“Cease Fire” by Nachtfangen

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and Today’s story is

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“Cease Fire” by Nachtfangen,

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who is a former writer of Science Fantasy

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and High Fantasy, typically…

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well, exclusively,

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with furry subjects

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and you can find more of his stories

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on SoFurry.com

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Cease Fire by Nachtfangen

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The world was silent but for the moan of the wind

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and the susurrus of snow blowing across snow .

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Seized by a bitter cold so intense

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that it made quiet, crystalline sounds, reminiscent of tin-foil being slowly wrinkled

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if that foil had actually been made out of thin glass.

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Corporal Voss, spinal gunner of the late Glory’s Folly bomber,

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clutched his arms tightly about himself as he waded through the snow.

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He was sorely ill prepared against the elements wearing little more than his uniform and flight suit.

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He had wrapped his parachute around himself like a cumbersome white blanket

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but it did little good against the frigid clutch of mid-winter

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in the heights of the Spershyn mountains.

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He wondered if he had been the only one to escape the doomed bomber that had disappeared over the crest of the

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ridge up which Voss slowly climbed.

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The Glory had suffered a few nasty hit during their last sortie deep into the Cherbyn territories

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and fallen behind the rest of the wing during the return flight.

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Their radio, all radar, and ECM equipment had all been fragged by a flak hit that killed the navigator and radio man,

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both of whom Voss had crewed with for three years.

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They had been friends.

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Then they were gone;

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winked out like candle flames.

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Without the radar equipment

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the Glory had been forced to fly by sight alone,

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icy wind roaring through the gaping hole where the communications and navigation consoles had once been.

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The remains of the two crewmen were still strapped to their seats,

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overlooking the view through that

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devastating rent.

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It was luck alone that kept the plane from being cut in half by the impact.

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Forced to fly at a lower altitude by the damage,

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Captain Eldin had threaded cautiously through the mountains,

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until one of the engines damaged during the bombing run

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failed catastrophically.

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With a deafening roar it came apart,

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the high speed turbines slicing through housing and wing like tissue.

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Voss, in his position as spinal gunner,

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had watched the wing tip upward,

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flame gouting from the ruins of the engine and fuel cell.

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It shook the entire aircraft with teeth rattling force before shearing off

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and tumbling away behind them.

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Doomed, the Glory’s Folly went into a flat spin,

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her remaining turbine screaming as if in mourning for its lost twin.

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Without consciously considering what he was doing at the time

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Voss had cinched his escape parachute tight,

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unlatched the roof hatch of his gun blister,

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and climbed out into the shrieking icy fangs of the wind.

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Just before he was ripped from the edge of the canopy

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he saw flames pouring from the waist and tail gun ports.

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After the lurching yank of his deploying chute

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he managed to turn in the air,

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watching as his stricken aircraft,

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with his crew mates and friends still aboard,

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carom off the crest of the ridge

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and disappear into the valley beyond.

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He distantly heard the grinding crash of impact but no explosion

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and then naught but the wail of the wind as he spiraled down into a blessedly soft landing

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in a deep drift of snow.

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There was no getting his bearings after that point.

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He had no idea where he was;

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if he was on the allied side of the mountains or still in Cherbyn territory.

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There were no villages visible in the valley he landed in;

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just endless white through which the thin spires of alpine trees thrust like green fangs.

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The nearest of those was

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still some thousand feet or so below him.

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The crest of the ridge

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a similar height above, but in either direction

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the slope was not steep.

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The Glory was beyond that ridge;

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and with her his crew;

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his battle companions,

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the disparate collection of people brought together by a conflict

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they had not started nor expected to bring victory to by themselves.

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Cogs in a vast machine of war, bent on destroying the Dogs of Cherbyn for reasons

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Voss was not cogent of.

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Just because they were Dogs, after a fashion, and not humans?

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That could not really be the sole reason, but Voss

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suspected it was.

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They had resources in their Empire

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that his own wanted.

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They were not human,

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thus animals to be exterminated.

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Animals, granted, with guns and missiles and brains.

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Animals with a tenacious will to survive against the might of the Human empire that inexorably spread itself over more

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and more of the planet, subjugating or simply eliminating

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any who thwarted them.

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But all of that was naught, now.

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The Glory was a wreck in the winter-clutched mountains and Voss was alone,

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and miserably cold.

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If ill luck brought death to his friends

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there would still be some degree of shelter.

