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The Last Castle

The Last Castle - Chapter One "Landing"

*

This is the first chapter of a commission for Xenin who prompted me with a very interesting premise for a story - and I am quite proud to present this, I am happy how it turned out, and I thank Xenin for giving me this opportunity to write it as well! I hope you enjoy this, and do give me comments, and remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

Have an interesting read!

2016 re-edit: Events relocated to Cottbus, Germany, with associated minor changes throughout.

*

He woke up to a shaking that sent him rolling against the raised frame of the bed, a padded construction of metal tubing that managed to send a little twinge of pain through his shoulder. The red panda grunted at the sensation, opened his eyes, and stared at the low ceiling above him, formed by the top bunk in the sleeper cabin. It was dark, and mostly quiet, but for the low vibrating rumble of the engines.

They shook again, and for a moment he wondered if something was wrong, before the going seemed to steady itself once again.

"Humph."

Turbulence, he thought. This was only the hundredth time, really.

The tired red panda scrambled for his wristpad and found it where he'd left it to recharge overnight. A quick tap showed him the onboard time, compared to chronological local time. Another little tap routed him into the navigational system and showed him the blinking coordinates, the seconds indicator on the longitude changing at the moment while he kept looking at the figures. The cryptic numbers offered little relief to his curiosity on their location; he knew there was a map mode available, but he wasn't feeling any urgency. He could find out once he went onto the bridge, the red panda thought.

He was tempted to remain where he was and curl up for a little moment of further dozing, but he knew that he would have to be getting up soon anyway. The floor felt cool under his footpaws, and comfortably solid, which reassured his somewhat queasy stomach. He was not very used to travelling like this, but then again, nobody really was anymore, he thought.

The red panda opened a wall compartment and produced a wet sponge from a tear-away plastic packaging, the only means for washing up onboard. The sponge smelled of some detergent that thankfully dried up quite quickly and did not leave a sticky residue onto his furs. He was done quickly, not about to spend very much time on that chore.

Next came the clothing. Socks, pants, shirt, jacket, it was all very comfortable, and somewhat loose upon his slim frame. Since they were travelling for such a long time, he might as well stay cozy. The shoes were more like slippers, really, though fit properly and were not in the danger of falling off his footpaws when he was sitting down and dangling his feet, for example.

He hoped for a mirror, but that particular item was not supplied in the sleeper. He had to trust the feel of his paw to brush through his hair, and a little tug on his clothes before he assumed he was ready to go.

The corridor running through the sleeper section was quiet, and he did not pass anyone. The vessel operated by a skeleton crew, anyway, he knew, so that did not surprise the red panda. Through the bulkhead hatch, past the ballast section, then up the narrow, steep stairs onto the upper deck, and now he did nod to the guard on duty, before going along the corridor past the mess hall and the muster deck, all the way to the neck of the ship. The bridge door he had to open with his pawprint, but that was the only door with such security he'd encountered onboard, at least when it came to the sections he was allowed into.

The bridge was not a very grandiose space, a simple room, consoles manned by four furs and a single human, who was sitting quietly upon her station, staring onto the glow of a holoscreen. Through the windows, he could only see blue sky, and the occasional cloud ahead of them.

"Mister Sun!"

"Yes, Captain," the red panda greeted the stern-looking fox politely, with a nod, and less constraint than a military person would, for he was a civilian.

"Excellent news for you, Mister Sun," the fox stated without sounding like he was delivering good tidings. "Our K-band uplink has managed to establish a contact to the Rubicon 32 satellite and bounced the signal over to The Castle."

The red panda's tail ruffled with surprise and excitement.

"We've got Project Hänschen-Klein?"

"We did for a few minutes, before the satellite went out of alignment, but we've got them the message that we are underway and approaching," the fox in uniform replied.

"What's our ETA?" the red panda asked.

"Helm?" the fox snapped over to the Shiba Inu manning one of the forward stations.

"About fifteen hours, sir," came the reply, "given the winds."

"You heard that," the fox told the red panda.

"Alright, thank you, Captain Beaufort" the red panda said. "I'll be sure to have everything ready by the time we arrive."

The fox shrugged.

"I'm just the ferryman," the fox said. "I leave the rest to you folks."

"Alright."

---

*

"Tap-tap."

"Recording," the synthesized voice spoke out of his wristpad. "Speech to text enabled."

"Alright...damn...Mark here and delete before mark."

"Log deleted."

"Restart oral log," he said.

"Recording."

"Diary number 126 slash 84 slash 5. Meng Tian Sun's personal log, leading researcher, The Universal Propagation Initiative. Today is... the 12th of May, 2148, and this is day 26 of our voyage from Manila to The Castle. The time has come. Before today is over, we have reached The Castle, and my work can continue with proper equipment once more."

The red panda was lying down on his bunk in the sleeper cabin, the wristpad removed and laid over his chest while he relaxed with his paws folded behind his head while he chattered along into the recorder.

"This... forced moratorium in my work has certainly been interesting. I cannot recall the last time I have spent this much time outside a laboratory ever since I joined as Doctor Chang's apprentice at the Manila facility of UPI."

He wondered whether the notes were getting too personal now, but decided to press on. There was a high chance he would be the only person to listen to them, anyway. Who else would care? Or perhaps there wouldn't even be another one, he thought, vaguely, but brushed that off his mind.

"I have been preparing for the task at hand using Doctor Tennenbaum's materials she was most kind to provide for me before we left. I have very high hopes for this new method she has been investigating recently, and given the resources available at The Castle, I am sure that great progress will be possible. Perhaps even when I arrive, a month since my departure, another breakthrough has been made in our seemingly endless battle against this...condition..."

Meng paused once again. He knew that he was bullshitting by now, big time, and felt amused by it, even if mildly so.

"The materials available to them are very different from our resources. Considering that they have managed to salvage so much from the remains of the old projects, including genetic material we could only dream of acquiring ourselves, preparations dating back to the very first efforts to counteract this malady...I am confident that by joining forces, we shall finally see a grand step forward in the quest for a solution."

"I look forward to working with Doctor Tennenbaum and her small but very enthusiastic team. I believe that the Castle is one of the few places left on Earth that something like this could be accomplished, and to be part of it...I think that this will be a great honor, and a contribution."

