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Chapter Nine:

Home

The shuttle landed in the street right in front of Jim's single story home. The hour and racket it caused would certainly earn him an ear full from his neighbor later that day, but he would worry about that when it happened. The fennec led the vixen to the front door and unlocked it with the key he kept hidden in the light above the door. Mark had taken everything that was on him before he dumped him in the snow weeks ago. He closed the door behind him and locked it. The early morning hour didn't bother either one thanks to the sleep they got during the trip. They had found ways to entertain themselves, only adding to the vexation of the pilots, so they wouldn't be bored. Vera looked around the house, cutting on each light as she searched. Jim noticed it was much cleaner than when he left it. A note and paper bag on the small kitchen table explained why. Mark had sent someone ahead of them to clean the place up and return his things. His wallet, key ring, and communicator were all there in the bag. The panther had also given him a heads up as to what his boss was told. The husky had been informed that he had won a contest and was on vacation. A temporary replacement had been sent in to cover Jim's spot on the recovery team. His boss was expecting him to show up for work at ten that morning. He had six hours before he needed to be there. That should give him enough time to shower and set up a few rules for Vera to follow while he was away. He had a seat at the kitchen table as Vera entered the small room.

"What do you think?"

She smiled happily and let her tail wag behind her.

"It already feels like home."

He smiled and motioned for her to have a seat at the table. Instead of pulling up a chair, Vera sat in his lap with a grin. After giving her a hug, he took a breath.

"I've got six hours before I have to go to work this morning."

She frowned at the mention of him having to go.

"I'll be back at nine tonight if I don't get any serious calls. It'll be the same thing every day except the last three of the week. I'm off for the weekend then."

She smiled again with a nod.

"I think I can survive that long."

Jim chuckled and licked her neck. She shivered and let her ears fall to the side.

"I hope so. I'd really miss you if you vanished."

Once the shiver ended, she looked at him with that sheepish grin from the cave.

"Do that again please, Master."

He smiled before shaking his head slightly.

"I need to discuss a few rules for you to follow while I'm at work. Don't break these... it's important."

The vixen nodded with a disappointed look on her face and waited for him to continue.

"First, I don't want you to leave the house unless it's an emergency. Don't let anyone in while I'm gone. Don't even answer the door. If someone tries to break in, unlikely it may be, I want you to defend yourself and call me when you can. I'll leave the number by the home comm system. I won't ask you to do any more than your share of the housework. You have access to the video screen in the living room and anything in the kitchen as long as you know what you're doing. You got me so far?"

"Yes, Master." She smiled brightly, earning another lick from the fennec. This time, the girl let out a whimper in pleasure.

"Good girl. Now, while I'm here and there's a guest in the house, under no circumstances are you to call me master. That would end up with me doing a whole lot of explaining that I'd rather not have to do. In public, the same rule applies. In the event of a slip up, we could say you lost a bet or something."

Vera giggled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Good idea."

"For now, I think those rules cover everything."

Jim's ears perked up at the sound of a wheeled car pulling into the driveway outside the house. The car was familiar sounding. It belonged to his best friend and team mate. Justin McNeil was a fennec like Jim, but his fur was much darker. It was an unusual chocolate color that clashed to an extent with his blue, green tinted eyes. Jim looked at Vera with a smile.

"Remember the rules, Vera."

She nodded and got out of his lap as someone knocked at the door.

"Yes, Jim."

He walked to the door and opened it to see Justin standing there in his uniform. He intended to stay till it was time to work it seemed.

"Jim! Holy shit! I heard a shuttle touch down by your place and had to see if you were back. We missed ya, man! How was your trip? Didja pick anyone up?" The grin on his face went to a look of shock after the vixen in the back of the room giggled. He stared at Jim. "No way... really?"

Jim stood aside and let his friend enter. Vera stood with her hands clasped together in front of her exposed belly. A smile was on her face as she gave the man a nod.

"Good morning!"

The chocolate fennec stared at her for a moment before snapping out of it.

"By the heavens, Jim. Did you have to have the hottest girl at the resort?"

Both Jim and Vera blushed at his comment earning a laugh from Justin.

"Chill guys, just messing with you." He leaned against the wall with a grin. "Are you going to introduce me to her, Sir?"

Jim chuckled and nodded.

"Vera, this is my right hand man and fellow team mate, Justin. Justin, this girl is the current and permanent owner of my heart, Vera."

Justin shook her hand with a smile.

"Pleased to meet you miss. You'll like the commander. He's a great guy."

Vera only grinned as she shook his hand.

"I know."

The three had a seat in the small living room to continue the conversation.

"So, Jim, tell me about the trip. Where did you go? They said you won big in some kind of contest."

Jim nodded and put an arm around Vera's shoulders. She rested her head against his shoulder while he spoke.

"I'm not sure." He chuckled. "No one would tell me. It was some place in the mountains though. Froze the whole time until I met her. I didn't have to pay for anything the whole time I was there. Everything was covered. When I left, I was given a check I plan on cashing before I head home this evening."

"How big is the check? A few thousand?"

Jim held out his hand. For a moment, the darker fennec just stared at it. He shook it slowly with a wrinkled brow.

"What was that about?"

"You just shook the hand of a multimillionaire."

Justin's eyes widened as his jaw hung open.

"No way. How much, dude. Seriously."

Jim removed the check from his pocket and read the line aloud.

"Pay to the order of Jim Stevens twenty five million credits." He turned the check around so the other fennec could see. His mouth hung open once again.

"I don't believe it! Are you still going to work search and rescue?"

He nodded and put the check back in his pocket.

"Yeah. First thing I'm doing is stashing twenty million into savings. The other five, I'll put on my card and use carefully."

