The Miami Broncos

Chapter 13: Bang and Bash

Written by Francois Guint-Riel (FGR)

My hands still smelled like the thin grease that lubricated the steel cutter on the CNC unit, but I liked it somehow, maybe because it had the same kind of smell that boiling olive oil does. I had been machining rifle chassis all morning, ten in all, while my girl Bang had taken care of pre-assembling the mechanism and prepared the kits for their installation. The more we worked at the gun shop, we really appreciated how good a designer Craven, the zebra responsible for the weapons we made and the creation of shop itself, actually was. The guns were a dream to make, incredibly simple overall, and had a better track record then any that we’d encountered in the last few years in the Russian Mafia. Their reputation kept us busy as well, as since the first few went out our doors, enough people asked for their own that our hands were full with orders day in and day out. I walked over to the sink to wash off a bit before calling our lunch break, scrubbing hard to get all the lube I could out of my fur. Panther’s coats, as well as other big cats’, were notoriously thick, and mine wasn’t that different, giving me a run for my money as I poured on more soap from the industrial-size dispenser to let it work its chemical magic. Just as I was drying them off, my ears swiveled to try and get a better idea what the slight thump from behind me could have been, but I felt the answer before they did. Bang, my tricky little mink chick, popped from under my arm to stand between my towel and me, grinning before planting a kiss on my lips and escaping again to wait.
-You’ve got to have some Lycra in your DNA to do that, I said as I threw the towel and slapped Bang’s butt.
-Boing, exclaimed the mink as she jumped into my arms. Some rubber too!
-Rubber? Well, all those years of dildos might have started to build up, I smirked as I rubbed at her crotch with a hand while the other supported her back. Ready to call it lunch?
-Sure, the stocks are all ready, said Bang, pointing to the stack of gun parts aside the polymer CNC. Those Dupont blocks are easy to form, like butter.
-Butter goes well with mink, I whispered as I licked her face. I’ll call in pizza, though.
-Anchovies on my side!
-Anchovy and hot pepper, I know.
I strode to the office aside the shop’s entrance to dial the local parlor, ordering a medium half anchovy and hot pepper, half meat lovers’ with extra bacon. As soon as the other end had hung up, I put the receiver down and locked my hands together behind my head, closing my eyes to give them some rest. As I stretched my back on the high back sofa, I felt something take the zipper at the front of my shop suit and heard it being undone, then had a form lie down on me while a hand peeled back a side of my suit to get access to my breast underneath. I open an eye to see Bang sprawled on me, suckling on my tit with her eyes closed, replying with a rising purr while I put an arm around her shoulders and let her go on.
-Suck harder, I groaned, getting a corresponding response from my mink. Sweet...
-Do you want to do it too, asked Bang as she pulled down her own zipper, opening it to show off her small ‘A’ cups, eh kitty?
-Hmm, let’s see what’s in there, I chuckled as I let her go back to my breasts and slipped a hand down her suit into her panties, letting two fingers caress her clit slowly. There’s something here, isn’t there?
Bang groaned and huffed until I took my hand away and licked my fingers with a provocative smile. Before she had the time to get back to me for it, the door buzzer rang, urging us to close our suits and answer before our pies got cold. I checked the bull’s eye before opening to the pizza delivery guy and trading the box he had for a handful of rubles. As soon as I’d closed the door, Bang took the pizza to the welding table where we usually ate and opened it up, grabbing a piece from her side quickly.
-Hey, I’m not going to steal any from you, I laughed as I went to the fridge in the office and pulled out two pop cans.
-Don’t cats like fish?
-You’ve screwed me enough times to know I’m a black leopardess and not a cat queen, right?
-Plenty, the mink giggled as she bit into the slice. Oh, just right, not too hot!
-Nice, I exclaimed as I took out a bit part of my triangle, just as quickly hearing the telephone ring. Damn, good timing...
I put my food down to jog to the office and pick up the receiver, expecting either Vanessa, Bang’s sister, or our leader Vladimir Treshka, who usually handled orders and that sort of thing instead of us grease monkeys. I didn’t recognize the voice though, so I let it talk first before saying anything. It wasn’t to be expected that anyone else then people in the Mafia would have this number, but then sometimes it happened that clients wished to ask for special items for the weapons that we had to take care of ourselves because Vlad didn’t have a clue about our craft.
-Good morning, is this the gunsmith of Prince Vladimir?
-That’s one way to put it, I replied. This is Bash speaking, but who am I talking to?
-This is Constable Dmitri Balakov, said the voice. Please, do not be alarmed, I mean no ill to you or your friends, and it is on business I call.
-Well, this is unusual, I groaned. What business is it that gave you this number?
-I obtained it a while ago from Prince Treshka, said the Constable. I wished to know if it would be possible for us to purchase a number of firearms from you?
-If the Prince did indeed give you this number, I see no reason why we would have any problem with that, though I’m confused as to why you would want to, having access to the open market.
-Your products have a certain fame, answered Balakov, and we do not really have the means to buy what we need at the prices the open market. Hence, we hoped that we might be able to work something out with you.
-What form of payment would you offer?
-Ah, well we have a certain quantity of illicit substances and contraband that we have intercepted from groups other then your own. If we might be able to work out their value and add to that a sum of money, would it be acceptable?
-We’d have to verify what that stock is and have it assessed by one of our people to give you its worth, I said. If you bring samples of it to the Gorba Laundromat on Seventh in two hours, we will do so then.
-I suppose that’s fine, said the policeman. I will be there myself, to show we are dealing in good faith, with one other colleague.
-I’ll be there with another as well, I stated. Until then, be well, Constable.
-You as well, Bash.
-What was that about, asked Bang as I returned to the table and gulped down a few bites, was it sis?
-Nope. Actually, it was a police Constable who wants to buy a lot of guns from us.
-Was his name Dmitri? Sis and Vlad had some dealing with him when we got under their protection a while ago.
-That’s right, I said with some relief. Good, so he’s trustworthy. He has a bunch of stuff his people picked up during busts on other gangs that he’d like to use to pay off part of the deal, so I might have to call Vanessa after all.
-Vlad’s touring the yards on the East Side today, so she should be home, shrugged Bang. I’ll finish up the assembly here, so you’re free to roam.
-I feel bad leaving you out of the fun, I grunted as I ran a hand over her head.
-Hey, I don’t mind, I’ll be testing these babies out when I’m done putting them together, smiled the mink.
I rolled my eyes and laughed as she acted like Rambo before getting her last piece from the box and chomping it down. I caught up in time to toast our pop cans together before I took off to call Vanessa, who was indeed at the homestead and sounded totally bored.
