FA+
Shop
700
Views
Views
3
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / General Furry Art
Species Cervine (Other)
Size 82 x 120
File Size 48.5 kB
Report this content
More from Walt46
Listed in Folders
A Matter of Survival
A modern Spontoon Island story
© 2022 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
rabbi-tom
Ten.
“Witnessing-Gods, repent-myself from disbelieving the creature-with-three-horns outlander,” Wu said in Spontoonie as he saw Stagg enter the interview room, Twyford right behind him. “Truth-tell-I, Kaipo’i-son – “
“Still-thou tongue-thine, Jasper-son-Luke,” Stagg said in the same language, taking a seat across the table from the canine, but not the chair situated directly facing the defendant. “Use-thou tongue-outlanders,” he added. He glanced up as Twyford sat beside him. “I just told him to speak English. You’re representing him, not me.”
Kent nodded as he placed a pad and pen on the table. Stagg had dropped his easygoing demeanor the moment they entered the jail, and was now completely professional. “Okay.” He looked across the table. “Do you agree to have Mr. Stagg help me with your case?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Wu replied promptly.
The buck jotted a note. “Good. Mr. Stagg will be helping me explain to the judge about Spontoonie customs regarding public nudity.” The Shar Pei-wolf nodded. “The police are still investigating you for murder – “
“I told you, I didn’t kill her.”
“Yes, you told me. We have to wait for the results of their investigation.”
***
“You gods-damned – sneak!”
Ni Lu smirked.
Oh, how she longed to wipe that look off his face, but Ni Xia knew that ineffectually batting at her webcam would only make him even more insufferable.
“I like you too, Cousin,” Lu said. “You know I like to follow my instincts.” On the other video image, their cousin Jin-tao looked on. He appeared tired; judging by the background, it was after sundown in New Haven City. “I’m just moving closer. You know, in case I’m needed.”
The current head of the Ni Family pinched a spot between her eyebrows and promised herself that she’d spend an hour in meditation. Her husband had repeatedly chided her about her blood pressure, and Qing was sitting at his desk facing hers.
She didn’t need to look over the monitor to see the look on his face.
Xia sighed. “All right. Go to Cranium Island, for all I care. Now, any thoughts about who’s behind this?”
Lu shrugged.
Jin-tao frowned as he thought. “It could be one of our prospective business partners. Making us lose face, and then asking for concessions.”
“I doubt it,” Xia said. “They know what the consequences might be.” She glanced at Lu in time to see her cousin smile.
Obviously, Lu had no intention of going anywhere near Cranium Island. Over the decades, scientists, researchers, missionaries and military forces had gone to island, never to be seen or heard from again. Since the late Twenties, every nautical chart and pilot’s map had the place marked in red to keep people away.
With the advent of space flight in the late 1940s, some nations had sent up cameras mounted on rockets, but had been sorely disappointed to see nothing more than a blurry patch where the island should have been. Years had gone by, and increasingly advanced imagers and electronics had failed miserably.
It had been reported that the Soviet Union had tasked one of its early cosmonauts with directly overflying Cranium and reporting what his unaided eyes could see. The saluki had been reduced to a gibbering, mindless wreck who mercifully died in a military hospital’s isolation room two months after landing in Kazakhstan.
Still, people persisted in trying to find out if the rumors and stories of ‘mad scientists’ and ‘unspeakable horrors’ had any credence. There was a thriving industry on television dedicated to wild speculation as to what was actually going on there.
The Ni Family always avoided the place, despite rumors within the family that Shin and Hao had actually flown there, although neither of them had set foot on the island itself.
“If they need a lesson, then I’ll consider taking a trip East,” Lu said. “Until then, I’ll stay here at the Dragon, maybe play a round at the Club.”
“All right,” Xia said, and she glared at him. “But please remember, Lu, that I’m the head of the Family. You wait for my orders.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” her cousin assured her. “Unless my instincts tell me otherwise.”
“See if I get you any more old movies for Christmas, then,” Xia said tartly. Her ears flicked as Jin-tao gave a tired laugh. “And you.”
