Marla

Chapter 9

Political Party

S.M. Wolf

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Marla, Kayla and Jenny are copyrighted by Kittiara and used with her permission. Titania, Basil and Burty are copyrighted by Moldred and used with permission. 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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"I don't understand why we are throwing this party," Marla complained bitterly.

Master David looked up from the papers he was reading at his office desk and replied, "Acceptance of the inevitable."

Marla looked at her alpha male sourly from where she sat slumped down in her chair. He sighed, put down the papers and leaned back in his chair.

"The Praetorian Guard has us by the balls. We are still fighting them in court, but the takeover of certain defense manufacturing facilities is a fait accompli. There is virtually no chance that the courts will reverse it no matter how illegal and unconstitutional it is. They have been cowed by the current Elysium Administration into virtual submission.

"So it is best to be on their good side. They hold the lives of our workers in their paws. For their sakes we need to do our best to make the Praetorian Guard our friends instead of our enemies.

"I do not like it any more than you do, but it is something that must be done no matter how distasteful it is to our sensibilities and morals."

Marla harrumphed in anger, but she knew her Master was correct. They had to do this even if the mere thought of having the officers of the Praetorian Guard in the penthouse made her hackles rise.

Kayla looked over at the wolfess and said, "It is not the end of the world. We will have the chance to have some of our friends here as well. Most you have not met yet, but we will have Valentia and Todd I am sure.

"Sensei Tenchi and Zubin along with some other furs you know will be working as waiters and waitresses."

Privately Marla suspected that she would "know" all of the serving furs from her late night training exercises. She hoped that there would be a large number of them here to "help" at the party.

Kayla looked at Marla slyly.

"And of course Mike will be working the bar. He is a fantastic bartender."

Marla's ears and disposition perked up. She actually grinned.

In the week since Marla had managed to bed Mike their schedules had kept them apart most of the time. It was a situation she hated for many reasons, but she understood the need for Mike to work so much.

Still, there had still been a few special stolen moments.

One morning when Marla, Kayla and Master David were taking a taxi to a business luncheon the taxi had been delayed. The four furs were alone in the lobby with several minutes of unoccupied time.

Marla took a quick look outside and at the elevator lights. No fur was around or likely to appear soon. She grinned, grabbed Mike's cap, tossed it aside, and pinned him to the wall. Before he could utter even a single syllable she had him in a serious lip lock.

Mike's eyes bulged in complete shock. He stared at Master David and Kayla around Marla's hair. He obviously expected Master David to berate him and Marla, but instead he just smiled and laughed at Mike's surprise.

"Better get used to it, Mike," Kayla warned the young wolf. "Remember, I trained with her. I know just how amorous she really is!"

Kayla chuckled deep in her throat at Mike's look of discomfort.

Marla did not even slow down in French kissing her young wolf lover.

Kayla turned to Master David and said with a smile, "You know, that looks like a lot of fun..."

Master David took Kayla in his arms. The two embraced and kissed passionately. Mike had always known that Kayla was extremely special to Mister Wolf, but the open display of raw lust combined with deep love surprised him. It also gave him an unexpected insight into the true depths of their commitment to each other. He was also shocked that they allowed him to see it. It was part of a dawning realization that he was moving deeper into their pack's inner circle even if he was still technically an outsider.

The two couples continued to kiss until the taxi arrived. Marla waved back to the young wolf as he stood beside the doorway running a paw through his fur to settle his pelt before anyone else arrived.

Marla and Mike had only a few other opportunities, but she did manage to get his pants down twice to give him a quick blow job. He seemed to really enjoy oral sex and, while Marla would have preferred a full night of pleasure together, these brief encounters had to be enough for the moment. She was still going to find a way to convince Master David to arrange a free night for Mike soon. She doubted it would take much to get her alpha's help.

Marla returned from her daydream fantasies of a night with Mike to hear her Master saying, "Yes, Mike and several others will be there. They will be helpful in our efforts to placate the Guard officers."

Marla heard the underlying tone of disgust in Master David's voice. She was not quite sure if he was mad at the Guardfurs or himself for letting the Praetorian Guard into his home.

