A Matter of Survival
A modern Spontoon Island story
© 2022 by Walter Reimer

Thumbnail art by  RockBaker

Six.



Vison Group LLC was the oldest and largest law firm in the Spontoons, with a sterling reputation throughout the northern Pacific for both civil and criminal cases. The reception area bore two framed portraits, one depicting Thomas Vison, the bespectacled mink that founded the firm in the late 1920s and became its namesake, and a native red fox vixen named Kara Karoksdottir, who had handled civil cases back then, and who had taken over the firm upon Vison’s retirement.

“Frank?” The mel behind the desk glanced up as the secretary, a slim canine, said, “Someone here to see you.”

“Thanks, Sarah. Show them in, please.” He set aside the papers he had been looking at and started to stand up. “Good afternoon. I’m - ” his voice trailed off, his paw half-outstretched.

“You’re Franklin Stagg-Baumgartner,” the red panda said. The visitor was a red panda femme, a few years older than his thirty-two, with a lean figure accentuated by close-cropped fur. It had been a hot summer, and wahs had very dense fur. The femme’s lean look was accentuated by a certain hard, calculating expression.

The look of a predator.

“The Fourth,” the attorney said.

“You look like a freak,” she said bluntly.

The whitetail buck – cheetah hybrid gave her a lopsided smile as his ears laid back and he withdrew his paw. “It runs slightly in the family,” and he gestured for her to take a seat while he sat back down. He had a cheetah’s general slim build and fur colors, albeit tinged with brown, hooves instead of feet and a set of trimmed antlers. “Saved money on Halloween costumes,” he added with a self-effacing grin while she sat and looked around.

A framed copy of his great-grandparents’ wedding picture hung on the wall beside his law degree from Seathl’s University of the North Pacific.

“You know who I am,” Frank said, well-used to the reaction furs had to seeing him and guessing that she knew him at least by reputation. He’d actually used his appearance to good effect in court hearings and when he surfed professionally. “Your name, Ma’am?”

“My name is Ni Xia,” the red panda said. “I need to retain you, on behalf of one of my employees.”

The hybrid’s feline features didn’t change expression. His poker face had earned him some spending money when he had been in law school. Her family name hadn’t escaped him; it’d been part of the family lore, after all, passed down from his namesake. He sat back in his chair and asked, “Why are you here on their behalf?”

“He’s in jail. In San Francisco.”

His ears perked and one eyebrow rose. “I cannot practice in America, Mrs. Ni.”

“I’m aware of that,” Xia said, “and my company’s searching for a criminal attorney over there right now. However, based on the charges and circumstances, I would want a Spontoonie lawyer advising him.”

“I see. Suppose you tell me the whole story, Mrs. Ni.” He selected a sheet of note paper, took a pen from a drawer, and waited expectantly.

She looked uncomfortable as she sat there for a moment. It was possible that the name ‘Stagg’ was part of her family’s lore as well. Frank thought it very likely. Finally Xia huffed a breath and said, “I sent Jasper Wu – he’s a corporate lawyer, from up on Brackett Island,” and the cervine/feline hybrid nodded, “to San Francisco in order to open negotiations with a company there to explore a limited partnership. We’re trying to develop new markets over there.”

“I see. Go on, please.”

“Negotiations were proceeding when he returned to his hotel and was detained by the police there.”

“Oh?”

“On suspicion of murder.” He frowned and she added, “That’s not what he’s charged with.”

“What is he charged with?”

“Possession of child pornography.” She raised a paw before he could say anything. “They looked at his laptop, and found pictures of his family.”

“Ah.” Frank jotted the note ‘cultural misunderstanding’ on the paper. “I’m familiar with American attitudes.”

That caused her ears to flick. “You are?”

He smiled. “Yes. I’ll take the case, Mrs. Ni. My retainer will be twelve thousand shells, and I will also require travel, per diem, and expenses.” Her ears went back and her banded tail twitched irritably, and he added, “I’ll also need the name of the lawyer you have representing Mr. Wu in San Francisco.”

“As soon as I know, I’ll pass that on to you,” she said as she stood up.

Frank frowned. “You retained me first?”

“You were closer. I’ll give the retainer check to your secretary on my way out,” and Xia left the room, leaving the cervine-feline hybrid scratching his head between his antlers, thinking.


***


The next morning in Berkeley, a paralegal poked his head around the open office door. “Pardon me, Mr. Twyford?”