Meng felt like he'd run out of things to say.

"End recording. Transcribe and store."

"Recording has ended."

He flopped his tail against his ankles and stared at the plastic ceiling above him, and let his mind wander into quiet contemplations again.

---

*

Through the windows of the bridge, all they could see ahead of them was a dark, moonlit landscape of wooded hills and fields overgrown decades ago by thick foliage. Meng, whom had come to the bridge perhaps 20 minutes earlier, looked at the view intently. It was so different to the tropical conditions of the Philippines, or back home in Taiwan...so different, and so wild now. There were no signs of civilization to be seen, not a single speck of light or a campfire, even, as far as he could see as the ship continued on its way. The meandering streak of a river cut the view into half.

"Scanners still clear, Captain," one of the bridge crewmembers announced. "The EM band is quiet. Nothing interesting out there."

"Keep watching," Captain Beaufort responded curtly from the chair he occupied, a tense sight if there ever was one. "I don't want us to be caught with a rocket up the ass."

Meng wondered quietly if there really was anyone left down there capable of such a feat, of bringing them down from the heights they occupied. The airship was moving along at a leisurely pace, by now, with the sun down, propelled by the engines running on battery power. He wanted to believe in their relative invulnerability at this point, high above the land.

"...Castle, Castle, this is White Dawn calling on channel 12, do you copy? Castle, Castle, this is White Dawn calling on channel 12, do you copy?"

Meng's ears flicked a little, listening to the communications officer repeating the call into the airwaves repeatedly. They really must've been getting close, trying to raise them on the radio like that. Considering the very patchy connection that Manila had ever been able to establish with the Castle, it seemed almost ridiculously easy now.

"I don't like going down at night," the Captain muttered. "If they don't have proper facilities, we may have to wait in anchor until dawn and land when we have full visualization."

"All arrangements have been made to accommodate you, Captain" Meng told the fox.

The Captain looked dubious.

"I might just be the ferryman, but I am still responsible for this vessel and everyone onboard."

"I know that, Captain," Meng replied. "Hence I understand your every concern in this matter. It is at your discretion to decide how to proceed."

"Distance to ETA coordinates, 5 kilometers now and closing," the helm reported.

"Still nothing, comms, lookout?" the Captain demanded.

"No visual yet, sir."

"Castle, Castle, this is White Dawn calling on channel 12, do you read us, over?" the comms officer spoke into his microphone before listening to the ether again. "Castle, this is White Dawn, do you copy?"

"They know we are coming," the Captain muttered. "They should have lit everything up for us."

"Perhaps they are experiencing technical difficulties," Meng joined into the fray.

"This whole continent is suffering from difficulties," the fox slapped the armrest of his command chair. "I don't like this."

"Shall we initiate countermeasures readiness, sir?" a worried opossum questioned from his console on the other side of the bridge.

"Hold that," the Captain snapped. "We're not there yet, and I'm not going to start shooting blind into the dark."

"Surface radar is starting to pick up more of the city," the scanner operator announced. "Spreading all over the cone. Almost full degrees on the screen. The river is visualizing beautifully."

"Keep an eye out for auxiliary landing sites," Captain Beaufort ordered. "I don't want to be caught unawares."

"Castle, Castle, this is the White Dawn approaching at 3 point zero zero zero clicks, calling on channel 12. Do you read me?"

"Helm, ahead, 2 knots. Come about to 290 mark zero, and null the rates. "

"Going to 2 knots, aye, aye, 290, mark, zero, set."

"What are they playing around..."

"Castle, Castle, do you copy?"

Meng was almost pressing his nose onto the window, trying to see anything but vague shapes in the darkness below. From this altitude, it was hard to make out more than the roughest of surface formations as they passed over the dead city, masked by the night. He had seen so many of them that the basic eeriness did not have much of an impact anymore, but the shapes of crumbling church towers and high rise buildings drove the message home. Structures built with the eternity in mind had been left to crumble, the nature slowly but surely reclaiming what was rightfully Her own.

The red panda wondered whether the ancient caretakers of those city parks, with their manicured lawns and well-pruned trees could have ever imagined that one day, their beloved artificial pockets of preserved greenery would spread themselves over the walls, across streets covered in cracked tarmac, tendrils of green that the man-made structures could resist only that long before they would join in the greater flow of the greenery outside the city boundaries.

How long had this town been inhabited, he thought. Two thousand years? And how long did it take for the nature to swallow it all and reclaim what was rightfully Hers? Around fifty years? He had been too busy with UPI to pay much attention to the history of the place. For him, like the Captain, it was a set of geographical coordinates, the location of a facility where he could do something good, where they had the right tools, and the right minds, who wanted him to join.

A flash of light, so bright in comparison to the dull moonlight he'd become used to that for a moment the red panda was blinded, forced to blink rapidly. His tail bristled with tension, as he turned to face the bridge instead, waiting for answers.

"Looks like a floodlight, Captain," the lookout spoke, near where Meng was standing. "Looks like...maybe a thousand clicks away..."

"Is it the Castle?" Meng asked.

"Scanner, comms, lookout?" the Captain listed the positions he wanted to report in quick succession.

"Sir?" the first one to speak was the tactical officer.

"Hold that finger off that goddamn trigger!" the Captain snorted. "Reports!"

"Visual ranging with infrared...distance, 600 meters and closing."

"Helm, engines to idle, maintain course," the Captain ordered.

"Captain!" the comms operator yelped. "Receiving a weak signal...analog radio..."

"Patch it through!" the fox's ears perked.

A few taps on the console was all it took to pipe the transmission into the loudspeakers.

"...approaching airship, approaching airship, this is the Castle," a crackling, yet steady voice spoke through the hissing and popping of the radio, "identify."

Meng's tail bounced excitedly. This was the first tangible evidence that they were actually about to arrive where they wanted to be.

"About time!" the Captain grunted. "Go for it, comms."

"Castle, this is the White Dawn, I repeat, the White Dawn, ready to deliver the package, over."

The red panda thought that kind of code talk was amusing, but it seemed that these military men could not get rid of their old time honored habits. Maybe they should be allowed that. There were few opportunities for levity these days.

"Castle, Castle, do you copy?"

