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A Matter of Survival
A modern Spontoon Island story
© 2022 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
rabbi-tom
Three.
Promptly at noon the next day, a text message opened.
XX: Are you there?
WJ: Yes. Woke up about three hours ago.
XX: Any word yet?
WJ: Patience is a virtue.
XX: . . .
WJ: The proposal is sound. Let them discuss it.
XX: Very well.
XX: Advise as soon as you get response.
WJ: Of course.
Jasper shook his head irritably, his ears tucked back, as he closed the text window. His wife had emailed a mercifully short shopping list to him, so after making certain that he had a full charge on his phone’s battery he dressed and left the hotel.
***
The cursor slid across the screen and closed the text window.
The red panda swiveled his office chair around and leaned back, watching the rain striking his office windows as he drummed his fingers against the arms of the chair. Outside, rain lashed at the skyline of New Haven City.
Since the Candlelight Revolution that had toppled the former Trotskyite government in 1988, the Republic of New Haven had experienced a rapid surge of growth and something of a cultural renaissance. This was largely due to the eagerness of its population to embrace the advances that they had missed, while being practical about those same advances’ problems.
Several international financial corporations had established headquarters in New Haven, with one in particular helping the country back on its feet with donations of cash. Most of All Saints Cathedral’s restoration had been funded by this one company.
The government of the new Republic had been very grateful.
It had come as a surprise to the very few who had noticed that the corporation had transferred its North American headquarters to New Haven City from New York. Interestingly, the move had been finished scant weeks before a terrorist attack had leveled the business complex that the company had vacated. It was an odd coincidence that escaped general notice in the aftermath of the disaster.
Ni Jin-tao felt his thick-furred, banded tail switching back and forth, reflecting his anxiety. He had not been born when the Family had cut ties with the American Mafia, and had been in high school and college when all Family business had been pulled out of the United States with the exception of New York. It was now up to him to mend fences with the others.
It helped that Golden Advent LLC, the parent company for both Golden Dawn Investments and Golden Dragon Airways along with half a dozen other concerns scattered throughout the world, had very good relations with certain furs in Hong Kong, Canton and Kuo Han. At least it permitted him to reach out to hopefully receptive ears in San Francisco.
Still, it rankled him that he had been tasked with cleaning up a mess that had occurred back when he was a schoolboy.
A flash of lightning made him glance up momentarily, and he smiled at the dull mutter of thunder. The smile broadened as he swiveled around again to face his desk and opened an encrypted video chat. Sure, it was just after midnight in Hong Kong.
But, as his grandmother once told him, misery loved company.
***
“Sir?”
Ni Lu stirred and looked away from the movie. “Yes?”
“There is a video call for you,” the digital assistant said softly. “From New Haven.”
From New Haven? Oh, that’d be Jin-tao, he thought. He paused the movie before groping for his computer tablet and opening the call. “Jin-tao? What’s up?”
His cousin gave him a sarcastic grin. “You are, as usual. It’s why I decided to call you instead of Xia or anyone else.”
Lu rolled his eyes, but his cousin was right. He managed somehow to get by on under four hours’ sleep, and had been able to since college. Among other things, it enabled him to stay up and watch the vintage movies he loved so much. “So, I’m up and you’re – what? Having lunch?”
“Just finished. Hamburger.”
“You’ll get fat.”
“I could have them three times a day, and never get as fat as you.” Lu glowered, and Jin-tao laughed. “Anyway, Cousin, I just finished talking to Jasper.”
That caught Lu’s interest. “Yes?”
“He gave them our proposal yesterday – his time – and they’re still considering it.” He nibbled at his lower lip, a nervous tic. “Isn’t there anything you can do at your end?”
“I told you before, Jin-tao, that I can’t. The other Tongs here insist on letting their brothers in America make their own decision – and since the Neighbors decided to exert their influence here, the bigger clans are being very quiet until they see which way the new winds will blow.”
Jin-tao rubbed his forehead as he sighed in exasperation. “But look on the bright side,” his cousin said helpfully, “you sent Jasper. He’s the best negotiator we have, and you know how good a job he did with the cartels in Mixteca.”
