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ROGUE SWORD

Chapter 8 - Mist is Found on All Mountains

As the only two going under cover as Canadians Zac Ember and Delores "Baby Doll" Johnson did not have to change identities and fly in from a third country to get to South Arica, which was good for them because it typically takes twenty-eight to thirty-two hours to travel from Ottawa to the African nation's largest city, Johannesburg. And while the trip was not too expensive, it was impossible to get there without making several stops. Flying on Air Canada all the way, they were routed through Toronto and Heathrow, where they had a seven hour layover. Delores suggested that they book a room at their own expense at the Hilton, which was directly connected to Terminal four. A regular room with two double beds was not too dear and in order to maximize the time in it an MI-6 friend of hers would get them past customs, immigration and security.

Zac thought that it was an excellent idea, it would give them the chance to grab a few hours sleep and freshen up before the long flight south. But he failed to factor in Delores, who had an entirely different use in mind for the two double beds. No sooner was the door to the room closed behind them then she was naked and in his arms, kissing him eagerly.

"I'd rather just get some rest." Zac told her when she finally came up for air. "We've spent our days getting ready for the mission and been up nights 'preparing' you for your role and it's starting to get to me. I don't want to disappoint you. Besides, I can never sleep on airplanes and this will be my only chance to rest up before we arrive."

"Don't worry about disappointing me." Delores, who was several inches shorter than Zac looked up into his eyes with a sly smile. "My specialty is raising the dead, or haven't you heard? And I promise you, when I'm done with you you'll sleep like a baby. Okay?"

Zac was a little unsure, but the word around the Academy was that Delores could make over-cooked spaghetti hard again. He agreed to do as she asked. For over five hours she proved over and over again that her reputation was well deserved. They did get a few minutes between workouts however to review the mission.

"One thing I don't understand." Zac said during one such interlude.

"What's that hon?" She asked as she toyed with his limp penis.

"This fellow we are going to meet, Richard Kopano Madika, the guy in charge at the Pelindaba site where the Safari-2 reactor we supposedly want to film at is located, he's a big porn fan, right?"

"Right." Delores got out of bed and strode naked to the bathroom. Her red and white tail was up and Zac could see her finely shaped butt and he admired the way the twin globes rubbed against each other with each step.

"Well, I've assumed the identity of one of their junior producers, working on his first major film alone, and that's okay because who knows what a producer looks like anyway?" Zac had been outfitted with some stylish clothes and identification that matched the character. He knew enough about Montreal to answer any questions about his supposed home town. He paused as he could hear Delores running water in the bathroom. When she reappeared he continued. "But you are supposed to be an experienced Porn actress who goes by the name of Foxy LaTush."

"Yeah, and?" She had soaked one of the hotel's face cloths in hot water and wrung it out until it was damp. She wrapped his cock in the warm soothing towel and massaged his shaft and balls through it.

"Forgive me, Baby Doll, but you are no longer a spring chicken. Isn't this Madika fellow going to wonder why he has never seen you in anything, you know, pornish?"

Delores chuckled softly and spread his legs so she could use both paws on him. "No worries, Zac. If he's as big a connoisseur as Hanlan claims then he will have seen me in a series of 'art' films made about ten years ago."

"You mean there was an actress named Foxy LaTush that worked in the industry back then? Do you look a lot like her?" The warm towel and her localized massage was making the blood flow back into the tissues of his prick. Although still numb from the previous session it was growing longer and thicker at a steady rate.

"I look exactly like her, except ten years older. I was Foxy LaTush, for a short while. I needed some dough to get through collage, so I made a few films. Nothing kinky or weird or any of that shit, just straight yiffing with the occasional lesbian scene. Oh, and there was the cream cheese thing with a pair of Clydesdales, but it was mostly straight sex."

"And you could get into the police and then F.O.X. with a background like that?" Zac was amazed, he had a clean record and still had trouble getting in. Rumour had it that his entire class had been picked for their diversity alone, and the thought rankled enough to make little Zac droop.

"Ah, ah! None of that!" Delores cried, squeezing the base of his cock just in the right place to prevent the blood from flowing out while allowing more to flow in. "Old porn star trick." She commented before responding to his comment. "The police did not know about my 'background', I was not about to add it to my résumé. But F.O.X. knew. I think Joel the lemur told them, he knows everything there is to know about porn and then some. Anyway, that was why they contacted me in the first place. They had shooters and analytical types up the ying yang but until Geno came along I was the only one that they had that could literally suck secrets out of any old prick." She demonstrated, wrapping her supple lips around his glans and teasing it with her tongue.

"Geno does not do that so much anymore now that she's hooked up with Marcel." Zac commented, trying to speak clearly and evenly even though his insides were jerking with each flick of her tongue.

"So they need me all the more." Delores paused long enough to say. "Anyway, remind me to send you copies of my films when we get back." She took him back in her mouth and dipped her head until he could feel the hot breath coming out of her snout on his belly. She slowly withdrew, sealing her lips around his shaft and letting them drag, slick with saliva, until it popped out of her mouth. "They are a little grainy but the camera guy really knew his stuff." She repeated the long slow draw on his cock. "When you watch it's like you can feel it." She sucked a third time. "Know what I mean?"

"Ye- yeah. I think I get the picture." His cock was rock solid again. Delores just smiled and carried on with what she had been doing.

She lowered her head again until she could go no farther and then pulled it back slowly until his cock was free once more. She kept that up for several minutes, breathing deeply and wetting her mouth with saliva between each swallow. Meanwhile she rolled his balls in one paw and massaged the tissues around the base of his cock with the other. Every tenth turn or so she would switch mouth for paws and lick and suck around his testicles, sometimes drawing one or both into her warm orifice while she ran her delicate paws up and down his slick shaft. But before long she always went back to deep throating him.

Zac kept his mouth shut and his eyes open. Delores certainly worked like a pro. She had the whole deal down pat. Knowing that a good part of a male's arousal came from visual cues, she had carefully positioned him so that he had a clear view of the action. She heightened the raw sexual images with coy smiles and lustful looks, all with plenty of eye contact. Then there was the audio. She probably used different techniques depending on the needs of her subject, moans and cries for those who saw themselves as sex gods, swearing for those that liked a dirty vixen, but for Zac she simply cooed and sighed as if enjoying something really succulent. She hit every note right. Zac could see why the Academy had recruited her, hell, if he wasn't already on her side he would defect in an instant.

