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Underbox: Twenty-eight
© 2021 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
Capt. Horatio Hortense Bezoar
“What?” Hamo shook their head, making their pointed ears flap. “Their Defense Department’s involved in this?”
Haber shrugged. “It looks like it. According to my contact, they told the local police to basically forget they’d ever heard from us about anything.” The terrier gave the two detectives a lopsided smile. “Not that we won’t stop trying, of course, but you know how it is. Sorry that I can’t bring you better news.”
“Thank you, Herr Haber,” Joachim said. “Please keep us informed about any progress.” He ended the call. “What?” the boar asked the cross-fox, who was looking at him.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“You read way too much science fiction, Joachim,” Hamo said. “I’m sure it’s not aliens.”
“Says the one who has the huge collection of Perry Rhodan books – and all that anime about tanks being driven by young girls.”
“They were given to me by my grandfather,” Hamo said defensively, and their ears dipped as Joachim laughed. “And armored fighting vehicles are cool,” which only made the boar laugh harder.
The cross-fox got to their feet. “When you’ve finished,” they said as they went to get another cup of coffee, “let’s go over our report and notes again. We have to make sure that there’s nothing the Americans can find fault with.”
“Got it,” Joachim said, grinning as he logged into his computer and started going over the case file. While he was reading, Hamo took their seat across from the boar, and after a few moments a text window popped open on Joachim’s monitor, displaying an image of an ancient K-Wagen in traditional British racing green and a decidedly non-traditional and wildly optimistic set of ‘go-faster’ stripes.
The boar glanced over his monitor at the cross-fox. “Nice paint job,” he said, “and you’re weird.” Hamo chuckled.
After a few minutes Joachim asked, “How’s Karin?”
“Doing much better, thank you. And Patricia?”
“Her doctor says that she’s almost ready to go pop,” the boar said. His smile faltered slightly. “Her mother’s with her in case she goes into labor early.”
“I bet you look forward to coming to work, then,” Hamo said in a deadpan voice.
The boar snorted. “Yeah.”
***
Several days later, Hamo was getting ready for work when their phone rang. The cross-fox smiled when the screen showed Joachim’s name. “Good morning,” they answered the phone. “You won’t be coming in?”
“Yeah,” the boar replied, his voice sounding agitated. “Her water broke, and she’s having contractions. I’m taking her to the hospital now.”
“Right. I’ll tell Eisler, and Joachim?”
“Yeah?”
“Relax. She’ll be fine, and you’ll make a great father.”
Joachim took a breath, sighed it out and said, “Thanks, Hamo.”
“You’re welcome. Call back with the good news.” Hamo ended the call and smiled before slipping their packer into their underwear’s front pouch.
Karin stirred. “Was that work?” she asked sleepily.
Hamo finished pulling on their underwear before leaning over and kissing their wife. “No, it was Joachim. Patricia’s gone into labor.”
“Oh. That’s great news.”
“I’ll text you when I find out, okay?” The red fox vixen nodded and rolled over, going back to sleep as Hamo got into their trousers.
Hamo had been on duty for a couple hours before Captain Eisler arrived, and the cross-fox filled the raccoon in on what was going on. When they were finished, Eisler looked pleased. “How far along are we on the murder suspect?” he asked.
“Still nothing from the Americans,” Hamo said. “Every inquiry is met with either silence or ‘Go away’ from their Defense Department. We’re still working on it.”
“Good, and the sooner the better.” Hamo’s ears perked and Eisler asked, “You haven’t seen the news today?”
“No.”
“Report out of Nairobi. Southern Star Electronics has reported that one of their corporate officers, who used a company-made cyberway, has died of an apparent heart attack. They’re asking all their customers to get the implant removed yesterday until they can design a security patch.”
Hamo momentarily put a paw over their eyes. “Well, it was past hoping for that our boy would just sit quietly and wait for us to come get him. Any other reports of related deaths?”
Eisler shook his head. “Since your case is stalled and Joachim’s on paternity leave,” the raccoon said, “I want you to start making your way through the news nets. Find anything you can.”
The transgender vulpine nodded. “Yeah, it’ll give me – “ Their phone rang and Hamo pulled it from their pocket. “It’s Joachim.”
“Put it on speaker.” Eisler started to grin.
Hamo did so. “Hello?” they said.
“Patricia had a boy.” The boar sounded tired from the stress draining out of him, but happy. “They’re both doing great.”
Hamo and Eisler both grinned. “That’s wonderful news,” Hamo said. “How much?”
“Huh?”
“How much did he weigh?”
“Oh! Um . . . what did the nurse say, ah. Three kilos.”
The raccoon’s eyes widened. Hamo said, “Three kilos? I’ll bet Patricia wanted to kill you when he started coming out.”
Joachim chuckled. “Yeah, she did say a few things. I’m going to ignore most of them. Look, she’s feeding him right now; if you need me to come in – “
Eisler leaned in. “Stay with your wife, Detective Schmidt.”
