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13 Shadowfox -- Null

David was pale, but he turned it around. "Who are you and--" he began to spit out.

"Don't even bother," Tigre purred. "Put him down."

There was a pop and a buzz from Boss' Taser and David fell to the tile floor. He bounced and was still.

Shadowfox almost moved, but the tiger shook her head and covered her with her Taser. It was Tigre, and fear locked Shadow's muscles.

Don't hurt me, please,_she begged. _I'll be good. At the same time she knew how hopeless it was. This wouldn't save her a single stroke, but Shadowfox's courage was a wrung out rag and--

The Tasers were the single-shot models, and Boss apparently didn't have a reload, or he had other ideas for her.

"Monkey boy here is going to wake up in a bad part of Nassau," Tigre shook her head. "You'll be with him." She cocked her head lazily and pretended Shadowfox had asked the question. "When? Well, that's up to you. But it's going to be after you tell me everything about your contact."

So it worked -- asking chimerae about Bagi had convinced Blue it was a recognition sign for someone on the inside. But Shadowfox had thought Blue would just monitor them, not take a step this drastic. She fought panic. There _was_no contact. How long would she suffer before Tigre believed that?

"And I'm going to make you nice and docile," Tigre told her. "You're going to go on your knees in front of Blue and thank him for making you his before I let you go." The tiger smiled in anticipation. Shadow's leg was shaking. "Last week was nothing. You know that." Her eyes narrowed. "Don't you?"

"I know that," Shadowfox whispered. She was shaking now.

Boss stepped around behind her and clamped his hands around her arms. He turned her to face Tigre. Tigre smiled and took a step closer, and--

And the tiger's expression changed, to one of bewilderment. She staggered, her knees folded, and she dropped hard on her fanny. The Taser dropped out of her hand.

Shadowfox didn't question or hesitate. She jumped and ran up the wall, her shoulder against Boss' neck as a fulcrum. His grip failed and she kept going up until her feet hit the ceiling and she dropped behind him, landing lightly on her feet. Before he could turn, she drove a fist into his kidney.

The blow would have sent almost anyone out of the fight, even killed them, but Boss only grunted and went down on one knee. She clapped her hands on his ears, hard, and his huge fist went out and she barely dodged, rolling away from it. If he landed one, she'd be lucky not to break bones.

They came to their feet, facing one another warily. She had hurt him, his breath was shallow and his eyes hard. He was between her and Tigre. He stepped back towards the Taser sitting on the carpet like a discarded yellow toy. It would barely tickle him, but it would take her out of the fight.

She jumped onto the bed. He turned, fast but his quarter ton moved slower than she did, and she melted past his grasp. He threw his bulk at the plastic weapon; she slipped under, kicked it away, rolled before he hit the ground. He missed pinning her, landing hard on the carpet, shaking the walls. She jumped on his back, driving him harder into the ground, and went past him for the Taser. She didn't see it. Where did it go?

Shadowfox didn't have time. Boss was getting up behind her. She grabbed for something heavy and hard, her laptop, and she swung it, bringing the edge with the battery against his head. The laptop flew to pieces, the spare battery in the second bay dropping out and --

Spare battery. She caught it and dove past him again. He kept going into the desk like a bulldozer, his bulk smashing it against the wall and springing the boards apart, mahogany veneer cracking to reveal particle board. Shadowfox fumbled with the battery, snapping off the concealed catch. By the time Boss faced her, he was staring down the barrel of her .45 Heizer Double Tap.

"Okay," the bear drew back and put up his hands. "I give."

"Too late," she decided, and took away half his face.

Immediately, she regretted it. The noise, that was.

Tigre -- no, Felicia -- put her hands to her mouth and stared in horror at the fallen Ursus. Shadowfox almost walked past her, but paused to give her a quick hug and pat that seemed to settle her down.

There was a broad spectrum jammer concealed in David's phone. He must have hit it. But how? He had just been Tasered--

David was in the bathroom. He was in bad shape, but he was on his feet, leaning on the sink. Two barbs with wires were embedded in his chest. When he saw her, he forced himself to let go of the furniture. He grunted and pulled the barbs out, and tottered.

"We have to go," Shadowfox said. "Can you get dressed?"

He wiped drool off his mouth and nodded. Shadowfox knelt and picked up the spare bullets which had fallen out of the fake battery, putting one in the empty chamber before pulling her clothes on and going to help David.

David was putting on his shoes. His Polo was unbuttoned at the neck, but that would do.

"Jammer's in my phone," he said slowly, careful to enunciate.

That explained what happened to Tigre. Felicia was cut off from the megaframe. Shadowfox did a quick check: her own implant was getting no wifi signal. That was as good as an alarm. Tech had probably already sent her an email, when it went unanswered the rest of the team would scramble.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Neber vetter," he answered and forced a smile. "You better keep the gun."

Shadowfox didn't know how the sound would carry -- she hadn't noticed any noise from the other rooms, and that meant the soundproofing was first-rate. But that didn't matter, because the part of Tigre that ran on a megaframe had lost contact with the part of her that was meat.

"Felicia?" Shadowfox asked. The tiger looked around at her. Shadowfox smiled and Felicia echoed. Felicia stood and took Shadow's hand trustingly. Maybe it takes time to recover, Shadowfox thought.

Shadowfox had the gun and her knife. David knelt and picked up Tigre's Taser. He stood, unsteadily. "Do we have anything else we need to bring?" she asked. "Coded material?"

David shook his head and put the phone in his belt. He looked at Boss and looked back at Shadowfox, worried. She knew he was wondering how they would explain a dead chimera. Shadowfox wasn't sure herself. She didn't even know who they would be explaining to.

Worry about that later. David was mobile, barely. Felicia was holding onto her hand. Shadowfox hoped David could keep up. She might have to leave one behind and she didn't want to make that decision.

There was probably a guard outside of the emergency exits. Blue wouldn't put heavy security on the inside of the hotel, not with guests around. So she listened at the door, used the peephole, and led them out of the room.