-Hey Bash, called the chocolate mink, how’s the shop? Are you and Bang having fun?
-Tons of laughs! Hey, I just got a call from a Constable Dmitri Balakov who’d like to buy some weapons off us in exchange for some loot and some rubles. He doesn’t know exactly what we’d price the stuff at, so I was thinking you might like to come for a ride out and meet him with me to put a price tag on it?
-You’re my heroine to take me out of this office, laughed Vanessa. Sure! You’ll be passing by here around when?
-How does fifteen minutes sound?
-Pretty good! I’ll be waiting in the back.
I hung up and hopped on my bike before stealing a last kiss from Bang before she returned to the workbench and I took off on the road. Vanessa had taken so many rides on our motorcycles that Vlad eventually bought her a suit and helmet. I didn’t want for Bang to know, but I really found her super hot when she wore it though. Well, I think that I’m was so used to seeing Bang in gear that seeing Vanessa was like seeing her as well, but chocolate rather then deep gray. Whatever the case, I pulled in behind the residential blockhouse that we called home to see the older of the sisters waiting for me, strapping on her helmet before mounting on behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
-So, any more tweaks on this bike, asked Vanessa as we rolled off, or did you slow down?
-Did you see the engine? I finally carved that block and put it in during the weekend. Sounds smoother, and I wish you could see these dials.
-You’re six-one, I’m five-seven and I can’t see a thing, laughed the mink.
-Point noted, I replied as I revved the engine and turned the bike out of the yard.
We didn’t take long to reach the rendezvous with the policeman. The Gorba Laundromat was an old inside joke for us, as well as a useful place to call meetings with people we weren’t too sure about. It was one of the crappiest places that the Mafia owned, which ran too small revenue to use as a place to stash profits, too small to use as a cache, basically totally useless. Vlad had bought it one night, before he met Vanessa, about eight years ago. He was at a bar and ran into its former owner and got talked into buying from him after one too many shots of his favorite bottle. Since then, the bear only took the occasional glass of vodka, and otherwise basically swore off the drink. Still, it was such a run-down piece of trash that we didn’t mind everyone knowing it was ours, simply because it was totally expendable. If the cops busted it, we wouldn’t give a damn, and if someone decided to muscle in and buy it from the manager with a hostile bid, we wouldn’t lose any sleep over it either. I could make out an old Renault parked in the alley behind the place, one of the only places a car could fit in the old block, and I warned Vanessa about it as we pulled up aside it. As we stopped and I put down the kickstand, out came a lynx tomcat and a male collie out of uniform but so obviously from the authorities that they could have stayed in their work getup and it wouldn’t have made any difference. We took off our helmets and put them on the bike seat before introducing ourselves, myself taking point in the meeting. If they were going to know someone by face, they were better off knowing me then Vanessa, after all.
-Good afternoon, I said as I shook the cops’ hands. You must be Constable Balakov?
-I am, said the lynx. You’re Bash?
-That’s me, I nodded. This is my friend, Venice.
-Good to meet you, Venice, said the cat. Now, I have a sample of our merchandise in the trunk, if you care to look.
-That’s one of the reasons why we’re here, I grinned. Venice?
-Right away, miss.
The mink acted as if I was her superior, which I thought was a very good act, keeping her safe from too much exposure, taking stock of the drugs and other items in the trunk of the policemen’s car. She took down a few notes on a pad she had brought, then nodded for the collie to close the trunk, having finished her work only a few minutes after the start of our meeting. Balakov pointed out how much of the different things they could offer, giving enough information for Vanessa to get a figure for the total value.
-This is worth five million, two hundred and fifty thousand American dollars, miss, said the mink. The cocaine is already cut with soda, and these electronics have identifiable elements, which will make their disposal more difficult, lowering their price.
-I was hoping for much more, sighed Balakov. Still, I’m not in a position to complain, I suppose.
-How much did you need, I asked, getting a questioning look from both him and Vanessa, for the weapons?
-That depends of your prices, shrugged the lynx. We need one thousand sub-machine guns, two hundred assault rifles, and about two thousand pistols. Our expenditure is five million other then this.
-I’m afraid that even if we were quite lenient, your total transaction would be much more then that, more then double, I stated. At our regular prices, it would be about 20 million, give or take.
-The pistols we cannot do without, sighed Balakov. This poor city sees much violence, and we are very ill equipped to deal with it.
-Those are imported, hence we can supply them immediately. Plus, this stock would pay for them. The other items are most costly because of the fact we make them, you see.
-I do, I do, insisted the tomcat. I just wish... well...
-You wish..?
-I wish we could come to some arrangement for them, said Balakov. Maybe if we could pay for them gradually, in regular payments? That we could do, perhaps.
-I see, I grunted, feeling Vanessa poke me behind my back to tell me that we should ask Vlad about it. We’ll see what we can do about it, but first as a sign of good faith, let’s discuss the exchange for the pistols. Do you need ammunition as well?
-Yes, nodded Balakov.
-Then that means your five million is also going to be touched, because we must ask one point five for the munitions and their clips, I stated. On the other hand, those are also readily available. The exchange will take place here, tonight at nine. Bring a truck with the goods, and we will do so as well. The drivers will change seats, and return home. The money will be transferred to this account before then.
-That’s all?
-We trust you, I said with a nod. After then exchange, we will contact you about the other goods.
-Of course, thank you, nodded the lynx. We’ll prepare our cargo immediately.
-Then we’ll talk soon, Constable, I said as I returned to the bike with Vanessa. Be well!
-That was interesting, chuckled the mink as the car drove off to leave us time to get our gear back on. It makes me wonder how bad things are in terms of finances for the government these days, doesn’t it?

(Switch to Dmitri)

I couldn’t help but shake my head as Victor started the car, putting it in driving gear with a mean knocking sound before starting back to the station. I loved this city; I’d taken a job as a simple policeman because I loved it and dreamed of what it had been when I was a kitten. Now, it was faded, the beauty of new buildings and prosperity gone from many parts of it that I had known before, slowly turning gray like a winter forest. So faded in fact, that a good Constable with a loving wife and two kittens had to cower back from the price of weapons that would serve to protect the streets and the souls who kept them safe, cower to the point of having to trade ill-gotten goods, even drugs, of all things, for them instead. I could see it in the leopardess’ eyes that she was as in much disbelief at the situation as me, and I was thankful that she helped as much as she could to get us our most pressing needs. We had old CZ pistols some quite old, and heavier equipment nearly twenty years old, with a lot of repairs from cannibalized units that could no longer serve. I hoped that this lady, Bash, had a good man to go home to and a family, all that which she deserved to have for her goodness. Maybe she was in the Mafia, but with some regards, they were just as much guardian angels to Moscow as us, and I knew they loved this old city too.

