Fic: I Fought the Claw (and the Claw Won)
Part One
Part Two
Now then, I'm sure you eager young things are wondering how such a handsome, clever and sexy fellow like me got out of there. Begging my count for ransom credits was right out. I've got an allergy to owing people money, thanks to an unfortunate incident in my youth involving my first ground car and a neighbor's front porch. So, the only option was to make a daring escape from the premises.
This required a bit of preplanning. There was no point in trying to free myself while we were in transit at superluminal. Even assuming the Red Vixen had something in her launch bay that was large enough to have an FTL drive, trying to launch in flight would just turn me into a mathematically improbable smear on the cosmos. So I'd have to figure out when we were dropping out of superluminal, and whether we'd be near an inhabited planet that I could run to.
Fortunately, I was clever fellow. The Red Vixen had said my quarters were heavily monitored, and I had no doubts about that. However, monitors need, to put simply, monitoring. Which means there had to be some poor sod in the ship's security office watching all those lovely cameras all day and all night long. Can we say "Stupefying boredom" my little cubs?
So I resolved to be as dull as possible. For two ship days I did absolutely nothing except eat, sleep, and watch the most boring documentary vids stored on the cell's entertainment unit that I could find. I hadn't even realized before then that some idiot could make a documentary about a typeface. The things you learn!
Male of action that I am, it was nigh torture for me, I can assure you. But it was well worth the effort, for on the evening on the second day I made my move. Stretching and yawning, I made my way to the cell's lav, which was as richly appointed as the rest of my quarters. It was also, I was hoping, free of visual monitoring. We foxen do have our proprieties that we like to stick to, and I suspected that held true even for the vivacious Red Vixen.
It was the work of a moment to set the bath running before pulling out the knife I'd taken from the kitchen the day before and kept hidden up my sleeve. I stood up on the loo and using the tip of the knife began unscrewing the circulation vent set in the top of the ceiling. Once it was loose, I heaved myself up into the vent and began crawling.
"Ah," you're now saying. "Wasn't that collar of yours supposed to zap you if you tried to escape?" Why yes it would have, if I'd been silly enough to try to go through the front door. However, I'd taken the chance that the trigger for the collar's stunner was linked directly to the door itself. Slipping through the vent, I pulled myself in the air circulation shaft and started crawling. I'll admit to a little sigh of relief once I'd gone about 5 meters forward, past the edge of my comfy quarters. No zap meant no scanner beyond the door.
Now it was time for the Daring Escape portion of our program. There was the barest possibility that my beautiful but prudently cautious captor had set a trap for her guests, assuming they got this far. Now I knew if I headed to port or starboard on this level, I'd be able to get to the lifeboats, so I had to assume the Red Vixen had prepared for that. Therefore, instead of going that way I went up, pulling myself up the maintenance hand holds in the vertical shafts to the spine of the good ship Scarlet Claw
.
Why there you might ask? For one thing, the upper levels on this tub was where the crew cabins were located. If I could scoot over to one of them, I might be able to exchange my stylish yet bright togs for something a trifle more piratical, and from there be able to walk about more freely until I could reach lifeboats and take my leave of my hostess.
I paused at the first vent leading to a cabin and took a whiff. The smell of something like wet rubber wafted through my nostrils. Wazagans, yech. Nothing there to wear even if I wanted to give it a try. It would all be sized too large for me. I scooted onward, pausing at the next vent as a familiar scent of bourbon and smoke hit my nostrils, making me clamp down hard my muzzle to keep from sneezing.
Once I'd gotten my nose under, I took a peek through the bars of the vent. Sitting at a comconsole unit was the vivacious Red Vixen herself, frowning over a star chart displayed in the holovid and then at a spreadsheet on a nearby flatscreen display. Ah, I'd found the captain's cabin! While I knew I'd need to move forward in a bit, I couldn't help but pause to enjoy the sheer aesthetics of her barely there togs, even if the frown was in contrast to her usual charming smile.