The next week passed too fast for the furs. Unfortunately for Marla she had no opportunity to do anything fun with Mike beyond a couple of quick kisses. By Thursday night she was extremely sexually frustrated but could do nothing about it with the party approaching rapidly. She promised herself to try to have a private talk with Master David about Mike's schedule that weekend.

Friday was strangely dreary in the penthouse even though the caterer and interior decorator were filling all three levels of the penthouse with bright, vibrant colors and music. The impending arrival of two dozen unwanted furs - the Praetorian Guard Captain, the Sergeant Of The Praetorian Guard, the four members of the Captain's headquarters staff and the Commanders and Seconds from each of the nine Cohorts - was dimming what under other circumstances would be very festive party preparations.

Marla and Kayla were left in charge of the staff during most of the day. They floated throughout the entire penthouse making sure that everything was in order. They also quietly policed the strange furs to make sure none "accidentally" ended up in the office or worse the library or Marla's bathroom. The last thing they needed was a spy from the Elysium government, a business rival, one of the media giants or someone else finding incriminating evidence or potential blackmail material like the dungeon. Sensei Tenchi and Zubin arrived mid-afternoon to help oversee the influx of waiters and other workers needed for the last mad dash to finish the preparation.

Marla and Kayla sequestered themselves in Marla's bedroom around five o'clock so they could prepare for the party. Sensei Tenchi and Zubin took over directing the preparations for them briefly. They bathed, perfumed and primped themselves before slipping into a matching pair of slinky formal black dresses with low cut backs and just a little bit of extra exposed cleavage. Valentia and Todd had done an excellent job of showing just enough fur and naughty bits to hopefully distract the male Guardfurs' attention a bit. Both dresses also allowed the femfurs to slip a fair number of weapons into inconspicuous hidden pockets.

By six o'clock the preparations were done and everyone was in place. Marla wanted to wander over to the bar where Mike was stationed, but she did not dare to do so with so many strange furs around. Sensei Tenchi and Zubin knew how to keep their muzzles shut, but the others, especially the younger furs, were too likely to talk about Mister Wolf's sex slave monopolizing all of Mike's attention.

Marla sighed and contented herself with occasional looks and a smile or three across the room. Mike seemed to understand and be as frustrated as she was.

"Now all we need is the host and the guests," Kayla commented dryly after inspecting the arrangements a final time.

Master David arrived a few minutes later. He was already dressed in a stylish black suit. He nodded to the femfurs before making his own inspection. Marla noted his low words of encouragement to many of the younger furs working the party that night. She also caught him having a couple of longer conversations with Zubin and Sensei Tenchi. No doubt they were going over security procedures more than party plans.

At six thirty the first guests arrived. Marla was introduced to a hippo couple. The femfur owned a supplier to one of Master David's aerospace industries. Marla found them talking at length to her about their product line. Marla secretly suspected the hippos had been invited because her conversation was so dry and boring. Handing the Captain to the hippo and her mate for the night would be a deliciously excruciating torture of the Captain of the Praetorian Guard by her alpha male.

Fortunately more guests arrived soon afterwards and Marla was able to break free by playing hostess. She caught amused winks from both Kayla and Master David as she beat a hasty retreat to the foyer and the new guests. She knew that they had planned the entire incident, and she was determined to get them back later that night when they were alone.

Valentia made her entrance at six fifty. The energetic and uninhibited Ethiopian wolfess grandly waved and called out to everyone as she took over the room. Most furs did not even notice the young dog fox beside the exuberant canine femfur.

By seven o'clock three dozen guests were in living room when the Praetorian Guards arrived.

Marla's back was turned to the elevators, but the sudden deep chill in the room and the rapid dying of all conversation alerted her to their arrival. She turned and watched the twenty-four furs parade out of the elevators. Even though this was a civilian event they marched out of the elevators in lock step, backs straight and eyes forward. They were dressed in the deepest black uniforms Marla had ever seen. Even their buttons and piping were black.

It struck Marla as she examined the Guardfurs that all were predators. She was not normally racist, but when she saw the ferrets, weasels, hyenas and others in the group she could not help but apply the species stereotypes to them. They certainly exuded an air of contempt and superiority that merited them. Given their professional careers, Marla suspected they were apt as well.

