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.

Author’s Note: Lewiston, Maine’s airport, identifier KLEW, is actually uncontrolled. That is, it has no control tower. Poetic license was used for this story, so Alex and company talk with a control tower whilst aviating there.

Chapter 99

Twists and Turns

By the next morning, the snow had mostly ended. The storm had in fact laid down seven inches of powdery fluff. Corrie and Alex loaded up and were on the road by 0800. I-95 was in fair condition, but they saw several vehicles off on the side or in the median, including a couple of semis.

The farther South they went, the less snow they saw. By the time they crossed from Maine into New Hampshire, there was only about two inches. By the time they hit Massachusetts, there was no snow. Corrie had insisted that she start out driving, as she had much more experience in snow. Alex, seeing that she looked and acted fine after the previous two day’s ordeal, had agreed.

Now though, as they began to make the I-495 loop well outside Boston, Alex had taken the wheel to spell her for a bit. They had been talking mostly about the road and traffic and listening to the radio. He had told her the whole Jamaica story. She’d just shaken her head.

“I want to meet the gal, whichevah she is,” she’d said.

She’d gone quiet, a faraway look on her face. Alex, busy with traffic, had let her have the time until she spoke again. When she did, she almost startled him with the suddenness of it.

“Luv, while I was dozing in the choppah, I had…the oddest dreams. I heard your voice, saying you were coming to find me.”

Alex smiled and glanced over. “I’ll always come to find you. That may have just been wishful thinking on your part, but I don’t question we’ve forged a strong bond. I was thinking of you and praying for you the whole time.”

Corrie continued with the faraway look. “Theah was something else. A voice, like a whispah, but so strong it blocked me from having the usual nightmare. It’s had me thinking. Alex, I…I want to become a Christian. I think that’s most certainly who was in me dream. He even kinda prepared me for Rex Richardson’s bombshell. Like I already knew to let it and him go. Does…does that make sense?”

Alex thought his heart would explode with love for his lioness. This was something that wasn’t to be done or taken lightly, though.

“Hold on, we need to stop, so we can give this our full attention.”

Corrie now grinned, recalling the previous time he’d said that. “Yeah, no deputy sheriffs this time, please.”

The tiger grinned in return and then said, “There’s a rest area coming up in ten miles, at Chelmsford. How about we stop for a bit.”

“Cleared to proceed, Luv,” she replied.

They drove on and pulled into the rest area. Alex parked, but didn’t shut down the vehicle, so they could stay warm. He then turned to the lioness.

“Corrie, are you really sure about this? I don’t want you to do this just because you had a scare, and dreamed of something you’re unsure of, or just for me.”

She smiled, showing a bit more confidence. “I’m sure. I’ve been thinking on it evah since we talked aftah church that day. The folks I see who are Christians, they do well some days, othahs not so much, but the idea sounds…right. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I’ve already said the prayah you described. Is…there anything else?”

Alex smiled broadly. “If you truly meant it, then you already are. I love you Sweetheart, and I know it’s a tough ideal to live up to, but you won’t regret it.”

He leaned over and hugged her tight, and then sat back up.

“As far as anything else, if and when you want, there’s a ceremony that you can do called a Baptism. It doesn’t do anything like save you or get you a higher status. It’s simply a way of making a public declaration.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I think I’ve heard of it. You get dunked in water or sprinkled or something. I think I’ll wait and sort this out a bit before I go for anything like that.”

Alex nodded, still smiling. “All your choice. Tell you what, if you haven’t already, start reading the Bible for yourself. Don’t take my word or anyone else’s, read it for yourself.”

Corrie smiled back and caressed his cheekfur. “Thank you for not being pushy. Hey, while we’ah stopped, I need to use the dunny. You want me to drive yet?”

Alex shrugged. “Nah, I’m good, but a short restroom break sounds fine. Let’s go.”

He shut down the Jeep and they got out to go inside.

#   #   #

“Well Aramis, it’s been quiet since you crashed his network,” Chief Agent Perez stated. It was Wednesday, and he was having a mid-week check-in with the felid agent.

“It has, but I’m not even certain he knows that Col. O’Whitt survived his encounter with the Cubans,” Aramis replied.

