SS Blue Horizon PA1138

Captain's Journal

I need a vacation.

My crew and I are tired. We are worn out from our adventures, and resulting from recent events of such enormous circumstance, our immediate future looks uncertain in the business of interstellar commerce. We escorted Victor Faltane and his aides to Earth three weeks ago, and since there was nothing else on our delivery schedule after delivering Martian hematite to the Terraformation Corporation, I plotted a direct course for Dennier from there. My brother-in-law, Bill Wallace, has invited me to set the Blue Horizon on his private landing pad for the duration until interstellar commerce picks up again. He has wanted us to stop in for an extended visit for some time and this looks like the perfect opportunity for it.

Our next pickup was to be on Mainor, and the rest of our prior schedule has been withdrawn by planets still distrustful of one another by this whole affair. Once on Dennier, I will grant indefinite leave to my crew, as we have no indication of when we will have another interstellar delivery. I have already instructed everyone to try to stay nearby in case one does come up, but they are otherwise free to do as they wish.

Jape Devon has departed us for a long-needed vacation. An edict was issued from his government that the black-eyed members of his race are now persona-non-grata, and for all practical purposes he can never go back home. There is now considerable antipathy against Kastans in general and I have read reports of lynching in places. Rather a depressing end to have to come to after all he has done for the safety of the Planetary Alignment.

Samantha is recovering well. The Kastans' quick medical help on her injuries kept her from losing more blood, though they needed Tanis' medical knowledge since they were not familiar with her physiology. They would not let him do anything more than advise, and while their techniques were different than ours, they did a good job on her. If her current healing is any indication, she will either have little or no scar left when she has fully recovered.

She can sit up now without pain, but she still has to stay off her feet for a while. Pockets added anti-grav generators to the bottom of a small platform cushioned with a large red pillow, and attached her favorite laptop terminal to it so she can still access the main computer. She likes it so much that she told Pockets that she might continue to use it even after she's back on her feet.

Speaking of Samantha, there are times lately when she seems preoccupied with some inner thought, and she gets quiet during this time. I have tried to coax her into confiding in me, but she just shakes her head and mumbles thanks for my concern. Our resident psychologist, Cindy, has tried talking with her as well, but with the same result. Something has bothered her since her encounter with the assassins, and I don't think it's just the healing wound. Something happened during the fight that she won't discuss with anyone.

I don't know if it's related to her inner struggle, but Samantha has also been more affectionate to me lately. Due to her injuries we have not gotten too intimate, but she seems to spend more time around me than she has in the past. She also lingers when we've touched, and I've caught her looking at me with soft eyes on other occasions.

I wish I knew what was on her mind.

Anyway… I suppose I should make an additional note here in my journal that diplomatic relations throughout the Planetary Alignment are currently under extraordinary stress. This has been a period of change like no other I have seen in a long while – so much has happened in such a short period of time. There is even talk of new aggression between Nalirra and a sister world that isn't a member of the Planetary Alignment that has made Tanis nervous.

Due to the siege against Argeia, or the Siilv War as it has since become known, interplanetary commerce and trust have broken down almost completely throughout parts of the Planetary Alignment. What is left of Mainor after the attack by the Kastan's super-dreadnought is a darkened rock of death. What atmosphere remains of the fused planet consists of opaque, poisonous clouds, and released heat from its core is trapped beneath a virtual greenhouse that has efficiently killed all life on the once-populous world. Probes sent to the surface by SPF investigators last only a few minutes before breaking down in the acidic atmospheric conditions. Natives of Mainor who were offworld for one reason or another now have no home to return to. It's a stark reminder to the rest of the Planetary Alignment how close Dennier and Earth were to the same fate. For all appearances, Mainor now resembles Rombess, the small poisonous world closest in orbit around our sun.

Devon explained that at the heart of every dictatorship is the idea that there is no rule of law superior to the will of those who hold power or the ideology they are promoting.  Such was the position of several of the worlds in the PA when we invited Argeia to join our ranks. Argeia has slammed its doors shut for obvious reasons, but there are now a few thousand tons of Siilv on the market again. It will be enough to keep Brandt going for ten more years if only they use it, especially now that Intergalactic Aid has been dissolved. I suspect they will probably hoard it, but in doing so, their economy could break down further, especially with the loss of Intergalactic Aid. As if that were not bad enough, more of the unstable corollary element, Ionic Siilv, has shown up as well. I.S. is so volatile that it vibrates slightly in your hand, sort of like putting your tongue on the ends of a small power-pack. Ionic Siilv could possibly replace liquid crystal as a cell fuel, but there just isn't enough of it outside of Argeia.

The Lady of Dreams was lost in the fighting. Despite her reputation as a pirate, Captain Natasha acted valiantly. A few of her surviving crew members have stated that it seemed the Captain's purpose in the whole affair was not to exploit the situation to her advantage, but it was her intention to act as a deterrent to those hostile to Argeia. Unfortunately, her intentions were misread by the Kastans, who attacked her Hammerdine with one of their own as she tried to protect a Hestran vessel merely by its presence. The Kastans fired upon the Lady of Dreams without provocation, but Natasha did not sit idly by. Once her vessel was actively attacked, she returned fire in self preservation. Unfortunately, the Lady of Dreams did not survive a final assault from an unknown weapon launched from the surface of the planet.

 In the short time I have known Captain Natasha, I had grown to respect her brilliant mind, and I believe I was beginning to understand her goals, if not her methods.

Laura Jazz - "Laura" to us, "Jazz" as she was known to the crew of the Lady of Dreams - has left for Sillon to rejoin her family, and she has taken young Tim Mo with her on the long voyage. She grew attached to Natasha's cabin boy during their time together and will take him on as her personal ward. Certainly, her father would welcome them both.

Pockets had a chance to look over the boy's endosuit construction and he was impressed. Endosuits are commonplace for visitors to heavy gravity planets, but Natasha's design is far more sophisticated than those currently on the market are. Although she was the communications officer, Jazz was also one of the Pirate Queen's many engineers and enjoyed Pockets' enthusiasm for her captain's technology.

During his examination, Pockets discovered a capsule filled with tiny microchips in the empty battery pack, so he removed them for further study. He restored Tim's power supply, and Cindy worked with the boy to help get him past the emotional trauma. It was heart-wrenching work, given the hardship Tim has endured in his short life. I can only hope that on Sillon he can find something to fill the gap left in his soul.

Pockets has been reviewing the investigative reports concerning his brother's ship. The cruise liner, Argonautia, was destroyed in a collision with another vessel due to a malfunction caused by the Cold Fire virus. From what I've heard, it had a crew of nine hundred with over fourteen hundred passengers on board at the time, but there were less than seven hundred survivors picked up in escape pods afterward. Luckily, Patch was one of the survivors, along with the Argonautia's Captain Ramsey. All surviving crew members have been detained for questioning by the ship's parent company as they investigate the situation. We have had no word when or if Patch will be assigned to another company ship, but Pockets is hoping we'll get the chance to see him again before he's shipped off elsewhere.

We have had no leads to Lucas' whereabouts following the war. As much as I hate to admit it, things could have been a lot worse had my flea-bitten brother not encrypted the solution into the virus itself. There is a very high probability that he's dead, a casualty of the war, and all I can do is hope one day we'll get some word on him.