"...Dawn...White Dawn, do you copy?"

"The signal strength is very low," the comms operator said, "short range only."

"Try to keep it steady," the Captain ordered. "We need a flight control report from them for approach and landing, if there's no radio we're going to come down on them."

"Castle, this is White Dawn, you're coming through two by five, over."

"...White Dawn, we cannot observe running lights, I repeat, we need your running lights. Over."

"Fuck," the Captain smacked his armrest with his paw. "Helm, why the hell don't we have our lights on?"

The panda on the wheel of the airship seemed sheepish as he quickly hit a few controls.

"Running lights on, Captain," the helmsman said, "do you want landing lights as well?"

"Switch everything on," the fox replied. "Let's give them a show. Helm, bring us about to 270 mark zero and down to 100 meters but keep an eye out for the surface, if we're getting too close to anything, take s up to 400 and hold."

The panda's paws moved rapidly.

"New heading, 2-7.0, mark zero, altitude, 100, steady."

The airship shook a little, both from their movement and what Meng had learned to recognize as a local wind catching onto the ship's sizeable side profile.

"Turn us towards the wind," the Captain barked out.

"...White Dawn, White, Dawn, this is the Castle. We've got you now."

"White Dawn, roger, we read you about three by five now. Can you advise us on an approach and landing vector? Standing by."

"If it takes them this long to even get a goddamn lamp on, how are they going to manage that..." the Captain muttered. "Scanner, keep on the lookout for landing spots, we may have to do this ourselves."

"...White Dawn, adjust your heading to 3-2-0, mark. We're giving the signal for the prepared landing site, over."

The Captain's ears perked.

"Copy that," he told the comms officer.

"Castle, White Dawn, I read you, 3-2-0, mark."

"Helm, hold current course," the fox snapped. "I want to see what we've got out there before I make any decisions. Scanner, lookout, anything on that direction?"

"It's heavily forested, sir," the scanner operator replied from over his screens, "it looks like..."

"Lights coming up at 3-2-0, sir!" the lookout yelped.

Meng looked over through the viewport as well, and could see the beams of light emerging towards the skies in the distance.

"What do you see?" the Captain sounded demanding.

"It looks like...it looks like it's what they promised, sir," said the lookout, "distance about...1.5 k on the ranger."

"White Dawn, our landing site is operational, over."

"Confirm that, comms," said the Captain, "Helm, take us to 3-2-0 and proceed at a crawl. Sound landing stations."

There was a flurry of activity all around the bridge, with people shouting at intercoms, buttons being pressed, crewmembers moving about as the alarm klaxon was sounded several times.

"All hands to landing stations," the Captain's amplified voice blared through the loudspeakers.

Meng seated himself by the wall and strapped the seatbelts about his waist and his chest. He didn't feel particularly nervous, having experienced this before, but the crew always seemed to feel like it was a big deal, and it was somewhat infectious for the red panda. He could see the tension on them, ears, tails, the occasional paw adjusting a harness strap or poking a control. This was serious business, taking their flying monstrosity back to the arms of gravity. The engines whirred more loudly now, too, and the flowing wind shook them several times, as the vessel began to descent.

"White Dawn, this is the Castle Landing Site, do you read us?" a new voice crackled through the intercom, one carrying a different accent from the first voice they had heard coming from their destination.

"Landing Site, this is White Dawn on final approach."

"White Dawn, we are ready to render assistance as required. We have docking hardpoints prepared for your use, over."

"Roger, Landing Site, I'll pass this on," the comms officer said. "Sir - "

"I heard that," the Captain snapped. "Helm, you heard that. Are we ready for assisted landing?"

"As ready as we are for going in solo, sir," the busy pilot replied.

"Comms, tell them that we are ready to deploy air hooks, if they are willing to catch," the Captain ordered.

The message was relayed on, and soon the reply came through.

"White dawn, we are standing by to receive."

"Shoot the hooks at your discretion," the Captain leaned back on his chair.

"Coming down to 100...90...80....70...65...50...hovering...negating for the wind...ready...and firing!"

The entire vessel vibrated with the force of the pneumatic catapults deploying cables with sharp weights on their tips, thudding into the ground below.

"Earth contact...number 1..3..4...2...all four cables down!"

"Steady as she goes."

The airship tilted as the wind struck her once more, now struggling against the cables binding her to the ground.

"White Dawn, we are moving to strap you in."

"Roger, Landing Site, we are standing by. Watch for those cables."

Meng was looking through the window again, and could actually see treetops. That made him feel somewhat worried. They were coming down in tight quarters, and he knew that the slightest mistake would throw the entire ship onto those trees and would most likely cause them to come tumbling down like a shot bird.

"45 meters...47 meters...still compensating for the wind..."

"Be ready to release and get up to 100 at any trouble."

"White Dawn, we have ground secure on you."

Now things got serious. Until they were effectively down on the ground, they were trapped by cables that allowed them to move to the wind, but also prevented them from reacting too much to any sudden events or movements. Now it was dangerous...very dangerous indeed, and Meng found himself clutching his armrests, counting the seconds.

"Take us down," the Captain ordered.

Further shaking, a tremble, a few anxious beeps from consoles that made Meng's nerves even more frayed.

"Motors are running good...30 meters...25...20...deploying landing legs...15 meters...10...engines to idle...8...6...5 meters below the keel...contact!"

"Lockdown," the Captain ordered.

It became very quiet for a few moments, until someone dared to speak again.

"We're steady on all axes."

"Engine shutdown in process."

"Cable clamps are in operation."

"I think that makes us officially landed," Captain Beaufort commented. "Secure all stations and systems and stand by. I'm sure our hosts are eager to say hello to us...and especially you, Mister Sun."

Meng gave the fox a courteous nod.

"I look forward to it, Captain," he said. "I should go to my quarters to change."

The fox snorted.

"I'm sure it'll make all the difference."

Meng unstrapped himself from the seat and headed out of the bridge, still busy with activity.

---

*

It was perhaps 10 minutes later when he returned, now clad in sturdy pants, boots, a shirt and an overcoat that remained unbuttoned for the moment, as well as a shiny aluminum briefcase. He didn't expect to be hauling all of his possessions with him yet, but he wanted to have something to present to his hosts as soon as possible.