“Yes, sir.” After a few more moments of chat, Joachim ended the call.
As Hamo put the phone away the raccoon asked, “Any bets in the pool?”
“I lost; bet that Patricia would have a girl.” Hamo shrugged. “I’m sure someone managed to get things right.” They went back to their desk and began running searches while texting Karin to tell her the good news.
Before lunchtime, Hamo sat back in their seat and glowered. In addition to the death in Nairobi, there had been deaths in Canada, Nigeria, Vietnam and Italy that involved furs equipped with the SSE cyberway that could be construed as “suspicious.” Granted, there could have been other reasons than a malevolent hacker – disease, accident, and so on – but the cross-fox wasn’t certain.
The phone rang. “Suleymanoglu.”
“Bauer here, Detective, IT Crimes,” the rabbit doe said. “Our friend in America’s tried to break into our system again.”
“How many times?”
“Well, three times,” Bauer admitted, “before he started poking about the court system again.”
“I see. Is there any way you can tell if he tried his party trick in Kenya?”
“Oh, you mean the SSE death in Nairobi,” the rabbit said. “I’m sure we can send an inquiry to their police.”
“Thank you,” Hamo told Bauer, who ended the call. The cross-fox’s brush flicked back and forth as they gazed at the computer monitor.
Whoever had killed Lobel and Gerstein in the Underbox was possibly at it again.
And damn the Americans for not immediately having the fellow arrested.
After glaring at the data on their monitor, Hamo went back over what they’d found and kept searching for more. They wrote a short report detailing the results of the search, noting that after the five suspicious deaths, there hadn’t been any others.
That night, they were washing the last of the dinner dishes while Karin played with Margot when Hamo’s phone rang. Hastily drying off their paws, Hamo answered the call, which was coming from the police. “Suleymanoglu here,” they said as Karin walked into the room, Margot in her arms.
“Captain Eisler,” the raccoon said. “Justice sent your report to the Americans, along with the Foreign Ministry talking in some very quiet places.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I need you in the office at nine sharp.”
“I’ll be there, of course.” Hamo ended the call.
Karin’s ears were dipped. “What’s going on?”
“Not sure,” the cross-fox admitted.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST<
© 2021 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
Capt. Horatio Hortense Bezoar“What?” Hamo shook their head, making their pointed ears flap. “Their Defense Department’s involved in this?”
Haber shrugged. “It looks like it. According to my contact, they told the local police to basically forget they’d ever heard from us about anything.” The terrier gave the two detectives a lopsided smile. “Not that we won’t stop trying, of course, but you know how it is. Sorry that I can’t bring you better news.”
“Thank you, Herr Haber,” Joachim said. “Please keep us informed about any progress.” He ended the call. “What?” the boar asked the cross-fox, who was looking at him.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“You read way too much science fiction, Joachim,” Hamo said. “I’m sure it’s not aliens.”
“Says the one who has the huge collection of Perry Rhodan books – and all that anime about tanks being driven by young girls.”
“They were given to me by my grandfather,” Hamo said defensively, and their ears dipped as Joachim laughed. “And armored fighting vehicles are cool,” which only made the boar laugh harder.
The cross-fox got to their feet. “When you’ve finished,” they said as they went to get another cup of coffee, “let’s go over our report and notes again. We have to make sure that there’s nothing the Americans can find fault with.”
“Got it,” Joachim said, grinning as he logged into his computer and started going over the case file. While he was reading, Hamo took their seat across from the boar, and after a few moments a text window popped open on Joachim’s monitor, displaying an image of an ancient K-Wagen in traditional British racing green and a decidedly non-traditional and wildly optimistic set of ‘go-faster’ stripes.
The boar glanced over his monitor at the cross-fox. “Nice paint job,” he said, “and you’re weird.” Hamo chuckled.
After a few minutes Joachim asked, “How’s Karin?”
“Doing much better, thank you. And Patricia?”
“Her doctor says that she’s almost ready to go pop,” the boar said. His smile faltered slightly. “Her mother’s with her in case she goes into labor early.”
“I bet you look forward to coming to work, then,” Hamo said in a deadpan voice.
The boar snorted. “Yeah.”
***
Several days later, Hamo was getting ready for work when their phone rang. The cross-fox smiled when the screen showed Joachim’s name. “Good morning,” they answered the phone. “You won’t be coming in?”
“Yeah,” the boar replied, his voice sounding agitated. “Her water broke, and she’s having contractions. I’m taking her to the hospital now.”
“Right. I’ll tell Eisler, and Joachim?”
“Yeah?”
“Relax. She’ll be fine, and you’ll make a great father.”
Joachim took a breath, sighed it out and said, “Thanks, Hamo.”
“You’re welcome. Call back with the good news.” Hamo ended the call and smiled before slipping their packer into their underwear’s front pouch.
Karin stirred. “Was that work?” she asked sleepily.
