Chapter 1:
The Beginning

	What had happened? Why? How? These were on his mind when he arrived
at the base. He was greeted by the guards. The greetings were cold,
distrustful. After all, he was different.

	They took him to his quarters. For what is was worth, it was 
quite cozy. A nice, warm bed was the focal point of the room. It was fit 
for a king, yet he was a stranger to the land. The closet had fine silk 
clothes, each more delicate than the last. But it didn't feel right. He 
threw himself on the bed and tried to figure out what had happened.

****************************************************************************

	His name was Tobias. For his time, that was a very weird name. 
And if something was ever weird about you, you became the prime target for 
beatings, name calling, and other such problems. He had evolved into a 
social outcast. He felt that he was the only sane mind in a world poisoned 
by sex, money, and bad music. He was the only ray of light in a darkened 
world; the only wolf in the pack that was not rabid. Yes, that what he 
was. A lone wolf.

	He had problems. As a social outcast, he constantly had trash 
thrown at him, got beating on a regular basis, and was verbally abused. He 
was cursed with pain-in-the-ass teachers and even worse grades. Nobody 
cared for him. He was the world's scapegoat. That was his purpose.

	Through all his instability, he had gained a very few, though very 
valuable friends. As far as it went in that day, they were loyal. They kept 
him from "neutralizing" his problems.

	Vu was a bright kid. His voice echoed through life with the call of 
hope. If given the right resources, he could bring about a change for the 
better in the world. And, more importantly, he kept Tobias "with it." So 
long as Vu was present, Tobias would remain calm.

	Shivana was Tobias' best friend. She embodied his feminine side 
(which was a rather large part of him). She was the one that he could open 
up to really easily. To top it all off, she was beautiful and well kept. 
There was nothing that anybody could hate about her. That was probably 
another reason Tobias could always be seen with her.

	Tobias had always been a little unstable. He had the mental capacity 
of someone 5 years older than him and the welled up rage of someone who's 
just seen three generations of his family murdered. If anything crossed
 him, he would explode, attempting to destroy it and anything for five city 
blocks. That day eventually came. He was set off by one well aimed toss of 
some food. He snapped, ran up, and cracked the one who threw it in the 
teeth. Ten minutes later, the paramedics were loading him into an ambulance. 

	His biggest dream was to be taken off planet. He dreamt that 
somewhere, out in the stars, there was a race that was related to humans, 
but unique in some way. He dreamt that they would come to pick him up. He 
dreamt that he would be taken away from this cesspool called Earth. He wished
it. His wish eventually came true. After his usual day of classes, torture, 
and agony, he crossed a tear in the time-space continuum. Rather, it crossed 
him. It happened so suddenly too. The ground just opened up and sucked him 
in. He went spiraling down into a well of blue. He had no clue where he would
land. He suddenly felt very dizzy....

*****************************************************************************

	That's where it got fuzzy. His memory was a blank from there. He sat 
up and sighed. "What happened to me?" He looked at the head of the bed. 
Sitting there was a small, burgundy book with a tiny, silver cross etched 
into the cover. He reached over and took it. "A bible," he mumbled. "I never 
would have guessed." He was a little rusty when it came to religion, so he 
figured he'd read it. Maybe that would trigger something....

*****************************************************************************

	As soon as the world had stopped spinning on him, he realized that he
was in a small room. It was pretty sterile; everything was a shiny chrome 
color. He sat up and rubbed his head. "What the hell happened?" he asked 
himself. He ran a finger across the table he was on. "I could use an 
aspirin." He looked around. No medication was to be found. He shrugged and
decided to examine his surroundings. The only unique thing that he could find
in the room was a wide, full sized mirror that was on one of the walls. 
Wondering why this kind of room would have a mirror, he approached it. He 
could see a light, albeit a dim one, on the other side. "So it's one of 
those two way mirrors," he said out loud. He tapped it. "You can come out 
now." The mirror suddenly turned transparent. That didn't phase him. But 
what was on the other side sent him into a panic and put him on the other 
side of the room.

