"Uninvited"
As a people of many, We rise to face our greatest enemy; ourselves.
The Provinces listed herein do solemnly decree to act as one mighty Nation in all matters of importance and necessity;
Tucluna, Cengaul, Etei Lei
The Republic of Taoromina, Bulugh
Kientakuna
As one Nation, with one Heart, and one central Government, We acknowledge that all creatures
are equal in status. We also acknowledge every creature's right to choose each Provinces
leaders, and that military rule is strictly forbidden.
So say all of us....
Admiral Gordon stood at the head of the large
Plexiglas domed room, his ears and long feathered
tail alert as around thirty members of the news media shouted questions
and thrust microphones in
his direction.
'' Ladies and Gentlemen, please; one at a time!'' He urged, as the mob had risen out of their seats.
''Admiral, what do you expect this new change in
space travel will bring Corneria?'' a trim little
fox vixen pushed her way to the front of the crowd, aggressively pursuing
the career she so loved.
''Well, miss... McCloud...'' the Admiral squinted
to read her press pass as it hung around her
neck. ''It will mean shorter trips; larger vessels - both military
and commercial, traveling between our
planets. It will bring better communication with our sister planet,
Papetoon.'' the gordon setter, in
his mid fifties, announced to everyone. ''This discovery of cold
emission is very exciting, and our
Planetary Defense Council urges the public to let us realize the full
power of our new method of
propulsion - '' he read off an inconspicuous TelePrompTer.
''In other words, you're asking for government funding
for this project?'' the able minded reporter
punched home, watching the Admiral squirm. He swallowed forcefully,
and his eyes swept the
audience of news reporters. ''You mean funded by the tax payers?''
she poked once more, and he
snapped his gaze back to her.
''Well, it will directly affect and profit the general
public...'' he defended his project loyally. ''The
people often complain about the insufficient mail service, and transportation
between the planets -
we've given them the solution. All we ask is patients and understanding
while we continue to refine
this engine.'' he explained. ''And yes, some public funding
will be required to complete the final
testing.''
A murmur of excitement spread through out the crowd,
and the Admiral began to grow uneasy.
He hated speaking in public, and he found being plagued by such un-nerving
questions such as these,
was not something he wanted to continue. He glanced to the tele-prompter.
'On to the next topic',
he decided. Clearing his throat, he avoided the vixen's eye.
''Are there any other questions you might have, Ladies
and Gentlemen? Perhaps on how our cold
emission works? And for that answer, I'd like to introduce the
man who discovered this valuable
method of propulsion - '' Gordon stepped aside from the podium,
and motioned for the chimpanzee
that his behind the stage curtain to come out to the Admiral.
Timidly at first, the ape went foreword,
adjusting his tie, and taking the stand.
''H-hello...'' he began, and he cowered as
a feed back pulse rang through the speakers. He
tapped the microphone to stop it, and began once more in his smooth,
proper voice.
''Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen; my name is
Andross Pigskowski...and I'm here to talk
about cold emission.'' the stately ape began. ''In the
past few years, we have been working toward
the goal of expanding our horizons, as far as travel in space goes.
We've dreamed of the day that
we can share resources with our neighboring planets. Right now,
in the time it takes to ship many
foods between even our closest planetary neighbor, most of these foods
have long since become
rotten. Just think of all the raw materials we could ship from
Papetoon - and all the processed
goods we could export to Mac Beth. Their planet's core is still
collapsing, and the land infertile.
Many, many thousands of billions of people call that planet home, but
have to do with out many
luxuries, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Only the non-perishable
items such as canned or frozen
vegetables can be imported. Meat is out of the question.
The grains that would feed many livestock
on Mac Beth go bad and mold during the trip from Titania.
''During these harsh times, those who can afford
it move to another planet - upsetting populations
grossly. Those who can not afford it simply give up hope and
work day and night in an economy
that is failing system wide. At present, it takes two and a half
months to travel from Corneria to
Papetoon, just under four months to reach Fortuna, and because its
orbit is so much more erratic
than our own, at certain times of the year, it may take a year to a
year and a half to reach our
inner-most planet, Venom.
''This is at incredible high warp; and yet, even
the fasted military designed vessel, the XP-Gazer,
can't reach Papetoon in one and a half months.
''Ladies and Gentlemen, the reason for this is that
the warp core has limitations. Even if it could
exceed those limitations (and we could easily build it to do that),
it could not, however, survive the
heat and radioactive waste that it puts out. The ship it drives
would melt. Hull structures can always
be made stronger - we have the technology for that - but what I have
made will allow these ships to
go much faster, much longer, with less resistance, fewer core alignments,
and costs just a little more
than our present cores. A small price to pay for bringing an
entire star system closer together.''
Andross explained this, much to the relief of Admiral
Gordon, who stood off by the edge of the
stage.
''And may I ask, Mr. Pigskowski, exactly what that
price is?'' Andross stared down in front of
the podium to see the lovely reporter that spoke, and, with a shy smile,
he nodded.
''To complete the final test, it will be around 1.4
million, and depending on the size of the vessel,
about 48,000 to be refitted, each.'' Andross watched the vixen
with a suddenly forlorn eye. The
whole room about him seemed to disappear, and he stuck his hands in
his jacket pockets; extremely
shy.
Another reporter's question snapped him out of his
little dream world, nearly making the young
chimp jump.
''How much time will it take off space travel between
planets, Mr. Pigskowski?'' a five-point deer
buck raised his antlered head in question - thrusting his microphone
forward.
''Sir, we're talking about cutting a trip to Papetoon
from two and a half months to 4 to 5 days.''
Andross announced, smiling proudly as the audience gasped wildly.
Questions flew at him from
every angle, but he catered to the little vixen's questions best.
After the press conference was over, he helped the
Admiral shake hands at the door - pure
publicity. When the room had cleared, Andross smiled triumphantly.
''Did you see? They loved me!'' he exclaimed,
his fur bristling. The Admiral gave him a coy
glance.
''Just remember who you work for, son,'' he
reminded the 19 year old ape - a genius who's years
of invention began when he was 3 or 4. An orphan at one and a
half, the ape was place in the foster
care of a family of pigs, and they had encouraged his savvyness to
grow. By age 9, he was touring
the planet with a group of other prodigy children, who gave seminars
about their inventions and
achievements.
''What's that supposed to mean?'' Andross frowned;
weaving through the aisles of chairs as he
headed to the door. The Admiral watched the ape with a careful
eye.
''Andy, you've signed contracts, and I'm calmly,
gently reminding you that your discovered are
now the property of Corneria's Defense Council. Don't go getting
a swelled head, son.''
''Don't call me that. And I am not your 'son'.'' Andross sneered, a hand pushing the door open.
''No...'' Gordon eyed him down with a frown. ''...you're not.''
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If there was anything to be said about Corneria's
Air Force, it would have to be that all of it's
pilots were damned good. Its new line of premium fighter jets
were supped-up dog fighters; but they
were mostly built for speed. Time was critical in a star system
that had only discovered low-grade
warp just a little under 60 years before. The Laylat star system's
scientists were constantly
pressured for faster planes, cars, computers, and the like.
The whole planet was still peaceful since its last
civil war 100 years earlier, but its economy was
slowly falling to pieces, along with the others in the system.
Its people were on edge, and the
branches of the military counciled with each other frequently, convinced
there would be another civil
outbreak. Anarchy would rise, they feared, and they wanted to
be able to control the citizens if
necessary. Which, of course, meant that conspiracies abounded,
and political figure-heads slowly
introduced a variation of military rule. Soon, the notion came
that being an officer was everything in
life. The number of enlisted grew, and soon normal citizens couldn't
overthrow the government even
if they really wanted to .
Every year the system's Air Force branches competed
in a sort of game that tested each base's
pilots. Individuals were tested, along with teams. It kept
the pilots on their toes, and was great fun.
The pilot that had won for the past three years was Captain James Fox
McCloud of Reyes Base,
Tucluna Province, Corneria. 'Fox' to his friends, Captain McCloud
was a young captain - only 22;
with a pretty little wife named Vixxy.
