"Runaway's Gambit" (an anthropomorphic cyberpunk fantasy)

by:  Jim Lai (aka Synicism@AOL.COM aka VulpineNJ@AOL.COM)





Todd Reynard shivered, drew his Mil-Tech armored long coat close
about his shoulders and muttered curses at the icy New York wind
that howled like a banshee as the skyscrapers funneled it like a
wind tunnel, chilling him to the bone through his coat, clothes,
and fur as it whipped his long tail about him like a streamer
caught in a gale.  He paused for a moment, ducking into the
doorway of a rotting old brownstone where the wind's frigid grip
couldn't quite tear all the heat away from his slender vulpine
body.  Todd leaned against the rickety wooden door, panting and
rubbing at his ears, trying to restore some semblance of feeling
to them.  He peered out into the street, blinking his eyes in an
effort to moisten them and hung his head miserably as it started
to rain.  What was he thinking, coming out here like this,
wandering the New York sprawl when no sensible person would even
think of leaving their bedroom.



Then again, Todd Reynard was no sensible person.  He smiled
ruefully, his sharp, white canines stark contrast to the
shadowed face which contained them.  No sense in keeping Dante
waiting.  Times Square was just a few blocks away, and at the
very least, Todd could be sure that the Ninth Circle would be
warm.



Todd was grateful to add "dry" to the list of the Ninth Circle's
positive characteristics as he handed his Gauss pistol over to
the hulking badger whom Dante employed as a bouncer.  As soon as
the big 'morph stepped aside, Todd darted in, shucking his
dripping trench coat and making an attempt to shed some of the
water that had soaked the fur on his face and turned his tail
into some dripping mop of drenched fox fur.  "Nice fraggin'
night for a meet," he growled, wiping his soaked hands on his
jeans.  "Doesn't Dante ever check the weather?"



"There's always a runner hungrier than you out there somewhere,
Reynard," countered the bouncer, scratching absently at the gold
streak of fur that decorated his face.  "It's a big town, and
you're just one little part o' it, pal.  Now go on, the boss
don't like his clients comin' in late."



"Yeah, yeah, whatever, butternose," Todd joked.  He was starting
to get warm again; at least Dante paid his heating bills, and it
was fueling his wit.  "Just watch the piece for me.  I paid out
the ass for that baby."  Todd slipped a twenty into the big
badger's silent waiting palm and watched as he nodded, folded
the bill around the barrel of Todd's Gauss gun and dropped the
package neatly in his coat pocket.  "Thanks.  I knew I could
count on you," he said, grinning and disappearing into the
massed crowd before the bouncer could take a swing at him.



Todd held his tail close to his chest as he shoved his way
through the throng of people that always crowded the Ninth
Circle on a Friday night.  One couldn't be too careful in this
place - the last time he was here, some dancing shmuck planted a
big, motorcycle booted foot on the end of Todd's tail, and by
the time he got it free, the whole thing had been reduced to a
grease slicked mess.  His sharp ears pricked forward suddenly,
as he heard Dale "Dante" MacLaren's voice booming across the
dance floor from where the proprietor of the Ninth Circle
maintained a watchful eye over his establishment from his
favorite spot behind the bar.

"Don't you ever come on time, lad?" the towering ursine 'morph
bellowed as Todd dodged and shoved his way free of the Ninth
Ring's mindlessly gyrating patrons.  Dante laughed at the sight
of the arrogant young "freelancer" slinking through the crowd
clutching his long, wet, scraggly tail to his chest like a child
with a ragged old teddy bear and clapped the young fox hard on
the shoulder when he came up to the bar, all but enveloping Todd
in his huge shaggy grip.  Dante looked at his hand and wiped it
off on old fashioned apron that covered his ample torso and
pointed a cigar sized finger at the young, damp red fox. 
"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to call you, boyo.  You
know, there's that one lad over on the Upper East Side... I bet
he could get here when I call him.  Aye, time's money, Todd," he
joked as he slid a beer across the bar to his young patron.  "On
the house, laddie."



Todd only grimaced and sat down on the nearest barstool, finally
letting go of his somewhat damp tail.  "How very kind of you,"
Todd returned acidly as he picked up the big glass mug.  "So can
we talk about this in any less safe a place, Dante?"  Todd cast
a couple furtive glances over his shoulder to make sure that
those who frequented the Ninth Circle did so to party and get
blasted, not to snoop on any one of numerous clandestine
meetings that were presently occurring.  So far, so good.



Dante affected a hurt look.  "Why Todd, are ye goin' about
slanderin' my fine establishment by sayin' it's not safe to talk
about business in?"  He laughed, a big, ursine guffaw.  "Come
on, in my office, Reynard.  You know the drill."  Dante signaled
to one of the other bartenders to cover for him and indicated
that Todd should follow him into the door marked "Private"
underneath the DJ's booth.  Todd picked up his beer, sipping at
it as he followed the massive ursine.



Dante's office was the same, as usual.  A huge teak desk in
front of a wall adorned with a towering two handed sword.  "Have
a seat, Todd," he said as he eased himself into his leather
executive's chair.  He waited until the fox had seated himself
in one of the armchairs across the desktop.  "I got a call from
the CTT vice president in charge of internal affairs.  Seems one
of the big shot's kids went missing from their arcology over in
Jersey.  Corp choppers lost sight of him as his car disappeared
into the Lincoln Tunnel.  They think he's still somewhere in the
sprawl, but they don't want news like this to reach the media."



Todd sniffed and leaned back in the chair.  Carlyle Technologies
and Thaumaturgy, Ltd. was the top magical research corp in the
world - there'd likely be big money for an easy snatch and grab
run like this.  "Sounds cool to me," Todd said noncommittally. 
"I take it Carlyle isn't paying for this one on the books."



Dante grinned.  "Not at all, lad.  Carlyle's not even touching
this one themselves - the corp doesn't even know.  Looks to me
like corp-sec is getting their shots called directly by none
other than Stephen and Katherine Dane."



"What?!" blurted Todd as he nearly fell out of the chair in
surprise.  "Stephen Dane's kid?  Missing?  In New York?"  Todd
stared at Dante, dumbstruck for perhaps the first time in his
teenage life.  



Dante leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his
considerable belly, letting Todd take a long draught from hid
beer before continuing.  "Aye, Todd my boy.  Charlie Dane, the
son of the two most renowned thaumaturgical researchers on the
face of the Earth, is here, in New York, by himself.  Not good
for Carlyle if ye' ken my meaning."  Dante stifled a chuckle and
leaned forward, whispering into Todd's ear.  "You can close your
mouth now, laddie."



The young vulpine did as he was told, a mute, staring statue as
Dante continued.  "As I was saying, the Danes are willing to pay
a grand total of one million dollars certified credit to one
group to find their son.  I believe that there are four of you,
so that should make for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
apiece for you and your companions.  More than adequate for the
job, don't you agree?"  Dante sighed - Todd's jaw hung agape
again, and the fox stared at him wide eyed, his tongue lolling
carelessly out of his mouth.



"Say that again? A quarter million each?"  Todd couldn't believe
it.  He blinked, the white fur around his eyes making them seem
to be open even wider.  "I'll... we'll take it!"  Todd stood up,
shaking one of Dante's big paws in both hands.  "That kid is as
good as found, Dante.  Just tell me where you want him dropped
and we'll deliver him to you giftwrapped."



"I don't think that will be necessary, Todd.  Just bring him to
the Ninth Circle when you're done.  You know, the delivery
entrance."  Dante sat unmoving, pondering one of his large claws
as Todd backed unsteadily out of the office, nodding and making
assurances.  The fox grabbed his coat and gun from the bouncer
who stood outside the office door and took off running into the
night.



*        *        *



"So let me get this straight, Todd.  We're working for Stephen
and Katherine Dane."  When Todd nodded, Celeste let out a squeal
of delight and hugged him, her tufted lynx's ears twitching with
excitement.  "And we need to find their kid?  I've heard Charlie
himself was already a talented magician.  I wonder if he'd let
me see some of his grimoire."  Celeste Moreau giggled girlishly
and snatched up her magical focus and what few spell components
she needed and started packing her bag immediately.  She paused
when she realized that nobody else in the run down old Greenwich
Village flat that served as the team's headquarters and safe
house was moving and that they were all staring at her.  She put
her gear down slowly and sat down, folding her hands neatly in
her lap.  "Sorry.  I guess I got too excited."



"You don't say."  Jenner Marley pushed his chair back from the
table where his Roosevelt Peacemaker man-portable assault cannon
lay dismantled for cleaning.  The lupine 'morph stretched,
fixing Todd and Celeste with his golden-eyed stare.  "Sounds
like we've got ourselves a winner," the ex-marine remarked. 
"Nice job, kid," he told Todd.  "If we pull this one off we can
all take the next six months off if we want to and live like
kings."



"Of course, Jenner, save that some of us might have better
things to spend the money on, when we actually have it."  Taro
Kazama emerged from one of the side rooms where the ferret
'morph kept his cyberdeck and electronics workshop and took off
the optical enhancement visor he was wearing.  "I've been
looking to upgrade my deck's CPU for quite awhile now.  I must
stay on the cutting edge of technology if I wish to remain in
top form, you know."  Taro took a seat across from Jenner's,
studying the mechanisms that controlled Jenner's favorite piece
of heavy firepower.  "Your firing mechanism is going to fail
pretty soon, Jenner.  Better have it replaced."