	Were they human? They stood perfectly on two legs, had hands, and 
wore clothes. They ranged in heights from 5 foot to 6 foot. They were 
carrying clipboards and writing down things. They were observing him. And 
they were chatting amongst themselves. But were they human? Tobias shook 
his head. "T-they aren't human!" he mumbled. They had fur, tails, muzzles, 
and very, VERY sharp looking teeth. They looked like animals. It took him a 
while to realize he wasn't on the dinner menu. Slowly, he approached the 
window. One of the creatures, one that looked like a raccoon and wore a white 
lab coat, approached as well. "Do you understand me?" he said in perfect 
English. That threw Tobias off. These creatures understood his language? 
"Do you comprehend what I am saying?" the raccoon said.
	"You speak English?" Tobias asked. That triggered a whole frenzy of 
activity. Everyone started to write down notes and compare them with the next
 guy's work. After five or so minutes of this, the raccoon turned back to him.
	"Yes, we speak English. What about you?"
	"I can speak it fluently. May I ask who you are and where we are?"
	The raccoon hesitated. "I...cannot tell you who I am right now or 
tell you our location."
	"Some help you are raccoon boy." He sighed. It was then he realized 
what he had just said. "Hold up, I thought animals didn't talk or manipulate
things like you do. And here you are, acting like humans!"
	The raccoon raised an eyebrow. "Human? What is a human?"
	Tobias laughed. "You're looking at one."
	The raccoon smirked. "And do you, by any chance, have a name."
	"Tobias. But I don't like to be called that."
	The raccoon raised an eyebrow. "You've got a name, but you don't like 
it. Well, that is understandable. What do you like to be called?"
	"I'd prefer the name Lone Wolf," he said proudly.
	The raccoon winced, dropping whatever was in his arms. "C-could you 
repeat that?" Tobias did. "That's what I thought." He turned to the others 
and said something. They all cheered. The frenzy that ensued scared the 
daylights out of him. They were celebrating something. He could pick out 
various bits of comments, like "It's him!" and "the chosen one!" The chaos 
was too overwhelming....

*****************************************************************************

	He shut the book. "So that's it," he said. "That's what happened." He 
put the book back on the head of the bed. "But it still doesn't explain much." 
He stretched. He knew that there were no other humans around. Although that 
meant Vu and Shivana were not around, he knew he could breath easier. His 
hosts held him so highly, he doubted he would hear any names.

	He got up and began to pace. He wasn't sure of what would happen next. 
He was, for all purposes, scared. He knew nobody, knew nothing of the land, 
and couldn't blend into the background like he usually did. All that he 
wanted was some peace of mind and a little information. He doubted he would 
find it within the books that were in his room. "I wish there were a computer 
or something around," he mumbled. He sat down in at the desk on the opposite 
side of the room. That's when he noticed a small keyboard. Curious, he 
started to type. A screen popped out of the wall. "Cool," he said. "Let's see 
what I can get out of this." He typed. Text flew up the screen. Finally, he 
came to the part that he dreaded so much. The screen read: "Enter user name 
and password." He had no clue what that was and hit cancel. The system 
started up instantly. He immediately began to probe the system. All that he 
came up with was one file:

"Date: 1.04.28.7
 Subj: Start of War

	It happened. The conflict has broken down and war has broken out. 
Those pompous Raider slugs refuse to listen to reason. They'll be the death 
of us all. We of the Pack will not let our planet die on us. We must stop 
this before there are too many casualties. Where's a miracle when you need 
it?

Pack Forward Command
Commander T. Walker"

	"Yeah, that helps a lot," Tobias mumbled. "I still don't know what's 
going on."
	"Well," a soft voice asked. "What do you want to know?" He spun 
around to find the person addressing him. What he saw nearly knocked him into 
next Tuesday. 