Overly sappy and sweet together, the two had been
child-hood sweet hearts, and had wed just a
little over a year ago. Vixxy was a rising young reporter, who
struggled to make the 6:00 news. Her
dream was to be the station's anchor news castor - but at present that
spot was filled by Odette
Duma, and Boris Yevgeny. There was no way she could ever take
Boris' seat - the wolfhound had
been the station's Lead Anchor for over 15 years. Her only hope
was to bump his much younger
counterpart, Odette. She was less experienced, far less eloquent,
but much prettier. Though she
frequently mispronounced words, read straight off the paper in front
of her instead of memorizing,
and gave the impression that she had no clue where Papetoon was, the
station's ratings had never
been higher since they made her co-anchor.
The sleek little panther's purry voice glued male
viewers to the screen - regardless of whether she
was speaking of an earthquake on Mac Beth that killed hundreds, or
of a nice sunny day here in
Reyes. But Vixxy prayed that her coverage of the military's 'cold
emission' conference would help
her gain some ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''....And although this new project seems to
cost the people greatly, it also seems to be something
that could greatly benefit the people...'' Andross sat in his
apartment, watching as Vixxy McCloud
reported live from outside Reyes base.
''All in all, I would defiantly say that in might
just behoove the Cornerian people, as well as the
entire Laylat system, to heed the advice of Mr. Pigskowski, and invest
in this project.'' Vixxy
smiled, '' Back to you, Boris,'' she added, and Andross sat enthralled
that she had mentioned his
name, and recognized his genius. Unfortunately, he had also seen
the flash of her golden
wedding-band.
He held his head in his hands, and decided that he
should have known that such a beautiful vulpine
would have been married.
''But to who, I wonder?'' he pondered out loud over
her last name. ''...McCloud...?'' he hissed
this blasphemous word, having the feeling that he had heard the name
before. ''....McCloud.....''
Andross seethed in anger, sitting alone and lonely in his dark apartment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''Vix? Vix, you home?'' James
entered his simple, yet flattering home, with his ears pricked
forward as he listened for any signs of his wife. He found her
in the kitchen, baking a pie.
''Jimmy! You're home early?!'' she giggled as he hugged her from behind.
''Mmm....what kind of pie?'' James nibbled on her
soft, reddish neck-fur, and she bade him to
stop.
''It's apple,'' she squirmed out from his arms,
turning to face him. ''Did you see my report
today?'' she asked, and he nodded.
''Yeah, they aired it all over the mess-hall, break
rooms and the barracks,'' he stuck a finger into
the apple filling, and she smacked at it, shooing him away from it.
''Did everyone like it?'' she tried to push him away as he attacked the pie filling further.
''Oh, yeah - you won't believe how many complements
on your tail I got - everyone says you beat
Odette easy.'' he told her.
''But my coverage; was my coverage good?'' she sighed,
and he smiled, tilting her chin up with his
left hand, kissing her gently.
''Your coverage was great, Vix...even the Admiral
thought that.'' he let her know, and she smiled
shyly.
''When's the pie gonna be ready?'' he asked, reaching around her to pick at the filling again.
''There won't be a pie if you don't stop!''
Vixxy fended him off, squealing in terror as he swept her
up over his shoulder, carrying her flamboyantly upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andross was, by nature, a clumsy-looking young
man; and even now as he wandered past the
court yard of Reyes Air Force Base, he caught several cadets snickering
at him.
He huffed in embarrassment, clutching at a large
stack of documents on his different theories. He
held no military rank, so he was open season to even the lowliest cadet's
remarks. He received
many of them at the moment - one popular one being 'Super-Dweeb'.
Baring his teeth, he hissed
angrily at the class of pleebs.
''I'll show you all!'' he declared dramatically,
quickening his pace, when the group broke into
hysterical laughter at this crazed remark. The door opened to
the building they waited by and the
booming voice of James Fox McCloud startled them to attention.
''Take your seats!'' he ordered gruffly, putting
a stop to the haunting laughter. ''I guess you all
forgot that your finals are today?'' Fox barked. ''I'm
up for promotion in three days, and I'll be
damned if the test scores of a bunch of cadets holds me back!''
he took his command at the head of
the room. ''Now...'' he continued in a much more pleasant voice.
''You'd better pray that you all
brought pencils.'' he smiled, beginning to pass out the 50 page
test that he was to give them. He had
been in control of this class of cadets for their entirety of their
training, and he hated it. He wanted
back up in the sky - 'where he belonged'. However, the Admiral
had wanted to see how well he
could teach his skills to others before he was promoted. If he
was to lead a team if pilots in the air,
he must first show leadership on the ground, the Admiral insisted,
so James 'Fox' complied.
After class, Fox gathered his things and went to
the mess hall, standing in the officer's line to
receive his slightly higher quality food (but not much higher.)
''Fox, wait up,'' called a brown and cream prick-eared
rabbit named Peppy Hare. He and Fox
had gone through the academy together and Fox loved him like a brother.
The only thing that Fox
found odd about him was that Peppy was convinced that he was psychic.
Apparently, Peppy's
fore-rabbits had all been part of some sort of cult that Fox deemed
disturbing. They meditated most
of their free time, and shared visions with other cult members.
They practiced strange rituals that
were often decorated by the show of colorful robes, and the mask of
incense.
''Hey Fox - I 'knew' I'd find you here,'' Peppy smiled,
grabbing a tray and joining Fox in the lunch
line.
''Stop it Pep - you know the Admiral isn't too keen
on all the incense in your barrack. He said
that if you accidentally set off the smoke detector one more time...''
Fox warned, and Peppy rolled
his eyes.
''Just because he doesn't understand that I strive
for self actualization, doesn't mean that what or
how I practice my religion is wrong.'' Peppy began in his often
rather long speech about freedom of
religion.
''I know, I know Pep - but Gordon doesn't understand
that...'' he shook his head, holding out his
plate to receive his ration of intreging-looking mystery meat.
''Uh...just...just a salad, please,'' Peppy
cringed at the sight of Fox's meal, and accepted a far less
threatening plate of lettuce and veggies.
They sat with a group of other pilots that had known
each other since the academy, and they
conversed loosely about the cold emission cores that the base was rumored
to have begun to outfit a
few fighters with. Each pilot was dying to be the one to test
it first, and Fox was no exception.
He needed his promotion to allow him back in the
air, and the fact that he was stuck in that
classroom drove him half crazy as he listened to his friends and fellow
pilots talk about the new
training course that was being built over the course of the nearby
Brandel's Canyon.
''Hey look; it's that 'panzee,'' commented
a crane; quite coy and sure of himself as he placed
everyone's attention on Andross as he sat in the far corner of the
mess hall.
McCloud looked up to see Andross begin to go through
the cafeteria line. The poor ape knew
everyone stared at him, and clumsily, he got a fresh lunch tray.
Holding it out to the first cadet in the
lunch duty line, Andross raised an eyebrow at the ice-cream scoop-shaped
serving of mashed
potatoes bestowed upon him. The next cadet told him to pick from
a variety of vegetables in large,
5 quart sized containers.
Sighing, he mindlessly pointed to the container on
the left. Green and bubbly, the helping of what
appeared to be green beans oozed about his tray, and the cafeteria
full of officers and cadets
snickered at Andross. After receiving his lunch, he sat on the
far end of the room at an empty table.
''What's with the ape?'' Fox pricked an ear
forward, and Peppy answered as he shifted his fork
through the salad he ate.
''...Andross Pigskowski. He's the scientist
who invented the new warp core,'' Peppy watched as
Fox began to get up from the table when the border collie who sat with
them shook his head at Fox.
''He's crazy or somethin', Fox; nobody goes near
him.'' the collie explained gruffly as Fox sat
back down.
''Crazy?'' he asked the collie who bore the name tag 'Cole'.
''Yeah, he's always saying how he's going to 'show
us all', and crap like that. Absolutely nuts!''
Cole chuckled, and Peppy replied curtly.
''Maybe that's because you and your friends poke
fun at him? What was the newest nick-name
he has acquired as of late? 'Super-dweeb, I believe.''
the poignant rabbit stared Cole down, and
Fox sighed in agreement with Peppy.
''We should be thankful - he invented cold emission!'' Fox jumped in , but Cole rolled his eyes.
''So the guy can do math. Great!
I can't wait until he invents a bomb the size of your ego, with
which he will, no doubt, use to blow us all to hell!'' the collie
growled at Fox, who stood at this
comment. ''What'll you do Fox? Your promotion is
in a few days,'' Cole reminded him calmly,
and slowly Fox sat back down.