Merlin Sinclair, Captain

Cindy flicked a couple of switches and then spoke over the ship-wide intercom, "I've disabled the artificial gravity," she said. "We're over the landing pad now and we'll be on the ground in just a moment."

Merlin checked his controls and gently lowered the freighter onto the landing pad that belonged to his sister and brother-in-law. Merlin and Renny went through their shut down checklist as Cindy rushed through a side door of the bridge.

"Okay, we're down," the wolf said. "Cindy, please tell everyone…"

"She's gone to the head," Renny said.

Merlin looked back toward the door to the lavatory with a smile, remembering all the water she had been drinking lately due to dry sinuses. He stood up, moved to the Com terminal, and turned the intercom system back on.

"All hands, listen up," he broadcast. "You are free to go wherever you wish, but take a DataCom with you. We don't have any other jobs lined up at the moment, but you never know when you might need to get in touch with one another." He shut off the intercom and then leaned against the console.

"I wonder if I can find a local gal to snuggle up with," Renny said to himself.

Merlin grinned at his feline friend. When he had first come on board as the Blue Horizon's new navigator, Renny had not had much experience with women, but in the two years he had been there, the cheetah had grown more outgoing and flirtatious.

"I thought you and Lori …"

"Not in a while," the navigator replied with a shrug as he stood up and stretched his arms. "Being a cute bunny, Lorelei has plenty of attention from the other guys. She and Pockets already have a date into town."

"Well," the captain replied, "I'm sure you can find someone quickly enough."

Renny grinned at him as the pair headed off the bridge. "Are you and Max staying here with your sister?"

Merlin nodded and then they moved toward the lift. "Of course, she wouldn't have it any other way," he said. His face grew serious before he added, "I need to tell her about Lucas, too."

"Yeah, he surprised me, too."

Cindy opened the door of the small restroom and peeked out onto the bridge. Seeing it was empty, she moved across the room to the Communication terminal and keyed up a recent message. She stared at it for a moment with a frown and then quickly deleted the communiqué. This was not a day she wanted to face.

Durant was already at the controls of the Blue Horizon's large bay door and had already begun to raise it. They had no cargo to unload, but after all their time in space, the hold could use a good airing out. Even before the panel lifted above his knees, he could smell the fresh aroma of a recent spring rain, as well as the salty flavor of the nearby sea. The bay door faced the east, and the morning sunlight began to stream into the hold. The bear whistled softly to himself as he waited for the door to finish rising. His first order of business would be to get a ride into town to find more chocolate. His private stash had run out two weeks earlier and he craved the confection.

He heard a quiet shuffle outside the door and looked down to see a pair of booted feet below the rising panel. He stared at the boots curiously, and as the door cleared his field of vision, his eyes went wide.

Standing before the load master was a shapely female fox with ginger fur. She was dressed in a pair of loose-fitting denim jeans and a powder blue sleeveless blouse with half the buttons open from the top. Clipped to the fur above her left ear and swaying in the breeze was a blue-tipped white feather hanging from a small ornate disk. She stood with her weight centered mainly over her left leg and a hand rested on her right hip. Beside her was a small red suitcase. The vixen wore a large grin.

"I don't believe it!" Durant said in a voice barely above a whisper. He started to take a step forward, but suddenly became lightheaded and started to tilt. Taro rushed forward and took the heavy bear in her arms. Without dense Hestran musculature, she would not have been able to manage his bulk, but it seemed she was in good physical shape. She set him upright and smiled into his puzzled face.

"Hello, Durant," she said happily.

Durant shook his head to clear the cobwebs and then returned her smile. "It sure is good to see you again, girl," he said softly, his large brown eyes growing moist. He drew her into a warm embrace, but she had other plans. Taro rose up on the tips of her toes and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips; it was the first kiss she had ever given him in all the years they had known one another, and it was warm and full of emotion. The accountant nearly melted beneath her before she finally drew back a step.

Durant looked down at her with a smile that would not leave his face. "How did you know we would be here?" he asked as he reached toward the intercom control.

The vixen shushed him with a raised finger to her lips and looked past him into the cargo hold. "I'll answer all questions later," she replied. "Don't broadcast my presence to anyone else yet. I want to greet everyone as they come out."

Durant looked a little uncomfortable. "We've had a few changes in personnel since you've been gone," he told her.

Taro looked at him with an understanding smile. "Well, I have been away a little over a year," she said. "I suppose I should have expected that." She studied him a moment and asked, "Are you feeling okay, Durant?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I?"

"You look tired, and even a little… grizzled." She smiled a little when she said the last word.

Durant chuckled. "I'm getting old, girl," he said to her. "This whole mess we just got out of does have me feeling tired, though. I need a vacation."  He reached up and stroked the soft feather near her ear with a smile. "This is a nice touch."

Taro grinned at him.  "It has a rather interesting background. I'll have to tell you about it sometime, in private."

Durant raised an eyebrow at the expression on her face, and suddenly became very curious. "Uh huh…"

Taro winked at him and then gave him another hug before she stepped back. "Okay," she said, "besides me, who else has gone?"

"Patch left us for a job as an engineer on a cruise liner," Durant answered,  "but his ship was lost in a collision with another when that Cold Virus hit. I heard he made it out in an escape pod with his captain."

"Wow, that's tough."

Durant shrugged. "Yeah. Anyway, we've acquired two more crew members, Cindy and Lorelei. You'll meet them in a bit."

The red fox nodded and then glanced back up at him. "And the others?"

"Everyone will be glad to see you," he said. "How long is your visit?"

Taro looked at him for a long moment with an expression that almost looked as if his words stung. Finally, she gave him a little smile and replied, "Durant, I'm not here for a visit… If Merlin will have me back, I would like to crew on the Blue Horizon again."

Durant pulled her back into a soft hug and said, "You've been greatly missed, Taro. Because of this War mess, we don't have any current contracts, but I'm sure Merlin will be glad to see you again."

Taro looked up around her when she finally pulled away. "The new ship's bigger," she said. "I almost didn't recognize her when you landed, but Merlin's sister said this was the Blue Horizon."

"Where is Shannon?"

"She's making sure the guest rooms are ready. You know her, Durant. It's just her and Bill, but she's still a homemaker."

"Hey, Durant," Pockets' country accent called out from the interior of the cargo bay, "You wanna come with us? Max and I are…" The voice ended in a small squeak, and running footsteps came from the shadows. Taro turned with a smile as the short raccoon jumped into her arms gleefully.

"Taro!" Pockets exclaimed cheerfully. "Goodness, but it's great to see you!"

"Hello, Pockets," she said. The red fox closed her eyes and held him warmly for a moment. As with Durant, she gave the raccoon an unexpected kiss, letting her lips linger before she finally set him on his feet. When she looked down at him, the diminutive engineer was rubbing tears from his eyes. Standing behind him was Maximillian, and it was her turn to stare in wonder.

The German shepherd youth with the light blue eyes was no longer a scrawny, former slave and cabin boy. He had to be seventeen years old by now, she thought to herself. He had grown taller and more muscular since she had last seen him, and he also looked as if he were more confident with himself. She was unaware that Samantha had been instructing him in the Silloni martial arts, and that he had been weight-training with Renny. He had matured a lot in recent times and was beginning to look like an adult.

