Chip growled as they flew along in the Ranger Plane.
 
“Can’t this damn thing go any faster?!” he muttered angrily.
 
“I’m givin’ ‘er all she’s got, Chippah! Can’t go any faster, there, mate, or she’ll rip ’erself apart!” Monty yelled over the noise of the wind and the aircraft.
 
“If you hadn’t yelled at Gadget, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Dale whined.
 
Chip bonked him on the head.
 
“Ow! What was that for?!” Dale exclaimed.
 
“Opening your mouth! I lead here, and I’m not letting a halfwit question my decisions!” Chip growled.
 
“ ‘E ‘as a point, there, Chippah. If ya ‘adn’t yelled at the lass . . .” Monty started to say.
 
“She’s incompetent! And her half-baked inventions put us all in danger!! She wastes group funds on failed ideas, her inventions cause more collateral damage than they help, and she made me look like an idiot when I put in a good word for her with the creature council! I should have never let her even near the underground transit system. If she had ran away in this pile of junk instead of the Ranger Wing, I’d not even had let you guys talk me into this!” Chip fumed.
 
“Now, Chippah . . .” Monty tried to calm him down.
 
“Just shut-up and fly! This is all a waste of time chasing after her. She wants to run off like a spoiled child, then we should let her, but you two won’t #$@!ing leave me alone! We’d be better off without her, I swear. Now, let’s just get there so we can get back. I have a lot of PR work to do after her last screw-up if we want to stay in business.” Chip growled again.
 
The Rangers had just been on a case for the intelligent creature’s council, but things had not gone as planned. Being as intelligent creatures, or sentients as they were often called, were in hiding, their underground cities were the only place they were free to roam without fear. Until recently the only way to get between these settlements was by way of above ground travel. Night was the safest time to travel but even that was not as safe completely safe. Intelligent creatures were being killed or utterly disappearing without a trace to the point it was becoming an epidemic. In response the council had the first ever underground creature mass transit system built, but someone was sabotaging it. The Rangers had some fame as of late, which is why the council called them in to help. True, it was Gadget’s brilliance more than anything that was building their fame, and because of this she was quickly becoming the shining star of the group. This angered Chip; he was the leader! First it was the press loving her, and then the calls started pouring in for small missions of her own, without the group. He ‘confronted’ her about taking away from 'the groups fame' and thought he had things fixed before this last mission but then …  
 
“We should be in radio range now, Chippah.” Monty called out, waking Chip from his own thoughts.  
 
Chip sighed. “Finally… Dale, see if you can reach him.”
 
Dale nodded and grabbed the handset. “Ranger Plane to Sackett Base, Ranger Pane to Sackett Base, you read me, you crazy shit-pile of monkey nuts? … Ow!”
 
Chip bonked him again.
 
“I read ya. Watch the language, this is a public band!” A voice replied.
 
“We are about an hour out. Chip wants to make sure you’re ready.” Dale replied.
 
“Ready and waiting.” The voice replied
 
“10-40, Roy Rodgers, Over and outside! … Ow!” Dale exclaimed as Chip bonked him again.  
 
He looked at Chip sourly and rubbed his head. There were days he would like nothing more than to tell him off, but the last time he tried Chip nearly kicked him out of the group. He was too stupid to make a living on his own, as Chip reminded him almost daily, so he held his tongue. At least they would be at Hondo’s soon.
 
-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-
 
Hondo had just finished fueled up his old truck from the fuel barrels by the shop as the shop radio squealed to life. After the brief conversation, he knew at least how much time he had before it would be time to go. He had only known of these sentient animals for a little over two and a half years now, and it had turned his life upside-down. He had always wanted to do more in life, and to feel like he made a difference and that day, back in the Bakken oilfields when he met the Rangers, everything changed. He leaned against his truck reflecting on that day. It now seemed like a lifetime ago . . .
 
-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-
30 months before ……..
 
Hondo sighed as he sat back into the seat of his work truck. It had been over 36 hours since he had slept last and the customer’s electricians were still fiddling with the harmonics filter on the pulse drive for a submersible oil well pump. He had restarted the turbine generator ten times already, blowing a couple components in the process the last time as they had wired in the new filter backwards after having given up on the old filter sometime around 3 am. He had to wait for parts now, so he decided to try to take a nap. As he sat back and closed his eyes his phone rang. He cussed out loud at it as he reached to grab it from the dash.
 
“#$@!in' techs can’t handle their damn business without me holdin’ their #$@!in' hand for a single damn minute!” he grumbled
 
He had worked on these turbine for five years now, as a field manager for two years of that time and was finding the job wearing on him more and more every day. He looked at the screen and shook his head. It was Larry again.  
 
“Ya’llow.” Hondo mumbled into the phone
 
“Um, the temperature probe, TE-103, on unit 637 is bad. I don’t have one, do you?”
 
Hondo sighed, “Yeah, I got one.”
 
“Oh, and Clark chapped my ass for not having one. I told him I was only told to look at it. No one told me to bring a part. I’m getting sick of him scolding me! He’s not my boss!” Larry whined indignantly.
 
Hondo closed his eyes and sighed, pausing a moment before answering.
 
 “ . . . Larry, if you go out to check on a part that might have a problem, bring a spare one with you. I shouldn’t hafta tell you this. You’re a field tech, you’re supposed to think ahead,” He replied wearily.
 
“Oh, ok. … I just didn’t think about that. I’ll try to think about that next time. Will you tell Clark to lay off, though? I don’t mind you or Bill telling me to do something different, but Clark . . . You need to drug test that guy! I think he’s using steroids. He’s always so angry!” Larry complained.
 
Hondo shook his head, “Alright, I’ll talk to him.”
 
“Oh, and I saw Mary driving around and just taking pictures instead of working. That’s not fair that I have to work while she goofs off!” Larry whined angrily.
 
Hondo sighed a bit louder this time, “ *sigh*… I told her to take pictures of the units. Marketin’ wants pictures of all the sites.”
 
“Oh . . . I thought she was goofing off.” Larry replied
 
“No, and what Marry does is between her and me! You worry about you, please.” Hondo replied, trying not to growl.
 
“No problem. Just a misunderstanding. I’ll be there in an hour for the part. Laters!”  Larry replied as if everything was right in the world all of a sudden.
 
Hondo ended the call and threw the phone into the passenger seat with an exasperated sigh. He laid back and closed his eyes, wishing the building migraine in his head would disappear.
 
“#$@!in' children!” He growled out loud.
 
“The kids misbehaving again?” a voice from the window replied.
 
Hondo opened his eyes to see an older gentleman standing there, holding a large cup of coffee out to him. It was Bill, Hondo’s boss and the local operations manager, with the part he needed as well as coffee which was needed even more than the parts.
 
“I brought you some coffee, sir.” Bill said as Hondo took the hot cup from him.
 
Hondo sighed wearily, “Think I need more than this, but it’ll help. Clark is yellin’ at Larry again because he didn’t take a sensor with him, Larry is whinin’ about it and tattlin’ on Mary as he thinks his work load is unfair, had the VP of Ops send me an email askin’ for an explanation on why we would change the oil on a PM and not just top it off, HR screwed up my pay again and called me an idiot when I pointed it out, and these jack-offs still don’t have that new filter in after nearly blowin’ us and our unit up because they can’t tell the difference between line side and load side!”
 
“You’ve been up too long, sir.” Bill replied  
 
Hondo nodded, “I’m getting’ close to bein’ up for 40 hours now, but none of these techs can handle this themselves. They are all either too green or won’t try. I wish corporate would get us some good techs, damn it!”  
 
Bill shrugged, “Hell, HR still won’t approve the raises nor are allowing us to replace the two techs we lost. I’ve never seen a HR director with this much power before. And on top of that, our beloved VP has called or messaged every hour since this site went down.”
 
Hondo growled, “What is his problem?”
 
Bill shrugged, “I really don’t know. I guess the big boys above him are getting antsy. Something about we lose money if we have too much downtime in the contract.”
 
Hondo was close to blowing up, “What?!? That’s only if it’s down because of us! I wrote a company-wide email ‘bout this and talked to the VP not long after I got here the night before last! They know this is on the customer!”
 
Bill shook his head, “They should know. Hell, some days I’m not sure if we are being sold or about to go under, with how they are acting. My boss tells me they are singing our praises at corporate, then we get shit on a few minutes later. I don’t know about you, but I’m putting in applications.”
 
Hondo sighed and sat back into his seat, “Yeah, I should. Don’t want to stay around here, though, and don’t have the money to go elsewhere, yet. Helpin’ out family has me financially drained, still, not countin’ the credit card debt I have from helpin’ a friend start a business, that failed.”
 
Bill shook his head, “I know what you mean. Helping family can be draining in more ways than one. You’re a good man, though, and something will come your way soon. I’d still be putting your resume out there, if I were you.”
 
Hondo nodded, “I’ll work on that this weekend, maybe, if the field stays quiet. I’d better get that AVR and grid contactor changed out. I’d like to get some sleep at my camper tonight.”
 
Bill nodded, “Ok, but if you get too tired take a nap first. Your camper is four hours from here and it’s not worth getting into a wreck, you know.”
 
Hondo groaned as he climbed out of his truck. “Yeah, I know. Thanks for runnin’ parts for me.”
 
Bill waved and started towards his truck, “Not a problem, my friend. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, hopefully.”
 
Hondo nodded and headed to the unit. His sleep deprived mind made the job take a little longer than normal, but he finished it and had everything ready within an hour and a half. He went to his truck to wait, hoping for a nap, but that did not happen again. He ended up with three more calls from techs, 20 text messages asking for diagnostic help on other units, and several emails, some from corporate again, which only pissed him off more.  
 
Two hours later he finally finished up everything that was thrown at him and he tossed his phone once again into the passenger seat. He was getting extremely exhausted and just wanted a nap. About then there was a knock on his window and one of the customer’s electricians stood there. During the short conversation with the man, Hondo was informed by the electrician that they had ruined a second filter and they thought a down-hole issue had messed up the drive unit, so they were shutting down for a week until the new parts came in.  Hondo did his best to hide his frustrations for the moment, but as soon as the electrician left he rolled up his window and cussed bitterly at the situation. He asked himself why he was still here and proceeded to put all his tools away and get ready to leave. He was packed up and less than fifteen minutes and as he slumped back into the driver seat, he only then realized how absolutely spent he was. He pulled to the edge of the oil pad, parked the truck, and sent a text to his boss.
 
**Site down for a week. They lost second filter and have drive issues. Taking a nap before I drive back.**  
 
With a sigh he plugged his phone into its charger and set it up on the dash. He then reclined his seat, laid back, and closed his eyes. He sighed again, but more contentedly this time, maybe now he could get some sleep. He had not closed his eyes for more than 30 seconds when he heard a buzzing outside and a rattle that sounded like metal pellets bouncing off the steel horse-headed pump jack. He cussed as he sat up, seeing what looked like a remote-controlled model airplane buzz his truck.
 
“What the #$@!!!” He exclaimed as he sat up.
 
 About then a weird looking model plane veered about in the sky, it looked as if someone had thrown it together with a bleach bottle, some model airplane wings, and an old balloon. It flapped awkwardly forward, as the first one turned and dove at it, firing metal BB pellets in its direction. The balloon burst as the first aircraft dove at the second and the awkward craft plummeted, crashing into the oil derrick. Hondo shook his head at the scene.
 
“Can’t even get some sleep in the middle of #$@!in’ no-where without some asshole wakin’ me up!” he muttered angrily.
 
 About then small plunk sound on the hood of his truck caught his attention. He stared, surprised at what landed on his truck, and she stared back at him. A larger than normal white mouse, standing upright like a human, wearing a lavender jump suit, goggles, and a parachute stood on his hood staring at him through his windshield. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and she was still there. At least he though it looked like a mouse, sort of. She had what looked like very short white fur on her exposed body parts, and large ears, a tail, and a sort of mouse like nose, but that’s where the Mouse look stopped. She stood upright, and even with the jumpsuit on, her curves, long legs, smaller but ample breasts, and long, flowing strawberry blonde hair showed her to be a handsome creature and those parts of her were all very much NOT anything like any mouse he had ever seen. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity but in reality, it had only been a couple second.  
 
Though he was extremely surprised, the surprise in Hondo’s eyes were no match for the fear in hers. Hondo was brought back to reality as she turned to look at something skyward. The buzz of the first model plane was heard getting closer by the second. She tried to get her parachute off, but the buckle was stuck. As the plane neared, she yanked desperately at the stuck buckle but failed to free herself as metal BBs started to strafe the truck hood. As they hit the truck, the mouse, if she was indeed a mouse, tried to dive out of the way, but her foot tangled in the parachute’s strings. All but one of the BB’s missed her, luckily for her. The one that did hit her severely grazed her thigh, and sent her rolling into his windshield with a dull thud as her body contacted the glass. The cry she gave out and the look on her face told him it hurt her pretty bad. As the plane turned, she looked at him through the windshield with a look of pleading desperation. He could barely hear her voice, but he understood her as she called out to him.
 
“Please help me!” she cried in despair.  
 
Hondo wondered if he had gone crazy. A mouse… that looked like a doll sized human, sort of … and it talked?!? He shook his head though and popped his door open. He did not know why but something in him told him he needed to act fast. As he stood up the craft started diving again at them. He looked around him and grabbed a large straight-bladed screwdriver from his driver’s door. As it got closer, he grabbed the screwdriver by the blade, pulled his arm back, and threw the screwdriver like a throwing knife at the diving craft, piercing it through the engine compartment. The impact of the large screwdriver alone was enough to cause the craft to veer wildly. With the extra weight and no power, the small craft plummeted towards his truck. He ducked quickly as the craft shot over his head and crashed into the rear of the tool box bed on his truck, leaving a sizable dent.
 
“How the #$@! am I goin’ to explain this to Bill?” He muttered.  
 
He looked at the mouse on his truck hood, who was still tangled and now holding her leg, and then back at the crashed plane. The cockpit canopy popped open about then and two figures jumped out, both lizards, big lizards. They both walked on two feet like humans, and had other humanish qualities, but not as much as the mouse woman had, and they were also about twice her size.
 
The mouse on the truck hood gasped, “Sugar Ray and Wart??”
 
Her gasp and the tone of her comment made Hondo glance her way. She looked at him with pleading eyes.
 
“Please help me. They’ll kill me!” She begged.  
 
He turned back to the lizards in time to see one pull out a blow gun and shoot it at him. Lucky for Hondo the dart hit the pack of wood tipped cigarillos in his pocket and stopped there.
 
“Blast!” The one lizard hissed.
 
“Shoot him again, you fool!” the second yelled as he pulled a knife built from a pen knife razor blade.  
 
The Lizard with the knife circled Hondo, trying to draw his attention away. The fact that it was two talking lizards had him reacting a bit slow as his brain kept telling him it was impossible, but something deeper told him these two were dangerous if ignored. Without thinking much about it, Hondo grabbed his western hat off the dash and flung it frisbee style, knocking the one with the blow-gun over.  The second rushed him, slinging his razor knife as he went in, but Hondo managed to kick out in time and the knife only sliced the leather of his heavy work boot. The lizard tumbled a bit and quickly jumped back to his feet.  
 
“You’ll not be stopping Sugar Ray today, human!” he hissed.
 
The lizard rushed him again but instead of backing away like Sugar ray expected, Hondo rushed in and punted him like a football! Sugar Ray howled in pain as he flew through the air towards the oil derrick. His body made a dull thud as it hit the steel upright and he slid to the ground, cussing, groaning, and momentarily out of the fight. Hondo grinned to himself a moment until a shriek was heard behind him. He turned to see the other lizard on the hood of his truck standing over the mouse woman with a knife in his hand. As he stabbed at her, Hondo jumped forward and grabbed his tail, pulling him off the truck and throwing him to the ground. The knife sliced the mouse woman’s coveralls but did not injure her any further, as Hondo had reacted in time. The lizard stood up cussing.
 
“#$@!ing shit! I was just supposed to kill the bitch, but now I’ll #$@!ing kill you for interfering, human! I’ll kill you first, and then I’ll cut that bitch and let her bleed out slowly!” He screamed.  
 
Hondo did not waste words on the nasty creature. He punted this lizard too, which surprised him as he found humans usually freaked out a an angry, talking, knife-wielding lizard.  The lizard bounced off the truck fender and landed back at Hondo’s feet, being as he was between Hondo and the truck with only about six feet between them. The creature started to get up.
 
“#$@! you, human!” he hissed.
 
 Hondo stepped in quickly and brought his heavy boot down on the lizard’s head, killing him instantly.  
 
“No, #$@! you.” He growled.
 
The mouse woman gasped and held a hand over her mouth.
 
“You … you killed wart!” She exclaimed.
 
She looked at him with a look of terror and horror as he moved towards her. She tried to scramble back but her injured leg and the parachute cords made her only tumble into the windshield wipers and cry out with pain. Hondo grabbed the parachute and lifted her up off the truck. She dangled before him helpless and afraid as he held her before him. A tear rolled down her face as she looked at him, scared for her very life, bleeding, and in pain.
 
“Please don’t kill me, please! I don’t want to die.” She begged as tears filled her scared eyes.
 
Hondo scowled at her, “Why would I kill you?”
 
She trembled as she dangled in the air in front of him, unsure of what was to befall her now.
 
“You . . . you killed Wart.” She whispered in a quavering voice.
 
Hondo shrugged, “And why not? He tried to kill you, he threatened to kill us both. He was an evil asshole and he deserved to die.”
 
She looked at him, still trembling, “But killing is wrong.”
 
He shook his head, “Not if they tried to kill you first! Someone tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back! That’s what I’ve been taught. Speakin’ of tryin’ to kill, where is that other asshole?”
 
Hondo looked over to where he had punted Sugar ray but he was gone.
 
“I’d better try to find that bastard.” He growled.
 
Her look of fear renewed, the mouse woman shook her head.
 
“Please don’t,” she begged. “I hate killing.”
 
Hondo sighed, “I don’t like it either but if I don’t stop him, who says he won’t try again?”
 
He looked at her as she hung trembling.
 
“I’m sorry, you’re bleedin’ and scared to death.” He said softening his tone. “I’ll not hurt you intentionally, but you need my help. You going to trust me, or am I gonna get bit or stabbed if I help you?”
 
She shook her head and answered softly, “I won’t do anything, I promise! Please, help me. I’ll … I’ll trust you. Just don’t hurt me.”  
 
He carefully set her down in his hand and pulled out his pocket knife with the other. She flinched as he brought the knife up close to her but all she felt was a slight tugging at the strap around her then a loss of weight pulling at her. She opened them to see that the man had cut the straps that held her into the parachute. She shuttered a bit as she sighed with relief. Hondo raised an eyebrow at her.
 
“You really thought I was gonna cut you?” He asked.
 
She looked down away from him shyly and shrugged.
 
“I.. I don’t know… I.. I’m sorry. I’ve never talked with a human before, let alone needed help from one. This is all new to me and with you killing Wart … I just didn’t know.” She said softly.
 
He frowned, “Sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean to. This is all a bit new to me too… I honestly don’t take pleasure in killin’, but sometimes you hafta to protect others or yourself.
 
She looked away from him again, “I understand I guess. It’s just.. just a lot to deal with… You did save my life though, so.. thank you.”
 
She looked up at him and smiled shyly. She tried to move a bit as she was sitting at an odd angle in his hand, but stopped and winced as her wounded leg reminded her that it was hurt.
 
He sighed and looked at her leg, “Well, I don’t have much here. The only band-aids I have are too big.”  
 
He set her on his truck seat and pulled a bandanna from his pocket. He cut off a small strip and handed it to her.
 
“Can you tie this around the wound for now? I’d help you but my hands are a bit big, and I don’t want to hurt ya.”  
 
She nodded. “I can do that.”
 
Once she had the wound tied off, he picked up his hat from the ground, dusted it off, and put the rest of the bandanna inside. He sat it on the passenger seat and, picking her up off his seat, he placed her inside of it.
 
“Sorry, not setup to have passengers of your size. This will have to do.” He said.  
 
With the excitement wearing down, he was now feeling exhaustion set in again. She looked at him, worriedly.  
 
“You alright? You look really tired.”  She asked softly
 
He nodded, “Been up for almost two days now. Still got a four hour drive back to my place.”
 