After a few moments the hatch chimed and she stood from the comconsole, settling herself in an ornately carved chair with red leather upholstering. "Enter," she called, and in walked a much shorter vixen with a black and white fur pattern and wearing a much more conventional set of culottes and black vest over a dark red blouse. I very nearly sneezed again in surprise as she knelt down on a floor pad, paws on her knees, while the Red Vixen stroked her headfur and ears in a possessive manner.
"What is your will, Mistress?" the kneeling vixen asked.
"We had to let the Highglider Plentiful slip through our claws, thanks to that lunatic fighter pilot," the Red Vixen said. "I'd have chased her down, but that would have taken time, and I can't afford to let the Scarlet Claw's course become predictable. Once we get to the next refueling station, I'll want you to hit the bars and listen for scuttlebutt concerning Countess Highglider's next move. While you do that, I'll be doing the same through higher channels."
"Won't you need a bodyguard, Mistress?"
"I'll be taking Lt. Zan with me, Pet."
"Pet" hung her head lower. "Yes, Mistress."
"Now, now," the Red Vixen said, cupping her paw under Pet's chin and raising it back up. "This isn't about what happened on Scabro. You were busy yourself trying to dodge Bloody Margo's bully boys. You can hardly blame yourself for not reaching me in time. Besides, Lord Darktail proved himself quite effective during that fight. I need you where I need you because that's where you'll be most effective. You've done it before."
"Yes, Mistress," Pet agreed, sounding a bit less disappointed.
"Good girl." The Red Vixen gave her a very possessive lick between her ears. Woah ho! It appeared that she really did consider the other vixen her pet, in a way so archaic that not even Nobles bothered with it these days. "Now get back on your feet and attend your duties."
Pet stood up and was turning to leave when the annuciator chimed. When the Red Vixen answered I heard a wazagan voice on the other end say, "Lt. Zan here. Begging yer pardon, milady, but the prisoner has escaped from his cell."
"Oh? Lovely," she said, sounding pretty relaxed for someone who just suffered a jail break. "He'll probably be heading to the lifeboats. Be sure to scan the ventilation shafts leading fore and aft."
"That's just it, Milady. We've already scanned them and he hasn't tripped the alarms."
She frowned. "Then you'd better find out where he is, hadn't you?"
"Yes, milady. We're on it!"
And with that I was on my merry way. The hunt was up for certain, but that didn't mean that I'd lost! I scrambled forward, sniffing again. Ah, it was another foxen cabin, which was good news for me. I unscrewed the vent cover and slipped inside.
A quick check of the dresser revealed the bad news. All the clothes cut for females, and a small one at that. I suspected that I was in the mysterious Pet's cabin. I'm small enough myself that most vixens' stuff would actually fit, not that I have any love of girly underthings. Fortunately my dilemma was solved when I found a set of tech coveralls stuffed into the back of the closet, which proved loose enough that I could wear them as a replacement for my orange jumper, and even hid my electric necklace if I kept the collar turned up.
Now, I'd be the first to admit my chances weren't the best. I didn't have any idea how many other foxen were aboard. Aside from the Red Vixen herself and her diminutive minion, the only non-wazagan I'd seen was the ship's surgeon. But if there was one thing I'd learned from my military days, it was that if you walked like you knew exactly where you were going and weren't in any mood to be interrupted, you could get in almost anywhere.
So with that in mind I keyed the door open, stepped out into the corridor...
…and bounced snouts with the Red Vixen's pet, who was just trying to enter the cabin I was egressing.
"Clean and dusted, ma'am," I said, giving her a nod and trying to slip past.
She didn't even give me a proper Hey you! before she punched me in the kidney, then grabbed me before I could fall over and sent my poor abused body flying over her shoulder. Ship's corridors not being the roomiest places I impacted the opposite bulkhead in short order and did my imitation of a collapsing heap as she stunned me for good measure.