"Do you remember me?" she asked him. He had been on board less than a year at the time of Sagan's attack and she did not know how much he might recall of her.

"Aye, I do," Maximillian replied, his hands in his pockets. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Taro walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Much better, thank you," she said to him. She gave him a gentle kiss on the lips and then pulled back to wink at him. "You're looking good, Max," she said to him. "I'm glad to see you again. Have you become a gourmet cook by now?"

Pockets slapped the canine on the shoulder with a laugh, and then looked up at the vixen. "Actually, he's becoming a very capable mechanic now, Taro," he explained. "Max is more comfortable with engine grease on him than cooking oil. Someone else feeds us these days. "

"Yeah," Max finally spoke with a smile, the feeling of her kiss still lingering on his lips, "I didn't really have a knack for the kitchen."

"Don't let him kid you, Taro," Pockets said. "He did just fine keeping us fed, but he wanted the chance to learn how to maintain the ship instead."

"Taro!" Tanis raced across the empty cargo bay, and grabbed her into a fierce hug with his eyes closed tightly against her chest. Taro lifted his chin to pull his nose from her cleavage, and when he opened his eyes, the desert fox's eyes were moist. She kissed her former lover deeply.

"Whoa-ho," a new voice said with a giggle. "Who's Tanis so wrapped up in?"

Taro pulled away from the medic and looked up to see a grinning white rabbit standing next to him. Tanis turned to look and winked at the ship's cook.

"Taro," he said, "this is Lorelei, the one who feeds the hungry masses these days."

"Taro!" Lori said with a big grin and clapped her hands together. "I've heard so many good things about you."

"Thank you, Lorelei," the vixen replied pleasantly.

Samantha floated up to the group on her anti-grav pillow and said, "I wanna hug, too!"

Taro looked down at her friend, and her eyes went wide at the sight of the bandages wrapped around her middle. "Ohmigosh! What happened to you, Sam?" she exclaimed as she knelt down in front of the Border collie.

"I tried to follow in your footsteps…" Samantha said with a grin. "I tangled with someone who wanted to gut me."

Taro's eyes grew moist, and she leaned forward to give the Border collie a warm hug. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine with some rest. My wounds weren't nearly as bad as yours."

"Thank goodness! You'll have to tell me all about it later."

"We've missed you so much," Samantha said to her with emotion. "So very much!"

"I've missed you all, too," Taro whispered in a choked voice.

"What's going on?" another new voice asked merrily. "Looks like a reunion!"

"Cindy, this is Taro," Lorelei said.

"Oh."

Taro stood up and looked at the newcomer with her friendly smile, but the mouse did not look pleased to see her. The vixen started to open her mouth to say something to break the sudden awkward silence, but a body of golden yellow fur and black spots jumped in front of her.

Without a word at all, Renny wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, the excitement in his large eyes sparkling. When he put her back down, he leaned her backward and kissed her long and hard. It did not matter to him who was watching. He pulled away after a moment and allowed her to catch her breath as most of the others chuckled.

"Renny, dear," Taro said to him in a soft voice, "I'm glad to see you, too." She let her eyes glide over his physique and then returned her gaze to his downcast expression.

The cheetah looked deeply into her eyes and swallowed. "The last time I saw you," he said with difficulty, "you had been sliced open by that demon and you were dying. I've had so many nightmares…"

Taro bit her bottom lip and took his head in her hands. "I'm alive and the demon is dead," she said. "I've had a long road to recovery, but I'm back in shape and doing well."

Renny finally smiled, and then his eyes fell upon the feather she wore.  His eyes grew wide and so did his smile. "Now, how did you wind up with that?" he asked with knowledge of its meaning. Taro grinned widely, but did not get the chance to answer.

"Aren't you eggs gone yet?" a voice said to the small crowd from inside the ship. "You have money in your accounts and are free to leave."

Taro pulled away from the cheetah with a grin, and jumped into the surprised arms of the Blue Horizon's captain with an uncharacteristic squeal of delight.

"Oh my…" was all he managed to say before she greeted him with a warm kiss on the lips. It was the first time Taro had ever kissed the wolf with more than just a peck on the cheek. Merlin felt his head swim, from the kiss and the shock of actually seeing her in the fur. When she finally let him go, Taro grinned at him with crinkled eyes. The wolf gaped at her, his voice lost to him.

Taro laughed and then looked at the group around her, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly.

"I'm so glad to see all of you," she said. "I sent Merlin a message saying I would meet you here, but I wanted to surprise the rest of you. Did I succeed?"

"You certainly did!" Pockets piped up.

Merlin looked puzzled, but finally found his voice. "Message?" he asked. "I haven't heard from you since that brief communiqué months ago to let me know you were recuperating on Hestra." He turned to look at Cindy, but she stared down at her own feet. He furrowed his brow, but then shrugged it off.

"Shannon wanted me to tell you all to go on up to the house as soon as you arrived," Taro said. "She will start supper as soon as she gets your preferences."

"Where's Bill?" Merlin asked.

"Shannon said he had to run in to town to take care of something, but should be back within the hour. He was already gone by the time I arrived."

Everyone began walking toward the large house by the sea, but Taro turned to Merlin. "Captain?" she asked. "Durant said you don't have any job contracts right now, but when you do, I'd like to help out if you think there might still be a place for me on your crew." Everyone stopped to look back at them and a few quick glances went toward Cindy, but the wolf did not seem to notice. He merely grinned and gently put a hand on the fox's shoulder.

"Durant's had your account waiting for you," he said cheerfully. "I'm sure we can find a place for you."

"Wonderful!" Taro replied delightedly. She turned and looked toward their former crewmates. "I'm glad to be back!" The faces that looked back at her contained mixed expressions, and she was puzzled. Briefly, she wondered if they even wanted her back, but then Renny grinned at her and gave her a wink. Merlin motioned toward the house and the group took his hint to resume walking.

Taro strode forward to walk beside Samantha's floating pillow. Renny assumed a position on her other side and he listened in quietly as the Border collie started to fill her in on all that happened in her absence.

Durant held to the back of the group, and a soft tug of Merlin's sleeve made the wolf slow down. "Y'know, boss," the bear said quietly to his captain, "now that Taro's back, you might want to make her your First Officer again."

Merlin looked at him and replied in an equally quiet voice, "You don't like the extra pay?"

Durant grinned. "I like the pay, yes, but that comes with the duties of the job. I already have my hands full maintaining the accounts and taking care of our various cargoes. Honestly, boss, I wouldn't mind Taro taking the First Officer's duties back. It would actually free me up to focus on the more important work I'm best at."

The captain nodded. "I'll consider it, Durant, but she's also been gone for a year. Our crew, the ship and even some aspects of the business have changed during her absence. Until she gets reacquainted with everything, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else to put her over them so soon."

"So, what are you going to do with her?" the load master asked. "We've kept her account open, and you've made sure a good balance was maintained in her absence, but what job are you going to pay her to do?"

Merlin glanced toward the vixen, who was showing off her Hestran fitness for Max by picking up Renny and Tanis in each of her arms. After a moment, his gaze shifted to Cindy. She looked uncharacteristically gloomy and it suddenly occurred to him what it was that bothered her. In his original interview with her on Pomen, Merlin had told the mouse the position he was hiring for was temporary, dependant upon whenever Taro ever returned to the Blue Horizon. Now that the vixen had indeed returned to them, and he had just told her in front of everyone that she could have a job back on his ship, he was certain that Cindy felt her days of employment were over, even though she had been with them a little over a year.