Felicia seemed more comfortable now that Boss was behind a closed door. Shadowfox hoped she wouldn't attract attention. David was stumbling a bit, but he looked awkward instead of sick, and he would probably improve. Shadowfox was more worried about Felicia. How long would it take her to snap out of it? She held Felicia's hand and smiled at her; the tiger smiled back.

The inside of the hotel part of Blue Jade was a panopticon, a big hollow structure with transparent elevators that looked inwards. Any ruckus would be seen by almost everyone. Shadowfox wondered why Blue Jade had been set up this way. Maybe they figured that any trouble would start in the slave pens and not in the main hotel.

Elevator? No, that could be turned off. They'd have to take the stairs down. Shadowfox turned to the red EXIT sign over the metal fire door. Shadowfox heard David take a deep breath, but he didn't raise any objections. The door wasn't alarmed so it wouldn't attract too much attention.

The stairs were typical of indoor fire escapes: concrete, steel, switching directions back and forth at landings. At each landing, Shadowfox peeked down the gap to see what was below them.

Shadowfox raised a hand for a stop. She could see someone two levels below them. A civilian might use the stairs, but this man was standing on a landing. Shadowfox put Felicia's hand in David's, and smiled to show it was all right. David pulled Felicia gently away from the banister.

Shadowfox vaulted onto the railing, dangled over the edge, swung her legs and dropped down to the next flight of stairs. She made a noise, too loud, so she promptly dropped down again. He was in a suit and wore a badge that said SECURITY. He looked sharply up the stairs, but he didn't see her holding onto the outside of the railing. He tapped his earpiece nervously. "Hello?" he said. He looked like a local, probably took this job because it paid well, and now he was between Shadowfox and freedom. Too bad.

David's jammer had taken out his communications. Shadowfox dropped down again, this time she landed quietly, on the flight below him. She went back over the banister, glad to get concrete under her feet. She took out her knife and opened the blade.

She came up behind him silently, tensed, and kicked the back of his knee. As he fell over backwards she grabbed his head and forced it down, so it hit the concrete with her weight and his. She kept her knife on his throat, ready if he started to move.

But he was lucky, if being knocked unconscious was ever lucky. "Clear," Shadowfox called out.

As David and Felicia approached, Shadowfox patted him down and found a can of Repel!, guaranteed to work on chimerae, humans, and mountain lions. Shadowfox hesitated and pulled him into a sitting position so Felicia wouldn't be upset. Shadowfox looked down to the next level, and her eyes rested on a router. How far did the jammer cover? Could Blue pinpoint their position by finding things that were out of communication?

"How long will the jammer last?" Shadowfox asked.

"Not sure," David answered, his voice clipped. Of course he wasn't -- he probably didn't know how much charge the battery had to start with.

Now, the lobby. If things went bad, they would go bad here. She hesitated at the door.

"Just walk out?" David suggested.

Shadowfox took a deep breath and nodded. She took Felicia's hand. Aren't we having fun?! Felicia laughed.

They entered the lobby and made for the front doors, walking casually. The girl from Wench and Brew was there, wearing a shirt. Shadowfox smiled at her, and Felicia followed suit.

Damn_._

The girl blinked at Tigre, confused and suspicious. She looked at the guards but didn't make a move to tip them off. If she noticed there was something wrong, then --

"Sir! Sir, hold on a moment!"

They can't mean us. They were almost at the door.

"SIR!" The voice was clipped, all business.

David pushed the door open, and pulled Felicia into a run. Shadowfox turned and emptied the can of Repel! in his face. She dropped it and sprinted out the door before it closed.

Immediately, people started screaming. Guards threw themselves behind a couch. They weren't sure if she had a concealed submachine gun or a two-shot Derringer; their first instinct would be to find cover.

They were out and running for the beach. Patrons looked at them curiously, suspicious but not alarmed. Felicia laughed, enjoying the run and the excitement. Shadowfox scanned the horizon anxiously. At this time of day they were supposed to be loitering just over the horizon --

She saw a boat of the right type. She hoped it was their boat. She raised her arms -- pick us up -- David raised his and Felicia laughed and did the same.

The Go-Fast boat turned towards them. Was it the right one? Relief flooded her. Jerry at the wheel, Firefox next to him opening a case; she was pretty sure Silver and Tech were in the rear seats. How close could it come to shore? If it ran aground they were screwed.

Shadowfox looked behind her. Two guards were running out of the hotel. She didn't have time to help them both in the boat. Who to sacrifice? If she left David and Felicia never recovered--

No. Shadowfox hit the water at a flat run. They were getting looks from sunbathers, but the crowd wasn't panicked yet. The water reached past her knees; Shadowfox fell forward and struggled back to her feet. Swimming would be faster, but would Felicia follow her?

The boat stopped and Technofox threw a life preserver out towards them, rope uncoiling behind it. She was wearing a one-piece bathing suit with a frilly skirt and an incongruous ribbon in her hair.

At that moment, the sand under Shadow's feet dropped away and she was swimming. The ring landed next to Shadowfox. She grabbed it, hesitated, and turned to David. He was treading water, and shook his head firmly. "You two," he insisted. "Go!"

David might drown. She prepared to argue, opened her mouth --

And there came the crack of a rifle. Firefox was prone on the front of the boat, bipod resting on it. Firefox was wearing the tiny fringed bikini Andy had bought her under a life jacket. More importantly, she had just fired at something over Shadowfox's head. Guests on the beach were starting to scream. Shadowfox could see the boat bobbing -- could Fire hit anyone under those conditions?

There was no time. Shadowfox grabbed the life preserver with one arm and Felicia with the other. Felicia put her arm through the ring and held tight, apparently getting it. Another ring splashed near and David pulled it over his head, threaded his arms through.

The boat sat and didn't move, then suddenly it jerked backwards. Firefox twisted the barrel of her rifle around and fired again; Silverfox popped her head out from the back seat. She had an AR-15 by the pistol grip, shouted something and Firefox shook her head. Silverfox jumped into the front seat, tried to aim her weapon as Firefox fired a third time. Silverfox was wearing the new white crocheted bikini Shadowfox had bought.