''You're absolutely right - you're not worth my promotion,
Cole. But next time, you won't have
that excuse to hide behind!'' Fox narrowed his eyes, and pricked
his ears forward smartly as Cole
laid his floppy tipped ears back.
''Would you two cut it out?'' came a sweet
voice, and the two looked up from their argument to
see Vixxy standing behind Fox and Peppy.
''Vix? What are you doing here?'' Fox
stood to offer his seat, but she declined. Holding up her
press pass, she smiled widely.
''The Admiral agreed to let me have a one-on -one
interview with Mr. Pigskowski,'' she informed
him proudly, and Fox grinned in response.
''You gonna make the 6:00 with it?'' he asked, and she gave him a twittering laugh as she nodded.
''I'm slated right after Odette's Fashion Talk.''
she informed the group, who watched her with
interest. ''You all be sure to watch the 6:00 - this could be
my biggest story yet!'' she clasped her
hands together with enthusiasm, and Cole snickered.
''We always watch. Always.'' he got a
stern look from Fox and Peppy - though Vixxy was off
dreaming about her big break.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nervously, Andross peered into the conference
room in which he had been told to meet Vixxy
for his interview. He held his breath as he stared at her - his
gaze following the brick-red trimmings
of her fur. She shuffled papers, and then reset the video camera
for the 12th time (she wanted it 'just
so'!).
Overly self-conscious, he fiddled with his tie and
coat as he lingered in the doorway. He jumped
in fright when she bade him to come in.
''Mr. Pigskowski, have a seat,'' she smiled,
motioning to the plush chair in front of her own chair.
A coffee table lay in between them, and a pitcher of water and two
glasses were set on the table.
''Good .....g-good a-afternoon, Miss McCloud,''
Andross stuttered profoundly, and Vixxy
motioned for him to sit once more. He did just that, and she
smiled kindly to him.
''Please, call me Vixxy,'' she insisted, and
Andross dug his fingernails into the arms of the chair
nervously.
''Thank you, Miss Vixxy,'' he cooed her name
gently, watching as she looked through her note
cards. ''You may call me what ever you wish, Miss Vixxy,''
Andross told her, and she paused
thoughtfully.
''Actually, I would like to call you Mr. Pigskowski
for the interview, if that's all right?'' she
unknowingly broke his heart, but just as he had done all his young
life, Andross smiled and nodded
to her.
''Of course,'' he acknowledged, and they went
on with the interview. After they had finished, and
Vixxy had turned off the recorder, she let him know how utterly fascinating
his theories were.
His heart leapt at this, and he leaned forward as if he believed he must be going deaf.
''Pardon, Miss Vixxy, but what did you just say?''
he blinked in disbelief, and the vixen gave a
gentle laugh at his poise.
''I said I find your intelligence astounding - I
don't think I've ever met anyone half as brilliant as
you, Sir.'' she put her notes in her briefcase as he could not
help but stare at her. Slowly, he drew in
a breath.
''Not even your husband?'' he asked, tactfully bringing up the subject, but Vixxy frowned slightly.
''Jimmy is....more brawn than brain, dear.
That's not to say he's not wonderfully smart, but he's
more of a brute force kinda guy.'' she paused when he smiled
at this, then frowned slightly.
''You're more of a football captain's girl, then,
I presume?'' Andross sighed slowly, but quietly,
and Vixxy shrugged her shoulders as she packed her camera up.
''Jimmy's everything to me. He supports me
in what ever I do. That's what I like - not brawn or
brain. Just loyalty, I guess,'' she stood, causing Andross
to stand with her in a gentlemanly fashion.
''Loyalty, hm?'' he mused, and she nodded, holding her hand out to him to shake his.
''Thank you for the interview, Mr. Pigskowski,''
she began, when he kissed her hand gently rather
than shaking it.
''You are most welcome. If you ever find a
need for a brilliant scientist, look me up.'' he tried to
be suave, but she shyly withdrew her hand from his.
''Be sure to watch the 6:00 news, Andy - we're slated
as one of the lead stories,'' Vixxy backed
away, gathering her camera case up. Andross paused at the nick-name
she bestowed upon him.
and after hearing the word flow from her lips, he decided to let her
call him this. In years after, it
would come to be a name only she could refer to him as.
He moved forward to help her with the heavy camera
- to her delight. ''May I help you to your
car, Miss Vixxy?'' Andross requested politely, holding the door
for her, and Vixxy nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''What do you mean, I'm 'cut'?!''
Vixxy cried, staring in disbelief at Boris as he walked out of his
office at a dignified gate.
''I mean exactly that Mrs. McCloud.'' Boris
checked his watch, sighing as the little red fox
followed him at his heels.
''Why, Boris?! They told me I was right after
Odette tonight!'' Vixxy fretted, and the two
watched from the back of the news set as Odette stood in the spotlight
with several models.
''Her 'Fashion Talk' will be running over-time -
you've been bumped, dear.'' Boris explained.
''Rick thought it best for ratings.'' Boris motioned to the dark
eyed raccoon who stood by the
cameraman.
''You mean Rick thinks Odette brings in ratings,
rather than the content of the story?'' Vixxy
scoffed, and Boris sighed.
''He owns the station, Mrs. McCloud - '' he began when Vixxy frowned.
''Oh, come on Boris! You and I both know Odette's
Fashion Talks are the stupidest waste of
air-time in the history of this station! While you and I could
be delivering the important stories to the
city of Reyes, Odette points out what scarf matches with which dress,
and everyone bows to her!
While you and I work hard to cover the stories and memorize lines,
all Odette has to do is wag her
tail in front of the camera!
''She's as dumb as a rock, Boris! And my coverage
of an interview with a man who has just
invented a warp core that will alter Laylat's course of aviation &
space history, is bumped off the air
because Mr. Wessel thinks she's cute!!'' Vixxy hissed, and Boris
paused tactfully, considering the
statement she had just made. ''This was going to be my big break!''
she muttered. Boris lowered
his voice to her, gaining her attention.
''In time, Vixxy, Odette will out live her beauty.
But you, as well as I, will always maintain our
intelligence.'' the elderly wolfhound stated confidently as Vixxy
sighed. ''I will speak to Mr. Wessel
on your behalf; perhaps he will see how important your story is if
it is only brought to his attention.''
Boris offered, ''We might get it on tomorrow - I know how you hate
the 11:00 show.'' he smiled
slightly, and Vixxy calmed herself.
''Thanks Boris - you're the best,'' she smiled.
''He'll listen to you; I know he will.'' Vixxy watched
as Odette continued her Fashion Talk with and interview with a famous
fashion critic, Diane Fiztler.
''Oh, like, your sash is so totally posh!'' Odette complemented Diane, who grinned.
''A posh sash! Wow!'' they both giggled in unison, and Diane showed off the sash to the camera.
''You're so clever, Odette - it really is an honor
to be here tonight!'' Diane declared, and Vixxy
looked up at Boris with a nauseous look plastered to her face.
''I'll...um...go speak with Rick now....'' Boris excused himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andross cringed as he watched the end of Odette's
segment. The end of the show credits
started to role, and he cocked and eyebrow.
''They cut Miss Vixxy...'' he realized, knowing
how upset she must be. Glaring at the image of
Odette on-screen, he bared his teeth menacingly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
In the days that followed, James McCloud did
get his promotion, and was now Sgt. First Class
McCloud. No one was happier for him than Vixxy - for she knew
that now he would be able to test
one of the first jets outfitted with the new warp core; and this
he had been dying to do.
The Laylatian star system stood in awe as he broke
time and space records. Andross used
McCloud's calculations in order to refine the engine - but it was not
his genius that was celebrated.
Rather, it was McCloud's debonair form in which he broke those records.
Andross came to despise McCloud - for James' charm,
for the way no one realized it was he who
made it possible for James to break those records. But most of
all, he hated James for being Vixxy's
husband. James was not nearly worthy of his precious little Vixxy
- and what was worse, James
knew nothing of Andross' envy. The pilot treated the inventor
kindly, and never poked fun at him -
thus enraging Andross further that McCloud was so unaware of his feelings.
Vixxy visited Andross each time a record was broken,
or a refinement was made to the cold
emission, hoping to make her big break eventually, and to introduce
the shy ape as the mind behind it
all.
Instead, it was Odette's purring interview with Admiral
Gordon and James McCloud that was
aired with much pomp and circumstance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''So, were you scaired?'' Odette leaned
forward in her seat as she faced James and the Admiral.
