Reconstruction

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

08/11/98:

So far it had been a long morning, at least though it was
long in a good way. I had to wake up early to take a meeting
with the man who we were building the new _Red October_
class ship for.

Most of the major parts of the ship where done, now it was a
matter of wiring in the systems and the computer core. It
would be ready for the first shake down flight in about five
weeks.

He was quite happy with the progress of the ship, and said
he couldn't wait to get it defending his cargo lines in his
part of space. He also told me that if it worked as well as
he hoped he would commission five more.

So it looks like I might be in the ship building business
come next year. I'm not sure if it was a good or bad thing.
I would need a new bay, the one I had wasn't large enough to
be a full scale ship-yard. Right now I was renting the bay I
had from Rachel for a dollar a year, a full construction
sight would cost measurably more.

That was worries for later though, right now I had other
things on my mind. Mostly not trying to fall on my head. At
the time I was being quite foolish, I had climbed up on top
of the roof and was now trying to walk along the ridge
without falling.

So I was talking short and slow steps, my arms out in the
air as I waved from side to side. Oria was sure I had enough
balance to do this, I just had to learn how to use it. I did
have far more then I did before being curse, but it was
still an effort to not slide down the fifty-five degree
slope of the roof.

Which is why I was very angry when someone called out my
name. I twisted my head around, looking for who ever it was
and lost my footing. Falling to my knees I started to slide
down the shingles. I scrambling for something to hang onto,
eventually getting my claws stuck under a few shingles
before I went too far.

Unsheathing the claws in my toes (I had been bare foot for
this adventure) I used them to pull myself back to the peak
of the roof. Once there I sat down, straddling the ridge.

"Sorry!" The voice called again, from my right side. Turing
my head to look I found Rachel waving at me from the ground.

I shook my head, rolling my fingers a bit, using my claws
like that had hurt.

"Are you ok?" she called again, I could see her tail
twitching a bit in worry.

"Yes," I called back. "Just pulled my claws a bit."

She winched. "Sorry," she said again, this time a little
more sheepishly.

I started moving down the roof line, mostly crawling
forward. "Just don't do it again, ok?" I called down to her.

"All right... but what in the world do you think you're
doing up there?"

I laughed. "I'll tell you when I fingered it out myself." I
answerers as I came to one of the half dozen roof access. I
kicked it open with my foot and started to slide towards it.
"I'll see you down stairs," I called down to her as I closed
the access.

Climbing down the ladder into the attic I looked around for
where I had left my shoes. Grabbing them I put them on and
went down the stairs to the first floor. Rachel was already
waiting for me at the bottom.

She looked annoyed in her own part, her paws on her hips and
her ears cocked to the side. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"Sometimes Fox, you are just an idiot." She answered back.

I shrugged, "thanks."

She rolled her eyes. "There's a reason why I'm here, I'm
going to a meeting soon and thought you might like to come
along."

That was strange, why would she ever take me to one of her
meetings. "Who's it with?"

"Dwight and Jadith," she answered.

I blew through my teeth, this is could only mean one thing.
Jadith was about to be appointed as the leader of the group
that is meant to replace the HammerHeads.

Ever seance Jenner tried to take over the Council there has
been a gap in the power of the Council. The HammerHeads were
created to be the covert and special ops of the Council.
Kind of like CIA and FBI all in one. I had been taking on
some of the stuff that they normally did, mostly as a
Council representative on difficult things.

This time though, the new group (with a different name)
would not be part of the Council. They would be accountable
to it but no longer a part. This way they hopped to prevent
a reoccurrence of what had happened.

Either way, the reconstruction of such a group would not be
taken very well inside the Council. That was why Jadith was
decided on a long time ago to become the new leader. She
didn't know all of the history of the HammerHeads, she was
smart, understood how to use power and, more then likely the
most important qualification, she was a friend of mine.

"So, how much of the new group has been put together?" I
asked.

"Not very much. Dwight and I have been working on it for the
past month." Ah, so that's where she's been all the time.
"We feel that there needs to be a leader now, to help with
the rest of the process and recruiting."

I nodded, it would look bad to say it wasn't a part of the
Council yet to have Dwight or Rachel recruiting people for
the organization.

"So, Jadith is now a Huntress?" I asked. The hunters and
Huntress were the people responsible for scouting out new
folds. Laina, one the first level council members, was a
Huntress. A few, like Jadith, were naturals, but not many.
Everyone of them also carried a console. A much larger
version of the portal control that did a lot more then just
use the folds.

Rachel nodded. "As of yesterday she is."

"Ok then, I go along, I need to talk to her anyway." I said
in response to her original question.

She lead me out of the house and into the drive way, where a
small car was waiting for us. Which was strange, I had never
actually used a car on Prid, I just used the folds.

I asked Rachel about this as the car took off.