The captain frowned and shook his head. "I spoke before I thought," he told his ursine friend. "That's not like me, but I was so excited to see Taro again that I just didn't even think about Cindy." 

Durant glanced at the mouse and nodded slightly. She was walking with the others, but her movements were listless and her eyes downcast. "When are you going to…?" he asked, letting his words trail off.

Merlin looked at him and shook his head again. "Taro will need to get reacquainted with the business, so there's no need to rush into this." He bit his bottom lip and then added, "I'm not sure how this is going to work out, Durant, but eventually I will have to let Cindy go. At the moment, however, I still need her where she is."

"May I make a suggestion?" the bear asked.

"Anytime."

"What if you reinstated Taro as First Officer, but kept Cindy as the Customer Liaison instead of giving that job to Taro? I know you are determined to keep your promise and bring Taro back into the crew, but…"

Merlin put a hand on the bear's arm and they both stopped to talk as the others continued. "I know you are just trying to help keep me from laying off Cindy, but if Taro's only job was being First Officer, she wouldn't have much to do, and to a certain degree we can't just give Cindy the axe after all the help she's been as our collective therapist."

"So," Durant repeated, "what are you going to do?"

"I don't think I can just drop Taro into her old position without some retraining," Merlin said, thinking aloud, "so I might put the two of them working together whenever business picks up again. Later, if I see that Taro might be able to handle it by herself, then I might have to let Cindy go. I don't have any other positions to fill."

Durant made a tsk sound. "Do you really think Cindy's going to be happy retraining her replacement?"

"Probably not," the captain replied, "but what choice does she have? If she refuses, I don't have another job for her and will have to let her go."

The two of them fell silent as they walked, but then Durant looked over at the wolf. "What about the idea you and I discussed earlier about a home office?" he asked.

Merlin looked up at him. "I'd forgotten about that, actually. With the decrease in interstellar commerce throughout the Planetary Alignment, I hadn't seen a need to pursue the idea further."

"Yes, but it has to pick up again," the brown bear replied. "You have to plan on that."

"Well, I did want to put the office here on Dennier."

"Despite the War, the Kastans did pay us well for the strawberries, blue diamonds and our help, not to mention Devon's addition and the fee as Mr. Faltane's escort," Durant reminded him. "Rezo paid off the loan on his decrepit ship last week, so that's more in the coffers. You have the money to get the home office set up before business picks up again."

"How about a PR campaign to promote the Blue Horizon's business?" another voice suggested. Merlin and Durant looked up at Tanis, who had dropped back to talk to them.

"You heard what we were talking about?" Durant asked as the desert fox fell into step with them.

"With receivers like this," Merlin smirked as he thumped one of the fennec fox's subject ears, "are you kidding?"

Tanis grinned and playfully hid his face in the crook of an upraised arm. "My eavesdropping has been found out!" he whined.

"A public relations campaign, eh?" the captain repeated. "That might not be a bad idea."

"Why wait for the business to pick up on its own?" Tanis asked. "Create some ads, use yer resources to yer advantage."

"What resources?" Durant asked.

"Well…" Tanis rubbed his chin as they neared the Wallace home. "Whether or not ya planned it, the Blue Horizon is well known in the PA from our trip to Sillon when that other star blew up, as well as our fight with Sagan at Crescentis after his atrocity on Hestra. Samantha is friends with Holly Harken of INN news, and Cindy used to work for an ad agency. That looks to me like…"

"When did Cindy work for an ad agency?" Merlin asked. "She didn't list it on her résumé."

"It didn't have anything to do with the job she was interviewing with ya for, so she didn't think it was necessary."

Merlin frowned. "A résumé is supposed to encompass your experience, no matter where you've worked. How did you find out about it?"

Tanis smiled and winked at the wolf. "If ya spend a lot of time with her, she opens up nicely."

"Like a flower," Durant mused with a little smile.

Merlin stared at the pair a moment, wondering at the connotation behind their statements and then decided not to inquire further. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and looked at his accountant. "I think his idea has merit."

Durant nodded. "I agree. It's worth looking into."

"Okay," Merlin said, "I'll talk to Cindy and Taro about it tonight."

"Look at Cindy, boss," the bear said. "You probably should talk to her sooner than that or she's going to be depressed all day."

"Good point. I'll discuss it with her now before I talk to Taro." The Blue Horizon's crew had arrived at the front door to the Wallace's house, and Shannon was greeting everyone with a hug and a reminder to remove their shoes before entering. The grey and brown female wolf was delighted to see everyone, and did her best to make sure they felt welcome in her home. Merlin tapped Cindy on the shoulder, motioning for her to take a walk with him.

"May I talk to you, please?" he asked quietly. She looked at him with soulful eyes, and they moved back away from the crowd. 

Cindy swallowed and nodded without a word as the two of them headed across the cropped green lawn toward a small gazebo nestled underneath a copse of danra trees. This is it, she thought. I'm getting the axe. Cindy stepped up into the structure meekly. Merlin sat down on the wooden bench seat and motioned for the mouse to do the same. Instead, Cindy merely stood in front of him, her eyes focused on her feet, and her hands clasped together.

"Cindy," the wolf started in a gentle tone, "I have a proposition for you."

The mouse looked down at him, "I remember," she said. "I was only temp help until she returned."

"True, that is written into your contract," Merlin admitted, "but I'm not ready to release you just yet, if you don't mind staying on with us a while longer."

Cindy looked at him, puzzled. This was not what she expected. "Oh…okay," she said slowly.

Merlin gave her a bit of a smile hoping to ease her fears a bit, and then he began to detail the plan of setting up an advertising campaign to generate business for the ship. She was quiet during his explanations, but by the time he finished, she was relieved and not altogether displeased with the turn of events.

"Thank you, Captain," she said meekly. "Since you told us about the message you got from Taro a few months ago, I knew she would be back." She looked away briefly and added, "I've been dreading this day ever since."

Merlin put a hand gently on her shoulder. "Cindy," he said, "you've been a good member of my crew and have made some good friends. I still need you to help me out, if you would like to stay."

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Before all this mess with Argeia, Durant and I were making plans to set up a home office for the business here on Dennier. Originally, the purpose was to take over the duties of Customer Liaison to find and secure deliveries for the Blue Horizon."

"That means you were planning to abolish my position anyway," Cindy said with a frown.

"Well, yes and no," the wolf replied. "I had intended to replace the on-board position with a Business Coordinator. Instead of someone on the ship trying to seek out future deliveries and then coordinating all the specifics for pickup and delivery, the home office would focus primarily on promoting the business and getting the jobs. The Business Coordinator would then get back with the actual contacts to work out the particulars for the pickup and deliveries: where, when, who to meet, and such."

Merlin leaned back against the railing behind him, putting his arms up across it in a relaxed manner. "It would have actually lightened your workload, but you'd have been working in conjunction with those in the home office."

"I see now…" Cindy said with a hand under her chin, "Taro has come back, and since you'd promised to hold a position for her, you want her on board as Business Coordinator. And… since business is rather scarce at the moment, you plan to set up a home office here on Dennier to promote the Blue Horizon, and want me to do your advertising."