Having savoured his cock sufficiently Delores reached up and pulled the pillows from behind him so that he lay flat on his back in the bed. Then she put one back behind his head, just enough to raise it and tilt it so that his broad chest did not block his view of his own crotch. Swinging her legs up and around Delores brought herself into a knelling position between his legs. She posed for him there. With her thighs tightly together he could just make out the hint of her slit below the tuft of blonde fur at the base of her belly. Her abdomen protruded slightly, dented by a cute little concave navel. Above it her firm, round breasts stood out proudly. She had a paw on each of them, one tweaking the nipple on the left so that it poked out from the white fur of her chest and the other lifting the right breast to her mouth so she could lick the other nipple erect. Her blonde hair was awry and her dark brown eyes laughed at him through her thick lashes. His erection quivered in the air before her, like a dowsing rod that has found an underground lake.

Just when Zac thought he would have to leap up and grab her Delores lifted one leg and then the other over his hips so that she straddled him. With her hips straight her sex hovered a centimetre above the vibrating tip of his cock. Delores sucked on two of her digits loudly before using them to separate and lubricate the already glistening lips that appeared from inside her slit. Then, with a sigh like the last days of autumn surrendering to winter, she sat down, impaling herself on his lance.

Zac had seen old movies where another blond vixen, Marilyn Monroe, moved like Delores did then, albeit fully clothed. But even back then it had the same effect on him. She twisted and she turned. She arched her back and hunched her shoulders. She furrowed her brow and she closed her eyes and then her eyes flew open and her mouth went wide and she tensed, and then she relaxed and went through another combination of motions, all centred around the cock that was sliding effortlessly in and out of her. And Zac could swear that he could feel every cringe, every shudder, and every nuance of every one of her moves transmitted through his shaft into him.

When he looked down he could see his prick magically disappearing and reappearing, pushing her labia inside her when she came down and pulling them out as she rose. When he looked up he could see the swarm of expressions crossing her face, exquisite pain, intense pleasure, warm acceptance, and he felt his face mimicking hers. Between the two her torso writhed like a snake in a trap, breasts swinging, paws clutching, smooth curves alternating with rippling muscle.

Zac felt his balls hitch as they searched for the last ounce of spooge remaining. Delores must have felt it to because she immediately picked up the pace. Dropping her paws to his chest she pulled her feet forward until she was squatting above him and then she began to pump his prick with her pussy at an incredible speed. Her twat was squeezing his cock, milking him, and his testicles reacted in self defence by sending whatever they had left up the tubes.

It seemed that his body drew fluids from everywhere to supply the train that rushed through his shaft. It drained him, and it hurt, it hurt a lot, but the pain was mixed with a pleasure so profound that Zac never wanted it to end. And it looked like it never would, because it went on and on, long after the big wolf had ceased to breathe. He even suspected that his heart had stopped. But Delores never stopped or even slowed, she continued to ride him as he shuddered and shook below her.

His erection lasted well beyond the spurt of hot spooge that splattered her insides, and she used it on her clit and the sweat spot inside her twat like a living sex toy. By the time he was halfway able to breathe again she was coming too, in hot jets of watery joy that soaked his fur and leaked down between the cheeks of his ass to disappear into the absorbent mattress of the Hilton hotel.

She took almost as long cumming as he did, and, near exhaustion, had to force herself off his still stiff prick. "I guess I'm ... not getting ... any younger." She gasped as she lay on her back beside him.

"Baby Doll, Delores ..."

"Yes."

"I just have one more question."

"Yes?"

"So what was that cream cheese thing?

After a quick call to room service Delores was able to demonstrate. Then it was time to clean up and meet her friend from MI-6 to get escorted back into the terminal. They found their seats, a pair together in Business Class, as was allowed for flights over ten hours according to government regulations, and settled in. Delores insisted that he take the window seat, and she pulled the blind down over the window as soon as they reached altitude.

"Here, take these." She passed Zac a small music player and a pair of ear buds. He put them in and his head was filled with soothing flutes playing around bird calls and the sound of a babbling stream. "Best thing for sleeping on a plane." Delores ensured him. She found a blanket in the overhead bin while the stewardess was still dealing with the folk in the front of the cabin and tucked him in. "Sleep tight, Zac. Baby Doll's here to watch over you."

Zac closed his eyes, just to play along. Thirty seconds later he was snoring lightly.

With Delores keeping the stewardesses from disturbing him with their constant offers of drinks, pillows, blankets and snacks he managed to sleep soundly for over six hours.

* * * * * * *

Back in his room at the Islamabad Marriott Kain Algorath started receiving data from Abdan Barbar's computer even before Ophelia was clear of the building. The software that she had installed caused it to search out internet connections on what was supposed to be a closed system, but few systems are truly closed. It found a server in IT that had outside links and burrowed through the firewall from the inside out, sending a signal to an IP address that Kain prepared just for this mission. Once a connection between him and the snow leopard's machine had been established he began downloading the recent files while searching the institute's servers on another channel.

A third channel was open and monitoring those Pakistani departments that he had already hacked into. He was interested mostly in Ophelia's safety so he had set the filter to alert him if anything to do with the institute showed up on any of the security or intelligence agencies' traffic. He was relieved when she sent a codeword indicating that she was clear and on her way back, but worried too because she added a codeword indicating that there was some sort of problem. He would have to wait an hour or so for her to get across town and up to his room to find out exactly what the problem was, but in the meantime he left the security channel open in case anyone reported in that they were following her. Thirty minutes later, when it seemed that she had gotten away clean, he was about to close it down to concentrate the bandwidth it used on the download when the alert sounded. Kain paused in his work and focused on that channel.

The head of security at the nuclear institute had just sent a message to the office of national security responsible for the nuclear sector, Abdan Barbar had been found dead in his office. They were securing the scene until an investigation team and security detail could arrive.

Kain sat back and thought about that. Could it be that Barbar had caught Ophelia in the act and she had been forced to kill him? That was unlikely, he thought, since she knew that they were supposed to keep him alive if they could and she could just as easily have incapacitated him for a few hours as killed him. Unless he surprised her and attacked first, he supposed. She would be able to give him the details in about half an hour, but in the meanwhile he could check to see if any cameras or other devices had captured images or sound of her and erase them before the servers were locked down again. His digits flew over the keyboard as he changed the search code and injected it into the institute's network.