"We already have a set of offices for the new group, there
is access to only one fold, and it's not open for use. So
we're talking the long way around."

I didn't like that answer, why would a fold not be usable?
That just didn't make sense, but I knew better to press the
issue. By the end of the trip I had decided it was probably
a security measure, and I didn't have the clearance to take
the trip.

The building itself was on the edge of a small complex of
buildings (a few quite large though) maybe two hundred feet
from one of the entrances to the Marble Hall. It felt
strange to have an origination that was to be so critical to
the Council to be outside of the Hall.

Rachel led me inside, past a guard at the door, and deeper
into the building. We finally arrived outside of an unmarked
office, Jadith was waiting by the door.

She looked from me then to Rachel. "What's going on Fox? Why
are we here?"

"Everything will be explained when Dwight arrives. We'll
wait inside until then," Rachel answered as she reached for
the door. As her paw touched the handle the lock made a dull
thunk, unlocking the door I presume. I had never seen a door
handle that unlocked like that, it was interesting to say
the least.

Inside was pretty bare, it was just a table with a half
dozen chairs around it. We all took positions, each one a
few feet away from the other, Jadith looked nervous, but I
couldn't blame her, most people never get to meet the
Council Head.

Finally she leaned over the chair between us. "Fox, what's
going on? Why are we waiting for Dwight here?"

"He wants to talk to you," I answered.

She looked absolutely shocked. "Me? Why? Has something
happened?"

I shook my head. "Nothing that I know of, don't worry, this
isn't a bad thing, but it's not my place to explain it."

She frowned and started to move back to her seat.

"Can I ask you something first?" I said.

She nodded, leaning back over to me. "What?"

"Has Page told you what happened to Naomi?" I asked.

She nodded. "I heard yes, how she's taking it?"

"Better now then before, she's not used to being an adult,
or a mother to be, but she's getting better." I took in a
breath. "Listen, the doctors want someone staying at the
house who has medical experience. Naomi asked for you."

Jadith started to blush in her cheeks. "Why me?"

"She knows you."

She paused for a few seconds, then started to shake her
head. "No Fox, I don't think I can."

"The house is big, you can take a room near hers and avoid
me pretty easily. We don't even half to talk."

She frowned, but shook her head again, slower this time
though.

"I know you still fell pretty bad about what happened with
Rhea, but this is not about that. I'm asking you for
something my daughter wants." I emphasized the fact that it
was something Naomi wanted.

She stopped, chewing on her lip softly. "I'll think about it
then," she finally answered.

I thanked her and we both sank back into are seats. We
continued to wait for Dwight, Rachel was reading something
and Jadith was playing with her console. I just sat and
worked on sheathing and unsheathing my claws. I had good
independent control now, I could work most of them
separately.

It was funny, a couple days ago Oria had spent an hour
wrapped around me, trimming and cleaning each one, something
I never had though about doing before.

Dwight arrived after about ten minutes, sliding into the
room quietly and taking a free chair at the table. We all
started to pay attention then, each of us sitting up.

He smiled at Jadith. "I'm glad you could make it here
today," he told her.

"I'm not sure so I am." She answered, "why am I here?"

He chucked softly and leaned forward. "What do you know of
the HammerHeads," he asked her.

She frowned. "That they tried to take over the Council and
Fox and Rachel here helped to stop them."

He nodded. "Yes, but do you know what they where created
for?"

She shook her head.

He slid a folder down the table to Jadith. She opened it up
and looked down at the first page. "What is this?" she
asked.

"The charter for a new organization with the same basic
mission statement as the HammerHeads," Dwight answered. "The
basic points are the new organization will run covert
operations for us as well as assorted special missions, the
same as the HammerHeads. This time though they will be a
civilian organization, not part of the Council per-see."

She closed the folder. "Why am I here then? What part do you
want me to play in this new Origination?"

He smiled, "Jadith, you excelled in your training as a
Huntress, you have some of the best rankings in critical
thinking from the past five years. Your handling of a crises
situation is done with total clam, you lead people well and
create quick and lasting loyalties."

"Sins!" she swore. "You want me to lead this little group
don't you?"

He nodded.

She turned to me. "did you know about this?"

I nodded, "I recommended you to start with."

She rolled her head back to glare to Dwight. "You trained me
to be a Huntress only to shove me behind the desk when I
graduate second in my class? What was the point?"

"This is hardly a desk job," Rachel said, finally speaking
up. "For the first few years you will be doing as much if
not more field work then desk work. You will have to keep a
low profile as well, you can't become will know or your
effectiveness will be lost. Frankly we feel that your
training as a Huntress hasn't prepared you enough for the
job."

She sighed. "So in the end my training was just bunk?"

I took my glass off, rubbing my eyes. "No," I answered,
"your training has made sure you can lead."