The boat backed, turning away from the beach. It started moving forward, slowly. There was a jerk as it started to pull them through the water. Technofox was fiddling with something. She threw a switch triumphantly and a winch started up.

Shadowfox felt a moment of sick terror when she imagined Felicia falling out of the life preserver. Shadowfox wanted to secure the tiger better but she didn't see how she could do it without losing her own grip, so she just held on to her with her free hand.

Jerry kept the boat running slow as the winch pulled them closer. Firefox fired one more shot, then put her rifle in the seat next to Jerry and hopped into the rear seats. Fire and Tech reached out to them. She pulled Felicia in first, and Silverfox made her lay down. Next, Fire grabbed Shadowfox and Shadow scrambled over the back of the boat, collapsing onto the seat.

An instant later, David was in the boat and partly on Shadowfox. "PUNCH IT!" Firefox ordered. Jerry opened the throttle and the electric aviation motors audibly whined. The boat bounced violently for a few moments and then it went up on a plane. The air filled with a fine mist of salt water.

There were seven on them on a boat built for four. Silver was hugging Felicia on the deck; Felicia hugged her back and kissed her. Fire was sliding into the front seat next to Jerry. David was on the seat; Tech was next to him unzipping a neoprene laptop sleeve. Shadowfox squeezed onto the seat next to her. Shadowfox guessed they were trying to look like a team of hookers Jerry had picked up. Armor, or anything that could conceal armor, would look wrong in this heat. Shadowfox was with four women and dressed more modestly than any of them; she couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

"I am so glad you made it to the beach," Silverfox called out over the hiss of water and occasional slap as the boat crested a wave.

Shadowfox nodded and turned her head to look at Blue Jade, receding in the distance.

Shadowfox thought she saw a mouse chimera on the beach, arms over her head, beseeching them to pick her up. Shadowfox turned away, wondering if she would ever stop seeing her.

Felicia was hugging Silverfox; the grey fox was hugging her back, and handing her rifle to Technofox.

David closed his eyes and let his head fall backwards. He breathed deeply, recently endured agony on his face. Firefox looked back at him, worried. "You okay?" Fire asked. He nodded, but the big fox wasn't convinced.

"He got tasered," Shadowfox explained. "He got tasered, bounced right back up, and used the jammer."

Firefox's eyes widened in surprise and Technofox hesitated before opening her laptop. "You got up?"

David opened his eyes. "This Ursus said he was going to -- " he trailed off.

"He threatened to rape me," Shadowfox said calmly. She decided to fill it in. "Specifically, he thanked David for getting me wet. Shower," she added before Silver formed a mental image.

Firefox's ears flattened and her eyes narrowed.

David shook his head. "I almost blacked out, but..." he shrugged.

"I shot the Ursus," Shadowfox said. "Dead."

"Good," Silverfox nodded.

"You the man, David," Jerry shouted backwards. "I would be honored to buy you a beer." Given how much Jerry had already dished out on this, it was a silly gesture, but David obviously appreciated it.

Firefox grimaced and nodded. A death would make the legalities of the situation tricky. Of course, so did her cover fire. "Credible threat of rape, you should be okay under self-defense. Especially if he wasn't legally human."

"In the States, at least," Shadowfox mused.

"Lower your head," Technofox ordered. She was holding an implant interface in one hand. It was plugged into a small notebook computer.

Shadowfox complied.

"I'm going to back up your contact and diary information to this data key and then overwrite your implant," Technofox explained. "Anything else you want to keep? I'm resetting it to the state it was in before you went to Blue Jade."

Shadowfox shook her head, wondering. They had never done something like this before, and this hadn't been in the plan. At any rate, she had only touched her diary and contact data in Blue Jade, so she was okay with this. "Go ahead."

The netbook was a rather pretty glossy shade of blue. "Is that Little Blue?" Shadowfox joked as Technofox removed the reader from her hair.

Technofox shook her head. She looped a cord around the screen, closed it and tightened it. On the other end was a brick. To Shadow's surprise, the little vixen pulled the data key and tossed the laptop overboard.

"I don't name them when I know I'll have to do that," Technofox said, and Shadowfox was sure her voice wavered.

"Wait," Shadowfox said, appalled. "Didn't you take an image of my implant?"

"Too dangerous," Technofox said shortly.

"But..." Shadowfox hesitated. "Suppose Blue did do something to my implant. Isn't that evidence against him?"

"Like I said, too dangerous," Technofox repeated.

"Wait, what?" Shadowfox frowned.

Technofox glanced over at the back of Jerry's head. "Trust me," she said in tones that brooked no disagreement.

Shadowfox shifted on her tail, and became aware of something in her pocket. She took it out. It was a black collar, with a key shaped to look like a vixen in chains. Her hand jerked, and it splashed into the wake of the boat. It was visible for a moment, and then it was gone.

"David," Technofox said, "give me your phone."

David obliged and Technofox plugged it into a cord that went into a socket on the boat's capacitors. She handed it back to him. "Turn off the jammer when I tell you. Felicia's implant is trying to negotiate a connection back to Tigre," Technofox explained. She took out a second netbook computer, this one a more expensive model.

"And that's a hotspot?" David asked. "I'm guessing it's not connected to the Internet."

Technofox grinned and nodded. "It's going to say it is, though."

"So you're going to record where it goes," David laughed. "And use that to try to get access to Tigre's megaframe."

"Got it in one," Technofox nodded. "The more we know about their communication protocols, the better. Turn the jammer off." David nodded.

"The longer it's running," Jerry called back, "the more likely it is we're going to pass a boat with an open wifi connection."

Technofox was staring at a window labelled NETSNOOPER. "Just give me a few minutes. Don't worry, I'm looking for other networks."

"There might be a time-related hash on the password," David said.

"I don't want Tigre getting control of her," Firefox said.

"I've got an eye on her," Silverfox said.

"Me too," Firefox answered.

"It's okay," Silverfox patted Felicia. "You're going to be okay."

Shadowfox wondered if that was true.

Florida was only a few hours away.