The first thing that Kain noticed when his crawlers found the security files was that the files had already been altered, but not during the time of Ophelia's incursion. They had been changed to delete segments from the cameras monitoring the route between the front door and the Director's office. Loops showing empty hallways had been spliced in to replace the record of whomever it was that had visited the snow leopard just before Ophelia's arrival. Kain found a camera that monitored the inside of the office. It was the type that was not on all the time, but could be activated remotely. It was active now, presumably part of the security force's efforts to monitor the scene. Kain scrolled back through the footage and found nothing but an empty office in the archives until he was back to the afternoon of the previous day. He checked all the other archived files for signs of his part-time mate using recognition software that would recognize her unique form and features should they be present. The scan only took a few minutes and the results were negative.

Sure that Ophelia had made it in and out without being caught on film Kain went back to the live feed from the office. He could have taken over the camera from his room but it was unnecessary, whoever it was in the security control centre was zooming and panning the camera around as if to make a record of everything. Kain copied the file from the beginning and kept recording. He had some software that would bring out the dents in the carpet and analyze how long they had been there so he could recreate the movements of the creatures in the room that he could use later if he needed to, but for now he just relied on the evidence that was in plain sight. He noted the lowered trousers, the headscarf clutched in a paw, and the empty space on the shelf. He also noticed that the wound on the snow leopard's head was much too high up and too far back to have been made by one of his pretty but petite security guards, unless they were standing behind him on a chair. If he could bring out the blood stains enough he could try out some blood splatter software he had helped develop for the RCMP to see where the victim and his attacker were in relation to each other.

Just then there was sound on his balcony. Kain had already set the cameras and monitors that the ISI had installed in his room to a loop of him sleeping so he went and opened the balcony door to let Ophelia in. She filled him in as to what had gone down at the institute and then he told her about the files being altered.

"Who would have that kind of expertise?" Ophelia wondered. "You weren't even able to hack in from the outside and you're the best there is."

"Kain smiled shyly. "Thanks, but it's not just about how good you are, but how much time and resources you can put into it. I'm just one guy. The Russians have a dozen guys as smart as me and the Chinese can put thousands of folk up against a problem like this and get through just by brute force."

"Any way of telling who it was?"

"Maybe. Each group, state sponsored or not, uses its own methodology and tools. It looks like a hasty job, not something planned in advance, so they may have left a few clues." He began tapping at the keyboard as he spoke. "The logs will have records of the IP addresses that accessed the servers during that time, if they haven't tampered with them too, and we can start there."

Kain lapsed into silence as he scrolled though several huge files and sent inquiries out onto the internet. Ophelia took the opportunity to shower off the sweat and dirt that had matted her fur. When she came back into the room, naked and fluffy from a thorough toweling, Kain was smiling triumphantly.

"North Korea!" He exclaimed proudly. "The changes were made by a cyber actor that analysts at the University of Toronto have associated with the State Security forces there. They got in the same way we did, by infecting Barbar's workstation earlier tonight. That means whoever killed him got him to log on first."

Ophelia frowned and her tail tapped her head as if trying to help her think. "I can understand the North Koreans wanting to steal nuclear technology, seeing as no one is allowed to sell them any." She kept up with world events in the lonely estate that she had 'inherited' from the original Perfect Stalker and knew about the sanctions they were under. "But why kill him afterwards?"

"That's something we will have to find out." Kain said as he stood up and closed his laptop. For now he would let the software collect data and analyze it later. "And as long as the Pakistanis don't unplug his computer and clean out their servers we can keep looking in their files for evidence of what is going on. I don't think our work here is done just yet." He added as he stepped around the bed to where she was standing and took her in his arms.

Ophelia smiled as her tail caressed the side of Kain's face. "I was just thinking the same thing."

* * * * * * *

Zac and Delores had reserved a Villa Suite at the Saxon Boutique Hotel, situated in a hilly upscale neighborhood between Johannesburg and the Pelindaba reactors where they were to meet Richard Madika. The grounds were beautiful and the suite was luxurious. It had separate bedrooms and Delores had informed Zac on the airplane that their session at the Heathrow Hilton was to be their last until the mission was completed. "I have to save myself for Madika." She explained. "He's sure to expect an, uh, demonstration of Foxy LaTush's talents while you negotiate with the facilities manager."

Her prediction was borne out by the numerous bouquets of flowers, boxes of chocolates and a love note left in the larger of the two bedrooms, the one reserved for the 'star'.

"How sweet." Delores said after reading the note. "He really is a romantic, this one. So many of my contacts are." She leaned over to sniff a bundle of local blooms and sighed happily. "I seem to bring that out in folk."

"No idea why." Zac commented as he regarded her upturned backside which the short skirt she was wearing did nothing to hide.

"Now, now." Delores consulted the note again. "Richard suggests that we get some rest tonight after the long flight. How considerate of him. He has set up a meeting for us at the reactor site for tomorrow at ten."

Having flown business class to keep up the pretense of a successful erotic film company they were both fairly well rested and there was hours of daylight left so they opted for a tour of Johannesburg instead. At first they considered having a car from the hotel just drop them downtown but the concierge dissuaded them for doing so.

"Johannesburg is our largest city," The concierge, an elderly zebra informed them. "Five to ten million depending on what you consider the city. It is an old city, built in the gold rush days of the 1880's, but with much modern architecture. Downtown is relatively safe, thanks to thousands of CCD cameras set up in the last few years, but it is easy to get lost and wander into one of the many shanty towns. Some of them have hundreds of thousands of residents, and crime is high, even locals are preyed upon there. You will note also that it can be very difficult to find a taxi one you are away from the safer neighbourhoods. Taxis are not allowed to cruise in Johannesburg, you must call for them to come to you. Anyone that offers taxi service on the street is likely going to take you on a one-way trip."

Zac was confident that anyone who tried to take a couple of F.O.X. agents for a ride would be one sorry puppy, but there was no need to seek out confrontation. With the help of the concierge they hired a car and a driver to show them the city. The driver was a dik-dik, a type of small antelope native to the region, showed them the luxurious neighbourhoods and skirted some of the more infamous slums. Zac had a hard time dealing with the vast differences in the lifestyles found only a few blocks apart, and with the crushing population in the poorer neighbourhoods. Nothing he had ever experienced back in Canada compared to it. Aside from that the city was a pleasant enough place. There were no major rivers but there were many streams and parks. The weather was good too. Hotter than it was in Canada but still a couple of months away from the monsoon rains that marked the transition from Fall to Winter south of the equator. They had dinner in one of Johannesburg's many fine restaurants and returned to the hotel shortly after dark.

