The fox opened the ringing cell phone and said "Moulder."
"Hi!"
"Data. All right, do you have anything for me?"
"Perhaps. But I do need your help before I can tell for sure. But I want to switch to C-3 before we go on."
"Roger." The fox pressed a few buttons on his special cell phone and waited for the answering beep "Data?"
"Yep, still here." The voice quality was now rather bad, but the encryption that they now used was considered to be unbreakable. At least it should not be possible to crack it within the next century or so.
"All right, tell me."
"Well, I did an analysis of all kinds of possible related records and stuff. There is one particularly item that is interesting. On the traffic handling system I found a picture taken by a speed trap on the I-79, which shows is a white SUV, most probably a Kia. I can't really say that this is the car you are looking for, but I do know that this picture was manipulated."
"Manipulated? That should not be possible. At least not without raising an alarm."
"Basically, yes. But there are a few furs who have the right codes to do it. It is rather difficult to design a computer system where the administrators can't do things like that but can take useful steps in an emergency. But there are no more than a pawful of furs who can and they all have a security clearance higher than the moon."
"You don't?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Well, I was involved with the design of some important pieces of the system and could probably get them if I really wanted to, but..."
"Ok. So, how did you know the picture was manipulated?"
"A good bit of luck and some fancy image analyzing subroutines. All the time stamps and other flags are correctly set, so it is extremely unlikely that anyone would notice the manipulation unless he was looking at the changed area and investigated it specifically."
"So how did you find it?"
"My image search routine tagged this picture based on one of the car's shape and color as a potential candidate and when I looked at it, I realized that the license plate of that car should be readable, but it was not. That part of the image was more blurry than it should be."
"Could be a defect in the lens."
"Could be. But it's not there in any of the other pictures taken by the same speed trap. And I ran my image analyzer on it and it gave a 95 percent chance of this 'defect' having been added through an image manipulation. Plus, there is a second blurred spot, right where the head of either the driver or the passenger might be visible. Pretty interesting coincidence, would you not say..."
"All, right." The fox began grinning "You might be onto something. So where did that happen and what do you need from me?"
"Once I noticed that the image had been manipulated, I called the police station that is responsible for this speed trap and asked them to restore the image from the backup that is automatically created. They brushed me off and since I don't have the authority to order them to do it and Skulky said I should not involve any other furs without involving you first... so I'd need you to lean on them. Once I have the original picture, I should be able to tell you more."
"Will do. Just tell me where to and I'll be there as soon as I can. You should have that file in no time flat."
# # # # #
Penny turned to Sarah and said "Slow down a little." She peered at the road signs and soon she said "That's the one. Take the next right."
"Ok." Sarah answered and did as instructed. The gravel road meandered down a wooded hill and we followed it for a few hundred meters before we emerged out in a large meadow. A few moments later we stopped in front of the Lakeside's house. Villa was probably the more correct term.
Even before Sarah had killed the engine, the door opened and a young femme padded out. She wore a robe over a one-piece swimming suit. For a moment I tried to figure out what species she was before I remembered that she would be a hybrid if this femme were indeed Penny's friend Betty. Her body shape was that of an otter, but her fur was the creamy white of a polar bear. And she was rather large for a femme.
Penny practically jumped out of the car, closed the distance with a few quick strides and very nearly jumped into her arms. And she promptly disappeared in the bear hug the much larger femme gave her. They talked for a few moments while Sarah and Alan also left the car and padded up to her to greet her. I waited as I had agreed to do. They talked for a minute before Sarah waved to me and I climbed out of the car to join them.
Betty stared at me as I closed the distance and held out my hand. Then she smiled and said "My, my! You really are a strange one." She shook my hand with a rather firm grip "Welcome to our humble abode, alien. Call me Betty."
"Chris Saepin. I'm pleased to meet you." Up close she was even more impressive, she was a few centimeters taller than me and quite a bit more massive. She was not fat or anything, she was just built to a different scale.
She studied me for a few moments and turned to Sarah "I think you win the price for finding the most unusual boyfriend, Sarah." Then she turned back to me "You really come from a different world?"
"Yes. As far as I know. Or maybe I should rather call it a parallel world. A lot of things are very similar, including the geography and history. The one big difference is that the people here have fur instead of bare skin."