James half-smiled, nodding.
''I'd be lying if I said 'no','' he chuckled.
''I mean, there you are, in deep, cold space, far away
from any sort of help; with the most powerful warp core ever invented
strapped to your back. One
minute you're in one sector, the next you're in another. It's
an intense feeling, let me tell you.'' James
answered, and Odette fawned over him.
''Wow! That is so fascinating! You know,
the Laylatian people look up to you as a national
hero. What are your thoughts on that?'' Odette asked James,
and he grinned proudly.
''Well, it's good to have someone to look up to.
I remember I looked up to a man named Kip
Tern. He was a real top-notch pilot, and was one of the things
that inspired me to be a pilot. I think
everyone needs inspiration, and if I'm that hero, that's a really great
feeling.'' James gave another
long-winded answer, and the Admiral capitalized on this.
''This project, Miss Odette, is about bringing people
together. Bringing the planets together. We
should look up to the man who made that possible,'' the Admiral
motioned to James, who smiled
bashfully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''This is stupid. I look stupid.'' Andross fretted as Vixxy set up her camera.
''No you don't. Here...'' she straightened
his tie momentarily, smiling at him. ''This is going to
work - trust me. And you're far from stupid,'' she watched
the ape nearly hyperventilate as he
glanced at the camera.
''This is going to work....'' he told himself. ''.....and
Miss Vixxy, you will be co-anchor.....I swear
it.'' he said most confidently, watching Vixxy with forlorn eyes.
She smiled nervously, glancing away
for a moment.
''Let's do this,'' she smiled to him with enthusiasm, plugging in a cable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''So, how fast do you go with the new warp
core?'' Odette purred out, and James opened his
mouth to speak.
Suddenly, Rick Wessel jumped up from where he was sitting near
the camera.
''Why the hell have we gone off the air?!!''
he pointed to a red flashing light on the side of the
camera, and the cast looked about in confusion. They watched
the static on the test screen, and
soon a signal was patched through. It was Vixxy's signal.
''What the hell?!!'' Rick chattered, and Odette
gasped in jealousy. James turned in his seat to
watch his wife on camera, a puzzled look upon his face.
With a spirited air, Vixxy spoke.
''Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman, I'm Vixxy
McCloud, reporting to you live with a special
interview with the man whom we should all thank for cold emission,
Mr. Andross Pigskowski,'' she
motioned to Andross, who smiled confidently. ''Mr. Pigskowski
has been an inventor for quite some
time now, and has toured with the organization P.C.A. - Prodigy Children
in Action - when he was
only nine years old.'' Vixxy began. ''Mr. Pigskowski, you've
changed the course of history - how do
you feel?'' she turned to Andross, who beamed proudly.
''Like the million dollars that I haven't been paid,'' he chuckled kindly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''Sir, I can't lock on to the signal,'' a crewman
looked over to Rick as the raccoon paised about
furiously, ''It's been re-routed so many times.......she could be anywhere.
She could be in the studio
next door, and we wouldn't know it.''
Rick grumbled in aggravation, shaking his head.
''She couldn't possibly have done this on her own...''
he muttered, looking up as Boris moised out
of his office, a cup of coffee cradled in his hands.
''Done what?'' he asked, and Rick pointed to
the screen with an overly dramatic flair.
Sipping his coffee, Boris mearly chuckled, watching the interview
proceed as Vixxy asked Andross
numerous questions on the theorized surrounding the warp core.
Tilting his head to the right, Boris
looked to Rick.
''Isn't this that interview that Odette bumped?'' he asked slyly, and Rick rolled his eyes.
''Yes, yes - so sue me!'' he threw his hands up.
''So, what - we're not continuing with my segment?''
Odette sniveled, and Rick glanced over to
her.
''As if you haven't noticed, she's got control of
the station, Odette!'' he turned on his heel, moving
to exit the studio. ''If she's doing this from inside the station,
I'll find her,'' he declared, and Boris
smiled, turning to go back into his office.
''Good luck,'' he offered. Once in his office,
he closed the door, going to his adjoining conference
room. Opening the door part way, he poked his snout in.
Vixxy winked at him as he motioned with a hand to keep rolling.
''Everything is perfect,'' he mouthed silently before
slipping out of the room to do a write up on
tomorrow's news.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''Are you insane?!!!'' Vixxy stood stiffly
as Rick hissed furiously at her about an hour later, after
she had finally wrapped up the interview and strode from Boris' back
office with a bubbling Andross
at her heels. Odette rose from her seat on the stage to glare
at her, her fur bristling at the fact that
her own interview had been cut short for such a clumsy-looking ape.
James sat quietly, his finger
tips pressed together as he watched Rick throw up his hands in aggravation.
Glancing to the side, he
cocked a furry eye brow at Admiral Gordon, who paised about the darkened
stage; massaging his
temples as he muttered to himself incoherently.
''The people, Rick, are now educated about what leaps
we can make.'' Vixxy began, and this
brought James' attention back to her as she squared off with the ring-tailed
raccoon - his eyes bright
as he chittered angrily.
''The people, Mrs. McCloud, craved the interview
you just cut off! The people just watched my
station being hijacked by a girl fresh out of media 101, who just killed
any chance at all of making
the 6:00 ever again! You'll be lucky to make the 11:00 on the
other pathetic stations that broadcast
over Reyes!!!'' the raccoon spat, and Andross clenched his jaw
in fury.
''Oh, bloody - ''
''-Andy! I think you have done enough for one
night!'' Gordon boomed, stepping down from the
stage, and striding to where the shy ape stood behind Vixxy, glaring
at the raccoon. Andross tore
his tie off after an un-successful attempt to loosen it properly, and
shook his head at both Gordon
and Rick.
''We should be going, Andy,'' Gordon announced
in a tone that brooked no nonsense, but
Andross bared his teeth briefly before he remembered he was in the
presence of such a lady. Vixxy
frowned in question to Gordon for a moment, blinking in confusion as
she wondered if Andross had
been telling her the truth about how guarded the military had become
of his discoveries and
inventions. He often spoke of projects he claimed the military
would not reveal to the public, but she
had figured that if this was so, then James would have told her long
since.
At present, her husband sat in silence, when he did
when he was ever angry with her out in
public. He would defend her little coup d'etat so long as anyone
was watching, but she suspected he
would be rather upset later when they were alone. He had let
her defend herself for the moment, for
he knew she was strong enough to do so, but when the Admiral glanced
in her direction to lay into
her as well, he stood, coming down from the stage with a gaze level
with the setter's.
''You did want air time, Admiral - and you wanted
promotion for funding. You've gotten both in a
most spectacular way. Everyone was watching. And everyone
who wasn't will know about it in a
few minutes - and they will all watch tomorrow to see what she will
do next. Isn't that what you both
wanted, Gentlemen? Ratings?'' he spoke calmly, glancing
with a narrowed eye between the
Admiral and Rick.
Pausing, Rick straightened, looking back to Vixxy as he frowned deeply.
''I should can you for this!'' he declared,
when Boris chuckled deeply as he leaned on the
door-frame of his office, nursing his 3rd cup of coffee that night.
''Da, but when you do, I am sure that another station
would be happy to snatch her up as a field
reporter - or even co-anchor. When they do, perhaps they will
have open the position of Anchor?''
he smiled slyly, and as Vixxy breathed sharply at this, Rick looked
as if his eyes would bug out of his
head. Snapping his gaze back to Vixxy, he waved a hand as if
it didn't matter if she stayed or went.
''Don't expect a raise or anything,'' he huffed,
going back to his chair by the camera with the
order to clean up the stage and lighting. Odette stalked off
the back of the stage, and Vixxy bowed
her head.
''Come on, Andy -'' Gordon began, when Andross
glared, turning to leave as he shook the fist
clutching his tie.
''I'll bloody well go where I please! And I
told you not to call me that!!'' he hissed as he pounded
through the doorway. Gordon nodded to James and Vixxy briefly
before he wandered after
Andross still rubbing his temples.
With her head still bowed, Vixxy slowly raised an
eye to meet James' gaze. Putting his hands in
his pockets, he slowly started past her for the door.
''Come on, Vix; I'm not mad.'' he assured her,
and as she followed him out of the building and
down to their car, she doubted this very much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What the hell was that you just pulled?!"