Hamo finished pulling on their underwear before leaning over and kissing their wife. “No, it was Joachim. Patricia’s gone into labor.”
“Oh. That’s great news.”
“I’ll text you when I find out, okay?” The red fox vixen nodded and rolled over, going back to sleep as Hamo got into their trousers.
Hamo had been on duty for a couple hours before Captain Eisler arrived, and the cross-fox filled the raccoon in on what was going on. When they were finished, Eisler looked pleased. “How far along are we on the murder suspect?” he asked.
“Still nothing from the Americans,” Hamo said. “Every inquiry is met with either silence or ‘Go away’ from their Defense Department. We’re still working on it.”
“Good, and the sooner the better.” Hamo’s ears perked and Eisler asked, “You haven’t seen the news today?”
“No.”
“Report out of Nairobi. Southern Star Electronics has reported that one of their corporate officers, who used a company-made cyberway, has died of an apparent heart attack. They’re asking all their customers to get the implant removed yesterday until they can design a security patch.”
Hamo momentarily put a paw over their eyes. “Well, it was past hoping for that our boy would just sit quietly and wait for us to come get him. Any other reports of related deaths?”
Eisler shook his head. “Since your case is stalled and Joachim’s on paternity leave,” the raccoon said, “I want you to start making your way through the news nets. Find anything you can.”
The transgender vulpine nodded. “Yeah, it’ll give me – “ Their phone rang and Hamo pulled it from their pocket. “It’s Joachim.”
“Put it on speaker.” Eisler started to grin.
Hamo did so. “Hello?” they said.
“Patricia had a boy.” The boar sounded tired from the stress draining out of him, but happy. “They’re both doing great.”
Hamo and Eisler both grinned. “That’s wonderful news,” Hamo said. “How much?”
“Huh?”
“How much did he weigh?”
“Oh! Um . . . what did the nurse say, ah. Three kilos.”
The raccoon’s eyes widened. Hamo said, “Three kilos? I’ll bet Patricia wanted to kill you when he started coming out.”
Joachim chuckled. “Yeah, she did say a few things. I’m going to ignore most of them. Look, she’s feeding him right now; if you need me to come in – “
Eisler leaned in. “Stay with your wife, Detective Schmidt.”
“Yes, sir.” After a few more moments of chat, Joachim ended the call.
As Hamo put the phone away the raccoon asked, “Any bets in the pool?”
“I lost; bet that Patricia would have a girl.” Hamo shrugged. “I’m sure someone managed to get things right.” They went back to their desk and began running searches while texting Karin to tell her the good news.
Before lunchtime, Hamo sat back in their seat and glowered. In addition to the death in Nairobi, there had been deaths in Canada, Nigeria, Vietnam and Italy that involved furs equipped with the SSE cyberway that could be construed as “suspicious.” Granted, there could have been other reasons than a malevolent hacker – disease, accident, and so on – but the cross-fox wasn’t certain.
The phone rang. “Suleymanoglu.”
“Bauer here, Detective, IT Crimes,” the rabbit doe said. “Our friend in America’s tried to break into our system again.”
“How many times?”
“Well, three times,” Bauer admitted, “before he started poking about the court system again.”
“I see. Is there any way you can tell if he tried his party trick in Kenya?”
“Oh, you mean the SSE death in Nairobi,” the rabbit said. “I’m sure we can send an inquiry to their police.”
“Thank you,” Hamo told Bauer, who ended the call. The cross-fox’s brush flicked back and forth as they gazed at the computer monitor.
Whoever had killed Lobel and Gerstein in the Underbox was possibly at it again.
And damn the Americans for not immediately having the fellow arrested.
After glaring at the data on their monitor, Hamo went back over what they’d found and kept searching for more. They wrote a short report detailing the results of the search, noting that after the five suspicious deaths, there hadn’t been any others.
That night, they were washing the last of the dinner dishes while Karin played with Margot when Hamo’s phone rang. Hastily drying off their paws, Hamo answered the call, which was coming from the police. “Suleymanoglu here,” they said as Karin walked into the room, Margot in her arms.
“Captain Eisler,” the raccoon said. “Justice sent your report to the Americans, along with the Foreign Ministry talking in some very quiet places.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I need you in the office at nine sharp.”
“I’ll be there, of course.” Hamo ended the call.
Karin’s ears were dipped. “What’s going on?”
“Not sure,” the cross-fox admitted.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST<
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Vulpine (Other)
Size 85 x 120px
File Size 54.5 kB
Listed in Folders
*Converts kilos to pounds*
Hmmmm.....3 kilos is 6.6 pounds. My mother was five feet five inches tall, she had three children....all were above 8 pounds. I always thought that 8 pounds was normal for a newborn, it's only recently (sevenish years?) that I found out it wasn't
Hmmmm.....3 kilos is 6.6 pounds. My mother was five feet five inches tall, she had three children....all were above 8 pounds. I always thought that 8 pounds was normal for a newborn, it's only recently (sevenish years?) that I found out it wasn't
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