She shook her head "It's so difficult to really believe, even if you are standing here, right next to me." She considered me for a few moments and asked "So, you need help to get everything straightened out with the government."
"Yes. I'd rather prefer if I did not end up in a lab somewhere or maybe even in a toxic waste removal plant because I'm a dangerous illegal alien."
"We'll do what we can, Chris. My parents are at work right now, but they should be home at around five. They know several good lawyers who specialize in immigration law and stuff. They'll find someone who can help you." Then she grinned and stretched "But let's not stand around here, the weather is just too nice. And the water in the lake is wonderful. Come!" With that she turned around and padded back into the house.
The next few hours passed very pleasantly. We swam in the lake and lounged around in the sun or in the shade. I told my story yet again. I rather liked Betty, she was pleasant and friendly and she once she got over her initial surprise she treated me as it I was just another friend.
# # # # #
"Moulder."
"Hi!"
"Data! Anything new?"
"First, switch to C-3. And make sure no one is listening to you."
"Roger."
A few moments later he went on "Yes. But it will take some more time to give you something concrete. First, I have uploaded the picture for you, together with an enlarged and enhanced crop of the blurred areas. The passenger looks rather interesting, but... well, have a look yourself. And I found out whom the car belongs to. Maybe that is..."
"Maybe?"
"Well, first, not the whole license number is readable. But there is only one Kia Sportage among the possible numbers, so I have a very probable match. The owner is one Sara Carolinas of Columbus, Ohio."
"Well, that is something, but then we still don't know where she was going, because then she was not going home. At least not if she was going north on I 79."
"I think that the ownership record was manipulated as well. I looked up the address where she was supposed to be living and some other fur is registered there. And there was no record of someone like that in several other records where she should have shown up. Someone who knows quite a bit about our record system did some manipulations to prevent anyone from tracing the owner of that car. All the manipulations are hidden well enough that only someone who cross-checks them would ever notice."
"So, what can we do?"
"Wait a bit. I'm restoring the backup of the registration database from last week, I'll run the search on that and then I should get some real answers. I'm pretty sure whoever did this only beat me by a few hours and did not have time to really hide his electronic tracks, he just obscured them. I'll call when I have something new."
# # # # #
I was exiting the water after another dip to cool down, hand in paw with Sarah, when Betty's mother returned. The female polar bear stopped dead and stared at us, me specifically. She was even more massive than her daughter. Betty's shouted "Hi, Mom!" shook her from her momentary daze and she approached us and waited until we had left the water. "Hello, forgive me for staring, but I have never seen a fur like you. Did you loose all your fur from an illness?" A moment later she added "I'm Betty's mother, as you might have realized already. My name is Siki."
"Hello. My name is Sarah, I'm Alan's sister and this is my boyfriend Chris. As for your question, no, he did not loose his fur, this is just how he looks."
"Really?" Her eyes widened a little more.
"Yes." I said "Actually, that is one of the reasons we are here today. I'm not from here, I'm an alien. As far as I can tell, I'm from a parallel world."
She stared at me "Do tell..."
"Hello mother." Betty said as she left the water "I know it sounds fantastic, but I think that he is telling the truth."
"But..."
"Yeah, I know it sounds far-fetched, but I believe him."
"All right. I guess you are right. I would have heard about it if we did have such a weird species of furs here." Her head snapped around and she looked at me "Sorry. I hope I did not offend you with that."
"No." I grinned at her "You all look rather strange to me as well, so why should I be offended if you think that you look strange."
"Thank you."
"Mother, will you help us. Or rather, help him and Sarah?"
"How?"
"Well, up to now only a few furs know that I am here. Since I don't know how I came here, I seriously doubt that I can go back home. So sooner or later I will have to come out into the open and apply for a work permit or citizenship or something like that. And I'd rather not become a lab animal or end up in a prison or whatever." I glanced at Sarah "The sooner I can start a normal life here, the better."
"Mother, I know I have not paid a lot of attention to that, but I know that you donate a lot of money to a charity that helps immigrants and furs of unusual descent."