Jerry throttled back once they were in US waters. The worst case scenario was their being intercepted by the Bahamas' Coast Guard. But a high speed boat was tough to catch.

"I'm going to be sad to return this boat," Jerry said in a bright tone. The sun was going down, and he switched on the running lights.

"I hope there aren't any bullet holes in it," Silverfox laughed.

"I hope there are," Firefox said sourly. She patted the sight on her rifle. "Digital video's no good for anything but reasonable doubt."

"What were you shooting at?" David asked.

"Making some armed guards keep their heads down." She shook her head. "Nothing we're going to let the police see unless we have to. Did you get anything on Fischer?" she asked hopefully.

"Not me," Shadowfox looked at David.

"Me neither," David said.

Firefox grimaced. The FBI wanted Fischer more than they wanted to rescue Felicia. They had agreed to cover for ICON in hopes that they'd find something more to link Blue and Fischer. It had been a long shot anyway -- Blue would never be foolish enough to let Fischer on their island.

"Did you use the frangible rounds?" Jerry asked.

"Yes," Firefox nodded. Frangible rounds shattered on impact. Forensics might be able to identify the caliber of Firefox's rifle, but they'd never prove which rifle had fired them.

Shadowfox looked forward. A coast was visible; she guessed it was Florida.

The other foxes broke out shirts, pants and sandals. "Do we have something for Felicia to wear?" Silverfox asked. The tiger was in leather fetishwear.

Firefox leaned over the seat and squeezed Silver's shoulder. "It's okay," she said softly. "She's going right into an ambulance."

"I can give her my shirt," Silver insisted.

"It's too small for her. She'll be okay."

Silverfox looked away uncomfortably.

"Isn't there a blanket?" Shadowfox asked. She rummaged through the storage, and was relieved to find one. "Here you are. Wrap her in this."

"What about her implant?" David asked. "We can't have a jammer on --"

"No, we can't," Technofox agreed. "Silver, can you put her head in my lap? I have to disable her implant."

"Is it going to hurt?" Silverfox asked.

"Just ... it'll sting for a moment."

It was painful to watch because Felicia obviously didn't understand what was happening. When it was over, Technofox slid a chip into a jewel case and put it into her pocket. Silverfox patted Felicia. "Be my brave girl," she whispered. "Don't cry."

Jerry took them to a marina on the north of Cape Canaveral. They were met at the dock by an ambulance and a US Marshal. He obviously didn't know what was going on, but he knew he was there to smooth things over with Customs and not to talk with people on the boat.

Like most ICON operations, this could go one of two ways: public ending with a big trial, or quietly, with the fruit of their work used as bargaining chips behind the scenes. She suspected the latter scenario would play out.

Felicia was uncertain about the ambulance. It was pretty clear she wanted to stay with Silverfox.

"I better go with her," Silverfox said. "I think she recognizes me."

"Okay. David, get in," Firefox ordered. She looked at Shadowfox quizzically. "Shadow?"

Shadowfox shook her head. "I'm good." She knew she would be fine, and the idea of spending more time in a hospital sickened her. She wanted to go home, to wake up in bed with one of the other foxes. It was, she knew, a mistake. She was David's girlfriend and she should go with him. But she couldn't force herself.

Jerry looked at the size of the ambulance. It was obvious that every passenger was just another thing to get in the paramedics' way. "I'll meet you at the hospital."

It was obvious to Shadowfox he thought his place was with Silverfox. And suddenly, that didn't seem like a bad thing. Shadowfox frowned, confused.

Shadowfox wanted to go to the beach house. She thought longingly of flopping down in front of the flatscreen with a big bowl of chicken chunks and sauces. But David's girlfriend would go to the hospital to be with him. "I'll go with you," Shadowfox told Jerry.

"I want to go too," Technofox said.

Firefox patted the little vixen's shoulder. "All right. David, I think Shadow could use a rest."

David hesitated and nodded. "Take her back to the beach house."

Firefox smiled. "We'll be the second shift."

Shadowfox tried to raise an objection, but was too pleased with the notion and she accepted the inevitable. Jerry's cab driver called in a second for Shadow and Fire. They waved as the cab and ambulance drove off.

"I'd feel better if Felicia were going to Boston General," Shadowfox said.

"Jerry's paying, if Felicia's insurance won't. Clayton's going to handle the case," Firefox promised her. "If Clayton thinks it'll help, she'll be flown up before sunrise."

If it's going to help."Good," Shadowfox nodded.

"I didn't get a chance to ask this before," Firefox's voice was curiously uncertain, and Shadowfox looked over at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Shadowfox laughed.

That didn't bring Fire comfort, so Shadowfox folded her arms and looked away. "I don't want to go through that again, but I'm glad we found Felicia."

"Anything happen that we can use?" Firefox's voice was dry.

Shadowfox shook her head. Firefox pulled her into a one-armed hug, and the pain flowed out the black vixen. She was with friends who understood.

And they would never lie to her...

The driver was nervous at having them in his cab, but he tried to conceal it. They had the cab stop for take-out ribs on the way back and they gave the driver an order as a tip.

The beach house felt like home. "Can we start the report tomorrow?" Shadow asked.

"Sure." Firefox turned a movie on and got plates for their dinner. Firefox sat on the couch.

Shadow's clothing had dried, mostly, but they smelled of salt. She took them off. In the rush at Blue Jade she hadn't bothered with underwear. She should toss it into the laundry bag.

"I'll get a robe," Shadowfox said.

Firefox grinned and patted the couch. "No you won't, sexy girl."

Shadowfox laughed. "Don't you have me at a disadvantage?"

"Yes. The better for you to service my unspeakable lust." Firefox came to her feet, reached over to Shadow and lifted her muzzle. She planted a kiss on her, one which jolted Shadowfox to her toes. When she stopped, Shadowfox let out a soft whistle. "It's good to be home," Firefox laughed.

"What if they come back?"

Firefox raised an eyebrow. "They've all slept with you."

"David doesn't know that, though."

Firefox hesitated just a moment. "Fine, then. Let me get you a robe."

Shadowfox felt a chill. Was Fire upset over the rebuff? That wasn't like her.