Nonetheless Master David crossed the room, jovially greeted the Guardfurs and extended his paw to the Captain, a large male lion. The lion looked down at the extended paw with a mixture of surprise, disgust and condescending. He obviously did not expect any civilian to be so bold and foolish as to actually try to shake his paw. However, he did take the wolf's paw and shake briefly. It was, after all, a social event meant to ease friction between the factions.

Kayla caught Marla's eye and motioned her forward. Together they joined Master David. He introduced them briefly to the Captain and his officers. Kayla took the Sergeant's arm and led him down into the living room. Marla found herself with a hyena officer who commanded one of the Cohorts. His naked lust and leer as he looked her over reminded her of Jenny's "special friend" among the guards. She was certain that she would not enjoy an encounter with this hyena any more than Jenny enjoyed the rapes by the guard that had favored her at the Academy. It took great willpower and all of her training to smile instead of flinch as he covertly pawed her ass for just a moment before offering the wolfess his arm.

Master David, Kayla and Marla led the Guardfurs down into the living room and introduced them to the other guests already present. Valentia monopolized several of the younger officers' attention to Marla's eternal gratitude. She knew that the older designer could handle the Guardfurs with ease.

The late summer sunset made a stunning backdrop to the party. More furs arrived, and the spacious penthouse filled with partying furs. It was Marla's first full-fledged party in the penthouse, and she was enjoying herself even with the dampening effects of the Guardfurs. She could well imagine meeting the many friends and acquaintances of her Master under different circumstances. It no doubt would be far more pleasant. She hoped that her Master would have such a gathering soon.

Master David took center stage in the living room. The Praetorian Guard Captain was never far from him, but he kept much more to himself. His staff surrounded him and silently discouraged interaction with the other partygoers. Marla and Kayla moved throughout the party helping along conversations, acting as social lubricants by introducing furs and keeping tempers and drinking under control.

Marla noticed several things as she moved through the three levels of the penthouse. The guests came from a wider cross-section of society than she was expecting. In addition to the well-to-do businessfurs and Praetorian Guard officers there were many entertainers, highly placed politicians and their operatives, lobbyists, engineers from Wolf Industries' military subsidiaries, and even some sports figures.

The diversity of profession was not too surprising given the breadth and depth of Master David's business empire, but Marla found out as she listened that many were not friends of either each other or Marla's Master. The mixture of furs was proving to be a volatile mix, and Marla and others had to intercede discretely on many occasions to keep tempers under control. Several times she stood near some of the more unfriendly furs and allowed them to ogle her body. None attempted to touch her, but she felt filthy from the way some of the males and females undressed her with their eyes. Still, it did end a potentially explosive situation more than once.

After once such encounter she slipped up to the bar and ordered a drink from Mike. He quickly filled up her glass with ginger ale. The last think Marla wanted tonight was a fuddled mind from alcohol.

"Why the heck did Master David invited most of these furs?" Marla growled under her breath.

"I don't know," Mike replied in a near whisper. "I've never seen him do something like this. Something has to be happening, but I don't know what."

Marla nodded to the wolf and took her drink. She deliberately brushed her paw over his to remind him of her affection. She swayed provocatively as she walked away from the bar and back into the crowd, Behind her she heard a male skunk say, "Bartender, another glass of Merlot!

"Bartender?"

Marla glanced back and smiled. Mike's full attention was centered on her ass and tail just like she had intended. She grinned at him briefly, and then both went back to their jobs.

Throughout the evening Marla was being careful to keep an eye on those around Kayla and Master David whenever possible. Marla was nearly certain that anyfur trying to harm them here would meet an untimely death, but Marla wanted to catalog the reactions of all around Kayla in case something happened in the future. She caught Sensei Tenchi doing the same.

A buffet dinner was served at eight. The serving furs were kept on their toes by the ravenous guests. Even they could feel the undercurrents in the room and were jumpy. Marla was not too surprised to see Zubin in a chef's coat and hat carving meat. She suspected the large array of knives beside him was not just for carving meat or show.