"Hmmm... Yes, I think I know a fur or two who could help you." Then she smiled "But let's talk about that a bit later, when Eric is here." She looked at the water "I've had a tiring day at work and I really need a long dip in the lake." With that she dropped her towel and jumped into the water with a huge splash. Her daughter followed her a few seconds later. We others, who were not so inured to the cold water, elected to dry off instead.
# # # # #
"Moulder?"
"Hi. C-3 please."
"Roger." A few moments later "Ok, shoot."
"All right. The car's owner is actually called Sarah Carolinae. And her parents are living in the Erie area. She could well be heading there, so you might want to check them out."
"Right you are. I hope you have a more precise address..."
"Of course."
# # # # #
The conversation with the Lakesides had been interesting and fruitful. They had been very nice and after I had told them my story, they had called one of the lawyers who knew quite a lot about immigration law and sometimes helped one of the charities with immigration cases. They set up a meeting for the following day. And I would most probably not even have to pay him, as that would be handled by a charity to which they donated often. All in all I felt a lot better about the prospects for my future with Sarah.
"You really think this is a good idea, Alan? To go to the cinema tomorrow?" I asked Sarah's brother, who was driving his sister's car on the way back.
"Of course. You said that you wanted to see 'Furrinator 3', didn't you?"
"Yes, I did. But you don't think we will have any problem... Considering the way I look?"
"No. It's the early show, and it's hot outside. There won't be all that many furs around. Sure, a few of them will stare, but I don't think anyone will give us any problems."
"I certainly hope so."
"Alan, I don't think that this is a good idea at all."
He grinned at me "We'll take seats in the last row. If you don't like the movie, you can always entertain my sister."
"Alan!"
"Be nice, sister of mine." Alan snickered "Hmmm, well, if you want to go to a cinema with a more 'discreet' atmosphere... I know a place where they show 'Vixen Games III', would you prefer to watch that instead?"
Sarah's fur flared out prettily "No!" Alan snickered again and his grin grew even wider.
# # # # #
"The target car is approaching the jump-off point. Control out."
"Acknowledged. We are following them. Will be ready in a few moments. Helper out."
"I am ready. Executor out."
"Target car has stopped. Everybody ready to rock and roll? Control out."
"Locked and loaded. Have perfect line-of-sight. Executor out."
"We have stopped. Ready for action. Helper out."
"Ready to roll. Pickup out."
"Target is exiting the car... Engage, Helper. Take it down, Executor. Control out."
"Closing with target. Helper out."
*Snick* (Sound of silenced air gun) "Target hit... Target down. Executor out."
# # # # #
Alan slowed down and stopped the car right in front of their parent's house. I looked up and down the road and when I saw no other furs walking around, I climbed out and held the door for Sarah. She kissed my cheek and put her arm around my waist, and we padded to the back of the car where she opened the trunk. I picked up our bags and then we began making our way to the entrance door. Sarah whispered in my ear "I love you, Chris."
"I... " Suddenly I felt a sting in my right shoulder, must have been a bee or something. "love..." I took another step, then I stumbled over something and saw the ground rush up to meet me. Then blackness.
Sarah stumbled and nearly fell when Chris went sprawling and nearly dragged her down with him. "Chris, you clumsy oaf." She chided him and smiled. Her smile faded when he did not answer or move "Chris? Are you ok?" She asked with rising concern. When there was no answer, she knelt down and shook him. When she got no reaction, she felt for his pulse.
She was just about to call for help when a voice asked her "Is your friend all right?"
She looked up at a couple of rabbits whom she had not noticed when they had left the car only moments ago "He not moving! I can't get a pulse!" She wailed, close to panicking now.
"I'm a nurse, let me check. Ok?" The rabbit doe said, and when Sarah nodded agreement, knelt and put her paw on Chris's throat, searching for a pulse.
"Should I call an ambulance, dear?" Her companion asked.
"Yes." After a few seconds she said "His pulse is very weak, but it's still there and he is breathing." She carefully rolled him on the side. "Do you have a blanket in your car, Miss?"
"I'll get it!" Alan said, released Penny's paw and rushed back to Sarah's car. He returned a few seconds later and Sarah and the rabbit doe carefully wrapped Chris in the blanket.
The male rabbit closed his cell phone and said "An ambulance should be here in a few minutes."