“He definitely knows you took down his web. One of the first calls he made was to the Pentagon. Apparently, his uncle put the word out not to try and help him. The only thing we got was a couple of calls from General’s offices reporting on the Rotten Rotty,” Perez said with a slight smile. “Question is now, what next?”

Aramis thought a moment. “I think we can relax the arrest team for now, but I want to keep the close surveillance going until we’re sure he’s done.”

The Great Dane nodded, preparing to leave the cubicle and move on to the next agent. “Sounds good. We probably need to be careful here. I’ve seen it before that just when you think everything has cooled down, it suddenly explodes on you. Have a good day, Aramis.”

“You too, sir,” Aramis replied as his chief left. He decided to call his contact in the Lexington PD and update her. He put on his headset and pulled up the number. Two rings later the Doberman femme answered.

“Detective Sergeant Roland, Street Crimes.”

“Roland, Andy. Just wanted to give you an update on the Rotten Rotty case.”

Sheila smiled, glad for a momentary break in a day of paperwork. “Hi Andy, what have you got?”

“Comm has become routine and quiet. Not sure whether to be happy or suspicious about that. There was an…incident involving Col. O’Whitt, and Mastifson may not realize he survived it. We’re continuing to watch him, but that’s all for now.”

Aramis realized that didn’t sound like much of an update. Roland didn’t have much to offer, either.

“Um-hmm, here too. No word on the street, no action by him to contact or hire any local muscle. Not even a parking ticket. He’s not been seen much on the local singles bar scene, either. Word is he’s been flying out of town to do his carousing.”

“I don’t think he’s done, so be aware that he may go from model citizen to loose cannon with little warning,” Aramis advised.

Sheila actually laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think he’s done, either. It’s like he thinks he, I don’t know, beat O’Whitt or something? That’s the only reason I can think of he’d suddenly go dormant.”

Aramis debated how much to say and decided he could tell what wasn’t classified. “Well, it’s entirely possible he thinks Col. O’Whitt is dead. That incident I mentioned? That was last week, and we don’t know that Mastifson realizes the Colonel came out unscathed.”

Sheila paused. “Do…I really want to know the details?”

“Can’t tell you much, and no, Mastifson’s involvement is not prosecutable. That’s our problem, we know a lot he’s doing, but we don’t have evidence that we could use in court,” Aramis replied with an unconscious shrug.

The Doberman squinted her eyes in thought. “So, he might even consider murder?”

Aramis held back a bit. “I doubt he’d do that part himself, but he has no problem setting such a thing in motion.”

Sheila shook her head. “Hard to believe. Well, keep me apprised, Andy. Talk to you later.”

“You too, Roland. Take care.”

Aramis ended the call and sat back. Again, he found himself being able to do nothing more than wait.

#   #   #

Billy was taking care of his daily ration of paperwork for Kentiger. So intent was he that he nearly jumped when his intercom line buzzed. Without giving it a thought, he answered.

“Yes Loni?”

The voice on the other end was very tentative. “Ah, no, this is Kathleen, ah, Billy?”

Billy blinked. “Yes Kathleen, this is Billy. Do you, ah, have an intercom line now?”

“Oh, thank goodness, yes I do. Rich made sure it was all set up correctly.” The collie sounded relieved.

“Okay great. Did you need something, or just checking the line?” Billy inquired.

“Both, actually. I was finishing up that paperwork for the economic development grant, and I found two more we can apply for. A workforce development grant for assistance paying startup salaries, and one that’s not a grant per se, but a tax break for new businesses.”

The collie sounded excited. Billy found himself a bit impressed.

“Wow, okay. Have you read over the requirements to make sure we qualify for them, and that there aren’t strings attached that we may not want to have?”

“Well, I did, but I wanted you to look both over and double check me. I’m new at this and I may have missed something.”

Kathleen sounded uncertain again. Billy grinned. Youthful exuberance combined with a good eye for business tools? More and more he thought Kathleen was a great choice.

“That’s fine. Give me about thirty minutes and then bring what you’ve got, and I’ll look it over.”

There was silence on the line for about ten seconds. Billy began to wonder if the connection had failed when Kathleen spoke again.

“Ah, Billy? It’s on your computer now, if that’s okay?”

