Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (17 page)

“True.  I never see wolves with
something like that, though.”

“Eh, they’re too proud and feel
that technology weakens their hunter’s spirit, whatever that means.  They tend
to act more… stubborn than us dogs.  I mean, have you met Fenrir?”

Commander Trevor lets out a light
laugh.

“Well I’m glad your candidness is
still around after all these years,” he says.

I first met Simon a few years
back.  We were tracking drugs that were being created in Seadog, Florida, a booming dog city on the southern tip of the panhandle.  It has wonderful beaches
and top notch law enforcement thanks to the resources given by humans.

Even though Seadog is considered a
dog city, it owes its development to humans. Humans provided financial funding,
and even to this day, human law enforcement helps patrol the streets when dogs
need assistance.  As a return, they get a small portion of the local tax
charged to Seadog residents.

Drugs were a new thing in Seadog. 
This place was still relatively young and, while prosperous, over time, poverty
crept its way in.  There was a rumor that an illegal stimulant was being
produced in a sleeper operation.  The drug was some sort of hyper steroid,
allowing the user to enhance their physical abilities greatly for a short
amount of time.  On the street, though, they were known as “wall smashers”
mainly because of the rage a user would feel while under the influence.

Since humans had a strong
connection to Seadog, the raid was a joint effort by the Human Council and High
Dog Council.  They sent a team that included Commander Trevor and me to get
these drugs out of Seadog and persecute those making them.

I was fairly young at the time,
but our enforcement branch, the Dog Alliance, saw me as an agent with unlimited
potential.  I was smarter than my peers, faster, and had a better nose.  A drug
operation like this was ideal for a dog with my skills.

Dogs and humans have a natural
bond with each other, even after we were no longer their pets.  We never harbored
the hatred that so many of our animal brothers had, especially the wolves. 
And, in turn, humans never really held a grudge for us from the Event.  They
saw we were held at the mercy of our animal allies.  These reasons are why dogs
and humans are capable of coexisting in the same land.  We have no need for
separate territories like the other animals have, we are perfectly fine living
in an integrated society with our human friends.

This has always been a subject of
controversy, though.  Our canine brothers, the wolves, see us as weaklings.  We
got our own territories like the others, but they’ve scoffed at our openness to
live among people.  They think that we are still their pets, second class
citizens in a human dominated society.  I’ve never seen it that way, I’ve
always seen humans as compassionate neighbors.  There used to be a saying, that
dog was man’s best friend, but I think it’s a two way street.

I remember the first time I met
Commander Trevor.

“You must be Apollo,” he said to
me.  “I’ve heard a lot about you.  My intel from the Dog Alliance tells me that
you are one of their most valued members.  I’m glad to have you on this
mission.”

He was all business, but had this
friendly way about him.  On that mission in Seadog, Commander Trevor and I
worked as a team, much like we are working now in Primm.  We went looking for
traces of wall smashers, but on our first few locations, we found nothing. 
When I sniffed the area, I smelled no clues.

It was frustrating.  A lot was
hinging on my tracking ability, but every time we went to our targets I
couldn’t find anything.  Up to that point, I hadn’t been used to failure and my
senses never faltered.

I was young and I started to feel
the pressure of the team on my shoulders.  Like a rookie, my confidence started
to crumble with each empty search.  I could sense the disappointment coming
from my teammates.  But Commander Trevor had faith in me.  When the other
humans and dogs went grumbling about how I was doing nothing for them,
Commander Trevor told them to shut up, that the mission shouldn’t fall on one
dog or human, that it was a team effort.  These admonishments helped lift the
burden from my mind.

On our fifth search, I once again
fell short and things had reached a boiling point.  One of the other dogs
wanted to take the lead in tracking and said the only reason I got to be the
head tracker was because I was sucking up to the Dog Alliance.  He didn’t see
any of the so-called potential I possessed.

That’s when Simon took me aside.  
“Don’t listen to him.  He’s trying to talk you down.  He knows you’re young and
that a promotion is in line for the lead tracker.  He’s trying to snipe for
that promotion and he’s not above belittling team members.  Remember, I’m the
commander on this mission and I’ll decide who does what.  And until I see any
other reason, you’re still going to lead the hunt.”