"Is he going to be all right?" Sarah asked with fear in her voice.
"He is still alive and breathing, girl. I don't know what is wrong with him. There is not much we can do, except keep him warm and wait for the ambulance." She took Sarah's paw and guided it to a spot on the unconscious human's throat "Do you feel his pulse?"
"Yes."
"Keep your paw there. As long as it does not change everything is all right. Tell me if it changes, then we might have to take measures."
"All right." Sarah answered, reassured a little at feeling her lover's pulse.
The rabbit doe stood up again and watched them.
Trembling a little, Sarah knelt next to her lover, one paw on his neck, straining to feel his weak pulse and prayed silently.
After several nerve-wracking minutes the ambulance came screaming down the street with flashing lights. The ambulance screeched to a halt and several paramedics jumped out. One of them began checking the still body on the ground while another one asked "Ok, what happened?"
Sarah sighed and said "My friend just fell down and did not move any more. When I checked him, he was unconscious and barely breathing. I don't know what happened."
"I see. Do you know of any medical conditions that he might suffer from. Heart problems, allergies, high blood pressure, anything like that?"
Sarah thought about this for a few moments "Not really. He is shortsighted, but he did not tell me about anything else."
"Too bad." He turned to the other paramedic "What is his status?"
"He seems to be stable but his heartbeat is very weak. His breathing is rather shallow as well."
"Will Chris be all right?" Sarah asked, pleading with her eyes for him to reassure her.
"I can't really say anything until we know what is wrong with him, but I'd say his chances are pretty good. We do have to get him to a hospital as soon as possible, however."
A third fur, the driver, brought a stretcher. In a few moments they had loaded Chris into the ambulance. When the paramedic closed the gate and prepared to climb in, Sarah stopped him "Can I come with you, please?"
"I'm sorry, Miss, but that is not possible. You can visit your friend at the hospital."
"Where are you taking him?"
"Arniston Memorial. If we want to save your friend, every minute counts. Good bye, Miss." With that he closed the tailgate of the ambulance and it sped off.
Sarah watched the ambulance as it raced off with flashing lights. When it had disappeared down the road, she turned around to look for the furs who had helped her, but they were not around any more. "Alan, have you seen the nurse and her companion?"
He looked around and shrugged his shoulders "No. They must have left while we talked with the paramedics."
"Strange, they did not even give us a chance to thank them."
He shrugged his shoulders "Maybe they were in a hurry..."
"Whatever. I want to get to that hospital."
"Ok." They picked up the blanket, put it into the car and a few moments later they sped off as well.
# # # # #
The femme at the information desk looked up from the screen and said "No, Miss, I'm sorry. Our records don't show any patient like that."
"But the paramedics said they were taking him here."
"I'm sorry, but your friend is not here." She turned back to the screen and typed for a minute "Hmmm, there was a bad accident on the Interstate half an hour earlier, so we had two patients in the emergency room. Maybe they diverted the ambulance to City General hospital."
"Could you check, please."
The mouse femme turned back to her computer. A minute later she shook her head "I'm sorry, the network is acting up again, I can only access our own files."
"Sh*t!" Sarah took a few deep breaths "Are you sure that he is there?"
"Well, City General is the only other hospital in the area that takes emergency cases. I can't think of any other place they would take him to."
"Thank you for your help. Good bye." Sarah said and turned around "Let's go there, Alan."
"Sarah?" Alan turned to his sister "Does it not strike you as strange that the paramedics did not even ask for our names?"
Sarah stared at her brother.
"Normally, when something like that happens, would the police not be there as well and take down the names of everybody around, just in case?"
"That is strange..." Sarah's muzzle fell open and tears appeared in her eyes "Do you think they were not real paramedics?" her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I don't know, Sarah. I hope we will find him at this hospital." He thought about the incident some more "You know something else? None of them seemed the least surprised by how he looked..."
Sarah did not answer, she just stared morosely at the dashboard, not really seeing it as her eyes filled with tears.
# # # # #
"Sarah, find out if Chris is here, I'll call mum to tell her what happened and where we are now."
"Ok." Sarah said and padded up to the information desk.
"How can I help you, Miss?" the male lynx sitting there asked.
"I'm looking for a friend. He should have been admitted to emergency care not long ago."