“Four hours! My friends won’t be able to find me there!” she exclaimed.
 
He raised an eyebrow, “Friends? Are they close by?”
 
She shook her head, “No, our leader, Chip, told me to do some reconnaissance while he rested and planned. They might not miss me until later tonight.”
 
“Well, I can’t help ya here, an’ I need to get back an’ get some sleep. I can leave a note by your wrecked plane.” He replied. “I can’t leave ya here. It’ll get below freezin’ after dark and who knows what else is lurkin’ out here.”
 
She sighed, “You’ve helped me a lot already, but I appreciate all I can get… You’re right though, I can’t stay here alone and I couldn’t ask you to stay here for me.”
 
“Do they have access to a phone?” He asked.
 
She nodded, “They do, so if you could leave them your number or where they can find us…”
 
Hondo shook his head, “I can’t guarantee that the lizard still isn’t around still. If I leave my address they will just come after you. If I leave a phone number, you can tell me if the caller is your friends or not.”
 
He scribbled a note on an extreme weather ‘post-it note’, as he spoke.
 
She cocked her head at him slightly, “I did not even think of that. Are you a detective or something?”
 
Hondo chuckled and shook his head, “Heh! Me? Nope. It’s just common sense to me.”
 
He jumped out and left the note on the wrecked plane and jumped back into the truck again. He put the truck in drive and slowly started to pull away before speaking again.
 
“I’m tired as hell, so talkin’ will help keep me awake. I’m so tired, honestly, I’m not sure if you’re real or if I’m hallucinatin’.”  He said seriously
 
She grinned a bit for the first time since he had seen her, and he had to admit she had a really pretty smile.
 
“I’m real alright. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, which is understandable as I have a few of my own! I need you to keep what I tell you a secret, though. My life the lives of many others depend on it.” She said.
 
“You trust me that much?” He asked
 
She nodded, “You not only helped me but also saved my life, and I owe you for that! Maybe we can help each other out somehow, but we have to trust each other first. Trust has to start somewhere and since I owe you for what you did and could never begin to repay you, I’ll trust you.”
 
He nodded, “I reckon it makes sense, though don’t worry ‘bout owin’ me anythin’. You got a name?”
 
She nodded, “My friends call me Gadget.”
 
He nodded and grinned slightly, “Hondo… Hondo’s my name. So.. no disrespect meant, but who and what are you?”
 
Over the next four hours she told him she was an inventor and mechanic for a rescue/sleuth team of sentient animals. There were two chipmunks, a large Australian mouse, and her. They had a few other friends who helped occasionally, but the core team was only four, since one of their members perished unexpectedly a year before. She told him she was a sentient, and about how research data taken from the Nazi’s after WWII was used during the cold war to make sentient animals like herself. She said that the sentients were born, like normal animals, but their DNA had been manipulated to make them intelligent by slicing human DNA into animal embryos. A side effect of it all was making them look more human, though not all sentient creatures had the same level of human looks as others did. Some looked more like their feral counterparts than others did.  It took several labs in several countries to make this happen, but they were all successful on some level. She explained that the sentients were initially created to be spies and assassins, but that the program had been scrapped for being thought too unethical and because creatures with minds of their own were not always easy to handle. When the project was closed the sentient animals were supposed to be euthanized. Some were, but most escaped, thanks to the scientists believing the right thing to do was to set them free. After the sentient animals were freed, some humans hunted them for a while, but soon they faded into obscurity and were forgotten. Some humans occasionally saw a sentient on accidentally, but most humans wrote them off as hallucinations, and those who insisted they saw talking animals were branded as lunatics. Unfortunately, the lab workers and scientists who were involved in the project were all executed to keep the existence of such experiments quiet, so there were very few humans left who could verify the sentients existence. With the sentient animals moving underground to build settlements, taking over abandoned areas, and taking other precautions, they had stayed hidden to the population at large. She told him that though there were some of the original sentients around, but a vast number of the sentients were second, third, or fourth generation. She herself was a third-generation sentient, and one with a genius level IQ to boot. Hondo also learned that while there were many different species of sentients, not all feral species had a sentient species. There was rumored to be some sentient horses, but most farm animals, Cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc. there were no sentient types made. There were no known sentient fish either, though some sentient dolphins had been discovered. Very few sentient bird species were known to exist as well, he was informed. On the whole the sentients seemed to dominate canine, feline, reptile, and rodent species.  
 
It was a lot for him to take in, but he listened the best he could as he drove and tried to stay awake. Once she was done telling him about what she and the others were, she told him about their adventures and filled him in on their current case. With her talking, it seemed like in no time they were back at Hondo's camper, much to his relief. As they pulled up she looked it over, appraisingly.
 
“So, you don’t live in a house?” She queried.
 
He shook his head, “No savin’ up for one. I stay at sister's on weekends, sometimes. Been helpin’ her fix up her house an’ watch my niece for her so she can get out.”
 
Gadget cocked her head again and looked at him. He had not said a lot, but she was starting to see there was more to this human than she had thought. For the most part, sentients like her grew up being taught how to live in a human’s world, but at the same time, being taught that humans were something to fear and avoid at all costs. As a rescuer, she and her group had helped a few humans from the shadows, children usually, but she had kept her distance and never spoke to one like this. He was definitely unsure of her, and possibly himself at the moment, but he treated her like a person, not an animal like she expected.  
 
Hondo grabbed his bag from the backseat and unlocked the camper to deposit the bag inside before coming back to get Gadget. He picked up his hat with her in it, when he returned, and set it on the couch inside. He took off his boots and vest before turning to her with a questioning look.
 
“I’ve got a wash basin I can fill with warm water for you to bath in. Will need to get you outta those clothes and that leg washed before I can put any ointment on it and bandage you up. Sorry, but I don’t have a lot of privacy for you here, nor any clothes your size. Can probably make a tunic like robe for ya, if needed. Er, bein’ as you’re sort of a mouse, with some fur it seems, but a woman at the same time, I’m not sure how y’all are about that stuff.” He stammered a bit, unsure how to ask the question without embarrassing her too much.
 
Gadget blushed slightly, “I know we are a bit different… Golly, I guess we are just like humans in our privacy usually. Some act more feral than others. There is a sentient creature ‘back to nature’ movement where they run around nude, but golly, I couldn’t do that! Some of us have more fur than others. Mine is so short it’s more like a velvety fuzz so you still see everything, but I have a friend who has enough you just see the outlines of her curves. Kind of like most sentient chipmunks. My friends wear clothes but without them all you really see is fur”  
 
She paused for a moment then started stammering a bit. “… I’m rambling, sorry. If … if I can’t have privacy, I guess, I mean.... I’ll have to, I mean … I will be okay. But … but … golly.”  
 
Hondo chuckled, “I didn’t know a mouse could blush. Well, I have a couple wash cloths here. I can set the basin in the stall shower and I’ll just stay in the kitchen. When you’re done wrap yourself in a wash cloth and we’ll see about gettin’ you patched up.”
 
He filled the small tub about half way with very warm bathing water. He found a trial sized 3-in-1 soap, shampoos, and condition and set it beside it with two wash cloths. He made sure she could get in on her own then left to cook some supper, leaving the door open so he could hear if she called out. About thirty minutes later she came limping out, wrapped in a washcloth. He offered to give her a lift to the couch, where he gently set her and made sure she was comfortable. After she was set, he went back to the bathroom and came back with some ointment, gauze bandage, medical tape, and some scissors.
 
“I’ll patch that leg and then we can eat and find something for you to wear. You eat normal human foods, or just have a vegetarian diet?”
 
She smiled at him, “I’ll eat anything.”
 
Hondo nodded, “Alright, good. Now, I’ll try not to hurt you. It’s pretty high on your thigh, though, so I might have to see more than you want. I’ll be as respectful as I can.”
 
She blushed again and nodded. He got her to lay on her side as he gently cleaned and bandaged her leg, taking care not to touch or expose her any more than he had to.
 
“Sorry about that, but it is done for now. Probably should change it again tomorrow, unless we hear from your friends and you rather them help you.” He said.
 
She shook her head, “I'd rather you do, honestly. … Hondo?”
 
She motioned for him to come down to the couch level. He knelt down and she struggled to her feet and limped over to him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then sat back down and blushed.
 
“Thank you,” She said softly.
 
“For what? Savin’ you? I told ya not to worry ‘bout it. It was just the right thing to do, so no worries.”  He replied
 
“No, it’s more than that. You’ve been so kind and not anything like how I was told or expected a human to be. And … and…” She paused and frowned a bit.
 
“And what?” he asked
 
“And you’ve treated me like a person and a lady. Not even my friends treat me like a lady, or worry about if I’m comfortable with things or ...” She paused.
 
He sat down for a moment, “They don’t treat you well?”
 
She looked at him surprised for a moment, “Oh no! It's.. it's not that. Dale, he’s just more like an annoying little brother. I think he likes me in other ways but he’s so immature. Monty, or Uncle Monty as I call him sometimes, treats me like a kid, usually. He’s is old enough to be my father. He was a friend of my father before … before ..”
 
“I’m sorry.” Hondo replied.
 
She looked down and shrugged, “It’s okay. I miss him a lot. Just wish I knew what happened. I’ve been told he was dead, at least Chip said he was after he investigated it for me. I just am not sure. After Dad disappeared, I was so lonely.”
 
“How long ago was that?” Hondo asked
 
“Almost seven years ago.” She sighed.
 
“If it’s not too much to ask, how old were you?” Hondo asked  
 
“I had just turned fourteen the day before he disappeared. He was there for my birthday and left the next day. I never saw him again. I was by myself for two years, until Chip and the others found me.” She replied sadly.
 
“I’m sorry. Must have been hard on ya. Now, you told me how the others treat you, but what about this Chip?”
 
She shrugged but a slight glint of fear crossed her eyes.
 
“He’s.. okay. He’s our team leader. We’d be nothing without him.” She replied almost mechanically.
 
Hondo raised an eyebrow, “But how does he treat you? Not like a lady, I assume.”  
 
“He.. he says there is no time or place for privacy in the kind of work we do. He.. he knows what’s best for us and is just looking out for our safety.” She said softy.
 
Hondo frowned and shook his head, “You don’t say that like you mean it. Has he hurt you before?”
 
She turned away from him, “It’s not like.. I mean if I did something wrong, I deserved… I … please, can we talk about something else?”
 
Hondo raised an eyebrow questioningly but he did not push it. Something obviously was bothering her in this line of questioning, but he was a stranger. Who was he to press for information?
 
He changed the subject to something lighter and they chatted as he dished them both up some supper. He didn’t really have to change how much he made as she did not eat much more than a fork full or two comparably. After supper they made her a tunic from one of his silk bandannas and he fixed her a bed on the couch. After that he cleaned up some more and got himself a shower. As he showered, he spied eyes looking at him through a crack in the door. He turned his back to the door and when he turned back to get out, they were gone. He wished her a good night, before going to bed himself, but she blushed and could not look at him as she replied in kind, which confirmed that she had indeed been curious enough to spy on him. While she was not probably the first mouse to see him shower, this one was a little different. He soon was thinking about nothing, though, as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
 
 
(edited for grammar, detail, and story flow)

The drive down was uneventful and quiet. He took the dirt road from his place to the highway a bit faster than he should, but that was manly to kick up more dust for Chip to enjoy. With a fuel stop at the first big town they came too and one more just over the border, they made it to Denver in just under five hours.  
 
As they traveled, Dale, Monty and Hondo talked over the documents they were given and started discussing a plan. The plan was vague, to say the least, but until they cased the lab that was the best they could do. The initial plan was to have Monty and Chip cause a distraction, have Dale on the radio watching Hondo’s escape route, and Hondo would go in, get the files, get Gadget, and get out. The question of what happened to Chips fedora was brought up, but neither Monty nor Dale knew. The best they could come up with was the last time they saw it was the day before Gadget left.  
 
Most of the trip was quiet, other than the old country tunes coming out of the truck’s radio. Dale complained about the music choice, as he was more of a heavy metal fan, but a sharp look from Hondo and a reminder on who’s truck it was ended that conversation before it even started. Chip bitched about being in the back every time they stopped, which grated on Hondo’s nerves, but he did his best to ignore him. Had Hondo’s plan not required all four of them, he would have left Chip alongside the road before they made it five miles from his ranch.  
 
As they drove Hondo’s thoughts returned again and again to the last time he had seen Gadget. Should he have forced her to stay or made her tell him what was wrong? Her sad eyes haunted him, and the longing she had for something they could not have hurt him. He dared not admit it even to himself, but the truth was he did love her and her being hurt tore him apart. His anger at Chip grew with every mile marker they passed, though he tried to reign it in. Without her word, it was their suspicions against Chips word. Though he put no stock in Chip’s words, he did put stock in justice, and putting it all on Chip without proof was not justice. The fact remained that he did something to upset her, and what had been thought as her giving Hondo the cold shoulder due to his pushing, was now infinitely more serious.
 
It was late afternoon when they arrived, and they drove around the place. It was supposed to be a medical campus genetics lab, but the guards and dogs in the front seemed a bit extreme. From the looks of the building and the landscaping, the place had been expanded to at least tripled its original size within the last year, which made him wonder about what exactly they were doing inside. After driving around the building, in a wide circle, they found, down the street and behind the lab, a large golf course. Hondo parked the truck in the back of the golf course parking lot, and told the others to lay low while he did some scouting on foot.  After some looking around, he found a maintenance road that went along the back of the golf course and went around behind the lab. He figured not only would it be easy and unseen access for their approach but also, he could park the truck there after dark without arousing suspicion. In daylight the truck would stick out like a sore thumb, but after dark the bushes would obscure the truck from those at the lab and from the main road without obscuring Dale’s vision of the building’s back exits. After Hondo had carefully taken some pictures with a small camera, he quickly left the area to not draw attention to himself.
 
Once done with his initial casing of the property, he met the others back at the truck and drove north, forty-five minutes out of town, where he found a hotel along the interstate. It was an old place and for the right amount of cash they asked no questions. There were also no cameras on the building and the rooms were accessed from the outside. They got a room on the back side, away from the highway, and as far from the lobby as they could get. After some of his emergency gear was stowed, as well as a backup firearm, they took off towards town again.
 
 This time instead of heading straight south into town Hondo drove west and then south, where they stopped for some food before heading east into town. Once back in town they first headed to a sentient animal hang out, in an abandoned warehouse district, as the anonymous note said Gadget was taken from there. It was decided that a human going around asking questions would only raise too many unwanted questions and would scare off most of those who might know something. So, Hondo stayed in the truck and looked over the building schematics of the lab as the Rangers, or what was left of them, headed out to ask questions.  
 
About an hour before Dark the Rangers returned with limited success. They had found the Ranger Wing covered in a tarp behind one of the sentient creature’s shadier night clubs. Apparently, Monty had to fight for it, as the clubs owner claimed he won it in a poker game. The problem with that was Gadget not only banned from playing cards in most places as she counted cards too well but also almost never lost when she played. Monty had a few bruises but was grinning ear to ear when he flew the plane back to the truck. Despite his worry about Gadget, there was something about a good fight that stirred the aging sentient mouse’s blood. Finding the wing was the only good news though, but with it Chip and Monty both could each fly one of them causing double the distractions at the lab, which would ensure that Hondo got in and out again. The bad news was that apparently Gadget got an offer to work for a lab designing technology that was more user friendly for sentient creatures like herself. They were told she had asked around for a rat named Reginald, who was supposed to be the representative of the company looking to hire. It was reported that the rat, who met her, was a con artist known as Rat-Fink. He reportedly took her to get a drink to chat and talk over business. She had a couple drinks according to one bar tender and the rat in questioned carried her out as she was ‘under the weather’, as the bouncer reportedly was told by the rat. From there no one knew where she went, but they knew if Rat-Fink took someone away that sentient was never seen again. No one would say more, but it was obvious that Rat-Fink was nothing more than a sentient trafficker and low-level puppet. Whoever pulled his strings, though, the locals fear them greatly.
 
After the plane was loaded and information discussed, Hondo went to a human bar that resided not too far from the lab. It was now his turn to gather information, if there was any to be had that is. After buying a few rounds for some of the locals that frequented the bar, the information started falling out of them as if they had been greased. He did not learn a lot, but the activities of that lab were a favorite topic for local conspiracy theorists. A large panel van made a trip at night once a week from the location, around bar close at 2:00 am, and a couple people reported seeing them load people in the van. One of the locals said that one got away and screamed and begged for help before being shot with some sort of dart gun and hauled back to the lab, and a second confirmed this story. The others there laughed at the two who told this story and claimed it was hallucinations from the drink. Apparently, the only ones claiming to witness this were regularly intoxicated to extreme levels and these were not the first wild stories from their mouths. Unfortunately, the wild tales about the lab were not able to be confirmed there, but Hondo held onto them as no oddity should be written off.  
 
About midnight Hondo said his good-byes, left the bar, and headed back to his truck. As he climbed into the truck Monty and Dale looked at him with anticipation, while Chip stood up angrily and pointed a finger at him accusingly.
 
“You left us here for hours, while you sat in there and drank! You want to waste our time, then we might as well just head home now!” Chip snapped.
 
Hondo growled angrily, “If you don’t shut-up and start bein’ helpful, I swear I’ll lock your ass in the damn glove box!”
 
Chip sat down and grumbled to himself but made no further loud comments or complaints. Hondo fired up the truck and headed east, away from the bar and the lab. Hondo made a couple more stops, the first was to get gas and the second to get a fast-food spicy chicken sandwich. Though the stops seemed like a waste of time, in truth he wanted to be sure they were not being tailed. The fact that some unknow benefactor had sent them this information was unsettling, but not as much as the gut feeling he had that there was a lot more going on than they knew.  
 
After he was fairly sure they had no one tailing them, Hondo drove into the golf course and followed the maintenance road around towards the lab. Approximately a mile away he shut off all lights and let the truck crawl forward at a low idle. The light of the moon, though not a full moon, was enough to light their path as they crept closer to the lab in the cover of darkness. A couple hundred yards away from the lab he stopped and pulled the truck alongside the road, behind some bushes he had seen earlier. Once the truck was shut off, he climbed out and helped Dale get setup with the radio and field-glasses as Monty and Chip inspected and prepared their planes. Once everything was setup and Hondo had his ear-piece in, he had Chip and Monty do radio checks on the aircraft to be sure they could communicate, as without that they were all flying blind.  
 
“Testing . . . 1,2,4,7 . . . testing.” Dale called out.
 
“Ranger one, reading you.” Monty replied
 
“I’m Ranger one, your Ranger two!” Chip called out on the radio.
 
“The wing is one, the plane is two, now radio silence unless needed. Chip, Monty, set your backup radios to the second frequency I gave you for coordinatin’ your actions. Stay off this channel unless you need to update me or Dale,” Hondo replied sternly.
 
“Roger.” Replied Monty
 
“Rodger dodger!” Replied Dale
 
“Fine, whatever.” Growled Chip.
 
Hondo walked up to them, where they were finishing checks on the Ranger plane and Ranger wing. He made sure his mic was off and then handed them both a piece of paper containing individual code words and replies.
 
“Take these, memorize and burn. They are to make sure we are understandin’ and it is us replyin’. Do not share them with each other. Monty, fly off to the side, observe the dogs and see what we can do. If any of them are sentient that might help.” Hondo said
 
“Moight hurt too! If those cunts are workin’ for whoever is runnin’ this here circus, they might be harder to distract!” Monty replied, sounding a bit worried.
 
Hondo shrugged, “Got to try. If we had a couple more days to observe that would be one thing. She’s been gone over two weeks now, though. Every minute is precious at this point.”
 
Chip cleared his throat and asked snarkily, “What about me, sab master bwana?”  
 
Hondo glared at him, “First off you are going to drop that arrogant, self-righteous attitude or I’ll feed you to the damn dogs as a distraction!”
 
Chip swallowed hard but tried to not look like the human intimidated him, “Fine!! You.. you are the boss on this! … Just tell me what you want me to do.”
 