That was the jolt I needed.  I did
one more search of the place and I smelled something funny.  It smelled like
human blood, yet scrubbed away with so many chemicals that even the greatest
sniffer could barely smell it.  But I did.  I alerted Simon and he told me to
hold on to that scent.  I kept sniffing, and sniffing, until I smelled traces
of what we were looking for - wall smashers.

The scent trail had been
discovered and with my new-found confidence, I did some of the best tracking of
my life.  Two days later, we found the source, the drugs were destroyed, and
wall smashers would never be distributed again in Seadog.  My work lead to a
promotion that helped me get placement on some elite teams.  I owe all this to
Commander Trevor.

Since then, Commander Trevor and I
talk to each other on a regular basis.  We hadn’t worked together again until
today; nevertheless, we’re always willing to get a drink whenever we’re in each
other’s town.  I’ve made my residence in Seadog and Simon is always fond of the
beaches there.  He’s one of the few animals, man or dog, that I can call a good
friend.

I am done searching the area and
found nothing suspicious.  Even with the scent amplifier everything seems to be
the way it should.

“Looks like I have zilch,” I say
to Commander Trevor.

“Me either,” he says to me.  “My
scanner picks up nothing.  I’ve been looking all over the place and there’s not
a single hair or scale that would help me.”

“Should we report to the others?”

“I guess so.”

I’m about to activate my headset
to let our team members know our status when, suddenly, I hear a buzzing
noise.  It’s an incoming message from one of our squad mates in the other
depots.

“Identify yourself,” I say.

“This is Fenrir Snow with a status
report.  We got one of them.”

“This is Commander Trevor,” he
chimes in.  “You got the target?  Are you still at your location, the
Primm-Phillips depot?”

“Affirmative,” Fenrir responds.

“Is the halfkind dead?  How many
hostiles did you encounter?”

“Only one.  And yes, we have a
fatality.”

“Which halfkind is it?”

“The eagle one, Lombardi Lawton.”

“Borton, Erawan, do you read me?”

“Borton here,” he says, “Read you
loud and clear.”

“How is your investigation going?”

“We have nothing to report.  Seems
quiet here.”

“Abort your location and head to
the Primm-Phillips supply depot.  We’ll rendezvous with you there.  Do you
confirm?”

“Confirmed.”

We turn off our headsets and look
at each other.

“Looks like they sent a scout,” I
say.

“Yeah, that’s pretty smart of them
not to put all their eggs in one basket,” he says.  “Let’s head over there to
investigate, pronto.”

“Got it.”

We quickly get in our vehicle and
make our way to the Primm-Phillips supply depot.  It looks like a warzone when
we arrive.  There are demolished boxes, food, and supplies scattered about
everywhere.  The dust has just cleared, even though the battle had finished ten
minutes ago.

“Didn’t really go for stealth did
you?” I say to Fenrir.

“Stealth is hard when your target
throws a homemade grenade at you,” he snaps back.

“Where is the halfkind?” Commander
Trevor asks.

“Over there in that corner.  I’ve
covered him with a blanket.  You’re more than welcome to investigate.”

“You haven’t searched his body?”

“I figured I should wait for you. 
You are the Commander,” he says with a hint of sarcasm.  The wolf in our team
is acting like an asshole.  What a surprise.

Commander Trevor and I walk over
to the body while the others trade information in the center of the warehouse. 
He lifts the blanket from the ground and it is a mess.

“Unbelievable,” I say to myself.

Blown apart limbs, charred
feathers, and a gaping, bloody hole in his temple are some of the few things
that I notice.  Fenrir and Colbo really did a number on this poor guy.  If I
hadn’t seen a hologram of him earlier, I would have barely recognized what I am
looking at.

