13 Degrees of Separation (82 page)

“So what
do we do?” Blizzard asked. Trust the youngest to get restless first, Moira
thought in amusement. She had no experience in this.

“I am still
gathering information and there is a storm front moving in. I'm afraid you'll
have to put up with me for a little while longer.” Moira said.

Blizzard
sighed, ears drooping. She didn't like the closed confines of the strange
smelling shuttle, its' novelty had rapidly worn off the first day. “But...” her
mother looked at her. She sighed again. “Yes, grandmother,” Blizzard replied.

“Can we
play a game? Do you have a net or something we can access Moira?” Cali asked.
The wolves and Susan looked at her, She touched her chest as she swallowed.
“Sorry, um, elder?”

“Better,”
the priestess growled, glaring then snorting.

“As a
matter of fact I do. Can you teach my granddaughters how to use it?” The elder
asked politely.

“Sure!”
Cali said, grinning. She looked at Susan who smiled. “That'd be swell!”

“Good,”
the elder replied, setting her spoon down to pick up a tablet. She handed it
over to the girl. “You can use this and the screen there,” she pointed to the
large screen behind her shoulder. “It's used to keep the troops entertained or
updated when we were in flight. I've accumulated a lot of files and games over
the years,” she said.

“I'll be
careful,” Cali said.

“Careful,”
the wolf snorted. “I want you to take the time and try to organize all the
clutter! Maybe see if you can defrag some of the drives,” she chuffed.

“I'll um,
try,” Cali said looking at the tablet. After a reluctant moment she set it in
her lap and went back to eating. The elder snorted and returned to her own
meal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How does
this machine work? Is food stored within?” Blizzard asked, sniffing the food
replicator.

Cali
looked up from her tablet and came over. She had her hands together politely
waiting for Blizzard to step aside. Finally Blizzard did so, sighing softly.
She daren't touch the controls, she was too fearful of doing something wrong.

“Do you
want something?” Cali asked. “We have... had one working food replicator left
in two leg town. Mom showed me how it worked. This one's not so different,” she
said. She pointed to the screen. “See? It's a touch screen,” she explained.

“But how
does it work?” Blizzard asked.

“Well...
you put raw material in tanks up here,” Cali pointed to the panels above the
unit and below. “Then when you want something you touch here,” she touched the
entry sequence. “Then you put a bowl or cup or something in here,” she pointed
to the recessed box where food came out, it was dark. “Then you select what you
want here,” she tabbed the controls and then showed her how to pick through the
menu. She showed Blizzard how the scroll bar worked and then how to select
something. “When you've picked what you want then you hit the green enter
button and it will fill the container with what you want. It's not as good as a
real caribou steak, but it's still good,” Cali said.

“I wasn't
going to say anything,” Blizzard said softly, glancing towards the cockpit.

“It's
okay, I think she knows,” Cali whispered back conspiratorially. Blizzard
flicked her ears. “But you can help her supplement it with real game if you
want,” Cali whispered.

“I...
that's a good idea actually,” the wolf said. She looked at the hatch.

“Hey hang
on, there's more,” Cali said. Blizzard turned back. “Food replicators aren't
just for food, you can make parts and stuff too with the right materials. I
think that's how your, I mean the elder has been making these plastic things.
See?” she pointed to icons in the menu list. “There're all sorts of things
here, maybe even parts for the shuttle,” Cali pointed out.

“What
about weapons?” The priestess asked.

“No, oh
no, don't do that,” Susan said, sitting up. She stretched and yawned, “even I
know you don't do that,” she said sounding smug.

Cali
glanced at her sister with the wolves and when the wolves turned their eyes to
her she shrugged. “She's right, you don't make weapons or some things with
replicators, if you try they blow up,” Cali warned.

The
wolves' ears went flat at that news. “Perhaps you shouldn't play with that
then,” the priestess warned.

“Yeah,
good idea,” Cali sighed, “but I think we can do a few other things since the
weather sucks right now,” she said. She picked up a tablet, “that is if the
elder doesn't mind,” she said respectfully.