James muttered once he followed Vixxy in through the
garage to the living room of their dimly lit home. With a sigh,
she turned to face her husband, her
ears cocking down and to the side when she saw the hurt expression
on his face.
"Jimmy, that story was very important! The
people deserve to know who has made their lives
easier, and who has touched history. Jimmy, they don't even let
him own the rights to the discoveries
he's made! They've got him under lock and key! You saw
the Admiral! Jimmy, my story has been
cut 7 different times, either because Rick thinks Odette's pathetic
excuse for air-time brings in
viewers...or..or because..." she trailed off, and James cocked
a furry eyebrow when she bushed her
beautiful white tipped tail as she muttered to herself. He hated
it when she did that during an
argument - she nearly always won because he couldn't keep his wits
about him while he stared at
her.
With an amused huff, he rubbed his paw pads together slightly in almost determination.
"...because Odette and Boris keep bumping your interview
with coverage of my latest test flight in
the Gazer3700?" he assessed correctly, and Vixxy planted her
hands on her hips, pricking her ears
forward smartly.
"I said no such thing, Mr. McCloud. Don't put
words in my mouth." she tilted her nose upward a
bit, and James rolled his eyes, chuckling.
"Oh, you didn't have to. You forget - we're
soul mates - I can read your thoughts right now...."
he indicated with a raised forefinger, and a grudgingly amused smile,
when Vixxy narrowed her violet
eyes at him, crossing her arms daringly.
"Prove it." she flashed a proud smile at him, and as always, he chuckled at his head-strong wife.
"Ok," said he, moving to get a soda from the
kitchen, and she followed him slowly - as if she had
not intended to follow him at all, but decided to enter of her own
accord. He offered her a soda, yet
she declined. Raising an eye brow at her, James shook his head,
sipping at his own drink.
"...right now, you're wondering if I'm mad because
you interrupted my interview, because it was
with Odette - " he began, when Vixxy sniffed indignantly.
"I most certainly am not. Do you mean to say
you think I am jealous?" she asked crisply, and he
laughed weakly.
"Only in the greenest sorta' way, Vix. You
do realize I think she's flakier than a box of cereal,
don't you?" he assured her, and she gave him a pouty gaze.
"Really?" she asked softly, when he chuckled
again, holding his head in one hand. He ruffled his
ears in amusement, and she blinked innocently. "What is it?"
she asked quietly, and James grinned
finally.
"You do this every time. I can't stay mad at
you; you actually hold the entire news station
hostage, cutting off, by the way, what was to be my very first interview
on national television - all to
interview some ape who, by the way, is several run-ways short of an
airport, and I can't stay mad at
you. You do that...that pout. Stop it." he ordered,
but she frowned.
"Oh, Jim, I didn't mean to cut off your interview.
Honest - " she assured him, but he raised an
eyebrow, and she shrunk about 3 inches. "Ok...so maybe a little
jealous..." she agreed, sighing
finally. He nodded, poking a finger at her forehead.
"Soul-mates, remember?" he mentioned, and she
smiled, nodding. "Did you, by the way, happen
to see the look on Odette's face? I thought she was going to
kill someone!" he mentioned, to
Vixxy's satisfaction, and his own amusement.
"No, I must have missed it while I was basking in
the glory of taking over the entire news station,"
she said mildly, and he rolled his eyes.
"Let me guess - today the station, tomorrow the world?"
he asked, and his wife reached forward
to smooth his collar.
"No...just you." she said slyly, making eyes
at him, and James caught her hand; with a wry smile,
he watched her. "By the way," she paused thoughtfully, "Andy's
always going on about the Planetary
Defense Council and some sort of conspiracy?" she inquired, when
he drew his head back.
"'Andy'?" he asked, and she frowned once more.
"Andross - you know, the ape, who by the way, does
not deserve your criticism." she watched
as James really raised an eyebrow this time.
"I don't know what you know about this guy, Vix,
but I thought he was ok too, until I worked
with the guy a couple times. He's...really out there. He's
always muttering to himself - at least I think
he's muttering to himself, and not some manifestation of his inner
psyche..." James shook his head.
"He's smarter than hell, I'll give ya' that, but Vix, he keeps muttering
about 'one day when he'll show
us all'. Vixxy, I think he's farther out to space than I have
ever gone in a Gazer." he said pointedly,
and Vixxy cuddled in his arms. "Vixxy, the guy might be dangerous if
he's cornered and pissed off."
"Wouldn't you be?" she asked, "He doesn't have
any friends, he's made discoveries that changed
the course of history, and all Cole and his friends can do is give
him crap. The Admiral treats him
like a baby." she shook her head, but James caught her eye seriously.
"Vixxy, I'm asking you to be careful. I think
it's great you want the people to know all about the
inventions, and I think it takes a really kind person to deal with
Andross - and you are that kind;
that's one of your greatest qualities. But Vix, if this guy gets
mental on you, I want to know." he said
firmly, and Vixxy had no choice but to nod in agreement. "As
to a conspiracy, I know I'm just a test
pilot, but I haven't heard of a damned thing." he assured her,
and with an adoring gaze that met her
husband's clear blue eyes, Vixxy smiled.
"Not just a test pilot - the best test pilot.
Because of your bravery, millions of people on Mac
Beth are sitting down to a real meal with their families for the first
time in generations. Economy is
starting to flow, and little kits can know their grandparents on a
planet half a light-year away." she
praised as he kissed her gently.
"Kits, you say?" came his sly grin, and then
instantly, she found herself off her feet once more,
and in his arms in that grand style of his she so loved...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a grim silence Andross sat facing a small
council who were in a half-moon before him. Or
rather, he before they. Admiral Gordon was not foremost on the
council, but he fixed the adolescent
ape before him with a warning eye fit to pin him to the wall of his
cramped office. The four others
were Ranndolf Baker, the Prime Minister of Titania; Egret Connor, Chancellor
of Papetoon; Garret
Simton, 2nd advisor of MacBeth; and Ottura Ven, President of Fortuna.
As they all shifted in their
seats, Andross waited for their explosion.
Ranndolf was the first to speak. He tamped
a pipe full of a sweet-smelling tabacco leaf, then
gazed to Andross as he lit it. The reindeer's antlers, thick
with velvet, made for a menacing crown.
"Pigskowski," he drawled, a thin tendril of blue
smoke rising, "I suppose Gordon has informed
you as to the nature of this meeting?" he paused only for Andross'
nod. "Good. You will find, Mr.
Pigskowski, that when it comes to matters of such importance, the Council
sends us to damp the
fires, so to speak. I put this lightly when I say that the Council
is very displeased with your actions
as of late." He sat back, motioning to the Admiral. "Gordon
has told me that you fancy this girl - "
"I do no such thing, Prime Minister - " Andross began,
when Egret bleated a sharp note through
his long, thin beak.
"It does not matter! You have very nearly buried
us all with your comments during that
'interview'! The public needs not know how we advance our technologies
- all they need know is
that we do so - "
"And where to stand in line to pay for it?!"
Andross fumed, and Ranndolf very nearly snapped his
pipe in two when he snorted violently.
"How noble you've become, Pigskowski! Last
we spoke, you were talking of fission bombs, and
radium decay!" The reindeer shook his mighty antlers, and Andross
fell silent, swallowing hard
underneath his stare. "The girl is bad news; reporters always
are, unless they work for you. The
trick is getting them to do so. This one seems to think the world
of you, for whatever reason; and
she is young and fresh in her field - eager to do her duty to society.
Reporters like that are either
buried in a year, or promoted to a position in which we may filter
stories of our liking. I hope it is
not the former; for if she is fired for reporting not what we wish,
but what you inspire her to, I don't
think she will relish your name after that." Ranndolf laughed,
deep and booming, and Andross'
stomach turned cold and his mouth dry. The day his Vixxy cursed
his name would be the day he
died.
"What is it you wish her to report?" the trembling
ape murmured, fearing very much the glint in
Ranndolf's eye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As he walked softly down the tiled corridor
of the lesser halls of WRMV's news station, Andross
clutched both hands together; a look of near dread on his face.
Although he wished very much to
catch a glimpse of his precious Vixxy, he hoped that she would not
be at her tiny office. He did not
like the thought of deceiving her with what Ranndolf and the others
had concocted, but what else
could he do? If she did not make co-anchor soon, he thought he
might just...kill someone...? With a
shake of his head, he dismissed the thought in horror.