Although he was totally loyal, Victor couldn’t drive to save his damn life, that was another reality, and we nearly slammed the concrete curb as we turned into the police station, urging me to call to him that if he ever got that close to it again, I’d have him pushing paperwork at the front desk until he retired. All I got in return was a vexed look from the collie, who was wearing his mane too long compared to the regulations in the force and looked like a road person more then a policeman, but I knew that he understood I was pretty much pushing my last miles today, and that having to get this shipment together for the arms deal was really putting a mortgage on my patience and mental endurance. Heck, maybe his mane was too long, but my whiskers were ridiculously longer. I’d let them go down to my clavicles in the hopes that it would make me look a bit more serious, but the only effect was that with my high-raised ears, I looked like an old painting of a Valkyrie, but without the exploding bust to match. The car wasn’t even ours, really. We’d taken it as evidence from a jerk that had been spying on his ex-wife last week, but since we’d already gathered enough on his case to sent him in for a few years and the machine still ran half-decently, we figured that we might as well use it for something worthwhile and hence drove it like a part of our fleet. Three others in our possession were from the same background, save for one that had been witness to a murder and some splatter still covered the back seat, though with a thick cover over it, it didn’t stop it from being a decent drive. Stupid to say, but then again, it went with the rest of the situation. We hadn’t had paperclips, glue, wooden pencils or most of what could be considered normal stationary for a few years, to make sure we had enough for uniforms, and that was jus what we were still not used to. I took the side door into the station, getting a few salutes from officers as they crossed Victor and me, knowing from experience that it wasn’t time to cut into my routine for some idle chatter on the latest punk they’d thrown in. While I transferred the payment to the unmarked account from my desk, I only caught a glimpse of a face in the booking room, a tourist that had jaywalked right in front of the old Kremlin, almost getting hit by a car before the officers tackled him and brought him in, getting a smile on my lips for a moment as we took the stairs down to the basement parking, part of which had been walled off to be used as secure evidence storage. We just had so many stolen vehicles and bulky items that it had been a necessity, though no one had complained about having to park somewhere else from then on. I walked through the lanes with Victor until we spotted a rusty carcass of a box truck that would fit the bill for our transport, and quite conveniently it had been hotwired, so we didn’t even need to go through the annoying exercise of trying to find the keys for it. There wasn’t any love lost in giving such a piece of garbage away with the stock, considering that they would most certainly set anything we used alight to get rid of evidence as soon as they had emptied it. Even if we had given them something better, I doubt they would have changed their procedure so it was good enough.

It took us half an hour to pack the radios, GPS gear, cell phones, compasses and drugs into the truck, trying to fit them in the box as compactly as possible so we wouldn’t need to put anything on the passenger’s side seat, though we ended up having to put a box of cell batteries there anyway. Because I was Constable, I had enough authority to sign off the stock as having been destroyed, not that anyone cared about the books all that much. As long as everyone went home with their pays, no one really had any reason to get excited about the latest odd happening in the station. Considering they’d be getting new guns soon enough, ones that fired a clip without jamming up like an old barn door, they wouldn’t be in a complaining mood anyway. It was five by the time we’d finished, time enough for us to go home and get a good supper before I drove the beast to our exchange, like we’d agreed to with our new friends. Victor gave me a thumbs-up as we parted in the lot behind the station, myself climbing into my fifteen year-old Opel to get back. Our flat was only ten blocks from the station, but I liked to have the car in case that I needed to go somewhere for an emergency. Daniella, my wonderful wife, didn’t need it most of the time, save for the odd day she went for shopping and couldn’t get a lift or public transit didn’t reach her destination, and then Patricia and Beatrix, our precious daughters took a bus to school from our door. I pulled into our driveway to see Daniella open the door and gaze at me as I got out, opening her arms to give me a hug.
-Dmitri, she purred as we walked in and closed the door, how was work today?
-Very good, I said with a smile. I think that our officers will be safe with new weapons soon after all.
-Really! You seemed very worried about that, commented Daniella as the girls came to get their own hugs from me. So you had enough money?
-Something to that effect, I nodded, I worked something out. I need to go out tonight though, to get them at their warehouse, around nine.
-That’s fine, purred my queen, dinner is ready.
The four of us walked to the table where Daniella placed a small roast beef, sitting for us to say grace before we ate. In my thanks, I also added another few lines to myself, asking God to forgive the sacrifices that I made for the good of our station, though it seemed to give me less peace then I would have thought. We were good, honest Orthodox, and had raised our children to be angels. My sister came by often with her own kittens, welcome to stay, as she liked. Her husband had died of an infection after a long pneumonia, leaving her to fend as a legal secretary, though she had to work long and hard to make ends meet. I did what I could for her, from giving her money when she needed it to having her over with us to save on heating and food, but even if I had a good salary, it was hard to support two families like this. Lately, I had been scratching the corners of my pockets to have enough for us not to need anything. Still, a look at my family was enough to remind me that it was the only thing that mattered in life, before any sort of unnecessary luxury.

I played with my kittens after supper as we watched bit of television, but soon I saw the clock marked eight, which would give me enough time to go back to the station to get the truck and drive to the Laundromat. I squeezed them against me hard before getting up and dressing up to go, taking the car again to get on to work on time. There was no more traffic at this time of the day, save for the young people going into town to party, but even then it was a quiet neighborhood and very few did so. I parked the Opel aside the truck and locked it up before taking the transport vehicle out, realizing how bad a shape it was in after all. I was certain it would give a good last performance though, and revved it a bit as I turned into the streets, eagerly making for the rendezvous. I could see that the other truck from the Mafia was already waiting for me, a few minutes ahead of schedule. As I pulled up aside it, I saw Bash get out of the driver side door and two men, a Siberian tiger and a monocle bear, come from the back of the vehicle, signing for me to wait as they opened the back of my vehicle and took a look around, calling to the leopardess that all was in order.
-This is Pavel and Stovich, said the woman as I got out. They will help you with the merchandise and make certain it is safely stored away.
-Oh, well thank you. I hope you don’t mind this truck, but...
-It’ll be stripped for parts and disposed of anyway, shrugged Bash. I will contact you tomorrow morning regarding the other items. Be well!
-My heart goes to you, I smiled as I got into the weapon-filled truck. Be well.