The bridge was now more quiet, the helmsman having even vacated his position and was simply gazing through the windows at the front. The air seemed more relaxed than before, for which Meng felt grateful. The whole voyage had been full of dangers and tension, and to know that now they were standing on solid ground again - at least as soon as he'd step out of the airship - the red panda was starting to feel he could finally take a breather. That idea seemed strange to him, considering that the month in the air should've really been a kind of a break for him, a forced suspension of most of his scientific activity while they crossed across the continent. He knew that there would not be much time to relax now that he was finally in his destination.

"...uh huh...yes...how long...yes...yes...well start taking it apart right away then...yes, Myles...yes...yes...just do it, then!"

He found Captain Beaufort speaking on the phone, an ancient handset with a curly cable connecting the receiver into the console. He held it clumsily against his ear and then had to move it down a bit whenever he spoke, for his fox muzzle to reach the actual microphone properly.

"...right...yes...alright. Bridge out."

He hit a switch and put the receiver down to its socket before facing the red panda again.

"Engineering wants to start rehauling the forward thrusters now that we've finally stopped," the Captain explained curtly.

"I see, Captain," Meng nodded.

"They've sent a car," the fox scratched his muzzle as he spoke, leaning on the console, "should be here in a moment. I've got the crew taking out your stuff from the hold and preparing it for transport."

"I presume that they have the capacity to take everything to the base?" Meng asked.

"Beats me," the fox replied. "They only mentioned a car."

"Who have you spoken to?"

"The site commander, a dog chap," the fox replied. "A Corporal Lansing. He says he's spoken to the Castle Base and they are sending their car."

"I hope they will know to handle the equipment and samples with care," Meng voiced his concern carefully, and politely. "They are quite irreplaceable."

"Everything is irreplaceable nowadays," the fox sounded fatalistic.

Meng sniffled a little, and didn't comment further.

The intercom whistled. The Captain turned about towards the console again and hit another switch.

"This is the Captain speaking."

"They are ready to receive the guest and the cargo, Captain."

"You heard that?" the fox spoke to the red panda.

"Yes, Captain," Meng replied. "Is the equipment ready?"

"I've got men in the cargo bay," the Captain replied.

"Then it must be a goodbye for now," Meng spoke with a polite smile, "we shall see soon, I believe, however?"

"Tomorrow," the Captain said, "I've already arranged for myself to come to the base at dawn to discuss my compensation and resupplying the ship for the return."

"Of course, Captain," Meng replied. "Thank you for the safe passage."

The older man shrugged.

"Whatever can help to get something good done in this world," he mused. "See you, Mister Sun."

They parted, with Meng leaving the bridge and going down the steep stairs and through several compartments to reach the personnel gangway.

It was a shock. Wind was blowing, the first true flow of air he had felt that wasn't coming from a ventilator grille, and it ruffled his furs as soon as he entered into the alcove that led outside. Lights were on, bright and aimed at the airship that shimmered under their glaring beams. Meng knew the ship to be a magnificent sight when viewed during daytime, her entire surface covered in solar active panels that covered energy to be stored in the superconductive batteries for use when there was no sunlight or an extra kick was needed. The ship was quiet and idling now, held down to the ground by a series of cables that had been set up to keep her steady.

And there were people, too, furs and at least three humans he could tell. It looked like an entire contingent had been sent to meet him, men wearing camouflage gear, helmets with range finders, infrared night vision, light-sensitive goggles flipped up over their foreheads. Everyone was armed, a fact that worried Meng to a degree, but he knew that they could not be too careful. The world beyond them, which he had seen from above, might have had the appearance of a dead wasteland, but he knew that it was by no means entirely unpopulated. Whether it was the beasts of the thriving forests or even more hazardous foes, you could never know when someone was watching. It didn't surprise him to see that the landing site seemed to be heavily guarded by the armed men, spread along its perimeter, with the floodlights and motion sensor towers providing even further coverage.

He was barely out of the steps and felt the ground underneath his paws when a German Shepherd approached, clad in a wildly patterned camouflage jumpsuit and not brandishing any weapons but for pistols on either hip.

"Doktor Sun? Willkommen in Cottbus, meine Freunde!" the dog sounded enthusiastic.

"Hello," Meng smiled in reply, "I am Doctor Meng Tian Sun, yes, hello, how are you?"

"Good evening!" the dog extended a paw covered by a black webbed fingerless glove. "Welcome to Cottbus!"

"I think I understood that part when you were speaking German, yes," Meng chuckled briefly.

"Yes...yes...old habit, ja?" the dog smiled. "I am Corporal Lansing, I am in charge."

"Corporal," Meg nodded in acknowledgment of his rank and position.

"You have what you need with you?" the dog asked.

Meng turned to look towards the gaping door of the cargo bay, some of their own crew lowering the crates out of it even as they were speaking, using a small crane.

"There," he pointed them out, "everything they take out must come with us."

"We have cars," the dog replied. "Can take you in the first car, and put things in the truck, ja? Yes?"

"Where are the cars?"

"Keeping distance for safety," the dog said, "I order closer."

He activated a comm. device on the collar of his uniform and muttered a brief order in German.

"Cars coming," he said, "you have good trip, sir?"

Meng was somewhat surprised by being addressed with such terms, but he decided that it was likely just the Sheppie's way of showing him some respect as a senior researcher. Surely he knew who he was and why had he taken the effort to get there.

"Not very eventful," the red panda spoke, "thankfully so."

"Good!" Corporal Lansing commented with a quick smile. "No trouble?"

"Just a few detours of radiation hotspots but nothing more, along the Dead Zone," Meng responded.

"Nasty business," the dog shook his head. "Ah, there come cars!"

They were almost silent, running on electricity as they were, and glided into position by the airship. One of them was a battered van, the other, a small truck, looking like it was mostly meant for troop transport.

"My equipment has to be handled vey carefully, Corporal," Meng told the dog, "There are also live biological samples, frozen in liquid nitrogen. They have to be dealt with utmost care."

"We be briefed," the Corporal said, "We know how to help."

"Thank you," Meng replied, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"You get in car now?" the Corporal stepped over to the van and opened the door onto the passenger compartment. "Doktor Tennenbaum is waiting for you, sir."