The big wolf rolled his eyes and turned back to face Taro.  "I
know that.  Would you please stop touching my weapon?"  Perhaps
it was the marine training (the whole four weeks of it that he
could stand before going AWOL) or perhaps Jenner Marley truly
trusted no one, but he was always paranoid with his guns. 
"That's the reason it's lying there in pieces and why I'm going
to have to travel light for this one."



Todd couldn't help but laugh at that one.  For Jenner, traveling
light meant still carrying around more ordinance than the rest
of them put together.  The number of guns never changed with
Jenner, only the size of the ammunition.  "What, Jenner, you're
not going to bring the tank cannon this time?" he joked, jabbing
the timber wolf 'morph in the side.  Celeste and Taro couldn't
help but laugh too - it was true... for all of them.  Jenner and
his guns were as bad as Celeste and her magic foci, Taro and his
cyberdeck, or Todd and the slender phased-carbide alloy rapier
that had become his trademark.



Jenner shrugged and chuckled along with the rest of his friends.
 "Funny, Todd.  At least we have 'em, kid."  Jenner was the
oldest of them, at nineteen, and this was his place.  "So what's
the word on this Dane kid?  Anyone know why he took off?" 
Jenner walked over to the window and pulled the blinds, setting
a white noise generator down on the sill.  "Corp brats usually
don't bolt unless the shit's hitting it pretty damn hard.  I'd
like to know why he bugged out."



Celeste shook her head and leaned back in the couch, curling her
feet up under her, her slender tail swishing back and forth as
she thought.  The flourescent lighting in Jenner's apartment
cast a long shadow over the couch, blending in with the mottled,
striped patterns of Celeste's fur, making it seem at first
glance like she was just a pair of glowing, greenish eyes in the
darkness.  "Beats me.  Maybe the kid found out something he
shouldn't have and is running for his life, or maybe he just got
bored and decided to play at being a runner."  She sighed and
stared at the closed window.  "Who knows?"



Taro had set up his cyberdeck and had plugged it into the small
jack in the side of his neck.  The ferret was sitting hunched
over the table, ever in constant motion as his fingers drummed
the table and his left leg twitched nervously while his brain
jetted along the Net at the speed of light.  Suddenly, the
ferret 'morph smiled a pointy-toothed smile and pulled the plug,
blinking and rubbing at his eyes to bring them back into focus. 
"Well, gentlemen and lady, I have news, some good, some not so
good.  Which would you like to hear first?"



Jenner rolled his golden eyes and stifled a growl.  "Spill it,
Taro.  Good news first."



The ferret complied, smiling as he hit a few keys and a
holograph of Charlie Dane appeared above the cyberdeck, slowly
rotating in the air.  "This is Charlie Dane," he said,
indicating the well dressed young fox cub with the dark
highlights on his head and the nearly black ears.  The kid was
frozen mid stride, looking wide eyed over his shoulder, his
nervous look accentuated by the white fur around his eyes it
seemed all vulpine 'morphs shared.  He was dressed in a long
coat similar to Todd's, though this one was a lot newer and grey
instead of a tattered black, and he carried some kind of a large
case in his hands. 



Todd leaned forward, peering at the slowly rotating holograph. 
"Where'd you come up with that one?  That doesn't look like a
portrait or anything."



Taro nodded and smiled slyly, his dark, almond shaped eyes
twinkling mischeviously.  "A fellow cybernaut who runs the Net
over at the Port Authority spied young Master Dane as he
abandoned an unmarked, unlicensed white Porsche automobile in
the parking garage and ran off just as a Carlyle industries car
arrived on the floor.  By the time Carlyle Corporate security
found the car, Charlie Dane had been long gone.  And now the bad
news..."



Jenner, Todd, and Celeste just stared at him, silently
commanding him to continue.  "That's the good news.  The bad
news, however, is that I know what that case contains."  He
paused, as if letting the last sentence sink in.



Todd glared at him.  "Well?" he demanded.



"Sorry.  As you all know, Carlyle is the world leader in magical
and arcane research.  That case contains stored biological
samples of all the major Carlyle executives and their families,
including all three members of the Dane family.  Celeste, you
know better than I what you can do if you have stuff like that,"
Taro said as he watched the lynx 'morph's jaw drop.  "Don't you?"



"You mean to tell me that the case that kid is carrying has a
magical link to all those people?" Celeste whispered,
incredulous.  "Anyone who had that case could throw spells at
them from anywhere, regardless of where in the world they went
and they could track them anywhere!"



Todd scratched at his chin.  "So what?  Why not just destroy the
whole case and get it done with?  No case, no samples, eh?"  



Celeste shook her head.  "There's probably a contingency spell
cast on the case that'd either prevent the case from being
destroyed, alert someone to Charlie's presence, or just kill
Charlie outright.  It may not even be a spell.  It could be a
piece of hardware."



Jenner's eyes narrowed.  "A chunk of high explosive wired to a
deadman switch.  Not only would it take out anyone who tampered
with the case wrong, but if you shaped the charge right you'd
blow away anyone within a block of ground zero.  I see what you
mean."  He got up and started pacing.  "Taro, when did your
friend at the station get the shot of the kid?"



"Yesterday, at around 10 PM.  Charlie could be anywhere by now."
 Taro leaned to one side and propped his chin up on his hand,
drumming his fingers on the side of his head.  "Save if... wait,
let me check on something."  He picked up the interface for his
cyberdeck and slid it into the neural plug on the side of his
head and his eyes went blank.  About a minute later, Taro
reached up and jacked out.  "I thought so.  Charlie Dane is
somewhere on Manhattan.  I just checked the security at all the
bridges and tunnels off the island, as well as the ferries and
shuttle choppers.  No sign of him crossing any of those.  He's
here on Manhattan somewhere."



Jenner nodded and looked around at each of his companions. 
Todd's eyes brightened as he perked up, going over to a closet
and rummaging around.  "Let me guess," he said, coming out with
a brightly painted and sticker adorned skateboard.  



"Yes, Todd," Jenner replied, walking over to his bedroom and
looking back at his companions.  He came out a few seconds later
and spread a map of New York across the floor.  "Leg work time."



"It's doubtful that the kid went north," noted Todd, pointing at
the bus terminal where Charlie had last been sighted.  Gang
territory started near Central Park and ran north through Harlem
and Washington Heights until the island ended on the banks of
the East River.  "The gang wars are on the news all the time. 
If he watches the holo at all, he didn't go that way."



Jenner nodded in agreement.  "Good.  That gets rid of about half
of Manhattan.  Besides, if he did go that way, he'd likely not
survive the night.  We'll keep our search south of the Park.  If
he went north into the Free Fire Zone, then there's no point in
risking our necks to go after a corpse."  



Reluctantly, everyone else, even Celeste agreed.  "Right now I
think we ought to go solo... keep it low key and cover more
ground."  He looked up at his friends, his lupine ears pricked
forward in anticipation.  "Remember, just look.  Be discreet and
for God's sake, don't engage in combat if you can help it.  Ask
around.  Maybe somebody saw the kid go by.  We've got enough
contacts in the city."



"I'll search the northmost quadrant."  Celeste picked up a
pencil and marked off a cross down the middle of the southern
portion of Manhattan Island and indicating the top left one. 
"I'll start at the Intrepid and work my way back down to the
Village.  I've got a few conjured friends waiting around to help
me look  If he's there, I'll find him."  She stood, taking her
armored jacket and her comm. headset from the closet by the
door.  "I'll radio if I find anything.  If not, I'll be waiting
in Times Square."  Moments later, the sound of Celeste's
Cadillac tearing out of the parking lot into the street could be
heard.



"Let me take the northeast.  I will start at Madison Square and
the Veterans Administration and work my way up towards the park.
 I'll wait for Celeste in the park should I fail to find him."
Taro, slung his cyberdeck on his back over his long coat on a
bandoleer and coiled a ong chain kusari on his belt.  The ferret
'morph picked up his caseless sub-machine gun and walked down to
the street where his Jeep was waiting for him.



Jenner looked up at Todd.  "Well, what'll it be for you, kid?"



"I'll start here," he said.  "I'll cover the Village and Soho,
on down to the Battery," he said, checking to make sure his gun
was loose in its holster and securing his rapier to his back. 
"I'll meet you there if I don't find him, OK?"  Jenner nodded.

"Good luck," he called out to Todd as the young fox snatched up
his skateboard and headed for the door.  Todd turned back and
rolled his eyes at Jenner before  he left.  Jenner smiled, a
rather predatory look for him that was closer to a display of
the powerfully built wolf's numerous sharp teeth.  He unpacked
his gyro-rocket rifle and his auto-shotgun.  The shotgun he
slung in a shoulder holster under his long coat and the
gyro-rocket he kept over his back.  Checking to make sure that
his combat knives were secure in his boot sheaths, he grabbed
his motorcycle helmet and headed out to where his Harley awaited.



*        *        *



It was Todd who spotted the kid.  Well, he had help.  He was
sitting in a McDonald's watching a greasy-furred coyote street
kid scarf down about ten bucks worth of cheap burgers and Coke
as the 'morph told him how he had seen an uptown looking kid run
towards West Broadway holding onto some kind of metal box.  "You
should've saw it," he mumbled between mouthfuls, his bare feet
tapping nervously as he glanced about, avoiding making eye
contact with Todd.  "This kid yer lookin' fur, right, he runs on
by, an' he got this box he's holdin' onto like it's a matter a'
life 'n death er some shit.  Then there's these other guys,
right... two of 'em, a big black wolf an' some spotted kind of
cat... leopard 'er cheetah or somethin."  He looked up suddenly,
past Todd and out the window.  "Well fuck me... there he goes
now."