Firefox finished her food first. The big vixen put an arm around her. Shadowfox snuggled against her, grateful that the awkward moment had passed.

She put a hand inside Fire's blouse. The big vixen squirmed pleasantly and encouragingly. Fire was wearing one of her jog bras. It would be hard to take her breast out of it, but she could knead it. Shadowfox wasn't in the mood, but Firefox would like it.

You turn me on, you beautiful animal.

Was she going to go through with it, like Fire was a mark?

"Jerry really came through, didn't he?" Firefox asked.

"And not just with money," Shadowfox agreed.

"There's nothing 'just' about that much money," Firefox was clearly uncomfortable. "I don't know how we'll ever make it up to him."

A sex joke was out of place. "Remember what we do for a living. I hope we'll never get a chance to make it up to him."

Firefox laughed. "Yes, that's true."

Yes, Jerry had come through. There was no way around it, he had done it because he loved Silverfox and he couldn't say no to her about something as important as Felicia's life. And Shadowfox had tried to undermine what they had.

"Yes, he did," Shadowfox agreed. "So did David--"

Shadowfox choked on the name. David was going to get close with Technofox, and she had undermined that too.

Shadowfox sat up. Fire looked at her with surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"I've done something terrible," Shadowfox answered.

She felt a moment of panic. What could she say to back out of that?

...And she didn't want to back out of it, but she knew she would anyway, so she burned her boats.

"I dated David to keep him from dating Technofox," Shadowfox blurted out.

Firefox was quiet for a moment. "I'm very glad you told me," she said, finally.

Shadowfox started to cry, and Fire hugged her. "Hey, none of that," the big vixen said sternly. "Listen to me, okay? I love you. You can't make me hate you. I know you did what you thought was right. Tell me about it."

Shadowfox was sobbing, forcing the confession out. "And I pushed us into sleeping with Jerry because I thought it would soften what he had with Silverfox."

Part of her was telling her to be quiet. After the last week, her nerves were shot. Blue Jade had done everything it could to convince her she was dirt, and her deepest guilt was burning her.

"Fortunately, they're both sluts," Firefox chuckled. "It was probably going to happen anyway. Bikinis, beach, the sun, and a beach house... I'm flabbergasted that Silverfox didn't suggest it."

"I suppose." Shadowfox hiccupped. Firefox was forgiving her?

"I'm not angry at you," Fire said. "But why did you do it?"

"I thought that if Silverfox started caring for Jerry it would make us, the team, weaker. But it didn't, did it? We didn't lose Silver, she brought in some of Jerry's strength." Saying it out loud, in front of Fire, made her feel stupid.

"Yes, that's true. Shadow, was this your idea?"

That was an escape door, handed to her on a silver platter. She could just blame Doctor Clayton. No, she didn't want to.

"I'm not going to blame anyone," Shadowfox said. "I'm either a woman responsible for what I do or I'm an animal who isn't."

"Motives matter," Firefox answered.

She knew the answer, Shadowfox realized. Who else could it be?

"Doctor Clayton told me that friends tend to drift apart, and that I had to... help keep us together."

Firefox nodded and kissed her forehead. "Did he also tell you to kill Doctor Walton?"

"No." Shadowfox shook her head. "That really was for you."

"Thank you," Firefox said steadily. She hugged Shadowfox. "I'm glad you did it, I really am. I just think we could have done a better job working together. And don't do anything like that again," she said firmly.

"I won't," Shadowfox promised. "How can you stay friends with me?"

"Hey, hey. I don't know what you went through last week. And I --" don't want to know. Firefox swallowed that. "But you did it for Felicia. You're a good friend. The best. But I think Clayton's taken advantage of that."

Shadowfox felt better. Maybe she wasn't damned. "What am I going to do about Tech and David? I have to make that right."

Firefox sighed. "That's a good question. You can't just tell him you were pretending to be his girlfriend, can you?"

"No, he doesn't deserve that," Shadowfox agreed.

"Not in the slightest. Well, what if you included her in? He likes museums. Invite him to Boston on weekends -- he'd really enjoy that. Take Tech along. Get them used to having fun together and start backing away. If you can't sell that, who can?"

Shadowfox thought it over. "Is it okay if we sleep with Tech?"

Firefox blinked. "I suppose that ... yes. And thanks for telling me. I know how hard that was for you."

"You knew?" Shadowfox's ears twitched. It seemed impossible, but she knew it wasn't.

"Suspected. But I'm very proud of you now."

Shadowfox grinned and her tail thumped. She hugged Firefox and the big vixen held her and told her she was a good friend until she fell asleep.

The front door unlatched and Shadowfox was instantly awake. Fire blinked and Shadowfox got out of her lap.

David came in first, looking battered but clearly in good health. He was solemn and unhappy. One look at Silverfox's red eyes and the news was obvious.

The sun rose, and shortly after that Doctor Clayton was on the big screen via Technofox's laptop. Jerry was in the next room; although he was the client and actually involved in the extraction, he was not an ICON operative.

"The MRI shows how Blue Jade's Tigre was lobotomized to replicate the stroke damage experienced by Blue Diamond's Tigre," Doctor Clayton said. "Do you want me to share the images?"

"No," Technofox answered.

"In my opinion a recovery is impossible and euthanasia should be considered."

Silverfox was leaning on the wall, arms folded. She had no expression at all.

"The legal situation is problematic," Clayton continued. "Your rescue was reported as a sea-borne terrorist attack in which an Ursus chimera was killed and a human guard injured."

"I take it they moved the body outside," Shadowfox mused.

"Yes, and forensic reports indicate that he was shot at range with a rifle round. Which is not consistent with your report."

"The forensic reports must have been falsified," Shadowfox said.

"Which means Blue has a hand in the police force," Firefox said. "That's not good. What was the Ursus' legal standing?"

"He was not legally human, while Felicia is a legally human and self-owning citizen of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There are obvious international ramifications to this case."

"Anything linking this to ICON?" Firefox asked.

"Not in the press. Blue was obviously aware you were operatives and perhaps aware you were ICON."