"And I look forward to meeting her a great deal as well," he replied.

"Good!" the dog sounded enthusiastic. "You drive now, the equipment come right behind!"

"Alright, thank you."

Meng settled onto the back seat of the van, which could seat about eight or nine people at maximum, he thought, but he found himself to be the sole occupants besides a rabbit whom was behind the driver's seat.

"Good evening, sir," the fur greeted him, "I am Luca, I am to take you to the Base and the Project."

"Thank you," Meng replied almost absently, clutching his briefcase. "We should leave whenever you think it is most appropriate."

"We can go whenever we can, sir," the rabbit said.

"Alright."

They pulled away from the airship, which Meng could see from the side window for a moment before they took a turn on the now somewhat bumpy road, approaching the forest ahead of them. The lights of the perimeter grew brighter with their approach to it, but once they were past them and the light was behind them, it was soon dark. The rabbit switched on the night vision mode and the windscreen lit up in a ghostly glow of the display, the invisible rays sweeping ahead of them to make sure that the coast was clear. The car was moving at a slow speed and bouncing quite a lot, which made Meng even more worried about his samples.

"I do hope that the transport will be taking this road slowly," he said, "the equipment and the sample are very sensitive!"

The rabbit nodded without turning to face the red panda.

"I am sure it will be fine, sir, they know this road. More like a trail, really, sir."

Another bump almost sent Meng's head smacking to the ceiling, and he was glad that he was strapped to the seat by the seatbelt.

"Does the trip take long?"

"Only a few minutes, sir," the rabbit sounded casual, confident now, "just through the forest and the old cemetery and then into the city, across the Spree and there you are."

Meng felt tension growing in his body again.

"The cemetery?"

"Used to be just parks here, sir...they started burying people there when they ran out of space, I hear."

The car moved slowly through the thicket, and the red panda tried not to look through the window. They were probably running over countless remains even now, passing through once hallowed ground that had been reduced into a dirt road for the worn out wheels of the army van bouncing its way towards the ruined city ahead of them.

"Been really long since we had proper guests, " the rabbit said, "I mean, sir, not like, the visiting travelers or anything that like, sir, just...someone who is really...from somewhere else, you know what I mean, sir?"

"Perhaps I do," Meng replied absently, still affected by the idea of them trespassing a burial ground, "we don't get that many in my old place either, in Manila."

"They say you come from a place called the Phillip Eeens, is that right, sir?"

"It is at that," the red panda spoke.

"What's it like there, sir, if you don't mind me asking like?" the rabbit spoke up. "I mean, sir, I've never been outside Germany...never really been outside Cottbus like, really, been here since I was put in the orphanage and then went into the Corps, sir..."

Meng had certainly not expected the rabbit to provide his entire life story, especially without any kind of urging in his part, but decided to remain politely interested.

"It's very hot," he said, "and wet."

"Any more people there, sir?" the rabbit said. "More than in Germany?"

"I doubt there are any more than anywhere else, outside perhaps India and China," Meng said.

"Alright, sir," the rabbit said, "good to hear that, sir."

The rabbit sounded almost like simpleton, but at least, Meng thought, he knew how to drive the car without much trouble. The terrible road soon turned into tarmac, craggy in places, and under a constant threat from creeping foliage, but it was a true and honest paved road they were traversing now, surrounded by buildings with their empty windows staring upon the single car moving through the road that had become a street.

"We've cleared a few roads pretty good," the rabbit babbled on, "they're good in moving along through the city and to the fields where we grow the crops and otherwise, too, for defense when we have trouble, but it's been quite peaceful lately, really, like..."

"Good, we don't want any trouble to come to us."

The rabbit's long ears dapped against the ceiling of the car as he continued driving through the narrow path. They passed a moss-covered wreck of a car, and another, and turned on an intersection.

"Of course there's not very many of us, all in all, it's a little town now, not many people living here, all these houses been empty for ages...is it hard to imagine sometimes how many people there used to be, sir?" the rabbit questioned.

Meng, looking at the dark streets with trepidation, whispered with a muttered "Hhmmmh."

"They say there were nine billion people once....nine billion...I know that's nine and nine zeroes but I can't really even imagine that...how many is that, really, like..."

"Too many of us, perhaps," Meng's words sounded as weighty as they felt upon his tongue.

"Hard to believe...hard to imagine..."

Perhaps the rabbit simply wasn't a very imaginative person, Meng thought. It'd been known to occur.

They passed a mosque, its minarets partially collapsed, and to the right, ahead of them, Meng could see a bridge crossing the river flowing on their right.

"And there's Spree," the rabbit said, "It's called that, the river, like."

"Indeed."

Approaching the bridge, Meng finally got to see some real military presence in the dead city itself. There was a checkpoint upon the entrance to the bridge, where the driver rabbit had to present himself to a sentry, and introduced Meng as the 'important package'. The red panda was constantly amused by the code name that he'd assumed by the decision of the powers that be.

The detritus of infrastructure slowly became replaced by more greenery, as if they'd suddenly left the city and dived into the forest again.

"The Zoo," the rabbit said.

The narrow road crossed another small bridge over a small lake or a pond, and then even further into the wilderness.

"And there it is, the Castle..."

Meng saw, through the windshield, the shape of a white building that stood among slightly less greenery than the rest of the area spreading around them. A few lights illuminated it and its empty windows.

"It doesn't look like much, I know," the rabbit commented.

Meng tried to catch another glimpse, but they had already turned and had to drive through another checkpoint before they approached a small, flat concrete building surrounded by barbed wire.

"Here we go..."

The car drove through open blast doors and onto a ramp that wound down, burrowing underground. Lamps lined the walls now, though rather dim, giving minimal illumination for the car as it buzzed along the echoing corridor. They passed automatic gun turrets, checkpoints left unmanned, and finally entered into a long, cavernous space. The rabbit turned on the headlights, finally, sweeping across the lines of parked vehicles on either side.

"The main motor pool," the rabbit said, "best-running vehicles in all of Cottbus, maybe all of Germany!"

"I can believe that."

"Castle Base..." the rabbit mused.

The car was finally parked near heavy doors and came into a stop.