Todd turned and looked, catching a glimpse of orange and white
as a vulpine tail disappeared into the crowd.  "Enjoy your
lunch."  He grabbed his board and rapier and skated out the door
into the street.  Suddenly, someone in a dark suit blindsided
him, sending him sprawling to the pavement and disappearing into
the crowd.  Todd sat up, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs
and looking around.



Nobody was there.



Todd's skateboard lay smashed on the sidewalk, one of the wheels
still turning uselessly.  Todd climbed up on top of a car so he
could get a better view of what the hell was going on.  He saw
two 'morphs, one a sandy yellow leopard and the other an ebony
black wolf, racing down the street, shouldering anyone who
crossed their path out of the way.  Further down the street,
Todd caught a glimpse of white and orange as a vulpine tail
streamed out behind their quarry.  



Todd dug through his pockets frantically, leaping off the car
and onto a low fire escape nearby, hoping his binoculars had not
been broken.  He was in luck.  Keeping his eyes on the orange
tail that wove and dodged through the crowd that walked close
together in this freezing November evening.



It was him.  Charlie Dane clutched a small black case close to
his chest as he bolted frantically down the street, his eyes
wide with terror.  Todd cursed and tried to activate his radio
headset, only to find the thing several feet away, in pieces. 
Damning his luck again, the young fox drew a deep breath and
swung back down to the street, taking off after the three
'morphs in question.  



The crowd was thickening as people on the street stopped what
they were doing to stare at the race going on.  Todd swore as he
found his path blocked by a wall of close pressed shoulders and
rubber necks.  He was going to lose them!  



Todd turned, looking into the street.  Traffic had all but
stopped, and the roofs of the cars provided quite a nice way for
him to rise above the masses, as it were.  Todd drew his Gauss
pistol and leaped onto the hood of a nearby Buick, ignoring the
outraged curses of its driver as he spotted the two 'morphs that
were chasing Charlie charging around a corner.  Todd fired off a
couple bursts that smashed into the corner of a small cafe and
then started after them, leaping from car to car like stepping
stones, using his long tail for balance like an acrobat's pole
or umbrella, pursuing his target across a sea of stopped cars
and rubber necks.



Unimpeded by the throng of people and ignoring the shouts and
curses from irked motorists, Todd managed to catch up to
Charlie's pursuers.  They had turned down an alley as he rolled
off the roof of a Ford.  Todd moved slowly, carefully now,
pausing at the intersection of the alley and street, peering
around the corner.



They two of them had Charlie Dane cornered.  The kid was backed
into a corner, still hugging the black case to his chest, his
eyes wide with terror.  One of the thugs, the lupine, snorted
and leveled a large pistol at the kid.  "Come on, kid.  Hand the
case over and we won't hurt 'ya, eh?"  He extended his free
gloved hand, waiting for the case.  "There's no way you can
sling a spell fast enough to save you, kid.  Just hand it over
and I won't blow your brains all over the street."



Charlie Dane just pushed back farther into the corner, as if he
wished to meld into the shadows and disappear, his breath coming
fast and hard, condensing in a mist in front of him.  Todd crept
achingly slowly down the alley, kneeling down behind a garbage
can and leveling his pistol at the lupine 'morph.



The big wolf screamed once as a spray of needle sharp rounds
tore into his back, spinning him around.  Todd rose from his
hiding spot and shot the wolf in the face.  "Run, kid," he
ordered, keeping his gun leveled at the leopard 'morph.  Charlie
Dane just sat there like a statue, frozen in terror as he stared
gaping at the shredded face of the lupine assassin lying in
front of him.  Todd's gaze darted towards the kid for an
instant, furious with him for not listening.



That instant was enough.  With a burst of cybernetically
enhanced speed, the leopard 'morph reached inside his coat and
hurled a shuriken in Todd's direction.  The young fox barely
managed to yank his hand back and spin away as the throwing star
cut his Gauss pistol in half and tore into the wall behind him. 
Some sixth sense in the back of Todd's mind screamed to life, as
he dropped and rolled to the center of the alley in front of
Charlie, drawing his rapier as the leopard 'morph closed, katana
raised for an overhand strike.



Todd saw the power blow coming and reacted to it perfectly. 
Careful not to pit his slim blade directly against the full
force of the stronger 'morph's heavier sword, Todd shifted his
weight backwards, giving him about a foot as he brought his
rapier up under the swing, using the katana's own momentum to
propel the blade wide, catching it in the complex basket hilt of
his rapier.  Seeing the two blades locked together for an
instant, Todd dropped to one knee, swinging his other leg around
and sweeping the leopard's feet out from under him.



Todd got slowly to his feet, keeping his blade pointed towards
the leopard, trying to stay in between Charlie and the big
feline.  "Back off, freelancer," warned the leopard, inching
towards him, katana at the ready.



Todd's eyes narrowed as the leopard 'morph inched towards him. 
He could see the assassin's leg muscles tensing as he prepared
to pounce on his vulpine quarry and he could almost hear the
whine of the 'morph's jacked up reflexes kicking in.



Todd dodged the leaping slash and lunged towards the leopard,
the point of his rapier streaking for his foe's chest.  The
leopard 'morph scrambled backwards, sweeping Todd's sword out of
his way with his katana.  The assassin's step faltered, just a
tiny slip, but an opening to Todd's trained eye.  



Todd felt the magic surge through his body, boosting his
reflexes to levels matched only by the leopard's high grade
cyberware as he pressed the attack.  He charged the leopard
'morph, feinting with a high slash to the throat.  When the
feline killer's blade rose to parry the attack, Todd dropped to
the ground and spun, taking the 'morph's legs out from under him
with a kick to the back of the knees.  As the leopard fell to
the ground, Todd rose and his slim rapier darted towards his
opponent's hands, sending the katana clattering down the alley. 
Todd continued his lunge, and as the leopard 'morph raised his
hands to catch Todd's blade between them, he whipped the blade
back, bending his arm and ramming his elbow into the assassin's
solar plexus.  



The leopard 'morph struggled to his knees, dazed and gasping for
breath.  Todd planted his foot and spun, his tail flung outward
for balance as he brought his heel full circle as he landed a
spinning back kick in the leopard's chest with a bone crunching
crash.  Instead of stopping, Todd continued to turn until he was
once again facing the leopard 'morph, and then he drove his
blade into his opponent's chest.



Todd wiped his rapier off on the assassin's fur and sheathed his
blade, turning back to Charlie.  The kid still cowered in the
same corner, eyes closed and ears pressed flat against his
skull, sitting in a puddle of his own urine.  He walked over to
the corp runaway and offered a hand, straightening his long
coat.  "You're safe now.  Come on, let's get out of here before
their friends arrive."



*        *        *



Jenner Marley cursed as he paced around the old Battery Park. 
Where was Todd?  His search had turned up nothing, and Celeste
and Taro had reported a similar lack of success.  What was that
fox doing?  All attempts at radio contact had resulted in
nothing, and Jenner assumed that either Todd had found something
or his radio had been broken and he could no longer communicate.
 Jenner had bugged the kid about getting a headware radio
installed, but Todd had balked at the very idea of it.  Had
something to do with cybernetics messing up the flow of magic
that gave him abilities that Jenner had to use cyberware to
match... or some kind of magical jargon that Celeste had babbled
to him once.  Damn it all, where was Todd!?  Jenner stopped
pacing and waved as he noticed Celeste and Taro pull up in their
respective vehicles.



"Any word?" asked Celeste, her eyes glowing in the darkness.  "I
hope he's alright."  She removed her own radio and got out of
her car and walked with Taro over to where Jenner was standing. 
"We didn't turn up anything.  I even searched the astral plane
for signs of his aura and I came up empty."



Taro nodded in agreement.  "It would seem that Todd has the best
chance of finding him now... save that we know not where Todd is
at the moment.  Should we go look for him?"



Jenner shook his head.  "We'd best not split up again.  If we
find him, I want us to be able to regroup immediately.  Todd's
bright.  Hopefully, if he's found Dane, the kid'll lie low until
he can sneak out.  We'd better stick together and search for
him."



Celeste shook her head, reclining against the windshield of her
car, seemingly oblivious to the biting cold that made Jenner and
Taro shiver in their coats.  "I've got one better idea.  Let me
search for Todd.  I can find him without even leaving the park. 
I know that boy's astral signature well enough that I'll be able
to pick him out a lot faster if I look astrally.  Just watch me
and keep me warm, OK?"  With that, she leaned back and shut her
eyes and was still.



"I don't know how she can stand it," muttered Taro as he laid a
thick blanket over her body and watched from his running 4x4. 
"I'm freezing my tail off out here.  What do we do now?



Jenner only nodded silently and shivered a little inside his
jacket, scenting the air every so often just in case.  "Wait,
Taro.  We wait."



*        *        *

"Well, kid, what are you waiting for?"  Todd stood in front of
the cowering boy, arms crossed and tapping his foot.  "I don't
know about you, but I for one am freezing out here.  You are
Charlie Dane, aren't you?"



The young fox 'morph nodded slowly and rose to his feet, trying
to conceal his stained jeans with his heavy parka.  Todd took a
step towards him, and Charlie yelped and shrank back from him,
almost falling again.