“Me? Yes, Ma’am?” he asked, trying to needle her.
She didn’t rise to the bait. “Are we seeing any movement in our companies in North America? Whoever’s done this might be using it – “
“As a pretext for a power play, yes.” Jin-tao hadn’t inherited his great-granduncle’s skill with numbers, but he had excellent business sense. “I haven’t seen anything in the past few days, but I’ll make contact and see if anything’s going on. I’ll check the stock exchanges as well.” He paused. “Tomorrow.”
“What – “
“Tomorrow, Cousin. It’s been a long day.”
Xia sighed. “Tomorrow, then. Goodbye, both of you.” Lu and Jin-tao both nodded and their screens went dark, leaving the red panda femme leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed, trying to slow her heart rate.
***
The three attorneys stood as Angelina Gore came into her office, paused to remove and hang up her black robe, and said, “Have a seat, gentlemen” as she sat down at her desk. Kinney, Twyford and Stagg sat and waited politely as the gray tabby femme glanced over the paperwork on her desk and finally sat back. “Franklin Stagg?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” the feline/cervine said.
“I visited Spontoon once, for Speed Week back in twenty-eighteen.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You do realize what your role is here, do you not?”
“Of course, Your Honor. I’m here to advise Mr. Twyford.”
“Good. Hmm, you got your degree in Rain Island, which allows evidence from ‘registered shamans.’”
Stagg nodded. “Yes, Your Honor. I’ve never practiced there, and Spontoon does not follow Rain Island’s legal system.” He didn’t add that the Wise Ones were adamant on that point, and Rain Island’s Synod never pressed the issue.
“All right. I’ll sign off on the pro hac vice. Mr. Twyford, you filed a motion to suppress, and to have the charges dropped?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Hmm. Mr. Kinney? Did the police have a warrant to look at Mr. Wu’s laptop?”
The Alsatian dipped his ears. “No, Ma’am.”
“Then what possessed them to do it?” Before the prosecutor could frame a reply, Gore said briskly, “I’ll defer a decision on your motion, Mr. Twyford, until I’ve seen these pictures myself. Mr. Stagg?”
“Ma’am?”
“I recall seeing unclothed furs when I visited the Spontoons. Acquaint us with the laws and customs in your country.”
Stagg glanced at Twyford and Kinney before replying, “Yes, Ma’am. Spontoon has no law on the books forbidding public nudity, and when the weather’s agreeable you can expect to see furs in the non-tourist areas going about with no or minimal clothing. However, we do have public nuisance laws, so you might say that public nudity’s permitted, as long as no one makes a nuisance of themselves.”
Gore nodded. “Nicely nuanced. And pedophilia?”
Feline ears went back. “That is very definitely against the law, and it is strictly enforced, Ma’am, with a minimum sentence of twenty-five years. You may recall a case about ten years ago when the son of the mayor of a major city here in America was arrested after molesting a young boy. Despite a concerted effort by the mayor, the Department of State and the media here, he remains at the Kropotkin Penitentiary,” he said in an even tone.
After a moment, the gray tabby nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Stagg. Until I see the pictures, I’ll hold off on making a decision. Now, Mr. Kinney,” and she aimed her gaze at him, “what about these murder charges?”
“The police,” and the Alsatian sighed, “the police are still digging, Ma’am.”
“I see. Tell them to dig faster.” She started shuffling the papers together. “That’ll be all, gentlemen.”
Once out in the hallway, Stagg offered a paw to Kinney. “Frank Stagg.”
Kinney gave him a sharp look before taking the paw and shaking it. “Bob Kinney. Is it really like that in the Spontoons?”
“I make it a point to never lie to a judge,” the hybrid said, “especially when she’d been there herself.” He dipped his antlers toward the judge’s chambers. “She like that all the time?”
Kinney glanced at Twyford and they both smiled. “No, I think we caught her in a good mood. See you around, Kent.” The canine walked away.