“That attitude isn’t much better, but it will have to do. I want you to fly a wide arc around the lab and setup across the street. Coordinate with Monty. Monty is the lead on this. I hear you even say one cross word to him, and you’ll wish you had just offered yourself to those dogs as a snack-rifice! Now, you two look it over. I’d like to be heading inside in thirty minutes. You have to cause a distraction so I can get in. There are security cameras but, with the help of some tech that a friend from the agency gave me, I should be able to shut down the security system. I’m also going to pull the power meter, which is why I need this coordinated! With emergency power only, I should be able to move around easier as not all the lights will be on. The computers should be on UPS back-ups. If not, I’ll have to hope there is a server there, pull drives, and hope for the best. If these folks are doin’ somethin’ illegal, I just need enough evidence to get the FBI, the Marshals, or one of the agencies involved. So, taking them down today is not the mission. Getting Gadget is priority one! If she’s in there she might not have much time left and could be sick, hurt, or poisoned. We get her out and to a sentient medical facility fast! Getting information to warrant a federal investigation so my ass is covered is priority two. I get those two things and we get the hell out. Hopefully I can get the information first so once I find Gadget I can get out, but if I have to, getting information will be canceled if it’s her or the information.” Hondo said in a low, serious tone.
 
Chip sighed and nodded, “Okay, I’ll cooperate to get this done. Once you get Gadget though, you get her back to me, er, us I mean. We will head back east, and you can go back north, and hopefully I’ll never have to see you again!”
 
Hondo nodded, “Not seeing you again would be fine by me, but let’s worry about what’s in front of us first.”
 
Chip nodded but there was a nervousness to him that Hondo could only think was related to Gadget and him finding something out that Chip had done. He tried not to jump to conclusions nor let his personal feelings cloud the issue, but if they found Gadget alive and well, there would be a much-needed discussion with him, her, and the others.
 
Monty put on his goggles, “No time to waste, then, mates! See you blokes on the other side!”  
 
Monty started the wing and took off, being careful to stay away from the building and not bring any attention on them too soon. Chip sighed as he watched Monty leave then started the Ranger Plane. He did not look back at Hondo, but in the dull moon light it was obvious that his visage was tense.  
 
As Chip flew off, Hondo headed back to the truck to watch and wait. As he waited, a large door opened at the side of the lab building for a moment, and a van drove out. He got look at the driver for a second, but it was only a glimpse. A short, balding red-haired man wearing thick glasses and a white lab coat was screaming at someone as they drove towards, before veering off to a road that lead back to the highway, right before the bushes where the truck was parked. Once on the main road the van headed off to the interstate and disappeared out of sight. He wanted to find out where they were going and wished he had the resources to track them, but that was for another day if needs be.  
 
“That was a bit close for comfort.” He mumbled to himself.
 
Though it was not directed at him Dale nodded in agreement.
 
As he waited, Chip landed across the street to the south on a roof and pulled out some field-glasses while Monty parked in some bushes to the east of the lab and was out sneaking around.
 
Monty had seen the dogs and the guards from the air, as well as a length of cable by one of the dog houses that sat out front. It was made to tether a Dog to the wall by the entrance, possibly when one of the guards were on a break or when it was raining so the dog would still be there to guard without having to be watched over. Sticking to the shadows he made his way to the cable to inspect it for use. Luckily for him both of the dogs were asleep and the dogs were anything but attentive to their duties, but still his anxiety and adrenaline ran high. One of the guards there was playing on his phone while the other sat with his hat tipped over his eyes, so they both were equally oblivious to their surroundings much to Monty’s relief, though it did little to calm his fears. Once at the dog house he found the cable to be setup with clasps at both ends, as he had hoped, which meant his plan might actually work. He carefully unhooked the one end from the wall, where it was clipped, and started towards the first dog. He figured if he could tether the two dogs together they could safely cause some confusion and force the guards to untangle them, allowing for Hondo to make a clean, safe entrance. It was not his best idea ever, but it was the best he could do on a short notice with what he had. He successfully clipped it to the collar of the first dog, who was sleeping close to the door.  The dog yawned and stretched as the clasp closed, causing Monty to freeze, wide eyed, in his tracks. He started sweating at this point and his heart hammered in his chest like a jack hammer on asphalt, as a rush of fear swept over him. The fear receded after a bit and he calmed slightly as he saw the dog was still out cold. He sighed softly to himself, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and continued on a bit more slowly this time.  
 
 As he approached the second dog with the other end of the tether, he tripped and fell into the dog, landing hard on its paws. As the dog jumped, startled from his sleep, and looked at the large mouse, Monty’s stomach felt ill and his heart leapt up to his throat as the icy fingers of fear once more coursed through his body. A growl started to form deep in the dog’s throat as he looked at Monty with an angry, hungry look. Monty gave him a big grin as he stood up and held his hands out in front of him, but the fear and his now profuse sweating sort of made it look more comical than friendly. He tried to back away slowly as he held his hands up in front of him, speaking in a low, trembling voice.
 
“Nice doggie, good doggie… I don’t want any trouble, there, mate.” Monty said as calmly as possible  
 
The dog stopped suddenly and cocked his head. He spoke in a low voice with a slightly Russian accent.
 
“Sentient rodent? Vut are you doing here, leetle mouse?” He asked
 
“Er, uhm, ah, me an’ me pallies are lookin’ for a friend. We were told she might be ‘ere.”  He replied a bit shakily.
 
The dog frowned and shook his head, “I am sorry, friend. If your friend was taken, it is too late.”
 
“I can’t believe that! I promised ‘er dad I’d watch over ‘er!” Monty said in a half pleading voice.
 
“Is bad place, friend. You should go.” The dog replied
 
“If it is thet bad, why do you work ‘ere?” Monty queried cautiously.
 
“Is not simple. I have family. They keel them if I not comply.” the dog replied sadly.
 
“If we don’t get in ‘ere I may lose my family too! Can’t ya ‘elp us, mate? Tell us who is ‘oldin’ yur family an’ maybe we can ‘elp.” Monty pleaded.
 
“I … I not know...” He said, thinking as he spoke.
 
“If it was your family in there you’d stop at nothin’, roight? … What would your family think if they knew you were protectin’ those what ‘urt other’s families?” Monty asked, in a pleading tone.
 
The dog sighed, “They vould not be proud, and no, I vould not rest if they vere there, friend. I vill help, but must look good. Hook cable to my collar. I vill take from here.”
 
Monty nodded, “Thanks, mate. I owe ya.”
 
“If you honest, my family is in pound in Cheyenne Vyoming. You vill recognize. My vife’s name is Annika.” The dog said.
 
Monty hooked the tether to his collar, “We get outta ‘ere, mate an’ I’ll get them out. Thet’s a promise. Now, don’t do anythin’ until you see me buzz the guards in a small aircraft.”
 
The dog raised an eyebrow, “Aircraft? Your group very special to have such machine.”
 
“The one we are tryin’ to rescue built it. She’s a genius, twice as beautiful an’ three times as carin’.” Monty said.
 
The dog nodded, “Good luck, then, friend, and for my family, spasibo.”
 
Monty retreated to the Ranger Wing and communicated with Chip about the plan. Once it was laid out to Chip, Monty called Hondo.
 
“Sentinel this is ranger one, sentinel do ya read, mate?”
 
“Ranger one this is Sentinel. The plan set?” Hondo replied.  
 
“Yeah, mate. Ranger one an’ ranger two are on the same page. Plan will commence on yer mark.” Monty Replied.
 
“Ranger one, did ranger two give you any grief?” Hondo asked, mainly to piss Chip off a bit more.
 
“Negative, Sentinel. ‘E thought agreein’ was better than gettin’ eaten!” Monty replied.
 
“Let’s just do this!” Chip growled through the radio.  
 
Hondo grinned a bit sadistically, as he imagined Chip sitting there cussing his name but not being able to do anything. Hondo turned off his microphone and punched a few commands into the laptop in the truck. Luckily for them, the cameras were on a WiFi network and the program he used broke through their firewall and passwords with ease. He made a mental note to thank a friend of his later, when he had time. With just a few keystrokes, the cameras inside and out back of the lab were put on a loop, letting him go in unseen. The front cameras were put out of focus and all the door alarms were turned off. He looked over at Dale and gave him a nod, once done.
 
“Alright, it’s all clear. You ready?” Hondo asked.
 
“Ready, Freddy!” Dale said in a goofy tone.
 
Hondo looked at him a bit sternly, “Knock it off. We’ve been together enough for me to know it’s all a facade to deal with insecurities. I know you can do better. Gadget needs us, so straighten up!”
 
Dale hung his head and replied quietly, “Sorry.”
 
“Sorry doesn’t get it done. You ready?” Hondo replied sternly.  
 
Dale put on a serious look and spoke more confidently, “Yes, sir. I am ready!”
 
Hondo nodded, “Good!”  
 
He turned his microphone back on, “Ranger one, Ranger two this is Sentinel. Upon the alarm sounding start your plan. I will leave my microphone on so I can report and you can know what is happening. Reply with code word if acknowledged.”
 
“Chips an’ Dip.” Monty replied.
 
“What! Chip’s a dip! That’s the code you gave him, you asshole?!” Chip yelled through the radio
 
“I said Chip an’ Dip, mate!” Monty replied louder.
 
“Ranger two, one more word other than the code and I better never see you again!” Hondo growled.
 
“Gummy thong?” Chip said in an indignant questioning tone.
 
Dale laughed, and Hondo let it go, as he had known the results of giving him such a code word. He even allowed himself a quick smirk before clearing his mind on the task.
 
“Memorize and burn, ranger two. They should not be a surprise. The reply answer is full-metal Coleslaw.” Hondo replied.  
 
He hit a final key on the computer and started moving forward in the shadows. He got as close as he could and waited in the shadows. He waited a moment, counting the seconds in his head as hunkered down out of sight.  
 
*3… 2… 1… *  
 
BRT! BRT! BRT! BRT!
 
About then a Claxton up front of the building went off, causing the guards to jump and almost fall out of their chairs. They quickly righted themselves, though as they scrambled to their feet and looked around quickly for some sign of what has set off the alarms. As Monty and Chip flew in to cause more confusion, the dog who was helping used the tether to go opposite of his fellow guard dog and trip the guards who now tried to run around the side of the building to see if someone had tripped the alarm there. Amid the ensuing chaos Hondo ran up to the back of the building. He put a small device on the power meter and pressed a button on the device before he slipped into a back door, completely unseen.
 
 
(EDIT: lost a piece of the original. Added it back in to fix hole in story)

Hondo gave ‘Grandma G.”, who was definitely not a grandma or a she, all the information he could over the phone at the moment. Hondo gave him the coordinates, gave him a run down, and told him about the information he had downloaded to his server. He promised to send out a copy via secure channels, once he had time to go through it himself. The man on the other end of the phone, who’s tone was business like and slightly annoyed, said he would be there in an hour or so to handle clean up. Once done on the call Hondo started up the old truck and backed up the road, distancing himself from the lab. Once stopped, he pulled out a pair of field glasses and watched the building.  
 
 
“What are you watching for?” Foxglove asked.
 
 
“Company. I invited a friend to join the party. It’s complicated, but I just need to make sure no one else gets there before his team does.” Hondo replied.
 
 
Foxglove just nodded and wrapped herself tighter into the blanket, sighing as she leaned against the cold, metal door. In no time at all she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, as her injuries and mental state had taken their toll on her.
 
 
An hour and a half later a helicopter appeared in the sky and hovered over the lab for a moment. After it observed for a bit, it landed in the back-parking lot of the lab and four men dressed in swat gear jump out and rush the building. A moment later a man in a dark suit and two women get out followed by a third woman in an EMT uniform. The man looks around cautiously then down the dark road towards where Hondo sat. Had it been anyone else, Hondo would have bet a fortune he was not seen, but with this guy he was not willing to make such bets. The man stared in their direction for several seconds, nodded, and then walked inside, followed by the three women.  
 
 
Hondo nodded back, but whether he saw him nod or not he did not know. Once the four joined their swat team inside, Hondo fired up the truck and started the drive back to the hotel. The jostling of the truck woke Foxglove, who yawned and stretched a bit, as she looked around confused and tried to remember what happened. Monty sat in the back with Chip, who was being oddly quiet, and Dale sat up front with him and Foxglove. He too had been oddly quiet since he spoke to Foxglove in the cell, though it was no wonder why. Foxglove looked around, it all coming back to her what happened and where she was, as she saw Hondo.
 
 
“Where are we going?” She asked, sounding a bit groggy.
 
 
“Hotel. I got a room. We all need some sleep. I have some water and soup in the tool box of this truck. I will make the soup up for ya when we get there, then you need to sleep, too. Tomorrow mornin’ we will go back to my place and get you looked at.” Hondo replied.
 
 
She nodded and shrugged back deeper into the blanket.  
 
 
“Thank you.” She said softly as she looked out the windshield as she leaned against the door once again.
 
 
Hondo sighed, “Don’t thank me yet. You have a long road ahead of ya. Thank me by gettin’ well and makin’ somethin’ of yourself. I can’t carry ya all the way, but I’ll be there to lean on until you can walk on your own.”
 
 
Dale looked up at her, “I’ll be there for you too. You know that, right? There is nothing we can’t get through together.”
 
 
She sighed and looked out the side window away from them, trying to hide her tears.
 
 
“Dale … There is no we anymore. I can’t … We can’t … It just won’t work. I’m not right … you’re .. I’m human and you … it just won’t work.” She stammered in an almost whisper.
 
 
He looked down at the seat and replied glumly, “Oh… I see.”
 
 
The rest of the ride was quiet. Hondo drove east out of town this time and circled up and around to the hotel this time. He did not see anyone following, which was a relief, but there were a lot of unanswered questions yet. Among the many questions were: why had it gone so smooth, who tipped Nimnul off, why were they turning Sentient creatures into humans, and where was Gadget?
 
 
After about a forty-five-minute ride they were back at the hotel. Hondo grabbed a bag and a couple other items out of the back of the truck and unlocked the  room door before coming back for Foxglove. Upon his returned he gently picked her up and carried her inside. She hung onto his neck with one arm while  she clutched the blanket to her chest with the other, trying to cover herself better as the scrub top had no buttons or ties. It had been made to have tie strings, but they had been removed so she could not use them to kill herself. Hondo pulled the covers down and sat her carefully down on the bed. The hotel was old, but the bedding appeared clean and relatively unstained, which he was grateful for. She winced a bit as he moved her, but tried not to show that it hurt her. Her legs pained her, but she had some drugs in her system that the lab techs had given her to keep her from being in too much pain at the time. Hondo took the blanket she used to cover herself from her and examined her body briefly, making sure there was not any other major injuries he had missed. Outside some cuts and bruises there was nothing else major externally, though he worried about her insides. She blushed and diverted her eyes in embarrassment as he looked her over.  
 
 
“I’m … I’m sorry. I ... it’s just … I’m used to having some fur and now …” She stammered bashfully.
 
 
Hondo smiled softly as he tried to reassure her, “I know this is new to you, but I need to make sure you’re gonna be alright for the night.  You are beautiful, though, you know.”
 
 
She blushed even more, “Thanks you… I’m not used to a man looking me over like this either … especially now as I feel so … exposed.”
 
 
She sighed and looked at him, a pleading look in her gaze, “Is there any way to turn me back?”
 
 
Hondo shook his head, “I don’t know. I’d like to give you some hope, but I can’t. You need to prepare yourself to stay like this.”
 
 
Her voice quavered, “How? How can I live like this?”
 
 
She looked down at her body, placing her hands on her breast and then ran them slowly down her torso, “How can I live with myself when I don’t recognize me? I touch myself and it’s not right… I can’t fly anymore, I’m so much bigger than I was. I look in a mirror and ... and … who is that looking back? I don’t even know her. I don’t know who I am!”
 
 
Tears started to flow down her cheek as her eyes begged him for answers. He shook his head and took her hand.
 
 
“I can’t tell you who you are, unfortunately, no one can. You are still you, inside, that much I know. Outside doesn’t really matter, though I know it has to be a shock to you. You will learn to cope, with time and help. I’m willin’ to be a friend and help, but I can’t do this for you. I can’t give you the will to live, to learn who you are again, or to love yourself. I can’t say that even if you could go back to bein’ a sentient, that you’d be the same. This was traumatic and that will change you forever. It will not be easy, I ain’t about to lie to ya, but you can make it. How you choose to look at this is completely on you, though. If you try to be positive and want to move forward you will succeed. If you give up there is nothin’ anyone can do for you.” He said softly but firmly.  
 
 
She only nodded in reply. He finished making sure she was alright, then covered her up carefully. She held the blanket over her breasts to keep herself covered as she watched him move about the room. He walked over to his gear, where it sat in the corner, and grabbed one of his old bags, pulling out an old hot-pot and a can of soup. He plugged in the hot pot and poured in the soup to heat it up for her. Once it was ready he brought it over to her bed, with some water and a couple pills he pulled out of his bag.
 
 
“These will help with the pain, though they will make you a bit groggy. It’s the best I can do at the moment. They will make you sick if ya don’t eat with them, so I need you to try to eat at least half the soup.” He said as he moved the nightstand against the bed and placed the soup and water on it so she could reach it.
 
 
She let the blanket fall down, exposing herself again, but caring less this time. She was scared and felt alone but not as alone as she had before. She knew he should be angry at her and hate her, but instead he had been kind, after his initial distrust wore off.  The trauma she had been through and her the stress and anxiety she felt from recent event, coupled with own fear of humans that had been ingrained in her as a sentient, added to her distress. But, he made it all feel not so bad, somehow, and she was starting to feel even more comfortable in this new body because he treated her well and accepted her as she was. She set the soup on her lap and stared at it, just stirring it at first, as she felt too much despair still to be hungry. She finally made herself taste some after some additional coaxing from Hondo, who though a bit on the hard side, did his best to be kind and encouraging. Her hunger hit her all of a sudden, after her first taste, and she started eating a bit too quickly.
 
 
“Whoa there, little filly! Slow down. I’m not gonna take it from ya.” He said with a chuckle
 
 
She slowed down a bit but it was gone a lot faster than he figured it would be. She then took the pills and swallowed them, drinking half the bottle of water. Once she was done, he helped her lie down and cover up.
 
 
“If ya need to use the facilities let me know and I’ll carry ya in.” He said softly.
 
 
She nodded, forcing a weak smile as she looked up into his steely eyes, “I’m good for now but thank you.”
 
 
She motioned for him to come close, so he leaned down a bit. She waved her hand again, asking him silently, to come closer still. He thought maybe she wanted to whisper something to him, as she was embarrassed to say anything out loud with the other Rangers there, but instead she kissed his cheek. He pulled back and gave her a surprised look, but she just smiled softly back at him.
 
 
“Thank you, Hondo. I owe you my life.” She said softly.
 
 
“Like I said, you gettin’ well is the only thanks I need.” He replied as a soft, lop-sided smile played across his face.  
 
 
Hondo turned out the light, leaving only a small lamp on to light the room in case he needed to check on her in the night. She looked at him a moment as he pulled a chair over by the bed and sat back into it.
 
 
“You’re not going to sleep there, are you?” She asked softly.
 
 
He nodded, “I plan to, after I look at some things.”
 
 
She blushed a bit as she looked at him and spoke timidly, “You could sleep with me.”
 
 
He shook his head, “No thanks. You just get some sleep. I’ll be fine.”
 
 
“You sure? I.. I really don’t mind.” She replied hesitantly.
 
 
He shook his head, “Wouldn’t want to bump your legs in my sleep and you really need to rest so you can heal.”
 
 
She frowned a bit and looked away from him, “Oh … ok.”
 
 
He looked at her, unsure of why she sounded like he hurt her feelings. She had been through a lot and he figured that maybe she was just tired. Across the room Chip was falling asleep on a throw pillow, as he watched a documentary on famous detectives and Monty lie on his back, on another chair, fast asleep and snoring like a chainsaw. Dale, on the other hand, was nowhere near asleep, but looked as if he was deep in thought. He sat on the back of the easy chair that Monty was asleep on and stared across the room at Foxglove. She had fallen asleep already, but he could not help but sit and stare. He had watched the exchange between Hondo and her, and it all left him feeling hollow inside. She definitely looked different, and he scolded himself for the thought that she actually looked sexier now than she had before. To him there was no doubt it was her, from the way she talked and from her eyes, it was his foxglove. He had spent too many afternoons gazing into those eyes and listening to her talk to not know it was her. His heart ached for her, as he knew he was losing her, and it mourned for her because she was in anguish, mentally and physically, and he could do nothing to help. Hondo could help though, and though he was glad Hondo could help her, Dale could not help but feel some jealousy towards him.  She had been his girl, the light of his life, and the one person who had believed in him from the beginning and made him want to better himself. Now, in an instant, it seemed to be gone.
 