Back in their suite they retired to their separate bedrooms, Delores making good on her vow not to indulge in any sexual activity before meeting their host. Zac was not disappointed, he needed the rest and to recharge.

The next morning they found a car waiting for them outside the lobby. It took them directly to the Pelindaba nuclear research centre in Gauteng, north of Johannesburg and not far from their hotel. On the way in the driver pointed out the two reactor buildings, the active Safari-1 and its dormant twin, Safari-2. He dropped them by the visitor's entrance to Safari-1 and went to park in the shade a short distance away.

Security was tight, after all, these facilities had at one time produced highly enriched uranium for the nation's atomic bombs. But since they were on the list of expected visitors, and because the Director was their sponsor for the visit, it was merely formality. They were allowed to keep their cell phones and the camera that Zac had brought to take pictures of the 'location'. Zac and Delores were issued with visitor badges indicating that they needed to be escorted everywhere and small radiation detectors.

"This will go off if the radiation level goes over the normal background level." The guard tapped a small speaker on the face of the device as she spoke. "It also records the total amount of radiation you are exposed to while you are here. When you leave we will read it and give you a note with the information."

"Why would we need that?" Delores asked.

"Because," a voice answered from behind her, "most of our visitors work for the International Atomic Energy Association or other nuclear utilities and they go from reactor to reactor in the course of their duties. They need to keep track of their total exposure so that they do not go over the safe level inadvertently. Some of them even have their own dosimeters that they carry from place to place. But even then many sites, those associated with weapons programs for example, do not allow any foreign device on the premises."

The speaker was a jackal with black ears and spotted fur who was wearing a lab coat over a colourful print shirt and shorts. "Allow me to introduce myself." He stuck out a paw. "Doctor Gimmi Mofoken, Deputy Director here at Pelindaba." Zac smiled because it would be a perfect name for one of his cover company's porn stars.

"I've noticed that many of your people have local names as well as western names." Delores simpered as she gave his paw a delicate shake.

"Yes, it is a common practice." He replied shortly, but he smiled at Zac when the wolf pumped his arm vigorously. "Ah, you must be the Producer, the money guy, yes? You will be negotiating the rental fee with me, as I am the chief administrator here."

"Oh, I thought that Doctor Madika was in charge?"

The jackal frowned. "Doctor Madika is a brilliant fellow, and he has significant influence in the government, but he is Director in name only. He was able to get this, uh, business visit approved, but only because the facility needs money to pursue his research. I have final say as to whether it goes ahead or not."

Zac could care less whether the jackal approved or not, as long as Delores got her shoot at the Director. She would entice and enthrall him into making her his companion for as long as she was in South Africa. Along with drawing information about his work out of him her presence near him would provide a significant level of protection. Zac would spend the time scouting out the site, putting on a show of sending images back to the studio and conducting negotiations as long as they needed to stay in the area while providing back-up for Delores. But nothing would ever be finalized; no deal would be struck because no film would ever be made.

"I look forward to discussing the terms with you, after we visit the site to see if it is even suitable." Zac commented dryly. A little hostility between him and the jackal would just help draw the negotiations out longer. "Are we going to see the Director now?"

"Yes. Well. He is waiting over by the immersion pool at Safari-2, but he asked if he could show the site to Miss LaTush first, alone."

Zac nodded as if this was a commonplace occurrence in the porn industry. "Of course. While they are ... touring ... maybe you can fill me in on the kind of research you do here. It might make good background material for the film."

The Jackal nodded, but first he called the car back and waved Delores toward it before coming back inside and opening up the door that lead from the visitor's reception area to the main reactor.

"This is Safari-1." He said proudly as they approached a thick glass window overlooking a huge room. The room was dominated by a large pool of water that glowed an eerie blue. The water was incredibly clear, and Zac could make out the features of the reactor down in its depths. At the moment a gantry crane was manoeuvring a long black tube into position above the pool. When it stopped moving it began to lower the tube into the water. Zac watched as it slid neatly into one of the corresponding holes at the bottom of the pool.

"Fuel rod replacement." Mofoken commented. "This is a 'tank-in-pool' type reactor, as was Safari-2."

"It looks like a swimming pool."

"Indeed, some of the earliest of this type were built in actual swimming pools, but this is much larger, producing 20 Megawatts of energy."

Zac, remembering the lessons they had absorbed before leaving Canada noted that 20 Megawatts was not much power.

"That is true." The jackal conceded. "But the facility is more valuable for the research we do here than the commercial value of the power."

"Is this where they produced the uranium for the atomic bombs?" Zac feigned ignorance to keep the jackal talking.

"No. That was done in a facility attached to Safari-2, which was designed to run on highly enriched uranium or HEU as we refer to it. That was part of the cover for the nuclear program. We decommissioned the reactor it was meant for in nineteen seventy, but don't worry, it still looks like a reactor and Doctor Madika had it cleaned up and the pool refilled in preparation for your visit. It looks very impressive."

"So there is no more, what did you call it, HUE left?"

"Oh there is plenty left, several hundred kilograms worth. You can find out how much through the IAEA. We have reported it all to them since dropping the nuclear weapons program."

"So you are no longer making HEU?"

"Not HEU, no. It was too costly. We have our own uranium, a by-product of the gold and diamond mining process really, but the method we were using to enrich it was called Molecular Laser Isotope Separation and it was very expensive. Budget cuts and technical difficulties forced us to abandon that method in 1997. It is cheaper to buy uranium at the proper concentration that it would be to create a whole new production line."

"Would you be able to show us that facility? Some of the old equipment might make good backgrounds for the action scenes."

"Your movies have action sequences?" The jackal looked confused.

"Well, you know." Zac made a circle with one paw and poked a digit on the other in and out a few times. "Action."

"Ah, I see." The physicist did not look impressed. Obviously he did not share the Director's tastes in entertainment. "No, it will not be possible to use the enrichment facilities over at Safari-2 for your cinematic venture."

Zac made an attempt to negotiate, just because he thought that a real producer would. "Look, Doctor Mofoken," he said, "I realize that you do not approve of the type of movies we make, but ..."