Bash drove off first as the two gangsters got back in the container of the delivery truck, calling that they were ready to go when I was. I voiced acknowledgement to the positive as I drove back to the station, taking the place formerly occupied by the hotwired vehicle. Pavel and Stovich got out and asked where I wanted the crates, to which I replied that it would be kind of them to put them just inside the walled-off secure room. They seemed glad to find themselves doing business with a polite policeman, and with a pair of fork buggies, they rolled the crates down the foldout ramp and stacked them as I requested. As the last one was placed, they declared they’d be driving the truck back themselves, and that the one we had given would be considered a fair contribution to our payment. I grinned and waved as they took off, then jogged inside the locked room to check the crates. The containers were totally unmarked save for ‘??????’ monogrammed on their sides with a spray paint stencil, but as I opened one with a screwdriver, I found myself looking at rows of brand-new handguns and taking one, recognized them to be from the middle-range line of Heckler and Koch, almost too good a quality compared to what I’d thought about getting. I checked another crate, and found boxes of 45 caliber munitions, just as had been promised, along with clips for them to be put into. I gladly took one and filled it before picking a firearm and sliding it in, hearing a melodious click as it fit in perfectly. Beautiful, I sighed as I tucked it in my holster and put aside the weathered Browning that I had been using for years now, so oxidized and rusted that I spent more time oiling it then actually holding it. Tomorrow morning, I’d call for the station’s store to start calling in the officers to change their sidearm for these wonders, but for the moment, I would be glad to go back home and get some sleep.

It was ten thirty by the time that I parked the Opel and closed its pinging door, but I could still see the light on in the living room, telling me that Daniella had stayed up to wait for me. I grinned at the thought to the love we shared and entered the house, spotting my wife looking at me with a smile as I put my things away for the day, including a lockbox that I kept my gun in. She walked over to see it as I took it out to put in away, and nodded as I held it for her to see.
-These are very good, Danieshka, I said. I can feel it weighs less then what we had before, too.
-I’m sure they are, she purred. Put it away, and I’ll rub your back a bit.
-You’re too good a woman for a man like me, I whispered as I closed the box and caressed her hair.
Daniella put her arm around me as we climbed the stairs to the bedrooms, where though the ajar door, I saw our kittens were already out like lights, sleeping in their bunk beds. My wife sighed and looked at me before we shared a kiss, contemplating our children a few seconds before going on ourselves. I took off my clothes, save for my briefs, and lay down on the bed while I watched Daniella do the same until she came over and lay down on my back, her soft breasts compressed between us as she wrapped her arms under mine and rubbed her head against me. Slowly, she sat up and started massaging my shoulder and back, hearing nothing but purring in return, though I didn’t stop caressing her leg with my good hand. I feel bad about it now, but after a few minutes of the tender treatment, I fell fast asleep, though I can remember hearing my lynx giggling as I went under.

The next morning, I was awoken by the ring of the electronic clock aside our bed around seven, my usual time for going out and about. Daniella and the kittens normally got up half an hour later with time to spare for school, but I had a regular routine starting then. I took my shower, this time cutting down my whiskers a bit to a more sensible length, then got dressed in my beige trench coat before driving to a small diner a block from the station where the staff had my order ready under the heat lamps before I even walked in. I greeted the waitress and sat down to my meal, drinking down a cup of scalding hot coffee before starting on it. As I unfolded a newspaper I’d grabbed from the bar, I felt someone watching me, a sensation I didn’t quite put my finger on until I took a look around and saw Bash and another mink sitting at the counter across the restaurant, waving to me. I was about to speak but the leopardess pointed for me to take my time and finish eating instead, which I couldn’t really honestly protest. With my last toast gone and enough rubles on the table to pay for my food, I paced over to the pair, who had also finished their breakfast, getting a firm handshake from both.
-Good morning, Constable, said Bash. This my partner, Bang. Bang, this is Constable Dmitri Balakov.
-I hope you found the pistols to your liking, said the mink.
-They’re very good, I replied, lifting my coat to show I was wearing it, but more importantly better then I thought I had paid for.
-Well, in these circles merchandise is more reasonably priced, smiled the leopardess. We were hoping that you’d be available to discuss the other items this morning.
-Oh, I am, I insisted with an almost impulsive nodding. Would you like to come in with me to the station?
-That was our idea, replied Bang. Shall we?
-You already paid? I didn’t notice, I commented.
-This diner belongs to us, grinned Bash, or rather the Mafia. I bet you didn’t know, eh?
-What? Are you serious?
-Quite, called the waitress from behind the counter, waving to us as we left the restaurant.
-I’ll be, I laughed as we walked to the station. I’ve been getting contraband ham and eggs for years!
-I bet they didn’t taste much different then any other, shrugged Bash. Nice station! I’ve only ever seen it from the outside.
-It your case, I’m sure that for the better, I smirked. My desk is right over there, but I think we’d have more privacy in the conference room right there.
-Not wanting to seem rude, started Bang as her stare wandered around us, but I’m certainly getting an idea how much of an expenditure your wares were for you.
-It’s obvious to anyone with eyes to see, I sighed. Have a seat, please. I’ll close the door here...
-Well, said Bash as she sat down and turned the chair next to her to rest her paws, for starters you’ll be glad to know that everything you passed us yesterday is already miles away from here, and the truck is a block of steel in a scrap yard. With such good business from you right off the starting line, the Prince was quite glad to make you an offer to get the rest of the weapons.
-Prince Treshka himself?
-We’re in his confidence, assured Bang. He would be quite pleased to supply you with one thousand Steyr-12 sub machine guns and two hundred Steyr Stg.58 assault rifles.
-Steyr! That’s very, very good! But then the price would amount to what?
-The price would be something that has no price, to use a metaphor, started Bash, to be specific, friendship.
-In what regards, I started with a suspicious air, personal or professional?
-The latter, for certain, and the former perhaps in due time, replied Bang. You see, we understand how difficult it is to keep things under control in the city, with so many gangs on the field it makes everyone’s life difficult, be it policeman, Mafiosi, or simple citizen. In exchange for these weapons, we would start a more aggressive campaign to eradicate them, which we estimate would last at the most a month. By then, you should notice a considerable reduction in criminality in your prefecture, at the very least.
-All right, I muttered, so what part would you want us to take in this action exactly? I assume that because this is an exchange of goods and services, it would be something quite active?
-Not really, said Bash. It would be mandatory for you not to interfere, and give us leeway to act. We have our own housekeeping service, if you understand the implication, therefore there would be little to do from your part thereafter. Any further involvement would be at your discretion, if you find yourself so inclined to volunteer to offer any.
-Now I feel simply ungrateful, I laughed as I put my own paws across just like Bash. You’re offering to help us rid Moscow of criminals in return for giving us weapons? I don’t see us as doing anything for you in this arrangement!