Vixxy's tiny office had in fact been bestowed upon
her by Rick after her escapade; and although it
was very small, it was a huge up-grade from the three-foot by four-foot
cubicle she had endured
before.
As he rounded the corner, Andross saw that the door
was open, and that she had her back to it -
running over that night's breaking news. With a sharp breath,
his heart shot to somewhere in his
throat, and his finger-tips suddenly felt ice-cold. He turned
on his heel to flee that which he had
sought, when Vixxy's clear golden voice called to him. An angelic
voice, at the very least!
"Andy?" Vixxy set her papers down on her immaculate
desk, and Andross stopped dead in his
tracks, turning slowly.
"Miss Vixxy?" he chuckled. "Fancy meeting
you here? I was just going to find...um...Rick? He's
with the Admiral? I've got to go?" the ape fumbled to find
his words, and was greatly embarrassed
with the result. Vixxy smiled pure radiance, however, and came
out to him.
"Mind if I walk with ya'?" she bubbled, and
Andross nearly choked. He nodded briskly, and she
closed her office door.
"So you and the Admiral are getting along ok?"
she asked, and he shrugged.
"Well, you know..." he shoved his hands deep
in his coat pockets, starring down to the tiles.
They were a really beautiful tessellation, actually - and the angles
quite soothing.
"Oh..." Vixxy frowned, "because I had gotten
the impression that he was quite pissed about the
interview." she accessed, and Andross beamed.
"Smart girl." he chuckled weakly. "He was not pleased, if you catch my meaning,"
"I do," Vixxy nodded. "Jimmy and I were
worried, actually - if I've gotten you in trouble, maybe
I could talk to the Admiral...you know - let him know I egged you on?"
she flashed him a sweet
smile as they turned a corner, and Andross shook his head quickly.
"No... no; but what about you? I see Rick has
up-graded you, but Odette still has the spot-light."
he observed, when Vixxy frowned.
"Didn't you hear? Matching purses to shoes
is far more important than a modern-day
renaissance." she scoffed, raising a furry eyebrow when Andross
turned yet another corner.
"Andy...do you have a clue where you're going?" she asked with
a sigh, and the ape paused.
"Miss Vixxy, I must confess I do not." with-drawing
his right hand, he rubbed a knuckle over his
forehead deeply.
"You're not here to see the Admiral." she faced
him surely, and the shy bumbling ape dropped his
gaze to the floor, ashamed of himself.
"No, Miss Vixxy..." he replied weakly, "...I
only thought..." he nearly trembled, thinking fast on
his feet. "I thought I might find you here, so that I might thank
you for the interview...and...and
perhaps you would be interested to hear of the Planetary Council's
latest agenda?" He smiled to see
the grin that split her face.
"Oh, boy, would I?!" she laughed. "Rick'll
faint when he hears that we've got an inside lead!" she
bubbled, and Andross bowed his head, almost too ashamed to go on.
His pretty Vixxy was happy,
though, and let her continue to be, he thought.
"I really must apologize, though, Miss Vixxy..." he mumbled, when she cocked an eyebrow.
"What ever for, Andy?" Vixxy frowned, and Andross raked a hand across his forehead shyly.
"The other night, my language in front of you - "
he began, when she gave an adoring laugh that
wrapped itself about his heart.
"Oh, Andy, I've heard worse, trust me." she
assured him, and he just about jumped out of his
skin when she very briefly touched her fingertips to his arm in order
to motion that he follow her
back to her new office.
"Y-yes, I am sure, M-miss Vixxy..." he shoved his
hands in his pockets as he followed her like a
puppy on a string. "But not from myself...not in front of a lady..."
he murmured as he walked, and
Vixxy gave him a half-amused smile as she opened her office door for
him.
"My, but you are a noble one, aren't you? How'd
you get mixed up with Admiral Gordon and the
like?" she chuckled lightly, motioning for him to sit, but he
stiffly remained standing until she sat
behind her desk. The coffee she offered him was old, but he clung
to a mug like a life-line; though he
did not drink - caffeine gave him terrible headaches....
"When I was 15 a representative from the Cornerian
Council came to see one of the seminars the
PCA was holding in Reyes at the time. My display was about clonning
- " he began with a gaze off
to the right, and Vixxy drew her head back.
"Clonning? But they've done that already -
and it's against all 4 statutes of section 9 of the
Laylatian Bill of Freedoms!" She muttered, and Andross held his hands
up with a wince.
"Miss Vixxy, the clones they had made were either
just singular appendages, or were lower
life-forms, and extremely unstable. The right combination of
amino acids and enzymes integrated
into the cloning process would establish a stable clone...Or so my
theory goes. But. my dear, it was
only the seminar display of a 15 year old boy. I had lost my
parents shortly before that...." he sunk
his gaze back into the coffee cup, when Vixxy leaned forward with a
look of pure sympathy on her
face.
"You never told me..." She shook her head.
"Andy, do you mean to tell me that you've been
without any adult guidance since then - except for Gordan?" she
nearly spat the name (she was
becoming increasingly biased toward the man since hearing him speak
to Andross in such a manor
that night of the interview.). Vixxy watched as Andross frowned,
setting his coffee down sharply.
"I am not a child!" he pouted, and suddenly
with a wide-eyed innocent look, he reigned himself in
before her. She did not mind, and mearly nodded in agreement.
"I have foster parents...they,
ah...they are androids, my dear." he explained, and she cocked
an eye.
"Androids? They place a kind boy like you with
androids?" she shook her head at the thought,
but Andross frowned.
"They are state-of-the-art, Miss Vixxy! If
you ever met them, you'd know. They are certainly
kinder than many people I have met; and so what if it's in their programing?
All I would have to do
is convert a few modules, and their neuro-net would be nearly life-like."
he defended his foster
parents loyally, and Vixxy smiled slowly.
"I am sure they're kind...but you need interaction
with others, too. And I don't mean with
Gordon. I mean with friends." she said matter-of-factly,
and the young ape tried to swallow, and
found his mouth dry. Reaching for the coffee, he took a large
gulp at her next words. "You should
go out, you know? Have fun like a normal person your age?"
she smiled, and Andross trembled
slightly.
"I must confess, I am not adept at making of friends...y-y-"
"Nonsense. I'm sure if you tried - "
she motioned for him to stand up, and he remained sitting -
cocking an eyebrow at her.
"I'm sure that if I tried, I would fail just as every
time before it. The beauty of being a scientist is
being able to make use of such failing statistics and not put myself
in such a situation again." He
shook his head, when she chuckled, reaching her hands out to him to
help him up out of the chair.
"Com'on," she urged, waiving her hands about
slightly until he set the coffee down, and reached
to grasp her hands in his with much fervor. When he stood, he
bowed his gaze to the floor as he
shuffled his feet shyly, but Vixxy was determined. "Ok, when
you meet someone new, what do you
do?" she asked, and he bowed formally, extending a hand to shake
hers. She giggled softly when
he tried to gently turn her hand over in order to kiss it, but when
he saw how uncomfortable this
made her, he released her soft, slender hand with a physical shudder.
Looking away and then back,
Vixxy drew a breath. "Ok, now when you meet a new person, what do you
say?" she asked, and
he frowned deeply, righting himself stiffly.
"Good evening, madam; I don't believe we've been
introduced..." he extended a hand, when
Vixxy nearly collapsed in a fit of giggles.
"I don't believe we've been introduced..."
she mocked his proper english accent, "Andy, you
sound like you're at a suare! Loosen up a bit!" she exclaimed,
shaking him by the shoulders until he
laughed at her. With a suave grin, he bowed, taking her
hand up once more; this time he looked
into her eyes with a steady, confident gaze.
"Good evening, I don't believe we've met; I
would have remembered seeing such infinitely perfect
eyes..." he drawled, and her grin slowly dropped as he went on.
"They are eyes a man could loose
his soul in...out of a hundred-thousand combinations of DNA I have
uncoiled, not one had such a
perfect sense of balance and beauty..." he sighed out, still
bowed, still holding her hand; and Vixxy
still stunned as ever. Slowly she blinked, shrugging her shoulders
mildly. Clearing her throat, she
forced a laugh.
"Yeah, that was good..." she agreed, and he chuckled
as he released her hand, righting himself
calmly. It would not hit him until some seconds later what he
had just said to her. Sweeping her
hand over her ears, she fluffed her tail briefly before she smiled
shyly. "Uncoiled DNA?" she
chuckled, and forcibly, Andross laughed with her - as it had hit him
fully that he had said such a
thing. She saw his frightened eyes, and waived the matter off.