It was around nine when Kayla appeared beside Marla's right elbow. Marla was talking with a large badger named Stephan, the same one that had been on the videophone with Master David when she had been caught coupling with Mike. They were standing on the steps leading up to the dining room. Marla was laughing at his funny story when Kayla slipped into the small group.

"I see you have found Stephan, Marla.

"He was the one who introduced me to Master David at the Academy."

Marla looked at the badger. He blushed a bit.

"That was not my finest hour," he said. "I was trying to convince David to give me a contract by getting him laid by an Academy sex slave."

Kayla laughed.

"Well, I for one am glad you did. It turned out well for all of us in the end."

Stephan added his deep laugh to Kayla's chirp of pleasure. Marla noted that he was still embarrassed enough to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, yes, it did," he said. There was still some consternation in his voice, but he smiled and seemed to relax as Kayla brushed off the incident.

Knowing what had been in store for Kayla, Marla was quite happy to learn of Stephan's actions even if he had perhaps not had the most honorable of intentions. It was a common business practice on Elysium, and Marla was sure many of her nights at the Academy servicing freefurs had been part of business deals.

The otteress turned to Marla.

"Marla, can I borrow you for a moment?" Kayla asked her.

"Could you please excuse me, Stephan?"

"Certainly, Lady Marla!" the badger graciously replied. Unlike some of the furs in the party he and his female badger mate had been very open and convivial while talking with Marla. They had subtly let her know that they knew of her true status, but it did not matter to them. Now knowing their involvement with Kayla and Master David she could understand their attitude a bit better.

Marla turned away from the badgers and followed Kayla a few steps towards the far end of the room.

"What do you want, Kayla?" Marla asked in an undertone as she smiled at a small group of Guardfurs. The oldest officer lifted his muzzle as if he smelled dung and turned away from her, but the younger officers ran appreciative eyes over her body.

"Look there. See who is with Master David?" Kayla asked as she pointed at their Master where he stood in the far corner of the living room.

Marla looked down the length of the room. It was easy to spot Master David in the crowd. He was in quiet conversation with a black leopard. The leopard was dressed a bit scruffily in a coat with a few threadbare spots, but Master David was smiling at the leopard and obviously enjoying his company. From their body language it was clear that the leopard was one of Master David's better friends.

"I see the black leopard. Am I suppose know him?" Marla said.

"Just by reputation for the moment. That's Kirk Whalum, the jazz saxophonist. Now look to his left a couple of feet."

Marla shifted her eyes to the left. It was difficult to see anything through the crowd, but then the furs parted enough for Marla to just make out another fur near Master David and Kirk.

There was a large feline kneeling on the floor beside the black leopard. Marla was shocked to see such behavior at one of Master David's parties. She had come to expect all of Master David's friends to treat their slaves well and actually care for them as furs, not objects to be used as desired or publicly debased.

"What is she doing down on her knees?" Marla hissed.

"I'm not sure," Kayla replied, "but take a good look at her. Do you think you recognize her?"

Marla looked over the feline female carefully. She was large, easily eight foot tall if she was standing. Her head was bowed and her body bent in the manner of a pleasure slave trained at the Academy.

Her fur was the strangest part about her. It was a mishmash of orange, black and white. It reminded Marla of a picture of a tigress where the paints had run together and mixed.

Marla caught her breath. Sometimes when a fur was shaved repeatedly their fur did not grow back properly. There had been one tigress with the misfortune of having attracted the attention of an ounce and a serval with a passion for shaving females until not a single hair of their pelt remained.

"Do you think it is her?" Marla asked Kayla in a whisper.

"I think it is Titania, but I am not sure. We need to go check it out."

"Yes! Now!" Marla agreed vehemently. They had to take the opportunity to discover if they had found another of their classmates.

The two females slid through the crowd and came up behind the trio. Master David gave them a glance but did not alert the two felines to the femfurs behind them.

"So, Kirk, I hear your career has taken a few interesting turns of late," Master David prodded the sax player.

Kirk smiled and laughed.

"Many, many, many! It was amazing how fast my popularity among the large clubs evaporated once I came out and openly stated that I believe slavery is wrong and all furs should be freed. All of a sudden I was blacklisted and could not get a job anywhere. I had to let the band go and start playing small bars and seedy night clubs."

