FIRE ON HIGH
“Fire On High” is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters and settings © Tigermark 2003-2018 unless otherwise noted. Request permission before using them, please.
The characters of Anatol Altaisokova and Melinda Altaisokova are my names for characters © Max Blackrabbit. They appear in this story with his permission. The characters of Brandy, Maxwell, Tonya and Zig Zag are also © Max Blackrabbit and appear here with his permission. Events and information relating to Tonya, Anatol, and their family are presented here, but are not to be considered canon to those characters or any other story but this one. ZZ Studios, and all characters associated with ZZ Studios, James Sheppard, and Marvin Badger © James Bruner and appear here with his permission. Although characters from and events referring to Zig Zag the Story appear here, this story is not canon to that one, and the author will disavow any knowledge of this story. Wanda Vixen © Chris Yost and appears here with his permission. Sabrina Mustidalae © Eric W. Schwartz and appears here with his permission. This story is not canon to Sabrina Online the comic, or Sabrina Online the Story, either. Matt Barstock, Angie Rockwell, Intermountain Charter, The Bitch, and her crew, and Jerry Kitt © Silver Coyote. See their story HERE. Gail Rutherford © me and is not canon to any other story involving ZZ Studios. Gabrielle Ryder and Jean LeBrun © Aslaug, from her Transitions stories. See them at her site, The Axe Shed, available from the links page. Aramis Dagaz is© his player and appears here with his permission.
Bonde Bunneh © Cirrel and is used with his permission.
Author’s Note:
Chapter 83
Southern Heading
Aramis looked at his computer, smirking in a rueful way. Agent Andy Denver had gotten an email from Agent Diana Forsham, FBI. It read:
Andy,
You were right. All kinds of evidence of sabotage, but not a thing to show who did it. No forensics, no paper trail other than the money transaction from Mastifson. The tracer on who it went to gets lost after the third phony account. I hate unsolved cases. I’ll keep an eye open for anything coming through the Bureau in relation to O’Whitt and especially Mastifson. Hope together we can sort this guy out.
Diana
The felid puffed out a breath. Since the sabotage, things had been very quiet on this case. All the surveillance was still in place, but other than attempting to go through all the one-night-stand eligible femmes in several cities, Mastifson had been working and keeping his nose clean.
Just then a folder landed on his desk. He looked up to see their regular interoffice courier heading on toward the next cubicle. Picking up the file, Aramis flipped it open to reveal the now-familiar Secret labeling, and then read on. After a moment he grinned. Mastifson had attempted to call the mechanic he’d used to sabotage Col. O’Whitt’s aircraft. Thanks to increased surveillance assets, he had a transcript of the call. After a moment more he laughed. The mechanic had turned the Rottweiler down cold and very pointedly told him to never call back. Aramis actually gave a sigh of relief. Then after several seconds, he began to wonder.
What was the Rottweiler up to now?
# # #
The femme sat at the desk she normally worked at when at the home office. Today she was basically shuffling paperwork. In her late thirties, she’d had a few glamourous, exciting assignments, but most of the time she was either looking for patterns in stacks of reports or researching to get ready for her next assignment. Her supervisor, a gaunt chihuahua named Livingston, turned into her cubicle and gave her an envelope.
“For you, eyes only. Destroy everything but the travel authorization and documents after reading. Standard ops, but this one could get tricky. Best discretion if it goes sour in any way.”
The femme nodded and took the envelope. Her supervisor left without saying anything more. She opened it and looked over the contents. Travel authorization and a voucher for a ticket to be used at their travel office. A passport, driver’s license, credit cards, and other documents to prove her identity as just a tourist.
“Now to the meat of it,” she thought as she opened another envelope that had been inside the first. The more she read, the more her eyebrows lifted on her forehead.
MISSION SYNOPSIS: U.S. Army enlisted Staff Sergeant Jack Relquist, beagle/terrier, male, age 25. Tan w/dark brown patches. Eyes: brown. Height: 5’10”. Weight: 170lbs.
Subject is believed to have made unauthorized copies of SCI classified documents involving U.S. missile defense program. Owes a large gambling debt to offshore interests. Surveillance reveals subject is on the way to OP Area Delta Juliet to deliver documents and collect payment. Operators from Black Hat interests are being intercepted before their arrival at the RP. Agent will pose as buyer and retrieve documents. Subject will be apprehended upon return to CONUS by Army and FBI assets. Payment will be by electronic transfer to account of Subject’s choice.
CONTACT: Codename Alpha Stryker. CHALLENGE: Beloit. RESPONSE: Pigeon.
The femme looked at her watch. She had just enough time to prep, go retrieve her ticket, pack a few things, and make her flight.
So much for boring assignments.