"It's all right - no, really; it was good.
Keep greeting women like that, and you'll be married in no time,"
she laughed, and finally he did as
well - with much less tension.
"Anyway," said she, "if you just behave in a confident
manor, you'll make friends in no time. It's
all it takes." she said simply, but he frowned, glancing away
for a moment.
"Your husband...he is a confident man; I have seen
him with the cadets - " Andross shook his
head slowly, " - they never question his orders." he nearly muttered,
flopping down into the seat. He
rose very nearly in the same instant, and apologized for sitting before
her. She smiled, waved a hand
at him, and poured herself another cup of coffee before she sat back
down.
"When Jimmy walks into a room, he owns it.
It's a spark inside him that everyone sees." she
acknowledged, and Andross nodded slowly, sipping at the rest of his
coffee. "Andy, if you walk
into a room thinking you are invisible to everyone there, then you
will be. If you walk in expecting
them to jump when you say jump, then they will before they realize
it. If they don't give the respect
you deserve, then you take it - " she motioned about her to the radius
of her new office with a grin,
and Andross cocked an eyebrow at her in curiosity.
"...Perhaps....perhaps you are correct, Miss Vixxy...but
I admit I would more than likely end up
doing the taking than the earning..." he said softly, with much
thought. "I will be Head Professor...
and you my dear, if I have my way, will be co-anchor of this studio."
he nodded to her, and it was
her turn to cock an eyebrow. Ticking an ear-tip toward him, she
folded her hands to rest her chin
on.
"Sounds like you have a plan; Do tell,"
she implored with a grin, and Andross chuckled, leaning
back in his seat.
"Did I ever tell you, my dear, what area of research
the Planetary Council currently has me on?
Or the agenda for the next 5 years?" he asked with a calm sip
of his coffee, and she reached to pour
him another cup.
"My dear Mr. Pigskowski; Do you mean to tell me that
they have designated you as their official
'source leak'?" she chuckled in disbelief, when Andross held a hand
up, giving her a sly smile.
"I do believe that you reporter-types thrive on such
a thing?" he mentioned, and she rolled her
eyes heaven-ward.
"I'd give my right arm! I'm gonna be co-anchor!"
she thrilled, raising her coffee cup to him. "Let
me guess - false info leak, right?" she asked, and he choked
on his coffee, looking up innocently.
"Oh, please, Andy - do they think I'm stupid? They want me to
report what they want, and they
think you've gained my trust, bla bla bla. I'll make a deal with
you - you let me know what it is they
want me to report...but you also tell me what's really going on.
If I feel that what they want me to
report it too far off the truth, or would be seriously mis-leading
to the public, I just won't report it. In
the mean time, it looks like I've got the scoop - and that's a beautiful
thing." she proposed, watching
as Andross blinked for a moment in thought.
"...Alright...they want you to report that their
research is farther along than what it really is. They'll
explain it away when it really doesn't add up; but for the moment,
they need the support of the
people." he bowed his head back to his coffee when Vixxy gave
him a mocking smile, shaking her
head as she laughed.
"They've pulled you from the project - the others
are taking over, but they've moved you to
something else," she accessed, tapping her pen on the table when he
sunk lower into the chair -
confirming her suspicions. "They've started their clonning project
back up, haven't they? Against all
4 frigging statutes..." she shook her head to scold him, and he sighed.
"Could you at least maybe
slow the research down, hmm? Throw a [monkey] wrench into the
project?" she chuckled at him
when he frowned.
"The clones could be stable...I just know they can..."
he said in a hushed voice, and Vixxy
nodded, leaning back in her chair.
"Yep. Then we can clone what ever body part
we need. No matter that we've harvested it off a
living creature. But we'll save that debate for later - I've
got a report to write for tonight's 6:00.
Andy, just promise me you'll throw a wrench in the project until I've
had a chance to change your
mind?" she pleaded, and slowly he nodded.
"A wrench...I think I can manage that." he
agreed, and smiling she stood. He hopped up, setting
his cup down. "Let me guess - my clue to leave the brilliant
writer to her work, eh?" he chuckled,
and she nodded with a shy smile at this comment.
"Next Thursday - come see me next Thursday, and I'll
have time to change your mind about the
clonning." she insisted, and Andross bowed ever so slightly.
"Yes, Miss Vixxy - a time?" he inquired, and she opened the door for him.
"Lunch time," she smiled, and he nearly stumbled
out the door in shock before she closed it. He
stood out in the hallway, staring at the door to her office for a moment
before a camera man came
by, lugging the latest model of wireless equipment with him.
There was no need for a news truck any
more - except to get around in. This camera did it all; even
uploading the picture straight to the
network.
The camera man nearly ran Andross over as he loitered
about; Slowly the stunned ape shuffled
away, trying to figure out if Vixxy had meant anything to come of their
lunch meeting. Surely not, he
shook his head...but that way she smiled...perhaps...? Already
in his mind he had picked out what
suit to wear; the grey with the teal pin-striped tie...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Honey, do you know where my cuff-links went to?
You know - the ones Peppy's dad gave
me?" Vixxy looked up from the book she was reading on the back
porch as James poked his head
out the back door. She smiled in amusement at the rugged state
of his unkempt fur as he worked his
patterned tie into a knot, nearly cringing at it. Far be it of
anyone to force James McCloud, test-pilot
extrordinair, into a suit against his will.
"They should be in the top left drawer in your dresser,
Jimmy," Vixxy pointed out, setting the
book down as her husband came over to her with a sly smile.
"How do I look?" he asked with a grin, and
Vixxy laughed, throwing her head back as he leaned
in for a quick nuzzle of her neck.
"Like you need to brush your fur! Like a devilish
rogue, that's what!" she fended him away, and
frowning, James tickled her chin.
"You'd better get ready; our reservations are for
6:00 sharp." he mentioned, and she flashed him
a sweet smile as she reached to fix his tie.
"All right...I'll be inside in a moment..." she assured
him softly. Kissing her gently, he withdrew; his
heart beating just as it had when he had first met her, 6 years before.
"You always keep me waiting..." he chuckled to himself,
going to brush his fur into place as she
went to go get dressed after finishing the chapter she was on.
Once she was ready (inevitably, it was quite some
time later...), she showed off to him the soft
pink silk dress she had bought for the occasion. Swaths of a
sheer material hung about the floor
length skirt, and pearls were embroidered into the bodice and long
sleeves.
As always, her entrance jolted him to his feet from
where he lounged on the couch, and the pretty
Vixxy smiled bashfully at the dashing young man she had met on this
very day some time ago. He
was still brash, and overly critical of himself...but he was still
so very romantic, and in love with the
very sound of her name. He suddenly appeared shy when he presented
her with a single red rose;
along the course of the night she would be presented with six such
flowers at different intervals - one
for each year, as was their tradition.
"Do you ever tire of the color?" he asked,
and she shook her head, taking the flower delicately in
between her fore-fingers and thumb. "...Because I could get any
color you want - " he babbled as
she approached, and with a smile, she grasped his tie firmly to pull
him down into a kiss.
"The color's fine; besides - you shouldn't worry
about the color; you should be wondering how
the hell you're gonna pull off fifty of these in one night in about
44 years..." she grinned as she went
to put the flower in water. "Which reminds me - I should start
stocking up on vases, hmm?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down-town Reyes was alive with various night-clubs
and theaters - but tucked away in a corner
from all the commotion was a lovely park that the city was famous for.
Nearly the size of the inner
city itself, the park was a national reserve for several different
rare types of plants. The largest,
though not quite the most endangered, was a copse of huge Garneo trees
that over-shadowed the
field that the annual Reyes Carnival was held; and also the place James,
who had been with a troop
of friends, first spotted Vixxy.
She had been taking photos of the carnival for her
4th period journalism class, specifically the
ferris-wheel; when James had run straight into one of the support struts
for it. After his friends had
laughed until they could laugh no more, James righted himself, and
introduced himself to the shocked
kit. When she asked where he found the guts to come up to her
after he had nailed the
ferris-wheel's steel gerter, James had bashfully replied that he figured
he had already made a
complete fool of himself - and that he might as well go all the way,
regardless of the circumstances.
After all, he softly sighed, she was worth running into the ferris-wheel
a thousand times.