"At least they can't spin a story about a corporate hit team raiding an innocent hotel," Firefox said. "Not when we came away with Felicia. A successful rescue makes that approach ring a little hollow."

"Blue will likely claim that Felicia was sold to him in that state and that his purchase was made in good faith."

"Oh for--" Silverfox began.

"Unfortunately, we cannot produce proof contradicting that claim. You would need to acknowledge your participation in a terrorist attack in order to come forward."

"Can we try Blue in a Massachusetts court?" Firefox asked. "Felicia is legally human."

"It would be difficult to prove provenance without revealing your involvement. Extradition in this case is by no means assured, as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas may not recognize Felicia's legally human status. At this point, we cannot prove that Felicia was ever at Blue Jade without your testimony."

Silverfox didn't say anything. No snide quips about killing all the lawyers, no bitter harangue. Shadowfox looked at her, now worried. Was she afraid she might start crying?

She herself was breathing fast.

"I understand that this is an emotionally trying time for all of you. But the falsification of forensic data at this stage indicates that we cannot and will not expose you to the courts. The risk is too great. I would like first draft reports filed by end of business today."

"Thank you, Doctor," a grin flickered over Firefox's muzzle. "I think that in this instance the client would accept a delay in our final report."

"I believe that Blue may implicate this team personally in the attack on the hotel. I am considering other legal options," Clayton responded. "Your reports may be useful if presented in a timely manner."

"Yes, of course," Firefox nodded. She slumped in her chair. "Let's get on it, people. We're looking for mud."

"So we're winding down?" Shadowfox asked. "That's it?"

"Shadowfox, I consider our contract with Mister Shayler complete. My priority at this point is to minimize the blowback onto ICON and Foxforce. Escalating at this point runs the risk of events moving out of control."

Shadowfox stared at the screen, not trusting herself to speak.

"Rest assured I consider the attack on a personal acquaintance of yours to be an action taken directly against ICON. We will need to anticipate Blue's moves and counter them before he makes them. Felicia was returned to Cape Canaveral Hospital by persons unknown."

"If we don't buy in now, we'll lose credibility," Firefox objected.

"I ask for your patience as I construct a strategy. The information space will need to be prepared and you can help with that."

"Of course," Shadowfox nodded. She'd need to arrange a meeting with Jasmine.

"That is all for now. I would like you to return to Boston tomorrow. I am making arrangements."

"Good day, Doctor," Firefox said.

Technofox broke the connection. "Jerry, you can come out now."

Jerry left the bedroom and went to Silver. She nestled against him and gave him a brief, reassuring hug.

Shadowfox didn't make a move to her laptop. Firefox looked at her expectantly.

"We blew it," Shadowfox was tearing up. "Blue's going to get away with it."

David looked pained and sympathetic. Technofox blinked. Firefox had no expression at all. Jerry looked away -- and Silverfox, Silverfox_smiled_.

Around midnight, Shadowfox disentangled herself from David and got up because there was an egg puff in the fridge that was calling her name. She was too late -- Technofox was in the kitchen before her, half an egg puff in one hand, and the other hand playing over a keyboard.

"What are you working on?" Shadowfox asked to distract her from the egg puff. Technofox looked at her screen and Shadow snatched for it. The little fox's reflexes were better now, and Shadowfox missed it. Tech hesitated, and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Shadowfox closed her eyes and bit into the onion and cheese pastry she had baked earlier that day. "Thinking about Felicia?"

Technofox flashed an uncomfortable grin. "Trying not to. Did you know that aside from cases like Felicia, chimerae are almost never euthanized?"

"That's good."

"Is it?" the little fox asked. "Does it make sense? Shouldn't heartless slave owners be bumping us off on a daily basis?"

What would happen to Felicia? Would she spend the rest of her life in a facility or would she be put to sleep? Shadowfox guessed it was up to her lawyer. She was glad it wasn't up to her.

Technofox was right, but the thought was too morbid for Shadowfox. Not in the middle of the night, not after what happened to Felicia.

"Come with me?" Shadowfox asked.

Technofox looked up. "What about David?"

Shadowfox grinned.

Technofox laughed. "Maybe tomorrow. Fire's expecting me."

Shadowfox didn't understand Silverfox's smile for a month.

They were back in Boston. Their cut of Jerry's money had gone back to Jerry, and Jerry didn't press it on them. They had been working routine, low profile jobs, barely enough to cover expenses and not enough to fill the hole that finding Felicia had put in their budgets. Shadowfox wondered if it was deliberate on Clayton's part: let them get their minds off Blue and onto their bank accounts.

Shadowfox was in the kitchen pressing garlic for an experimental modification of Chicken Parmesan for dinner that night. Fire and Tech were discussing another assignment in the next room. Silverfox was off visiting Jerry. Technofox had been testy all day.

Shadow's phone beeped for her attention: it was Jasmine. Puzzled, she took the call.

"Hello?" Shadow asked, the most neutral possible opening.

"Hi, Shadow. This is Jazz -- I'm in Juneau."

"Boston," Shadowfox said regretfully. "Wish we could get together. How have you been? Is your arm healed up?"

"Yes, but I broke my foot."

"No playing footsie next time?" Shadowfox put disappointment in her voice.

"Hah. Um ... Anyway, do you have a statement?"

"About what?" Shadowfox wondered if she should bake the garlic in or add it raw.

"You didn't hear? Blue crashed."

Thoughts of garlic vanished. Shadowfox fought to keep from cheering. Her impulse was to express sorrow of some sort, but Jazz would never buy that. Shadowfox dropped her garlic press and two silent jumps brought her into the living room.

Cheshire was pouring coffee. Tech and Fire looked up from their laptops. Shadowfox put her thumb to her headset and held her pinkie to look like the microphone.

"What's that you said, Jazz?" Shadowfox said. "Blue crashed?"

Cheshire put down the coffee pot, hard. Firefox's ears perked. Technofox grinned and sighed, softly, as stress left her.

Gotcha, Shadowfox thought. Tech, you were waiting for this.