-That was the Prince’s offer, exactly as he said it, insisted Bang.
-Then here is my counter-offer, I stated. If we are armed and equipped properly, then we’ll go in with your people together in these excursions, sharing intelligence and skill. I’m certain that there is nothing that together we will be unable to face and return home from with nothing else then smiles!
-That sort of exchange would require a good deal of trust, said Bang. If you want to get involved with us this profoundly, then we would have to know with a hundred percent certainty that neither will ever move against the other and that whatever is learned during our work will not be used to personal ends disadvantageous to the other party.
-How would we establish that we have this trust?
-Come back with us today and you will meet Prince Treshka, said Bang. He alone can have the last word on this question. Just by doing so, you would show a great trust in us, of course.
-Very well, I said with a smile. Shall we?
The two women looked both intrigued and delighted at my quick acceptance of the offer, which I suppose would show even greater trust then if I would have waited to give my answer. Bash took out a cell phone and called someone about a ride to pick us up at the restaurant where we’d met, but I didn’t understand a good part of the conversation, as the leopardess switched to Georgian halfway through, which I supposed was a way to get some private information across even with me in the group. She turned and put a finger to her lips as if to sign that I wasn’t supposed to hear what she had said just in case I had understood the language, but I shrugged and laughed as I declared that I only knew Russian, German, French and English. She slapped my shoulder as we looked down the street to see a short limousine slow down to pick us up, though before I was allowed in, out came the two made men that had helped me unload the shipment yesterday, one asking for my pistol while the other gave me a quick frisk search, getting my backup from my pant leg with a polite smile. As soon as they had stashed my guns and promised that they’d return them to me when they were told to do so, I got in between them across from Bang and Bash. Even though my mind was telling me that I was walking into a dragon’s maw, I didn’t feel any trace of nervousness. Nothing but friendliness seemed to appear on their women’s faces, and even the guards didn’t restrain me too much, though I saw that both had one hand ready to get their opposite handed weapons and grip me with their off hands if I would have tried anything inappropriate. Just to be courteous, I didn’t try to make conversation, simply sitting quietly as the car made a series of confusing turns through the city, though the windows where so opaque that I couldn’t make anything out, which I suppose was the reason for the choice of this vehicle. Eventually, as I felt the first bead of sweat make its way down my whiskers, we stopped and the two guards showed me out of the car before the women left it themselves. I didn’t look around me in a conspicuous manner, but I did situate myself with a few buildings and reference points to be in the east side of the city, lower south, well into the older residential districts. We were behind an aged apartment block, five stories high, but beyond that, it was so anonymous that I couldn’t have pointed it out should I have to return on my own. Bang and Bash opened the way for the five of us to enter, the four forming an inescapable box around me, definitively blocking off any way for me to get away. It didn’t make me uncomfortable or annoyed, because as we climbed the stairs, which would have been my best chance for escape by pushing the guards behind me over, I felt I was in a friendly place. Maybe not totally friendly as in old drinking buddies sort of friendly, but not coldly hostile either, just something between. The level were we stopped was crowded, though I knew that the people there weren’t just normal residents, but rather the entourage of the Prince. Down the hall, I saw the mink that had met me with Bash yesterday, a different shade of gray then Bang, but very familiar-looking nonetheless. The mink nodded and pointed for us to go into one of the rooms, which we immediately did. Inside, a very strong-looking polar bear was sitting at his desk with an apparently new laptop and a few folders, his great hands laced together in front of him. He nodded to Bang and Bash, who smiled back and turned back to return in the hall, though my escorts didn’t leave the room, instead taking the two sofas at the back of the room behind me.
-Please make yourself comfortable, said the polar bear as he stood up and held his hand out in greeting.
-Thank you, Prince Treshka, I answered as I took his paw and gave it an honest shake. I’m glad we could meet.
-Of course, Constable Balakov, called the bear as we sat down and pulled in our chairs. Now, if I understand properly from my conversation with Bash, you wish to have a greater role in the securing of the city, yes?
-I would feel that we aren’t returning the great generosity that you are showing us if should we simply sit on the sidelines, I nodded. With the weapons you would supply and the uniforms and equipment our highly trained intervention teams already have, we would certainly be in measure to facilitate the completion of this mutually interesting objective.
-Our interests perhaps slightly differ, though I can see how this would interest you as well, acquiesced the Prince. You do understand that our objective is not exactly to eliminate the other organizations that pollute the city with their pointless foolishness, but in many cases, take control of their operations for ourselves, do you not?
-I understand that, I replied, but I would rest easy in knowing that someone with your honor and intelligence watch over them. I know that you would never resort to the repressive violence that these people use, aiming at both innocent and guilty alike with callous greed.
-That is a fact indeed, nodded Treshka. You see, we have more in common then our reputations would place between us, Constable.
-I know, I smiled. We both love Russia, and want to protect her with all our hearts.
-And we strike mercilessly at those who would seek her harm, added the bear, and teach them the error in their ways. Yes, we have much in common, and we perhaps have a chance to put these commonalities together to accomplish much. However, this would mean acting very overtly as one. In our case, we have no fear of doing so, for no one commands the Mafia but the Mafia itself. For you, there is more to consider.
-The mayor is helpless, I commented. I can’t remember the number of conversations that we’ve had regarding these troubles, and that he ended them with an exasperated call to God to send us a legion of angels to aid us. It may just be that we have found them in those who we thought were our opponents.
-It may just be, smirked the Prince. Well then! We will sent you your weapons today, and coordinate for a series of important strikes in the next few days. In the meantime, we will start preliminary work to explore further actions.
-The enemies of our people will feel our edge, I replied as I shook the bear’s paw.
-Pavlov, please drive our friend here home to the station. Until tomorrow, Constable, be well!
-You can call me Dmitri, I commented.
-And you can say Vlad in my case, smiled the Prince.