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He doggedly trudged through the hip deep snow,

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his feet numb beyond sensation,

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his boots soaked through and icy wetness permeating his flight suit.

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He shivered uncontrollably as he hugged the awkward bolt of rayon

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that had brought him safely to earth around his body,

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its lines dragging in the churned furrow of his passage.

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Cresting the ridge through the gouge of naked rock left exposed by the doomed plane’s momentary contact,

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Voss peered into the valley below.

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A channel of ruined trees and polluted snow

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led to the corpse of the Glory’s Folly

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a couple thousand feet below.

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Her remaining wing had sheared off

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half way down the slope and from its twisted wreckage flames climbed.

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Voss could not see any smoke coming from what remained of the fuselage.

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Nothing moved on the mountainside

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but for Voss. He slogged his way down the mountain

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until he entered the debris field of the crash which had been blasted free of snow and trees

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leaving a gouge scoured in the frozen earth beneath

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that was easier to navigate but for the bits and pieces of wreckage strewn the length of the furrow.

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Some things he recognized;

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equipment and gear from the aircraft’s exterior like a mangled landing gear or

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exterior access panels ripped free during the crash.

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Much of it was utterly unrecognizable,

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nothing more than

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hideously twisted bits of metal,

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insulation, and wiring.

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He found the forty millimeter nose cannon

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in a twisted mass like a plate of pasta,

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testament to the violence of the last

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lethal moments of the Glory’s Folly.

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He was thirty meters from the fuselage

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when a figure emerged from the gaping, twisted hole

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of a waist gunner’s post.

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He froze in surprise,

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at first thinking that he was seeing a survivor escaping the impossible scene before him,

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but a moment later surprise became fear,

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and then fury, when the white-clad humanoid figure’s silhouette

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percolated through his ice-numbed brain.

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A Dog; one of the Cherbyns.

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It was clad in a light uniform of winter white camouflage

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and cradled in its arms was the limp,

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savagely charred corpse of a human;

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one of the crew. As Voss watched,

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stunned mute and immobile,

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the beast carried the corpse a short distance

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and, with unexpected care,

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laid it down alongside five others.

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All of them were very clearly deceased.

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Few could even be identified as human beyond their general mangled shapes and the shreds of their uniforms.

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In the back of his mind that had not been rendered numb by cold

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he tallied the row of dead against the crew compliment he had served the last three years with.

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Including himself,

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the bomber crew numbered eight.

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Six lay in the snow, leaving Voss

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and one other unaccounted for.

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Had someone else managed to abandon the Glory in those precious seconds

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where reaction outraced

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rational thought?

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Or was there another mangled wreckage of flesh and bone still lost within?

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When the Cherbyn turned

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it spied Voss immediately, and froze in place.

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A long rifle was slung at its side but the beast made no move to bring it up.

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It merely stopped where it stood

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and peered across the thirty meter distance between them.

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Voss, however, did react to the presence of the enemy only then.

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He hastily clawed at the parachute wrapped around himself,

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digging under it for the service pistol all crew carried

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just in case they were forced to deplane over enemy territory.

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But, with fingers numbed almost to immobility he

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could not unfasten the thumb brake

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and could only fumble with growing panic,

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never taking his eyes from his foe.

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With a terrified moan Voss wrestled himself free of the restraining parachute cloth

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and yanked fruitlessly at his holster.

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Finally the thumb brake snapped free

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and he yanked the pistol free.

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To then immediately drop it into the churned earth and snow from numb fingers.

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He cried out and tried to snatch it up,

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the world swimming crazily in his vision

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as the sudden rush of blood coursed through ice constricted arteries.

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His panic sent the world

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into gray, and just as black slammed across his vision

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he spied the Dog swiftly closing on him.

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- - - Voss awoke in darkness to tingling pain

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through his entire body

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with his feet and hands burning.

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Somewhere a steady moan rose and fell interspersed with an unearthly,

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thin keening like a lost animal in the throes of a protracted,

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agonizing death. A susurrating hiss skittered and rasped all around.

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Both sources of sound seemed close enough to touch

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but he could not feel their presence.

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The air was almost stiflingly warm

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and a solid, immobile heat source was pressed close against his back.

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He writhed a bit, trying to discover why his hands were burning

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but a firm, unyielding band

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pressed across his chest in the dark.

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A splitting headache made every motion dizzying as he groped at the thick,

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solid band across his chest,

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unable to feel it with his fingers.

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Frostbite, his fogged brain finally percolated through to his consciousness.