“I think
she's busy so let's not disturb her to ask,” Blizzard cautioned.

Cali looked
over her shoulder to the flight deck and then nodded. “Yeah, good idea. Do you
want help hunting?” Cali asked Blizzard.

“Why
don't you show me what you have there,” Blizzard said, chuffing an amused
laugh, “I'm curious about it.”

“Sure...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Susan and
Cali taught and played with Blizzard and Hypatia while the elder was busy
listening to the radio and taking notes. The elder was amused to see the two
humans teaching the Neowolves about basic technology. As they learned they
moved less and less like their wolf ancestors and more and more like the
sapient people they were, even walking as a biped from time to time.

They
exchanged stories of their lives and how they lived, going into more detail
than before. Blizzard at first wanted out but soon settled down and took an
interest in the lessons and the movies. Cali assembled a file detailing the
history of their people and their world. Moira nodded, she'd give the girl an A
for her efforts.

Little
Susan had found another tablet and had put together a short feature about the
colonization and history of Kathy's World. It was a little off, but the girl
had done a good job with the material on hand in the database. She'd even
taught Blizzard how to use the tablet. They would sit together, sharing the
tablet and each other's warmth. Cali curled up next to the priestess and put a
blanket over them both and did the same. She felt the priestess's arm wrap
around her in a brief hug before she handed the tablet over. The priestess
chuffed a laugh and took it with a soft thanks.

“How do
you keep them on the farm once they've seen gay paree?” The elder muttered
amused. Susan seemed to bond with Blizzard. The two Neowolves were changing
before her eyes. She was gratified, too long had they devolved into a
subsistence life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the
storm broke the elder sent Blizzard and the priestess out to bring messages to
their pack and others. They were to call all the clans, something that excited
them. They were to meet here in less than a week's time.

Cali had
busied herself with keeping the shuttle and cave clean. As little Susan
adjusted and recovered she too started insisting on taking on small tasks. Cali
moved out to gather materials from nearby. The elder gave her a hunting rifle
and ordered her to bring in what game she could, but to be careful. Cali had
gulped but had risen to the challenge. Each day she'd used the sled harness to
drag back a carcass, sometimes a deer, sometimes a dead calf. The elder taught
her the grim task of gutting the carcass and then they packed each cavity with
ice and snow for later. Their guests would need food she had told them.

Several
days later she went out and met with the packs as they began to stream in. The
elder's order pulled in Neo packs far and wide. Other wolves were amazed and
annoyed at the inclusion of the bears, selkies, otters, and cats. The
occasional dirty look was exchanged but the elder's presence put any thought of
fighting aside. One didn't do that when the elder called them all. It had been
nearly twenty years since they had last had a great meeting of the clans. For
some, they murmured it was long overdue, they needed to settle disputes over
poaching in each other's territories.

Others
were sure something else was afoot, they had heard murmurs of events among the
humans. Momentous events, terrifying ones that may have implications for them
soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Pyotr,
still alive I see!” the elder said, hugging the old bear to the amazement of
the others. She pounded on the old bear's back enthusiastically.

“As I
live and breathe you of all people say that to me! Rocks are younger then you!”
The bear rumbled shaking his head as he chuckled. “Still into chess?” he asked.
She waggled her ears in reply.

“Still
drinking the old vodka I see?” she teased, poking his massive belly.

“One must
keep up appearances,” the bear laughed patting his midriff. His girth jiggled
with each rumbling chuckle, it felt like a minor earthquake.

“Well,
not for much longer,” she cautioned.

“Oh?” he
asked.

“The
Horathian pirates old friend. They are here to take it all away,” the elder
wolf told him, now serious.

“Let them
try,” the grizzly growled. Others looked up and gave an answering growl.

“They
have and they have done it. All,” she shook her head. She held his forearms
with hers, eye to eye. “They hold the port and towns. Their ship holds the high
ground and they intend to stay,” she growled.