# # #
Loni was typing away at her computer as Alex walked past. He overheard her end of the conversation and stopped to listen.
“Two weeks from now for five days…Yes…Yes…Are you sure they want to go to Kingston?...Well, usually we go to Montego Bay…Oh, I see…Yes…Okay, we have you scheduled for a Cessna Citation…You want the G-IV…Okay, I see…Yes, if Mr. Golanico is going, you want the best. Okay, all set on the schedule. We’ll pick you up at Wilmington Airport in two weeks…Exact time will be faxed with the itinerary…Thank you, bye.”
Loni looked up at Alex as he made to go on into his office.
“Alex, you want to fly to Jamaica in two weeks? That was Redline Productions. They want to go to Kingston to scout movie locations. They’ve scheduled a G-IV because Mr. Golanico is going. Dan, Roal, and Janet are already booked for the other G-IV, so this will go to Joe, Roger, and Rebecca, unless you want to give Joe a break.”
Alex half-grinned. “Sorry, no. Billy has his surgery today. I don’t know if he’ll be back on his feet by then or not.”
The lynx looked aghast. “Is that today? Oh my, I’ve been so busy I’d forgotten. I wondered why he hadn’t been in yet.”
Alex shrugged. “No big deal. You and Duncan do a great job of holding down the fort when he and I are both out. I’m going to check email and look at a few things and then go meet Penny at the hospital. No need in her being alone while he’s in surgery.”
Loni nodded, wanting to say more, but not sure what to say. Alex smiled.
“I’ll be sure and pass along everyone’s well-wishes. See you in a bit.”
Loni gave him a grateful nod and went back to work. Alex went to his office, checked emails and his schedule, and then left for the hospital. Billy was going to have laparoscopic surgery to remove his gall bladder, which had begun to become more troublesome in the last few weeks.
The drive there was uneventful, as traffic was light after the early morning rush. Alex parked and went in. After a cheery candy-striper spaniel at the reception desk directed him where to go, he made his way to the surgical wing. Finding the correct waiting room, he walked in to find Penny sitting quietly, magazine in paw, but not really seeing what she was looking at. She looked up as he walked in, a smile lighting her face.
“Hello Alex! I’m glad you’re here. They took him to surgery about fifteen minutes ago. Have a seat.”
Alex leaned down and hugged the tiger-fox femme, and then sat down. “How was he doing?”
“Cracking jokes, upbeat as ever. I think he’ll be fine. How about you? How are things with Corrie?”
Alex almost laughed. Leave it to Penny to grill him about his girlfriend instead of fretting about her husband.
“Things are great! At least they are the little bit I get to see her. I’ll be glad when she moves down. I know she’ll be busy once she gets here, but it’ll be better than flying to Maine all the time.”
Penny winked. “Males have gone much farther for their ladies, but I’m looking forward to her being down here too. Even though she’ll probably keep my tiger as busy as she will be.”
“Business startups are like that. We were lucky to have two retired Air Force guys as partners here when we started Kentiger, and it was still very hectic for us at a distance. Hey, how long is Billy supposed to be in surgery?” Alex asked.
“Probably under an hour, unless something complicates it. I don’t think there will be any. All the x-rays and such looked good for a quick removal. Thank you, by the way, for keeping an eye on him while you were doing airshows. If it had started acting up, it could have caused quite a problem there.” Alex was sure Penny was talking to hide her nervousness. He did have an admission to make.
“I think it did, a little. He was always complaining with his lower back, but I saw him rub across his abdomen once or twice. I just don’t think he wanted to stop the show until we were done.”
Penny arched an eyebrow. “That stubborn…tiger! I’m sure he did.”
Alex just laughed. After a moment, Penny did too. They continued with talk of family and business. After about 30 minutes, a leopard in surgical scrubs walked in.
“Mrs. Panelli, Billy is doing just fine. Give them about five minutes to get him situated in Recovery, and then you can go wait for him to wake up. I’ll be in to go over the results of the procedure after he wakes up.”
“Thank you, Dr. Louis,” Penny replied simply. The surgeon left, and Penny looked at Alex.
“Come along. I’m sure a friendly face will help. This has been, by comparison, pretty minor, but I could tell it concerned Billy a lot.”
Alex nodded and stood, offering Penny a paw up. “Alright, but don’t be surprised if I tease him a little.”
Penny graciously accepted the paw and stood, and they walked down the hall to the Recovery room. Billy was still out when they entered, and a nurse in scrubs was making sure everything was situated. He turned to them as they walked in.
“Hello Mrs. Panelli, and you must be Alex. Billy spoke of his white tiger counterpart. I’m John, and I’ll be in and out until we move him to a room. He’ll be sore, but everything went fine.”