Todd sighed.  "Look, I'm here to help you, okay?  Your parents
are paying me a very large amount of money to bring your little
tail home to them, do you understand me?  Nobody's gonna hurt
you anymore, not while I'm still kickin'."  Todd stumbled,
surprised, as Charlie ran towards him, burying his face in
Todd's chest, whimpering.  



Todd rolled his eyes and removed Charlie Dane's arms from his
waist.  "Come on, kid.  Your jeans are starting to freeze." 
They were, in fact, and Todd couldn't conceal a smile.  



"Okay."  Charlie spoke for the first time.  His voice sounded
very small, young, and afraid.  Todd turned and motioned for
Charlie to follow him quietly as he crept towards the street,
stepping out of the alley when he deemed it safe.  Charlie Dane
followed as quickly as he could, clutching the case tightly
against his chest.  "Where are we going?"



That voice in his head screamed danger again and Todd grabbed
Charlie and threw him to the ground, diving on top of him as a
burst of autofire shattered the storefront behind him as a grey
BMW tore down the street.  "Run... now!" he ordered, getting to
his feet and pulling Charlie after him as the car stopped and
released three of its gun-toting occupants.  Todd didn't risk a
second look before he grabbed Charlie by the hand and bolted
around a street corner, disappearing into the maze of alleys and
side streets that made up the Soho district, the sound of booted
feet pounding on the pavement ringing all too close in his ears.
 



Todd caught Charlie by the shoulders as he ran and hurled the
kid down a side street, taking the turn in the hopes of doubling
back on his pursuers.  As the two vulpines ran down the street,
however, the grey Bimmer pulled screeching to a halt in front of
them.  Todd had to tackle Charlie, who barely managed to keep a
grip on the case, so they wouldn't be cut to ribbons by the
spray of autofire.  



Todd chanced a look backwards and saw their pursuers.  They were
caught with only one place to go - a narrow alley between two
old run down buildings that wasn't wide enough for the car to
come in.  Todd felt the impact of a bullet as it slammed into
his armored long coat and cried out as he got to his feet, left
arm hanging limp where the bullet had struck his shoulder.  It
hadn't penetrated, but Todd was sure he'd have one hell of a
bruise there... assuming he survived this.



The alley was a dead end.  "Shit!" Todd shouted as they skidded
to a halt in front of a brick wall.  He turned and looked behind
him.  His pursuers were taking there time now.  One of them even
laughed.  Todd turned Charlie around and grabbed him by the
shoulders.  "Look, kid.  I'm going to send you over this wall
and then hold these bastards off as long as I can.  If they blow
me away, then run like hell and pray my friends find you before
they do, got it?"  Todd shuddered at the thought of bullets
tearing through his body as Charlie nodded.  He braced Charlie's
foot on his clasped hands and hurled the kid over the wall
before turning to face the assassins.



There were four of them now - all midnight black panthers that
could have been quadruplets, and all of them pointing assault
rifles at him.  Todd swallowed the lump rising in his throat and
drew his rapier.  No sense in dying on his knees.  "Alright," he
said loudly as their whiskers twitched and they fixed amused,
glowing green eyes on his blade.  "Who's first?"



Suddenly Todd was thrown off his feet as the air in front of the
four panthers erupted and the force of the explosion slammed
into his chest, knocking him into the wall even as the four
panther 'morphs were engulfed in a roiling ball of flame.  As he
rolled to a stop against the wall, temporarily blind from the
intensity of the explosion, he heard the sharp, staccato
signature of a pistol, the rapid high pitched growl of a
sub-machine gun, and the thunderous roar of a shotgun being
discharged.  



When the acrid stench of charred flesh and burnt fur cleared,
Todd opened his eyes and stared up at the top of the wall where
Charlie Dane sat, waving at someone or something.



"You can get up now, Todd," said Jenner as the big lupine leaned
against the wall.  "I was hoping we weren't too late.  From the
look of things here, Celeste found you none too soon."  He
walked over and helped Todd to his feet.  "Nice job, kid.  You
did good.  You guys get back to my place.  I'm going to go give
a report to Dante."



Charlie made a gesture with his hand and floated to the ground. 
"I figured a fireball ought to have done it."  For the first
time, he set the case down.  "You saved my life," he stated
plainly.



Todd shrugged.  "We're not safe yet, guys.  Hey Celeste, can you
give us a lift back?  Those thugs wrecked my skateboard."



*       *        *

In the dead of a winter night, a single black Harley Davidson
motorcycle cut its engine in the concealing shadows of a narrow
alley.  Its rider peered around the corner, his cybernetic eyes
compensating for the darkness until the scene he viewed was as
bright as day, and very, very troublesome.



"Shit."  Jenner's lips pulled back into a snarl as he parked his
Harley in an alley and checked the ammunition in his
auto-shotgun.  The presence of the BMW sedans on the street and
the absence of any sound whatsoever coming from the Ninth Circle
combined for possibilities that ranked in Jenner's mind as very
bad indeed.



Keeping low, moving in a crouch, Jenner crept down the sidewalk,
moving from doorways to behind cars, always watchful to keep
something between him and the windows of the Ninth Circle. 
Checking to make sure his path was clear, Jenner bolted across
the parking lot, diving and rolling to his feet in front of the
"delivery" entrance that he hand his teammates often used to
visit Dante after they had fulfilled their contractual
obligations.  The lock had been shot open, and the security
system stood silent as though nothing had happened.  Jenner took
a deep breath, holding his shotgun at the ready, and spun into
the doorway, shoving it aside with the muzzle of his gun.  



Jenner shut his eyes tight and shrank back, fighting to keep his
gorge down as the body of Dante's badger bouncer sagged to the
floor, trailing his entrails behind him and staring up at the
lupine 'morph with hollow, empty sockets that peered out from
within a crisped face that in places showed bone.  He took a
deep breath and stepped over the corpse, trying not to breathe
through his nose as the sickly cloying scent of charred flesh
and burnt fur assaulted his keen sense of smell.



Fighting back the urge to vomit, Jenner held his breath as he
prowled down the hallway.  He blinked once, and the hallway
turned from darkness to pale shades of green that were as bright
as daylight as the starlight mods in his eyes took effect. 
Another blink, and his integral target tracking system came
online, covering his field of vision with a coordinate grid and
indicating where his gun would hit.  At the same time, he
activated his subdermal smartgun link and checked the twelve
gague slugs in the auto-shotgun once again.  



Jenner cautiously approached the fire door that led into the
main part of the Ninth Circle, putting his ear to it.  Footfalls
approached, growing louder before passing right in front of the
door and receding into the distance.  They repeated themselves
from the opposite direction.  Jenner waited for the feet to make
a few more passes, then, as they passed the door once again,
slid it open, planting the barrel of his shotgun in a dark
suited back, reaching out and clamping down on an avian beak and
dragging the hawk 'morph back into the door, holding him at bay
with his shotgun while he disarmed the raptor.  "Who are you?"
he growled, keeping his voice low.  "And what the hell are you
doing here?"



The avian 'morph narrowed his eyes and clicked his beak in what
Jenner supposed was a sneer.  "You're too late, dog boy.  It's
already over."



"What?  What are you talking about?"  Jenner leaned forward,
about to grab the hawk 'morph by the throat when the world
disappeared in a blinding flash of white as the hawk 'morph
turned on the powerful halogen lights in the hallway, for an
instant overloading Jenner's optical flare compensators.



Jenner made a sound that could only be classified as a startled
yelp as he recoiled in pain from the light, dropping his gun as
a big wing smashed into his elbow.  He shut off the starlight
and opened his eyes just as a booted foot drove itself into his
chest, sending him sprawling.  The raptor stood over him,
staring impassively as Jenner rose to his feet.  With a shriek,
the hawk 'morph charged, beak opened wide, looking to tear
chunks out of Jenner's flesh.



Jenner dropped to a three point stance, ducking the raptor's
bite and rising, driving his shoulder into the hawk's abdomen,
grinning as he heard the wind being knocked out of the thug's
lungs.  He stood upright, sending the hawk 'morph tumbling down
the narrow hallway in a tangle of wings and feathers.  



Jenner grabbed his shotgun, and as the hawk 'morph straightened
his wings out and started to get to his feet, swung it like a
baseball bat, slamming the butt end into his foe's chest as
fragile bones shattered and the hawk 'morph staggered back and
slid down the wall, crumpling at Jenner's feet.



Jenner peered out the door into the back rooms of the Ninth
Circle.  The lights were on, but nobody was walking the halls. 
He guessed the hawk 'morph had been the only sentry in the back.
 Jenner stepped out of the doorway, creeping towards Dante's
office.



There was sound coming from inside.  He could hear Dante's gruff
voice as the big ursine struggled against what sounded like
multiple captors.  "Who hired you, MacLaren?" asked a cool,
silky smooth female voice.  Jenner leaned close to the door and
sniffed the air, grimacing as he barely scented the strong musk
of a skunk 'morph undeneath the strong presence of a woman's
pheromone perfumes.  



"Go to hell, you reekin' whore!" roared Dante.  Jenner winced as
he heard bodies go tumbling and furniture being shattered before
a single shot ran out and Dante roared again, this time in pain
as something heavy and alive collapsed onto the floor



"Muzzle him," ordered the skunk female.  Jenner could hear
Dante's cursing suddenly reduced to muffled snarls and he bared
his teeth when he heard laughter from inside.  "Okay, mage. 
Pick his brains for what we need."  An eerie silence followed,
broken only by whispered incantations and thrashing that Jenner
guessed was Dante fighting the mage's spells.  