	She stood about 5'7". Her raven black hair was shadowed only by her 
amber eyes. Her light brown, bushy tail trailed behind her, just above the 
ground. Her muzzle, that of a fox, wasn't too big, but not so small it didn't 
exist. Her sharp looks and soft expression made Tobias forget that she wasn't 
human. "Um.....yeah, I was just wondering...." He let his sentence trail off.
	The young fox laughed. "You've certainly got a way with words, don't 
you?"
	He laughed nervously. "Yeah."
	She smiled and extended a hand. "I'm Swift. It's a pleasure to meet 
you."
	"Swift....that's a nice name. Very.....unique."
	She blushed, or that what he thought she did. "Can I please get your 
name?"
	"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. You can call me Tobias."
	"Funny, I thought they said that you were Lone Wolf."
	"Let's not get into that." He leaned back in his chair. "So, what can 
I do for you?"
	"Nothing really. I'm a member of the house keeping staff. I just need 
to take care of my duties. So I'll leave you alone while I work." She bowed 
respectfully and started about her business. Tobias watched her as she worked. 
He was hypnotized by her. He didn't know if it was because of her soft nature, 
her shapely figure, or the fact she wasn't human. But he knew he was bedazzled 
by her presence. She just happened to turn around and saw the glazed look on 
his face. "What? Is there something wrong?"
	He regained himself. "No, I was just thinking."
	She laughed. "Okay. If that's all, I must be going." She turned for 
the door.
	He grabbed her hand. "Um, you wouldn't mind staying a little longer, 
ya know, just to chat?"
	She hesitated. "I don't know. I am on duty and all....."
	"Don't worry. I'll take the heat if you get in trouble."
	She smiled. "You're sweet." She sat down on the desk. "So what do you 
want to talk about."
	"Nothing at the moment," a third voice growled. Tobias looked towards 
the door. A big, burly guard was standing there. "Swift, get back to work. 
And don't bother the Chosen One."
	Swift stood up. "Sorry sir." She started to leave. Tobias caught her 
hand and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and left. He then turned 
to the guard.
	"Anything I can do for you?" he asked.
	"Come with me," the guard snarled. "You are needed for something."

	The walk through the corridors was very, very disturbing. He knew 
that he was going to be watched by nearly everybody as he followed the guard, 
and he knew that the people watching him weren't human. But that still didn't 
dispel the awkward feeling he had. He felt like he was being put on parade. 
He was their latest trophy.

	Eventually, mercifully, they reached their destination. "Go in and 
sit down in the chair," the guard told him. Since Tobias stood no match 
against this guy, he complied. The door shut on him as soon as he entered the 
room. The room itself was small, with enough room for someone to walk around 
the chair with their elbows sticking out. There were all sorts of gadgets and 
do-dads attached to various machines that did god only knows what. The only 
calming thing about the room was that it had a lovely domed roof with a deep
blue tint to it. He found the chair, which looked like something the dentist 
from hell would have his patients sit in, and hesitantly sat down. "Relax," 
he told himself. "They just want to be friendly." A few minutes passed before 
he heard a door open. He turned and saw a figure. As she came into the light, 
he was again breath taken.

	The white wolf, probably about 23 years of age, stepped up to one of 
the machines. She pushed a few buttons and turned to him. Her green eyes 
reflected the light in a most beautiful way. Her brownish, short cut hair was 
easily overshadowed. He could see that her white lab coat hid a pair of jeans 
and a run-of-the-mill shirt underneath it. He remained silent as she went 
about her work. Finally, he spoke up. "Greetings," he said, trying his best 
not to sound menacing. The wolf looked at him. "What's your name?" She
hesitated. Figuring he said it too softly, he repeated his question. It took
 him a while after she turned her back to realize what was going on. "It's 
okay, you can tell me. I won't hurt you."
	The wolf chuckled. "You're quite the talkative one, aren't you?"
	"No, just very inquisitive. I mean, I DO like to know who I'm dealing 
with before anything else."
	The wolf grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him. "Well then, 
you can call me Kaitlyn."
	He smiled. "A pleasure to meet you Kaitlyn. Now, what do you want of 
me?"
	"I need you to sit back and relax. We're going to run some medical 
scans on you while I conduct your psychological test."
	"A psychological test? You people think I'm that nuts?"
	She laughed. "Not yet anyway. Just sit back and relax so we can get 
this underway."

