensei Tenchi looking at her. Playfully she said, "You know, if you want me, you can have me, Sensei."

"Lady Marla! I have no right to you!" Sensei Tenchi exclaimed in shock.

Marla paused. She placed her paws on the end of the wall separating her closet and bedroom and leaned against it with her head resting on her paws. Her expression turned from playful to serious.

"Tenchi, the only real coin I have is myself, and mostly that is my body and the pleasure through sex I was trained to give.

"I owe you a lot. You have done your best to teach me how to defend my p- Kayla and Master David.

"That means a lot to me.

"Despite your gruffness and formality, you have the makings of a good friend. I do not have many of those, and bonding with those I have is important to me. Sex is one way to do that, and - quite bluntly - a way that I enjoy immensely.

"For all you have done for me, for Kayla and for Master David you deserve payment from me. If you want, you can have me at any time."

"That is not a proper thing to do," Sensei Tenchi said a bit stiffly.

"Because we are student and teacher? Because I am Master David's sex slave?"

"No, because you are Lord David's pack mate, and I am not."

Marla body jerked in surprise.

"Please forgive me, Lady Marla, and Lord David as well. He told me of his intentions even before Lady Kayla and asked that I find out where you had been for the past several years. When they found you so unexpectedly after all those years and seemingly by pure chance we had to check carefully to be sure you were not a spy, willing or unwilling. Lord David's enemies would love nothing more than some fur sleeping with him and reporting everything that we do back to them.

"That is why we ambushed your former owners and found out as much as possible about your life from the Academy to now.

"We needed to know because you would soon be so important to all of us. We also needed to know because, as you may have already guessed, the knowledge you have of what he is doing is enough to allow the Government to take Lord David and many others into custody. Once there the ones that were still alive would be tortured until they either died or told everything they knew."

Marla let the tension drain from her body. She sighed. Master David had to be prudent, especially with those who would share his bed as pack mate. Her appearance had been rather sudden and unexpected. From her training as a bodyguard she could well understand how such an unexpected occurrence would set off alarms.

The wolfess could also understand her threat to him if she were to relay knowledge of what he was doing such as arming slaves to the Government or his other enemies. They would use it against him or brand him a traitor and attack in force.

Marla stood back up.

"Tenchi, I meant what I said. I want to thank you in a very personal way one day for all you have done for my pack, and I am offering myself to you if you want me. Master David gave me control of my body, so I can make the offer."

As she headed back to the bathroom Marla called back over her shoulder, "I thought it was why you were in my bedroom tonight anyway."

"So I belatedly gathered," Sensei Tenchi said wryly.

"In truth, I and my family owe your pack far more than I can ever repay with the small favor of training you."

"Oh?" Marla replied over the sound of running water as she filled the whirlpool tub.

"Yes, Lord David has done much for us already."

"I notice that you call Master David 'Lord' even in private."

"Yes, I owe him the fealty of a samurai warrior to a lord as my father did."

"Your father was Master David's employee as well?"

Sensei Tenchi sighed. It was obvious that his student wanted to know everything, and she had a right as Lord David's pack mate. He sat down on the end of the bed and stared at the wall.

"My father was a free sword for hire - a mercenary. Lord David had reason to hire him several times many years ago.

"They grew close. Lord David eventually asked my father to train him as I am training you. He was very reluctant at first to pass on the samurai training to an outsider, but eventually Lord David convinced my father to do so. Even back then Lord David could see what was coming. Most likely he was one of the instigators of much of the social unrest among the Blue, Green and Red factions we hear about so much these days.

"At the same time my father became involved with my mother. While both were felines their respective clans saw each other as inferior and not worthy of a marriage between my parents. That did not stop them. They were young and headstrong. I was conceived out of wedlock, and both my parents and their clans were disgraced. It called for a blood feud between the clans and the death of all three of my family.

"Master David outright bought the lives of my family to save our lives and the lives of much of both clans. It was pure blood money, but it worked.

"Both of my parents and later I when I was born were cast out of our clans. I in particular was viewed as an unclean half-breed bastard."

Marla gasped. Even among the clannish wolf packs children of dubious conception were generally loved and cherished.

"Lord David could have simply walked away at that point, but he did not. He took my parents and me into his extended pack. Both of them became security guards in the service of Wolf Enterprises. Mostly they worked as Lord David's personal bodyguards.