"Here we are, sir!" the rabbit announced.

Meng looked out of the passenger's window. He could only see a pair of very large, green steel doors, unmarked and obviously very sturdy and reinforced, so heavy that some kind of a powered mechanism was surely needed to operate them.

The rabbit activated his own comm. device on his uniform.

"This is Delivery Boy, package is at the front door," he spoke up.

"KSsssh."

The rabbit did what every bored driver always did, and tapped the wheel with his fingers.

"Roger, Delivery Boy. We are coming up."

"Thanks, over and out," said the rabbit before he turned to look at the passenger of the car over his shoulder. "People coming up now, sir, like, they want to see you."

"I expected as much, thank you," Meng nodded.

"Been nice chatting with you about Phillip Eens, sir, and all that stuff," the rabbit smiled. "Hope to see you again soon, like."

"I'm sure we will," Meng replied, though his mind was somewhat doubtful of that occurrence.

The rabbit got out of the car and opened the passenger door for Meng, which the red panda found to be an unusual level of service. He thanked and stepped out into the cool underground space, his briefcase held securely in one paw. The rabbit closed the door behind him, creating an echoing noise that spanned the entire room.

"Lots of space, here," the rabbit mused, "we sometimes train here when the weather is bad, like, it's almost like being outside while still inside, like, I think."

"It is much like that, indeed."

Meng was glad that the doors began to open with a deafening rumble, which stopped the rabbit from making any further awkward small talk. The doors worked on grand hinges, opening outwards onto the underground parking facility, revealing a corridor so wide that one could drive a car inside even deeper into the bowels of the basement levels. Now, however, those who approached were on foot. A spectacled bear and a Siamese crocodile, flanking a fawn-colored Doberman in uniform, each of them walking with quick, sharp steps that spoke as much of their military nature as the camouflage attire and their sturdy, built physiques.

"Doctor Sun?" the Doberman spoke.

"I am Doctor Meng Tian Sun," the red panda replied. He still found it somewhat strange to state his name in the way these people did, in reverse order, but it was a simple concession he wanted to make in order to it in better with the European folks and their sensibilities.

"I am Colonel Wieland, I am the commanding officer of the Castle Base and the protector officer of Project Hänschen-Klein," the dog introduced himself. "Here are Lieutenant Bates and Corporal Anselm, my aides."

The stern men nodded in greeting to the red panda in front of them. The dog did not offer his paw for the red panda. Canines were somewhat reticent to do that, anyway, he mused. So much scent got transferred so easily that they could start feeling uncomfortable with such invasion of private space.

"Good evening," Meng replied. "I apologize for any disruption my arrival surely has caused to your routines."

The dog's ears flicked, and he let out a grumbling chuff.

"Anything to keep my men active," he spoke, "a change in routines is always good. And this was a very purposeful activity, too, after all. Your safe delivery to Hänschen-Klein has been our top priority for months now."

"I am very glad to be here, Colonel," the red panda replied.

"Doctor Tennenbaum will be extremely pleased to meet you, Doctor," the Doberman said, "she is waiting for you with the rest of the science folks, down on the next level."

"I would like to meet her right away, if possible."

"Certainly, we shall go right away."

"I am expecting my equipment and samples to arrive here on your other transport," Meng noted, "I trust they will be delivered to the laboratories right away?"

"My men will handle it," the Colonel replied. "You need not be concerned about it."

"Thank you."

"Handle the arrival, Luca," the dog addressed the rabbit, who nodded eagerly.

"Yes, sir!"

"If you would follow us, then."

"Indeed."

They passed through the massive, gaping doorway and onto a slanting corridor leading deeper underground, lit by lamps in the ceiling that cast a slightly yellowish glow. The air felt cool, and it was definitely moving, Meng's whiskers told as much.

"The main facility is at minimum 50 meters below the surface," the Doberman spoke as they walked down as a quartet, their steps echoing on the harsh unpainted concrete, "it was constructed in the 2070's to act as a maximum security facility for Universal Propagation Initiative under the charter of the then-existing United European Confederation for the purpose of continuing research even under the most difficult circumstances aboveground."

"Most impressive," Meng commented, even if all he had seen of the underground research center was the entrance hallway, as of yet.

"We have unlimited electric power, water and ventilation, thanks to the nuclear power plant," the Colonel continued his verbal tour, "we have accommodations for six hundred staff and support crew, although of course there are not nearly as many of us here now. Most of the space is unused and sealed off as superfluous, but we try to maintain as much of the facility as we possibly can."

No wonder the paint on the walls was peeling, Meng thought, continuing deeper and deeper underground. He couldn't blame them, really, knowing what the facility in Manila looked like. He'd brought pictures to show everyone, too.

"It does help that you are self-sufficient in that regard."

"It does, yes," the tall dog said, "with our basic sustainment covered, we may concentrate on other efforts to improve our conditions."

"And to protect the Project, of course," Meng mused.

"You will be perfectly safe here," the dog sounded confident, "none of the local threats can enter these walls."

Meng's ears flicked upon hearing that. The dog had mentioned it casually, like it was a fact of nature. For all the red panda knew, it indeed was. It was not a different situation to Manila, with its roaming tribes and the pirates - none of that here, the red panda felt relief for that. It was difficult enough as it was, as they were, without that kind of complications to make life even more miserable.

"I have every confidence in you and the Project," Meng said.

The ramp finally terminated on a platform. The wall here was painted yellow, and a large number "1" adorned the wall.

"Level one, accommodations!" the Doberman declared. "Below us is the main science level, then maintenance. Below that is another sublevel, but the groundwater has broken the isolation and it's currently flooded. It housed extra storage space and accommodations which we do not need at the moment."

The door they entered next, opened by the crocodile soldier, was locked with a simple manual key, a marvel Meng had not seen used in quite some time. The hallway they gained entrance to was much smaller than the main gangway outside, and it also showed signs of being lived in, besides being worn out. Signs and arrows signified different sections, there were a few doors open, even, and the sight of a child's little tricycle parked in front of them told a harrowing tale of its own, especially with Meng remembering what the rabbit had told him before during the car ride, about having lived in the base all of his life...

"We were actually having some supper in the wardroom," the dog said. "I hope you are hungry."

"I am," Meng said.