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His extremities burned because circulation was returning

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to partially frozen flesh that was beginning to thaw.

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That realization did nothing to combat the pain

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nor still the rising panic of being restrained.

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Something shifted behind him,

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a heavy weight falling across his legs,

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the surface behind him pressed close

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as both restraining forces pulled him back.

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Something else brushed against his upper arm and he realized at that moment

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that his arm was not covered; his flesh was exposed.

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But no icy bite nipped at his skin,

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only a momentary pressure tracing down to a point

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just below his shoulder

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at the apex of his muscles.

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He was naked, completely.

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A prick of pain lanced through his upper arm

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and he slapped at it futilely

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but his thawing fingers could feel nothing but burning,

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tingling pain. A warming lethargy

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stole through him a few moments later,

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his struggles against the restraints fading,

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while his panicked thoughts rattled about in his skull.

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He was naked, in the dark;

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blind! With something solid, unyielding,

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warm yet queerly soft behind him that held him fast!

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Fur… why did it feel like fur?

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Voss knew nothing more

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as a darkness deeper than the unfathomable night

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stole over him once more. - - -

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When he awoke again his headache was much abated.

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His fingers tingled annoyingly but the burn had faded from them,

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as it had his toes which now felt as if they were bound.

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The warm, solid presence at his back was still there,

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but the resistance of the binding across his chest

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as much less. Nothing rested across his legs.

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There was light; dim and diffuse

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but enough to pick out the general shape of his surroundings.

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Despite the drastic changes wrought by a disastrous landing

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he could easily identify the inside of the Glory.

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It had miraculously come to rest mostly right side up

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and he realized that he was lying on a heap of scrounged padding from seats and storage racks.

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He was in the aft crew bay,

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between the raved nav-comm bay and gunnery bay.

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At his back the Dog lay,

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pressed close against him;

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a warm bulk of muscle and fur

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holding him frighteningly close.

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He could feel fur from shoulders to ass to the back of his legs;

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he was naked and so too was the Dog.

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For a moment he froze,

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then writhed in a panic, trying to wrestle free but finding himself weak as a babe.

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Immediately the restraint across his chest;

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the Dog’s pale furred arm,

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tightened and pulled him back against the beast’s chest.

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When he continued to struggle

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a weight fell over his legs once more;

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one of the Dog’s legs catching and pinning him in place.

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The inside of the wrecked plane was cold,

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but only just below the level of comfort and not frigid at all.

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On a desktop, where he had spent many hours filling out paperwork,

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a small camp stove hissed quietly

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with invisible methanol flames.

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The presence behind him was warm, however,

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and despite the fact that it was a fearful enemy

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he found it easier to just give in

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to the prisoning embrace

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than struggle free.

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To go where, he realized.

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He was naked, save for his feet which had been wrapped with the shredded,

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slightly charred and bloodied shreds of someone’s flight jacket.

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He was lost somewhere in the mountains between Cherbyn territories

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and those held by Man.

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He could not remember if the tail section had survived the crash but,

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considering the Glory had slid to a stop nose first

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he suspected that it had to some degree.

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The emergency beacon housed within

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would have begun transmitting the moment it struck,

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activated by the impact force.

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Maybe he had crashed close enough to Human territory for them to mount a rescue.

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But in the height of winter,

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with the battles between both sides becoming ever more fierce

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with neither gaining ground,

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he doubted that they would spare the resources.

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He slumped, defeated by his weakness

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from prying the Dog’s arm away or

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kicking its leg -

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his leg a distant portion of Voss’ mind informed him -

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away. After he was still a moment the strength of that restraining arm relaxed a little,

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but it did not withdraw.

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Something rumbled approbation behind his head,

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a warm waft of air riffling his short hair.

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“Fuck you too, you great hairy beast.”

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Voss muttered, but stopped resisting the warm presence of the Dog.

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He had come to realize that the damn thing had saved him from a very swift death due to exposure.

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To what ends, he did not know, but until he got his strength back

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he could do nothing about either way.

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So he just let out a huff

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and relaxed. Eventually, lulled by the slow shifting of the Dog’s chest against his back as it –

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he – breathed, and the warmth of contact Voss

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slipped into slumber again. - - -

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The Dog was still there when he came around again,

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feeling at long last more or less hale.

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His fingers and toes no longer tingled

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and the warm presence at his back was not quite so unsettlingly,

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intimately close.