 
Hondo pulled out his laptop and worked on getting the data from his mainframe server remotely. As he got in, he pulled a couple files on to his computer as their names interested him. He spent hours going over files, but in that time, he had not flipped through 5% of them. Early the next morning, as he skipped sleeping to try to find answers, he found one file that peaked his interest. He read hastily, cursed softly, and shut the screen on the laptop as he rubbed his tired eyes.
 
 
“Something wrong?” a voice asked from across the room.
 
 
Hondo did not have to look up to see who spoke. He just continued to rub his eyes and nodded.
 
 
“It’s not great, that’s for sure. You should be asleep, Dale.” He said sleepily.
 
 
“Can’t sleep… What did you find?” Dale asked hesitantly.
 
 
Hondo shook his head, “Not enough yet, unfortunately… The sheer amount of data is huge. It looks like the distraction bought us the time we needed to get most of it, though. They couldn’t have let us see this willin’ly… Maybe we were earlier than expected, I don’t know, but though some files are partial, I have a couple terabytes of data here at least here.”
 
 
“And?” Dale queried further.  
 
 
Hondo sighed, “Accordin’ to that last one I read, this process can’t be reversed. It completely changes the DNA of the individual. They are still them in a small part, but not enough to go back. Their mind is them, but their original DNA is gone an’ everythin’ is bigger… Even if you had some of their original DNA the strain on their systems would be too great for them to survive the process. Going from a small sentient creature to a human requires a month or so in an accelerated growth chamber. Going backwards … well, you can’t shrink organs you grew to be larger, especially a brain. You’d have to destroy cells as they are bein’ rebuilt and the brain can’t retain them and their memories if that happens.”
 
 
“So… there is nothing we can do?” Dale asked quietly.
 
 
Hondo shook his head, “We can’t change her back. All we can do for her is help her move forward.”
 
 
“I see.” Dale replied softly. “You should get some sleep. It’s only two hours until sun up.”
 
 
Hondo nodded, “Yeah, you should too.”
 
 
“Yeah ... I probably should.” Dale replied in a sad tone.
 
 
Hondo  laid back and quickly fell asleep. It felt like he had only been asleep for a few seconds when someone shook him awake. He sat up with a start and looked around. It was daylight already and by his watch he had been asleep for three hours. He looked around and saw it was Foxglove who had shook him awake. She looked to be more in pain than she had been last night but there was something else that seemed to be wrong too.
 
 
“What’s ... What’s wrong?” He asked groggily.
 
 
“It’s Dale.” She replied in a worried tone.
 
 
“Dale? What’s wrong with him?” He asked as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes.
 
 
“ ‘E’s gone, mate. Took the Ranger plane an’ left. Left us a note sayin’ not ta go lookin’ for ‘im, too. Said ‘e needed ta become who ‘e now ‘ad ta be.” Monty said from where he sat on the side of the bed.
 
 
Hondo jumped up and shook his head, trying to clear the sleep from it. He walked outside and looked in the back of the truck verifying that the plane was gone. He sighed and shook his head as he stared at the empty space in the truck for a moment.  He then walked back inside and stood there for a moment, as he tried to think what Dale’s message meant.
 
 
“Damn him… What the hell does he need to be?” Hondo wondered out loud.
 
 
Monty shrugged, “Beats me, mate.”
 
 
 “I don’t need more missin’ folks.” Hondo muttered.
 
 
“Good riddens to him!” Chip exclaimed. “He was getting to be a bother anyway.”
 
 
Hondo glared at him, “You’re a real asshole, you know?! He was your friend and stood up for you, though you constantly beat him down, so #$@! you!”
 
 
Chip snarled angrily at him, “I really don’t give a rats ass what you think of me!! We are done here! Come on Monty. We are heading back before this jerk-off gets all of us killed!”
 
 
Monty shook his head, “We can’t leave now, Chippah, ol’ boy.”
 
 
“We are done here!!” Chip half shouted.
 
 
“What ‘bout Gadget an’ Dale?” Monty asked, looking slightly confused.
 
 
“Who needs them?! Now, are you getting in the plane or quitting the rangers?” Chip asked harshly
 
 
“Aw, Pally, ya are not thinkin’ straight! We …” Monty was cut short by Hondo.
 
 
“Chip, we don’t have to like each other but you guys hear things I don’t. I need all the information I can get right now. You can go, if you want, but how about leavin’ Monty with me to be a liaison between us. I like you about as much as you like me, so we’re even there. You let him stay, though, and help me get information, and as soon as we get the other two back I’ll leave your team alone for good.” Hondo said, trying to appeal to Chip’s desires until he could figure more of this out.
 
 
Chip rubbed his chin, “For good, eh? Alright, you have yourself a deal!”
 
 
Hondo nodded, “Sounds good. Monty, please help him get the Ranger Wing ready to fly out. I’ll get Miss Foxglove set while you guys are gone.”
 
 
Monty gave him a quick salute, “Roight you are, Mate. We’ll ‘ave Chip on ‘is way faster than a kangaroo bouncin’ over hot rocks!”
 
 
With Monty and Chip gone for the moment Hondo walked over and sat down beside Foxglove.
 
 
“How you doin’ this mornin’, little lady?” he asked softly
 
 
She forced a weak smile and tried to sit up but stopped and grimaced from the pain.
 
 
“I hurt worse than yesterday.” She replied weakly as she laid back into the pillow.
 
 
Hondo went to his bag and grabbed a granola bar and a couple more pills. He sat them on the table beside her and then lifted her into a sitting position. She groaned, clenched her teeth from the pain, and grabbed tightly onto his arm as the movement cause a wave of pain to surge through her. It took her a minute or two to recover after, but Hondo held her hand as she panted, breathing through the pain.
 
 
“Good thing they put these braces on me or I’d not be able to take being moved.” She said through grit teeth after a moment.
 
 
Hondo pulled back her covers and inspected her legs again, careful to not cause her more pain.
 
 
“Other than the bruises they are pink and heathy lookin’, so you still have good blood flow. That was my biggest worry.” He said.
 
 
She looked down at her feet and tilted her head a bit. “I wasn’t sure if they looked right or not. I’m … I’m just not sure what normal is for this body.”
 
 
He handed her the breakfast bar and water, “It will take time to learn that. For now, eat this then you can have a couple pills for the pain. It will be a rough ride back for you, but I have a friend back home who will check you out, get your legs set so they can heal properly, and get you proper prescriptions for the pain. If we get ready here soon an’ drive straight through, we can be there in 4 to 5 hours.”
 
 
“Will be nice to be out of here and see daylight again. Not seen it in almost two months.” She replied  
 
 
She ate the bar quickly then took her pills while Hondo packed up the few things he had out.
 
 
 A buzzing sound from the truck told him that the Ranger Wing was running, and the change in pitch and volume told him it had taken off and was leaving. It was originally made for shorter flights only, due to being battery powered, but Hondo had helped Gadget redesign for less power drain, install lithium iorn phosphate rechargeable batteries for longer duration, and solar panels on the wings for charging in flight. He would have to stop for the night but if it was Sunny, Chip would be back to their headquarters in two to three days, unlike the four straight days it took them in the Ranger plane.  
 
 
About the time Monty came back in Foxglove looked over at Hondo and cocked her head a bit.
 
 
“Did anyone know I was missing? Or was finding me an accident? She asked hesitently.
 
 
“Accident.” He replied flatly.
 
 
She looked down at the flood and replied quiet, “Oh … so I wasn’t even missed.”
 
 
“It wasn’t like thet, lass. We thought ya were on vacation still! Ya told Dale ya might be gone for a while.” Monty replied quickly.
 
 
She gave them an apologetic look, “Sorry. I did tell you all that. I guess … I just felt so alone and …”
 
 
“You were alone, scared, hurt, not yourself, and just wanted someone to save you and someone to blame, is that it?” Hondo asked plainly.
 
 
She looked away from him to hide her tears, and nodded.
 
 
He walked over and lifted her chin, so she had to look at him, though she felt embarrassed that she was crying yet again.
 
 
“Look at me, Little Lady.” He said firmly.
 
 
She tried to look away, but he did not let her, so she gave in. He spoke softly but firmly.
 
 
“It’s alright to be embarrassed, it’s aright to be screwed up from this, it’s alright to have trust issues. But, you need to know you have friends, and you need to try to trust us. Don’t be ashamed of what you went though. Just admit what happened. You were hurt, it left you mentally vulnerable. You gave up a friend in a moment of weakness and desperation. You screwed up but it’s because you were not yourself at the time. You can’t heal mentally until you admit this all. You have to face it. Runnin’ from it all will not help.” He said
 
 
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she looked up at him, “I’m sorry.”
 
 
He grabbed her hand for a moment, “No apologies needed here. Gadget will need one from her when we find her. And …”
 
 
He paused and looked away for a moment.
 
 
“What? What’s wrong?” She asked in a worried tone.
 
 
“I’m not sure why they did this to you yet, but … from what you said Nimnul told you, we have to consider that they did or are doin’ the same to Gadget right now.” He said in a quiet, almost angry tone.
 
 
“Blimey! Ya think Gadget is bein’ made a ‘uman too?!” Monty exclaimed.
 
 
Hondo nodded, “Nimnul told her that gadget was gonna get the same treatment, so it’s a reality we have to strongly consider.”
 
 
Foxglove slumped where she sat and spoke in a whisper, “You mean we have to be prepared for her to be as #$@!ed up as I am.”  
 
 
Hondo nodded, “Yes. As #$@!ed up or more so. She’s had plenty of trauma in her life already, especially recently, and maybe more than we know.”
 
 
Foxglove’s brow furrowed as she looked up at him, “What do you mean?”
 
 
Hondo shook his head, “Can’t say yet, as I frankly don’t know. But enough about that. Admittin’ that you are #$@!ed up will only help you. Now, you want to atone for what you did right?”
 
 
She nodded at him with a spark of hope in her eyes, “I’ll do anything to make up for what I’ve done.”
 
 
Hondo sighed, “When we do wrong there is no makin’ up for it, just movin’ on, makin’ ourselves better people, and helpin’ those we hurt. You want to help Gadget then you need accept that you are what you are. You need to figure out how to accept the new normal and how to love the new you. That way when we find her, you can help her.”
 
 
She started to look away, but she looked back at him. She wavered a bit and her eyes were sad, but she met his gaze like he had asked.
 
 
“This means there is no going back to what I was? Please tell me the truth.” She asked softly.
 
 
He nodded, “I’ll never lie to ya intentionally, please know that… *sigh* I stayed up readin’ files most of last night. There is no goin’ back. Goin’ from sentient creature to human is possible as it manipulates the DNA to keep the being but rid itself of the animal characteristics and grow them to human proportions usin’ drugs and accelerated growth pods. That’s fairly simple, believe it or not, but never been usable science before this. To go back to what you were, matter would have to be destroyed. Your organs would shut down. That’s your brain included. It’s not that it’s risky, or that the probability of livin’ through it is low; it’s pretty well completely impossible. I’m sorry to be so harsh about it, but you have to accept this reality to move on. You are not an intelligent, anthropomorphic bat anymore. You don’t have fur or wings anymore, you’re not eight inches tall anymore, or however tall you were. You are now a five-foot three human female, and a lovely one at that.”
 
 
She nodded and turned to hide the tears, but he moved around her, so she had to look at him again, and wiped the tears from her face.
 
 
“It’s ok to cry.” He said softly.
 
 
She leaned into him and sobbed as the reality of this all hit her hard again. He stroked her hair and held her as she cried again.
 
 
“Hang in there, Little Lady.” He whispered almost lovingly to her.
 
 
“Why?! What hope do I have now?!?!” She cried out between sobs.
 
 
“Real hope.” He replied softly.
 
 
“But … but you said I can’t be me again!” She sobbed.
 
 
“You will always be you; you just can’t be a bat again. If I let you think you could, that would be false hope and a lie. I am tryin’ to take away that false hope and give you real hope. I want you to trust me, too.” He said softly.
 
 
“I don’t understand.” She said as she tryed to control her crying.
 
 
“Didn’t you listen to me at all? You can have a future, with friends and family. Is it the future you envisioned? No. But it is real and can be fulfillin’.” He replied.
 
 
She pulled back from him, “But … but …”
 
 
“But what?” he asked.
 
 
“All I wanted was to be with Dale! He’s a bit immature at times, but he cared about me. Now …” She said quietly.
 
 
Hondo nodded, “It’s a reality you might have to …”
 
 
Hondo paused and started rubbin his eyes with a scowl on his face.
 
 
“Oh, #$@! me!” He growled.
 
She looked at him with some surprise, though she felt his frustration was not directed at her.
 
 
“What’s wrong, mate?” Monty asked, raising one eyebrow questioningly.
 
 
Hondo sighed, “Nothin’..  just had a thought. We’ll talk later.”
 
 
Monty nodded, “Alroight, mate. Well, I guess we’d bettah get goin’.”
 
 
Hondo nodded, “Yeah. Foxglove, do you need to use the restroom before we hit the road?”
 
 
She nodded, “I’d better try at least since you have to carry me.”
 
 
Hondo nodded and without saying more picked her up carefully and carried her to the bathroom. He helped her get her underwear down and left her to do her business. She turned red from embarrassment again, but she forced a smile and thanked him. While she was conducting her business, he packed the truck and got it started. He returned a few minutes later and she was done. He helped her pull her underwear back up, wrapped her in the blanket and carried her to the truck. It was a warm enough fall day, but she was mostly naked without the blanket, so she definitely needed it.
 
 
In just a few minutes they were back on the road and headed north. He did stop by a fast food place at a truck plaza on the interstate and got Foxglove a biscuit with bacon, butter, and honey, but since he was not sure of the state of her insides, he did not want to give her much more than that. They made it back to the town closest to Hondo’s ranch in about 4 hours, with only one other fuel stop along the way. As they pulled into town, he drove directly to the hospital where he pulled around to the ambulance bay, parked, and made a phone call.
 
 
The phone rang twice before the person on the other end picked up, and a sweet, familiar voice sang out a greeting.
 
 
“Hey, Hondo! To what do I owe the pleasure of this call? Surely you don’t want a checkup.” A woman asked cheerfully.
 
 
“Hey Doc. I need to ask you a favor.” He replied seriously.
 
 
“Of course! Anything for you. You know I’ve told you, you give me the word and I’m yours.” She replied equally as serious.
 
 
“You know I couldn’t do that to my brother.” He replied, frowning.
 
 
“I know. That’s part of the reason I love you.” She said.
 
 
“I’m out by the ambulance bay with a patient. It’s.. business related.” He said hesitantly.
 
 
“I understand. I’ll be right out!” She said and hung up.
 
 
He sighed and shook his head as he thought and muttered something to himself. Foxglove cocked her head slightly and looked at him questioningly.
 
 
“Who was your lady friend? Sounds like you two have a history.” She asked.
 
 
Hondo raised an eyebrow, “So you heard all that? Not a bat anymore but you have good hearin’ still.”
 
 
He paused for a moment, “Long story short that’s my sister-in-law, Autumn. She’s a doctor here.”
 
 
“Sister-in-law? So, your brother lives here too? Why did she say she loved you and was yours if you said so?” She asked, in a confused tone.
 
 
“She and I once dated, several years back.  My brother works for a security contract company that keeps him overseas doing missions and such. Soldier for hire, badass work, or that’s how some see it anyway. Don’t agree with all he does, but it’s his life to live. He came back for a visit and met her for the first time a few weeks before I planned on proposin’ to her, which he knew, and she fell for him. She saw him as some romantic bad ass, and I was just an uninterestin’ engineer. He swept her off her feet and three months later they eloped. Now she has a kid, another on the way, and is lonely as he’s rarely home. He comes back to visit long enough to get her knocked up, spoil the kid, and then leaves again. He’s an adrenaline junky and has to have the glory, I guess… Most men get drunk on alcohol, but he does on glory, I reckon… Anyway, she realized later that she had done me wrong and let her emotions get caught up in the moment, but she realized it all too later. She says she made a mistake and wants to divorce him, if I’ll take her back. I care about her, but I’d not do that to my brother. She deserves better from him but that’s between them. As much as I’d like to say yes to her some days, we all have to live with the choices we make. She needs to live with hers. I’ll not let him hurt her, which I don’t believe he would ever physically harm her, but I won’t take her from him just because now she realized she made a mistake.” He replied sadly.
 
 
“Must be hard on both of you.” Foxglove replied.
 
 
“Life is hard. That’s just reality.” Hondo said flatly.  
 
 
About then a beautiful fair skinned woman with long black hair and a nice figure, even with the baby bump showing, came out of the hospital. Hondo smiled softly and got out of the truck as she approached. She looked nice even in her green scrubs, which generally do nothing for anyone’s figure. As she came up to Hondo, she gave him a big hug and a peck on the cheek.
 
 
“Good to see you. Wish you would drop in more often.” She said smiling.
 
 
“You know why I don’t, Autumn.” He replied seriously.
 
 
She looked stepped back, looked down, and nodded, “I know… I cannot apologize enough for wronging you, can I?”
 
 
He gave her a soft smile, “Nothin’ to apologize for. You made your choice and I lost.”
 
 
She looked up at him and gave him a sour look, “No need to rub it in! I made the wrong choice, and I know it now. How many times do I have to admit it?”
 
 
Hondo shook his head, “I’m not tryin’ to rub it in. You know as well as I do that, we would both feel guilty if you divorced him and we got back together.”
 
 
She sighed, “I know. It’s just … the nights get so lonely, you know? … I hate feeling this lonely.”
 
 
Hondo sighed, “Nothin’ I can do about that.”
 
 
She nodded sadly, “I know. Maybe you’re right to stay away. Just wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
 
 
Hondo nodded, “I know, but it does… Now, the reason I’m here….”
 
 
She chuckled slightly, “Yeah, go and change the subject on me! Okay, what ya got for me?”
 
 
Hondo nodded towards the truck, “Woman, early twenties I believe. Busted legs, been drugged and beat up. Attempted suicide by slashing her wrists. Severe mental trauma. Still have to go over some files to see if there are any medical records but you won’t find any in the system. Mark her down as a Jane Doe. I need restricted access to her, and I mean, no one talks to her but you! I want full workup and any medical treatment you find necessary with a full report on what you find and what was done. Once she is good to go, she will be back to my place for a while. I want her watched and cared for, but I want no psychiatric evals. She will get therapy, but it can’t be from here or on the records.”
 
 
“Twenties you believe? She doesn’t know?? What happened to her?” She asked in a concerned tone.
 
 
Hondo shook his head, “Some of that I can’t give you a straight answer on right now. She does not have amnesia, but she does not know her age. Please do not ask why. I can’t explain what she went through here.”
 
 
He looked around a moment before speaking again, “Once she is patched up, if you can bring her out to my place, I can tell you some then, but you’ll have to sign an agreement to never talk about it. Will have to push through some clearance paperwork for ya, as I’ll need your help on her and possibly others.”
 
 
“You think there will be others in her condition?” She asked, sounding surprised.
 
 
He shook his head, “No, I know there is. Some are being helped by a friend who has better connections than I do. Unfortunately, a few of them, like her are friends of mine. The rest … let’s say they don’t have friends or family so as a group is the only way they will cope. The few that have friends and family it will be easier for. The rest … well, they are goin’ to have to learn to be friends and family to each other to survive.”
 
 
She shook her head and frowned, “The way you say that, scares me a little. They must have truly been through something horrible.”
 
 
He looked at her seriously and shook his head, “You have no idea.”
 
 
She nodded grimly, “I understand you can’t talk about it but … thanks for letting me help. Nolan, he … I ask him about things he does, but he never lets me in.”
 
 
Hondo shrugged, “I only have so many people I trust.”
 
 
She nodded, “I understand. I’ll get a med tech out here to take her in. Can she ride in a wheel chair?
 