She snorted, "I was trained to Hunt not to spy!"

"Your training as a Huntress will still be used," Dwight
said. "You have already formed yourself a team with Ren and
Stew, you even have Sora as an extra brain trust and
technical help. This team will not be broken up, you will
still be used to hunt, but in places with that are
considered to have high levels of danger. You three are the
top of your class, that can not be let go to waste."

"So you want me to Hunt the worse places, run your spy
network and not become know to people?"

He nodded.

She shook her head a bit. "How much desk work would I be
looking at?"

"Not much," Rachel answered. "We will be setting you up with
a staff to handle most of it. In fact you won't even
officially be appointed to the job till next year. Until
that time you and your team will operation as normal
hunters. Though you will still be in charge of recruiting
people."

She paused for a few seconds, then smiled just a bit. "I'll
have a few conditions then," she said.

"Name them," Dwight responded.

She shook her head. "Not yet, no, I need to workout what
they are first. I will do it though, it sounds like the kind
of challenge I could use."

Dwight smiled and stood up. "Thank you then. You can come
see me at any time when I'm in my office. Rachel will fill
you in on the rest of the details." He nodded to Rachel as
he said this, then left the room.

Rachel smiled and started to speak, then stopped. "Fox?" she
asked.

I nodded, "Yes?"

She looked puzzled for a few seconds. "How do you feel?"

I shrugged, looking between her and Jadith, who looked just
as baffled. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Jadith and Rachel exchanged a look then Jadith bent towards
me, her arm slipping behind my chair. Then she yanked on my
tail!

I let out a slight yelp and jumped in the chair. It was then
that I noticed my eye sight had improved to almost normal
and I had some where along the line gained a muzzle.

"I'm a fox again aren't I?" I asked, looking down at the red
fur that covered my paws. The question sounded silly even to
me.

Rachel nodded. "Yes, it just now happened. It was like you
shrunk in on yourself and this was left."

I did notice that my clothing had become looser on my frame.
Just like last time where I had a sudden switch to a fox I
had lost some height.

Rachel looked at Jadith. "I'll go over this with you
tomorrow. Can you be back here at noon?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Rachel nodded and walked over to me. "All right, we'll delay
everything till then. You can go now, I'll get Fox back
home."

She smiled as she stood up. "Thank you, I'll see you
tomorrow," she said as she left.

I tried to stand up as well, but as I took a step I fell
forward, landing on my face. Rolling over I quickly found
the problem. My legs had changed, instead of walking
plantagrade like normal I was digigrade, like Rhea was,
walking on my toes.

Rachel was right there, helping me up. "You ok?" she asked.

I nodded, standing carefully, felling how much my balance
had changed. "Ya, this is just strange."

She smiled, putting an arm under my shoulder. "Here, I'll
help you back to your place."

She helped me out of the building and back into the same car
that had brought us here.

It brought us back to my place, and we went inside. I was
able to go most of the way without her help, my tail
providing most of the balance. I had to roll up my pant legs
almost to my knees though to keep them from falling down
around my feet.

I had lost a little more then half a foot of high, making me
five feet tall. Most of it was in how my legs now bent, but
the rest was from being small on the whole then I used to
be.

Once inside we spilt ways, she want on to her room to take
care of some stuff and I just crashed onto the couch, but
not before getting a look at myself in the mirror.

Other then the legs there wasn't much of a different from
what I had looked like last time I changed. Mostly red with
white down the sides of my face, though each eye had a red
patch around it. It was quite interesting.

It was while I was sitting on the couch, getting my barring
over all of this that Oria came home.

"Fox?" she ask in amazement as she saw me.

I smiled. "It just happened," I answered.

She walked over and sat on the couch next to me. "You look
good as a fox."

"Thanks,"

Reaching over she touched the side of my muzzles, moving her
fingers over my fur. "Is this what you looked like when I
changed you?"

I shook my head. "No, it was more of a color mix, and I
wasn't walking on my toes," I said, raising a foot and
wiggling them at her.

She laughed and kisses my nose. "So I see. How long will
this last?"

I shrugged, "don't know, last time it was only a few
minutes."

She nodded. "I don't think I would mind having you with fur
for a few days."

I smiled.

"First though, I was wondering if you would like to spend a
few days on my world?" She asked with a slight smile on both
her mouth and her ears.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really, why?"

"Rose and I need to wrap up the last million things needed
to make her the Lady. It will take about a week, I thought
you might want to come along."

"Sounds like I would be board out of my mind." I commented.

She nodded touching the pendant around my neck. "So, be Rhea
for the first part. It will be the right time anyway."

"And for the rest of it?" I asked.

"I wasn't planing to let you out of bed," she whispered into
my ear.

I laughed softly. "I see..." right before she kissed me, I
kissed her right back.

----

This story is (c) 1998 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.