"In return for all he had done my father and mother swore eternal servitude to Lord David and his pack in the ancient tradition. That is why I call him Lord. When I came of age and was needed, I reaffirmed my family's fealty to our Lord and entered service in Wolf Enterprise's security service."

Marla had become quick to hear what was not said as well as what was said over the past few years. Sensei Tenchi was still not telling her everything, and Marla thought she knew what was not being said.

"I hope to meet you parents some day, Sensei Tenchi."

Sensei Tenchi bowed his head and said dejectedly, "I pray daily that you do as well, Lady Marla.

"There was an attack on Lord David. My parents fought the attackers and allowed him to escape, but they were taken prisoner. We traced them to the Government's secret police, and the trail ended there.

"I was summoned back from training off planet. I had to preside over their funeral when I was twenty-three.

"That was before you were born."

Marla's eyebrows shot up, but she kept quiet. She could believe that Sensei Tenchi was in his forties, but it seemed to push back Master David's birth considerably. Surely he could not be older than his mid-fifties?

"What gives me hope is there were no bodies. If my parents had been able to suicide the Government likely would have just left them where they fell. If they did not die during..."

Sensei Tenchi's voice faltered.

"...interrogation, they were likely sold as you and Lady Kayla were.

"It is why I and others watch the slave sales so intently. Even after two and a half decades we still hope to someday see a familiar face."

Marla swallowed hard at the emotions in Sensei Tenchi's voice. She was suddenly sorry she had led him down this path of conversation.

Sensei Tenchi suddenly brightened.

"Your sudden appearance actually renewed my hopes."

"It did?" Marla asked as she left the tub and stepped into the fur drier.

"Yes, it did!" Sensei Tenchi said over the noise of the fur drier. "If we could find you alive and well after so long and with so many obstacles, I have to believe that we can find my parents."

Marla knew it was likely a false hope, but as she stepped back into the bedroom she put on her best face. The wolfess walked over to the liger, hugged him and said sincerely, "I hope you find them soon."

Sensei Tenchi sighed.

"Most likely we will have to bring down this Government by force to do so or at least discover their fate. That is why I and so many others work with Lord David to do so."

Marla had suspected for some time that despite his connections to the Government Master David was secretly working against them. Sensei Tenchi unwittingly confirmed her suspicions and indirectly explained the need for Kayla to have a bodyguard.

Personally Marla heartily approved of the idea of ending the hell she and the others forced into slavery by a Government indifferent to the lives of its poorest and least protected citizens had gone through. If she ever had pups one day she did not want them to ever face the possibility of one day disappearing from the streets on trumped up charges only to be dropped into the Academy or one of the even less reputable training facilities.

"So, what do I do now?" the dry but still nude Marla asked.

After Marla dressed in the new uniform Sensei Tenchi took her into the workout room. He showed her a voice activated secret compartment keyed to her retinal scan.

"After using your code word to activate the lock you have five seconds to complete your retinal scan. If you fail the compartment is rigged to destroy everything inside. If needed, use that feature to stop anyone else from getting your uniform and any other equipment you store in here."

Sensei Tenchi activated another secret compartment. Inside was a red version of her white uniform. He started to shuck his clothes but paused when he saw Marla looking at him.

"Spoilsport!" she playfully told her Sensei before turning her back to him.

It took him only a few seconds to finish changing.

When he was done he told Marla, "Now the final features of these suits and why we are wearing them tonight instead of normal uniforms,"

Sensei Tenchi touched the band between his left sleeve and its attached glove. Suddenly his hood and uniform changed. He was still the same height, but he suddenly had a decidedly ursine profile. He also appeared to weigh at least twenty kilograms more.

"The smart material actuators in the uniform can stretch and mold the exterior of the uniforms to assume a large variety of fur forms and weights. Normally the microcomputer in your wrist band randomly selects a species and adjusts the outermost layer of the uniform to match it. There are ways to select a specific species or even individual if you need to do so."

Marla could not help but think that she would not mind performing a few crimes while appearing to be some of the guards she had the misfortune of knowing during her slavery. It would be interesting hearing them profess their innocence as they were led away to prison, hard labor or better yet sex slave training at the Academy. While she was generally easygoing, Marla, like Master David, did have a certain streak of revenge in her against those who hurt her loved ones. For what these guards had done to her and her friends, they deserved the worst possible fate in Marla's mind.