“I know, I know. But this should be easier. Maybe, if we’d started this a few years earlier – “
“Might have beens won’t get us anywhere,” the great-grandson of Ni Hao said to Jin-tao. “Look, Cousin, just be patient. If Jasper can’t get a deal, we’ll explore other options, okay?”
“Yeah, all right. What are you watching?”
“Láng shān dié xuě jì.”
“Blood on Wolf Mountain? Never heard of it. How old’s that?”
“Nineteen thirty-six.”
“Heh. You and your movies.” Jin-tao chuckled. “Good night, Lu.”
“’Night, Cousin.” The screen blanked and the red panda resumed watching the vintage black and white movie. It had taken a while to find a digitally restored print.
Sure, his great-grandfather wouldn’t have hesitated to travel anywhere to kill people, according to the family’s history. But these were different, somewhat more settled times.
Still . . . “Alicia.”
“Yes, Sir?” the personal assistant replied.
“Schedule some time at the range tomorrow.”
“Yes, Sir.”
***
It took him a couple hours, but he managed to get everything on his wife’s shopping list. Even better, he found a parcel company that would package everything up and mail it off to Spontoon for him, eliminating the need to carry anything with him on the flight home. Jasper had a brief snack at a restaurant specializing in dim sum near the ceremonial entrance to Chinatown.
Curiosity (he’d never visited the city before) urged him to take a walk into the neighborhood, and he looked at one or two likely places for dinner that night.
As he wandered down one of the ubiquitous hills in the city, another Shar-Pei paused and looked in a shop window.
It took a very keen eye to spot that the canine was watching Jasper out of the corners of his eyes. After Jasper walked past, the man began to follow him at a discreet distance.
The man tarried long enough to see the Spontoonie enter his hotel before walking away.
The canine took a roundabout route before entering a certain building in an upscale neighborhood of the city. After having his identity verified, the man went to make give a contact report to his superior.
The superior read the report, and gave several orders.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST>
A modern Spontoon Island story
© 2022 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
rabbi-tomThree.
Promptly at noon the next day, a text message opened.
XX: Are you there?
WJ: Yes. Woke up about three hours ago.
XX: Any word yet?
WJ: Patience is a virtue.
XX: . . .
WJ: The proposal is sound. Let them discuss it.
XX: Very well.
XX: Advise as soon as you get response.
WJ: Of course.
Jasper shook his head irritably, his ears tucked back, as he closed the text window. His wife had emailed a mercifully short shopping list to him, so after making certain that he had a full charge on his phone’s battery he dressed and left the hotel.
***
The cursor slid across the screen and closed the text window.
The red panda swiveled his office chair around and leaned back, watching the rain striking his office windows as he drummed his fingers against the arms of the chair. Outside, rain lashed at the skyline of New Haven City.
Since the Candlelight Revolution that had toppled the former Trotskyite government in 1988, the Republic of New Haven had experienced a rapid surge of growth and something of a cultural renaissance. This was largely due to the eagerness of its population to embrace the advances that they had missed, while being practical about those same advances’ problems.
Several international financial corporations had established headquarters in New Haven, with one in particular helping the country back on its feet with donations of cash. Most of All Saints Cathedral’s restoration had been funded by this one company.
The government of the new Republic had been very grateful.
It had come as a surprise to the very few who had noticed that the corporation had transferred its North American headquarters to New Haven City from New York. Interestingly, the move had been finished scant weeks before a terrorist attack had leveled the business complex that the company had vacated. It was an odd coincidence that escaped general notice in the aftermath of the disaster.
Ni Jin-tao felt his thick-furred, banded tail switching back and forth, reflecting his anxiety. He had not been born when the Family had cut ties with the American Mafia, and had been in high school and college when all Family business had been pulled out of the United States with the exception of New York. It was now up to him to mend fences with the others.
It helped that Golden Advent LLC, the parent company for both Golden Dawn Investments and Golden Dragon Airways along with half a dozen other concerns scattered throughout the world, had very good relations with certain furs in Hong Kong, Canton and Kuo Han. At least it permitted him to reach out to hopefully receptive ears in San Francisco.