"Something like that, yes."

"It certainly does sound appealing."

"Do you want the job?" he asked. "It would still mean leaving the ship, but as head of the home office, it'll come with a nicer salary than what you're getting now." He gave her a figure and her eyes widened in appreciation.

"How can I pass up a deal like that?" she asked with a smile. "Yes, I would like that very much."

"Thank you," Merlin said with his own pleasant smile. "Durant and I will probably start looking for a location to set up the home office in a couple days. Once we've found a suitable place, we'll need to stock it with furniture and supplies, and then set up interviews for the other positions."

"Other positions?"

Merlin grinned. "I don't expect you to do all the work by yourself. I'll put you in charge of the office, and hire two or three others to divide the rest of the work up between."

"May I help you get things set up?" Cindy asked with a smile.

"I was hoping you would volunteer," the captain replied. He stood up and extended a hand toward her. "Durant will work up your new contract in a day or two."

Cindy took his hand, shook it with a grin and said, "Thank you, captain." When he released her hand, however, she slipped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

When the two of them returned to the house, the others noticed the relaxed smile on the mouse's face as soon as they entered the main gathering room. Merlin gave his sister a warm hug and exchanged a few pleasantries with her before he moved to Taro and asked to speak with her alone.

Pockets elbowed Renny and gestured toward the mouse with the drink he held in a hand. "What's up with her?" he asked in a whisper. "She looks too happy to have been let go."

"Maybe he gave her a good separation bonus," the cheetah replied.

"That can't be it," Pockets said. "She wouldn't be over there grinning so much if she had just gotten the axe, bonus or not."

"I don't know. Maybe the captain will explain shortly."

Taro readily agreed to the idea and promised to get back into the swing of things as soon as she could. Merlin told her of his plans for the home office, and had asked her to work out a partnership with the mouse. The two of them would be dealing with one another on a regular basis in the new business setup.

While Merlin and Taro were discussing matters, Durant took it upon himself to inform the rest of the crew on what was going on. He had intended to wait and let the captain make the announcement, but Cindy had already started to talk about it, so he thought he should take the lead to make the official announcement. He detailed the new direction of the Blue Horizon business and fielded their questions. Since their interstellar delivery schedule had been disrupted, and there were no other jobs in their immediate future, everyone was in agreement that advertising was a good venture. Durant also made sure to let everyone know that promoting the business was Tanis' idea. It would be a change in operations for the business and he wanted credit given where due.

Merlin knew that if he and Taro went back into the house together, the vixen would be set upon to tell her story before she could catch her breath, so in order to give her a little respite before dropping her into that situation, he offered to take her on a tour of the ship. The Blue Horizon was now a little over a year old, but it was new to her. Taro had never been on board an H-model Okami freighter before, and was delighted with the tour. He let her pick out her cabin from those not occupied, and she was amazed at the amount of room now available to them.

Nearly an hour had passed when they returned to the house. The first one to greet them was Bill Wallace, a solid black wolf with piercing yellow eyes. He smiled when he saw Merlin and gathered him up in a warm embrace. The brothers-in-law had always been good friends, and both were glad to see one another.

"Brother Bill," Merlin said with a smile, "it's been a long time."

"Yes, Merle, it has," the black wolf replied. He slapped the captain on the back so hard the other nearly fell over, but Merlin still had him in an embrace and slapped Bill's back equally as hard in return. Bill responded with another pounding, of which Merlin repeated. For a moment, they pounded one another with strained smiles until Taro forced them apart with a grin.

"Okay, boys," she told them. "I'd rather get my hug now, instead of watching you two trying to burp the testosterone out of one another."

Bill grinned and pulled her into his arms. "It's good to see you again, Taro," he told her. "Shannon said you'd arrived while I was in town."

"I'm glad to be back, Bill. It's good to see you again, too."

Bill gestured toward the others gathered in the front room and said, "Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Shannon and I have something to announce." Merlin looked at him, but Bill only gave him an innocent smile. The wolf and the vixen removed their shoes at the door and followed him inside.

Taro sat on the couch between Renny and Tanis, and Merlin stood behind Samantha and her floating pillow. Shannon went to stand beside her husband in front of a dormant fireplace and shared a quick smile with him.

"As most of you know," Bill said, "Shannon and I have lived here in this place for nearly ten years. It's a large house comparatively, but it looks like we'll need to build on a few extra rooms. It was confirmed last week that Shannon is pregnant with pups… four, to be exact."

"Wow!" Pockets said in surprise. "Four!"

"Four?" Merlin asked with a silly grin.

"Oh, come now! Four to six pups are not uncommon for wolves," Shannon explained with a laugh.

"Way to go, Bill!" Renny said.

"Way to go, Shannon!" Lorelei countered.

"Have you picked out names yet?" Cindy asked.

"No, not yet."

"When's the due date?" Samantha asked. She looked pleased, but her attitude was subdued. Shannon noticed her behavior, but was distracted by the rest of the reactions.

"In about two and a half months."

Taro grinned widely. She knew that Merlin's elder sister had wanted pups for a long time. She got up and gave Shannon a warm hug. "I'm so happy for you," she told her.

"Uncle Merlin's going to be real uncle," Maximillian said with a grin.

Bill smirked at his brother-in-law, and pointed a finger at him. "This means you'd better come to visit more often so my children will grow up knowing their uncle," he said.

Merlin moved forward and grasped hands with him. "I will try," he promised. Then he moved to give his sister a hug. "Congratulations," he told her. "I know you've really wanted this."

Congratulatory conversations went on for several minutes before the commotion quieted again. Bill got a couple of chairs from another room, and then he and Shannon sat down. Shannon looked to the red fox and smiled at her.

"Taro," she said with a wave of her hand toward those in the crowded room, "this bunch won't disperse until they hear your story, so I guess it's your turn to talk."

The vixen got up from the couch, and moved to stand beside a tall grandfather pendulum clock that was in need of rewinding. She could not figure out what to do with her hands, so she held them together and looked out across the faces that were watching her expectantly.

"After killing Sagan," she started, "I passed out. I have no memory of the crash itself or much of what happened to me immediately afterward, but I woke up later from a coma on Hestra in the care of a medical facility. I was surrounded by strangers, doctors, nurses and specialists, and when I asked them why I was there, no one would give me a straight answer. My wounds were still not healed enough for me to start physical therapy yet. Because I had spent so much time away from the heavier gravity of Hestra, my body had to re-acclimate first, so I continued to warm my bed for another two months."

Taro put her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall as she continued. "At the start of physical therapy, I discovered my therapist was a relative of my father, who had not been in Taquit at the time of Sagan's biological attack. I'd never actually known Leslie Rhinehart, but I'd heard my father talk of his favorite cousin in the past. Although a distant relative, I took comfort knowing I was not the only survivor of our family following what happened in Taquit."

Everyone in the room was focused on her words and she could see Renny swallow in anticipation for her to go on. She shrugged and continued. "Nearly four months after coming out of my coma, Dr. Rhinehart finally let me see the official report on myself. I had been taken from the crash site to Pomen by someone they wouldn't name, and later transported to Hestra by the same person when I was stable enough to move."