"The microcomputer also adjusts height, weight and general tone of voice using a vocoder in your mask. It cannot completely disguise you, but it will foul up most biometric scans.

"There are also times when the appearance of being heavier can help save your life."

Marla nodded. The angle and location of a knife attack often depended on the size and species of a fur. She would likely miss her target if she were to attack Sensei Tenchi now.

Sensei Tenchi showed Marla the small pressure switch on her wrist and how to activate it. It required a certain quick sequence of pushes to prevent accidental activation, but Marla quickly mastered the mechanism.

In fascination she watched in a full body mirror as the uniform changed her to a large fox, a male zebra and finally a nondescript feline femfur.

"That will do for tonight," Sensei Tenchi told Marla. "We have places to go, and you have furs to fight."

Sensei Tenchi suddenly turned very formal.

"I am confident that you will acquit yourself very well in both victory and, if it happens, defeat. I know without doubt that you will bring honor to this dojo, your Sensei and your Lord."

Marla blushed a bit beneath her hood. She bowed deeply and replied, "Thank you, Sensei, for your confidence in me. I will strive to always bring honor to you, my pack mates and my Lord."

Together the furs headed to the elevators. Marla did not see Kayla or Master David. She shrugged. No doubt they knew she was leaving with Sensei Tenchi for more training and had taken advantage of her absence for some private partying in bed. She was briefly jealous, but she knew that they needed some time together to renew their love of each other without her. They shared themselves so completely when she was with them that she could not deny them the simple pleasures of an evening together without her.

The elevator took the pair to the subterranean garage. A large armored vehicle was waiting for them. Sensei Tenchi motioned Marla up the open ramp at the back. As soon as they entered the vehicle sped off.

Marla gave the group a quick once over. There were ten furs dressed in black uniforms, nine other furs dressed in white and a half dozen red clad furs including Sensei Tenchi.

"Listen up!" Sensei Tenchi said commandingly.

All of the furs turned to look at them.

"Some of you have not been on these outings before, so I will go over the rules quickly.

"These are training missions. We fight, but we do not kill.

"Each of you will be given a clip-on buzzer. Tap the button on the front before you engage someone to summon one of the judges."

Sensei Tenchi indicated the red clad furs.

"Their decisions are final. When they declare you out your buzzer will flash red to indicate you are 'dead'. You will stay where you fall and remain silent and still until the end of the mission."

Sensei Tenchi punched in a code on a touchpad at the back of the vehicle. A 3D hologram of a nondescript building appeared above the assembled furs' heads. Each fur looked at it carefully. It rotated and the walls became translucent and some disappeared to better show the interior.

"White Team! Your objective is to infiltrate the building and recover a folder on the uppermost floor."

A bright orange folder appeared in the center of the fifth floor.

"We do not know where it is, so you will have to find it."

The folder icon disappeared. There were some muffled groans from the other white clad furs, but some of the black clad furs laughed a bit.

"You can use any means of ingress and egress. The building has been secured, swept and declared clear, so there are no noncombatants to worry about. The building is also slated for implosion in three months, so a little structural damage is not a concern."

Now it was the turn of the black clad furs to groan and the white clad furs to laugh.

"Black Team! You are our security force. You are to keep the White Team from getting the file at all costs.

"To give you some additional incentive, we have included an embarrassing secret about each of you in the folder."

The Black Team erupted in complaints, but Sensei Tenchi ignored them.

"Pipe down! We have forty minutes to target. Review your training and prepare for battle."

Marla was very nervous. She had practiced hard against her Sensei and alphas, but she had no real experience against other furs. This would be her first trial by fire. She was not particularly concerned about getting hurt. She had more than her fair share of pain as a sex slave. She was more concerned about embarrassing herself and disgracing her pack. This was not what she had been trained to do, and presumably these other furs were experts or at least better trained at this type of job.

Marla sat quietly and concentrated on deep breathing exercises to both calm her and prepare her for fighting.

When the armored vehicle stopped the five unknown judges left and disappeared inside the building.

Sensei Tenchi gave them a minute to get into position before calling out, "Black Team Leader, take your team inside. You have ten minutes before the White Team infiltrates the building."