Billy arched an eyebrow and opened his computer. There was a message icon on the corner of the screen. Clicking it brought a file of info on both the grant and the tax break. It showed him how behind he was at times. Another reason for new blood.

“That’s great Kathleen. I’ll look it over and let you know. Great job finding these.”

“Thank you, talk to you later,” Kathleen responded, a smile in her voice. Billy went back to the task at paw, feeling very good about his new admin specialist.

#   #   #

The day’s driving had seen Alex and Corrie switching off a couple of times. Corrie’s bombshell announcement had been left to settle as the two happily talked about many different things. Their route had seen them coming South and West out of Massachusetts into Connecticut. Then into New York well outside the city, across a corner of New Jersey, and on into Pennsylvania. Alex was driving when they hit I-81 South. She looked at both him and his GPS quizzically as they passed out of a short part of the West Virginia panhandle and into Virginia.

“Luv, does your little box know where she’s going? Or are we taking the Southern route to Kentucky?”

Alex grinned. “Sit tight and enjoy the great scenery, I have a surprise that I think you’ll like.”

The mountains were ablaze with Fall colors, each turn providing new vistas of color and depth. They turned off the interstate and onto US-50W, and on to other two-lane roads as they continued through the mountains. First, US-48W, then on to State Route WV-42S, then WV-28S. It was getting dark when Alex took a right turn and followed a road that weaved along a small river. The GPS chimed with “You Have Reached Your Destination” as they pulled down beside a large two-story brick home. The headlights illuminated a sign that said, “The Cass Inn.”

Corrie looked over at Alex with an arched eyebrow. “Luv, I like to save a dollah as much as anyone, but did you have to come way out heah to find a place?”

Alex laughed. “Yes, it is pretty rural. We’re not far from Snowshoe Ski Resort, and the U.S. National Radio Observatory at Green Bank. We may stop by there on Friday on our way out.”

“Oookay, what’s tomorrow?” Corrie replied, giving him a dubious look.

“That’s a surprise. For now, let’s get registered and get our rooms, and then we’ll go to dinner,” Alex replied with what passed as a sneaky grin.

Corrie gave a shrug. “Fine then, be mysterious. Lead on, Luv.”

They got out and grabbed their overnight bags, then went in the front door. A counter with old-fashioned wall boxes behind it greeted them. Just off to the side was a cozy living room. There was no one there but presently a slim, pretty, red fox vixen wearing a floral print dress and an apron came out of what appeared to be a kitchen and walked up to the counter.

“Hi! I’m Karen, welcome to Cass Inn, can I help you?”

“Hi Karen, I’m Alex O’Whitt and this is Corrie Patterson. I have a reservation for two rooms for tonight and tomorrow.”

The vixen looked through a stack of papers on one side of the counter, then pulled out one sheet.

“Ah! Here we are. Just sign on the bottom to authorize payment and sign the register. Room ten and twelve are off the hall next door down. Ten has a bathroom and shower, twelve shares a common bath with a shower with the other two rooms. That bathroom is at the end of the hall. You can work out how you want to work that. There’s instructions in the rooms on how the heater works. Oh, the room key also has a key for the outside door on the ring with it. I hope you enjoy your stay,” Karen stated as she gave them each a tagged keyring with two keys.

Alex signed on the sheet for the rooms, and he and Corrie signed the register.

“Thank you, Karen,” Alex said as he turned to go. Corrie added her thanks as well.

“Thank you, you have a lovely inn.”

Karen’s eyes widened. “Oh wow! Beautiful accent. Have a great stay.”

The two walked back out on the house’s large front porch and turned to their right. One door down, Alex opened it with the second key. It opened into a short hallway with two doors on each side and one in the back beside a stairway up to the second floor. The first door on the left had a number 10 on it, the first on the right a 12.

“Home sweet home,” Alex commented as he opened the door to Number 10 with his key. Inside was a full-size bed, a side table, a chair, and a chest of drawers. The window had curtains, and the place had a heavy, comfortable feel. The bathroom was small, with a tub/shower. It had understated home décor touches and was adequate for their short stay. Alex immediately spoke up.

“Here, trade me. I don’t mind either taking turns or using the common shower.”