Kirk's voice dropped and took on a conspiratorial note.

"What most people don't realize is the band and I never split up. They came with me. We are playing two, three, even four gigs a night! The pay is terrible, but the music is fantastic! I don't think we have sounded this good in years.

"Officially record sales stopped, and I am a banned artist, but underneath the table my record company is selling the live tracks we are cutting as fast as they can get them onto the servers and out across the Net. I've seen several underground reviews talking about how we lost the commercialism and found the heart and soul of jazz again.

"And they are absolutely right.

"We were getting stale - just going through the motions. Now we are living the blues again. It comes alive for us every night. We see a lot of people from the 'upper crust' sneaking into the back of the room as well to listen to us.

"We are a hot commodity, but the pay is sometimes miserable.

"Not always, though!"

Kirk reached out with his left paw and stroked the kneeling tigress' hair. She remained stolid underneath his attentions, but the four other furs could hear her low purr as Kirk continued to gently stroke her.

"A couple of weeks ago we were done with a weeklong gig. I went into the manager's office to get our pay. Inside were the manager and Titania. He told me he had no money, so he was giving the band our own sex toy. He apologized for her funny looking pelt and said she was used to having a few dozen furs a day, so getting gang banged by the band members would be nothing new for her."

Only Master David could see Titania wince at the memories of her many ordeals.

"I thought I would have to do some fast talking, but it was actually pretty easy to get the rest of the band to agree to let me have her in exchange for me paying them the cash the manager owed us."

Kirk's voice took on a very warm tone.

"I planned to set her free at the first opportunity. I knew you could help, so I kept her until I could speak with you privately about what needed to be done.

"I never expected to fall in love with her.

"And I never expected her to love me back like she does."

Marla felt a small tear form in the corner of her eyes as she watched Kirk caress Titania's face. She could see only part of the tigress' face, but it was easy to tell that the look she returned to him was just as loving. It appeared another of their classmates had come to a happy end even if the route she had taken appeared to be at least as hard as Marla's own and likely harder.

Marla and Kayla felt an arm encircle their waists. Valentia grinned at them and whispered, "Touching, isn't it?"

Both of the younger femfurs nodded yes.

"Now if we can just get her to relax and act like a normal fur..."

Valentia strode forward and joined Kirk and Titania.

"Good evening, Kirk! I've been looking all over for you. I wanted to see who was wearing the new dress you wanted from me."

Valentia looked at Titania. Even kneeling her head was even with Valentia's bosom.

"You know," Valentia began, "kneeling on the dress is pretty hard on the fabric. It would be better if you stood up."

Titania remained impassive.

Valentia sighed.

"Well, if you are going to be that way..."

Valentia leaned over and grabbed a double pawful of the front of her dress. She lifted it up to her waist while watching the face of the tigress kneeling before her.

Marla was aware of the conversation dying behind her as many of the furs at the party turned to watch the mercurial wolfess.

Valentia glanced up. She spotted one elderly hamster staring slack jawed at her crotch. His drink was ready to slip from his paw.

"What?! Haven't you ever seen a red garter belt?"

Valentia was indeed wearing red hose and a red garter belt.

And nothing else.

The hamster spluttered and nearly dropped his drink. Red faced, he turned away and made a show of talking with his companions. The rest of the party returned to their conversations.

Master David covered his muzzle with his right paw and turned to look at the sights outside the window for a moment, but the brightness of his eyes told of the laughter he was fighting hard to contain.

Valentia grinned and winked at the two younger femfurs. Marla suddenly realized Valentia's outrageous behavior was a carefully planned act to turn attention away from their small group.

Marla knelt in front of Titania and looked up at the younger tigress. Titania kept her head bowed and her eyes stubbornly closed. Valentia slid a paw under Titania's muzzle and lifted it. At first she seemed to want to try to shake off the wolfess' paw, but the tigress quieted quickly and allowed her head to be tilted up. Her eyes remained closed as tightly as a newborn cub's, though.

"Child," Valentia said in a quiet voice, "you have nothing to fear here. You are among friends."

Titania still remained stubbornly silent.