As one could imagine, this comment had captured her
attention - and to James's delight, he had
kept it ever since. After ditching Peppy and the others, the
two enjoyed the normal carnival-based
date; from cotton candy, to popcorn, to the tilt-a-wurl. But
the one thing above all other activities
they enjoyed was getting stuck at the top of the ferris-wheel.
Tonight, after a stunning dinner at Meircie's, James
and Vixxy strolled around the park until they
came to the carnival to complete their yearly ritual of riding the
ferris-wheel. Holding tight to his arm,
Vixxy grinned as she joined him in a brilliant blue steel cage - thrilling
as it rocked gently. With a
devilish smile, James leaned forward to swivel their cage greatly as
the ferris-wheel began to rotate.
Up and backwards they went, Vixxy squealing in mock terror as her mangy
husband dared to see how high he could get their car to rock.
"I---am----gonna-----PUKE!" she batted at him
furiously, and with a cackle, he tickled her as
the car slowed to normal. The ferris-wheel shivered slightly,
and with a sigh, it came to a halt with
their car on the exact top.
"You pay that guy to do this each year, don't you?"
Vixxy raised an eyebrow with a sly grin, but
James frowned innocently.
"I have no idea what you mean - I was under the impression
that it's been fate for the past 6
years..." the corners of his mouth twitched to reveal a toothy smile
at bay, and Vixxy giggled,
reaching to punch him on the bicep.
"Good answer..." she nodded in approval, and
he captured her in his arms to bestow a kiss upon
her that melted her to her toes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Four days Andross tried to concentrate on his work
at the labs. Four days he tried to stall the
research he was doing while he appeared to be doing something.
There were only so many times
he could retest certain properties of the cloning process, though,
before a few of his assistants
started to question the workings of the ape they thought to be eccentric.
"If you skip through this process too quickly, our
data will not be worth a damn," he insisted, but
all his excuses fell on the ears of assistants that had also been paid
to keep watch of the boy whose
semi rebellious nature had aggravated the Upper Councils.
After four days he himself was tired of making excuses,
and so he sat in the back parking lot of
WRMV's News Building on his moped, with his untidy briefcase.
It was Thursday, and he was
extremely early for his luncheon with Vixxy, but his tie was perfectly
pressed, and his lapels straight
and proper.
He had hoped to arrive with enough courage to ask
her to a nice restaurant down the block, but
so far, the idea of whisking her away on his moped was less than appealing.
At present his attention was caught by the sharp
clicking of heels on sidewalk; their rhythm
rushed. Andross nearly cringed as Odette Duma came barreling
around the corner of the building,
car keys in hand. Quickly he hopped off his moped, clutching
his briefcase, but it was too late; the
snobby panther had spied him, and her eyes rolled heaven-ward.
"Why hello, Professor - one guess why you're lurking
about hmm? By the way - you're like way
too late; Vixxy's already at lunch." she sniveled, nearly bumping
him out of the way as she made for
her car a few spaces away. With a stunned expression, Andross
turned with her, his heart dropping
to somewhere in his stomach.
"W...w-w...what?" he began to stammer, when Odette
sniffed at him, unlocking her two door,
lemon-yellow convertible.
"She's at lunch with Pete Kimshaw - you know, the
director of - oh, I don't know why I'm
bothering to even tell you," she flung her purse into the back
seat, snapping on a pair of yellow
leopard-print sunglasses as she jumped into the car. Andross
jumped nervously as she pealed out of
the parking lot - radio blaring suddenly. He blinked at her license
plate: SUPRSTR
"H-how s-shallow can you get?" he muttered,
when the latch to his briefcase exploded. The
entire contents fluttered to the pavement. "Oh, Bloody hell!"
he cried in self defeat, snatching a few
of the papers in mid-flight.
"Andy? Oh my!" came the appalled, musical
voice of Vixxy as she came out the employee
entrance. "Here, let me help - " Andross hurriedly grabbed all
the papers he could before she came
running out to help.
"Thank you, thank you...no - I'm all right...thank
you..." he muttered bitterly, and Vixxy paused as
she knelt by the papers in her business skirt. He caught the
hurt look on her face as he began to stuff
the papers back into his briefcase, but try as he might, he could not
find the voice to speak. The
silence was deafening, until she reached for a few papers, neatly arranging
them in piles. He nearly
balked when she slid the briefcase over to her to arrange those he
had stuffed into it as well. Kindly,
and softly, she spoke as she shifted his work about.
"Andy, what ever's wrong?" she kept her gaze
focused on the papers, until he began to help
gather the other loose ones into neat piles.
"Nothing...nothing at all, Miss Vixxy - I only had
a little run-in with Odette; it is nothing you should
worry your pretty head about...oh...oh, thank you kindly, my
dear..." he sighed as Vixxy latched his
briefcase, a faint smile on her lips as she handed it back to him.
"First of all, Andy - there is no such thing as a
'little' run-in with Odette. Second of all, you really
should buy a briefcase with a lock of some sort if you're going to
be carrying around maps of
DNA." she chuckled, leaning to whisper in his ear, "It's
a might suspicious, you realize?"
Andross exhaled sharply as he chuckled, nodding in
agreement. As he rose, he held out a hand to
help her, and she accepted. Brushing the dirt from her knees
and skirt, she fixed him with a worried
gaze.
"You seem...tense, Andy; anything you'd like to talk
about?" she asked, but he shook his head
'no' before she even finished her sentence. Pausing, Vixxy reached
to straighten his tie from behind
the briefcase as he returned to clutching it to him. He clung
tighter as she tugged gently at the
pin-stripe tie, a frown on her angelic face. "You are still up
for lunch, aren't you?" she hoped, quite
surprised when he visibly trembled.
"Oh...of course, Miss Vixxy - but Odette...she mentioned
you had previously had lunch with a
Mr. Kimshaw?" he dared to look over at her, when she broke a
sweet smile.
"We never really ate anything - he was too busy offering
me prime time for the next...oh...several
weeks!" she laughed, and Andross grinned suddenly, watching the
way the light brushed her muzzle,
and the sparkle in her violet eyes as she spoke.
"My dear, that is wonderful! Rick is finally
seeing what talent you have!" he slowly lowered the
case to his side, when Vixxy gave a twinkling laugh.
"Indeed! Thanks to you, Andy." she pointed
out, when he dropped his gaze once more. "I was
thinking what a nice day it would be to walk over to that new bistro
down on the corner, what do
you say?" Vixxy smiled, and for that moment, Andross watched
her, convinced that she knew what
he felt for her. How kind of her to suggest they walk, he noted;
how adoring her voice sounded
when she praised his name and his help. For that moment he felt
stronger, and his shyness all but
melted as he nodded with the confidence that he could tell her anything
and she would understand.
"You're not angry with me about the cloning?"
he mentioned as they headed for the front
sidewalk, and Vixxy shook her head 'no'.
"Andy I know there's only so far you can resist
against what they assign you to; I just want to
know if you think it's the wrong thing to do?" she replied, walking
with her hands at her back, and a
solemn gaze in Andross's direction. With a frown, the ape ambled
beside her.
"Do you think it's the wrong thing?" he asked softly, but Vixxy chuckled.
"What I think doesn't matter - I don't have the power
to stop you. What I want to know is if you
have the power to stop you?" she fluffed her tail briefly, glancing
both ways down LaGerrit Avenue
before they both crossed at the light. Once back up on the curb,
Andross smiled as he opened the
front door to the bistro for her. Nodding a 'thank you' to him,
Vixxy entered, requesting a table for
two - preferably a booth. The hostess complied, and after a moment
they were seated. While they
waited for someone to take their drink order, Andross peaked over his
menu.
"I understand you don't want the clones to be treated
uncivilly; please understand, harvesting their
body parts is not what I'm after." he continued, "It's a little
more complex than that," he assured her,
and she folded her menu.
"Try me," she tilted her head to the side as he glanced about before answering.
"It's top secret - If I told you, I'd have to tickle
you to death." he said with an absolutely straight
face, while Vixxy tried to contain her laughter. "No, honestly,
darling - it's top secret." he insisted,
but she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, now; you promised to let me in on the
real workings of the Council - or did you
conveniently forget when I told you clones were bad?" she teased,
but he raised a finger in warning
as their waiter came over to take their order.
(Last updated 12-10-02 ~ more still to follow)