"That would be Captain Natasha," Pockets interrupted.

"Natasha…" Taro repeated. She nodded her head and smiled to herself at an old memory, but then she shook herself from her thoughts and continued with her narrative.

"I was given emergency treatment to keep me alive, but due to my Hestran physiology, it was necessary to transfer me to a Hestran hospital. It was there I later came out of my coma, following numerous surgeries to repair the damage. I received three organ transplants and several blood transfusions before I was stabilized. In the end, I was eventually released, and it was then I discovered all my medical bills had been paid for. I didn't know who had done it, but thinking on it now, it was probably Natasha."

She wrapped her arms around her middle and shrugged. "I had no idea where to go after that. I had no immediate family and my hometown was gone, so Leslie rented a room in her home to me, and let me stay with she and her husband. She later introduced me to several more of my surviving relatives."  A gentle breeze caressed the curtains of Shannon's open windows, and the smell of the sea wafted through the room. Taro stared outside for a long moment, her thoughts going back in time.

"While living there, I got in touch with some of my old business contacts, and was able to track down the Blue Horizon's delivery schedule; I followed your progress for a while, and wondered how all of you were doing. Several months after moving in with Leslie's family, Adam Singlebet of Dragon, Wolf & Tiger, came to our town for a dual concert with singer, Dahlia Neko. They had to hold it in a low-gravity auditorium made for such events. I contacted him and managed to get backstage. Adam remembered me from when the Horizon brought him, Brand and Carsen back from Sillon. He invited me to a party after the concert, and it was then I discovered he and Dahlia were headed next to Dennier, for a multi-city tour with one stop in Grandstorm. I sweet-talked Adam into letting me ride with him to Dennier. Once in Grandstorm, I only had to wait for your arrival."

She smiled at her friends, but the sudden quiet of the room was disturbed by the sound of crying. Tanis looked over at Lorelei and put a hand on the sobbing rabbit's shoulder. "What's the matter?" he asked her.

Lori looked up from her hands and stared at him through wet eyes. "I'm so… moved…" she gasped. "I'm so h-happy she's back!" A few more sobs shuddered through her, and Tanis turned grinning at Taro with a shrug.

"Lori," Pockets said to her with a smirk, "you don't even know Taro. Why are you crying?"

The cook looked up again, and then she rushed across the room to give Taro a warm hug. "Her story tears at my heart…" she cried. Taro grinned in embarrassment and quietly stroked the fur on the back of the rabbit's head. Lori looked up at her, and in a sorrowful expression, she said, "They've told me so much about you, that I feel you are my friend too!"

Taro suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she chuckled and returned the hug. "Thank you, Lori," she said. "I'd like to be your friend, too."

A bell sounded from another part of the house and Bill left the room. A moment later, he returned and motioned to Samantha. Sam activated the controls of her floating pillow and followed him out of the room.

With Taro's story finished, the vixen was suddenly besieged with other questions and comments; she seemed happy to answer them all and fielded them one by one. Shannon walked over to her brother, who looked up at her expression with a puzzled face.

"Renny told me about Lucas," she said quietly,

Merlin glanced down at his feet for a moment and then nodded when he looked back into her amber eyes. "He finally did some good," he said in a muted voice. "Someone else saw his potential and forced him to use his talent to create the Cold Fire computer virus, but on his own, he took a gamble and encrypted the antidote solution for it deep into the virus code. I doubt he knew for certain anyone would examine the code so closely, but he took that chance. In the end, that's what saved us."

"Is he… still alive?"

Merlin sighed quietly and shook his head. "Probably not."

Shannon moved forward and pulled her remaining brother into an embrace, moisture glistening on the fur beneath her eyes. "Has he redeemed himself?" she asked him. Merlin recognized the tone of her voice, and knew it was not a rhetorical question. She wanted his personal opinion.

"Yes," he said a moment later. "For all the heartaches and headaches he's given us over the years, I would say Lucas has cleaned his slate. I just wish we could tell him."

"Me, too."

Samantha came back into the room a little while later, but it was difficult to read the mixed emotions on her face. Pockets went over to her and looked at her with worried eyes.

"What is it, Sammy?" he asked.

The Border collie looked around the room and noticed everyone's attention had shifted back to her. She folded her hands together in her lap and Bill put his hands on her shoulders from behind.

"That was Master Tristan," she said. "He says he's recovering well, and that he's excited about having his daughter returned to him, but the reason for his call was about my father's company, Holden Pharmaceutical."

"What happened?" Tanis asked.

"As most of you know, even from the distance of Sillon, that Master Tristan has overseen the interests of the company, as specified by my father's will," she explained. "Since he has not been able to attend board meetings and such in person, an otter named Stelan Willamette had been appointed to sit in for him in his absence."

She looked up at Bill and patted one of his hands. "For some time now, Tristan has been grooming Alex Rogers to take his place in my father's company. Alex is a lifelong friend and the Dragon Loft's assistant executive. On a recent trip to the main offices on Alexandrius to check up on something for Master Tristan, Alex did a close examination of the company records, and discovered that Willamette had been dipping into my personal trust fund that was set up by Tristan when I was a pup. My lawyer was called in, and Jackson Wyatt confronted Willamette with a roomful of detectives. He was given a choice. He could refund the trust fund with interest and resign quietly, or legal action would be taken with the hard evidence Alex had discovered. Willamette chose to resign."

"That's terrible!" Pockets exclaimed.

Samantha nodded. "Had he not been caught, I would have soon lost my fortune. However, that's not the end of the story."

"There's more?" Durant asked.

"Since Holden Pharmaceutical still needed a resident CEO, Master Tristan put in Alex Roger's name before the board of directors. With Tristan's strong endorsement of his capabilities, and a complete grilling by the directors, Alex was voted in and is now the president of my father's company." Samantha smiled a little and shrugged her shoulders. "I've known Alex longer than even Merlin, and I trust him fully with dad's business. He's now living on Alexandrius in the capitol city, where he can oversee the company in person."

"Wow," Lorelei replied with a lopsided smile. "A bad situation turned out good, even if it is for something as useless as a company that makes drugs." Sam shot a withering glance at the rabbit, but did not favor her with a response.

"Even that's not all," Bill said.

Sam turned and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "More?" she asked.

"Mr. Rogers is currently on his way here."

"Huh?" Samantha said in surprise. "He's coming here? Why?"

Bill smiled down at her and replied, "To see you, my dear. He heard you were injured by the same people who tried to kill Master Tristan, and insisted on visiting you."

"That's a long way to go just to visit a sick friend," Cindy observed.

Taro snickered and Renny looked at her sideways. "What's with you?" he asked with a smile.

The vixen grinned widely and looked at the Border collie across the room from her. "Samantha's not just an old friend of his," she said. "Alex has had a crush on Sammy for a long, long time!"

Sam's eyes widened. "Uh…" she started to say, "Uh, no… he's just a friend."

"Sure he is," Taro teased, "but I know personally he'd like to be more."

"Personally?" Merlin asked.

It was Taro's turn to shrug her shoulders. "I flirt with Alex every time I see him," she explained with a twinkle in her eyes, "but he's always turned me down. He once told me he was holding out, on the hopes of one day getting together with Samantha."

Everyone looked back to the canine with smiles. "It makes sense," Tanis said. "They're both Border collies."