"Ok, what's his name?"
"Chris Saepin."
He consulted his computer "I'm sorry, Miss, we don't have anyone by that name here."
Sarah's hear sank, she sobbed once and had to fight to suppress the tears that threatened to overwhelm her.
"Maybe they mistyped his name or something. Give me some details about what happened, maybe I can find him that way." Sarah gave him a short summary of what had happened and he consulted his computer for a while before he shook his head "No, we don't have anyone who might fit. Have you checked at Arniston Memorial?"
Alan stepped up at that moment and Sarah began to cry. "We were there first, they sent us here." he said.
"Oops. Something has gone wrong here. Let me get my supervisor."
A minute later, a slim female hare joined them "Hello, my name is Petra Schafer. What is the problem, Mark?"
He gave her a short summary of the problem. Finally she said "I'll have to check this, if you would follow me to my office?" Sarah and Alan followed her. The hare sat down at her desk and motioned to the others to be seated. "All right, Miss...?"
"Sarah Carolinae."
"Miss Carolinae, please tell me again what happened. Give me the name and a description of your friend."
"His name is Christoph Saepin. He is... a human."
Her eyes widened "He is a what?"
"A human. You know, like in the science fiction films, no fur, no tail, ... You probably think I'm crazy, but I'm not. He really is."
The hare shook her head "I'm sorry, but I find that a little hard to believe."
Alan spoke up "My sister is right, he is a human." Then he turned to Sarah "Why don't you show her a picture of him?"
"Of course." Sarah rummaged through her purse and produced the pictures.
Petra took the pictures and examined them for a minute, before she shook her head and put them down again "All right, I can't see any signs of tampering, but I find it very hard to believe they are genuine. Still, I'll assume that you did not just make this up." She turned to her computer and looked through the admittance records. "Nobody was admitted today who might fit this description, even remotely. Maybe they forgot to file it. Let me call the duty nurse at the ER."
Petra picked up the phone and dialed. She talked to the nurse for a minute and described the missing patient. Finally she put down the receiver again and said "No, he is not there."
Sarah asked "Where could he be?"
"Hmmm, maybe they were held up and it took them longer to get to Memorial hospital. I'll call them again." She picked up the receiver again.
Sarah felt her hope slowly slipping away as she listened to the femme hare talk. Her fears were confirmed when the hare replaced the receiver and said "No, they did not admit him."
The panic was now clearly audible in her voice as Sarah asked "Where... where could he be?"
Petra felt sorry for the obviously distraught squirrel femme, but for a moment she did not know what to do. Chewing her claws, she thought furiously "Maybe the Healing Brothers hospital. They don't usually take emergency patients, but who knows." She picked up the receiver again. A minute later Sarah's hopes were dashed again "No, they did not admit any emergency patients today."
Finally Petra said "I'll call the 911 dispatch center. Maybe they know something." It took her several minutes to convince the fur on the other end of the line to give her any information. "Just a moment." She turned to Sarah "Miss, where and when exactly did this happen?"
Alan answered "Swansville, a little more than an hour ago"
Petra passed the information to the fur at the other end of the line. "Houston, we have a problem." was her first thought when she got her answer. She thanked him and hung up. "Either these furs have only made this up or we have a real problem." She turned to Sarah "I'm sorry, but they did not get any call from that area and no ambulance was dispatched there."
"What?!? How?" Sarah began trembling.
"Crap!" Alan exclaimed. Then he asked "Would any ambulance leave with a patient without taking down his name and the names of any furs involved?"
"Maybe, if it was a real emergency. But then they would usually call the police to take care of that and possibly look for any evidence of foul play."
"Then I fear he might have been the victim of foul play... I should have paid closer attention to what was happening. There were a few oddities that I did not realize until later..."
"Such as?"
Alan told her as much as he remembered of the accident.
When he was finished, Petra looked at them sadly and said "I fear your friend was kidnapped. Probably by a criminal organization."
"NO!!!" Sarah wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks, then her eyes rolled up and she slumped in her chair.
Petra and Alan looked at each other for a moment, then Petra jumped up, ran out into the corridor and screamed "Help! Get a doctor!" while Alan checked Sarah's pulse.
End of Chapter 12