	For the next hour, Kaitlyn bombarded Tobias with questions ranging 
with topic from morality to "general knowledge". "If anybody back where I 
came from could get their hands on what you've taught me today," he commented 
near the end of the test. "They'd love you people to death."
	Kaitlyn laughed. "Oh? Are your people that simple?"
	"For the most part."
	Kaitlyn looked at her notepad. "We've got one more question to go on 
your exam." One of the machines beeped. "And your medical scan is over. You 
can sit up now."
	He sat up. "Okay then. Ask away."
	"Assume for the moment that we have a way to instantly send you back 
to your home world. We're giving you that choice. Would you take the 
opportunity?"
	"HELL NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
	She put a hand on his arm. "Calm down, it was only a hypothetical 
question."
	He was shaking violently. "Sorry." He leaned back in the chair. 
"Forgive me."
	"You're forgiven." She put the notepad down. "I'm curious. Just off 
the record, why not?"
	"Because my people are evil."
	She raised an eyebrow. "Does that make you evil as well?"
	"Of course not. Why do you say that?"
	"Because you are a member of your people."
	He chuckled. "Don't make me laugh. They couldn't care less about my 
guts. They're way too wrapped up in their own business to worry about me."
	"Okay. I understand. Sorry for asking."
	"It's okay. Anything else you wish to know?"
	She hesitated. "Um.....one more thing." He nodded. "What makes your 
people so evil?" He didn't answer. He just leaned back, shaking his head. 
"Tobias? Tobias?" She shook his arm. "Hey, Tobias! What's wrong?" He looked 
at her. "You can tell me what's wrong. We're friends now, aren't we?"
	He smiled. "I guess you're right. But do you really want to hear 
about it?"
	"Please?"
	"Okay. Get comfortable, it's a long explanation."

	"My people suffer from a number of vices. But they treat them like 
they were virtues. They treat them like law. They've been poisoned by them. 
And I hate it. I don't want to even think about it. But I guess I have no 
choice, now do I?" Kaitlyn smiled. "The biggest of the vices are simple: 
arrogance, sex, money, and bad music."
	Kaitlyn blinked. "What's so bad about the last three?"
	"I was getting to that. You gotta give me a chance here."
	"Sorry."
	"It's okay. Now, the vices. Arrogance is pretty obvious. It also 
ties in with egocentricism. I can only assume you know what I'm talking 
about." She nodded. "But with my people, it's like a plague. One race in 
particular is very poisoned with this disease. They don't have pride for 
their home country. They have no respect for the other countries. They flaunt 
their flags like no tomorrow. And it's not just one flag, it's hundred PER 
PERSON." Kaitlyn snickered. "I'm serious. That's what they do. They put it on 
everything they own, ranging from cars to clothes."
	Kaitlyn smiled. "Boy, they sound pretty deplorable."
	"You're telling me. And I had to live in the middle of all of them."
	She laughed. "All right. I get the point. Go on."
	"Sex. Again, it's pretty self explanatory. My people seem to be 
obsessed with it. It's all that they seem to do now adays."
	"And could you please explain why that's bad?"
	"It took us over 200 years to put one billion people on the planet. 
It took us 100 years to increase that number six fold."
	"Ah, that explains it."
	"And it's non-discriminant either. All ages seem to do it."
	"That's awful!"
	"You're telling me."
	"Did you ever engage in such 'activity'?"
	"Nope."
	"Good. Please continue."
	"Okay. I'm sure you have some form of money." She nodded. "And I'm 
sure that's what everybody wants." She nodded again. "How obsessive are your 
people about it?"
	"Not very. Why?"
	He chuckled. "Be thankful you aren't like that."
	"Let me guess....."
	"Yup. That's all that they think about. Got robbed a number of times 
m'self. Lost a good sum of money too. But I'm not worried about it. There's 
no way they can take anything from me now."
	"Why? They not around here?"
	"Nope. I'm flat broke." He turned out his pockets. She laughed and 
urged him to continue. "Finally, we come to the conflict of bad music."
	"What's so bad about it?"
	"You really wanna see?" She nodded. He handed her a small cassette 
from his shirt pocket. "Play that."
	She shrugged and put it into one of the machines. "Computer, play," 
she commanded. Instantly, the room filled with the "lovely" sounds of DMX. 
She was forced to cover her ears. "COMPUTER! STOP!" The sound died down. 
"That was horrendous."
	"And you wanna know the scary thing about it?" She nodded. "That shit 
is popular music." She shuddered. "Okay. You've proved your point. You can go 
back to your quarters." She started for the exit. "Wait, before I go, should 
I call for an escort?"
	"Please. I don't know where's where in this place." She laughed.