I wasn’t too much of a talker on our drive back to the station, but it wasn’t malicious. My mind was just too busy with thoughts about our new relation with the Mafia. We’d been quite honest in our conversation, and everything we’d brought up had made perfect sense in every way. For two forces, one more overt then the other of course, to work towards a goal was exactly what we were doing, whatever the final product of the project could be. After all, it would open a lot of doors for us! To be able to fulfill the long-awaited arrest records we’d been dreaming of reaching would be a thing of legend, and certainly would have an effect far into the future if we let the Mafia maintain order in their own way while we kept a sharp eye out with our resources. I got out of the car with a wave to the driver before jumping off to my desk and putting my paws up to rest a bit, taking out a few folders on well-documented groups we could hit with the Prince’s own. As I was coming back from lunch in the little kitchenette that we had behind the offices, another officer came to tell me that there was a truck outside waiting for me. I almost clapped my paws and meowed, but instead I held it in enough to keep a straight face as I jogged to see if it was the delivery Vlad had promised. Just as I thought, the same two beasts from the pistol delivery were waiting with the vehicle, signaling that they wished to drop them off at the same place as they had before. I showed them into the garage and helped them like the night before, stacking the crates of quality weapons in the safe room until no less then twenty boxes were neatly arranged, ready to be opened and stored. I shook the made men’s hands as they returned to their truck and drove off, then turned around and ran to the store manager to tell him about the delivery, which he found hard to believe until I brought him down and showed the items to him. With an air to total disbelief, he took them and looked them over, calling to me that I was the best thing to happen to the station since it was founded. I didn’t have the heart to protest, but I certainly was in a hurry for the arms to find their owners and for them to get some practice with them before their purveyor called about the interventions. I didn’t expect for anyone from the Mafia to show up at my office door in mid afternoon though, but as it would be, around three o’clock, I was casually looking up at the wall clock to see how much longer I had to sign reports and read pointless discussions on what our strategies for the next five or ten years should be, then noticed Bash looking in over my cubicle wall with a smile.
-Bash, I exclaimed, almost knocking over my half-empty coffee mug as I got to my paws to welcome the leopardess in, it’s wonderful to see you! How did you get in past the watch officer, exactly?
-I just waited until he went for a leak, chuckled the woman. You’re security’s pretty lax, sorry.
-Don’t be, it’s our failing, not yours. Thank you and yours for the delivery, first and foremost. I wouldn’t have expected that it would come so soon, I have to admit.
-Vlad was in a hurry, nodded Bash, both to seal this partnership and get into the business of eliminating our common opponents. The intel we have on them changes so quickly that its hard to keep it up to date, hence the sooner we act on it, the less time we have to spend trying to slave away and keep it current. I’m sure you can understand the reasoning behind that, Dmitri.
-Most certainly. Well, I suppose that now that everyone involved is set for our actions to start, there’s nothing to keep us from going full steam ahead.
-Funny how I keep hearing echoes from you and the Prince, smiled Bash as she took a few papers from her jacket pocket and handed them to me. These are the most important bastions that we have identified, which would require almost immediate attention, for any further delay would make them much harder to hit.
-The timeframe seems reasonable, I muttered as I looked at the dates the polar bear had noted aside the names and addresses on the report. Tomorrow, we could take out these two, though, which would make our work next week a bit less crowded. I’ll just write something too here…
-Take your time, waved Bash, I’ve got all day. Bang’s taking the day off with her sister, so I’m footloose and fancy-free here.
-Cat on a hot tin roof, I grinned as I wrote away in reply to Vlad.
-Dare I comment that you’re also feline, laughed the leopardess, eh?
-You certainly could! Here, you can give Vlad this whenever you want. Actually, seeing as how I’ve got a few hours, I could drive you back if you took a cab.
-Oh, that would be great, called the leopardess. I’ll find myself a nice supper as soon as I get back…
-Here’s a little modification then, I interjected. My sister was supposed to come to our home tonight, but she called to cancel but I didn’t have time to tell my wife. That means that there’ll be some extras on the table, so you’re free to come instead.
-Oh, that’s really too much, said Bash. You sister deserves that generosity, not me, I’m just a strange cat here.
-You’re most certainly not! I know your name, so you’re certainly not a stranger, I smiled as I threw on my coat. Come on, and we’ll get going.
Bash opened her maw to say something, but nothing came out other then a hum as she closed up behind me to leave the station. The watch officer looked a bit embarrassed as he watched the leopardess pass by, which tore another laugh from her as we walked to my car and got in for the ride.
-So how old are you exactly, Bash?
-Twenty-six, replied the leopardess. My full name’s Basharenska Kavvy, by the way.
-A young kitten, I stated. I’m thirty-five myself, happily married to my wife Daniella, with two children, Patricia and Beatrix.
-Lucky cat, sighed Bash. Well, I guess I’ll figure something out with Bang for that… I guess we could get a donor or something sometime. We love each other, don’t take that as a doubt, it isn’t. It’s just that our kind of relation isn’t as easy as yours.
-I can see that, I replied as I shook her shoulder. Ah, you’re fine Bash, you’re fine. Two women don’t have to worry about dirty toilet seats being left up, at least.
-Right, bellowed the leopardess. You’re a great cat…
We pulled into the driveway under Daniella’s watchful eyes, who looked a bit surprised to see Bash come out with me. I defused things right away and presented the two and explained how the leopardess had shown so much kindness to the station and the good souls who worked there with supplying the weapons, though I cloaked her association. My queen looked thrilled with Bash and invited her in quickly, showing her around the place with pride while the kittens came to cuddle with me. Bash’s stare seemed to melt as we rejoined at the table a while later, obviously remembering her situation with some regret in the back of her mind. Still, the hot beef stew that Daniella had cooked took away any speck of unhappiness in the panther who didn’t stop flattering her on the extraordinary taste of the meal. I made some tea while Bash helped Daniella clean the dishes, something that the panther seemed to have the habit of doing, hence it was reasonable to think that she was the ‘man of the house’ with regards to Bang. I tried to put that aside, for whatever her orientation, she was a good soul, quite a good soul. We stretched our teas for a long time, until the kittens started getting too sleepy to stay up and Daniella put them to bed, giving me a chance to offer a ride home to the leopardess. Bash accepted without hesitation, looking back into our home as we walked out of the house, as if she was looking at some version of paradise that she sought somehow, and didn’t really want to take her eyes off in case it vanished from her sight forever. I tried to formulate some interrogation to put to the leopardess as we took the car, but a single tear beading down her face took away any sort of question I could have asked.
-Bash, leopardess, what’s that tear for?
-Aw, sighed the woman as she wiped it away, nothing…
-I don’t believe in nothings like that, I refuted. Come now, if you can’t talk to a policeman, who can you talk to?
-Yeah, whispered Bash as she clenched her jaw to stop if from moving. It’s just that I’d love to have children, Dmitri, more then anything. I see Bang in Daniella, her sweetness and calm gentleness, but my heart calls for my own kittens to hold too. It’s a crappy place to be, but I guess I have to work with it for now…
-But like you said, you could find a donor.
-The banks here only give to ‘normal’ families, corrected Bash, waving a finger angrily before closing it in her hand. We lesbians don’t get zilch, not a single chance. I don’t  want to just go out and play a cheap ride either, never in hell…
-That leaves little to go on, I grunted.