"Excellent!"

The dog led them through a door and into what was obviously the main canteen, with the shiny, stainless steel serving unit, empty now but stocked with clean dishes waiting for the next day, as well as numerous tables, the chairs piled on top of them. There was nobody present at the moment, and that room as well had obviously been designed with many staff members in mind, Meng thought.

"We usually eat here, officers, men, staff, everyone, really," the Doberman explained, "but for this special occasion, we have decided to use the wardroom...we have been waiting you all day!"

"I feel flattered," Meng smiled.

The stern dog's expression became more pleasant, too. He led their quartet through yet another door, this being relatively heavily populated with about ten people, mostly furs, and a single human, whom Meng recognized immediately.

"Doctor Tennenbaum," the red panda greeted the woman first.

"At last," came the woman's reply.

Doctor Kylie Tennenbaum was a thin woman of about forty, with something bird-like about her face despite her genes being quite purely Homo sapiens, Meng knew. She had very sharp, smart hairs, and a curl of black hair she seemed to have spent some time arranging, too, to caress her face on either side. She wore a shapeless green sweater, and was sitting at the center on the long table, obviously holding the key position, even physically so, besides her status as the leading scientist of Project Hänschen-Klein.

"A pleasure," Meng replied.

"Please," the woman spoke, her voice quite low in timber, despite her small stature, "please come here so I can see you, truly...after all these years..."

Meng stepped over to the table laid with plates and cutlery, the scent of food quite delicious for his hungry senses. The men and women around the long table were all looking at him, but he did not feel particularly self-conscious. He was going to have to deal with these people, live and work in close quarters with them. This was not the time to start feeling strange about himself.

"It has been a long time coming," Meng commented, as he stood in front of the small woman in her high-backed chair. She pushed her small hand some way along the surface of the table and lifted it then with obvious effort. Meng had been well aware that she was suffering from some kind of a weakening of the muscles that sometimes made it difficult for her to move, let alone breathe properly, but she seemed to be well enough now. Her physical disability had done nothing to dull her mind, that much he was aware of after reading her writings previously.

"It has," Doctor Tennenbaum said.

It was mostly Meng squeezing her hand into his fuzzy paw, though she did curl her fingers and and smile at the warm contact.

"Finally we meet," she spoke, her English full of tone and only the hints of German clipped edges and powerful expulsion of air with some of the consonants.

"The journey is something of a nuisance these days, but it has been done," Meng mused.

"Please, sit down, Doctor," she smiled, "you too, Colonel, Lieutenant, Corporal."

There were empty places on the table, one of them strategically placed in front of Doctor Tennenbaum, and her meaningful look made the red panda choose that one. After that, she presided over a round of greetings and introduction, with Meng having to nod politely to everyone while they gave their names - many familiar from the papers he had reviewed over the years, received in Manila from the Cottbus facility. He felt somewhat dazzled by the time it was over, with so many names to remember, and connect into faces. The food was another distraction, especially with his grumbling stomach.

"Help yourself to anything you like, dear," Doctor Tennenbaum prompted the red panda.

"I will, thank you," Meng said, looking at the pots of salad, meat and potatoes on the offer.

The gathered staff seemed to quickly forget that he was there, settling back into their little conversations while Meng loaded his plate. The exception was Doctor Tennenbaum, whose eyes did not leave from the red panda, even while she started to fork out salad into her mouth.

"It is remarkable, to hear your voice like this and to see you...of course I knew what you looked like but the experience is quite...shocking..." she spoke.

"A certain rabbit expressed a similar thought," Meng mused, "I think he was called Luca."

"Dear Luca," the woman giggled, which sounded almost uncharacteristically cheerful coming from her somewhat stern face. "He does get excited very easily. I wonder if it the rabbit in him that does that, I am not sure."

Doctor Tennenbaum's extremely casual address of the rabbit confirmed Meng's suspicions that everyone knew everyone in the base, and dealt with them accordingly. He wondered whether they would meet him accordingly, in such a friendly manner. Meng had certainly been close to many members of the staff at the Manila facility, but there had always been a certain respective distance between the young researchers and their elders, and the juniors below Meng's level, too. These Europeans seemed to be less constrained in that regard.

"He seemed very friendly."

"Oh, he is," she smiled, "lived here ever since I can remember. Seen him grow up...remarkable...remarkable indeed..."

She spilled few peas onto the table from her table, but didn't seem to mind.

"And you also met Colonel Wieland, too," the woman nodded towards the Doberman, who was munching at a steak while chatting with the crocodile - his ears swiveling to her direction as soon as his name was mentioned, soon followed by his acute eyes.

"Indeed," Meng nodded in the dog's direction.

"Call me Karl here," the canine smiled, "seems awfully formal to be using ranks when we are off-duty here."

"Officially, he is never off-duty," the crocodile next to him smirked toothily.

"Hmpph," the dog brooded. "A commander never sleep without one eye open for trouble."

"I presume your trip was a safe one?" the Doctor changed the topic swiftly.

"It was," Meng replied. "Very long, but without a real hitch."

"What kind of a course did you take?" a Rottweiler sitting nearby, next to an Ethiopian wolf, questioned. Meng wasn't sure what he was called.

"We flew northwest from the Philippines and following the 20th northern latitude, across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, then avoiding the Middle East by taking a detour over the Black Sea and then through the Balkans and Austria," he detailed.

The Rottweiler looked interested.

"Must've taken you close to the Dead Zone, did it not?"

"We kept our distance," Meng replied. "I hear that we certainly did detect it, but we stayed within a safe distance from any particular hotspots of radioactivity."

"To think it's been so long and it's still there..."

"The bombs were very dirty, the fallout persists for decades," a badger commented.

"There is a certain kind of a poetic justice to a dying nation expending its final energies in a great blow...against itself...as if just giving them a final kick along the way to total extinction," the Rottweiler mused.

"You are so very cheerful tonight, aren't you, Michel?" Doctor Tennenbaum addressed the dog.

The dog pursed his lips.

"I am simply speaking the truth, Doctor," he replied. "Since Doctor Sun did happen to pass through this great monument of the frivolity of humanity...I thought it appropriate to address it."