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Turning his head slightly to take in his surroundings,

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just a little more illuminated than before with diffuse light

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leaking past a tarp hung across the forward end of the bay,

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he discovered that a large insulating blanket from the bomb bay had been drawn across them both,

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with his parachute over that.

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The warmth under the double layer was

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almost stifling and he shifted away a bit.

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The Dog did not move to restrain him.

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It merely rolled into its side

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and propped itself up on one elbow to watch him.

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Trying not to slip out from beneath the expansive covers

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Voss shifted about

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and turned until he was facing the Dog.

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As an airman, flying high above enemy forces,

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Voss had only seen photographs or video of the Cherbyn.

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They were, as they had ever been called,

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very dog-like in the face with a long, thick muzzle

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replete with whiskers

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and black canid nose.

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From beneath its upper lips

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two distressingly long fangs descended,

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like those of a smilodon cat but not nearly so huge.

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The monster’s eyes were the palest blue

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with a more intense ring just around the dark pupil.

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Its fur was pale

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and striated in an almost feline manner.

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The markings of the species ran the gamut,

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Voss recalled from images and training tapes,

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from monochromatic base colors to mixed tones to a

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wide variety of patterns

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not found on any wild or domestic canid species.

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But in all of the images Voss had ever seen

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they had never held the introspective,

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curious regard this beast did.

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They were either wrinkled with rage or slack with torture or battle induced flaccidness.

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The gaze that regarded him was neither pinched with rage

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or glazed with exhaustion;

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it was alert, probing,

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curious. Keeping a little less than arms’ length away from his –

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what? Rescuer? Captor? –

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Voss took a few moments to make those comparisons as he tried to push back

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the atavistic fear

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that had been hard drilled into him for almost two decades of warfare.

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Humans and Cherbyn had been battling over the Dog’s territories since Voss was a child and,

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even before the war, relations had never been peaceful.

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But, he also remembered,

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the Cherbyn had not started the war,

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they only resisted the attempts to seize rich mineral territory desired by the Human empire.

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Nor had they attempted to expand into Human lands

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for almost three centuries,

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quite satisfied with the resources they had available to them

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and the rich lands they occupied already.

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Their numbers had never been so high

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that they had to expand or choke.

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Hazarding a nod, Voss spoke;

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“Voss.” He muttered, his throat dry and his voice raspy.

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He coughed and hacked to clear his throat

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while the tall, triangular ears of pale fur turned to pin their focus on him.

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“Voss.” He repeated.

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The Cherbyn rumbled something that came out like a coughing growl from the depths of its thick throat.

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It sounded, if one was charitable,

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like ‘khofs’. The Dogs lacked the vocal structures of humans,

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and their thin lips did not have the musculature to form words from their deep chested growls.

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That was why humans had to use complicated computer programs to translate what they said.

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Much of the Cherbyn language,

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as Voss’ limited education recalled,

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was visual as well as verbal.

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Their vocal communication had changed dramatically with the invention of two-way communications

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that lacked visual components, however,

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but that still left many layers that humans could not comprehend without actually seeing them talk.

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But then, humans also had visual communication queues as well;

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body language and facial expression.

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After repeating that strange ‘khofs’

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the Cherbyn rumbled something else.

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At Voss’ stupid stare it repeated the growl,

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a pale furred hand snaking up from beneath the heavy covers

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to tap its own nose.

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Voss had no hope of even coming close to that deep,

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throaty rumble so all he could do

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was shake his head and shrug.

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To that the Cherbyn simply nodded

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and sighed, tall ears pinning back briefly

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and its whiskers angling back along its muzzle.

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It shrugged as well;

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a universal gesture of frustration.

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Shifting close,

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causing Voss to lean away in alarm,

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it rolled up onto hands and knees beneath the weight of the insulating blanket

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and crawled out from beneath it.

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In the dim light of what Voss could only assume was some hour of daylight

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the Dog’s fur was revealed

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to be a pale hue that was very nearly white

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but mottled with subtle blue-gray rosettes

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very much like the markings of a snow leopard that Voss had seen images of.

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Its bushy, dog-like tail was surprisingly thick and long,

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hanging down just below the back of its knees

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despite being held slightly outward from its backside.

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And Voss discovered

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that his earlier realization had been accurate;

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the Dog was male in a canine way.

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Long legs were slender and high-heeled like any quadruped

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despite its bipedal stance,

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with thighs deeper than wide

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but still respectably thick to support its upright carriage.