-Maybe… no, never mind.
-Hmm? What?
-Nothing, it’s not something I should even think about, said the woman, trying to laugh it off.
-Bash…
-Dmitri, I trust you, all right? I don’t trust that many people. Very, very few. The only guys I know I trust are you and Vladimir, but it would be weird to ask Vlad, you know…
-So you’re saying that you’d want me to inseminate you? Sorry, that’s putting it a bit roughly, have a relation with you?
-It would give Bang and me a chance to feel the happiness you do, nodded the cat. I mean you don’t even have to take anything off, just you know…
-I… I need a bit of stimuli to get into that sort of state, I moaned as I felt my face blush. Anyhow, if we’re going to do anything, we might as well go all the way and do it properly, eh?
-All right, said Bash in a quiet purr as she smiled at me. Here, just go around the back there…
I turned behind the building where I had visited Vladimir, parking the Opel aside the pair of bikes I recognized as Bang and Bash’s from the visit, just as the leopardess suggested, letting her get out first before I did, locking up behind us. She seemed in no hurry to get to her place, unconsciously stretching the anticipation of our act perhaps, though a few minutes later we were at the door of her apartment and she turned her key in the door. I half expected for Bang to be inside and ask a few hard question that I wasn’t too well equipped in replies to deal with without babbling some stupidity instead of a well-composed answer. The Three Fates must have planned our meeting with Eros, for the place was empty, save for a note in the mink’s curly handwriting explaining she had gone out for the evening with Vanessa and Vladimir, and that she’d be back very late. Bash looked at the note with a nod and put in the bed stand’s drawer before arching her back over to stretch.
-The coast is clear, I said with a grin, eh cat?
-Seems to be, shrugged the leopardess. All right! Now you’ll have to lead, but it might be a bit odd because I’m normally in charge with Bang, you know.
-Sort of like two husbands in bed, I laughed as I took off my shirt.
-Damn you’re a fine piece of lynx, whistled Bash. You ever see anything like this..?
-Not quite, I gasped as she pulled her polo off her back and cast off her bra, revealing the woman’s thin but taught frame, with her left nipple pierced by a silver ring. Oh, look at that…
-That tickles, called the leopardess as she grabbed me to stop me from playing with the jewel. Oh you’re warm, tomcat… I bet that’ll be warmer though.
-It has every reason to be, I chuckled as Bash attacked my pants and pulled everything down from me. Now mind you, it’s not like anything you and Bang use, but you have to consider that…
-Oh who are you kidding, cut the woman as she cradled my cock with her hand and continued undressed with the other. This is going to be good, really good…
I lay down aside the leopardess as she took the rest of her clothes off and turned to mess around. She lead, just like she had predicted, masturbating us without any shadow of restraint and the utmost confidence though I took care of holding her butt with both hands, giving her the occasional spank as I kissed her hard, getting huffs of breath every time and a crescendo in her purrs. She mounted me as soon as I was hard enough, yowling low as she moved on me, though the real noise started when I pulled out and turned her on her back, penetrating her again but this time really going all-out, holding her shoulders as I traveled in her leopardess. A demonic grin lit up on her face as her eyes locked on mine and her hands closed on my shoulders, growling and moaning with her head throwing back every now and then. I blew off in her with a loud meow, falling on her with an exhausted sigh, but I didn’t know that she had a riposte in mind. As soon as she had sort of gathered herself, she sprung to her feet to stride to a nearby chest of drawers, retrieving and slipping on a strap-on dildo before turning on a dime and pouncing on me. I gave a questioning grunt in my stupor as I felt something poke at my butt, then a wheeze as she savagely sodomized me, holding me against the bed as she had her way with me. Half frozen in surprise and half paralyzed by the sensations I felt, I didn’t react until she had pulled out of me and slapped my ass.
-There you go, you dirty little tomcat, she laughed as she wiggled my buns.
-Dirty, am I, I frowned as she turned to put the object back in its place. Then here, let me show you how dirty I can be!
Bash didn’t see me jump off the bed and land behind her, hence she didn’t have time to move before I’d grabbed her right leg and lifted it to screw her over the cover of the chest, this time going at her furiously, not stopping until I’d came twice and seen her breasts bounce like rubber balls for a generous fifteen minutes.
-Oh shiiiiit, she moaned as she fell on the bed, her heart racing. Dmitri, you’re a God, oh shhhit, I can’t feel my clit. I’d give anything to get the hell fucked out of me like that once in a while, yeah!
-We aim to please, I mumbled as I dropped like a sack of dirt. Wasn’t that something now. And I suppose that me might have to try a few times before the test turns blue, unless we underestimate ourselves.
-I’d think so, nodded Bash as she reached over and gave my back a slap. Ah well, I guess we will, darn. I hope that you don’t think of this the wrong way, but I sort of like this, in a very unconventional way.
-Any loving is good loving, I grinned. For the time being though, seeing as how it’s a bit late and there’s a certain mink perhaps accompanied by her kin coming back anytime, hence perhaps some measure of a cleanup?
-Better err on the side of caution, laughed Bash as she helped herself up in a swing by pushing me back down. You’ve got to be faster then that…
We hurried to pick everything up that we had knocked down during our acrobatics and dash down the hall to the shower for a scrub. I tried to get the leopardess to go in first and then me, but she was too strong for me to escape her arms as she took me in a lock and dragged me along I had felt how slim her body was when we had been previously engaged, but as I rubbed her back, I realized how she was actually almost pure muscle, which she probably noticed I had figured out, flexing her trapeze as I worked her fur. By the time that we had gotten everything back on our backs, we heard some voices outside in the hall, which had the net effect of making us quite proud of our foresight, even more so as the door opened and in came Vanessa and Bang, not that surprised to see me there.
-Hello Dmitri, said the princess, how are you on this fine evening?
-Quite well, fine princess, I replied. I take it you had a good time out?
-Oh yes! Vlad found quite a nice little restaurant, quite the atmosphere.
-I’ll looking forwards to turning in though, groaned Bang before letting a squeaking yawn out. You in, Bash?
-Sure am, nodded the leopardess, crossing her arms across her partner’s shoulders.
-I’ll see myself out, I said as I left the apartment with Vanessa.
-Fun pair of maniacs, giggled the princess. Hey, how about a little shot of something upstairs? Vlad has a few pretty interesting bottles in his reserve.
-I’m up for it, I said with shrug, if he doesn’t mind having me.
-He most certainly doesn’t, insisted the mink. Right here…
-Hello again, I said to Pavel and Stovich as I saw the two men standing to in the hall leading to the Prince’s apartment, getting a nod and wave in return.