Corrie shrugged, knowing she might as well give in when Alex was being chivalrous. They traded keys, put their bags away, and headed back out for dinner.

#   #   #

It was late afternoon in Lexington as Jenna and Tia sat waiting. Billy had called and told them to be where they were for a very special appointment. They were in the outer office of Senator Paul Randall, who represented the district they lived in. Both femmes were a bit nervous. The secretary, a trim raccoon femme in her forties with a warm demeanor, had told them to have a seat and asked if she could get them anything. They had declined, and now waited to see the Senator.

“Ugh, I’m beginning to think I should have asked for a water, my mouth is so dry,” Tia stated.

“Nerves, Dear. It would be worse if you suddenly had to go pee halfway through the meeting,” Jenna advised.

The intercom on the secretary’s desk suddenly buzzed. After a brief exchange, she stood up and went to the large oak door behind her.

“Jenna, Tia, the Senator will see you now.”

Mother and daughter stood and went into the office. It was well-appointed, with shelves of books lining the walls and a large window off to the side. The Senator, a slim Jack Russel with brown hair and eyes, stood up as they entered.

“Ladies, please have a seat. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He came around the desk and shook paws, and then sat down in a chair near a small sofa. He indicated they should sit there, and once they were, he spoke.

“Jenna Lazarus and her daughter Tia O’Whitt. Billy Panelli had a lot of good things to say about you both. Now, the reason for this meeting is that you, Tia, want to go to the Air Force Academy, is that right?”

Tia answered enthusiastically, “Yes sir!”

The canid smiled broadly. “And Mrs. Lazarus, how do you feel about this?”

Jenna answered without hesitation. “I want her to be happy. She wants this, so very much.”

He now looked at them both in turn and asked, “Why?”

Tia squared her shoulders and looked the Senator in the eye.

“My father was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. He died in a crash a few years ago. My uncle is a retired U.S. fighter pilot. He still is, in the Reserves. From them I inherited three things. A love of flying, a love of country, and a feeling of duty to help defend it. The Academy is the best way to go to achieve those goals.”

He now looked at Jenna. “Anything to add?”

Jenna pursed her lips and then answered. “Tia can speak quite well for herself. She is a smart, strong, tough young lady. She hasn’t made this as a snap decision but has thought it out very well. It’s her choice, and I support her in it.”

Senator Randall sat back a moment, and then continued.

“Very good answers, both. I know your history and the circumstances involved. I was listening to see if you thought this was owed you or something. I’m very glad to see not a spoiled prima donna, but an earnest young femme. You graduate in the Spring. We’ll meet twice more to help you put your application package together. You can’t start until after you’re seventeen, but we can put things in motion for you to start the Fall of the following year. That’ll give you a head start by the time you turn eighteen. In the meantime, Janice my secretary will be your contact. She’ll answer questions and help with paperwork. Until our next meeting, it has been a pleasure to meet both of you.”

The terrier stood and shook paws with them both again as he saw them to the door. Janice met them there and provided a file folder of forms, checklists, and documents to start the whole process, as well as a card with phone numbers and email addresses to contact her with. She then ushered them out of the office.

As they walked down the hall toward the building’s entrance, Jenna felt like things had gone well, even if her head was spinning at the prospect of all that had just happened and all the paperwork to come. Tia was walking beside her, eyes up, shoulders back, all but marching in a very dignified manner, her tail swinging gently down behind her.

As soon as they left the building, Jenna was completely surprised as Tia suddenly leaped into the air, spinning around and punching her fist toward the sky.

“WOO HOO! That was great! He took me seriously, and he’s going to recommend me!”

Jenna, her fur fluffed from the sudden outburst, didn’t quite understand.

“Bu-wha? How do you know? He never said he would.”

“Mom,” Tia answered, almost bouncing with each step. “He wouldn’t have sent us to his secretary to start all the paperwork if he wasn’t. The rest of the meetings, Mr. Panelli told me, are to coordinate everything and make sure the paperwork is right. I’m going to the Academy!”

Jenna, recovering a bit, smiled as she watched her daughter bounce along toward their minivan.

Was the Academy ready for her daughter, she wondered?

 

End of Chapter 99

 

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