Samantha cleared her throat and said, "C'mon guys. Alex is only a longtime friend; a handsome friend, but only just a friend." No one replied to her unconvincing comment, and they all just smiled back at her with knowing looks. Samantha growled lowly to herself and then moved her pillow to Merlin's side. She put her arms around his waist and rested her cheek up against him to show everyone where her feelings lay.

Later that night, Taro and Renny were out on the sandy beach near the Arvallian Sea, a short distance from the Wallace home. Both small moons were full, and the couple had been chasing one another along the shore. At the moment, the two of them walked slowly through the knee-deep waves, since there was not much of a sandy beach beyond the water at that point.

"Taro," the cheetah asked after a long silence, "how are you doing?"

The vixen looked at him sideways and replied, "I've already told you my story," she said. "What else do you want to know?"

"I was really worried about you," Renny said. "I've thought about you a lot during your absence."

"That's sweet. I'm glad I wasn't forgotten."

"Never!" Renny chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. "May I ask you a personal question?"

Taro stopped and turned to look at him with a smile, her feather swaying in the breeze. "Sure."

"What about us?" he asked quietly. "Will we..?" His voice trailed off.

The red fox tilted her head to the side and took his hand as they resumed walking. "Probably, but give me time," she requested. "I've been away a long while and need to adjust to having a normal life again." She looked at him with a smile and then added, "Besides, I hear you've become quite a flirt, yourself. I'll bet you've been keeping the other ladies on board busy. You can't have been too lonely."

Renny grinned. "I can't deny that," he replied, "but I've missed you specifically. For a long while I wasn't interested in anyone else." 

"Well," Taro said with a wink, "I shouldn't think it will take me too long. I've already got my strength and agility back."

"Think you're strong enough to wrestle me?" Renny asked with a smirk. He had not received the reply he had hoped for, but he was willing to be patient longer. In its place, he felt playful having her back.

"Strong enough?" she repeated in surprise. "Have you forgotten where I'm from?"

"Not at all, foxy lay-day," he answered, "though some people change over time."

"So you think you can stand against me, kit?"

"Let's find out, if you think you are up to it."

Taro grinned at the cheetah, suddenly curious when he took a stance suggesting training he had not had before. This could be interesting… she thought. She took a step toward the navigator, and noted he waited for her to come to him. She obliged and reached up quickly to grasp his shoulders. However, he sidestepped briefly, took her extended arm, and whirled around to place himself immediately behind her. The move surprised her, but she countered his move with a sweep of a leg toward his own.

Renny anticipated the tactic and walked up the leg she swung around, and then swiftly gathered himself around her middle, throwing her completely off guard. Then he slid a leg down the length of the one she used to support her weight, and curled his knee around hers to pull inward. While it was difficult to move the dense Hestran muscles of the vixen's leg, he was successful in altering her balance; she fell backward onto the sand with a surprised look. This had all taken place within a few seconds.

"Wow," she said to him with a grin. "You've never been able to do that to me before." He only smiled back and waited for her to regain her feet. She stood up before him and he assumed a different stance, with his arms crooked and his hands rigid and upright. She decided a different strategy and moved in to slap his hands aside in rapid succession. In another unexpected shift, Renny was able to counter every move she made, and in a flash of movement, he had her in a headlock that amazed her yet again. She struggled to free herself from his arms and actually found it difficult.

Renny smiled down at her and winked. Taro grinned and said to him, "I do believe you've gotten stronger and quicker."

"In many ways," he purred. Then just as quickly before, he maneuvered himself around her and planted a kiss full on her lips.

Taro snickered, but gave in to the temptation and returned the kiss. What the heck, it had been a long time, and she found herself enjoying the banter and play. It was good to be back.

Tanis looked through the local newspaper of Grandstorm while sitting in the dining room of the Meers Restaurant, a favored place in the middle of town they had been going to lately. Cindy sat across from him, finishing her lunch while the tan fox rifled through the classified ads.

"I'm not really seeing a lot of vacancies," he muttered. "Most of the office spaces in the city just aren't available."

"We'll have to keep looking," the mouse said around the ear of corn she was eating. "The captain put me in control of finding a place for the home office, while he and Durant are giving interviews at Bill's business, but I haven't liked any of the places we have looked at. None of them were really suitable for our needs."

"Is there anything I can get for you?" another voice asked. Tanis and Cindy looked up into the canine face of a golden retriever, the owner of the restaurant.

"No, ma'am," Tanis said with a smile. "Lunch at yer place is always wonderful. Right now, I couldn't eat another bite!"

The large woman smiled and looked at the mouse. "What about you, honey?"

Cindy looked up at her and shook her head. "Not unless you can find us a vacancy in an empty office for our business."

The woman chuckled and lifted the coffee pot she held in her hand. "Did you two try looking out the window?"

As one, Tanis and Cindy turned to look out the front glass of the rustic restaurant. Across the busy street was a sign that read:

Office Space for Sale or Lease.

Ready for immediate occupancy.

13508 Timber Valley Road, Grandstorm

The building was small but self-contained. It was built in a similar style as the Meers Restaurant itself, with a rustic external appearance, but they could easily see through the empty front glass that the interior was spacious.

"Wow…" Cindy said in pleasant surprise. "We walked right by it to come in here and didn't see the sign."

Tanis looked up at the retriever and gave her a grin. "That would be a wonderful location, providing the internal facilities are kept up," he said. "We've already looked at five other offices, and none of them looked very desirable."

The golden retriever pulled up a chair from an empty table and sat down with them. "It used to be a Savings and Loan office, but they relocated downtown. The place has been vacant for a year," she told them. "I know the owner of the building. If you'd like to see it, I can arrange an immediate showing."

Cindy wiped her mouth with a napkin and slid her empty plate away from her. "As soon as we pay our check, we'd like to go over there, please," she said.

"I have a deal for you," the woman said with a smile. "If you decide you want that place for your new office, I'll let you have this lunch for free."

"Why?" Tanis asked suspiciously. "Is the owner of the office a good of a friend of yers?"

"You could say that," she replied with a smile. "I'm the owner. It's mine."

Cindy grinned widely. "How soon may we look at it?"

"One moment." The woman stood up and moved to a feline waitress behind the counter. She spoke a few words to her, set down her pot of coffee on a warmer, and took off her apron. Then she returned to them with a set of keys in hand. "Okay, if you are ready now, we can go take a look at it."

"Wonderful!" Tanis said.

The golden retriever smiled warmly at him and introduced herself. "I'm Mrs. Meers," she said. "My husband passed away a couple of years ago. The office building was his." 

The trio darted across traffic to the opposite curb, and the retriever unlocked the door with the turn of a key. Tanis noted the door was made of sturdy virrin wood and opened quietly on its hinges. The lights of the main room came on immediately, its controls on a motion sensor.

Cindy whistled at the room, duly impressed with the dark woodwork of the built-in book cases, file counters and corner trim. The floor was polished wood, all the lighting was hidden and indirect, and the large fireplace was an added bonus. The front room was spacious, and as they moved to the back rooms, Cindy and Tanis thought each of them had a charm all its own. Through a door in the rear, they found a set of steps that went down below the foundation of the building. They led down to a metal-reinforced, storm shelter that was easily accessible without having to go outside to reach.  In all, there were four rooms, a kitchenette, the storm cellar, a storage closet and a water closet.

