Price of Life: Chapter XIII
#16 of Price of Life
Price of Life: Chapter XIII
Gathering of Light
Selene had never seen anything like it in her entire life. The War Room, as Dante had called it, was a place full of mysterious and wonderful things the likes of which Selene had never laid eyes on. All around sat workbenches, eerily illuminated by green fluorescent lighting. Racks upon racks of weapons were stationed to the walls. Finally, a large, bulky, metal vehicle sat in the middle of the room.
It took several seconds to realize that she was actually looking at a tank. A long, protruding barrel extended itself from the turret, like an ever-steady army prepared to unleash hell upon what stood in the way. Woven treads and greases wheels made it beam in the fluorescent glow. Overall, the behemoth vehicle took up a majority of the barn, as if it were sitting in a decrepit shrine.
"She's a beauty, ain't she? She's a relic, a Russian T34. But she'll do just fine" called a voice from above. Selene looked up to see a female gray fox leaning over the railing of the loft. Although Selene's stay in the outside world had been brief, she thought that the newcomer's attire was somewhat masculine. Instead of a dress or shorts, the girl wore blue denim overalls with a red bandana and a pair of goggles on her head. Her arms and hands were stained with oil and grease. Tacky though this vixen was, Selene could tell by the sound of her voice that she was not someone to be feared.
With startling agility, the gray fox hurtled over the railing and made a perfect acrobatic landing on the barn floor in front of Dante and Selene. Dante applauded jokingly. As he did so, the gray fox took a bow.
Dante turned to Selene and began to make introductions. "Selene, this is Tellur. She and I work together."
The gray vixen held out a greasy paw, "Pleased to meet ya, Selene. Dante's told me a lot about you."
Selene accepted the handshake. She smiled at meeting a new friend, though she not terribly fond of getting her white fur greasy. But she bore that in silence, it would be best not to question Tellur's hygiene.
"Just a moment," said Tellur as she excused herself. "TRIGGER! Get out here!"
Selene and Dante's ears flew up at the increase in decibel level. One thing was for sure, Tellur took the War Room seriously.
The sound of something colliding with a metal bulkhead sounded. This was followed by a series of curse words in Russian. Just a few seconds later, a tall red wolf emerged from behind the tank. His fur, although it startlingly resembled a fox, was betrayed by his short muzzle. He rubbed the back of his head, as if trying to sooth pain. Apparently, it had been his noggin that had butted horns with the bulkhead. He wore a wife-beater t-shirt as well as a pair of camouflaged pants.
"Oh! Greetings, Comrade Dante! I zid not know you were stopping by today. Ah! And who iz zis lovely voman?" Trigger spoke with a heavy Russian accent. He spoke very well, however. His accent only seemed to make him a little burly.
"Trigger, this is Selene," said Dante he became flush with embarrassment.
Trigger gave a hearty chuckle. "Ah ha! So siz is the legendary Selene!"
He held her hand gently and bent over to kiss it in a mock-gentleman fashion.
"So..." Dante said, choosing to end the pleasantries and get down to business. "Is Athena finished?"
"Almost," replied the red wolf. "Ve still have to fix ze wiring, or else ze spark plugs will not fire."
Dante, with the tone of a superior, said, "See to it that it's fixed as soon as physically possible. We need to make sure our final preparations are complete."
"Why? Why ze change is schedule?"
"Ya," Tellur joined in, leaning up against Trigger's shoulder, "what's the hurry?"
Dante looked away for a moment, trying to sum up the courage to put his family reunion into words, "Virgil has made his move. Raksha was taken."
Both of the mechanics' faces fell. The said nothing, too shocked to form any sort of reply.
"Mr. Israel was taken as well. Now were shy an informant. That's why I need Athena up and running as soon as possible. I'm going on a rescue operation."
That made all in attendance go wide-eyed with surprise. For a moment, Selene's heart blossomed, knowing that Dante did have a plan to rescue his friend after all.
"How did your brother just show up and take Raksha?" asked Tellur with a puzzled look. "He hasn't spoken to you in, what, a decade?"
Dante shook his head in shame. "They held me at gunpoint while they led her away. If I could have done anything to prevent it, I would have. But as we all know, I cannot die just yet. There is a lot of work that needs to be completed, starting with recovering our friends."
Tellur nodded, agreeing. "All right, Trigger and I will work on fixing Athena. You two look like you've been through a lot, so use the loft however you see fit. There's some food up there, Trigger made some stew just before you guys showed."
Selene suddenly noticed she was quite hungry. After all, they had skipped breakfast after Virgil had shown up for a visit and the trip across the countryside had taken quite sometime. It was well after lunchtime, based on the rumblings of her stomach.
As the sound of soldering irons and power drills began to fill the barn, Dante showed Selene the small ladder that led to the loft of the barn. Although this place was beginning to seem like a bizarre kind of funhouse, Selene was relieved by the fact that the loft looked relatively cozy. Sprawled across the floor of the loft were several mattresses and blankets, no doubt Trigger and Tellur's living arrangements. However, the funny thing that crossed Selene's mind was that the two mattresses were pushed together. Apparently, Trigger and Tellur were a budding couple.
A small table and several short stools sat opposite the beds. A petite stove sat there, a pot of stew bubbling at a low simmer. A cardboard box held mismatched mugs and plates; obviously the living arrangements were not ideal, but suitable.
Dante pulled one of the stools out from under the table, gesturing for his mate to sit down. She nodded politely to him and parked herself upon the wobbly contraption. The black wolf went over to the stove and began to ladle out spoonfuls of broth into bowls. After he had done so, he sat down on the chair opposite Selene and placed the bowl in front of her. She could not help but notice the hopeless, solemn look on his face. It was if the sparkle in his eyes that she had been falling in love with was gone, sucked away along with Raksha.