A medium size lion female motioned for the black clad furs to follow her. They also disappeared into the building.

"White Team Leader! You have ten minutes to prepare your team."

The nondescript canine male gathered his team in a rough circle. The hologram reappeared. He assigned each fur a path to the upper level and several rendezvous points along the way. Marla drew the front door and a shot through the foyer and up the front stairs with two other furs. Once they got to the top they were to split up and clear out the front of the second floor before moving up to the fourth floor by the central fire stairs. They would rendezvous with their leader on the fourth floor to regroup and push to the fifth and final floor.

Marla quickly memorized as much of the floor plan and her assignments as possible. When the ten minutes were up the ramp dropped again. Marla and her team slipped out and headed off to the right to go around the building. When the team reached the doors one of the other furs brought out a small explosive device. He slapped it onto the door. One second later it blew up shattering the glass. The noise was not deafening, but it was definitely loud enough to get the attention of anyone on the first couple of floors.

Knowing that they had only seconds to get through the foyer the three furs sprinted over the glass and up the wide stairway leading to what appeared to be corporate offices. They split at the top. Marla continued straight ahead into a medium size cubicle farm.

Marla dived to one side and found a spot to pause. This was a prime spot for an ambush. The cubicle dividers obstructed her view and offered ample cover to any fur waiting for her in the room. She needed to get through the room quickly, but running down the center aisle to the other side was likely suicidal. Instead she quietly worked her way over to the right. By hugging the wall Marla was able to at least protect one side as she progressed around the room.

Unfortunately Marla was distracted and did not keep as careful an eye on the ceiling as she probably should have. The fur dropped on her heavily. Fortunately her opponent was considerably lighter than she was so Marla was not driven to the ground as her attacker planned.

Marla twisted and rolled. The attacker came off her back. She would have attacked but the lithe black clad fur was already up and pressing an attack of her own. As she blocked the flying fists of her attacker Marla caught sight of a judge watching the sparring.

The wolfess gave ground to the fast fur. She noticed that the fur did not seem to be able to land a heavy blow but appeared to be relying on speed and many light shots to overcome Marla. By giving ground Marla was able to avoid most of the punches and kicks.

Marla waited for her opponent to make a mistake. Whoever she fought was very good as Marla would expect, but Marla saw that her opponent was tiring from his own attack. The blows were just a little slower and they tended to be a little bit wilder than they should be.

When she felt she had an opening Marla knocked aside the punch of the other fur and counterattacked with a shot straight to the sternum of her opponent. With a loud whoosh the air left Marla's attacker's lungs.

Marla quickly pressed her advantage. She used her superior bulk and strength to push the fur back and deliver several heavy blows to their body. As her opponent covered up their upper torso Marla suddenly dropped and executed a leg sweep. She took out both of the other fur's legs. The Black Team fur landed heavily on his right side. Marla pounced and raised her fist to deliver a blow to the other fur's head.

"Enough!" the watching judge said.

The judge turned on the fallen fur's buzzer. It blinked red.

Marla looked at the judge. He asked her. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Marla almost took off at a run. Fortunately common sense returned in time. She padded along the perimeter of the room instead of sprinting down the center of the room. It proved to be a smart move.

One of Marla's teammates looked around the corner of the doorway at the far end. As soon as he stuck his muzzle in it was greeted rudely by a roundhouse kick from a fur hidden in the last cubicle on the far end of the room. Marla sprinted to help her teammate.

The Black Team fur was good, but no match for two determined furs. Marla got a kick in the side that hurt a bit, but the two White Team members were able to quickly subdue the defender.

"Two down, eight to go," the unknown White fur said.

They found their third teammate sitting beside the door to the stairs with his arms crossed and buzzer flashing red. They said nothing to their "dead" comrade but headed up the stairs carefully. They were now one member short.

The door to the fourth floor was torn from its hinges. Apparently the heavy fire door had been locked and one of the White Team furs had blown it. The explosion had brought several furs to the area. Marla counted two White Team members and one Black Team member down. The White Team leader was taking a moment while the White Team members assembled to quietly berate one of the "dead" members of his team with a very acerbic tongue.

"Report!" the canine barked at Marla's companion.

Marla's teammate replied, "Two Black Team members down on the second floor. We lost one at the stairwell door. The rest of the front portion of the second floor appeared clear."