Kayla collected Marla with her eyes. She walked over and slid between Titania and Kirk. She gathered up her dress and knelt as well. Marla followed suit and took up a kneeling position on Titania's left side. Unlike Kayla she took just a moment to flash some leg at Master David. He said nothing, but she could see his eyes briefly rove over her leg before she sank to the carpeted floor.

Valentia continued, "We know what you have been through-"

That appeared to sting a nerve. The reserved tigress spoke quietly as befitted a slave but with a hidden pain and passion.

"How can you know, freefem, what I have been through? Have you been there as well?"

Valentia smiled and said, "I have never been inside the Academy, but I do have friends who have been through that cruel fate. Like you, though, they have escaped their bonds and found happiness with their Master."

Kayla slid her left paw into Titania's right paw.

"Good evening, Titania," Kayla greeted her former Academy classmate.

Titania's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tried to recall where she had heard that voice before. Sudden realization struck her. Her eyes flew open, and her mouth half opened in shock. She turned to look at the grinning otteress. She half raised her arms to wrap them around Kayla in greeting, but she stopped as she realized that she had acted without her Master's permission.

Kayla nodded towards Titania's other side and said, "It looks like we can start a class reunion committee tonight."

Marla placed her right paw on Titania's waist. Titania turned to find a grinning wolfess looking up at her. Instantaneous recognition of Marla was aided by the slight leer in her smile and the open invitation hidden in her eyes. It was a look Titania had seen many times before when they had been paired together at the Academy.

The twin shock was too much for Titania. She broke down and started to sob quietly.

Marla and Kayla slid their arms around Titania and held her. Valentia moved closer and put her paws on Titania's upper arms. It was the gentle stroking of Kirk's paw that helped calm the distraught tigress the most, though.

"She is just barely starting to unlearn all the bad things and learn the good things," he quietly commented to the females kneeling around Titania.

"Perhaps you should take her downstairs," Master David suggested in a low tone.

"That's probably a good idea," Kayla replied.

Kayla and Marla rose. Titania looked up at Kirk and pleaded for his permission with her eyes. Instead she was shocked to have him take her paws and ask her, "Do you want me to go with you or would you prefer to be alone with your friends? I know Kayla quite well, and I know you will be in good paws with her."

Titania asked in a quavering voice, "Master?"

Kirk grinned kindly at the tigress and gently chided her, "I told you things are going to be conducted a lot differently than you are used to. I think you need to get used to having a lot more freedom than your former owners gave you.

"After all, you are going to be a freefur again soon."

Kirk leaned forward and planted a swift kiss on Titania's right cheek.

"Go with your friends, catch up a bit, and make plans to see them again soon."

Kirk released Titania's paws and turned back to Master David.

"Now, about how I go about freeing a slave..."

Kayla and Marla led the still distraught Titania to the back of the penthouse and down the spiral stairway. Valentia ran interference for them through the guests in the living room before dropping into a small group of military engineers and Praetorian Guard officers at the far end of the living room. The bedrooms of the lower level were partially occupied, but they were able to find refuge behind the closed and locked door of the far bedroom.

The three femfurs sat on the edge of the bed. Titania was sandwiched between Kayla and Marla. Both of them pressed their bodies hard against the much larger tigress to give her comfort as they let her calm herself.

For her part Titania kept looking back and forth between the otteress and the wolfess. She had never expected to see either again after her sale at the Academy. She had to keep closing and opening her eyes to assure herself that the two well dressed ladies beside her were in fact her old friends and Academy companions.

The three talked for most of an hour. Kayla told her story first. Marla let Titania know what had happened to her next. After an uncomfortable silence, Kayla asked the inevitable question.

"What happened to you, Titania? Your pelt..."

Titania took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was not a story that she liked to share, but at least these femfurs would understand it and comprehend what had happened to her.

"I was one of the last one sold. They knew I was not going to earn much for the Academy since I had just been shaved by Basil, the white ounce with black spots, and Burty, the serval, just three weeks before. I barely had any fuzz on my skin. I heard everyone else I cared about sold off and hoped each of you would get a good Master or Mistress.

"When I got up on the block no one bid upon me. I thought for sure I was going to be sent back to the pens. Then I heard them.