Walking down the hallway, the whitetail buck noticed that Stagg seemed to be staring down at his hooves. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Just thinking,” came the reply.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST>
A modern Spontoon Island story
© 2022 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
rabbi-tomTen.
“Witnessing-Gods, repent-myself from disbelieving the creature-with-three-horns outlander,” Wu said in Spontoonie as he saw Stagg enter the interview room, Twyford right behind him. “Truth-tell-I, Kaipo’i-son – “
“Still-thou tongue-thine, Jasper-son-Luke,” Stagg said in the same language, taking a seat across the table from the canine, but not the chair situated directly facing the defendant. “Use-thou tongue-outlanders,” he added. He glanced up as Twyford sat beside him. “I just told him to speak English. You’re representing him, not me.”
Kent nodded as he placed a pad and pen on the table. Stagg had dropped his easygoing demeanor the moment they entered the jail, and was now completely professional. “Okay.” He looked across the table. “Do you agree to have Mr. Stagg help me with your case?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Wu replied promptly.
The buck jotted a note. “Good. Mr. Stagg will be helping me explain to the judge about Spontoonie customs regarding public nudity.” The Shar Pei-wolf nodded. “The police are still investigating you for murder – “
“I told you, I didn’t kill her.”
“Yes, you told me. We have to wait for the results of their investigation.”
***
“You gods-damned – sneak!”
Ni Lu smirked.
Oh, how she longed to wipe that look off his face, but Ni Xia knew that ineffectually batting at her webcam would only make him even more insufferable.
“I like you too, Cousin,” Lu said. “You know I like to follow my instincts.” On the other video image, their cousin Jin-tao looked on. He appeared tired; judging by the background, it was after sundown in New Haven City. “I’m just moving closer. You know, in case I’m needed.”
The current head of the Ni Family pinched a spot between her eyebrows and promised herself that she’d spend an hour in meditation. Her husband had repeatedly chided her about her blood pressure, and Qing was sitting at his desk facing hers.
She didn’t need to look over the monitor to see the look on his face.
Xia sighed. “All right. Go to Cranium Island, for all I care. Now, any thoughts about who’s behind this?”
Lu shrugged.
Jin-tao frowned as he thought. “It could be one of our prospective business partners. Making us lose face, and then asking for concessions.”
“I doubt it,” Xia said. “They know what the consequences might be.” She glanced at Lu in time to see her cousin smile.
Obviously, Lu had no intention of going anywhere near Cranium Island. Over the decades, scientists, researchers, missionaries and military forces had gone to island, never to be seen or heard from again. Since the late Twenties, every nautical chart and pilot’s map had the place marked in red to keep people away.
With the advent of space flight in the late 1940s, some nations had sent up cameras mounted on rockets, but had been sorely disappointed to see nothing more than a blurry patch where the island should have been. Years had gone by, and increasingly advanced imagers and electronics had failed miserably.
It had been reported that the Soviet Union had tasked one of its early cosmonauts with directly overflying Cranium and reporting what his unaided eyes could see. The saluki had been reduced to a gibbering, mindless wreck who mercifully died in a military hospital’s isolation room two months after landing in Kazakhstan.
Still, people persisted in trying to find out if the rumors and stories of ‘mad scientists’ and ‘unspeakable horrors’ had any credence. There was a thriving industry on television dedicated to wild speculation as to what was actually going on there.
The Ni Family always avoided the place, despite rumors within the family that Shin and Hao had actually flown there, although neither of them had set foot on the island itself.
“If they need a lesson, then I’ll consider taking a trip East,” Lu said. “Until then, I’ll stay here at the Dragon, maybe play a round at the Club.”
“All right,” Xia said, and she glared at him. “But please remember, Lu, that I’m the head of the Family. You wait for my orders.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” her cousin assured her. “Unless my instincts tell me otherwise.”
“See if I get you any more old movies for Christmas, then,” Xia said tartly. Her ears flicked as Jin-tao gave a tired laugh. “And you.”
“Me? Yes, Ma’am?” he asked, trying to needle her.