I'm so startled and confused! "Are you sure?" Shadowfox asked. "How did it happen?"

"I was sort of hoping you could tell me," Jasmine said with a tinge of regret. "And no, I'm not sure it happened. This source isn't reliable."

Shadowfox looked at Technofox, who looked back at her. The curious incident.The dog didn't bark in the night; Technofox wasn't banging the keys of her netbook. She wasn't setting up search agents to confirm this extraordinary news.

"Mind putting her on speaker phone?" Firefox asked.

"Uh, no... Jazz, I'm at home with some friends. Is it okay if I put you on speaker phone?"

"Sure, go ahead," Jasmine said without much enthusiasm. It was obvious that the top secret ultra hush-hush revelations the reporter had been hoping for weren't coming, at least not yet.

"Okay. Firefox and Technofox are here, and I think you know Cheshire?"

"Right, you interviewed me for your book," Cheshire said. "This is fantastic news! What happened and where?"

"The details are a little sketchy right now," Jasmine said. "The rumor is that the Machine Intelligence Backup Registry in Zurich has sent a plane to the Bahamas. There's only two registered MIs in the Bahamas. One of those keeps backups in Atlanta and the other is Blue."

Firefox looked at Technofox. "Does that ring true?"

"Yes," Tech answered immediately. "A machine intelligence is so much data that the fastest way to move it from one continent to another is by sneakernet."

"Sneakernet?" Cheshire asked.

"Physically moving stored data instead of sending it by wire or broadcast, in this case using a private plane. More secure, possibly faster, but by no means cheaper, which implies a medical emergency." Technofox looked thoughtful. "I can't confirm the bit about the other MI, of course."

"Can you look into that?" Fire asked.

Keep the cover-up plausible, Shadowfox thought. Maybe you'll fool Jasmine, but not me.

Firefox was looking directly at Shadow. The edge of her mouth barely twitched.

"Sure!" Technofox started typing. "If they're flying out backups that implies a very severe failure. Blue probably doesn't want to keep backups in a US jurisdiction..."

"What about Tigre?" Cheshire asked.

"I don't know if T1GR3 can run without her ... biological component," Technofox said. "She's not registered as an MI. And your source seems correct about the other MI in the Bahamas -- he's an oceanographer at the university and his backups are in Atlanta. If he had a problem the plane would be flying out of Georgia."

"So does this mean Blue is dead?" Firefox asked hopefully.

"...No, it means he's had some sort of failure. Iterative chaos, maybe. That might corrupt the neural net beyond its ability to repair itself, making them go to backups." Technofox scratched her head. "You know, if the backup is more than a month old, the new MI isn't legally the old one."

"Can you hack into NORAD or something?" Cheshire asked Technofox. "Get them to shoot the plane down?"

"I've never tried," Technofox mused.

"Nor will you," Firefox frowned.

"Or it may have been an attack," Jasmine suggested. "Certainly there were enough people who had a grudge."

"I wouldn't put that in your story," Technofox warned her. "Machine Intelligences are not immortal, you know. It's a really bad idea to start speculating about murder."

"Jasmine, I'm going to ask my boss at ICON," Firefox said. "If we have anything useful, I'll let you know."

"Thanks very much," Jasmine said politely, obviously disappointed.

"Can we give her some quotes?" Shadowfox asked.

"Not as ICON operatives," Firefox insisted. "But there's four Blue Diamond girls here and you can quote them."

"Yes, thanks." Shadow wondered if Jazz was making notes or recording.

"I'm deeply gratified," Firefox said. "Blue hurt a lot of people, especially women, and I hope he's gone for good."

"I don't know what to say," Technofox said. "I'm very hopeful. I just wish Silver were here."

"Good riddance and burn in Hell," Cheshire added.

"I'm going along with Cheshire," Shadowfox finished. "And Jazz, for being the bearer of good news, I'm going to take you to heaven and back."

Cheshire smirked and Firefox sighed. "Don't put that in the story," she pleaded.

"Oh! Uh... uhm, likewise I'm sure," Jasmine laughed.

"I'm going to call Doctor Clayton." Firefox looked up apologetically at Cheshire. "You mind going to a bedroom? I swear I'll tell you anything you deserve to hear."

Cheshire nodded. "Sure. Give me a yell when it's safe."

"And Jasmine? Shadow will call you back in a bit."

"Okay, thanks." Jasmine signed off.

It won't be long before we're alone and I'll ask you how you did it, Shadowfox thought. If Firefox received the message, she didn't give any hint of it.

"Shadow," she said, "we'll see if Clayton has any tidbits you can leak Jasmine."

"Why did you proposition her?" Technofox asked.

"Because she..." Shadowfox stopped short.

Why had she? It would have been smarter to string her along.

"Because I like her," Shadowfox said finally. "I like her, and I want to make her as happy as she just made me."

"Doctor Clayton?" Firefox said. She spun her netbook around so everyone could see Clayton's avatar. "We just heard a press rumor."

"Good afternoon, Firefox. I assume it involves a flight from Switzerland?"

"Yes, sir." Firefox grinned.

"Firefox, you may confirm that Blue has crashed and the flight is carrying his backups. Shadowfox, you may leak that it was a successful malware attack."

"Was it?" Technofox asked.

"Yes. It is being investigated by the police. ICON is not presently contracted. And the following does not leave this room."

"Understood, sir."

"I knew nothing about this attack," Clayton insisted. "In fact, I have seriously mishandled the situation with Blue. I anticipated he would gradually reveal evidence implicating Foxforce in the alleged terrorist attack last month. When this did not happen, I assumed he was playing a deeper game and failed to take action myself."

"And what do you think now?" Firefox asked.

"That Blue has been mentally compromised for the last month," Clayton said bluntly. "He may not have been capable of taking action."

And that's why we haven't had a decent job for a month, Shadowfox realized. You want us to keep a low profile.

"If it's any comfort, doctor," Firefox said, "I don't see how you could have anticipated that. Certainly I wouldn't take any action on the assumption that my opponent had suddenly gone senile."

"Thank you, and that is appreciated."

"What was the attack like?" Technofox asked.