"Got any plans on how to spend it?"

Jim nodded again and gave the vixen a gentle squeeze.

"She needs clothes. They lost hers on the way back to the space port."

The vixen looked up at him with bright eyes.

"You'll do that for me?"

"Yeah. You live here now, right?"

Justin held both hands up to stop the conversation.

"Hold up a minute. Did you just say she lives here?"

"Yeah."

He looked back and forth for a moment before an ear tilted to the side.

"Have you two...?"

Jim and Vera looked at each other for a moment with grins on their faces. The chocolate fennec groaned.

"You guys have, haven't you?"

Jim licked Vera's neck sending a shiver down her spine. Her ears fell to the sides as a quiet moan left her mouth. Jim looked at his friend as the vixen grinned and returned the gesture. Justin faked a retch and held up a hand.

"Stop... I've seen enough."

Both Jim and Vera laughed at his reaction.

"After getting her clothes, I'm going to have a new home built on some land nearby if there's enough there. I'll fix up my truck and live comfortably on the rest."

Justin shook his head with a grin.

"You go away for a month and a half and come back stinking rich with a vixen that could make the night sky jealous. You lucky bastard."

The two men shared a laugh. The sun had risen just enough to let light in through the blinds on the window. Odd shapes from the small holes were cast on the wall and floor of the room.

"Kidding aside, you must have had a blast."

"Yeah. It wasn't at first though. Meeting her made all the difference."

Vera smiled as Justin stood and stretched. His gaze fell on the collar around the vixen's neck before shifting back to Jim.

"I better let you get settled in before work. I'll see you when you head in." He waved at the pair before stepping out the door. "Bye guys, and try not to wear yourself out before work Jim."

He pulled the door shut behind him and soon drove off to leave his friend to prepare for the day ahead. Vera moved to lay her head in Jim's lap as soon as she felt the coast was clear. She looked up at him with a smile and relaxed when he rubbed her ears.

"Hope he didn't bug you too much. He does that sometimes."

Vera giggled and tilted her head back to stretch a little.

"No. He seems like a good person. Have you known him a while, Master?"

"Yeah." He started to rub the girl's belly. "He lives about a block away from here. He helped me move in four years ago and we've been friends since. He stops by sometimes on the weekends to hang out and try to get me to find a girlfriend. He says someone in my line of work shouldn't be single. Guess he can stop trying to play match maker, huh?"

Vera laughed and nodded.

"If he stops by while you're gone, can I let him in?"

"Yes, but be careful. He likes to ask a lot of questions. I'm expecting quite a few when I get to work." He glanced at the clock to find he had an hour and a half left to get ready. "Speaking of, I need to shower and get my uniform on."

Vera stood and and reached out to help him up. He didn't need it, but he wouldn't refuse the offer.

"Are you hungry? I could have breakfast ready for you when you get out."

Took her hand and stood with her help before heading slowly toward the bedroom. The only door to the bathroom was through there.

"A small breakfast would be fine. Can you manage that?"

With a nod and a cheery smile, Vera started for the kitchen.

"As soon as I get used to the stove and appliances, I shouldn't have any trouble."

"I'll be out in half an hour."

As he thought, Jim was swarmed with questions as soon as he walked through the front door. Justin had told everyone all about Vera and what he knew of his trip. Jim explained the winnings he got from the contest and discovered the location of the land he had been given. It was a good sized bit of high value real estate just a quarter mile from their base of operations. His plans for the future were kept quiet for the time being. Once they were satisfied with the answers they got, they split off to get to work leaving Jim to his duties. Jim now sat in a break room waiting for a call to come in. He was thankful it had been a quiet day so far, but that didn't keep boredom from setting in and making him lose focus. He was about to drift off for a nap when Justin walked into the room and sat in front of him. He chuckled at Jim and started to open a bag of chips he got from the small cafe a few doors away.

"Falling asleep?"

Jim sat up and stretched with a yawn.

"Unfortunately."

"Can't have that, man. People are depending on us."

The lighter fennec shot the other a strange look.

"Did someone disconnect the phone or something? I've never seen a day this quiet."

Justin nodded and pulled some chips from the bag.

"It's down right creepy if you ask me. I'm not going to complain about the lack of work though. Just means people are being careful today. Something just feels wrong. Usually we get a call about a missing kid that walked to the store behind their parent's back or someone getting their car stuck in the dunes."

"Yeah. I know what you mean. Was there some kind of demonstration scheduled for today that we forgot about?"

Justin shrugged as the phone rang in the other room. Both men stood to listen to the call as the husky activated the screen.

"Qustoba Search and Rescue. How can we help you today, sir?"

The man on the screen was using a wrist mounted comm device. His hair was ruffled from a helmet and there was a little dirt on his face.

"I'm, uh... lost somewhere in the western plain. My quad's out of fuel and none of my friends are answering."

"Do you have a GPS locator on your comm device?"

The man nodded before looking over his shoulder.

"I think so. I don't know if it works though. The main screen was damaged a little while ago when I fell on it after a bad jump."

"We've got your signal, sir. Stay with your vehicle and someone will be with you shortly."

The sound of wind kicking up was picked up by the microphone in the device. The man put his helmet on and covered the space on the bottom with his other hand.

"Could you guys hurry? I hate to rush you, but a storm's on the way."

"No problem. We'll have a man out there shortly." He turned to look at the two foxes behind him. "You guys want this one?"

Jim nodded.

"I'll go get the truck."

The husky smiled as he walked out the door.

"It's good to have you back, Jim."

The fennec froze in the doorway before looking at the husky with a grin.

"It's good to be back."