"We got jumped from behind by a fur coming up the stairs after the door was blown instead of the lock picked. That probably was your 'killer'. He continued up the stairs to the top floor."

The White Team Leader pointed to Marla's teammate.

"You go up the stairs after him. Take the other two furs with you."

"Once more into the breach..." the fur said in a slightly disgruntled voice as he motioned the two other White Team members to follow him up the stairs. They disappeared into the stairwell.

"You take the back stairs. The doors should be unlocked. Get upstairs as fast as you can and start searching for our objective. Let the others worry about fighting."

Marla nodded and headed down the hallway. She was careful to look in all directions as she padded along. This time she met no one and was able to get up the stairs unmolested.

At the fifth floor door Marla paused and listened with her ear pressed against the door. She could hear sounds of fighting. Apparently the frontal assault was drawing a lot of attention. Marla suspected that was what her leader had planned.

Marla sighed. This was not what she was trained to do, and she felt out of her element here. Still, it was what her Sensei wanted her to do, so she would do her best.

Marla carefully cracked open the door and looked down the hallway. No fur was in sight, so she slipped through the doorway after first looking up to be sure she would not be pounced from above again.

The top floor had the executive offices at the back where Marla was. A pair of frosted glass doors separated her from the fighting at the center of the floor and gave her cover.

The doors also hid a Black Team fur crouching behind a receptionist's desk.

Marla pressed the button on her buzzer. A moment later a red clad paw waved to her from an office halfway down the hall. She nodded to herself and silently stalked her quarry. Marla almost wished that Kayla and her throwing knives were here. At this distance the otteress could have quietly killed Marla's target with ease.

As it was the fight was brief and decisive. Marla caught the other fur completely by surprise. She used a single blow to the back of his neck to knock him out. Marla almost felt sorry for him as he slumped down. From personal experience she knew he or she would have a bad headache when they woke up.

The judge undid the seam around the fur's hood and checked his pulse and breathing. He nodded to Marla and turned on Marla's victim's buzzer. Silently Marla sighed. She was afraid for a moment when the judge checked her victim that she had done serious damage.

Marla ducked into the first office and quickly looked around. There was no sign of their objective, so she moved on to the next office. She continued on for several more offices before hearing muted sounds of fighting coming from the corner office. Marla eased up to the doorway and looked inside the office.

The two team leaders were fighting a furious battle of flying fists and roundhouse kicks. They seemed to be evenly matched with neither being able to gain a clear advantage. As she watched, Marla felt a distracting niggling thought at the back of her brain that would not go away nor come to the forefront of her thoughts.

The White Team Leader saw Marla. With his eyes he motioned toward the desk.

On the desk lay a bright orange manila envelope, the objective of their mission.

The White Team leader started backing to the corner off to Marla's left. It left a clear path to the desk for Marla.

Marla carefully stood and walked quietly but quickly towards the desk. Halfway there she heard a loud "OOF!" from the corner with the combatants. She turned her head.

The Black Team Leader had managed to land a gut shot to the White Team Leader. He was half doubled over and in obvious distress. He tried a punch, but it was so feeble that the Black Team Leader knocked it aside with ease. She raised her paw to bring a backhand slap down onto the White Team Leader's head.

The White Team Leader's and Marla's eye met. Her leader's eyes slid off towards the desk. The command was clear for Marla to get the folder and get out.

The thought that had been bothering Marla was crystallized by the look. The uniform may hide the identity of the wearer to strangers, but not necessarily to those who knew the wearer intimately.

The White Team Leader was Kayla.

Without even thinking Marla sprang at the back of the Black Team Leader. In her anger Marla must have made some noise. Her flying kick to the fur's kidneys was dodged and partially blocked. Marla rolled and came to her feet.

Marla attacked as hard and as fast as she could. She managed to force the other fur back enough to allow her to get between her and Kayla. She pressed her attack, but her anger at the fur clouded her judgment. Her opponent was able to slip a punch past her right paw and strike Marla's head hard. Her ears rang from the force of the punch, and she took a step back.

The other fur immediately pressed past her to attack Kayla again. The otteress had not recovered from her earlier blow and could mount only a token defense as she rapidly backed into the corner with the lioness close behind her. There was a sudden glint of steel and a knife appeared in the attacking fur's right paw.