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The stomach was narrower than human norms,

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but the chest was thicker and deeper

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giving him broad,

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square shoulders.

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The ruff of fur from head to shoulders,

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almost like a lion’s mane,

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concealed the contours of its neck and the head atop was huge,

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compared to domestic canines Humans kept as pets,

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but still in proportion to its body. Fully upright

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it stood not much taller than Voss

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but in overall mass it was probably slightly less.

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They were incredibly strong despite that lower mass, however,

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as any hardened infantry soldier could attest.

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When it came down to hand to hand

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Humans had to resort to mob assaults to take one down.

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One on one it was most often no contest.

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Humans had knives and knuckle blades;

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Cherbyn had teeth

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and very respectable claws.

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In close quarters body armor meant little against a smart predator that would simply strike areas

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armor did not protect.

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Picking his way over to the desk

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the Cherbyn bent over the camp stove to stir the pot that was sitting on it.

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That had not been there before, Voss recalled.

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Had he slept so soundly that the Dog had been able to wake,

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prepare food, and return without waking him?

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The realization did not give Voss any confidence in his threat awareness.

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Carefully tipping the pot

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it poured some of the contents into a canteen cup

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and walked back over,

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squatting very close to offer it to Voss.

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At such proximity, with splayed legs,

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Voss’ gaze could not help but take another glance up and down the beast’s front.

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Where his back and tail was rosette patterned

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white and pale grey

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its chest was only half so,

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the spots fading from both sides to white at the center,

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and his stomach was entirely white.

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As was the beast’s all too apparent gender.

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Pulling his gaze away to the offered cup

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Voss reached out, surprised to find his hands shaking a little

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with the bone-deep weakness

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that suffused his entire body.

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The smell of the steam wafting up from the cup was rich and wild,

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redolent of plants and meat.

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Tilting it slightly

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he peered into the thin,

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rich smelling broth.

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Green things floated about in the pale dark fluid,

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but also smaller dark bits

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that looked just as they smelled;

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like meat. He recoiled in shock,

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eyes going wide when that realization struck him.

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Meat! Where the hell would the Dog get meat on the mountains in winter?

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His thoughts flashed to those six sorry,

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mangled forms arrayed in the snow outside

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and his stomach clenched

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in horrified nausea.

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As if reading his reaction

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the Cherbyn chuffed

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and shook his head adamantly,

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one hand raised and pawing up and down in a calming gesture as he rose and returned to the desk.

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He came back a moment later and squatted again,

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extending one hand

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and opening his fingers.

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Upon his palm was an oblong shape of white,

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cupped along its length

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with the pale pink of flesh showing.

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It was a rabbit’s ear,

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the base savaged and bloody;

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most likely from the bullet that punched the poor creature’s brains out through the hole it created.

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“Thanks.” Voss muttered after a few moments,

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only slightly mollified,

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and the Cherbyn rumbled something with a nod.

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“Can you understand me?”

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Voss asked as he cautiously sipped at the hot broth.

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He had to clutch the cup carefully in both hands,

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sitting himself upright and crossing his legs,

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just to keep his weak, shaking grasp from failing.

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He blew at it and took an experimental sip as he watched the Cherbyn.

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The blanket slid down as he sat up,

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but he ignored it for the moment as the interior of his wrecked plane

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had become comfortably warm

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even for his nakedness.

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The beast did not seem to mind its lack of clothing so Voss assumed

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it did not mind his own exposure.

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Much to his surprise it nodded affirmatively!

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Rising smoothly it returned to the camp stove to pour more of the pot’s contents into another canteen cup

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before turning the dial on the stove down.

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“How?” he asked, slowly sipping.

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Coming back to squat again,

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the Cherbyn held its soup in one hand.

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The other it put up to cup over its ear,

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bowing its head with eyes slightly closed as if concentrating.

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Both ears twitched and swiveled and, after a moment,

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he touched his temple with a fingertip

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with an expression that, to Voss, gave the impression of deep thoughts.

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“Listening…” He hazarded after another sip.

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The rich, hot liquid sent refreshing warmth coursing into his breast and belly

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and it tasted surprisingly good for having been prepared with,

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Voss assumed, purely native materials.

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“A listening post?” The Cherbyn’s muzzle drew into a strange looking snarl

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that revealed more of its teeth besides those two dangerous looking fangs

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and his head bobbed affirmatively.

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It also sipped at the soup,

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rather than lapping at it as Voss expected.

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“There are more of you?”