"Oh, it is not that, although I admit feeling shamed by participating in this 'business deal', but we need the money to support the Director's research. He is on the verge of a breakthrough, so I would allow you to rent that site if I could, but I cannot, because that is where Doctor Madika is doing his research, and the area is restricted."

Zac pretended to be disappointed. "What did you do with the old equipment?" He asked.

Mofoken shrugged. "Nothing, Doctor Madika has discovered a way to make the laser separation process much more efficient, quicker and affordable. His new process works in theory and the rough models showed promise in the first trials. Now it is just a matter of getting the right components, special miniaturized parts. We have had to, uhm, consult with some of our foreign colleagues for that, but they cannot recreate his work from that alone. They would need to know the whole process."

"I hope you have locked it up somewhere safe." Zac commented. "While doing research for this movie I discovered that nuclear physics is a very competitive market."

"That it is, but the plans are safe inside Doctor Madika's head." The jackal tapped his own skull for emphasis. "Where no one can get at them."

Zac was about to ask if there were other abandoned or unused facilities in the area when his cell phone rang. He excused himself and pulled it out. The incoming number matched the phone Delores was carrying. He put it to his ear, wondering why she was calling so soon. He had expected her to keep the Director busy for at least an hour. "Hello?"

"Michel, Honey." Delores said using his cover name in case anyone was listening in. "Are you still with the Deputy Director?"

"Yes. He's right here."

"Put me on speakerphone and call him over will you Darling?"

Zac did as she asked, more confused than ever. "Ms. LaTush wants to talk to us." He said as he motioned the Jackal closer. "Go ahead, Foxy. We're listening."

"Doctor Mofoken, Honey, I think that Richard might be in some distress."

Mofoken must have leaped to the same conclusion as Zac, but he voiced it first. "Oh my God! Is it a heart attack? A stoke? What have you done to him you slut?"

"Cool your jets, baby. I didn't touch him. He was like this when I got here."

"Jesus, Foxy, what's going on there?" Zac was quite capable of calming the jackal and handling the situation, as he was sure Delores was too, but he had to stay in character. He doubted that producers of porn movies would know the essentials to emergency scene management, but he could lead the conversation that way. "Describe the scene to me, Baby Doll."

"Well, I'm standing in a large room with a crane and a pool full of blue water. Richard, I'm assuming that it's Richard, is in the pool."

"Doctor Madika must have fallen in." Mofoken declared. Then he pointed to the pool containing Safari-1 and addressed Zac. "It is the same as this one, with steep sides that make it difficult to climb out. But the Director is a strong swimmer, and the water there is not radioactive, not like here. He is in no danger." The jackal leaned down to speak into the phone in Zac's paw. "Did you hear that Miss? He is in no danger. Tell him to tread water until we can get a crew with a rope there to pull him out."

"I think that it's too late for that." She replied.

"How so?"

"Well, unless his favourite way of relaxing is by holding his breath while laying on the bottom of a pool I'd guess that he's dead."

* * * * * * *

Kyroo Echos got off the plane in Ottawa at eight in the morning, cleared customs and immigration with his valid American passport and crossed the lane-ways outside the terminal to where the rental car companies had their offices. He walked into the nearest one and took the first car they had available. He rented it for a week although he really had no idea how long he would be staying. It was too early to phone his cousin, Nathan. The other arctic fox had graduated from university with a degree in hospitality and was now running his own restaurant in the Market area where they closed late, so he was not an early riser anymore. Kyroo decided to kill some time by taking a drive over to the Central Experimental Farm, where his wispy memories told him he had once had a liaison with a beautiful spy.

He parked in the free lot behind the Agriculture Museum and wandered through the botanical gardens until he came to a group of administrative buildings. Many of them were identified by function, like the Eastern Oil Seed Research Facility, but a significant number were not. Some were named for obscure public servants past, but most bore only numbers to identify them.

As he walked Kyroo's memories of what had happened there grew stronger. He picked out the building he had been told to report to easily enough. A rat, which he thought was named Gordon, had met him there and he recalled that there had been a lemur in a lab coat present also. He wondered if the old blue leather couch was still in the interrogation room where the tall vixen had chased and eventually caught him. He smiled and blushed at the memory. Turning away from the building he strolled the shady laneways, just another tourist who had wandered away from the barns and gardens open to the public.

On his first visit here he had been too concerned about earning a few hundred dollars to pay much attention to his surroundings, but now with several years of security work in some very volatile areas under his belt he picked up on clues he had missed back them. The unidentified buildings, for instance, all seemed to have much more security hardware than was necessary for government offices, especially for the Department of Agriculture. Then there were the groundskeepers in this section, who seemed to spend more time watching him than raking the leaves or trimming the hedges, and all of them showed evidence of injuries that Kyroo had come to recognise as battle scars while working in war-torn Africa. He spotted a lemur in a white coat leaving one of the innocuous buildings and he followed it, trying to get close enough to see its face, but before he could overtake it the lemur turned and entered a building. Kyroo paused at the end of the walkway leading to the front doors and noted that there were several members of the Corps of Commissionaires standing inside. Members of the Corps, who did entry control and escort duty at ninety percent of the government buildings in Ottawa, were normally retired beat cops and soldiers with grey fur and prodigious bellies that liked the work where you could nap to supplement their pensions. But the three he could see were young, fit, and attentive. He moved on before he could attract too much attention.

After an hour of wandering around he had identified a dozen buildings that did not seem to be part of the surrounding farm, including the one that the lemur had gone in, which he guessed was the headquarters. He debated just walking up and introducing himself as a former subject but had no idea what he really wanted from them. He could ask them for the name of the vixen who had seduced him, but she had said that she was a mother now and living with the father of her kit, so what good would knowing her name do him? They probably would not tell him anyway if he was right about them being a secret agency. Maybe he could ask to see the recruiting officer, but he supposed that they only took Canadians, or at least landed immigrants, and he was neither. Still, he could always ask.

Kyroo found himself back by the parking lot and decided to do some research before walking into who knew what. He pulled out his cell phone to call Nathan and see if his cousin could put him up for a few days. It would be better than trying to do his research from a hotel. He waited by his car as his cousin's phone rang.

A hundred meters away a civet cat who was part of a team that had been following Kyroo since he left the airport saw him talking into his phone and wished that they had had the opportunity to clone it. Maybe when he went to ground for the night, the cat thought to himself as Kyroo got in his rented car and pulled out of the parking lot. Starting his own rented car the civet followed.