Marla's eyes were having trouble focusing. She could barely keep her balance. Her opponent had managed to best not only her but Kayla as well. Now he was closing in to kill the otteress. Training or not, Marla could not allow his next blow to fall.

Marla howled and sprang forward. She tackled the Black Team Leader around the waist and drove her hard into the wall. Her head bounced off the wall with a loud crack, and she fell to the floor.

By all rights her attack should not have worked, but the element of surprise, the concentration of the other fur on Kayla and the tight quarters in the corner combined to give her just enough of an advantage to take down Kayla's attacker.

As the fur slumped to the ground Marla raised her paw to strike. She was so blinded by rage that she would have dealt a deadly blow if Sensei Tenchi had not grabbed her arm.

"Enough, Marla!

"It is over."

Marla turned on her Sensei with murder in her eyes. She was Kayla's bodyguard, and she would not allow this other fur to attack Kayla with impunity.

"Marla, stop!" Sensei Tenchi commanded her.

The two furs locked eyes. For the first time in years Marla was on the verge of disobeying a direct order of a freefur. She raised her free paw to strike. Sensei Tenchi made no move to stop her or block her blow.

Slowly some reason returned to Marla. The blind rage abated, and she lowered her left paw. Sensei Tenchi let go of her right arm, and she stood up. She still glared at the liger, but she was at least not in a homicidal rage now.

Marla ripped off her hood and yelled at Sensei Tenchi, "She tried to kill her! She is a traitor!

"She deserves to die!"

Sensei Tenchi very calmly replied, "Kayla was in no danger."

"No danger?! She had a knife!"

A new but very familiar voice interjected, "Yes, but I would have never used it."

Marla spun around in shock. The Black Team Leader had removed her hood and deactivated her uniform. Instead of a lioness Marla now stared at Master David.

"What-?!"

Master David just sat there propped up against the wall with a silly grin on his face.

Kayla removed her hood.

"It was all a test, Marla."

Kayla looked directly at Sensei Tenchi and said with considerable heat, "One that was never needed!"

Sensei Tenchi stood and formally bowed to first Kayla and then Master David.

"I admit my error, but in the matter of your lives, Lady Kayla and Lord David, I must be certain of those around you even if I give offense to you and those you love."

Sensei Tenchi then turned to Marla and bowed the deepest. He remained bowed over as he contritely addressed her.

"Lady Marla, I apologize for doubting your devotion to Lady Kayla. Both she and Lord David were adamant that you would protect her regardless of the cost to you.

"Even with your training and your obvious love of both of them I was still not certain if you were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of a bodyguard. I therefore proposed this training session where you would be put in a position of making a hard choice to protect your Lady."

"You took a great chance, Sensei," Marla replied. She was still mad at him for putting Kayla at risk, but she was calming down rapidly. "I could have not recognized Kayla and ignored her danger."

"Lady Kayla spoke to me of the communications with your eyes that you and the other students at the Academy used when unable to speak for one reason or another. She was certain when she made eye contact with you that you would recognize her."

Marla looked down at the still bowing liger. She knew what his unasked question was. She was still mad at him, but she realized that Kayla had been in minimal danger. She still had one bone to pick with her Sensei, though.

"I could have killed Master David," she told the liger bluntly.

Both Master David and Kayla snorted.

"Please give us some credit, Marla," Master David told her.

"I am wearing extra body armor underneath this uniform and had a helmet under my hood.

"I am surprised I did not leave a dent in the wall where my head hit."

Master David cocked his head and added, "I must say I was surprised by your attack. I was prepared for something more... elegant. I think your direct approach would have been very effective in a real attack upon Kayla."

"It had the advantage of being unexpected even by me," Sensei Tenchi commented.

Marla sighed. She could not remain mad at her pack mates or her teacher. She was learning how dangerous these uncertain times were. She was not sure exactly what they were doing, but she was sure that they would be at the center of the storm to come. They needed to know that she would not be a weak link in their defenses when the time came to fight.

"I forgive you, Sensei. I am not happy about what happened, but I understand why you did it."

"That's nice," an unhooded Zubin said from the doorway, "but we need to get out of here. Apparently we have attracted some serious police attention. They have at least five cruisers and a SWAT team heading this way."

Zubin pulled on his hood and reverted to the wolverine that had accompanied Marla into the building.