To comfort him, she placed her paw on his, but it did not seem to help. He just began shoveling stew into his mouth without enthusiasm, even eating had become a chore for his mind.
"My brother wasn't always this way," he finally said, not looking his mate in the eye. "I know what he's done isn't right, but he's still my big brother." Slowly, tears began to run down his face. "I hope you'll believe when I say my brother didn't always hate slaves. But, after what happened to Elizabeth..."
"Elizabeth?" mimicked Selene.
"His wife. Virgil joined the army as an officer as soon as he was eligible when he turned eighteen. He was stationed in the self-defense force. Not long after, tensions flared with Vixenia, a country neighboring this one, over a border dispute. Needless to say, my brother threw himself headlong into his career. He loves his country and he would gladly give up his life for it. During the war, Virgil was shot in the side and removed from the front. He was sent to a military hospital for the next two months."
"Oh! That sounds awful!" cried Selene. Although she was not terrible found of Virgil, it was not like her to wish harm on others.
"It sounds awful, yes. But for him, it was the best two months of his entire life." Seeing Selene raise an eyebrow at that statement, Dante decided to elaborate.
"It was there he met Elizabeth. She was a Siberian tiger-morph, with beautiful blonde hair and brilliant hazel eyes. Elizabeth was my brother's nurse while he recovered. The second he laid his eyes on her, he fell deeply in love with her. When I went to see him at the hospital, she was all he could talk about. And, I guess she fell in love with him too, because he wrote a lot of poetry for her during his stay there. I had never seen my brother so happy in my entire life. After he recovered, the military called on him again to serve and he kindly asked Elizabeth to wait for him until the war was over. He was dispatched to the Home Guard Division, training future troops and whatnot.
"After that, he began dating Elizabeth. She kept her word and waited for him. My parents and I thought fondly of her, she seemed to complete my brother's happiness. After my parent's eager encouragement and hearing my noting-but-positive opinion, he married her. I was his best man during the ceremony.
"For a time, they seemed like they were just on top of the world. They bought a nice house out in the country and when Virgil was promoted, Elizabeth could afford to quit her job. It seemed like the proper plan, too. Not too long after they got married, Elizabeth found out she was pregnant with Virgil's child. Although they both seemed somewhat frightened, Virgil and Elizabeth were very happy to finally be starting a family of their own. My parents loved the idea of a having a grandchild on the way.
"But..." Dante hung on that word as if it was of the utmost importance "But...that just wasn't destined to be. You see, it just so happens that there was a farm near my brother's home that relied on slave labor. One day, there was a revolt and the slaves started a riot. My brother was at work when it happened and Elizabeth was at home, taking care of herself and the unborn baby. The slaves...they spotted my brother's cottage. They must've thought if they were going to make some noise, they may as well do it to someone who worked for the government that was imprisoning them."
Now, Dante's breath grew to a crawl. His eyes squinted shut as he told the painful tale.
"The slaves ransacked his house. They attacked Elizabeth. I'm not sure if they knew if she was pregnant or not, she was earlier on in her first trimester, so they might not have noticed. The slaves tried to make an example out of her by...hanging her from the tree in the front yard..."
Selene's hand drew across her mouth, as if to stifle a gasp.
"My brother, obviously, didn't respond well. He nearly committed suicide. He was furious with me and our parents because we worked to free those who had slain his wife. Virgil was so upset he didn't even allow me to attend my sister-in-law's funeral. He was the only mourner. After that, he began to demand jobs that had to do with handling slaves. He became the commander of XX-31, as you know. Virgil was so overcome by revenge that he took ever opportunity to hurt slaves and slander my family. Not long after he seized political influence, he had my parents executed under the premise that a radical assassin was upset with the demand for emancipation. I guess my brother saw that as retribution. He hated the fact that our parents and only brother could go on sticking up for slaves after what happened to Elizabeth.
"I sent him letter and phone-calls, begging him to end the violence and come home, but he wouldn't. Every once and awhile, he would have one of my co-workers or other antislavery comrades arrested and put to death to scare me into staying out of his way.
"To be perfectly honest, I hated those slaves who killed Elizabeth. I know slavery is wrong, which is why I am working so hard to end it. But the means they went through to get their freedom is inexcusable. The price of life is too high to waste life senselessly.
"But that is not to say what my brother has done is right, either. Revenge and hate have become the sole purpose of his life. Which is why he must be dealt with. Right now, Virgil holds enough military power to overthrow the government. He plans to use the country's fear of slaves in order to found a regime that can crush them into permanent submission. My brother is blood-drunk and I must see to it that the thirst is never quenched.
"Oh! Maybe it would've been better if he and I had never even been born! The world would be a happier place..."
Dante nearly collapsed back into his seat, weak from the drama of the tale. Selene moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Don't say that. If you hadn't been born, you never would have freed me and then I would have never have fallen in love with you."
The black wolf moved closer to Selene, needing her now more than ever before. He cried as she continued to speak.
"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry about what happened to your sister-in-law. I think you're right, despite what's happened, family is family. I never really knew my parents, but I'm sure if I did, I'd love them no matter what. You're not wrong to still love him. You were just being a good little brother. After all, there must still be some good in your brother somewhere, right? After all, everyone's got a little good somewhere."
Her lover turned to her. Amid his subtle tears, he smiled. "Selene, you never cease to amaze me. Now I know why I picked you. You've got a heart of gold!"
Selene just kissed her lover passionately and whispered in his ear, "Are you sure it wasn't just my tail?"