The Chinese agent, in Canada under cover as a student, had also noted the inconsistencies around the unidentified buildings at the Central Experimental Farm, but he had kept his distance. His agency was well aware of the fact that the farm was the location of F.O.X.'s Ottawa headquarters and thay had been trying to infiltrate it for years. But all attempts had been met with a level of violence that was unusual for the normally temperate Canadians. Rumour had it that the new Chief of Staff had something against the People's Republic. Whatever the reason, the agents that tried and failed were usually found on the steps of the great grey stone building the Chinese had chosen for their embassy in a condition unsuitable for further field work.

The civet drove a few car lengths behind the arctic fox as he made his way into the heart of the capital. Bypassing the market they entered Sandy Hill, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Ottawa and not very far from the Chinese Embassy. His subject pulled up in front of a row of old town houses and got out. He was greeted by another arctic fox who bore a family resemblance. The two of them embraced and then entered one of the homes. The civet noted the address.

He signalled to another member of his team to take over and then drove off. As he approached his country's Embassy he pulled on a wide brimmed hat and donned sunglasses before slouching behind the wheel. The gate opened automatically in response to the transponder in his pocket. He pulled around back, into an area blocked from outside observation by high walls, and entered the building by keying in his personal code on a door with no knob. The door opened onto a set of stairs going down to the basement of the Embassy. At the bottom was another door, one which could only be opened from the inside. Having been recognized on the monitors that covered the parking lot that door swung open as he approached. The civet made his way through the corridors of the State Security detachment for Ottawa until he came to the office of the chief, where he knocked and waited.

"Come in." A deep voice commanded in Mandarin. The civet obeyed, feeling a little nervous because the office was not only occupied by the pangolin that normally worked here, but also a giant of a panda, the head of the agency's North American Division, come all the way from Beijing to personally oversee this operation.

"Report." The panda demanded. The civet complied, leaving nothing out. When he was done the panda waved a paw to dismiss him and he left to join his surveillance team.

"Tell me about F.O.X." The panda addressed the pangolin.

The armadillo-like creature scratched his scaly hide nervously. The head of the Division probably knew more about F.O.X. than he did, but may not be aware of the latest developments. "There was an unusually high level of training in recent weeks." He told the panda. "Involving more agents than we knew that they had, ten at least. Then several days ago everything went quiet. The report I filed speculated that they had left the city on assignment, although it would be unusual for them to send out so many on a single mission."

"Yes, it would." The panda mused, rubbing his chin in thought. "And therefore it must be a very important mission." He pointed to the special phone used for contacting the headquarters in Beijing and indicated that the pangolin should pass it to him. Then he told the section head to leave the room.

Once the door to the office was safely closed the panda picked up the phone and waited for the operator in Beijing to answer. He gave the extension for his own office, knowing that his deputy would be camped out by the phone waiting for instructions. As expected it was answered instantly and he began firing orders down the line as soon as the line was opened.

"The arctic fox paid a visit to our old friends in Ottawa before settling in. Get everyone we have in the North East from Dalian to Harbin out of bed and find out where the vixen he was seen with went and who she went with. Check the files at every point of entry for signs of anyone that resembles the F.O.X. agents we have on file, but I suspect that you will not find more than two or three." The panda had studied F.O.X. his whole career, and he knew how his enemy operated; in small teams. If ten F.O.X. agents had gone out then they likely went to four or five different locations, and that was an extraordinary level of effort for such a small agency. The panda would dearly love to know what they were up to, and so he decided to spend some of the influence he had built up over the years. "Get on to central records. Tell them to check every contact everywhere for movement of any known or suspected FOX agents. Yes, I know that the chief archivist will toss his noodles. Just mention that I would greatly appreciate it. And one more thing, send me the file on the one known as Silver."

* * * * * * *

Zac managed to tag along with the Deputy Director of the Pelindaba nuclear facility by arguing that he was responsible for the safety of his actress, Foxy LaTush. Together they rushed over to the site of the former reactor at Safari-2 where security teams had already sealed off the building. Zac casually turned the visitor's pass around so only the plain back was showing. The security picket recognized the jackal and let them both in, assuming that Zac was with the Deputy Director. In that manner he was able to join Delores by the side of the pool that had formerly housed the atomic pile just as the rescue team was dragging the Director's body out. He lent a paw and no one on the team thought to ask who he was.

While he assisted the team in their attempts to revive the Director Zac made a quick examination of the springbok's condition. The Director was naked and it was not difficult to do as he helped them put the limp body on a stretcher where a paramedic attempted to restart his heart. While not an expert in antelope anatomy Zac was fairly certain that the burn marks on its feet and genitals had nothing to do with drowning. Other signs of abuse were evident. He glanced over at Delores and found that she was wandering around wringing her paws as if she was in some distress, but her eyes took in everything in the room. Occasionally she stooped to the floor as if she had tripped and Zac saw her scoop up some tiny objects.

Having learned all he could from the body Zac left the side of the pool and joined her away from the rest of the group. She immediately started crying and held out her arms for him. He clutched her tightly, pressing his head against hers as if to comfort her. Her hair and their shoulders helped hide their mouths from the security guards that were standing around waiting to be told what to do.

"He was tortured first." Zac informed her. "Whoever is doing these guys in wanted something from him fast and weren't afraid to leave marks. The South African government will know that he was murdered by the end of the day."

"Look at this." Delores held up her paw where the guards could not see and opened it. In her palm were several bits of wire and an alligator clip. There was a tiny scrap of cigarette butt as well. The odour coming off the tobacco was powerful and offensive. Zac's sensitive nose wrinkled in disgust. "The marking on the clip looks oriental." She informed him. "and I've smelled that shitty tobacco before at receptions in Moscow. We'll need confirmation but I'm thinking North Korea."

"Vikki and Dongo are there." Zac reminded her.

Delores paused and thought for a moment. "If they are the ones behind this than Viks and Dongo are in great danger. We have to get away and report this, but they are going to want to question me." She tucked the evidence into his pants pocket. "Make an excuse to get out of here and get to the American Embassy. There is a CIA agent I know there that can get these analysed overnight. She gave Zac the contact information and some personal information to convince the agent that Zac was really there on her behalf.