“Oh?” The
bear asked, “I would think they would move on to newer hunting grounds.”

“Yes.
They announced it over the radio. They are here to stay,” the elder said, voice
pitching to the others around them. Cali looked, unsure and both afraid and
excited. The elder took her time, explaining the situation from the beginning.
She pitched her voice so it would be heard by all in the cavern. Many tails and
ears twitched as she dispassionately broke down the events.

“So?
That's the human's problem, not ours,” a tiger growled giving the two
interloper humans in their midst a dark look.

“Is it?
Are you sure Bengali?” the elder asked as she turned to look at him. “The
humans trade with us. We provide fur, meat, herbs, and wood for their goods.
Fair trade, honest trade. In return we get medicines, tools we can't make and
vodka for old bears,” she said slyly looking at the bear. Pyotr rumbled a laugh
from his seat on the side.

“And you
say they won't trade?” a snow lynx demanded.

“Oh
they'll trade all right. Trade for
our
pelts. They have a shoot on sight
order. They'll kill any alien, any Neo they see. They are even organizing
hunting parties to come
here
and kill us when they're done with the
humans,” the elder warned.

“They
would do that? Why? We've never bothered them!” the snow lynx yelled.

“Let them
try! We will slaughter them on our own lands!” Bengali snarled.

The old
bear looked thoughtful. The elder realized he wasn't ready to weigh in on this.
“They have guns. We don’t so they have the range advantage. They hold the high
ground and can see our body heat so there is no place to hide,” the elder
sighed. She shook her head as that sunk in to the group and they talked.

“Ah. yes.
But we can blend into the forests. Even a black bear can blend into nothing if
they are behind enough foliage. And me a polar bear? White on white,” a hybrid
bear said.

“Which
matters little with thermal detectors,” the elder said shaking her head. They
blinked at her in confusion but Cali understood. “They have machines that can
see heat, our body heat.” she said.

“Oh. Are
you certain?” the snow lynx asked dubiously.

“Yes, of
course.” Cali replied. She picked up a camera out of her pouch. “See for
yourself,” she showed them the heat signature of others, going around the room.

“That
isn’t the only problem,” Blizzard said, daring to speak up. The pack's alpha
gave her a dirty look.

“Oh?” the
other leaders turned to her. She gulped, now a little afraid about speaking up.
“The humans. Our humans from here.” she said, looking over to Cali. “They flee
to the back wood. Some will come here, some are already here. They will hunt
and they waste the food they get. Hunting is already hard enough, but with many
humans as well?” she demanded, ears flat.

The
priestess winced. Trust Blizzard to make a mess of things even more. She did
like to think with her stomach, she mused to herself. She was right though,
“The humans, our human brothers and sisters are bad enough. But these new ones,
they come like a plague of locusts and take what they want before they destroy
all the rest. We must hit them, hit them fast before they have a chance to
settle in.” Blizzard argued.

“So is
that what you propose?” Pyotr rumbled looking at the elderly marine. He spread
his mighty paws, “We can kill them when they come. In our woods they are but
helpless prey. Unless of course they have vodka,” he said. He looked at the
girl. “No offense little one but if it's a choice between you and my cubs...”
he shook his mighty head.

Cali
gulped, “None ah... none taken.” she said.

“Good,
got any vodka?” he asked, eyes twinkling. A few ears twitched in humor at that.

“Um, not
on me at this time. I'm um, not old enough. But I'll get you some soon,” Cali
said trying to sound dignified.

“Good,”
he rumbled a laugh, others echoed it. The laughter was much needed, cutting the
tension. “See?” he asked looking around as the others chuckled, “ask politely
and you'll do wonders.”

“We need
to hit them, hit them hard,” Susan said. “Before they come with air ships to
strafe your packs. We need to get organized before it's too late. Like it was
too late for my family,” she said, voice roughening in grief. Blizzard nodded.
The girl's fingers curled in her fur.

She
patted her hand gently and then looked up to the others. “My new pack sister is
right. We need to protect our world. As our ancestors did,” she said boldly.