"I've got what we need.  It was Dane and his wife.  They're on
to us."



"I figured.  Oh well.  Deal with him," ordered the female within
the room.



Jenner rose to a half crouch and was about to reach for his
combat knives when something long and shiny placed itself at his
throat.  Jenner caught a sharp breath and looked down the end
until he was staring into the cold green eyes of a black suited
leopard 'morph.  "Going somewhere, puppy?"



Jenner saw Dante, muzzled and wide eyed, shaking his head and
struggling against heavy chains that fixed him to his own desk
as the leopard 'morph escorted him in at the end of his own
shotgun.  The skunk 'morph looked up as the two entered, arching
one graceful eyebrow.  "Well, well, well.  Look at what the cat
dragged in."



"I caught him listening at the door.  Looks like he came in the
back.  I found ah... Steve in the hallway... the bastard caved
his chest in."  The leopard 'morph dropped Jenner's shotgun and
came up behind him, holding the razor sharp edge of his katana
at Jenner's throat as he marched him towards the desk."



"Well now, you're just in time for the party," the skunk female
said, scratching at the base of Jenner's ear and blowing into it
just to see Jenner struggle not to shudder with the katana blade
so close to his throat.  "Too bad you're going to have to go
next.  You're kind of cute.  Alright, let's get this over with."



A tiger 'morph walked over to the wall behind the desk and took
Dante's huge claymore in his hands.  "This'll do."  He turned
around, sneering down at Dante as he raised the blade.



"No!" Jenner shouted as the tiger  'morph brought the blade
down.  Eyes bulging with horror, Dante screamed through his
muzzle.  The massive sword struck with a crash, splintering the
desk and sending Dante's head rolling across the floor to the
skunk 'morph's feet.  Jenner leaned backwards, stomping his
booted foot down on the leopard's and sinking his teeth into the
feline 'morph's forearm.  Half blinded by tears and fury, he
grabbed the startled assassin by the lapels of his suit,
flinging him into the tiger 'morph, knocking them both over as
he shoved the skunk female aside and bolted out the door onto
the catwalk surrounding the dance floor of the Ninth Circle.



"Stop him!"  The skunk 'morph's command lingered on, driving
Jenner as he burst into the club itself, barely noticing that
more dark suited 'morphs were holding the patrons of the Ninth
Circle at gunpoint.  Instinctively he dove over a bar as bullets
tore into the wall above him, crawling forward and drawing his
combat knives from his boots as he went.  He looked up, about to
spring over the bar and down onto the dance floor itself when a
bloody claymore blade cleaved the bar in two in front of him.  



Jenner scrambled backwards as the tiger 'morph tried to free the
blade from the floor, springing to his feet and bowling the
tiger 'morph over, howling in pain as sharp claws tore through
his armored jacket, raking his belly and tearing out a good
sized chunk of his fur.  He kicked the tiger 'morph loose with a
boot to the head and ran blindly for the exit, barely managing
to keep a grip on his knives as a bullet caught him in the
shoulder, sending him tumbling down the metal stairs.  He rolled
to his feet as his pain damper kicked in, flooding his body with
endorphins to dull the fire in his shoulder and bolted out the
door, spurred on by a burst of speed from his jacked up
reflexes.  "Let him go," ordered the skunk 'morph as Jenner took
off for his bike.  "We're done here.  Kill everyone and let's
get out of here."



Nearly blinded by tears, Jenner reached the alley where he had
left his bike as autofire erupted from behind him, within the
Ninth Circle.  He turned the corner, and barely raised his
knives to a defensive position in time to stop the whistling
katana blade aimed to take off his head.



The leopard 'morph stood in front of him, one foot on his tipped
over motorcycle. "I didn't appreciate that bite very much," the
tawny spotted 'morph said, walking towards him, sword at the
ready.  Jenner snarled in anger and lunged for him, his knives
slicing through the air as the feline sidestepped his attack
with grace that made Jenner look slow and clumsy.  Jenner felt
something pierce his pants and dig into the back of his thigh. 
When he got to his feet and turned around, there was blood on
the tip of the leopard's katana.  "Not so hot without your guns,
are you, dog boy?"



The leopard 'morph toyed with him, using the reach of his sword
to evade Jenner's knife attacks and jabbing and slicing at him,
until Jenner was bleeding from at least a dozen nicks and cuts. 
Jenner knew he was beaten - there was no way he could fight this
guy... that was Todd's specialty.  His gaze went to his bike,
thinking of nothing but escape.  The leopard 'morph stood
between him and his bike, twirling the katana lazily as he
watched.  Suddenly his eyes grew wide and his katana snapped to
a guard position as Jenner did the only thing he could think of.
 



Rearing back, Jenner threw both knives at his adversary as hard
as he could and ran, putting on a burst of cyber-enhanced speed.
 He dove for the bike as the leopard 'morph raised his blade and
parried the missiles, leaving Jenner an opening as he rammed his
elbow into the feline's belly.  The big cat 'morph stumbled
backwards, raising his sword in an upward slice that caught
Jenner's arm, slicing across the shoulder and laying open a long
gash that ran clear across his chest.



Concious now only thanks to the pain damper he could feel
failing on him, Jenner pushed his cybered-out reflexes to the
limit.  He stopped his charge and started his bike, jumping onto
the seat and tearing off for the street.  A shot rang out from
his opponent, clipping the side of his head and nearly shearing
his ear off.  Jenner redlined the engine, bolting towards
freedom as the carnage continued behind him.



*       *        *



Celeste smoothed Charlie Dane's tousled fur as the young fox
'morph lay sleeping, curled up on Jenner's couch underneath
Todd's long coat.  "So now what do we do?"



Todd shook his head and clicked off the holo-phone.  "I dunno. 
I called over to the Ninth Circle, but Dante's not picking up." 
He sighed and flopped down in the old armchair by the door,
sprawling out like a sleeping cat.  "But I'm exhausted.  We've
got no deadlines... I say we wait until tomorrow to make the
exchange with Dante.  We've got the kid, and it's not like
Dante's going anywhere."  He took a deep breath and stretched,
yawning.  "I need a cigarette."



"Todd, you do not smoke."  Taro walked out of the kitchen with a
glass of potent triple distilled sake.  "Besides, you are too
young for such things."  He sat down at the table and stared at
his cyberdeck as he drank, pondering the new chips and
peripherals he could put in the already hot machine.



Todd glared at Taro as Celeste stifled a giggle.  "I'm near
sixteen, stop treating me like a kid," he snapped.  Taro smiled
and jacked into the net.  Celeste picked up Charlie's case and
began to move her fingers over it in a complex pattern of
gestures as she began to scry it.  "Say, Jenner's been gone a
long time, hasn't he?" he asked.



Celeste looked up from her spellcasting and blinked.  "You're
right.  It shouldn't take this long just to speak with Dante. 
Come to think of it, he should be back by now."  Celeste took
the case and locked it in the safe Jenner kept in his bedroom. 
"Is it just me, or are you getting the feeling that something's
wrong here?"



Todd sat up, eyes narrowed.  "I know what you mean."  Suddenly,
his ears pricked up and he went to the window as he heard the
distinctive sound of a Harley Davidson pull up outside. 
"There's Jenner's bike," he said as he watched the lupine 'morph
stumble towards the main door.  "Shit, he's hurt."  Todd grabbed
his rapier and signaled to Celeste.  "Come on, I think he needs
our help."



They found Jenner about halfway up the stairs.  The ex-marine
was lying on his side, eyes rolled back in his head, hands
clutching at a sickening mess of blood matted fur and shredded
armor that used to be his chest.  Todd felt bile rising in his
throat and fought back the urge to vomit and glanced weakly over
to Celeste.  The lynx 'morph gave a muffled cry and rolled
Jenner over onto his back, peeling his hands and clothing back
from a long gash in his chest where blood still welled up thick
and slow, drying on the lupine 'morph's fur.  "Todd, make sure
nobody comes this way.  Knock them out, if you have to, but make
sure I am not disturbed."  



The fox 'morph nodded and drew his rapier, heading down the
stairs.  Celeste surveyed the wound and knew that it didn't look
good.  Something had cut clean through Jenner's armor and his
sub-dermal ballistic treatment and gouged a long slash across
his chest.  There was a bullet wound that had blown clear
through his shoulder, and something had nearly taken off one of
his ears.  She closed her eyes and began to gesture over her
wounded comrade, trying to ignore the harsh, ragged gasps that
served Jenner for breathing as she centered the power of her
spell in her hands.  



Celeste gagged, nearly losing her concentration as she placed
her palm on the sticky, oozing mess of fur, blood, and muscle
that used to be Jenner's chest.  She shut her eyes tighter and
started to whisper the words that normally she could chant in
her head - anything to keep her from thinking about the pulsing
mess of flesh beneath her palm.  She gripped her magic focus,
feeling its power surge through her, lending its own force to
her spell as she plunged her senses into the complex patterns of
Jenner's fading life essence.  In her mind Celeste grabbed hold
of the scattered, torn threads and rewove them.  Slowly, thread
by thread, she put Jenner's body back together, making sure each
minute detail was exactly as it should be.  Distantly, she could
feel the impulses from her hand as the gaping wound in Jenner's
chest closed, knitting muscle, skin, tendon, and bone back to
its original lean, muscular shape.