Still, it rankled him that he had been tasked with cleaning up a mess that had occurred back when he was a schoolboy.
A flash of lightning made him glance up momentarily, and he smiled at the dull mutter of thunder. The smile broadened as he swiveled around again to face his desk and opened an encrypted video chat. Sure, it was just after midnight in Hong Kong.
But, as his grandmother once told him, misery loved company.
***
“Sir?”
Ni Lu stirred and looked away from the movie. “Yes?”
“There is a video call for you,” the digital assistant said softly. “From New Haven.”
From New Haven? Oh, that’d be Jin-tao, he thought. He paused the movie before groping for his computer tablet and opening the call. “Jin-tao? What’s up?”
His cousin gave him a sarcastic grin. “You are, as usual. It’s why I decided to call you instead of Xia or anyone else.”
Lu rolled his eyes, but his cousin was right. He managed somehow to get by on under four hours’ sleep, and had been able to since college. Among other things, it enabled him to stay up and watch the vintage movies he loved so much. “So, I’m up and you’re – what? Having lunch?”
“Just finished. Hamburger.”
“You’ll get fat.”
“I could have them three times a day, and never get as fat as you.” Lu glowered, and Jin-tao laughed. “Anyway, Cousin, I just finished talking to Jasper.”
That caught Lu’s interest. “Yes?”
“He gave them our proposal yesterday – his time – and they’re still considering it.” He nibbled at his lower lip, a nervous tic. “Isn’t there anything you can do at your end?”
“I told you before, Jin-tao, that I can’t. The other Tongs here insist on letting their brothers in America make their own decision – and since the Neighbors decided to exert their influence here, the bigger clans are being very quiet until they see which way the new winds will blow.”
Jin-tao rubbed his forehead as he sighed in exasperation. “But look on the bright side,” his cousin said helpfully, “you sent Jasper. He’s the best negotiator we have, and you know how good a job he did with the cartels in Mixteca.”
“I know, I know. But this should be easier. Maybe, if we’d started this a few years earlier – “
“Might have beens won’t get us anywhere,” the great-grandson of Ni Hao said to Jin-tao. “Look, Cousin, just be patient. If Jasper can’t get a deal, we’ll explore other options, okay?”
“Yeah, all right. What are you watching?”
“Láng shān dié xuě jì.”
“Blood on Wolf Mountain? Never heard of it. How old’s that?”
“Nineteen thirty-six.”
“Heh. You and your movies.” Jin-tao chuckled. “Good night, Lu.”
“’Night, Cousin.” The screen blanked and the red panda resumed watching the vintage black and white movie. It had taken a while to find a digitally restored print.
Sure, his great-grandfather wouldn’t have hesitated to travel anywhere to kill people, according to the family’s history. But these were different, somewhat more settled times.
Still . . . “Alicia.”
“Yes, Sir?” the personal assistant replied.
“Schedule some time at the range tomorrow.”
“Yes, Sir.”
***
It took him a couple hours, but he managed to get everything on his wife’s shopping list. Even better, he found a parcel company that would package everything up and mail it off to Spontoon for him, eliminating the need to carry anything with him on the flight home. Jasper had a brief snack at a restaurant specializing in dim sum near the ceremonial entrance to Chinatown.
Curiosity (he’d never visited the city before) urged him to take a walk into the neighborhood, and he looked at one or two likely places for dinner that night.
As he wandered down one of the ubiquitous hills in the city, another Shar-Pei paused and looked in a shop window.
It took a very keen eye to spot that the canine was watching Jasper out of the corners of his eyes. After Jasper walked past, the man began to follow him at a discreet distance.
The man tarried long enough to see the Spontoonie enter his hotel before walking away.
The canine took a roundabout route before entering a certain building in an upscale neighborhood of the city. After having his identity verified, the man went to make give a contact report to his superior.
The superior read the report, and gave several orders.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST>
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Canine (Other)
Size 75 x 120px
File Size 47.7 kB
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