 
“Yeah, that’s fine.” He replied.
 
 
Autumn nodded and walked back inside through the ambulance bay. Hondo opened the truck door and undid her seatbelt.
 
 
“Better stay out of sight, Monty.” Hondo said quietly
 
 
Monty nodded and pulled Hondo’s jacket, that lay on the seat, over him.
 
 
Hondo turned to Foxglove and gave her a serious look.
 
 
“Foxglove, I need you to not say anything about what happened other than your injuries. I know you’re sufferin’ mentally too, but I need you to keep that between me, you, and Doc Autumn. Only talk to Doc Autumn. Once we get you back to my place, I’ll get someone trusted to talk to ya and help with the other stuff.  If anyone else asks you anything other than how you are feelin’, tell them you need to see Doc Autumn. If they insist, call me. Mine and Autumns are the only numbers in this.” He said as he handed her a small flip phone and charge cord.  
 
 
She nodded and gave him a half smile, though she looked extremely weary and in pain still.
 
 
“Thank you, Hondo. I’ll not talk to them about it at all, I promise. I know it would make me sound crazy, well, crazier.” She replied softly.
 
 
He gave her hand a squeeze and smiled at her while shaking his head, “You’re not any crazier than the rest of us. Just been through a lot… I promise we will get you well.”
 
 
She nodded as a big built Scandinavian looking female tech came out pushing a wheelchair with Autumn not far behind. Hondo picked Foxglove up carefully and set her into the wheel chair, trying not to cause her any more pain. Foxglove winced slightly, though, as her legs bumped the chair, sucking and through her teeth as the pain intensified then settled down again.
 
 
“My name’s Helga, and who do we have here now?” asked the med tech in an accent that said she hailed from the upper Midwest.
 
 
“This is Jane.” Autumn said.
 
 
Foxglove looked at Hondo puzzled.  
 
 
He whispered in her ear, “Jane Doe. Just go with it.”
 
 
Foxglove nodded.
 
 
“And who might this strapping figure of a man be?” Helga asked as she slapped Hondo on the back.
 
 
He was a big fellow, but that woman was at least as big if not bigger and had a lot of power. She hit him so hard he stumbled forward a step to catch his balance. He gave her a slightly annoyed look which she seemed oblivious to.
 
 
“I’m just a friend and let’s leave it there.” Hondo replied in an annoyed tone.
 
 
“Oh, the secretive type, eh? Well, we’ll take good care of her and make her right as rain in no time, don’t ya know? I’m sure with a big strapping handsome lad like you to go back to she’d walk on water if she had to! I know I would.” Helga said as she winked at Hondo and elbowed him in the ribs.
 
 
Hondo was pretty sure she left a bruise and the sour look he gave her just made Helga cackle.
 
 
“Alrighty now, we’ll get ya to your room in no time, don’t ya know?” Helga said as she started pushing Foxglove inside.
 
 
Hondo turned to Autumn and gave her a sour look, “Really?”
 
 
Autumn giggled, “Sorry. She’s a bit rough on the outside but I trust her and if there is anyone bad looking for your Jane Doe, she could protect her.”
 
 
Hondo sighed and nodded, “Alright, you have a point. Shouldn’t be anyone lookin’ for her but better safe than sorry.”
 
 
She smiled and started heading back the ambulance bay, swaggering a bit as she walked.
 
 
“I’ll see you later, you big handsome strapping lad, you!” She said over her shoulder with a giggle.
 
 
Hondo just shook his head and walked back to the truck, shutting the passenger door before walking around the truck and climbing into the driver seat. He set back into his seat, sighed and shook his head lightly. Monty climbed out from under the coat, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
 
 
“Thet was one ‘eck of a woman, there, mate!” He said with a chuckle.
 
 
“Some of those Scandinavian women are scary as #$@!!” Hondo replied seriously.
 
 
“No, mate, I mean thet Doctah. ‘ow’d ya ever let ‘er get away?” Monty asked.
 
 
“How does one hold onto someone who isn’t theirs?” Hondo asked sadly.
 
 
“Sounds like she wants ta be yours.” Monty replied.
 
 
“At what cost though?” Hondo asked.
 
 
Monty nodded, “Yeah, thet blows, mate. ‘onorable of ya, but really blows.”
 
 
Hondo shrugged, “I’ve been over it for a long time. Can’t say I don’t love her, but it’s as a friend and family now. What we had is no more. No use tormentin’ either of us. She made her choice. Right or not it’s history.”
 
 
“You’re a bettah man than I am, mate.” Monty replied, shaking his head.
 
 
They started driving back and were silent most of the way to the ranch. As they pulled up in Hondo’s drive, he stopped the truck and sighed a frustrated sigh.
 
 
“What’s wrong, mate?” Monty asked.
 
 
“Besides the obvious, you mean?” Hondo asked.
 
 
“Yeah.” Monty said as he eyed him suspiciously.
 
 
“You remember I told ya I’d talk to ya later, at the hotel? … It’s about Dale.” Hondo said hesitently.
 
 
“You know where he went?” Monty asked.
 
 
“No exactly, but I have an idea… I think he went off to try to find the new lab on his own.” Hondo replied flatly.
 
 
“Why ya think ‘e did thet?” Monty asked.
 
 
“You were asleep when it happened, but Foxglove told Dale it wouldn’t work between them since she was human. She was tryin’ to spare him as she knows they can’t be a couple like this … I also told him last night that she can’t be changed back.” Hondo said.
 
 
“Mate, ya don’t think …” Monty ask incredulously.  
 
 
Hondo nodded, “I think he’s tryin’ to find it to make himself human for her!”

Hondo was still going over documents in the basement and seething over the possibility that Chip might have sold them out, possibly sold Vesper (AKA Foxglove), and as a result of it all sold out Gadget and put Dale in harm’s way, when Monty’s contact called in the sighting on Dale. Though it was not earth-shattering news, it was the only plausible lead they had in days, leaving Hondo to feel they should focus on a possible lab in Nebraska for the time being.
 
 
   Hondo had barely slept in the last several days as he had not only been busy, but what these people were doing and worry for Gadget plagued his mind. His days were full with Autumn showing him how to help Vesper, pouring over the information he had, and evading Autumns advances, and from it all he was just plain worn out. He and Autumn had it out, big time, the third day she was there, though partly from him being exhausted, the tension between them had been building for a long time. He had put up with, ignored, and pushed back at her advances, for quite some time, but that day he finally had enough. After the fight, Autumn had gone home in tears and Vesper had gone almost completely silent on him, and that was almost three days ago. He hated that he had to yell at Autumn, but she would not stop and his power to resist was getting weaker by the day. He was not exactly sure why Vesper had gone quiet on him, though he worried he had scared her during the fight with Autumn somehow, but unfortunately it was the least of his worries at the moment.  
 
 
The day before had been her first counseling session with Preacher Grey, an old retired minister who got a degree in counseling and therapy to make money after he retired. Vesper said she felt talking to him helped, but that was about all she said.  
 
 
 Hondo’s sister, Echo Rose, had to put off physical therapy for another week as she had won some award at the motor-cross rally and because of it she had another competition mid-week. Hondo didn’t pay a lot of attention to all that, though, as he was used to it all by now. He felt it was being reckless for recklessness’s sake, and was not worth the risk, but it was not his call to make. She was an adrenaline junky, like their brother, and there was no talking her out of doing something, no matter how fool-hardy he found it, especially once she set her mind to doing said thing. It’s not that he did not risk himself at times, but when he did it was to help or save someone. It was her life, though, so she could live it how she wanted, whether he liked it or not.
 
 
Later that sixth day, Monty sat on Hondo’s desk, sipping on some whiskey, and looking at Hondo as he wrote some things down. He shook his head and muttered something under his breath after a moment, which made Hondo pause writing and looked up at him.
 
 
“What did you say?” He queried  
 
 
“Nothin’, mate.” Monty replied flatly.
 
 
“No, ya definitely said somethin’.” Hondo retorted.
 
 
“I said ya look like runny dog shit, mate! Thet’s what I said. Ya ‘appy? Dog shit!” Monty replied a bit snappily, waiting to be smacked for saying that.
 
 
Hondo glared at him for a moment before he sat back with a sigh.
 
 
“I feel like shit. Haven’t been able to sleep lately.” Hondo replied quietly
 
 
“An’ yur drinkin’ too much too!” Monty replied a bit more boldly
 
 
Hondo scowled, “Now, I took the dog shit comment, but don’t mess with my whiskey!”  
 
 
“Alright, mate! Keep yur shirt on! No offense, jest … ya need ta take better care of yourself.” Monty replied seriously.
 
 
“I’ll take care of myself when this is over.” He grumbled in reply.
 
 
“Mate, come on. Gadget wouldn’t want ya to kill yourself on ‘er account!” Monty said.
 
 
Hondo looked at the empty glass on the desk and refilled it.  
 
 
“Mate … don’t beat yourself up.” Monty said a bit more worried this time
 
 
“Monty, I saw what he was an’ I let it go. If I had stepped on him or somethin’ …” Hondo replied, his voice trailing off.
 
 
“No, mate, thet would only ‘ave made us ‘ate ya. We didn’t see it.” Monty replied, but sounded like he only half believed it.
 
 
“Bullshit! You knew, you just couldn’t admit it. Even had y’all hated me, Gadget and Vesper wouldn’t be going through this!” Hondo half snarled
 
 
“We don’t know ‘bout, Foxgl ..er, Vespah. She could ‘ave been taken on ‘olliday.” Monty replied.
 
 
“Easier to think it was him.” Hondo replied in a low growl
 
 
Monty looked a bit glum, “I know ‘e’s an arse-‘ole, mate, but even as evil as ‘e seems to ‘ave become, ‘e was a mate, once.”
 
 
Hondo sighed, “Sorry, Monty. I guess I forget that. He and I have never gotten along. It’s easier for me to see the problems and despise him because of that, I reckon.”
 
 
“It’s alright, mate. You really need ta get some rest though.” Monty replied.
 
 
Hondo nodded, “I’ll try tonight.”
 
 
Monty frowned, “Make sure ya do, mate. We need ya in top form. I can’t do this alone, ya know.”
 
 
“So, when does your friend get here?” Hondo asked, changing the subject.
 
 
“About an ‘our. ‘e think ‘e knows a dive where Dale might ‘ave gone. We’ll start there. Either ‘im or me-self will report every four ‘ours. Probably take a day ta git there, I reckon. We’ll let ya know when we get ta Lincoln.” Monty said.
 
 
About then the doorbell rang. Hondo rubbed his eyes, stretched and swore.
 
 
“What the #$@! now? Damn!” He groused as he stood up
 
 
He went upstairs and Monty followed, trailing behind a bit as the stairs were more of a workout for him than they were for Hondo.
 
 
Hondo opened the door and found Autumn standing there, looking at the ground. She was looking more pregnant every day, he swore, as her stomach bulged almost like a beach-ball now. Normally she had a glow about her, but today she looked very down indeed. Hondo gave her a stern look and stared at her for several long uncomfortable seconds before speaking. They had not talked since she had gone away crying three days before, and he was not sure he was ready to talk to her still.
 
 
Hondo raised an eyebrow at her and spoke coldly, “What ya want?”
 
 
She shuffled her feet and stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact.
 
 
“I .. I brought you some groceries… Figured you might not have time to go to the store.” She replied timidly.
 
 
Monty looked at them both, “Think I’ll jest wait outside for me mate. I’ll see both of yous latah.”
 
 
Hondo watched Monty leave before turning back to Autumn.
 
 
“That it?” Hondo asked coldly.
 
 
She shook her head, “No… can.. can I come in?”  
 
 
Hondo just grunted, grabbed the bags from her, and walked to the kitchen, letting her decide to follow or not. She hesitated a bit before coming in, but soon trailed behind. He had already started to put the food in the fridge by the time she entered the kitchen and sat down as she stared at him sadly.
 
 
Hondo didn’t speak for a while, though he could feel her sad eyes on his back, and it bothered him. Had he not been so mad at her still and so tired, his heart might have hurt for her, but right now he could not feel much of anything.  
 
 
“I.. I have more in the car for you … and Vesper.” She said quietly
 
 
He started to walk out past her to get the other bags but she grabbed his hand and tried to hold him back from passing her by.
 
 
“Wait! Please! … please?” She begged
 
 
He stopped and turned to her with an exasperated sigh, “Doc, what do you want from me?”
 
 
She shrugged, “I … I don’t know. Forgiveness maybe?”
 
 
He shook his head, “Doc, this keeps happenin’. Is it really forgiveness ya want or another opportunity to pull more of your shit?!”
 
 
She looked at him with pleading eyes, “Hondo, please. I’m sorry, truly. I just … it’s just …”
 
 
Hondo held up a finger to stop her, “Whoa! No excuses. We have talked about this all several times and there’s just nothing new to say! We can’t be a couple. I love you, as a friend and as my sister-in-law, that’s it! But you keep pushin’ and pushin’! I’m exhausted and I just don’t have it in me to keep sayin’ no.”
 
 
She looked at him a bit quizzically, “So … you’re saying yes?”
 
 
“No!” Hondo snarled as he slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a sizable dent.
 
 
 It would hurt later, but he did not register the pain at the moment. She sat back quickly, a look of shock and fear ran across her face as she stared up at him. The noise caught Vespers attention, and she got up from the couch, using her crutches to see what was up, and hobbled towards the kitchen. Autumn recoiled a bit and looked at Hondo fear as he stood, growling, over her. She had never been afraid of him before, but she had never seen him this angry either.
 
 
“I.. I don’t understand.” She replied timidly.
 
 
“Damn it, Doc! I’m a man! I don’t have a girlfriend these days. Even pregnant you are a good lookin’ woman. So, you expect me to keep resistin’? Or do ya want me to give in?! You tease me enough and I’ll #$@! ya, want it or not it will happen. Then I’m the asshole! My brother will hate me for #$@!in’ his wife, you will hate me as there will be no love in it, and I’ll hate myself for givin’ in! My family won’t understand, your family won’t understand, our friends won’t understand, and because I’m the man I’m expected to just turn a blind eye! Then when I cave, I’m blamed because, ‘oh, that’s just like all men! Can’t keep it in his pants!’ You really want this??”
 
 
She started crying again, “But you don’t understand! … I’m.. I’m lonely and I’m going to have another child… again… alone!”
 
 
“So, I have to let you keep temptin’ me or I have to cave and keep it ‘our little secret’ so that neither of us can look my brother in the eye again?? I can’t do that! He’s not right to leave you on your own so much, but this? This is not right!!” He snarled.
 
 
“Please! I ... I promise I won’t tempt you anymore! I can’t be alone. I.. I can’t do this without your friendship!” She sobbed.
 
 
Hondo sighed and shook his head, “I have tried to give you my friendship. I can’t give you any more than that. I’ve tried to talk to my brother, I can’t convince him to give up his exciting life. You chose him over me. That’s something we all have to live with. If you can’t understand that then I can’t have you here unless my brother is here.”
 
 
She continued to cry so Hondo put a hand on her shoulder and tried to calm her.
 
 
“Doc, … Autumn … I want to be there for ya, but I can’t be there physically for ya. It’s not to be, ever. Do you understand?” He said firmly
 
 
She nodded, “ I.. I understand. But, please … please give me another chance. Don’t make me be alone.”
 
 
He sighed, “Damn it, Doc… Listen, you’re my sister-in-law. We can be closer than most are but it has to stay what it is. I’ll let you come and go as ya please, and we can try to be friends but ya push me again, or make advances at me again, there is no more chances. You savvy?”
 
 
She nodded and wiped the tears from her cheek, “I understand.”
 
 
“Alright, then. Oh, and next time you talk to my brother, tell him you need him here, Dammit! He thinks I’m batty as I’m the only one who says it to his damn face!” He growled slightly.
 
 
She nodded, “You’re right. I need to.”
 
 
“Needed to a long time ago! Now, I’ll go grab the rest of the groceries. Then I’m goin’ to bed. I’ve not slept either hours total in the last week.” Hondo said over his shoulder as he went out to her car.  
 
 
As he went out Vesper hobbled in on her crutches and leaned on them as she looked down at Autumn with a worried expression. Autumn looked up at her with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, as she hated that she was caught up in her and Hondo’s drama, as she had enough of her own to worry about.
 
 
“Sorry you had to hear all that.” She said quietly.
 
 
“It’s okay. You.. you care about him a lot, don’t you?” Vesper asked.
 
 
“Yes, yes I do.” She replied hesitantly.
 
 
“Why don’t you fight for him, then?” Vesper asked.
 
 
“Because he’s right. I made my choice. It hurt us both but … what I am wanting will only hurt him more and hurt others. I.. I want him, but … like he said, I’d hate him, and I’d hate myself too.” Autumn replied sadly.
 
 
“So … he doesn’t have a girlfriend?” she asked cautiously
 
 
Autumn shook her head, “No girlfriend.”
 
 
“But … He likes girls… right?” Vesper asked.
 
 
Autumn snorted and tried not to laugh. “Hondo? Gay??”
 
 
Vesper stammered, “I didn’t mean.. I mean, he doesn’t seem … I just ..”
 
 
Autumn chuckled, “I’m sorry. That’s funny though. I needed that. No, he definitely likes women.”
 
 
Vesper looked at her feet a bit embarrassed, “I just meant he’s so nice and I think he’s handsome too. Just can’t understand why he’s not with someone.”
 
 
Autumn stood up and put and hand on her should. She was about to speak but Hondo came back in with his hands full of grocery bags. They both started at him at first, but Autumn lost it and snickered, and Vesper blushed. Hondo looked back and forth between them and then shook his head and went into the kitchen.
 
 
“Whatever it is, I don’t want ta know.” Hondo said flatly.
 
 
As he put the bags on the counter and Autumn walked over and put a hand lightly on his arm.
 
 
“I can put them away.” She offered
 
 
“I got it.” He replied flatly.
 
 
“No, please. Let me… I’ve.. I’ve been a pain and I owe you. Let me help.” She begged
 
 
He grunted, “Hmm, alright.”
 
 
She stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek lightly, “Thank you. And I am sorry.”
 
 
He gave her an annoyed look but the look on her face said she actually meant it, and for once it was not meant as a prelude to getting into his bed.
 
 
“I need some sleep. Help yourself to anythin’.” He said to her as he started towards the stairs.
 
 
He paused half way there and turned to Vesper, “You need any help before I turn in?”
 
 
“I can help her before I go. I’ll cook us some supper first, if you don’t mind.” Autumn offered.
 
 
He nodded, “That’s fine. Don’t make anythin’ for me.”
 
 
He didn’t wait for them to say anything else; he just turned and headed upstairs. Once he was gone Autumn went about putting things away and starting supper, while Vesper sat at the kitchen table.
 
 
“So, why isn’t he with anyone?” Vesper asked innocently.
 
 
Autumn shrugged, “Not sure, really. He says he’s just not found the right one. He’s been hurt a few times too. I was not the first to hurt him, but I probably hurt him the worst… I never meant to.”
 
 
“What happened?” Vesper asked.
 
 
Autumn frowned, “We were dating. I’d met most of his family already and he mine. I found out later from his sister, the one you will meet soon, that he had a ring bought for me already when this happened too. His brother came home one day, and I was introduced to him. He was a kempo black-belt, was working black ops for a private security company overseas, and was just a bad ass. He was a bit of a showoff too, but I liked it at the time. He swept me into his arms and told me he could offer me so many more adventures and so much more fun than Hondo could. He was wilder, and ripped, and promised me all these exciting things… and I believed it all. He’s not a bad man, and I do love him, but… He’s just a bit of adrenaline junkie and …”
 
“He’s never around, is he?” Vesper asked
 
 
Autumn shook her head, sadly, “No, he’s not. Sometimes I feel like I was just a prize, an object for him to win. He won me and his brother lost me, so now he’s not as interested.”
 
 
“So … what about Hondo now?” She asked
 
 
“What do you mean?” Autumn asked back
 
 
“I mean,  … is he free?” Vesper asked timidly  
 
 
“When you say free, do you mean ..” Autumn started to ask but was cut off.
 
 
“You’ve done so much to help me, if he’s not free I’ll stay away but …” Vesper spoke quickly but was cut off by Autumn.
 