"Everyone else is heading downstairs to the loading dock, and we need to join them now!"

The five furs ran to the back stairs. There was a brief moment of confusion when all of them wanted to be last fur out, but Zubin and Tenchi ended it by manhandling Kayla, Master David and Marla into the stairwell. They flew down the stairs to the first floor and out to the loading dock. The armored vehicle was waiting with the ramp halfway up already.

"Come on!" Marla's first victim of the night called. "They are less than ninety seconds away from here!"

The furs scrambled over the ramp and into the armored vehicle. Even before Sensei Tenchi was inside the armored vehicle was moving and the ramp was being raised.

"Status?" Master David asked calmly.

Over the intercom the driver reported, "Eight police cruisers, a SWAT team and a police air unit are converging on us."

"Damn!" Zubin growled as he headed for the cockpit. A moment later they felt the armored vehicle jump forward.

"Better strap in and grab something solid," Marla commented dryly.

Her hood muffled her voice, but the humor in her tone still came through as Kayla asked, "So, you have been on one of his trips to the mall at the Winter Solstice holidays?"

Behind her hood Marla smiled, but she was concerned. There were a lot of police closing in on them. If they caught them not even Master David's wealth was likely to protect them when it became obvious that at least two slaves were being trained in combat.

Zubin proved up to the task of evading the policefurs, though. Using a combination of stealth technology to confuse the police air unit and outlandish and often dangerous driving to get around the police cruisers, he was able to get them to the relative safety of one of Wolf Enterprises production facilities. The armored vehicle disappeared inside a storage building barely large enough to hold it. The floor descended ten meters to a sublevel, and the armored vehicle pulled into a hidden garage.

"Everyone out," Master David ordered the furs. They went through a short corridor to a hidden room with many doors. Master David sent the other furs off in various directions with orders to ditch their uniforms for street clothes as soon as possible. While worried all of the furs were calm and followed orders quickly and efficiently.

Zubin and Sensei Tenchi refused to allow Master David and the femfurs out of their sight. They escorted him to a side entrance to the plant where Mike waited with the silver limousine. The five furs piled into the back, and Mike took off quickly.

The five took off their uniforms and hid them in compartments under their seats that Marla had never noticed. She was somehow unsurprised to find that the compartments had a change of clothes for Master David, Kayla and her while Sensei Tenchi and Zubin were able to find standard Wolf Enterprise coveralls that fit them well enough for the moment.

Marla expected to return to the penthouse, but instead Master David ordered Mike to drive to his main headquarters building. When they got there a large number of guards greeted them. They pulled into an underground garage. Behind them first a normal steel garage door closed and then a set of blast doors.

Master David saw Marla's surprised look.

"I had many modifications made to the building that do not show up on the blueprints on file with the city. My guards also get the latest weapons technology before even the military."

Marla nodded as she scanned the area for more surprises.

The six furs left the car and headed up to the corporate headquarters suite. Outside the night was still dark. It was strange to think that with all that had happened it was still before midnight.

Master David explained to Marla "I want to be in a public place in case the police made an identification of any of us.

"Tenchi and I can be explained easily enough if they find evidence of us at the building. I can even explain Zubin. You and Kayla are more difficult.

"I am thinking that an orgy would be our best cover."

Marla nearly laughed as Sensei Tenchi went beet red in his face.

Zubin did not miss the liger's consternation and discomfort. He added, "Having some properly placed genetic material would help strengthen that excuse-"

Marla was not quite sure what Sensei Tenchi did in the crowded elevator but suddenly Zubin was doubled over and having problems breathing.

"I do not think that is needed," Sensei Tenchi said to Zubin with an air of affronted dignity.

"Ah, perhaps you are right," Zubin replied as he sought to regain his breath.

"Enough," Master David interjected. "Tenchi, the idea actually has merit given the official status of Kayla and Marla, but we will not pursue it."

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out into the corporate heart of Wolf Enterprises. Marla expected it to be quiet and empty, but the office was bustling with activity.

An older otteress hurried up to the group.

"We made arrangements for a conference call with several furs spread out around the planet and in orbit. It will appear that the call was planned several days ago if the police check. It will also be impossible to take you without several important furs knowing it, Sir."

"Good, now let's go pretend to do some business..."