"Burty and Basil were in the audience. They bid on me. No one else counterbid, so I was sold to them."

Titania shuddered. Kayla and Marla had to hold the shaking tigress as she cried for several minutes.

Titania regained her composure and managed to continue her story.

"They kept playing their games. They would shave me weekly. They liked the look of my shaved flesh. They loved the sight of red flesh. I was beaten daily. If I did not please them with my cries and thrashing under their whips I would invariably get nicked next time I was shaven. They would leave me suspended in chains and let the blood flow down over my body and puddle on the floor.

"Afterwards I had to lick the floor clean.

"It went on for months, maybe even years. I am not sure. I lost track of time. They graduated to using caustic creams and other bad things. Every time when my pelt grew back in the pattern was more and more distorted.

"Eventually I had no real stripes left. I was just a jumbled, random mass of orange, black and white fur. They did not care as long as they still could shame me by shaving off what fur I still had.

"Later they took to gambling. I was the stakes. If they won, I got a night off. If they lost, I might service twenty or more furs, male and female, in a single night.

"They were really bad gamblers, and I seldom got any rest.

"One night they got stinking drunk and bid me instead of my services. They only realized what they had done after they lost. They tried to go back on their bet, but a dozen switchblade wielding male furs ended that real fast.

"I got sold and bartered for a long time. I lost track of how many furs owned me. Some were okay; most were cruel and uncaring.

"The last owner I had was the nightclub manager. When he came up short in cash he gave me to Kirk and his band instead of the cash."

Titania's eyes took on a distant, dreamy look.

"Instead of just giving me to the band and letting them take their pleasure with me, my Master paid them off and took me home with him. He fed me, treated me well, and was kind to me."

Marla and Kayla found themselves smiling in memory of their Master David's kind treatment of them. As slaves they knew how much even small kindnesses from a Master meant to a frightened and abused slave.

"I thought it was just my imagination, but he really does seem to like me. When he talked about letting me go free, I was so terrified at losing him that I snuck into his bed that night and had sex with him for the first time."

Now Titania's smile became a sexual leer.

"He is great at blowing a saxophone, and even better using that muzzle of his in bed."

The three femfurs giggled. Marla asked in a conspiratorial voice, "Oh, really? Do tell!"

"Well-"

Whatever juicy secrets Titania was about to reveal were never spoken.

A massive ball of light erupted on the horizon to the west of the penthouse. It was joined almost immediately by two other equally large balls of rapidly expanding white hot gas. Less visible but no less significant were several smaller mushroom clouds scattered about the industrial sections of the city.

Marla could hear Kayla counting under her breath as all three furs watched the superheated gasses rise into the night sky.

"Forty. Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-"

The entire building shook as the first shock wave struck. The shaking increased as the second and finally the third major shockwave crashed into the apartment building. Even in major storms the penthouse had been rock solid stable, but now Marla could feel it swaying underneath her feet.

Kayla said, "Those explosions were about fourteen kilometers from here. That puts them in the heart of the West Central Industrial Park where most of Wolf Enterprises' military production facilities are."

"Come on!" Kayla yelled as she bolted for the door. The otteress sounded concerned, but Marla had seen the momentary grin of victory on her muzzle before she schooled her features to reflect concern. The wolfess suspected that whatever was happening had not caught Kayla by surprise, and it was likely that Master David knew exactly what was happening as well. That left Marla perplexed and wanting to know what had happened that pleased Kayla so much. Obviously she would have no answer with Titania and the other strange furs surrounding them.

Kayla led the three femfurs upstairs. When they entered the living room there was chaos everywhere. The businessfurs were calling their facilities for reports. The Praetorian Guard officers were desperately trying to contact their units without success. Most of the other furs had gathered at the windows to watch the growing fires on the skyline.

Titania left Marla and Kayla to join her Master as soon as she saw him. Marla's eyes darted about the room. Both Master David and Sensei Tenchi were missing. She saw Zubin still behind the buffet. He seemed unconcerned, but she could see his paws quietly arranging his knives within easy reach. They would be ready in case something started.