 
“Slow down! You heard him earlier. Besides, I care about him too much to try anything again and risk losing him. He’s family and he’s right about us. I can’t push it with him again, and as much as I wish I had been wiser back then, I want him happy and with someone.” She replied sincerely
 
 
“So… is it okay if he and I were to, … you know.” Vesper said quietly, as she stared at the floor, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment at the thoughts that went through her head.
 
 
Autumn shrugged, “I have no problems with it. You’re a sweet girl and If you make him happy, that’s all I want for him. … but …”
 
 
“But what?” Vesper asked hesitantly.
 
 
“But … don’t you have a boyfriend? Hondo said you did.” Autumn asked.
 
 
Vesper shrugged, “I did but … it can’t be now.”
 
 
Autumn raised an eyebrow at her. She looked so sad, and it did not click for Autumn right away.
 
 
“He dump you or something?” She asked
 
 
“He … He’s a chipmunk.” She almost whispered.
 
 
“Oh .. OH! I nearly forgot you were a sentient bat once. … How does a bat and a chipmunk .. you know?” Autumn asked, but was unsure how to word the question.
 
 
Vesper blushed a bit again, “Many sentient creatures are anthropomorphic.”
 
 
“Athro-po .. what?” Autumn asked
 
 
“It means we have human like characteristics. That with the genes splicing that made our kind originally, we can have relations, physical ones, that is. Not all of us can reproduce, but we can still love each other. There are some groups that demand you keep the bloodlines pure. There’s even a weird group that believes we should breed with ferals to try to strip the genes from us that makes us sentient. Their offspring, if they survive, are often really dangerous.” Vesper replied.
 
 
Autumn shook her head, “I might be a doctor but some of this gene-splicing stuff is way above my head. I heal and put people back together, but that stuff. It’s meddling with the work of The Almighty, I tell you!”
 
 
Vesper nodded, “I don’t disagree. That’s why the sentient stay hidden. There are groups of humans that would murder all us sentients if they knew about us because of that.”
 
 
“That’s terrible! Just because I believe it was and is wrong to meddle in such things doesn’t mean that those who were made are evil and should be killed!” Autumn exclaimed.  
 
 
Vesper shrugged, “Some people see only black and white. Evil created us so we must be evil.”
 
 
Autumn shook her head, “You definitely are not evil. I’m not sure whoever made you was evil either. The reason might have been sinister but sounds more like an act of hubris.”  
 
 
Vesper shrugged again, “It’s all semantics to some.”
 
 
Autumn smiled, “You know you are quite smart. You been thinking about what you want to do now that you are human?”
 
 
Vesper blushed, “Thanks. Chip says I’m just an airhead. But, no, I’ve not thought about what’s next yet too much. Just trying to accept what is at present, still.”
 
 
Autumn nodded, “That’s understandable. You’ve had it rough for a bit and all that’s happened, that would be a lot to digest for anyone. Now I have supper ready. Let’s eat.”
 
 
Autumn set some grilled chicken, stir fried veggies, and garlic bread in front of Vesper and sat down with her own plate. They chatted while they ate, mainly about Hondo, but Autumn got Vesper to talk a little more about her life as Foxglove. Autumn did not know this Chip character, but he had come up in Vespers stories a few times and Autumn did not find she was liking what she heard about him at all.
 
 
After they ate Autumn cleaned up and did dishes quickly. After she was done, she looked at her watch.
 
 
“I have to leave her in about thirty minutes to pick up my son from my mother’s. You need help with a shower or anything before I go?” she asked.
 
 
“A shower would be nice.” Vesper said as she gingerly got to her feet and got the crutches under her arms.
 
 
“What do you want for clothes?” Autumn asked.
 
 
“Just that purple robe you brought me will be fine.” She replied.
 
 
“No panties or anything?” Autumn asked.
 
 
Vesper blushed a bit and shook her head.
 
 
Autumn shrugged, “Alright.”
 
 
Autumn helped her undress and helped her into the shower then remove her soft splints. Once she was washed up and dried, Autumn helped her back into the splints and her robe. Once they got Vesper back to her room, Autumn checked her watch again.
 
 
“Shoot, I’m running late. You good to go?” she asked quickly.
 
 
Vesper nodded, “I’m fine until Hondo gets up.”
 
 
Autumn gave her a quick hug and quickly left. Vesper waited until she was out of sight before getting up off the bed and creeping upstairs, well creeping as much as a woman with two soft boot casts and a set of crutches can on a flight of stairs.  
 
 
Hondo had gone upstairs earlier, stripped down to his boxers, and fell asleep on top of the covers. Normally he did not sleep so hard, but the last several days of little to no sleep made him pass right out. Vesper stared at him for a moment before leaning her crutches against the bed and carefully climbing in beside him. She sighed with relief as he did not stir as she curled up against him. The nightmares had kept her from sleeping well since she had been changed, and they had been worse the last few nights since Autumn and Hondo had fought. She could not understand why that affected her like that, but it did somehow, and she dearly wanted a good night’s rest. Now that they made up, she felt more at ease, but curling up beside him brought a new wave of peace over her, that she did not realize she would find. She found herself drifting off to sleep in no time, as she lay staring at the sleeping man who had saved her. She did not know if she loved him or not, but she knew she wanted to and wanted him to love her back.  
 
 
Hondo awoke early the next morning, as the grey light of dawn started to fill the sky. He was not in a hurry to get up though, so he laid still, savoring the feeling of being in a cozy bed and the soft, warm skin of the woman curled up against him. His eyes shot open after a moment as he realized he went to bed alone and knew he still should have been alone, but he was definitely not. The first thought that ran through his head was that Autumn had already broken her word and he instantly started to get angry, but upon looking at his side he went from angry to slightly confused almost immediately. The woman there was definitely not Autumn, but was Vesper, a mostly naked Vesper at that. It’s not that he had not seen her nude before, but this was different. She was barely clothed when he found her, he had helped her in the bathroom with getting situated on the toilet a couple times, had helped her dress, undress, and get in and out of the shower a few times after Autumn had stormed out crying that night.  
 
 
That whole fight had started because Autumn was showing him how best to help Vesper in and out of the shower then she rubbed against him and suggested that he help her shower next, all in front of Vesper, who was already embarrassed enough as it was. Hopefully Autumn would stop all that now, but it looked like he would be losing one cling-on just to gain another.
 
 
He sighed as he looked down at her. The thin purple robe covered little as it was but was wide open now, leaving no barriers between his side and her bare body. The realization of that made his morning-wood overactive, and though he tried to think about something else, it stood tall, hard, and proud still. It had been a while since he had a woman like this in his bed, and that made things harder on him, literally. It was a welcomed sensation, he knew taking it to its natural course was not what Vesper needed right now, though he could have benefited from it greatly.
 
 
He shook his head lightly after a moment and sighed again as he laid his head back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. She was pretty, and he was sure she could be his, all too easily. That was part of the problem; it was too easy. She lay there on him, lovely but injured of body and mind, and to take her would be wrong. She needed his help, his friendship, his support. What she did not need was to think that she could use her body to pay him back or that sex would heal her. There was also Dale to think about. He knew deep down that she still loved Dale, though at the moment it seemed like an impossible relationship. If they could save Dale before being transformed, then she might would have to look at other options. Maybe he could think about here like that after this was all done, and she had healed some, if Gadget and Dale were both rescued before being transformed. One thought overshadowed that, though, and made it all leave a bad taste in his mouth. The simple fact was that he was attracted to Vesper, but he did not love her like that. Maybe he would learn to, maybe he would grow to, but she was not the one on his heart and mind right now, though he tried to keep both clear and was afraid or ashamed to admit it even to himself what lie there presently. The one they had yet to find was the one he wanted, though he felt ashamed for even thinking of Gadget like that and for half wishing she did become human. Having Vesper in bed like this too made him feel ashamed too, as for some reason his mind asked, ‘what would Gadget think?’.
 
 
Vesper started to stir as all this raced through his mind, which made his mind turn back to her. She yawned, stretched, and nuzzled into him as she slowly woke up. It had been a long time since a woman had been with him like this, and even this felt amazing, but it was not helping things any. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him, smiling softly as she looked at his face
 
 
“Morning, Hondo.” She whispered sleepily.
 
“Mornin’ … Dare I ask how this came about?” He asked hesitantly.
 
She shrugged, “Not been sleeping well. Thought I’d sleep better with you.”
 
“That’s all fine and dandy, but you’re … practically bare.” He replied hesitantly again.
 
She shrugged, “You’ve seen me like this several times, so why does it matter?”  
 
Her hand slowly moved from his chest, down his stomach, and to his crotch where she found him hard rock hard and seeming to get harder and bigger at her touch.
 
“Seems like you are not minding it too much, anyway.” She said with an impish grin on her face.
 
He picked her hand up off him and quickly got up out of bed. She lay on her side but propped herself up on her elbow to show off what she had better. He tossed a blanket at her and shook his head.
 
“Here, cover up with this.” He said flatly.
 
“You … you don’t like my body?” She asked in a hurt, quavering voice.
 
“Vesper, that’s not it!” He replied, seeming a bit flustered
 
“You think I’m ugly or find me repulsive because of what I was, then?” She asked quietly as she stared at him with those sad doe eyes of hers.
 
He shook his head, “Not in the slightest!”
 
“Then what is it?! I’m making myself available! I don’t know what else to do to make you see I want you! Please.. please, take me. I owe you so much and I … I want this.” She begged.
 
He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”
 
He grabbed some clothes off the shelf and marched quickly towards the bathroom.
 
“Get dressed and we’ll talk after my shower. I’m not awake enough to deal with this right now.” He muttered as he walked away.  
 
She laid down on the bed and said nothing as he walked away. He shut the bathroom door, stripped down, and climbed into the shower, sighing a frustrated sigh as he stood under the water. He tried to get the images and feelings out of his mind, but they would not leave. He knew she was confused and would regret this later if he took her like she asked, but knowing it and getting his sex drive to understand that were two different things. Once he washed up, he turned on the cold water and let it flow down his body and over his still swollen manhood. That only made him cold but the swelling did not dwindle nor the desire recede. As he leaned against the wall in the cold water, he heard something and turned to see Vesper standing there looking at him. He shut the water off and swore.
 
“What the #$@!?!” He exclaimed
 
“You don’t have to try to get that down with cold water. I’m more than willing to take care of that for you.” She said as she reached for his member.
 
He grabbed her wrist to stop her.
 
“Damn it, Vesper! No!” He barked as he pushed her arm back to her side and grabbed his towel.
 
He wrapped the towel around him and climbed out of the shower past her, before turning back to her.
 
“What in the hell has gotten into you?” He asked angrily.
 
“I.. I just wanted to please the one who saved me.” She replied, her lip starting to quiver slightly.
 
“Please me by getting well and livin’ your life!” He said still angry
 
“But .. I owe you my body!” She retorted
 
“No! You owe no man your body! It is your body, only to be given to someone special, whom you love and gives his back to you!” He replied sternly.
 
“But … but …” She stammered as she started to cry, “But.. you are specials and.. and I have no one else… and.. and … I want to feel pleasure again … to feel good again! I’ve.. I’ve never felt pleasure in this body, but I want.. I want to with you… I want you to be my first… please?”
 
Hondo rubbed his eyes for a moment, with his thumb and index finger. When Autumn said Vesper seemed interested in him, he worried she would try something, but he did not expect this.
 
“Please? … please take me? Make me feel like a woman should!” She begged.
 
“Damn it all, Vesper … It would be too easy to bend you over that bed and take you, but it’s not right!” He replied.
 
“But … you find me attractive, right?” She asked softly
 
“I’d be lyin’ if I said no.” He replied almost sourly
 
“Then, why not?? What’s wrong with me, that makes you not want me?!” She asked in desperation.
 
“The only thing wrong with you is that you need time to heal and figure out yourself. What is wrong with this, is that I’d be doing us both a disservice by taking you!” He replied firmly.
 
“How? I want you to take me. You don’t have a girlfriend, I asked Autumn. She also said you’re not gay and I see you’re hard because of me. We are alone so we are not bothering …” she rambled before he cut her off.
 
“Whoa there! Trot that horse by me again! You asked if I was gay?” He asked almost indignantly.
 
She shrugged, “Well, you were pushing off Autumn’s advances, but she explained why last night. And I find you attractive so I did not understand why a man such as you would be alone and push off the advances of a pretty woman. She explained it all though. But, I’m here and willing give myself to you.”
 
Hondo sighed, “But do you love me? You don’t even know me that well.”
 
She shrugged, “I trust you and I’ll learn more about you over time. I think I love you. I would like to figure that out … together.”
 
Hondo shook his head, “So, you don’t love me. Save yourself for someone you love.”
 
She looked down at the floor and spoke sadly, “The one I loved I cannot be with anymore, but I can be with you.”
 
“Don’t get me wrong as I like you, so far, as a friend, but I don’t love you either.” He replied
 
“You don’t have to! Just let me pleasure you. I just want to be with someone I trust, to be held again. If you don’t love me at least let me try to love you.” She pleaded.
 
“No, you need to save that for someone you already love! You will find that someone again, but it isn’t me, at least not now. I don’t even want to give you hope for someday, but maybe. If we fall in love after you have healed, and I don’t think you are just sayin’ that because you think you owe me, then and only then, we can talk about a physical relationship.” Hondo replied.
 
She looked at the floor, “I don’t understand. If I’m pretty you would take me, wouldn’t you?”
 
“You are pretty, and you don’t know how hard it is for me to say no. I want to take you so bad right now it hurts!  Taking you would be so easy right now.. so easy, but I care about you and have respect for you, so I won’t! I also know myself well enough to know I would feel extremely guilty if I took advantage of your current state. Now, please go downstairs and get dressed. If you need help getting dressed, I’ll help. Just please, never do this again and don’t ask me for sex.” He said as he tried not to waver from what he knew was right.
 
“What if I keep having nightmares? Can.. can I sleep with you then, at least?” She asked timidly.
 
He sighed, “I reckon, but you’d better have a shirt and panties on at least. Also, it better not become a habit, and if you ask for sex again or grab me, I’ll spank that ass of yours in a not at all fun way and ban you from my room for good!”
 
She nodded and frowned, as she pulled her robe around herself and grabbed her crutches.  She found she could not keep the robe closed and use the crutches at the same time. She tried to keep it closed and leave, as she was feeling embarrassed and self-conscious. She stumbled and almost fell as she tried to wrangle everything, but Hondo stepped forward and caught her.  
 
“You alright?” He asked with a look of concern.
 
She nodded, “Just embarrassed. Thought you’d like my body and all.”
 
Hondo sighed, “How do I make you understand that while I do like your body and I find you very attractive, that I want what’s best for you? What’s best is definitely not for me to #$@! you, nor enjoy your body for my own pleasure, nor to do so for you to escape reality. I’m here to help you. I don’t want you to be ashamed of your body, I don’t care if you are half uncovered, either. You want to sit around in that robe and panties, you can as long as it’s just us here. Just respect your body and treat it as sacred. Also, don’t try to tempt me with it as you cannot understand how hard it is to do the right thing when someone as beautiful as you is being so inviting. Also, please cover up appropriately if I have others here. For now, this is your home. You need to help keep it clean, respect that I own it, and understand I need my privacy at times. I will respect your privacy needs as well and do what I can to see that you find a way to have your own life. Just understand, you need to love and accept yourself before you can have a relationship like you proposed to me. Otherwise, it will always be hollow, and you will end up more hurt than you are now.”
 
She nodded, “I’m sorry. I’m.. I’m just so confused and scared. I don’t know what to do… I thought maybe.. you know.. if you and I.. you know.. did it, that maybe I’d feel less afraid and like my body better.”
 
Hondo shook his head and picked her up, “That’s not the way to go about it. Sex is not something to hide behind, nor a way to love yourself. It’s meant to show love to the one you love and strengthen the bond between two individuals that love each other. It’s special, intimate, and worth waitin’ to find the right person to give it too. Now, let’s get you downstairs and dressed. Then I’ll get dressed and cook us some breakfast.”
 
She nodded, “Thank you. You’re so kind to me. I.. I wished we did love each other like that as you’re definitely a nice guy.”
 
“Dale is a nice guy too. I know you have a lot to work through and as a relationship with a sentient chipmunk are impossible for you now, but you owe it to both of you to talk before even thinkin’ about me or anyone else.” He replied as he carried her down the stairs.
 
“Maybe so, but he disappeared... I guess he couldn’t take me being human.” She said sadly.
 
“No, he loves you no matter what you are. He should not have taken off, but he thinks he’s helpin’ you. He’s not out there because of Gadget. He’s out there for you.” He replied.
 
“Really? I.. I didn’t think ….” She paused.
 
“Just work on getting better. Monty and I will find Dale and Gadget.” He said as he sat her on the bed and started to remove her soft boot casts.  
 
“And Chip too? He.. he’s helping, right?” She asked hesitantly
 
Hondo’s face looked a bit grim as he searched for an answer. She sighed at his lack of response.
 
“He’s not helping, is he?” She asked sadly.
 
“Chip feels it’s hopeless and a waste of time.” He replied flatly
 
“You mean he doesn’t want to get them back unless it makes him look good.” She replied.
 
“Maybe.” Hondo said as he helped her get her panties on.
 
“You’re not telling me something.” She said.
 
“It’s all speculation but … Maybe he wants them gone or doesn’t want somethin’ they know to get out.” He replied.
 
Vespers eyes got wide, “You think … you think he sold them out?”
 
Hondo shook his head, “No … I think he sold you and me out. I think the others he just can’t control anymore and doesn’t want what he’s maybe done in the past to them and others to get out.”
 
“Wait … he.. he sold out me?” She replied in a whisper as a surprised look took over her face.
 
“Maybe. I am sure he sold me out. You, I’m not completely sure about yet.” He replied as he slipped a shirt over her head.
 
He started to grab some shorts and she shook her head, “If it’s alright like you said, I’ll just wear panties. I can manage going to the bathroom myself easier like this.”
 
He nodded, “That’s fine. Just if you’re in the living room or kitchen sitting down, keep a lap blanket close so you can cover up if someone comes to the house. If it wasn’t that I’d seen all of you several times by now and didn’t need to help you out, then I’d be firmer about it. But, I want you to feel comfortable with my help and comfortable in this house. You do need to learn to be modest, as I know those things are more lax in the sentient creature world as most of you have fur, but you don’t have fur now.”
 
She blushed a bit, “Well, not all over. It’s weird having it, you know, down there and under your arms only.”
 
Hondo chuckled, “Well most human women shave their underarms. And as far as down there, some shave that too. Others trim it up at least. I think I’ll leave that discussion between you and the Doc, though.”
 
“Do you like women shaved or just trimmed down there?” She asked innocently.
 
“Not somethin’ I plan to answer at this time… Now, I’d better go get dressed. This towel doesn’t like to stay on well and I’m not givin’ you any more peep shows.” he said flatly.  
 
After he dressed and they had breakfast, Hondo showed Vesper how to use the spare laptop he had and got her started on some GED prep reading. She was smart and the sentient generally educated their young, except a few of the ‘back to nature’ cults, so she was picking it all up fast. It was not that she needed to learn so much as she needed to prove she knew this stuff already. Vesper was excited as he explained it all to her. Getting her GED was her first true goal to start her life in human society.
 
Later that afternoon as Hondo went over some files again he got a call from Monty.
 
“Hondo, Mate, we made it. Spotted the Ranger plane already. Looks like shit. Damn Pi-rats made it look like their junk. We will be tryin’ to fit in with the locals an’ make contact with one of me other contacts. Will call again in four hours.” Monty said.
 
“Sounds good. Keep me informed.” Hondo replied.
 
Nothing much came in that day or the next. Some info was good, but nothing pinpointed what was going on. It was not until the following day that things started to happen. The phone rang that morning and woke Hondo up. Vesper was in his bed again as she had another nightmare, but she had been behaving herself, dressing in at least a camisole and panties when sleeping with him. Hondo groaned as he rolled over to answer the phone as it would not quit ringing.
 
“Ya’llow” Hondo grunted.
 
“Mate, they went to Silvercreek Nebraska!” Monty said excitedly over the phone.
 
“Silvercreek? That’s a little nowhere, podunk town. Ate fish at a fish fry there before. Tasted like beans and breading so I liked it… What makes you think there?” He mumbled half asleep still.
 