"Really?" Zac whispered when she was done. "He did that with zucchini?"

"Use that one only if he doesn't believe the rest." Delores advised him. Zac nodded and released her. He walked over to where the Deputy Director was being briefed by the head of security. The rescue team had given up on trying to revive Doctor Madika. As he approached he overheard the security chief telling Mofoken that Delores could not have caused the damage to the Director or thrown him in the pool because he had obviously been dead for several hours. That was good news, it meant that she would not be held as a suspect.

"Doctor Mofoken? Could I have a minute?" Zac interrupted. The jackal turned to face him with a frown. "The police are going to want to talk with Miss LaTush, but there is nothing that I can add. I'd like to go report this to my embassy and our head office in Montreal. Afterward I'll come back here and wait until the police are finished with Foxy. Rest assured that we want to cooperate to the fullest extent with the investigation into this terrible accident."

"Accident? Is that what you think it is?" The security chief, a lion with a braided mane injected, stepping forward.

"Isn't it?" Zac asked, summoning all the innocence he could muster. Then he turned to the jackal. "If your driver can take me back to our hotel, I have a rental car there.

The Deputy Director signaled the driver to come forward and told him to give Zac a ride to the hotel. "Please be quick about it." He added to Zac as the wolf turned to leave. "I want your 'actress' out of my facility as soon as possible."

* * * * * * *

Dongo Fett rushed down an empty corridor inside the Yak mountain complex. He was breathing hard and casting a worried eye back the way he had come frequently. Madam Lee was back there somewhere, and if she caught him he was done for. Dongo had been on a lot of hairy missions, both as a sniper for the CIA and later as an agent for F.O.X., but none, not even the one where he lost his eye and arm, could compare with the chill that went down his spine each day when her gaze fell on him. He was about to crack, he knew it. If he had to have sex one more time with that smelly shrew he would lose it and strangle her with his one good paw.

It was not that he had never had sex with an unattractive female. God knows there were plenty of times when the best the local brothels had to offer looked like a cross between an area rug and a delivery van. And some of them were not the nicest of ladies either. But none of them demanded his services morning noon and night the way the shrew in charge of the servants did. Madam Lee had a unique combination of looks, attitude, and odour that got on his nerves and her insatiable appetite meant that he had no time to recover his normal calm and cool deportment before being thrown back into the fray. She had even had him moved from the dorm to her private quarters. He believed that he was suffering from PTSD: Possessive Traumatic Shrew Disorder. He had to get away from her for a few hours and unwind.

Her shrill voice bounced of the hard stone walls of the corridor. She must be approaching the last intersection in the corridor, he realized. He looked ahead, the tunnel he had chosen went on straight as an arrow for another hundred feet, too far to make it to the next turn before she came around the corner and spotted him. He looked around desperately. All the doors had senor pads that needed pass cards to open. It looked like she would catch him ... and then ... he shuddered just thinking about it.

Then he saw a pair of doors that were not secured like the rest. He recognized the symbols on them from the dorm he had spent the first night in. He dove into the one with the character for 'male' on it and pushed the door shut just as he heard his Korean cover name screeched out back near the last intersection. Getting a death grip on the knob he prayed that she would think it was locked if she tried to turn it. He held his breath as the sound of her hard-heeled shoes echoed down the corridor. His heart stopped when she paused outside the washroom door, muttering to herself about lazy idiot foxes. Then, bellowing out his name again she continued to clatter down the hallway.

Dongo waited with his paw on the knob until the sound of her footfalls disappeared completely. Sucking much needed air he stood up and moved to one of the sinks to splash some water on his face. Leaning against the ceramic counter he studied his face in the mirror. Was his fur starting to fall out around his neck? Was the stress that bad?

Male voices in the corridor alerted him to the possibility of company. Looking around he saw a mop and bucket and other cleaning equipment in an alcove near the door. Leaping across the room he pulled the wheeled bucket out and rolled it under a spigot mounted low on the wall. He turned on the hot water and began filling it just as the door opened and two gorals in lab coats stepped in. They stopped and fell silent when they saw him at first, but after taking in the bucket and the mop leaning against the wall beside him they relaxed.

"Just one of the foxes." The taller of the two goat-like creatures said as he moved toward the urinals.

"I've never seen this one in our wing before." The shorter of the two said suspiciously. "You, fox!" He called out to Dongo. "What are you doing here? Who assigned you to this area?"

Dongo put his paws over his mouth and shook his head, then made some inarticulate sounds. Then he shrugged and went back to filling his bucket.

"Mute, and probably deaf, as well as stupid." The first one called from the urinal. "You know they only assign the really retarded ones to our wing, just in case, eh? Most of them can't even understand proper Korean."

The second goral held his suspicious gaze for another moment before stepping around Dongo and entering one of the stalls. Dongo knew that there was no toilet inside, just a hole, a couple of blocks for the feet and a hose to rinse the floor off with afterwards. Back at the Academy Doctor Jones said that squatting to defecate like most common folk did in Asia was better for your innards than the sitting position they used in Europe and North America. Dongo had used both, as well as even more basic accommodations, and personally he preferred the feel of cool porcelain on his backside and a good magazine when it came time to relieve himself.

The two gorals, assuming that any fox assigned to their area would not be intelligent enough to understand what they were saying, picked up their interrupted conversation again. They were talking fast and Dongo's abbreviated implanted translator struggled to keep up.

"Is everything ready in your section for the arrival of Kang?" The tall goral asked as he zipped up.

"Yes. The double nine project is almost complete." Came from inside the stall. "Thanks to all the research that Kang has brought us these last few years. We are expecting the details of the laser separation process to be transmitted momentarily. Together with the information sent recently from Pakistan we will be able to enrich the uranium those foxes mine to weapons grade faster than you can make it into warheads for the missile force."

"Oh, I don't think so." The tall one laughed. "Our people in Argentina have been ordered to bring us the miniaturization secrets from there. And Kang will take care of Brodsky personally. Once we have those pieces of the puzzle we will need much less uranium per warhead than previously. And if the cold fusion technique works ...aiiieee, we'll be exporting power to China and Russia!"

"And no one can duplicate it, because no one else has all the pieces, and those that did have some are dead." The short goral stepped out of the stall, followed by a bad odour. Dongo had not heard the sound of the hose being used to rinse the cubicle. He picked up a piece of soap and threw it at Dongo, who was pretending to concentrate on filling his bucket. "Hey, fox! Clean that up." He demanded, pointing to the source of the smell.