Kayla continued into the room and headed towards Master David's office. Marla followed her. Casually she ran her paws over various portions of her dress to check her weapons. She was not sure what was going on, but the tone of the Praetorian Guard officers was approaching hysteria as they could not raise any of their soldiers. Marla could read their growing fear and knew that they were approaching the point of doing irrational acts if they were provoked.

Kayla and Marla reached the foyer just as Master David and Sensei Tenchi walked out of the office. Both were grimfaced.

"Your attention, please!" Master David said loudly. Many of the furs turned towards him, and some quieted, but he had to repeat his request three times before the room finally quieted completely.

Kayla slipped over to the opposite side of the foyer from Master David and took up a defensive position with her back against the wall. Marla moved in beside her but closer to the crowd. If things went bad she wanted to be the first fur they attacked. With any luck the rest could get away using the elevators.

"I know you all saw the explosions. According to Wolf Enterprises' security forces they were our three main military electronics plants.

"All three have been totally destroyed."

There was a loud collective gasp from the assembled furs.

Master David activated his com unit and touched some controls. Screens hidden around the room came to life. The images were flickering and grainy, but the tale of devastation they showed was unmistakable.

"These are from security cameras at our other facilities. They are magnified as much as possible because we no longer have anything within three kilometers of the plants that is operational."

The buildings were gone. In their place were huge craters. Inside each crater was a maelstrom of fire. Portions of the metal remnants sticking up from the ground were white hot.

"We also have suffered attacks at a half dozen other facilities that supply these plants."

The scenes changed. One by one the other six facilities were shown. The destruction was not as total, but the buildings had mostly collapsed and were on fire.

"Our forces are responding along with the city firefighters, but..."

Master David's voice trailed off. There was no doubt that there would be no rescues of workers or salvage of the facilities. It would take considerable skill to just prevent the raging fires from spreading.

The Praetorian Guard Captain ascended to the foyer level. Behind him some of his officers were still trying to contact any of the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard in vain.

"And my Guardfurs?" the lion asked in a voice strained with concern and perhaps even fear.

Sensei Tenchi responded, "We lost direct security feeds when the Praetorian Guard took over primary security responsibilities, but I had several long range surveillance cameras installed nearby.

"My security furs report that just before we lost those feeds there was an attack on the three main facilities. Your men were being driven back into the buildings when someone activated a wide field electronics jammer that effectively knocked out all communications within a two and a half kilometer radius.

"We were able to see several large tankers driven into the loading docks from the cameras we are using now."

Sensei Tenchi nodded towards the screens that still showed the scenes of widespread carnage.

"They were unmarked, but they must have been carrying something explosive. The attacking furs retreated, and less than two minutes later a fireball ripped through the entire plant. Whatever they used must have been airborne because the plants were engulfed in flame from one end to the other almost instantly.

"We do not anticipate any survivors at this point.

"The other facilities were attacked using transports laden with explosives. We have some video, but there does not appear to be anything that can be used to identify the drivers seen leaving the area just before the explosions occurred."

The lion bowed his head. For just a moment he looked shaken, but then he bellowed n a loud voice, "Praetorian Guard officers! Assemble!"

The Praetorian Guard officers raced up to the foyer and formed a double line facing the elevators.

"Mister Wolf, we have to go to the plants. Will you accompany us?"

Marla wanted Master David to say no, but instead he said, "Yes. I have people there as well. I need to know if any of them survived or not. If not, their next of kin need to be informed."

Sensei Tenchi touched the elevator controls and both sets of doors opened. The lion, wolf and liger entered the right elevator. Half of the Praetorian Guard officers followed them while the other half took the left elevator. The doors closed and the furs descended.

Marla was aghast. How could her Master go with the Praetorian Guard when she knew he had to be responsible for this attack? If they found out what he had done, they would kill him on the spot!

Behind Marla the other furs tried halfheartedly to dispel the cloud of grief and fear that now hung over the party. Most of the guests stood around dumbfounded at what had happened. A few began to drift almost aimlessly towards the elevators. Kayla quietly thanked them for coming before sending them on their way.

Marla barely registered what was happening. Her only concerns were for Master David and Sensei Tenchi.

Would she ever see them again?