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The Cherbyn looked down,

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ears backing, and shook its head sadly.

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“What happened?” Raising its free hand the beast pantomimed a downward angle,

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waggling his fingers,

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as if illustrating a plane in a steep dive.

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Voss simply stared as he sipped,

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nibbling experimentally at

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one of the green things floating in his soup.

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Its flavor was sharp,

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fresh, and not at all unpleasant in a vegetable way.

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It crunched satisfyingly as he chewed,

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though it was slightly stringy.

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Understanding Voss’ incomprehension

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the Dog set his canteen cup down on a nearby box

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that had once held a piece of avionics equipment.

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It probably still did,

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since it survived the impact.

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Raising his hand again

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the Cherbyn repeated the downward,

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fluttering course,

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moving his hand over his cup and beyond,

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over the edge of the box.

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“Avalanche? Your listening post got buried?”

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Again an affirmative nod

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as the cup was taken up again to be sipped.

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“You were out, then, and survived?

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But your garrison did not?”

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Another nod. Raising both arms

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the beast pantomimed

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shouldering a rifle and sighting.

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“You were out, what,

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hunting? Shooting at humans?”

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A nod, then a shake of that huge beastial head.

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Voss gaped a moment

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and then rolled his eyes with a sigh,

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shaking his head.

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“Then you’re just as trapped out here as I am?!!”

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With a long sigh the Cherbyn nodded.

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“Where are we, then, do you know?

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Human territory, or Cherbyn?”

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To the first a negative,

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and the second a positive.

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“Then why haven’t they mounted a rescue?”

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The Cherbyn’s great head tilted

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and it gave him a strange look;

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exasperation. Raising one hand

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he pointed toward the ceiling,

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then hugged one arm around himself and shuddered

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before raking a single finger across his throat.

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“Radio contact lost abruptly,

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winter set in hard.

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They figure everyone’s dead from bombing or other disaster?”

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Nod, and nod again.

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Voss nibbled contemplatively

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on a small tidbit of meat,

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there were scarce few in his soup.

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It was mostly vegetables and broth,

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though a rich repast it was

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after god knows how long unconscious with hypothermia.

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“Well then, we’re both fucked.”

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The man groused with a sigh, frowning.

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Again, insufferably,

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the Dog simply nodded

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with a sigh of his own.

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“No supplies, no comms,

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buried in a dead plane

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lost in the alpine winter.

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Hello there, Enemy Mine.”

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Impetuously he thrust out a hand

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and the beast stared at it for a moment

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before reaching out to grasp it.

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“How long ago did your listening post get buried?”

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Releasing his hand after a single shake

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it held up its spread fingers,

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pale claws standing stark from black pads.

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He closed his fist

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and opened it three times and then just one finger.

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“Sixteen… days? Sixteen days?!”

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Voss gaped in surprise.

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“How the hell did you survive out here two weeks in this mess?”

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With a flash of teeth

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the Cherbyn rumbled

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a rolling sound, favoring him with another frightening animalistic grin;

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he was actually laughing.

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Crossing one arm over his chest

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he rocked back and forth a couple of times,

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a motion that Voss immediately understood,

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then waved his arm expansively in a half circle.

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“Okay, you were born…

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here? In these mountains?”

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The hand paused, held flat out, and waggled side to side like an unsteady boat.

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“Okay, not here exactly, but close enough.

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Raised in the mountains, so you know how to survive.”

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Voss was surprised when the Cherbyn offered him

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a very human thumbs up.

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Noticing that he still wore his watch

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Voss tilted his wrist to read it.

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Only a day and a half had passed since the last time he looked,

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a few minutes before the Glory began her death spiral.

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It seemed like an eternity ago,

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the warmth and shelter of his barracks

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a longed for memory.

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Thoughts of home,

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his parents, and all the friends back there who were not a part of this futile waste of life,

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crashed down on him.

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No one would ever know what happened.

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It would be a miracle if they even tried to recover the plane, and her lost crew,

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while the war was still going.

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And it had shown

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very little indication of slowing down any time soon.

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“So… it’s me and you, then.

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We survive, yes?” He finished his soup

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and set the cup down on the nearby box.

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“Until one side or the other comes,

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or we hike it out of here,

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not enemies.” Reaching out one large,

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claw tipped hand the Cherbyn set his grasp gently upon Voss’ shoulder,

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the beast’s great,

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predatory head nodding.

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This was “Cease Fire”

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by Nachtfangen, read for you by Khaki,