Marla, Kayla and Mike ended up in Master David's office. It was well stocked with food and drink, but none of them felt inclined to partake of any of it as they waited for the police to show up or not. Marla was even so concerned about the future that she did not take advantage of being almost alone in an intimate setting with Mike to tease him a bit.

Hours later as they lay around staring at the walls Marla asked Kayla, "Is it like this a lot? The short burst of absolute terror followed by nervous waiting as we wait to find out if we escaped or not?"

Kayla dryly replied, "No, normally it is the waiting first and then the moments of terror.

"If you want to continue with this fight against the Government, you need to get used to it. It is not a lot of fun, but it is the only way to win and free the slaves."

"I am in it for the long run," Marla replied. "Even if I am not quite certain what I am in for."

Kayla smiled.

"At times like this that is an advantage. You can only betray a few furs if you are caught and forced to talk.

"Master David and I have more knowledge of who is involved and what they are doing. We will have to make a harder choice if we are cornered and are unable to escape.

"Even Mike is a prime target for the Government though we think they do not realize it."

Marla looked over to where Mike lay on the couch. Somehow he had managed to fall asleep.

"Mike?"

"Yes. He takes us to many places and knows our movements as well as any fur we associate with. If the Government realized he takes us to covert meetings as well..."

Kayla shuddered a bit.

Marla looked at Mike as he lay softly snoring.

"Why does he do it?" she asked the otteress.

"His pack has a long history of helping the oppressed. It has gotten them in a lot of trouble over the centuries. They are social outcasts now because of their past actions.

"To put it simply, Mike does it because it is the right thing to do in his mind."

The femfurs fell silent, but Marla continued to watch Mike as she contemplated the tidbit of information Kayla had given her. She liked the young male wolf, and her estimation of him continued to rise every time she learned more about him.

Zubin and Sensei Tenchi had left soon after Master David went into the holographic conference room. They could be more effective if the Government raided Wolf Enterprises if they were outside and free to operate.

It was early morning when Sensei Tenchi returned.

"The police are officially baffled by the break in at the office building. Officially they ascribe it to juvenile vandals."

"And unofficially...?" Kayla asked the liger.

"Unofficially they think Wolf Enterprises was doing something clandestine there last night. I encouraged that idea when I visited the scene of the crime and talked to the head investigator."

Marla gasped at the audacity of her teacher to return to the scene of the crime as it were.

Sensei Tenchi just smiled.

"A break in at one of our facilities is reason for the head of security to be brought into a police investigation, Marla. It would have been more unusual for me not to have been there than to have gone.

"As it was, I made a few broad hints about improving security in our facilities to meet the demands of the military and the need for training. By telling them a half truth that happens to be what they wanted to hear, we neatly divert suspicion.

"When I left they were all heading home and the investigation, while still open, was not going to be pursued vigorously."

"That explains the call I got from the Police Commissioner a moment ago," Master David said from the doorway.

"He asked me if I knew anything about a break-in last night or not. When I asked him if he wanted an answer on or off the record he just said that was good enough for him."

"So we weather another storm, Master David?' Kayla asked.

"Yes, though in the not too distant future I expect them to just arrest us with any pretence they can come up with.

"In the meantime we move forward with our plans. We will do as much as we can while we are still legal and then go to ground and fight from the shadows if we can.

"Either way, we have already accomplished much, and we should be able to do a lot more in the fight to come."

Master David stretched. He walked over to Marla and sat on the arm of the overstuffed chair in which she was sitting.

"So, Marla, how did you like your training session and playing bodyguard last night?"

"It was different," Marla replied dryly.

Kayla laughed and stood up.

"Well, it may get even more 'different' in the future, but for now I am tired, I need a bath, and I want some time snuggling up with my pack mates in bed.

"Wake up Mike and let's get out of here.

"I need some serious sack time with my pack mates, and I have a bodyguard to reward for her valor last night."

Marla smiled at Kayla. She wanted the same things, and she suspected she knew what at least some of her 'reward' would be. From the grin on Master David's muzzle he was anticipating some serious fun that day as well.

Despite what had happened that night and the uncertainty of the future that seemed to be increasingly dangerous Marla trusted her pack mates and their friends. She would do her best to help them even as the storm clouds gathered about them and Elysium.

In the meantime, there was a warm bed and a pair of willing and able alphas to keep her satisfied.

For now, that was enough for Marla.