The whitetail buck glanced up from the case file he had been reading. “Yes, Jack?”

“Phone call for you.”

Kent Twyford grinned. “Thanks, Jack.” It was a welcome break from going over the case file. He had a pretrial appearance coming up, but he’d been over all the paperwork so many times he felt he could recite parts verbatim. Jack withdrew and Twyford picked up the phone. “Good morning, Kent Twyford.”

“Mr. Twyford,” a man’s voice said in accented English, “my name’s Qing, and I represent the head of Golden Dawn Investments. I’m calling from the Spontoon Independencies.”

For a brief moment, the buck had to think – ahh, yes. “Yes, Sir. How may I help you?

“We are looking for a criminal attorney to represent an employee of our firm, who is currently in the San Francisco jail.” There was a pause. “May I arrange a video call with you for later today? It’s just past six-thirty over here.”

“Oh. Hmm . . .” He glanced at the case file before him, took a guess, and subtracted four hours. “Would one o’clock be all right with you? That would be, um, nine AM your time.”

Qing, whoever he was, sounded pleased. “That will be fine, Mr. Twyford.”

“Good.” He jotted down the caller’s information, and gave his office email address so the video call could be arranged. “I’ll talk to you again in a few hours, Mr. Qing.”

“Thank you.” The call ended, and the whitetail buck sat back, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Jack?”

“Yeah?” His paralegal came into the office. “What’s up?”

“Do me a favor, and run a search on Golden Dawn Investments, out on Spontoon. I’ve got a video call early this afternoon.”

“Gotcha.”


***


The fox sat across the table from the Shar Pei, who looked very uncomfortable in his orange jail uniform. The two had exchanged a few banal pleasantries in English until the officer had left the interview room before switching to Spontoonie.

Their native language was no longer as unknown as it had been decades earlier, so both were aware that their conversation was being recorded, with a translator (either a fur or a computer) standing by.

“Witnessing-Gods, Jasper-son-Lucas, did you foul-deed-these perform?” Tainafi asked, the Consul taking notes.

“Witnessing-Gods, Speaker-for-the-Althing, self-same would never,” Wu said insistently. “Outlanders erred have, to mistake images of kin for fell intent, and saw I creature-with-hooves outlander femme but a moment. Witnessing-Gods, no time did I have in which to take her life.” The canine sat back. “Precious-mate mine has been told?”

Tainafi nodded. “Also business-superiors-your. Business-superiors all same tell of engaging law-speakers.” The Consul smiled as reassuringly as he could. “Trust in the Gods, Jasper-son-Luke.” He paused. “Treated benignly are you?”

Wu nodded.


***


The link was confirmed, and Qing Renmin adjusted his necktie as his computer screen showed an office painted in fairly neutral colors with framed diplomas and one rather good framed landscape photograph. “Mr. Twyford?” the red panda ventured.

“Be right there, Mr. Qing,” and there was a flurry of movement as the whitetail buck sat down. “My apologies. Had something come up at the last second.”

“It’s no . . . “ Qing’s voice trailed away as he took in the sight on his screen.

Twyford had three antlers.

Apparently, the buck had seen reactions like his before. “It’s a minor birth defect,” he said. “Not widespread, but it does happen in whitetails.”

“I apologize, Sir.”

Twyford waved this away. “It’s no problem, Mr. Qing. I’m very used to it. Now, what can I do for you?” He started taking notes as Qing explained what was going on, and the buck’s smile faded as the charges against Wu were listed. “These are very serious charges, Mr. Qing.”

“It is a matter of different cultures, Mr. Twyford. Public nudity’s not illegal in the Spontoons.”

“I see.” He jotted the word discovery? and underlined it twice. “And he is under suspicion for a murder as well?” The red panda nodded. “It’s good that California doesn’t have the death penalty, but I can tell you, Mr. Qing, that if he’s found guilty Mr. Wu’s looking at a very long time in prison, followed by immediate deportation.”

“That’s understood,” Qing agreed. “We would prefer a better outcome, of course.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Will you take the case?”

“Just one more question, Mr. Qing. Have you retained a, um, Spontoonie lawyer as well?”

“Yes. I can give you his contact information so you two can speak together.”

“Thank you.” The buck jotted the phrase ‘pro hac vice’ and also underlined it. “It’ll be necessary to have someone with me to explain to the judge about customs in your country.”

“We had assumed so,” the red panda said.

“Then I will take the case,” and the conversation turned to a discussion of the attorney’s retainer and fees.



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