Both Alex and Penny said their greetings and thank you’s as the German Shepherd left. It was only a moment more when Billy’s steady breathing changed rhythm and his eyes popped open. Penny was right at his side.
“Hey Cowboy, welcome back. The doc said everything went fine.”
Billy focused in on her and smiled. Then he noticed Alex behind her shoulder. He licked his lips and spoke.
“Hi Princess. I must not be all the way awake yet. There’s the ugliest tiger I’ve ever seen standing behind you.”
Penny didn’t miss a beat. “Oh? Dear, there’s nobody here but me.”
Billy’s eyes got wide as he looked sharply in the tiger’s direction.
Alex grinned and said, “Yeah, and you snore like a buzzsaw. I don’t know how Penny puts up with it.”
Penny laughed, and Billy started to, but then kept it down to a chuckle. He’d felt the slight pull on his stitches. Just then John and Dr. Louis walked in, and the doctor began speaking.
“Well, I like the sound of laughter, but take it easy. Don’t want any torn stitches. Mr. and Mrs. Panelli, the surgery went fine. We removed the gall bladder without incident. It was about 90% full of stones. If we hadn’t caught it when we did, it would have become quite painful and inflamed in a short time. I’m having it biopsied, as to me it looked a bit precancerous. Now. After you rest in a regular room for a few hours, you can go home. It will be about six days before you can start driving and return to work. Do you have any questions for me?”
Both Billy and Penny shook their heads no. For their part, they knew it was Billy’s insistence more than the doctor’s medical skill that found the problem so early. For them, it was now a chapter to close and move on from. Alex excused himself as John began to disconnect monitor lines in preparation for moving Billy to a regular room.
“Billy,” he called. “Glad this worked out well. Penny, take good care of him, I need to get back.”
“Bye Alex, thanks for keeping me company,” Penny replied with a smile.
“Don’t work too hard. I’ll see you next week!” Billy added.
Alex gave them a wave and headed back to work, thankful that his friend had come through so well.
# # #
Belinda Styles walked down the loading gate in Montego Bay, Jamaica exactly twenty hours after her boss had dropped this assignment in her lap. A lioness, the heat outside wouldn’t bother her, but the air conditioning still felt good for now. Her blonde hair pulled back, she looked the image of a tourist coming in on vacation. The agents who had been coming to meet the canid selling the classified documents had been . . . delayed. That was all she was told.
She retrieved her bag, cleared Customs and Immigration, and walked out of the airport terminal building. Along the street was several stands of taxies, the drivers of which all started yammering at her to pick them. She noted a particularly scruffy mixed breed canid, dark-furred with black dreadlocks. He was looking at her keenly, while calling out like the rest, but with an air of casual disinterest. She walked down to him.
“Excuse me,” she inquired in a soft southern accent. “is this cab for hire?”
“Only if you goin’ to da Beloit, Ma’am!” he replied in an accent typical of the island.
“Is that the one with or without pigeons?” the femme asked smoothly.
“Wit, if Ma’am want ‘em,” he replied as he opened the cab’s door for her. She put her bag in and sat. The driver shut the door, jumped in the driver’s seat, and started the engine. Bouncing out into traffic, they drove on into the hotel and resort sections of the town. Soon they pulled into an alley. There, a different vehicle was waiting for them. The driver got out and pulled off his dreadlocks, replacing them with a stained, decrepit baseball cap. Belinda squeezed out, as the alley was narrow and the lioness a bit on the chubby side. She quickly changed her outer clothing from standard tourist fare to a headscarf and traditional loose dress.
The new vehicle was a decrepit pickup truck. They left the tourist-oriented coastal area and headed inland. The roads became steadily worse as they went, and it took over three hours to reach their destination. They arrived at a rather run-down cottage at the end of a long dirt road. The jungle was the place’s back yard. As they got out, a Doberman in dark clothing met them.
“Alpha, it’s all clear. We got the Cubans before they got an hour in. The target is in-country, but it’ll be tomorrow before he gets here.”
The canid who’d driven the truck nodded. “Thank you, Bill. Charger, make yourself comfortable inside. We’ll signal you when the play is to begin.”
Belinda nodded. The canid who’d driven was Alpha Stryker, the operations leader for this cell. Her code name was the rather embarrassing Charger Fluffy. Her supervisor had sworn that the names were chosen at random by a computer, but somehow, she doubted that.
She went inside and found exactly what she expected. The place looked even worse on the inside. This was being done as far away from the operations base as possible. She had no idea where the original Rendezvous Point for the meeting with the Cubans was, but she trusted Alpha Stryker and his team to bring the target to her. Bill had followed her in.
“Ma’am, it looks bad but everyting is clean. No bedbugs or fleas. You can sleep if you like. I’ll be around if you need anyting.”