“She’s there, Mate I’m sure. I’ve overheard there’s an old underground military bunker there.” Monty said.
 
“She? Just Gadget?” Hondo asked.
 
“ ‘Fraid so, mate. Followed Dale’s tracks for a bit. He left us a note sayin’ she was there. Looks like they took him somewhere else, back east maybe. ‘E said there is more than one lab. Said we’d find all the info we need at this one to shut ‘um all down!” Monty exclaimed.
 
“Alright. I’m twelve hours away, it’s 5 am now. I have to grab some gear and get someone here to help Vesper, but I should be there tonight.” He replied.
 
“Alright, I’ll call ya in four hours ta tell ya where ta meet.” Monty said.
 
 With that Monty hung up. Vesper stretched and yawned, before rolling over and looking at Hondo.
 
“Monty found Gadget?” She asked sleepily
 
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake ya… Yeah, sounds like.” He replied with a groan as he sat up.
 
“It’s ok… any word on Dale?” She asked quietly
 
“I’m afraid not. He left them some information, but Monty believes he’s gone to another location.” Hondo said as he stood up and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes.
 
“Oh..” She replied sadly.
 
“We’ll find him, believe you me.” He said softly.
 
“You want me to go with you?” She asked.
 
“No. I’ll get Autumn to come stay with you, and see if Echo Rose can come when Autumn can’t. You have counseling with Preacher Grey today and physical therapy with Echo starts tomorrow.” He replied.
 
“Alright. Can I cook you some breakfast?” she asked.
 
“You did pretty well on supper last night. As long as you don’t stand too long and it doesn’t hurt your legs and wrist, then alright. Just eggs and bacon. We have left over biscuits from yesterday that need used and my coffee should be ready already.” He said.
 
He headed to the shower while she carefully slid off the bed, put on her robe, and headed downstairs. He waited to get in the shower until he could hear her crutches on the stairs, just to be on the safe side.
 
After his shower he threw some gear in the bronco, putting the truck in the shop for now, and sent Agent G. a quick message about suspicions and where they would be checking. No answer was received from the message, but that was normal. After a quick breakfast, and a call to Autumn and Echo to get things set, Hondo hit the road.  
 
Vesper watched as he drove away. She felt a little sad and a bit scared. It was the first time she had been alone since he had found her that night. It was not a feeling that she liked.

About 12:45 am Hondo crushed out a cigarillo and picked up the monocular to check the area again. Monty and Meredith were swapping old war stories and drinking coffee by the plane and had been for the last couple hours. Hondo glanced at them and shook his head as they seemed to act like they were on some camping trip, not a mission. Monty, by far, did most of the talking, but Meredith had a couple of good stories too. Though it did seem to help pass the time, he wished they were more serious about it all. He usually was not this uptight, but with Gadget’s life at stake, he felt ill at ease with the whole deal.  
 
About 1:00 am a random patrol swept the south side of the compound, looking around but not as if they expected anyone to be there. They had done it two other times since it had turned dark, so Hondo just watched at waited. By 1:15 the area was clear again, but he waited and watched another ten minutes to be on the safe side. It was still all clear at 1:25 am and Hondo decided he could delay no further.
 
He walked over to the miniature plane where Monty and Meredith were now arguing over who had eaten the most exotic food. They stopped after he had stood there a minute and looked up at him.
 
“From thet look, I’d say it’s time.” Monty said.
 
Hondo nodded, “Yup. You both have the frequency change list?”
 
Monty nodded, “Aye, Skippah. No pass-phrases this time?”
 
Hondo grinned slightly, “No Chip to harass, so figured we could do with out them this time.”
 
“My list is in the plane already. I need to get her warmed up and do a flight check, if you’re leaving now.” Meredith answered.
 
“It will take me a bit and Monty should be able to see most of the back forty. I have a remote mic and earbuds I’ll leave him on the roof along with the monocular. I’ll need reports after I make it in, if I get in unnoticed.” Hondo replied.
 
“I should have time to get into the air by then. Good luck.” Meredith said with a nod.
 
Hondo nodded back, “Thanks. Be careful up there.”
 
“I’m always careful when flying.” Meredith replied over his shoulder as he turned away.
 
“What about Bora-bora? Or that time over the channel? Or …” Monty started but was cut off as Meredith walked away shaking his head and Hondo headed to the Bronco to make sure Monty setup was ready.
 
Monty looked between them then turned to Hondo and ran to catch up, “Wait up, mate! I’m roight behind ya!”
 
After Hondo got things setup, he checked his pistol and backup pistol about ten times as he waited for Monty to double check the equipment he was to use. Monty climbed up on the hood and checked the monocular to make sure it was pointed in the right direction and checked over his radio to make sure he could use it to communicate. After Hondo was sure the guns were fine he popped in his earbud and tested the radio out.
 
“Radio check.” Hondo said softly into the mic.
 
“Check received. Radio check.” Meredith said over the plane’s radio.
 
“Check received. Radio check.” Monty said over the remote mic on the Bronco.
 
“Check received. Go to frequency one in five minutes. Start frequency roll at that time.” Hondo replied
 
“Understood. Eagle-eye standing by.” Meredith replied.
 
“Undahstood. Watchah standin’ by.” Monty replied.
 
“10-4. Sentinel is moving out.” Hondo replied.
 
Hondo grabbed a small, leather satchel with some ammo, first aid supplies, a small home-made laptop, and some other random items in it, and slung the strap over his left shoulder before heading towards the creek bank. At the creekbank he paused and listened before crossing; Hearing nothing, he proceeded on. His well-oiled, high topped western boots kept his feet dry, though he did have to pick and choose his steps carefully to keep in the shallow waters. The flood season had left a diagonal ridge of sand and gravel that he followed to the other bank. His foot sunk deeper than planned and he almost lost his boot in the darker, loam-filled soil on the opposite creek bank, but he managed to carefully pull it out without losing the boot or making much noise. It was not as quiet a crossing as he had hoped for, but he got across and had not been shot yet.  
 
 
Once across and on dry ground, he got down low and pulled a smaller night vision monocular from the satchel. It did not have the magnification power of the other one, but for this he did not need more. He carefully scanned the immediate area, and finding no one around, he moved on in the direction Monty had told him to go. The clump of bushes was easy enough to find as it was the only bushes in the area. The tallish prairie grass kept Hondo partially concealed, but he still had to move fast. The openness and lack of thick hay land grass, bushes, and trees made it difficult to cross, unseen. Other than the darkness, his biggest saving graces were those who ran the place thinking no one knew they were here, and the road on the back side being so far from the facility.
 
Once at the bushes, the door that acted as a rear emergency exit was easy to find. It was more of a hatch than a door, and it looked old but functions. Not wanting to leave anything to chance he felt around the door and even used a small pen light to inspect it for wires or sensors. Finding none he eased the hatch open and looked inside. As he looked a familiar voice came over the radio.
 
“The Eagle-eye is in the sky.” Meredith called out over the radio
 
“10-4. Sentinel at the hole. Leaving mic on for recording. Reply if received.” Hondo said
 
“Eagle-eye received. Standing by.” Replied Meredith
 
“Aye, Watchah received. Standin’ by.” Replied Monty
 
“10-4. Sentinel is goin’ in.” Hondo said
 
Hondo looked down into the hole one more time before entering. He took a breath and dropped into the hole, landing in a half crouch with his hand on his gun. He stayed still for a moment, looking and listening. A dimly lit tunnel lay before him, void of movement or noise, smelling of dust and stale air. He looked around for cameras or trip sensors, but did not see any yet. He relaxed a bit after a moment and climbed back up the ladder and closed the hatch, locking it from the inside to make sure no one would surprise him from that direction.  
 
Once the hatch was secure, he climbed back down the ladder and carefully started down the tunnel. He paused after a few yards as he spied a camera ahead but it seemed to be pointed down at the floor. It puzzled him at first but as he got closer, he found it was not even powered up. It was fairly ancient, which surprised him, as he figured these would have all been replaced if the facility was being used. He disconnected the camera and tied into it with a device in his bag. He then booted up the little laptop and took some readings from the device. He tried to back-feed into the camera system but according to the device he hooked up, the whole cable was dead. He unhooked the device, put it and the laptop back into the bag, and continued forward.  
 
He passed a few rooms as he walked down the tunnel but every one of them seemed unused, except one. One had a mattress on an old steel bed frame. A couple empty bottles of alcohol lay around and some padded handcuff hang off the headboard. He could only guess the current use of the room, but he was sure his guess was at least close to right. Probably some guard getting his jollies from some of the sentient-turned-human women, one of the damaged most likely. It was out of the way in an obviously not monitored area, so Hondo could not help but think that this activity would be frowned upon by those who ran the facility, or at least some of them.
 
As he continued on, he found a couple more rooms, but there was nothing of interest in either of them.  He had probably walked over 150 yards of hall so far, but found nothing of real interest, until he came to a metal door at the other end.  On either side of this door were two other doors. The one on the right was found to be an old bathroom that was in desperate need of being cleaned. The door to the left, however, was locked as was the door leading out of the hall. The metal door out had a small, dirty window that gave Hondo a view out into a large, courtyard like room, that had been renovated not all that long ago. There were several doors leading from the main area and at the far side, up about two stories, was a large windowed room that appeared to be some sort of control center. From what he could see from his current vantage point, it looked like the guard in the control room was either reading, sleeping, or looking at a computer monitor. The large courtyard was empty, save for a couple vehicles. Large metal posts in the center held a sort of track, of which Hondo believed was for a sort of freight elevator. From the looks of the other doors, halls, and catwalks that he could see, the hall he was in was extremely small compared to the others. Its main purpose now seemed to be an alternative exit, though it had seen other uses in the past but had seen no updates recently. The rest of the areas were much more modernized, from what he could tell though the small dirty window made determining much hard.
 
Before trying the lock on the main door, Hondo’s curiosity got the best of him and, using his lock-pick set, he popped the windowless door open. He questioned himself if it was worth his time, but his gut-instinct had won out and he was glad it had. The room was a utility room, one of several most likely. Inside, he found a pull chain from the ceiling that turned on a light, and tugged on it. The bulb lit up, but was dim, and though it made it hard to see, the low light drew less attention from anyone walking by the hallway door. In the room he found the old camera connection junction, that had been disabled, and a new junction box that had been installed right beside it. Using his laptop and some other devices he had, Hondo managed to tap into the camera’s there. From what he could find it definitely was not all the cameras, but it did have all the ones for the main courtyard, elevator shaft, and stairwell to the control room. It took half of the devices he had but he managed to record a feedback loop on enough cameras to get himself a clear path to the control center. He had a few more “camera mimics”, as he called them, but his guess was they would not be half enough to get him where he needed to go unseen.  
 
Once done, he shut off the light, shut the utility room door, and made his way back to the hall door with the dirty window. He peered through cautiously, being careful to not be seen, but there was still no one stirring. It was almost 2:00 am by this point and the night guards were settled snuggly into their posts and all other operations were quiet or shut down. Hondo figured that they did most of their work during the day and only took deliveries at night. Monty said that most deliveries happened around midnight, or so he had observed so far, but no deliveries were seen that night nor any activities suggesting they were expecting one.  
 
With the courtyard being empty, Hondo managed to pick the lock on the hallway door and go unnoticed as he did so. Thankfully it opened a much easier than the utility room door had, but he figured that was due to it being used more often.  He entered the underground courtyard cautiously, aware of every sound and movement as he slowly moved from the hall and into the open. The size of the area was huge, and the size only went to show how large the rest of the place could be. Hondo hoped that there were other unused wings, like the one he came through, or he’d definitely bitten off a lot more than he could chew.
 
As he surveyed the area, he saw no one other than the back of a head in the control room. He was fairly certain he had a cleared the cameras in his path, but a little caution went a long way in staying alive. After he was fairly sure there were no unseen obstacle in the way to the stairs, he walked confidently to the control room stairwell, trying to act as if he was supposed to be there. A nurse entered the courtyard when he was about halfway across, but he continued to walk as if he belonged there and she paid him no mind. He breathed a sigh of relief when she entered another hallway without raising an alarm, and he quickened his pace, hoping he would cross no one’s path again. He made it to the stairway door without incident, entered, and shut the door behind him without pausing.  
 
Once inside the stairwell he paused once again to listen. All was quiet, no alarms sounded, and no angry voices called out, much to his relief. All that could be heard was the faint sound of a late-night comedy rerun drifting down the stairs from a TV somewhere above him. As stealthily as possible, he crept up the stairs, being careful to be quiet and vigilant in assessing all noise changes, but no changes in sounds ere heard as he ascended, much to his relief. At the door to the control room he carefully peered in, and sighed with relief at the sight. The guard was sound asleep in front of a TV screen and oblivious to his presence, which only made life easier for him.  
 
 He started slowly into the room, but as he entered, a chime sounded, the guard woke up, and quickly jumped to his feet. Hondo swore as he realized he forgot to check the door for any sensors, but it was too late now. Apparently, a lazar-eye sensor had been installed inside the doorframe to alert guards to anyone entering, and it worked perfectly. The guard was dazed from sleep at first, so Hondo took advantage of it, leaped across the room at the guard, and coldcocked him with the barrel of his pistol. The guard hit the floor with a dull thud, without time to even utter a word. Hondo sighed as he bent down and checked the guard’s pulse; he was still alive. Not wanting to take chances, he found a roll of duct-tape, drug the guard into a small bathroom they had in the control room, and taped him to the commode. He stuffed some paper towels in the guard’s mouth to keep him quiet, made sure the light and fan were on, locked the door, and shut it behind him.  
 
Once done with the guard, Hondo went right to the control panels to flip through the security camera feeds. The entrances had plenty of cameras, as did the front area around the building. But the inside security seemed to be extremely lacking. The rear of the facility was almost camera free, which had worked to his advantage thus far, but the lack of inside cameras was making his job quite a bit harder at the moment. The facility was fairly large, from what he could see on the screens, but he knew he could not see everything. One dead end hall was rigged up like jail cells, from what he could see, but the light and camera angle was not the best. A pacing guard looking in through the bars and a hand sticking out of the bars, to flip him off as he walked past, making him believe it was either a holding cell for those changed or for the damaged, like where he found Vesper. Another hall had several more cameras in it, which allowed him to see more, making him also believe the previous hall was just holding cells. In this second hall, the rooms there were not as full, but a few of the occupants were tied to beds and others he could see bandages on their wrists or the like. These unmistakably were the damaged in suicide watch cells. None of the occupants looked to match the files he had that were possibly Gadget, but if she had not been altered yet that information could have changed, and he would be shit out of luck on narrowing it down.  
 
As he flipped through the screens, viewing the cameras, he found a large room filled with several glass tanks with monitors and the like attached. Various sentients were in the tanks, each at different levels of transformation from sentient animal to human. The evil who made the sentients to begin with was enough to anger and disgust most people, but the sight before him would even disgust the most hardened of veteran. As he looked over the beings in the tubes, he started having second thoughts. He wanted to get Gadget out but if he was found the potential for the monsters who ran the place to end the lives of these creatures was extremely high. He toyed with the idea of cutting off their supply of sentients, but that did not have a better outcome in his mind, either.  
 
Deciding that he was too far in to turn back now, he continued to flip through the camera feeds further. He found a couple halls with rows of beds. On a good number of the beds lay humans hooked up to various pieces of equipment for monitoring. He could only guess that these were the sentients right after their transformations. Whether they were being prepped for something further, had just came out of the transformation tubes, or they were getting ready for shipment elsewhere, he could not ascertain from the visual feeds alone. He saw four individuals that fit the descriptions of what Gadget may now look like, but he was not sure they even had her long enough for the transformation to be done. Of the possible candidates, though, the four were split between three different halls. The other camera’s showed break rooms, offices, sentient holding cages, and the like. He wondered if getting to the unchanged sentients would help, but from what he saw, getting there would not be easy as that seemed to be a higher traffic area.  
 
The camera system was giving him no further useful information at the moment, so he decided to move onto the computers. The clock was ticking, so he had no time to lose. The guard was kind enough to leave the computers unlocked, which made him smile a bit, as it aided in speeding his search. Whether they though no one cared to get inside or that no one could get this far inside, he did not know, but the security was much laxer than he thought it would be. He found the information he was looking for, terabytes of it, and he smiled at his find, feeling he was finally getting somewhere. He popped in his USB jump-stick, like before but paused before hitting send. The thought came over him, ‘what if they have put in data stream monitoring now?’  He knew if they had done this since his visit to Denver, it would send off alarm notices to management here that large amounts of information were uploaded to an unknown server. He sighed and pulled the jump-stick out of the computer. He would have to find another way to get the data he wanted, and he was running out of time. As time was getting away form him he decided to switch tasks and try to find Gadget first.
 
 
Not knowing where to go to find Gadget, he decided to see if he could round up some help. He looked at the cameras again and noticed there was a lot of foot traffic in that area still.  He thought about it all for a moment before he got an idea. It took him a second, but he got the bathroom door unlocked again. Luckily for him, the guard was still out cold and taking his shirt and hat was not too hard. The shirt was a little big on him, around, but the fact that it was regular length, and not a tall like he normally wore, worked out. The hat was a bit on the tight side, but he figured it was enough to get him in undetected.  
 
He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, before relocking the door. His pistol stood out too much and would have to be removed, much to his chagrin. He took it off and rolled it up in his vest, leaving them both stashed behind the stairs at the bottom of the stairwell for later retrieval.    
 
He exited the stairwell cautiously but once again, to his relief, there was no one in sight. He made his way to the sentient creature holding room, which was luckily easy to find. He tried to walk briskly enough to look like he was busy, as he walked down the hall and past the guards breakroom towards the sentient holding room, but not too brisk as to draw attention to himself. There were a few guards about, but each had his own task on his mind or just wanted to be left alone. This worked to Hondo’s advantage as since they did not recognize him, they left him alone in hope he was not there to add to their work loads. They were used to being left alone and doing as little as possible, especially this time of night, and wish nothing more than to get through a shift, expending as little energy as possible, and collect their checks having done only the bare basics to earn it.  
 
Hondo gave a sigh of relief as he made it to the door of the room where the sentients were held. The room they were in was off another small hall with doors, oddly enough, at both ends. He tried the first door and found it surprisingly unlocked. He opened it and stepped in like he was supposed to be there, not wanting to draw any attention, but this, unfortunately enough, was a big mistake. As the door shut behind him it locked, as did the one in front of him. An alarm sounded shortly after and a vent in the ceiling hissed at him as it filled the room with gas. He coughed as the gas filled the room and fell to his knees as he fought to remain conscious. As he fell to the floor his final thought before passing out was, “#$@!!!”

Luckily, most of Cassie’s rounds were uneventful, but that was not to say that they were fun or easy. They checked on the sentients first, but due to fear of listening devices or desperate sentients trying to give information to save their own skins, Hondo kept up his Hank impersonation even around them. It was hard not to give them some hope, but the mission was too delicate at the moment to chance it.
 
Playing Hank was easy. Though his face was different, his facial hair was longer and less trimmed up, and his hair color was lighter, no one seemed to notice. While the large sunglasses helped, from what he gathered, Hank was a lecherous bastard who drooled over Cassie, felt up Cassie in front of the other guards and techs to lord his assignment over them and make them jealous, and was a general dick to almost everyone. This made them avoid him mostly, and when they had to be around him, Cassie’s figure and skimpy outfit drew most of their attention, male or female.  
 
Though seeing how scared and banged up many of the sentients were was horrible, as they sat shivering in cages, stripped of their clothes and dignity, it only got worse from there. Seeing the sentients and not being able to help was hard, but harder still was seeing the changed and not being able to help, give them words of comfort, or hope of rescue. Though they were all human, most of them beyond perfect physically, seeing them made one’s blood run cold with despair. They were all depressed, without hope, and scared to death. That feeling hung thick in the room, so thick one could almost physically cut it with a knife. But that was not the worst yet, as things still went downhill from there.
 