Part Two
Now then, I'm sure you eager young things are wondering how such a handsome, clever and sexy fellow like me got out of there. Begging my count for ransom credits was right out. I've got an allergy to owing people money, thanks to an unfortunate incident in my youth involving my first ground car and a neighbor's front porch. So, the only option was to make a daring escape from the premises.
This required a bit of preplanning. There was no point in trying to free myself while we were in transit at superluminal. Even assuming the Red Vixen had something in her launch bay that was large enough to have an FTL drive, trying to launch in flight would just turn me into a mathematically improbable smear on the cosmos. So I'd have to figure out when we were dropping out of superluminal, and whether we'd be near an inhabited planet that I could run to.
Fortunately, I was clever fellow. The Red Vixen had said my quarters were heavily monitored, and I had no doubts about that. However, monitors need, to put simply, monitoring. Which means there had to be some poor sod in the ship's security office watching all those lovely cameras all day and all night long. Can we say "Stupefying boredom" my little cubs?
So I resolved to be as dull as possible. For two ship days I did absolutely nothing except eat, sleep, and watch the most boring documentary vids stored on the cell's entertainment unit that I could find. I hadn't even realized before then that some idiot could make a documentary about a typeface. The things you learn!
Male of action that I am, it was nigh torture for me, I can assure you. But it was well worth the effort, for on the evening on the second day I made my move. Stretching and yawning, I made my way to the cell's lav, which was as richly appointed as the rest of my quarters. It was also, I was hoping, free of visual monitoring. We foxen do have our proprieties that we like to stick to, and I suspected that held true even for the vivacious Red Vixen.
It was the work of a moment to set the bath running before pulling out the knife I'd taken from the kitchen the day before and kept hidden up my sleeve. I stood up on the loo and using the tip of the knife began unscrewing the circulation vent set in the top of the ceiling. Once it was loose, I heaved myself up into the vent and began crawling.
"Ah," you're now saying. "Wasn't that collar of yours supposed to zap you if you tried to escape?" Why yes it would have, if I'd been silly enough to try to go through the front door. However, I'd taken the chance that the trigger for the collar's stunner was linked directly to the door itself. Slipping through the vent, I pulled myself in the air circulation shaft and started crawling. I'll admit to a little sigh of relief once I'd gone about 5 meters forward, past the edge of my comfy quarters. No zap meant no scanner beyond the door.
Now it was time for the Daring Escape portion of our program. There was the barest possibility that my beautiful but prudently cautious captor had set a trap for her guests, assuming they got this far. Now I knew if I headed to port or starboard on this level, I'd be able to get to the lifeboats, so I had to assume the Red Vixen had prepared for that. Therefore, instead of going that way I went up, pulling myself up the maintenance hand holds in the vertical shafts to the spine of the good ship Scarlet Claw
.
Why there you might ask? For one thing, the upper levels on this tub was where the crew cabins were located. If I could scoot over to one of them, I might be able to exchange my stylish yet bright togs for something a trifle more piratical, and from there be able to walk about more freely until I could reach lifeboats and take my leave of my hostess.
I paused at the first vent leading to a cabin and took a whiff. The smell of something like wet rubber wafted through my nostrils. Wazagans, yech. Nothing there to wear even if I wanted to give it a try. It would all be sized too large for me. I scooted onward, pausing at the next vent as a familiar scent of bourbon and smoke hit my nostrils, making me clamp down hard my muzzle to keep from sneezing.
Once I'd gotten my nose under, I took a peek through the bars of the vent. Sitting at a comconsole unit was the vivacious Red Vixen herself, frowning over a star chart displayed in the holovid and then at a spreadsheet on a nearby flatscreen display. Ah, I'd found the captain's cabin! While I knew I'd need to move forward in a bit, I couldn't help but pause to enjoy the sheer aesthetics of her barely there togs, even if the frown was in contrast to her usual charming smile.