As the magic flowed from her body, Celeste leaned against the
wall, panting and cradling the wolf's head in her lap and
smoothing his fur gently with her fingers, sobbing from
exhaustion and from the shock of the brief magical connection
with her friend and the sensory overload that it caused. 
Spellcasting was hard work, and the cybernetics Jenner had in
his body always interfered, like static, with the operation of
her magic.  Nevertheless, she thought as she surveyed her blood
soaked palm and Jenner's healed chest, he was alive.



Todd came up the stairs warily, sheathing his sword and running
up when he saw Celeste, covered in blood, slumped against the
staircase wall.  "Are you alright?" he asked, his gaze darting
around the corridor, searching for any interloper.



Celeste nodded wearily.  "I'm fine, Todd."  She rose shaky to
her feet and steadied herself on the rail.  "Come on, help me
bring Jenner back upstairs.  I've healed his wounds, but he's
lost a lot of blood and he needs to get some of his strength
back before I bring him back around and ask him what happened." 
Todd complied, taking hold of Jenner's feet as Celeste took his
shoulders.  Together, they carried the wolf 'morph up the stairs
to the apartment.



Taro got halfway out of his chair, reaching for his sub machine
gun as the two 'morphs entered the room, carrying Jenner's limp
body between them.  "What in the..." he began.  "Is he..."



Todd shook his head.  "Jenner got cut to pieces by somebody. 
Celeste got to him in time, but he was bleeding all over the
place.  He needs to rest.  So does she, by the look of things."



The lynx 'morph nodded, closing her luminescent green eyes
briefly.  "I'm going to go clean us both up.  Todd, you watch
over Charlie and make sure he's alright.  Taro, you try and find
out what the hell is going on with the Ninth Circle."  Celeste
bent and secured her grip on Jenner's shoulders, dragging him
off to the bathroom.  Todd went over to the window, watching the
street for a few minutes before slumping back in the armchair,
rapier leaning against the wall.  



Taro got up  and jacked into the Net as the exhausted fox 'morph
drifted slowly off to sleep .  As he plugged the cyberdeck into
his neural jack a digital wave rushed over him, shattering
reality and reforming a virtual landscape from the shimmering
pieces; the WebWeasel had returned to his virtual reality
domain.  



The regional comm. grid was busy tonight.  The sheer number of
brightly pulsing signals rocketing around the Net dazzled
WebWeasel's sensor programs as they struggled to hold his icon
steady in the data flood.  WebWeasel waded through the mess of
calls and responses until he punched through into the satellite
communication network.  He grabbed hold of one report heading to
the police station and opened the data packet up.



In the real world, Taro Kazama's eyes snapped open, an
expression of shock and terror written on the ferret 'morph's
face.  In the virtual landscape of the Net, WebWeasel stood,
mute and dazed, as he read the police reports.  An anonymous tip
to the police had indicated something might be wrong at the
Ninth Circle, and that the police ought to check it out. 
Investigation revealed that the place had been broken into and
ransacked, and everyone in it, patron, employee, and even the
owner himself had been lined up and executed.  The club's
proprietor, an ursine named Dante MacLaren, was found
decapitated in his office by the claymore he kept on display.



WebWeasel dropped the data packet back into the flow, watching
it disappear down the satellite link, heading for its final
destination before he dove back into the data stream.  He knew
where he had to go.



The Ninth Circle's Net icon was a yawning pit with a big neon
sign indicating the nature of the establishment.  WebWeasel
walked right up to the pit's mouth and looked in.  The sentry
ice programs stood by, their icons scattered and de-rezed all
over the place.  Somebody was in here.  WebWeasel powered up his
stealth subroutines and began to climb into the pit.

It was easy to track the interloper.  All WebWeasel had to do
was follow the trail of de-rezed ice and smashed code gates
until he found himself in front of the security system's
datastore.  He peered around the entrance and saw the pulsing
red lines of a recently activated sentry program's web, the
arachnid icon perched in the shadowy recesses of the virtual
ceiling.  



WebWeasel called up a frame program and sent the decoy walking
straight into the invisible web, slipping by into the datastore
as the strands of data wrapped themselves around the dataframe's
icon and the spider ice pounced on its prey.  He winced as he
felt his frame's code pumped full of conflicting feedback
signals and watched as it slowly lost its resolution.  Had that
been him, WebWeasel was sure that his brains would have turned
to oatmeal.  This guy wasn't quiet, but he looked like he knew
what he was doing.

The attack on the frame program did, however, alert the
attention of the interloper.  WebWeasel froze, hanging
motionless as a long, serpentine icon slithered by, surveying
the results of the net spider's handiwork while WebWeasel
readied an attack program in the form of a long glowing kusari.



WebWeasel struck fast and hard, leaping from his hiding place
and dropping his stealth program as the digital kusari wrapped
itself around the other icon's neck.  WebWeasel activated the
killer subroutine with a thought and the program started feeding
lethal biofeedback instructions along the length of the whip to
the struggling form of the other cybernaut.  The canine icon let
out a howl of pain as the graphical construct faded and
dissipated, finally exploding into digital shrapnel.  WebWeasel
shuddered to think of the mess that runner's pals would have to
clean up.  Brains had a tendency to stain carpets, he thought.



The datastore was still intact.  Apparently WebWeasel had caught
him in the act of data theft, something that if he wasn't
careful he could get nailed for.  He hunkered down in front of
the datastore and went to work.   



WebWeasel's shielding programs flickered to life automatically
as something slammed into him from behind.  Damn it all... there
were two of them!  He turned around, barely dodging out of the
way as a female skunk icon in a high tech battlesuit charged by.
 He lashed out with his kusari, slicing up the attack program
she tossed at him, dissipating the spray of tiny digital
droplets that came streaking towards him.  



The skunk icon reached out and grabbed a hold of the end of his
kusari icon.  WebWeasel yanked and pulled as hard as he could,
but he couldn't free the code from the flytrap she had sprung on
him.  He was stuck!  She blew him a digital kiss as her icon
de-rezed and WebWeasel cursed as his sensor program picked up
the presence of a police cybernaut fast approaching.  If he
didn't get the hell out of the 'Net, he stood a good chance of
being framed.  In the real world, Taro Kazama reached up to the
datalink plugged into his head and with trembling hands yanked
the plug as the entire 'Net exploded around him until the
sensory overload drove him blissfully into darkness.



Taro woke up a few minutes later.  The room was spinning around
him, his head was throbbing, and the fur on his chin was matted
with dried blood from his nose, but he had managed to evade the
cops.  Trembling, not wanting to see what he had, he checked his
cyberdeck and found that he had managed to grab most of the file
before the skunk cybernaut had jumped him.  He poured himself a
glass of sake and downed it to calm his nerves before he started
to watch the tape.  The picture wasn't pretty.  First an alert
came on indicating that the outside line had been cut.  Then,
about thirty 'morphs of differing species came storming into the
club, blowing away anyone who tried to run or fight.  Some of
them then lined up all the patrons and employees on their knees
on the dance floor while the rest took Dante into his office and
started to shout things at him.  Someone else, a large feline in
an expensive Italian suit, dragged Jenner in.  When Dante
refused to answer, one of them a tall tiger 'morph in a dark
suit, pulled the sword off the wall and sliced Dante's head off.
 The wolf 'morph bolted and got out the door.   The file ended
as the gunmen opened up on the patrons of the Ninth Circle. 
Shaking uncontrollably, Taro poured another glass of sake,
overwhelmed by the grisly picture he had seen and Jenner had
experienced.  He downed that one and poured another... anything
to take the edge off of what he was going to have to tell his
friends.





*        *        *



Jenner nodded his head slowly, sighing as Celeste massaged the
back of his neck, running her fingers through his thick fur,
claws partially extended.  "That's right.  They broke into the
Ninth Circle and blew away everyone in there.  This one big
leopard came after me with a katana and cut me up pretty bad." 
Jenner laughed somewhat bitterly.  "But then I guess you guys
know that already."



"Big leopard?  With a katana?"  Todd smacked his forehead in
exasperation and started cursing.  "Shit, I thought I killed
that bastard!"  Jenner gave him a confused look.  Todd shook his
head.  "When I found Charlie, one of the guys cornering him was
this big leopard who tossed a shuriken at me and pulled a
katana.  I thought I had killed him... maybe I didn't."



Celeste stopped rubbing the back of Jenner's neck and stroked
her long whiskers.  "It's entirely possible.  He might have
gotten magical attention soon enough so he didn't die... like
Jenner."



Taro shook his head in disbelief.  His eyes were red and
bloodshot, from a combination of sleeplessness and too much
sake.  "Well great," he muttered.  "So now what do we do? 
Dante's dead, and we've still got that kid sleeping on the couch
with a box that somebody is willing to raise hell to get back." 
He took a deep, unsteady breath and shook his head again, slowly
as though the room were spinning.  "Damn it all, I'm drunk."



Jenner snorted in disgust and stretched, yawning.  "Well, folks,
it looks like we're in it up to our necks.  Our contact is dead,
and we can't very well go marching up to the people at Carlyle
and say "Look, we found your kid in the middle of Manhattan and
we were offered a million dollars for him so could we please
have our money now."



Todd laughed bitterly, a sound tainted by an angry growl as the
young fox's tail twitched in irritation.  "Well we could, but
then they'd blow us away.  We're screwed.  We can't take the kid
home, and we can't deliver him to Dante.  Hell, we don't even
know who it is that's trying to kill us."