After their tour, Cindy and Tanis looked at one another and smiled. Of all they had looked at, this seemed perfect. Only the price had yet to be discussed. They talked with Mrs. Meers at length, and in the end they agreed to lease it from her for a year. If the business had done well at the end of that time, they would buy it from her.

Cindy had been granted the authority to sign the papers for the lease, and within an hour, Mrs. Meers handed her keys to the place and wished them well.

Merlin approved of the office and location, and had gone out immediately with Cindy to pick out furnishings for the place. Two days later, the crew of the Blue Horizon gathered at the new home office to unload the furniture and supplies from a delivery truck they had rented.

A curvaceous female skunk was painting the words, Blue Horizon Freight Transfer in an arc across the front window as Renny flirted with her. Taro grabbed the cheetah's arm with a grin and pulled her friend toward the truck to help her unload a heavy wooden desk for the front room.

In the back room of the office, Merlin introduced Cindy to her new co-workers.

"I believe you already know Keri Petrie," Merlin said with a smile. Cindy remembered the caffeine-addicted woman and rushed forward to give the other mouse a warm embrace.

"How did you wind up here?" Cindy asked her with a grin.

"Captain Kegawa canceled all our contracts and sold the Hidalgo Sun for scrap to pay off his loan and give us all our back pay," Keri replied with the shrug of her shoulders. "I've been on Dennier the past three weeks looking for work. When I saw the ad Captain Sinclair put in the paper for your new headquarters, I had to try for it." Merlin smiled when both mice looked his way. "It always helps when you know someone," Keri added with a grin.

"Cindy," Merlin said as he held out a hand to a sparrow that stood meekly to the side, "this is Penny Pon. She'll be your receptionist."

"Hello," Cindy said to her with a smile.

"Hellohowareyoudoing?" the sparrow said in an excited rush.

"I'm quite fine," the mouse replied with a laugh.

"You three can get to know one another later," the lupine captain said. "Let's get your office in order now, shall we?" He led them back toward the front room and glanced momentarily into another room, where a team of technicians was installing communication equipment. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

SS Blue Horizon PA1138

Captain's Journal

It has been a month since the home office was opened for business. It took a couple of weeks before we started to see any results, but due to the slow rebuild of interstellar commerce, the only jobs we've gotten have been deliveries from one place to another here on Dennier. Still, it's income for the business, and we will take them as we get them.

Samantha is walking around fine these days, though she got so used to her floating pillow and laptop that she continues to use it to interface with the VIP computer on board the ship. She seems to be in better spirits, but she still doesn't seem herself. Whatever it was must have been awfully traumatic for her to deal with. She still won't talk to anyone about it, and we have all decided not to even bring it up anymore.

She did brighten up briefly when Alex Rogers came to visit her. Most of us already knew him, and it was immediately apparent that quite a change has come over him.  He's no longer the resort lackey at The Dragon Loft. He is the president of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the Planetary Alignment and even I have to admit he looks good in a business suit. He holds his shoulders straight and is not afraid to look anyone in the eyes.  From what I've heard in the time he has been in charge of Holden Pharmaceutical, Alex has implemented some changes in the business structure that has already started to show improvement in their profits and customer base. It's clear that Master Tristan recognized his potential. Renny conjectures it's more of the Border collie's herding instinct, but that's just Renny.

Alex and Samantha met a number of times during his visit, but every time he wanted to get together with her she arranged for someone else to accompany them. I don't think she distrusts him, but it's more likely she is hesitant to be alone with him knowing the feelings he has for her. She likes him – likes him a lot – but she acts as if she doesn't want to pursue anything further with him beyond their longtime friendship and their new business relationship.

The other members of the crew that she has taken with her on their outings seem to feel they need to report to me everything that goes on between them. While Samantha and I have been casually intimate for years – a fact that has never been hidden from my crew – we have never been completely exclusive to one another. Does everyone think they have to protect my interests in Samantha? I know of a couple in my employment who thinks she should give Alex a chance and run the business with him as his mate instead of a business partner.

Speaking of relationships, Cindy met an architect in her apartment high-rise a couple weeks ago. His name is Tim Svensk and he works for Howard Roark, one of the more well-known architects on Dennier; he is currently involved in constructing a skyscraper on a vacated lot downtown. The two mice have been going out on a regular basis, and I think Cindy has seen this as a benefit to working in an office instead on board the ship.

In the time between the small deliveries we have had, Renny and I have been teaching Maximillian how to fly the Blue Horizon. Sure, he has been trained on bridge duty during our routine flights between worlds, and he has even managed to make some correct in-flight adjustments, but this is the first opportunity we've had to instruct him for launches and landings. We have had a few close calls, but I think he's starting to get the hang of it. His largest problem seems to be adjusting to a planet's gravity and changing air currents.

Primarily, it's usually Renny or I that handle the critical launches and landings, but I require everyone in my crew to have the ability to fly the ship if an emergency ever arose where the two of us were incapacitated or unavailable. Ever so often, I have one of the others do a launch or landing, just to keep them in practice. Max needs the same abilities as the others, so our current downtime has been the perfect time to teach him. I just feel sorry for the folk in the rural communities we have been practicing over.

We have also heard from Laura Jazz. (It's strange how I keep referring to her that way, as if it were her full name.) Tristan is doing much better since his alicorn was grafted back on, though he is now considering retirement. Tim Mo, however, is increasingly despondent and not getting on very well with the social elites who frequent their home. The poor kid from Natasha's crew has never been part of an affluent environment, and I am certain that his physical limitations inflicted by Sagan are attracting unwanted attention. Children can be cruel.

Merlin Sinclair, Captain

Renny looked up at the darkening storm clouds overhead with a frown as he, Taro and Tanis walked through a lush green park in the middle of Grandstorm. They had just returned to Dennier following a couple of off world deliveries that took them in turn to Alexandrius and Fyn, and were once again on their standard three day shore leave before their next assignment. It had been three months since the home office had opened for business, and things were picking up.

It was an odd thing to see advertisements on the INN broadcasts for Blue Horizon Freight Transfer as well as other StellarNet channels, but word had gotten out that the company was still in business after the messy events of the War. Cindy, Keri and Penny had their hands full and Taro enjoyed the familiar routine of coordinating efforts with their growing list of customers. It seemed unthinkable, but they actually had to turn away delivery jobs while other freight businesses were scrounging to find work at all.

"I have another idea for promoting the company," Renny commented as they skirted around a park bench.

"Another one?" Tanis asked.  "Cindy didn't think much of yer last idea."

"Yeah, well even I admit that one was pretty lame," the cheetah replied.

"Don't ya think we're getting enough exposure?"

Renny shrugged. "Too much work is better than not enough," he answered.

"So what's your new idea?" Taro asked.

"Maybe you can sweet-talk your friends in DWT to do a commercial for us," Renny said to the vixen.

"I don't know about that," Taro replied with a frown. "They wouldn't be advertising something like a new car or soft drink.  As much as we like it, the Blue Horizon is just a cargo-carrier."

"Well, they don't have to sing a jingle or anything," Renny said with a shrug. "Just a nice instrumental in the background might work."

"Right. You can bring it up at the next staff meeting, love."