As I get past the cuts and
dismembered body parts, I’m able to get a better view of his feathers.  He has
the beak of a bird protruding from the center of his face, although it is now
painted with dried blood.  His eyes are small and black.  His head is rather
large in proportion to his body, but his general anatomy is human.  He has the
feet of a bird, talons and all, but he is bipedal.  His arms are a mixture of
limb and wings.  He’s wearing clothes, pants and a shirt with a jacket, and
most of it has been ripped to shreds at this point.

He also has a pack wrapped around
his arms.

“Any of you guys look inside the
back pack?” I yell at the others.

“Like I said,” Fenrir says, “we
were waiting for you.”

I open it and stick my head in. 
It’s rather spacious and partly burnt, but for the most part empty.  The only
things I smell are scrap metal and some electronic devices.  However, just as
my head is about to exit, I smell the faint trace of something familiar.  I
grab it with my teeth and spit it on the floor.

It’s a partly charred data cube,
and it looks like it’s still in working condition.  I nudge the button on it
and a holographic image floats in the air.  Something looks familiar.

“What did you find?” Commander
Trevor says to me when I make my discovery.

I turn to him and say, “I think I
know where they’re going.”

November 16, 3040
11:08 PM

“What do you mean they know?” I
yell at Ace in frustration.  We’re having a private conversation in a corner of
the building, a status report on how his scouting mission went and what he
observed while at the Primm-Phillips supply depot.

“When I was hiding in the vents,”
Ace says.  “I saw one of their team members, the dog, pull out a cube from
Lombardi’s bag, and an image popped up.  I couldn’t make out what it was, but
when the dog talked to the human, I heard them say our next move was to leave Primm. 
It appears the cube had information on the teleporter stations around here and
that tipped them off.”

“He must have gotten a data cube
with a teleporter schedule or map or something.  So they know for sure that
we’re heading to either one of the two teleporter stations here?”

“It think so.”

Damnit Lombardi, how could you
have been so stupid?  How could you have left such vital evidence behind?  We
didn’t even need it, Candy could have easily looked it up for us.  What were
you thinking?

Then again, it’s my fault.  I
shouldn’t have let you go in the first place.  Such a vital task and I gave it
to such a liability.  I should’ve listened to my instincts instead of appeasing
my brothers and sisters.  I’ll have to think of a way to cover Lombardi’s mess.

“How did the rest of your mission
go?” I ask Ace.

“Just as you planned.  I left here
at 9:50, Lombardi had already disabled the security system.  His confrontation
with the law was the perfect distraction while I got supplies. The action was
happening on the other side of the warehouse and the wolf and gorilla were too
busy with Lombardi to even notice I was there.  After I got the goods, I
slipped into the vents and made my escape.”

“Did you have a tough time getting
there?”

“Yes, but my speed was able to
make up for my lack of direction.  Besides, Lombardi left a bit of a trail,
feathers were dropped here and there.  I was able to follow that.”

“I’m surprised.  That’s rather
clever.  Good job, Ace.”

“Too bad our family didn’t pick me
in the first place.”

“I agree.  I didn’t have time to
argue for you.  I should have.”

He looks at me curiously.

“How did you know there was going
to be someone there waiting for Lombardi, though?” Ace asks.

“I didn’t.  I figured if there was
no one there, you could have helped Lombardi get the stuff.  But in case there
was, he would be the perfect decoy, especially with that bomb packed with him,”
I say.

“I’m sorry it had to be him.”

I stay silent and think of my
brother.  He wanted to please me so badly and I never understood why.  Maybe it
was because he wanted to belong, but I wished he hadn’t tried so hard.  I
wished he would have come of age on his own.  That was the real way to win my
approval, not by sucking up, but by proving.  But I knew he’d never do it, so I
had no choice but to use him like a pawn.  I had to ensure one of my knights
made it out alive.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, too,” I say to
Ace.

“The rest of the family, they just
think that I went to look for Lombardi?” Ace asks.  “They must never know of
our plan.”

“Don’t worry, they won’t.  Even if
they did, I doubt it would make a difference.  Oscar and the others are gone. 
I will sacrifice all that I can to ensure the rest of us make it through this
alive.  This is my true family, you are all that matter.”