Dongo looked at the goat with dull eyes and then looked to the stall. _ No worse than when I was a private in Fort Benning,_ he thought as he shuffled toward the stall, pushing the mop and bucket before him. He set to his degrading task without a change of expression, but inside his mind was racing. He had spent most of the time before they went in familiarizing himself with Korean and getting used to this old school prosthetic but he knew for sure that F.O.X. had teams in Argentina and Pakistan, and some of that other stuff sounded familiar too. Dongo had a hunch that they had enough now to vamoose and report back. He would have to find Vikki and let her know what he had found out as soon as possible.

The gorals left while he was mopping up the stall. As soon as they were clear he stowed the bucket and moved to the door. Less than a minute passed before he heard the locks on two of the doors further down the hall engaging as they returned to their prospective research stations. Dongo carefully opened the washroom door and peered out. The corridor was clear. Moving with maddening slowness just in case the shrew or some other staffer came upon him unexpectedly Dongo made his way back toward the dining hall. It would be lunchtime soon and Vikki would be heading that way form the staff quarters where she worked as a maid. If he hurried he could intercept her.

He passed the dining hall, ignoring the welcoming gestures of some of the other Palgan Yeou. Trying not to look conspicuous he hung out at the end of the corridor leading to the Staff quarters. He was relieved to see Vikki walking his way with a couple of other vixens after just a few minutes of waiting. He made eye contact with her and used his good paw to make the sign calling for a rendezvous. Vikki took the hint and gestured for her companions to go ahead while she stepped into a supply room. The two older vixens giggled as Dongo went to join her, they knew what married couples did during the few minutes they could spend together out of sight, but they put on serious faces when they saw that a pair of hares from the administration section were watching them. The two vixens moved on, and the hares looked at each other and then to the door where the other pair of foxes had disappeared. One shrugged as if to say 'who cares what they do on their free time?' and then they turned and followed the vixens to the dining hall.

Inside the supply room Dongo checked to make sure that the door was locked behind them before removing the inserts from his mouth so that he talk easier. Vikki did likewise. Keeping his voice down he related what he had overheard in the washroom and why he thought it was important enough for a risky meeting like this.

"You're right." Vikki agreed after hearing him out. "While researching the culture here I ran across an article that mentioned that the number nine is associated to the ruling family as being particularly auspicious. Number nine projects are conducted under the auspices of the Kims, and double nine projects are those with the highest priority and call for resources. This is definitely important and it's related to the other missions under Rogue Sword, the ones F.O.X. has taken on in particular. Laser Separation was the technology the scientist Delores and Zac went to check out specialized in, and Brodsky was the name of the physicist that Marcel and Geno were sent to protect. Whoever is killing these scientists is stealing their research first and selling it to the Koreans, and from what you learned it looks like that are very close to a couple of major breakthroughs. We have to get away as soon as possible and report back. The others will have to grab whatever subjects are still left alive and take them to safe houses until the international community can figure out what to do about this.

"So we go out tonight?"

"I'll go out tonight. You'll be missed by Madam Lee if you sneak off before she's done with you tonight, sorry."

Dongo shrugged stoically. He had been in worse situations, almost. "Should I follow when she is, ah, done?"

"No." Vikki said and Dongo was surprised not only by her answer but by the look of sadness on her face. "One of the options for action will be to raid the complex, destroy their research, kill the scientific staff and demolish the facility. That would go a lot better if they had someone on the inside to guide the raiding party and point out the key staff. As soon as I'm finished sending the intelligence we have I'm coming back in, and I'm bringing the transceiver with me inside this crude arm." She tapped the hollow plastic prosthetic with her claws. "We won't send but we'll be able to receive instructions and prepare for the raid." She did not have to add that the risk of staying multiplied the chances of getting caught, or what the odds of surviving the raid were. But those outcomes did not bother Dongo, he had always been a soldier and soldiers learn to accept the fact that there will be casualties, and that they could just as easily be one of them as the next guy. No, something else was bothering him.

"Vikki." Dongo said with a calmness he did not feel. "What happens if they decide to stop pissing around with this backward nation and drop a large nuclear device on this mountain instead?"

Her sad expression deepened, and Dongo knew that he had articulated exactly what she had been thinking all along.

"They will need a signal to home in on for a precise strike." She said. "And the transceiver can provide that signal when the time comes, providing one of us is here to turn it on, and as the senior agent it is my responsibility to see the mission through to the end."

"Vikki! No!" Dongo's voice rose involuntarily. "You have too much to live for. You have a family."

"It's my job. Silver would do the same."

"Screw Silver, think of Leslie. He'll need you."

Vikki opened her maw to answer but before she could the door to the supply room slammed open. Whirling around she saw the shrew, Madam Lee standing in the doorway with two armed guards behind her. Their sub-machine guns were cocked and aimed at her and Dongo.

"I don't suppose you knew we had the nooks and crannies bugged in case of spies." Madam Lee said, her brow cloudy enough to elicit a storm warning. "The South is always trying to infiltrate agents into our midst. But imagine our surprise to hear English coming from a couple of Palgan Yeou, shocking." She motioned the guards forward and Dongo tensed to fight, but then he saw another pair take their place in the doorway, and more were crowding in behind them. He let his body go slack and sensed Vikki doing the same beside him. The object now was to avoid injury and wait for an opportunity to escape.

"Now my little deformed foxes," Madam Lee crooned as the guards encircled the agents. "Let's go find your 'Reverend Uncle' and then we all have a nice discussion."

"You know you're wasting your time." Vikki spoke as they led her from the room. "We'll never talk."

"Oh, I think that you will, especially once our agents track down this Leslie you seem to care about and get him in their cross hairs. I really do think you will."

The FOX Academy series:

Book I - The New Breed

Book II - The Werewolf of Odessa

Book II.5 - The Love who Spied Me

Book III - The Curse of the Yellow Monkey

Book IV - Wait for No One

Book V - Dawn of Vengeance

Book VI - Unnatural Selection

Kain Algorath © Marcus X Light

Ophelia Cassidy Sommer © Devil Kitty

Joel Grigori © Joel the Lemur

Geno © Coyotek

Dongo Fett © Dongo Fett

Zachary Ember © EmberWolf

Grey Muzzle © Grey Muzzle