Belinda merely nodded. She did lay down on the ramshackle bed, but she was too keyed up to sleep. The night passed uneventfully, and shortly after dawn Alpha signaled that the contact was on his way.
She got up and arranged herself in the cushions of a ragged papasan chair. She made sure her headscarf was in place and put a somewhat disinterested sneer on her face. In about a half-hour she heard a vehicle pull in beside the house. Before anyone came in, she put a small earphone in her left ear and concealed it with her hair and scarf.
“Alpha, I’m ready.”
“Okay Charger,” the reply came tinnily into her ear. “He doesn’t know it, but his driver is one of ours. Bill will bring him in shortly.”
After a bit of theater outside for the Staff Sergeant’s benefit, he was escorted in by Bill.
“Sommun ta see ya, Missum.”
Belinda went into her act.
“Hallo der young fer! I unnerstand ya got sumthin for Mama ta pass on, yeah?”
The beagle/terrier looked confused. “B-but, I thought it was Cuba who was buying this? Who are you?”
Belinda smiled crookedly and spread her arms. “Mama Fluffy, dey calls me. Da Cuban gents don trust you so good. Dey tells Mama ta get sumthin from you, and Mama make de cash transfer. ‘Sides, why you care as long as ya get paid?”
The fur licked his chops nervously. “O-okay, as long as I can pay the guys after me. You want to look over what I got?”
Belinda looked at him dubiously. “Now wat good will dat do? I dunno tits from tech drawin’s. Dem Cuban brothahs o’ yours, dey’ll know. Ya cross dem, you Skkrrrkt!”
She made a slashing motion across her throat with her thumb. Jack blanched, but then pulled out a large sealed envelope. He offered it to “Mama.” She waved Bill over to get it. The Doberman undid the clasp and opened the envelope. He glanced through the contents and nodded. “Mama” produced a data tablet.
“Dere ya go, chile. Put da account numba in dere where ya want da money ta go.”
Jack took the pad and tapped in the number. He then passed the tablet back. Belinda did an authorization and they heard a “ping” from Jack’s cell phone. Even out that far, there was a signal.
“Nice doin bidness wit ya, fer. Ya be safe goin home, Mama don wanna hear no bad news, yeah?”
Bill hustled the canid out, and in a moment, Belinda heard the vehicle start up and leave. A moment later Alpha stuck his head in the door.
“Nice work ‘Mama.’ Now we need ta go south. You can catch a commuter out of Kingston back up to Montego Bay and catch your flight home.”
Belinda nodded. Alpha went out to get their transportation ready. When the lioness emerged, she was dressed as a tourist again. She jumped in the back of a beat-up old sedan and threw her bag in beside her. After Bill jumped in the front with him, Alpha pulled out and they drove away. They bounced along a dirt road for a while, and finally got on a paved road on the outskirts of Kingston. They drove on through an increasing maze of narrowing streets, houses, and large buildings. They eventually pulled in behind a low-slung apartment building. They hustled up a set of back stairs to an apartment on the third floor. A quick exchange of words brought them inside. The front rooms of the apartment looked like a typical lower economic level hovel. Dingy, cluttered with barely serviceable furniture and the day’s food, A push on a plain panel let them into several rooms that held a computer, desk, weapons cache, a satellite radio uplink, and several unidentifiable pieces of electronic equipment. Alpha turned to her.
“Welcome to my nest, Charger. Sit tight, once we’re sure they aren’t waiting for you here at the airport, you can be on your way.”
Belinda grinned ruefully. “Story of my life, hurry up and wait.”
# # #
Joe Eps returned to the cockpit after greeting their passengers. Leon Golanico, a large lion, was one of the owners, as well as a studio head and producer for Redline Productions. His vapid girlfriend/actress Blonde Bunneh was not coming with him this time. Instead, the other five furs were all technical folks, save one, a nervous-looking beagle. Roger Delaney, Joe’s copilot for this flight, had recognized the canid as a former yes-fur of the Director Charles Lorenso. Apparently, this was make-or-break for the fur, as he had to prove he could do something other than be a parrot.
“Rebecca has the pax settling in,” the badger stated to Roger. “Is the weather for Kingston still looking good?”
The lion looked over at his aircraft commander. “Yes sir. Eight thousand scattered, twelve thousand scattered, visibility unlimited. Winds one two zero at twelve. Still no hint of any tropical weather systems.”
“Good,” Joe replied. Just then the intercom chimed three times, letting them know that Rebecca had the passengers settled and the cabin was secure.
“Let’s get started. Engine start checklist,” the badger called. Rodger pulled up the checklist and they began to bring the aircraft to life. Before long they were lifting off from Wilmington, North Carolina for the three and a half hour flight to Kingston, Jamaica. All on board hoped for a smooth flight.”
End of Chapter 83