"We are here to celebrate that our fine Doctor Sun has finally been able to join us in our endeavor, Michel" the woman replied sharply. "We should not dwell in such things."

The Rottweiler looked unhappy.

"I meant no disrespect."

"I know, Michel," said Doctor Tennenbaum. "We should still not dwell."

"Humph," the dog returned to his plate, silently.

"Excuse him," the scientist lady told Meng.

"It's fine" Meng smiled, briefly.

"I actually corresponded with your Doctor Chang two days ago," Doctor Tennenbaum said. "The satellite came into position and we managed to exchange notes."

"Oh?" Meng questioned. The news they had managed to hear from home had been sparse at best, and usually about a week in between, waiting for the satellite to happen to be in exactly the right place at the right time.

"Yes, sending his regards to you of course expecting your arrival," the woman smiled, "and a few other news about the UPI and a few other things. He wanted you to know that the electrophoresis plates you left were quite interesting, and that a Yao is looking at them."

"Heh," Meng commented. "They shall be in good hands, then."

"As will be your materials," the woman nodded with a smile. "I understand they are being taken down to the laboratory even as we speak."

"I would hope so," Meng said, "they are very sensitive."

"The men know how to handle them," Doctor Tennenbaum said. "Michel has trained them in handling samples."

"With some success," the Rottweiler said smugly.

"Don't underestimate us, my dear Doctor," Colonel Wieland commented with a deep canine chuckle of his own. "Whether you give us a hammer, a rifle, a mop or a test tube...I assure you, my men will figure out how to work it out."

The Rottweiler rumbled.

"As long as they'd stop dropping them..." he sighed in a manner Meng deemed theatrical.

"Dear Michel, he is amusing," Doctor Tennenbaum spoke to Meng, as if sharing a secret, while the dog could hear it perfectly well. "And breaks as many of them as anyone."

"Humph!"

"I'll give you a tour of the laboratories tomorrow," Doctor Tennenbaum told Meng lightly, "everyone looks forward to presenting their latest work to you."

"I shall look forward to doing the same for you with the samples I've brought along," Meng said.

"I look forward to seeing you in action!" she sounded enthusiastic. "But tonight we eat, drink, rest and tell stories! There are never too many opportunities for that ."

"Tell us about yourself, Doctor!" Colonel Wieland nudged him, fork in paw. "I've heard you're a big brain but...haven't heard all that much about the man with the brain...heh..."

Meng could see eyes turning to him...curious ears as well, as he was put on the spot by the ruff-speaking dog. The red panda even remembered to take a sip from a glass of cool, refreshing water before he cleared his throat.

"What is there to tell?" he started. "I was born in 2121 in a small town near Taipei, in Taiwan, a safe compound. I was schooled and quickly found to be quite adept in my studies, hence, at the age of 14 I started my apprenticeship with a geneticist working in Taipei. That lasted until I was approximately 21 years old, when I relocated to Manila to pursue a posting with UPI under Doctor Chang. I have worked there in various positions until my latest relocation here to Germany, to work with you with the UPI here at Project Hänschen-Klein."

It was quiet for quite some time, up until Colonel Wieland began to clap his paws together, and the others quickly joined in. The applause did not last very long, but it was still enough to make the insides of Meng's ears warm up a little. He hadn't been sure that the welcome would be quite that warm.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"I'm sure we'll get the chance to know you better soon enough," Doctor Tennenbaum said. "We work in close quarters here, both physically and mentally. We have to learn to...start guessing each other's next move, really."

"Or second-guess them," Meng replied.

Even more curious looks. Meng shrugged.

"That's part of what I do," he said. "To challenge old ideas, is that not true?"

"Very much so," the Rottweiler named Michel said. "Everyone could use a good kick at the old posterior every now and then."

"Agreed!" said Doctor Tennenbaum.

"Would you care to have some beer, Doctor?" that was Colonel Wieland speaking, brandishing a pitcher at Meng.

The red panda sniffed at the glass pitcher's contents.

"Is that alcohol?" he asked. "I do not really consume it."

"Nonsense," the dog chuckled. "Everyone likes a good draught every now and then!"

"I'll gladly have one, Karl," Doctor Tennenbaum was actually moving an empty glass in the dog's direction, "just half of it, please. I shouldn't have too much."

"My pleasure," the Doberman poured her some beer, the scent of the frothy liquid reaching Meng's nose as well.

"Are you sure Karl can't tempt you with some of the soldier's brew?" Doctor Tennenbaum asked from the red panda. "It is quite good. We found some hops that had become wild again and it's been quite the pleasure."

"I'm quite fine, thank you," Meng held his ground.

"Suit yourself, Doc," the dog wagged his tail. "I think I'll have another one before dessert."

"Strawberries and cream" Doctor Tennenbaum smiled. "We have a dairy as well as a market garden."

"We have...eh...turned...swords into...ploughs?" Michel commented. "I'm afraid I don't remember my King James Bible that well."

"You'll love it, Doc," Colonel Wieland said. "And there's also enough for a second helping, if you like!"

"Thank you," Meng replied.

"I would recommend it, " the smiling woman said.

"Do you think we may review some of my documents tonight yet?" Meng asked from her, changing the topic rapidly. "I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a few matters."

Doctor Tennenbaum looked at him for a moment before she pursed her lips.

"Perhaps after the meal," she said, "we had planned to spend this first night simply getting to know each other, and let you rest some."

"I have been lying in bed for a month," Meng replied. "I would appreciate if I could get to work as soon as possible now that I am finally here and able to continue my studies."

"I see," the Doctor said. "But at least, please do not hurry through the meal. Our cooks have made a special effort in your honor to provide all this for the table."

Somehow Meng got the impression that they thought that he had committed some sort of a social faux pas. He felt a bit puzzled by that. It seemed awfully shallow to...bicker about a meal, when there were so many big things to consider. They were talking about the very continuation of the existence of the human race here, in its various sub forms, and that, Meng thought, had been the driving force behind every single action he had taken ever since he was 14 years old.

"For that, Doctor, I am very grateful," Meng replied politely. "And indeed, I am very hungry."

He continued to eat in silence, under their watchful gaze.

---

*

Thank you for reading! I hope you had a good time, and I look forward to your feedback! Stay tuned for the continuation!