 The ‘Ward of the Damaged’ as it was called was even worse. The place used to be prison cells, as locked iron-barred cells filled most of the room. Now, instead of criminals, the cells just locked up those who had tried to escape this horror by trying to end their lives. Many were like Vesper. Legs broken so they could not escape, bandaged wrists, and if they were lucky a paper gown to cover their bodies. Some were not even given that and some were bound to beds to they could not hurt themselves with just a sheet thrown over them. It was setup like some mental ward suicide watch area, but for dangerous criminals. Hondo had seen a few of those in his past, but this was far more horrific than any he had seen. Though there were some of the changed that were borderline crazy from the experiance, most were just broken individuals who could not find enough hope to live, whose minds just could not handle what had happened to them, or could not handle the thoughts of the fate that lie ahead.
 
The last area they visited on Cassie’s rounds were those who were going though ‘mental rehab’ as the staff called it, and there he was sure he had seen the worst of it. In reality it was mental reconditioning and programming. As much as the ‘Ward of the Damaged’ broke Hondo’s heart, this one made him equally as angry. As Cassie cared for those tied to beds, who trembled, sweated, and moaned from the pain they had endured and the poisonous drugs injected into their systems, others could be heard screaming in the background as electro shock and other forms of ‘therapy’ were applied to them to try to change their minds and personalities to fit their new owners’ specifications.  
 
Once done there they walked down a hall way, away from others, before Hondo said a word, but he was nearly exploding inside.
 
“What that #$@! was that?!” He nearly yelled.
 
Cassie looked around frantically but saw they were indeed alone.
 
“Shhh! Please, not so loud! You know what that was, and it is horrific, I know!” She exclaimed in a whisper.
 
“Horrific doesn’t begin to explain it! I read ‘bout it but this defies imagination!” He snarled
 
She hung her head, “I know.. and I’ve had to watch it helplessly, watch them be hurt and broken, endure my own torture, and know I was helpless to do nothing. … I hear their screams in my sleep and will for the rest of my life!”
 
She almost started to cry but a door opening at the far end of the hall startled her. She looked passed Hondo and then pushed him into a recessed doorway to hide.
 
“It’s your boss! .. Hank’s boss! He’ll know you aren’t Hank!” She whispered hurriedly in a scared tone.
 
“What do we do? If I take him out they will know somethin’ is wrong?!” He asked, more talking to himself at the moment.
 
She panted a bit from fear as she thought. Her eyes snapped up to meet his and she blushed a bit.
 
“You.. you have to be Hank!” She whispered in an urgent tone.
 
“What?” He asked, a puzzled look on his face.
 
“Be Hank! Uh, put your hand on my breast and the other between my legs and kiss me!” She whispered
 
He wanted to protest, but they were out of time. He put his hand between her legs and rested it on her thigh and placed the other on her breast as he leaned down and kissed her. She pulled back and gave him a bit of a scared and annoyed look.
 
“No! Grope me! Use me! Like Hank!” She whispered urgently.
 
She popped one of her breasts out of her dress so he could really grab a handful and shoved his hand up to her womanhood, as he leaned in and kissed her roughly. As the security manager approached, he shoved a finger into her vaginal opening, causing her to groan and moan at the same time.
 
The security manager stopped and looked at them with a look of disgust on his face.
 
“Damn it, Hank! Just because the Professor gives you a free hand with it doesn’t mean you can just take the poor thing where ever you want! ” He half yelled
 
Hondo let got of her breast long enough to flip him off, without skipping a beat otherwise.
 
“You are a #$@!ing prick, you know it. At least defile it in the locker room or something, next time. And you better be on break when you mess with her too!” The manager growled.
 
Hondo flipped him off again.
 
“Whatever. You’re the professor’s problem anyway! Just have your damn vacation request on me desk tomorrow if you still want it or you’re going to lose it as I am off for two weeks starting tomorrow night.” The manager said as he started to walk off.  
 
He did not wait for a reply, just walked off in disgust.
 
Hondo started to pull back once he was gone, but she pulled him back close, panting slightly again.
 
“No, stop!” She said breathily, “There are cameras in the hall. We come out now they will think something is wrong. And.. and I need a moment.”
 
She held onto him and laid her head on his chest as she stood there panting.
 
“You alright?” He asked softly.
 
She nodded, “Yeah… They.. they just made this body to be more sensitive in places. … If I’m touched I get easily excited… I have to wait after that or just walking can cause me to orgasm again I’m so sensitive.”
 
He frowned, “Another of their tweaks, eh?”
 
She nodded as she tried to calm her breathing.  
 
“#$@!ing bastards playin’ god.” He growled more to himself.
 
He had to admit to himself that he was torn on the idea of a woman being more sensitive to a man’s touch. It sounded good in theory, but the selfish reason behind it, and the manipulation of a living being as some customizable doll, to be made and sold like any merchandise, angered him to his core.
 
After a bit Cassie had settled down enough to fix herself up again and stow her snowy white globe back into her dress as well as she could.  
 
“I.. I think it should have been long enough to keep suspicion down.” She whispered.
 
“Has it been long enough for you?” He asked.
 
She shrugged, “Its hard to say. I’m not tingling so bad right now but I’m not fully relaxed either.”
 
“Do you need more time?” He asked as he looked down at her.
 
She looked up into his face and gave him this look of desire that surprised him a bit.
 
“I’m not sure time would matter. Just being with you stirs me. The way you touched me too, even though I know you were doing it because you had to, so they thought you were Hank, but your touch was so kind and gentle, yet so firm. So different from the cold, limp fish touch some give or the forceful, rough touch others give. I can say I’ve never been touched like that before. It gives me hope that someone could touch me and make me feel good without feeling dirty someday.” She said softly.
 
“Cassie, I hope you find that person someday, but…” He replied hesitantly.
 
She nodded, “I know. Save everyone first and then you have someone else to think about first. I know you’re not trying to lead me on, but I can’t help but wonder what your touch would be like if you actually wanted to touch me.”
 
He stared into her eyes a moment and smiled at her softly, “Maybe someday we’ll find out, but it can’t be today.”
 
She nodded again, “I understand… We’d better get to the specimen room.”
 
He nodded in reply. She turned and started down the hall again and he followed closely at her heals.  
 
To get there they had to cross the main court yard again and take a hall just a door down from where he had entered the facility the night before.  The hall they entered was dimly lit and smelled like a mortuary from the moment they entered it. If the stench of death and embalming fluids were not bad enough, a feeling of depression hung in the air and was felt by all who entered. Cassie leaned against Hondo as they walked down the hall, and he could feel her tremble.
 
“Don’t need a cold shower with this place here.” He said attempting levity to cut through the depression.
 
She nodded in agreement but the levity did not lessen the tension she felt, “If I was horny at all before, I’m not now.”
 
She stopped, pausing at the large door at the end of the hall, which contained several warning placards.  
 
She shook her head as she badged them in, “God, I hate this place.”
 
They entered the dark, cold room and she fumbled for a light switch. She soon found it and some ancient florescent lights flickered to life, adding to the creepy effect of the room. The walls were lined with shelves and several shelves stood in the center of the room. Some larger containers lined a back wall, but more of the containers were small enough to fit on bookshelves.
 
As Hondo looked around a sense of fear, anger and choking sorrow invaded him and threatened to overwhelm his emotions. This truly was the most horrific of the rooms, no doubt about it.
 
“Gadget was a mouse so we need to go to the far right. They store rodents there.” She said in a somber voice, looking down as they walked.  
 
 She stopped short and pointed where he needed to go.
 
“Far end should be the newest… I.. I can’t make myself go down there today… My kind.. the kind I used to be, are down there too and I just can’t…” She stopped and swallowed hard, trying not to get emotional.
 
He gave her shoulder a squeeze and nodded, “Wait here.”
 
He walked down the row of jars and worked his jaw angrily. Some were deformed but many had not gotten even that far. There were several sentient mouse bodies there and some of them could have been Gadgets cousins and one could have even been a sister from the look of her, but he was fairly sure it was not her. The date on the jar was from four months before, which confirmed it, but it did not make he feel less angry on uneasy. He sighed a bit in reliefs as none in the right date range could have been her, but there was still the possibility that they did not keep her. Cassie said they did not keep all of them, but he was fairly sure, given Gadgets rare genius, that they would have kept her if they knew who she was.
 
The sight of the bodies was horrific to say the least though. Many of the sentient were anthropomorphic looking creatures, so the jars looked like those of miniature humans, almost. All of them had been alive, and had a lives filled with dreams, hopes, loves, fears, defeats, and triumphs before this. Now they floated, bereft of life, in dust gathering jars. He had known of the sentients for only a small part of his life now, but in that short time, a few of the sentients he had made good friends with, like Gadget. Most humans did not know of them, and if they did many would see them as only animals and have no feelings about this sight. To him, though, he was witnessing not only a genocide, but what appeared to be a trophy cases of the lives tragically cut short by these mad men. He unfortunately recognized a few that he dealt with in passing, but none that he called friend. Still, he could imagine his friends among their numbers and it only made him sicker and angrier inside. Though he knew Cassie said that many died from the process, he knew many more lived, which might be worse for them than if they had died, given what lives most of them had to face. The sheer number in this room alone, and this being not the only facility, though it was the main facility, he believed, made it all the more tragic.
 
He sighed with frustration and anger as he stood there looking at the horrors before him. His stomach churned a bit from the sight and his own thoughts and emotions. This was unacceptable, and he knew had to stop this and soon. He walked quickly back to Cassie and grabbed her arm, barely slowing down enough for her to get into pace with him.
 
“I need to get out of here.” He said in a cold, flat tone as he nearly half drug her with him.  
 
Once out of the room he stopped and breathed in deep trembling breaths as he tried to control his own emotions. Cassie shut off the light and shut the door before stopping in front of him.
 
“It’s not safe here. We need to get back to the cell.” She said
 
He nodded without saying anything and followed her back to the cell he had met her in, where Hank lay still out cold in his medically induced sleep.
 
She shut the door and sighed, “We’re safe here. No cameras in this room.”
 
“That was #$@!ing horrible!” Hondo snarled as he thought about the specimen room.  
 
She bowed her head and nodded, “It’s indescribable… First time I was made to go in there I freaked out and cried for days. They beat me and beat me for it, trying to force me to stop and do my job but I couldn’t! … They.. they nearly beat me to death before I could stop… I think I only stopped because I ran out of tears though.”
 
Her voice had a deep sadness that could only come from experiencing true tragedy. Though he knew he could never fathom the depths of what she felt, he was beginning to understand it much better.  
 
“You.. you never told me what your kind was.” Hondo said, trying to change the subject a bit.
 
She crossed her arms, across her breasts, defensively and hung her head, as if the thought hurt her.
 
“It doesn’t matter.” She said quietly.
 
He frowned, “Sorry if that’s a bad subject.”
 
She shook her head, “Don’t apologize, please. It’s just.. I can’t go back and thinking about it makes me feel more of a stranger to myself, so I have trouble talking about it.”
 
He nodded but said nothing as he did not know what to say, so he stood there silently. As he looked at her he could see her fighting tears, so he walked up to her and grabbed her arm gently and reassuringly. She leaned into him and just rested against him. She wanted to cry but she knew it would serve to help no one. She would wait to cry until he got her out of there. Once out she would let it all out, but not until then.
 
After several minutes she pulled away from him and fixed herself.
 
“We need to get ready for the transport. They will have you help move him to the upper deck before you clock out. Best you can do is take Hanks truck and leave, as if you are him.”
 
She handed him a set of keys.
 
“What does he drive? Dodge, I take it from the keys.” He said.
 
“I don’t know, exactly. I was told it was a grey diesel pickup. I heard it was all jacked or something like that.” She said
 
“Jacked up, maybe?” He asked
 
“Yeah, that was it!” She exclaimed.
 
“What happens then? Won’t they wonder when he doesn’t come in tomorrow?” He asked.
 
She nodded and answered hesitantly, “They will, but since it wasn’t here, maybe they won’t panic so bad.”
 
Her lack of conviction in that statement worried him a bit, but there was little he could do about it now.
 
Soon the transport guards came and he was to escort them out. As they exited she grabbed his arm and looked up at him.
 
“Please come back for us.” She whispered
 
He nodded, “I will.”
 
He followed them out and walked with them to a white panel van fixed up to look like a basic delivery truck on the outside. Inside, though it was lined with bullet proofing, a gun rack, various sophisticated electronics, and human restraining devices. They laid the litter on the floor, in the walk way, and locked Hank’s ankles and one wrist into restraints to be on the safe side.
 
“Tell the prof he will be in Africa within 24 hours.” The one guard said.  
 
Hondo grunted and nodded, giving the guard an irritated look. The guard just nodded back and hopped into the truck. As soon as it was gone Hondo sighed a sigh of relief and walked back towards the underground entrance, where he had seen a timeclock as he came out.  
 
He walked over to the time clock and swiped his badge. The option came up on the screen to clock out or choose another option. He pressed the clock out and it gave him a ‘submitted’ reply. He was about to turn away when a voice called out behind him that made his blood run cold. It was a grating, whiny voice, and he was sure he was found out.
 
“So, the nut is finally gone? That’s a relief.” Professor Nimnul said.
 
He half turned, trying not to face him directly, but trying not to appear as if he was ignoring him either.
 
He nodded and half mumbled, “Yeah. He’s gone. #$@!ing nut job.”
 
Nimnul looked out at the distance and nodded, seeming not to notice anything unusual yet.
 
“Good! The last thing this operation needs is more nuts causing us trouble! I’ve got the board down on me as is and they say the boss is about to blow a gasket! … Speaking of the boss, you hear from your uncle recently?” Nimnul asked hesitantly.
 
“Uncle?” Hondo asked
 
“Yes, your uncle? Uncle Klordane? You know him, the reason you have the job you have??” Nimnul asked in an annoyed tone.
 
It clicked with Hondo then, why Hank had the job he did. Aldrin Klordane was his uncle! He had heard from Gadget about him, it was the case that brought the rangers together, but last he knew he was pulling three consecutive life sentences. Was he running this from jail, then?
 
Hondo coughed lightly and nodded, “*cough*, OH, yeah. Uncle Al. Been a couple weeks but plan to talk to him soon.”
 
He tried to keep his voice low, gruff, and a bit gravelly. He had heard Hank only speak one sentence but he was not sure it was enough to get even close to how he talked.
 
“Something wrong with your voice?” Nimnul asked.
 
“No. Nothin’s wrong with it! You implin’ somethin’?!” He asked in a pissed off tone.
 
“No, no! I didn’t mean anything by it! Just wanted to make sure you were well! Got to watch out for my old friends Nephew!” He said in over exuberant tone.
 
“That’s what I thought.” Hondo replied in a flat, annoyed tone.
 
“Remember to give your uncle my love and tell him how good I’m doing for him! And if you need anything, remember to come to me!” Nimnul said exuberantly again.
 
Hondo merely nodded and walked off towards the parking lot. After he turned away, he heard Nimnul mumbling something about wishing Hank would crawl off and die somewhere, which made him just smile to himself. It made him worry, though too. If Hank was missing, would Klordane panic and shut everything down? And how was he running things from prison?? And who else was involved???
 
Hondo pondered on all this as he walked. He looked around a moment, but it did not take long to find the truck in question. A late 90’s four-door grey diesel truck, jacked up, with stacks, a rebel flag with a skull in it on the back window, and naked girl silhouettes plastered everywhere, sat in the middle of the parking lot, which was all covered in a camo net awning to make it look from above like nothing was there. He walked up to the truck and walked around it once. It had a grill guard with a winch, large off-road tires, and home-made running boards on it. The inside had been redone, custom, which could not have been cheap, and a bunch of hunting gear filled the back seat. It was all over done in a flamboyant redneck/white-trash/hill-billie with money style, but if toned down, it could be a decent truck.  As he climbed in he noticed the floorboard was filled with empty energy drink and cheap light beer cans. The truck smelled like beer sweat, animal blood, and rotting gas station food. The nudie dash calendar had several dates highlighted with the words ‘Hunting Trip’ written beside them. That was eleven days away.
 
After sitting for a bit and looking things over, he fired up the truck and let it sit and idle for a moment as he thought. Heading home now would not get them the information they needed. An idea started to form in his mind and he chewed on it as he shoved the transmission into first gear, eased out on the clutch, and crawled out of the parking lot.  He knew the first thing he had to do was find Monty and Meredith. He hoped at least one of them were still by the Bronco, but he knew there was no guarantee of that. He drove off towards town, before circling back around to the dirt road that came up behind the facility property.  
 
Once on the dirt road again, he stopped short of the area the Bronco was parked at and walked in, carefully on foot. Once there he found the Bronco, untouched, but did not see Monty, Meredith, or Meredith’s plane anywhere around. He swore to himself as he took off the sunglasses and beret and threw them on the Bronco’s seat. About then he heard a questioning voice.
 
“Hondo?” A familiar voice said.  
 
He looked around at first before he saw Monty on a tree branch about three feet from his head.
 
“Monty? What the #$@! you doin’ there?” He asked
 
“Core-blimey, it is you! I didn’t recognize ya at first, an’ without the ‘at it was still ‘ard!” Monty exclaimed.
 
“Yeah, I ran into some issues an’ sorta lost it.” Hondo replied sheepishly.
 
“Lost it? What ‘appened, skippah?” Monty asked in a worried tone.
 
Hondo shrugged, “Got careless, I reckon. Decided to go try to find the locked-up sentient an’ I triggered a booby trap, got gassed, an’ captured.”
 
“At least ya escaped, mate!” Monty replied
 
Hondo shook his head, “Didn’t escape, really. Had some help from a pretty, but troubled lady who’s a prisoner there.”
 
Monty raised an eyebrow, “Ya don’t say? Come on, skippah, out with it! I know there’s more to it then that!”
 
Hondo sighed and shook his head, “Not sure you want to hear everythin’… it’s bad in there, Monty, really bad… With help I knocked out a guard and have been pretendin’ to be him. I’m guardin’ that gal. She was a sentient doctor. Now she’s a medical helper and sex slave for the doctors and the professor who’s leadin’ them.”
 
Monty cussed, “Strewth an’ bullocks!! Ya gotta be #$@!in’ yankin’ me damned leg!”
 
Hondo shook his head, “No, an’ it gets worse.”
 
“How can it get worse?” Monty asked hesitantly.
 
“What I saw was.. beyond horrible. The changed there, they are all like Vesper was when I found her if not worse. The sentients are just kept in a filthy cage with nothin’, no clothes no food, little water. It’s an actual hamster cage with some wood shavin’s in it.” Hondo replied
 
“An’ ya didn’t save them?!” Monty asked angrily.
 
“The gal that helped me, Cassie, she said they are talkin’ of killin’ them all, changed or not if I interfere again. She said somethin’ like that an’ all the changed would have been murdered on the spot.” Hondo replied grimly.
 
Monty sighed and shook his head, “Stewth.”
 
“The specimen room I had to go in was…” He paused as he shook his head angrily.
 
“What, skippah?” Monty asked warily.
 
“Cassie said they drain a lot of blood out of the sentient so they can fill their veins with serum to make the change faster. It also triples the mortality rate.” Hondo said angrily.
 
Monty swallowed angrily and clenched his fists, “So the specimen room is..??”
 
“If you are guess it’s worse than you can imagine. Racks of jars with bodies of the sentient that didn’t live. A huge room full an’ I’m told they don’t keep them all!” Hondo replied sharply.
 
“How many?!?” Monty asked through clenched teeth.
 
Hondo sighed, “Way more than we thought… It gets worse, though.”
 
“How can it get worse, mate?!?!? You’re sayin’ the bloody genocide of my kind is happenin’ an’ it gets worse?!?!” Monty roared.
 
Hondo looked at him with a cold looked that almost made Monty’s heart stop.
 
“I don’t know who in the government is behind it, but a couple of your old enemies are at the forefront.” He said slowly and coldly.
 
“Who?” Monty asked
 
“I don’t even know how it’s possible, but..” Hondo started to say before Monty interrupted him.
 
“Damn it, Mate, who?!” He asked in an exasperated tone.
 
“Norton Nimnul and Aldrin Klordane.” Hondo said flatly.
 
“What?!? That’s impossible! Nimnul was in an insane asylum last I heard, an’ Klordane is doin’ life sentences!!” Monty exclaimed
 
“I don’t know how, but they are behind this! Furthermore, they know of the sentients now for sure and they are takin’ them out, all of them!” Hondo growled.