She didn’t rise to the bait. “Are we seeing any movement in our companies in North America? Whoever’s done this might be using it – “
“As a pretext for a power play, yes.” Jin-tao hadn’t inherited his great-granduncle’s skill with numbers, but he had excellent business sense. “I haven’t seen anything in the past few days, but I’ll make contact and see if anything’s going on. I’ll check the stock exchanges as well.” He paused. “Tomorrow.”
“What – “
“Tomorrow, Cousin. It’s been a long day.”
Xia sighed. “Tomorrow, then. Goodbye, both of you.” Lu and Jin-tao both nodded and their screens went dark, leaving the red panda femme leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed, trying to slow her heart rate.
***
The three attorneys stood as Angelina Gore came into her office, paused to remove and hang up her black robe, and said, “Have a seat, gentlemen” as she sat down at her desk. Kinney, Twyford and Stagg sat and waited politely as the gray tabby femme glanced over the paperwork on her desk and finally sat back. “Franklin Stagg?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” the feline/cervine said.
“I visited Spontoon once, for Speed Week back in twenty-eighteen.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You do realize what your role is here, do you not?”
“Of course, Your Honor. I’m here to advise Mr. Twyford.”
“Good. Hmm, you got your degree in Rain Island, which allows evidence from ‘registered shamans.’”
Stagg nodded. “Yes, Your Honor. I’ve never practiced there, and Spontoon does not follow Rain Island’s legal system.” He didn’t add that the Wise Ones were adamant on that point, and Rain Island’s Synod never pressed the issue.
“All right. I’ll sign off on the pro hac vice. Mr. Twyford, you filed a motion to suppress, and to have the charges dropped?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Hmm. Mr. Kinney? Did the police have a warrant to look at Mr. Wu’s laptop?”
The Alsatian dipped his ears. “No, Ma’am.”
“Then what possessed them to do it?” Before the prosecutor could frame a reply, Gore said briskly, “I’ll defer a decision on your motion, Mr. Twyford, until I’ve seen these pictures myself. Mr. Stagg?”
“Ma’am?”
“I recall seeing unclothed furs when I visited the Spontoons. Acquaint us with the laws and customs in your country.”
Stagg glanced at Twyford and Kinney before replying, “Yes, Ma’am. Spontoon has no law on the books forbidding public nudity, and when the weather’s agreeable you can expect to see furs in the non-tourist areas going about with no or minimal clothing. However, we do have public nuisance laws, so you might say that public nudity’s permitted, as long as no one makes a nuisance of themselves.”
Gore nodded. “Nicely nuanced. And pedophilia?”
Feline ears went back. “That is very definitely against the law, and it is strictly enforced, Ma’am, with a minimum sentence of twenty-five years. You may recall a case about ten years ago when the son of the mayor of a major city here in America was arrested after molesting a young boy. Despite a concerted effort by the mayor, the Department of State and the media here, he remains at the Kropotkin Penitentiary,” he said in an even tone.
After a moment, the gray tabby nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Stagg. Until I see the pictures, I’ll hold off on making a decision. Now, Mr. Kinney,” and she aimed her gaze at him, “what about these murder charges?”
“The police,” and the Alsatian sighed, “the police are still digging, Ma’am.”
“I see. Tell them to dig faster.” She started shuffling the papers together. “That’ll be all, gentlemen.”
Once out in the hallway, Stagg offered a paw to Kinney. “Frank Stagg.”
Kinney gave him a sharp look before taking the paw and shaking it. “Bob Kinney. Is it really like that in the Spontoons?”
“I make it a point to never lie to a judge,” the hybrid said, “especially when she’d been there herself.” He dipped his antlers toward the judge’s chambers. “She like that all the time?”
Kinney glanced at Twyford and they both smiled. “No, I think we caught her in a good mood. See you around, Kent.” The canine walked away.
Walking down the hallway, the whitetail buck noticed that Stagg seemed to be staring down at his hooves. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Just thinking,” came the reply.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST>
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Cervine (Other)
Size 82 x 120px
File Size 48.5 kB
Comments