"My sources say the coding was ... adequate. While the attack succeeded, it failed to mask its own actions. I would judge the code was made by a small team of reasonably skilled individuals who were not familiar with the state-of-the-art in cyber warfare."

Technofox's hackles rose a smidgen. Reasonably skilled my pert fanny, she seemed to say.

"What is particularly interesting to me is that the coders were intimately familiar with Shayler Disambiguation."

That would be the process a machine intelligence used to relate concrete data with abstract concepts, Shadowfox thought. She only knew that because Jerry had invented it.

"I think I see where you're going with this, Doctor," Firefox said. "You'd like us to be involved in looking for the responsible parties."

Doctor Clayton was silent.

"But I'm afraid I can't be a party to that," Firefox said. "Not unless you have concerns that the people responsible will do it again, to some intelligence that didn't deserve it."

"Motive would be very important to evaluate the future threat," Shadowfox added. "Certainly, a very large number of people have a legitimate grudge against Blue. Do we have a compelling reason to look more deeply for a motive?"

"...No, we do not at this present time," Clayton agreed.

"Then it's very likely the people responsible will not make another attack," Shadowfox finished. And that would be true for anyone and Foxforce.

"And you said that the attack was detectable as such," Firefox said. "Would we be better off concealing the fact it was an attack, to lull the perpetrators into believing it was undetected? Publicizing that would just give the attackers a reason to refine their code."

"Regrettably, that is not up to us," Clayton observed. "A machine intelligence has been murdered and there will be a police investigation."

"And if ICON is approached to investigate?" Firefox asked.

"My vote will be against accepting the contract. I think Foxforce has been idle for too long and I should have some proposals for you tomorrow."

"Thank you, doctor."

Blue was declared inoperative the next day: presumably the oldest backup which was still legally him was infected.

Blue was the legal owner of Blue Jade and most if not all of the chimera within. His estate included chimerae, some of whom might have been acquired illegally, and most were abused. Their backgrounds would be reviewed, and that would create a perfect storm: even pro-slavery groups were opposed to chimera abuse. It would be a tangled legal mess and much of the estate would probably go to lawyers until it vanished.

Foxforce threw a party.

"You wanted lemons?" Technofox asked.

"For lemonade, right," Shadowfox pointed at a chair with a knife. "I want to talk to you before the guests arrive. Sit."

Technofox's ears twitched nervously and she obeyed.

"How was it delivered?" Shadowfox opened the plastic bag of lemons and sliced one in half. "I'd think a machine intelligence has first-rate software protection."

"And a back door," Technofox explained. "When exposed to a file with a specific name -- it's different for every MI -- the MI is compelled to compile the file and integrate it into their operating system."

"And they don't take measures?" Shadowfox couldn't imagine that.

"They have a cognitive blind spot. They can understand this code exists for others, but they cannot understand that they, themselves, have the same vulnerability."

Well, that was creepy. Shadowfox gave a silent prayer that chimera minds were harder to program. "And the file can be delivered how?"

"Oh, any way..." Technofox shrugged. "It can be on a key drive, on a web site --"

"A chimera's implant?"

Technofox nodded. "I'm sorry we couldn't tell you."

"Why do you think Jerry paid for the mission?" Shadowfox asked. "Was it just to keep Silverfox happy?"

The little fox made an O with her lips. "You're asking me?"

"You're both engineers."

Technofox looked thoughtful and leaned against the cupboard. "I think he had a lot of reasons. He helped create machine intelligences; maybe he feels responsible for what they do."

"You made the right decision, not telling me." Shadowfox shook her head. "If Tigre had asked me, well... and besides, it's not like I've been... honest with all of you. But that stopped in Florida. I promise."

Technofox hopped up and kissed Shadowfox on the cheek.

Epilog

"We know that Fischer worked for Blue. But let's suppose, just for a moment, that Blue was Fischer's best customer," Firefox said. "That means he's going to be looking for a new one."

Shadowfox nodded.

"Maybe we could..." Silverfox trailed off. "Look, this is off the top of my head, but what if we could pose as customers? I mean, not us personally."

"There's some sex-industry franchises in ICON," Shadowfox said, "but I'm really dubious that anyone would want to take the PR hit." She considered. "Maybe a startup?"

"I'm liking that," Firefox said slowly. "Silver, want to draft up a proposal?"

Silverfox wouldn't, but she nodded. "Sure."

"Shadow, give her some help."

Technofox was almost bouncing in her seat. Shadow wondered what she was so excited over.

"Now there's something else," Firefox said. "Tech's proven that Cheshire and Felicia were right--chimerae are almost never crippled. Because we die."

"Isn't _that_convenient?" Silverfox asked sarcastically.

"It does sound like a feature," Firefox said.

Silverfox's expression slowly changed.

"It's not a conspiracy of emergency room doctors," Technofox said. "Because it happens everywhere. It would need to be something that's built into us. I'm not sure exactly how it would work - but an implant can kill us with the right commands."

"Right, Fischer put malware in mine," Silverfox agreed. "It was supposed to kill me in fifteen hours. Clayton got it out."

"I was able to find a chimera in a wheelchair," Technofox said. "It just happened last week, in Toronto. It was a motorcycle accident. Doctor Mark Dawson was on the scene."

"That guy you met in Canada?" Silverfox asked. "The expert in chimera brains?"

Technofox nodded.

"If there's some sort of euthanasia routine built into us..." Firefox trailed off.

"And he knows about it, why would he take action to save that one guy?" Silverfox started.

"Because it was right in front of him," Shadowfox said. "Because he can't handle it except in the abstract."

"Are you sure?" Firefox asked.

"I'd like to find out," Shadowfox said.

"All right. Do we investigate this? I want a go no-go."

"Tactical go," Silverfox said promptly.

"Technical go."

"Intelligence go."

"Command go."

Shadowfox was already planning. The mark was kind, genuinely concerned about chimerae. So, she should approach him as vulnerable, needing help.

You know, Blue died. And it's funny, but I really need to talk to you...

Some girls leave Blue Diamond. Some don't.