"But I do."  All four freelancers turned simultaneously. 
Charlie Dane was sitting up on the couch, wearing a set of
Todd's clothes and still wrapped up in the armored long coat. 
"I know who made this case, who they made it for, and who is
trying to kill all of us."



Jenner leaned forward, fixing the kid with his golden eyed
stare.  He cocked his head, and with a voice that might be used
to speak to a retarded person, said "So, start talking."



"The samples were originally meant to blackmail Carlyle," said
Charlie.  The young vulpine cocked his head as he talked, as
though he was reading something from memory.  "Um, I don't know
who actually made the samples, but I do know that the case is
for Janus Microtech's magical research people."



Taro's jaw dropped.  "Janus?  A mob front?  They're one of
Carlyle's biggest rivals in magic, aren't they?"



Charlie shrugged.  "I guess.  That would explain why the guys
chasing us are professional mercenaries that hire out to the
highest bidder."



"Great.  Just fraggin' great," muttered Todd.  "You're meaning
to tell me that some traitor in your corp hired the Mafia to
hire these guys to take this case to your parents' biggest
rival?"  He sighed and slouched even further in the chair. 
"Shit, did we ever step in it this time."  He looked up, staring
at Jenner.  "So now what do we do?"



Jenner shook his head.  "I don't know, Todd."



"This one is beyond my area of expertise as well," remarked Taro
softly, turning on the holovid.  They sat in silence for awhile,
watching the morning news, glad for the distraction.  The late
breaking story was of the mass murders at the Ninth Circle, when
the broadcast was interrupted by the anchor desk.



"This just in," reported the slender mouse 'morph behind the
desk.  As she read off the TelePrompTer, her eyes grew wide and
she swallowed, taking several deep breaths before she could
continue.  "A Carlyle Industries corporate aircraft caught fire
and exploded, crashing into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
New Jersey just minutes ago.  No footage is available of the
crash itself, but eyewitnesses to the disaster have said that
the plane was flying very low to begin with when one of the
engines caught fire.  Seconds later, the aircraft exploded and
crashed into the sound.  The plane was carrying world renowned
thaumaturgical researches Stephen and Katherine Dane from the
corporate headquarters in Rockefeller Center to the
corporation's main headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. 
Corporate security has initiated a search to recover the
wreckage of the plane and the bodies of both Danes, but due to
ocean currents searchers have as yet been unable to recover
anything substantial.  The two magicians are survived by their
twelve year old son, Charlie.  The boy remains at the corporate
arcology in New Jersey, though company representatives at this
time declined to allow us to interview him.  Charlie Dane is
himself a talented..."



Taro's hand dropped from where it was propping up his chin,
falling on the remote control and turning the holo off as the
ferret 'morph stared in shock at the holo.  All four runners
turned and looked at Charlie, who sat, statuelike, on the couch,
staring open mouthed at where the holographic image had been. 
Slowly, his lower jaw started to tremble and tears welled up in
his eyes before he burst into sobs, throwing aside Todd's coat
and shoving Celeste out of the way, leaping off the couch and
running into Jenner's bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.



"Well," remarked Jenner laconically, "now we've really got a
disaster on our hands, don't we?"  He stood, starting towards
the door to his room, pausing when Celeste's clawed hand
interposed itself in his path.  Jenner's gaze went up Celeste's
arm until her shining green eyes were locked with his golden
ones.  "What?"



"Where do you think you're going?" she demanded, her whiskers
twitching slightly, revealing her agitation.



"I'm going to go and get him out of my room."



Jenner recoiled, stunned, as Celeste slapped him, hard, on the
snout.  "Ow!" he shouted, grabbing his nose.  "What the hell
d'you do that for?!"



"A twelve year old boy has just been orphaned, his parents most
likely murdered for something he stole from the corporation that
raised him and you want to make sure he's not messing up your
room?!" she shouted.  Jenner raised his hands and backed off.  



"Hey, hey, chill out, Celeste.  I was just..."



"What?!"



"I take it then," said Taro, interrupting, "that I am not the
only one with suspicion of foul play in this case.  Can we
please try and pay attention to the problem at hand?  Charlie's
parents are dead, Dante is dead.  Based on what Charlie is
telling us about the people who are hunting him, if he is
caught, he will be dead.  All because of that box."  Taro leaned
back in his chair and folded his hands.  "The last thing we need
to do now is argue with each other."



Todd rose and went over to Jenner's room.  The sounds of
Charlie's sobbing were audible in the silence that followed
Taro's little speech.  "Let me talk to the kid.  We're gonna
need his help if we want to come out of this alive."  He turned
the doorknob and went in, shutting it behind him.



Charlie Dane lay on Jenner's bed, face buried in the wolf
'morph's pillow, his small frame wracked by sobs.  Todd
approached quietly, sitting down on the bed next to the boy and
patting him gently on the shoulder.  "Charlie?  Charlie, it's
me, Todd.  Come on, sit up."



Charlie complied and sat up.  The soft fur on his face was
darkened by wet streaks left by tears as they stained his cheeks
and collected in Jenner's pillow.  He snuffled a couple times
and tried to take a deep breath to calm his crying, but he only
collapsed in tears again as Todd caught him, letting the kid cry
into his shoulder.  "I'm sorry about your parents, Charlie," he
said.  God, what was he thinking when he came in here?  He
didn't know how to talk to the kid... Celeste usually handled
the touchy stuff.



"They killed them," whimpered Charlie, burying his face in
Todd's neck and shoulder.  "They killed my parents and they're
coming to kill me!"



Todd reached up and held Charlie like his mother used to hold
him when he would wake up crying at night with bad dreams,
smoothing out the fur on his head and letting him cry. 
"Charlie, I... we won't let anyone hurt you.  We'll get you home
yet, don't worry about it."  Todd thought about his mom, how she
was always there before she was gunned down by gangers in
Central Park for crossing into their turf too late at night. 
Charlie Dane was even more alone than that now.  Todd at least
had Jenner, Celeste, and Taro.  Charlie had nobody.



Charlie stiffened, pushing away from Todd and staring wild eyed
at him.  "No!" he cried in between snuffles.  "No, I can't go
back there!  They know what I did... he knows!  If I go back,
he'll make me tell him where the case is, then he'll kill me!" 
Charlie paused, his eyes downcast.  He folded his hands in his
lap and looked back into Todd's eyes.  "I want to stay here."



*        *        *



"You what?"  Jenner had to stop himself from shouting.  The big
wolf 'morph stood there, dumbfounded.  "Did I really hear you
say that, kid?  You want to stay here?"  He sat down heavily on
the couch, clutching at his head as a wave of vertigo washed
over the lupine 'morph, still weak from blood loss.  It would be
at least a day or two before he'd be back at peak condition, in
spite of Celeste's magic, and this was not helping speed his
recovery.

Charlie nodded.  "I can't go home.  He'll kill me."  He sniffed
again and wiped his nose on his... Todd's sleeve.  



"No.  It's not possible."  Jenner shook his head slowly and
crossed his arms as if that was that.  When he became aware that
Todd was staring holes through him, he said, "What?  We can't..."



"What do you mean, no, Jenner?" Todd shouted.  "What else can we
do?  I happen to agree with Charlie.  His life is as good as
over if we take him back to Carlyle, not to mention ours."  Todd
marched up to the big lupine and jabbed him repeatedly in the
chest with his finger, hard.  "I seem to recall one time back
about four years ago when something like this happened and three
certain freelancers I know didn't refuse.  Why should it be
different now?  Why did you take me in, and now you won't take
Charlie?  We can't just send him away.  He'd never survive on
his own, and the cops would find out who he was sooner or later
anyway and just send him back."  When Jenner said nothing, Todd
blinked and opened his mouth to shout something when Taro
interrupted again.



"Jenner, I think Todd is right.  Besides, we still know about
that case.  We haven't opened it, but we know what's inside and
that's enough to get us all killed.  We're all going to die
unless we take that box and do something with it, and if we
don't protect Charlie Dane, then he too will die.  I agree with
Todd.  We can't leave him on his own."



Jenner drew in a breath to say something, but he caught a
scathing look from Celeste so he just sighed and shrugged his
shoulders, leaning back on the cushions of his couch and
massaging his eyes.  "Okay, okay, you're right.  I... we can't
just leave him, but still, what do we do about that fraggin'
case?"



Celeste picked the case up, examining it.  "Hmm, I was looking
at this thing earlier, before you were hurt, Jenner.  I thought
I saw something in the magical warding that I might be able to
use to crack the spells on it so we could open it."  She wove a
few gestures with her fingers and nodded as lines of power
glowed briefly and then dissipated.  "I thought so.  Taro, you
might want to look at this.  The spell was linked to the lock,
and when I was looking I thought I saw some kind of device
attached to it, kind of like the spell was a decoy to make us
overlook the real security measures."



Taro picked up the case and brought it over to the table,
slipping on his optic enhancement visor.  "You're right," he
said, peering into the case with an ultrasonic imaging mode. 
"Looks like about one kilogram of high grade plastic explosive. 
That ought to make enough shrapnel out of this box to liquefy
anyone who opened the case the wrong way.  Give me a minute and
I'll have this thing open without a problem."  He picked the
case up and peered out the window before climbing to the
balcony.  "Just in case I mess up, I don't want to take anyone
with me, so I'm heading to the roof.  I've got my security
drones up there in case anyone decides to interfere."



Jenner nodded.  "Be careful, Taro."