	He picked up a book as soon as the guard left him. He wasn't 
particularly fond of reading, but since there was no TV in the room, it would 
have to do. Besides, it wasn't really going to matter. He knew someone would 
be showing up soon. There was a knock at the door. "Come in," he called. 
"Door's open."
	The door creaked open. "Hello again Tobias," Swift said.
	"Great to see you again Swift. Please, come in." She entered. The 
plain, gray suit she was wearing before was replaced by general street 
clothing. "You off duty?"
	"Sure am. How'd everything go?"
	"How did....wha?"
	"The Psychological and Medical Examination."
	He was shocked. "How did you-?"
	"The command staff does that to all creatures they don't know about." 
He chuckled nervously. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
	He shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I just want someone to talk to."
	"Why is that?"
	"I'm just lonely. You don't know what it's like to be separated from 
your own kind."
	"I can only guess." She sat down on the desk. "Is there anything in 
particular you want to know?"
	"There are many thing I want to know. But I doubt you can tell me 
what most of them are." She gave him a look. "I'll try anyway. Now, I know 
very little about this conflict that you people are having. Can I ask what 
side this base is?"
	She chuckled. "Didn't they tell you?" He shook his head. "You're with 
the Pack. The good guys."
	He smirked. "We'll see about that. Second question: why would the 
Pack be treating me like a god?"
	"You said that you like to be called Lone Wolf, right?" He nodded. 
"There is a prophesy, god only knows how old it is, that mentions you." He 
raised an eyebrow. "The prophesy states that a being not of this planet will 
fall from the skies in the time of our greatest need and help us to vanquish 
our enemies and restore peace. That being calls itself Lone Wolf."
	He nodded. "So you people think I'm some sort of prophesy come true. 
Is that it?"
	"Afraid so."
	He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up. "Great. You people 
have this thing for putting pressure on me, don't you?" She laughed. "I'm 
serious. Look, where I come from, I have absolutely no power, no skill, and 
no talents. What can a kid like me do to save an entire civilization?"
	"Do you really want to know?" a voice from the doorway answered. Both 
looked over to the doorway and saw a coyote standing there. He wore some sort 
of military uniform. He was also wearing a frown. "Swift, were you not warned 
about disturbing him?"
	Before she could answer, Tobias stood up. "I invited her in. She 
wasn't disturbing me. Now, who are what do you want?"
	"I am Commander Thomas Walker. And I want you to come with me." He 
looked at Swift. "It seems you're attached to her Tobias. She had better come 
along as well."
	Tobias frowned. "Watch your mouth."
	"Just follow me." He turned and headed down the hall.