After a few moments the hatch chimed and she stood from the comconsole, settling herself in an ornately carved chair with red leather upholstering. "Enter," she called, and in walked a much shorter vixen with a black and white fur pattern and wearing a much more conventional set of culottes and black vest over a dark red blouse. I very nearly sneezed again in surprise as she knelt down on a floor pad, paws on her knees, while the Red Vixen stroked her headfur and ears in a possessive manner.
"What is your will, Mistress?" the kneeling vixen asked.
"We had to let the Highglider Plentiful slip through our claws, thanks to that lunatic fighter pilot," the Red Vixen said. "I'd have chased her down, but that would have taken time, and I can't afford to let the Scarlet Claw's course become predictable. Once we get to the next refueling station, I'll want you to hit the bars and listen for scuttlebutt concerning Countess Highglider's next move. While you do that, I'll be doing the same through higher channels."
"Won't you need a bodyguard, Mistress?"
"I'll be taking Lt. Zan with me, Pet."
"Pet" hung her head lower. "Yes, Mistress."
"Now, now," the Red Vixen said, cupping her paw under Pet's chin and raising it back up. "This isn't about what happened on Scabro. You were busy yourself trying to dodge Bloody Margo's bully boys. You can hardly blame yourself for not reaching me in time. Besides, Lord Darktail proved himself quite effective during that fight. I need you where I need you because that's where you'll be most effective. You've done it before."
"Yes, Mistress," Pet agreed, sounding a bit less disappointed.
"Good girl." The Red Vixen gave her a very possessive lick between her ears. Woah ho! It appeared that she really did consider the other vixen her pet, in a way so archaic that not even Nobles bothered with it these days. "Now get back on your feet and attend your duties."
Pet stood up and was turning to leave when the annuciator chimed. When the Red Vixen answered I heard a wazagan voice on the other end say, "Lt. Zan here. Begging yer pardon, milady, but the prisoner has escaped from his cell."
"Oh? Lovely," she said, sounding pretty relaxed for someone who just suffered a jail break. "He'll probably be heading to the lifeboats. Be sure to scan the ventilation shafts leading fore and aft."
"That's just it, Milady. We've already scanned them and he hasn't tripped the alarms."
She frowned. "Then you'd better find out where he is, hadn't you?"
"Yes, milady. We're on it!"
And with that I was on my merry way. The hunt was up for certain, but that didn't mean that I'd lost! I scrambled forward, sniffing again. Ah, it was another foxen cabin, which was good news for me. I unscrewed the vent cover and slipped inside.
A quick check of the dresser revealed the bad news. All the clothes cut for females, and a small one at that. I suspected that I was in the mysterious Pet's cabin. I'm small enough myself that most vixens' stuff would actually fit, not that I have any love of girly underthings. Fortunately my dilemma was solved when I found a set of tech coveralls stuffed into the back of the closet, which proved loose enough that I could wear them as a replacement for my orange jumper, and even hid my electric necklace if I kept the collar turned up.
Now, I'd be the first to admit my chances weren't the best. I didn't have any idea how many other foxen were aboard. Aside from the Red Vixen herself and her diminutive minion, the only non-wazagan I'd seen was the ship's surgeon. But if there was one thing I'd learned from my military days, it was that if you walked like you knew exactly where you were going and weren't in any mood to be interrupted, you could get in almost anywhere.
So with that in mind I keyed the door open, stepped out into the corridor...
…and bounced snouts with the Red Vixen's pet, who was just trying to enter the cabin I was egressing.
"Clean and dusted, ma'am," I said, giving her a nod and trying to slip past.
She didn't even give me a proper Hey you! before she punched me in the kidney, then grabbed me before I could fall over and sent my poor abused body flying over her shoulder. Ship's corridors not being the roomiest places I impacted the opposite bulkhead in short order and did my imitation of a collapsing heap as she stunned me for good measure.