"Always, Jenner.  Always."  Taro climbed back in the window a
few minutes later to a room where tension dominated.  "I told
you I wouldn't have much of a problem with it," the ferret
'morph said bluntly.  He set the case down on the table and
opened it.  "One sample for every high level executive member of
CTT and one sample for each member of their immediate families,
all neatly labeled and cryogenically stored."  He sauntered over
to his chair and sat down.  "So now that we know exactly what's
going on, what do we do with this stuff?"



"Destroy it!" hissed Celeste.  "Destroy it and get this whole
thing over with!"



Todd shook his head.  "No way.  If we destroy that box now the
only thing ending will be our lives.  No... listen up," he said.
 "This is what we should do."  His friends, intrigued, came over
to listen.  Todd looked over at Charlie, who was sitting on the
couch, staring at the case.  "You too, Charlie. We'll need you
for this one too."



Charlie Dane smiled a little and followed as well.



When everyone was gathered around him, Todd smiled.  "Okay,
here's the deal.  First, we disappear for a couple days and let
everyone rest up..."



*        *        *



Jenner rode up on his Harley, tapping at Celeste's window. 
"They're coming.  Get ready."  Celeste nodded and checked the
rearview mirror as Jenner waved.  Taro popped his head up over
the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid and held one of his security
drones up.  "Taro's set.  You ready back there, Todd?"



Todd Reynard nodded to Jenner and saluted with the tip of his
rapier.  "As ready as we'll ever be."



Charlie Dane, seated in the front seat, waved to Jenner.  "I'm
ready," he said, holding the case tightly to his chest.  Jenner
nodded as he got off his bike, patting the motorcycle fondly and
shaking his head.



"Do we really have to?" he asked.



"Jenner, we are going to have to disappear very quickly.  One
Jeep or a Cadillac isn't worth a second glance, but an old
Harley like that is very distinctive."  Taro shook his head, his
dark eyes concealed behind his optical enhancement visor.  "It's
too much of a link to us... it has to go."



"I'm gonna miss that bike."  Jenner sighed and checked the load
on his gyro-rocket.  "Let's do it."  He sat down on the edge of
the pier and swung over the side, disappearing beneath the dock.
 



A plain, easily forgettable four doored sedan pulled up about a
football field's length from Celeste's Cadillac and four 'morphs
got out.  Todd's eyes narrowed as he recognized the leopard
'morph, still carrying his katana.  He should have made sure he
was dead the first time.



"You guys ready?" asked Celeste.  Todd nodded once and climbed
out of the car, rapier loose in its hilt.  Celeste exited
second, opening the passenger door and holding Charlie Dane by
the hand as the newcomers approached.



"You have the samples?"  It was more a statement than a
question.  The leopard 'morph with the katana eyed Todd and
flashed him a toothy, predatory smile as he spoke.  Todd just
waved back.

"We have them."  Celeste took the box from Charlie and placed it
on the ground in front of her.  "I take it you have the money?"



One of the other 'morphs, a yellow eyed tiger, nodded and handed
Celeste a credit card.  "One million dollars, certified credit. 
Slot it yourself and check."



Celeste handed the card to Charlie, who ran it through a
scanner.  "Yup," he piped, trying hard to keep his voice from
cracking.  "One million dollars, exactly."  Charlie handed the
card off to Todd, who stuck it inside one of his coat pockets.



The three of them stepped away from the case as a dog 'morph
stepped closer to the case and bent to examine it, moving back
towards the Cadillac.  "Go ahead," Celeste said, her voice
nearly a purr, "open it and see for yourself."



The dog 'morph knelt and began to gesture as the fourth of the
'morphs, a female skunk, began to place a call on her wrist
phone.  Todd resisted the urge to smile.  This was all going
perfectly.  At least, until the dog 'morph drew a sharp breath
and looked up gaping at Celeste.  "You..." he began.



That was enough for the leopard and the tiger.  Even as
Celeste's spell went off and the case exploded in the dog
'morph's face, engulfing both him and the skunk 'morph in the
resultant fireball, the two cyber enhanced felines leaped away
from the blast, the leopard drawing his katana and the tiger
paired pistols.  In the same split second, even as Todd drew his
rapier with one hand and shoved Charlie and Celeste towards the
Cadillac with the other, Jenner swung back up over the edge of
the pier, firing a gyro-rocket into the nondescript car as the
driver tried to start the engine.  



The tiger 'morph was closer to the car when it exploded, and the
flash must have blinded him for a moment.  He paused long enough
for Taro to get a clean shot off with his sniper rifle and blow
his head clean off as Todd slid, tripping up the leopard 'morph
who was lunging for Celeste and Charlie with his katana drawn
and whistling through the air.



Todd and the nameless assassin rolled to their feet, Todd once
again keeping himself between the leopard 'morph and his
intended prey.  Todd pressed the attack this time, driving
straight towards his opponent's chest, using the long reach of
his rapier to keep himself out of the whistling vertical slashes
of the razor sharp katana.



Jenner ran up to Celeste, taking them both and herding them back
behind the cover of the Cadillac as Todd and the leopard 'morph
fought it out at speeds where only Jenner could see what was
going on.  To him, Todd was clearly the more agile of the two,
using his small frame to his advantage, making impossible dodges
and leaps over the lighting quick blade, using his long tail for
balance as he counterattacked, often mid-dodge.  Celeste and
Charlie merely stared, trying to piece together the ring of
blade on blade with the whirling blur of gleaming steel and
wildly flying fur.



Todd leaned to one side as the katana came screaming past his
guard, avoiding disembowelment but feeling fire scream across
his left shoulder as he drove his blade into the leopard
'morph's hip and followed through with a kick to his opponent's
knee that staggered the assassin.  Celeste and Charlie saw the
two duelists slow down to visible speeds as the leopard 'morph
stumbled backwards, limping as blood soaked his trousers.  Todd
stood his ground, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side. 
Todd charged the leopard 'morph and lunged, the point of his
blade driving for his enemy's throat as the leopard 'morph,
caught off guard, swept his katana upwards to catch Todd's
slender blade.



Jenner was no swordsman, so he had no idea what move Todd just
pulled.  In one instant, he had changed from an all out lunge
for the throat to a lightning cut at the leopard 'morph's knee,
slicing through tendons, dropping the assassin to his knees as
his wild attempt at a parry swung around and caught Todd in the
back of the neck with the blunt edge of the blade.  The young
fox 'morph was sent sprawling as the katana was jarred loose
from the leopard 'morph's hand and went clattering to rest in
front of Celeste's car.



Todd and the leopard 'morph rose slowly, each one unsteady, both
suffering from some bad cuts.  Todd nodded at the leopard and
dropped his sword, settling into a fighting stance, his right
arm raised to defend his useless left.  The other 'morph roared
in pain and rage as he put weight on a mangled right leg that
threatened to buckle under him.  



Todd circled before he closed, zeroing in on the his opponent's
crippled leg, attacking with a side kick to the knee.  The
leopard 'morph winced as he leaned backwards, rolling to the
side and sweeping Todd's support foot out from under him with
his arm as the vulpine's kick went wide.  Todd rolled to his
feet faster than the leopard could rise and caught him in the
chin with a knee strike that extended into a snap kick that
struck in the same place, knocking the leopard 'morph backwards.



The leopard rolled with the kick, using the force to help him
roll to his feet, snarling as his right leg gave out and he
dropped to one knee, bringing his free left hand up to deflect
the ax kick that was coming in hard towards his head.



Todd saw the leopard 'morph's raised hand, and instead of
following through with the kick, bent his leg and planted it
hard on the crippled right knee, eliciting a scream from the
leopard 'morph as he sprung over the feline's head, twisting in
the air to land facing him, and hit him with an elbow in the
back of the head and followed with a crescent kick that sent the
spotted killer sprawling, his head bent at an angle only
possible with a broken neck.



Todd Reynard watched as the leopard 'morph stopped twitching and
expired.  He winced as fire tore through his left arm as it was
pinned to his side in Charlie Dane's embrace.  He laughed,
despite the pain, and hugged Charlie back.  "Come on, kid," he
said as he saw Taro's Jeep disappear into the night and heard
the sound of Celeste's car staring up.  "We'd better get out of
here before the cops show up."



*        *        *



"You know, I still almost don't believe that we pulled that
off," Todd said as Jenner finished dividing the million dollars
in cash they had converted from the credit card into five two
hundred thousand dollar piles, smiling as each of them,
including Charlie, took a stack.  He leafed through the bills,
smiling at the sound the fresh paper made.  "But if this is a
dream, I never want to wake up."



Celeste sighed as she pocketed her money, gazing out over the
interstate, watching the traffic go by.  "Mmm... but where do we
go from here, now that thanks to Taro, Charlie Dane officially
no longer exists.  Who did you say got his ID number?"



Taro grinned, looking down at his cyberdeck as the pages of a
passport came out of the printer.  "A kid born to some raccoon
girl in inner city Seattle yesterday morning."  He stapled the
pages of the passport together and handed them up to Charlie,
who was sitting on top of the car, munching on a candy bar. 
"Here you go.  You are now, according to the federal government
and all related records, Charles Daniel Reynard. 
Congratulations, Todd.  You now have a younger brother."



Todd laughed as Charlie jumped off the car and threw his arms
around his chest.  He picked the kid up, hugging him fiercely
before setting him on the ground.  "So it's finally all over. 
Now what do we do?"



Jenner lit a cigarette, the glowing butt casting a gleam of his
aviator sunglasses, and smiled.  "Well, I hear that California's
nice this time of year."