We simply strode right into the living room of the royal couple’s apartments, where the polar bear was already in his dressing robes watching television, but he was quite happy to get up and shake my hand, guiding me to the sofa aside him and pull out a half-empty bottle of vodka to pour me a glass.
-So detective, what brings you this way at this time of the day, or rather night?
-Oh, I just drove Bash back after she’d paid me a visit at the station on an errand.
-An errand I sent her on myself, said the bear as he toasted with me. This is a beautiful time for Russia, Dmitri.
-It is indeed, friend. I think that Bash gave some documents to one of the good men keeping this place from harm as we arrived…
-I have them, of course. I’m glad that we are as dedicated to this project as we are, and what you planned would be a truly great start. For tonight, did you have any plans?
-Well, if I don’t return soon, I should call my Daniella to tell her not to stay up for nothing.
-I don’t want to keep you from your family, corrected Vlad, that isn’t right to do.
-Oh, that’s fine, I stay at the station sometimes anyway, I replied as I took a phone from the bear and called home.
-Families are precious, commented Vanessa as she sat down aside Vlad. We’ve been trying for a while, but to date…
-We’ll keep trying, minksha, encourage the Prince, maybe…
-Maybe you’d like to take a look at this, smiled the mink as she took out a test kit from her purse and passed it to her husband.
-Are you certain, minksha?
-Tonight was a bit of a special celebration, giggled the woman, we’re parents now, polarshka.
-My deepest congratulations, I said with a kind smile. I hope you’re spared all the headaches and only live the greatest joys of parenthood. If you ever need a hand, I’ve had the experience of two kittens myself so I can certainly be of help.
-We wouldn’t want to try your patience more then you already have it abused at work, laughed Vanessa. Tell me though, are the first few nights really so sleepless?
I stayed with the folks for a good hour, offering any ideas and memories about my children to them in exchange for a few more glasses after which I didn’t really consider going home at the wheel. Nothing would have been more humiliating then being pulled over by one of my own cogs for driving like a loaded maniac on the streets, I thought as I clicked the glass with a claw, listening to the conversation between Vanessa and her husband. The subject was Bang and Bash, wherein the mink voiced her hopes that her sister would somehow live the same miracle that the rest of us had, though there was some kind of complicity to knowing that there was a chance that I had made that very thing come true a short while earlier. I didn’t feel anything resembling guilt anymore, not even the remote itch that I’d had when Bash and I were cleaning up. After all, it was wonderful that the two women would have their moment of divine beauty too, and the way that Bash had spoken about her possibilities, I knew that they wanted it quite badly, perhaps even more then some regular couples. As I sat idle with my eyes blinking to stay focused on the situation, I didn’t see Vlad reach over as he brought his hand down on my head and messed up my fur with a hearty laugh. I didn’t take much more convincing to sprawl over the sofa for the night with a wool cover Vanessa tossed me before she retreated with her bear to the bedroom. All I dreamt about were kittens, cure little lynxes and leopards, and a pair of mink cubs bouncing around like pogo sticks…

I came around pretty early, a bit sooner then my usual time, but seeing as how I was further away from the station then my place, it was for the better. The door to the prince and princess’ room was still shut, therefore it was quite possible that they were still in there and to intrude wouldn’t have been advisable. Instead, I simply snuck out of the apartment and started down the hall, this time not seeing any familiar faces but getting friendly greetings from the guards as I passed through their midst to get to the stairs down. I felt like a million bucks, and I thought I saw an extra little spark in my eyes as I readjusted the rear view mirror in the Opel before starting the motor. Maybe there was something to this break in routine that made the prospect of going to work a bit more entertaining then usual, including the fact I’d have to go see the intervention teams today and present the plans that Vlad and I had designed. I pulled into the office directly, skipping breakfast for a change in favor for a coffee and muffin from the canteen instead, just as a further deviation from the everyday beat. Typing up the briefings took more imagination then they did time, both to make certain that I didn’t let the real reason for the urgency of the strikes shine through or the particulars about the fact the Russian Mafia was going to operate at another location just down the street. The way the attacks were going to be made, we wouldn’t see any of the activity at that location, so unless Vlad’s men called for help, we’d hold back. They were only responsible for a diversionary action after all, while we were going to hit the real target a few minutes after they had started. The idea was that the car thieves we were going to arrest would move a part of their people out to give a hand at the front the Mafia was going to hit, but as they were, we would move in and intercept them before continuing on. It would cut their defenders a bit, and keep them from getting too much of an armed response ready for us. As soon as I’d printed the sheets, I walked to the opposite side of the station and knocked on the intervention leader’s office door, getting a wide grin from the rabbit inside as he welcomed me.
-I have no idea how you were able to get those weapons, Dmitri, but you have to be some kind of wizard to have pulled it off!
-Well, there was some work involved, but now that you have them Karl, I was wondering if you might be in the mood to put them to good use. I have information on a car thief ring that operates out of the industrial district, stealing and cutting up imported vehicles before moving them out of the country. I think that it would be a decent target to test the effectiveness of your new toys.
-It would be, nodded the lagomorph as he took my briefing and reviewed it. So you want to do this tomorrow? Fine, we’ll be ready.
-You people are at the range?
-They volunteered for practice as soon as they unwrapped their presents, laughed the rabbit. I took one of everything out myself and tried for a spin before coming in, but I’m still stunned by the quality of these tools.
-Glad you think so, I commented.
-Were did you get them though? I don’t mean to seem to have any mistrust in you, but I know full well that we didn’t have the money to get most of this stuff.
-If you want to know, then it means telling you about the second part of this plan, I grunted. It depends how you feel about the country more then anything, I suppose.
-I love our country of course! There’s no doubt of that, I hope!
-None, I reassured. These weapons I bought from another great friend of Russia, though most of the time we didn’t have the sense or a reason to call them that.
-By name..?
-The Red Mafia, I replied. I know their Prince, Vladimir Treshka. He’s a great patriot, and loves his country more then he loves anything but his wife, just as me or you. They are also going to operate some strikes at the same time as us, but unless things go wrong for either, we’re not scheduled to really interact that much.
-I think we’ll be finished before them, said Karl. We could relocate as soon as we’ve neutralized the situation and the subjects at the location have been taken away. Will they be far?
-Just over there, I said as I pointed out the front on the map. It’s five minutes away in the vans.
-Then we’ll hit it too, waved the rabbit. Great! I’ll get working on things at my end here, and I’ll see you early this afternoon with something.
I only stayed around for a few minutes before going back to my things, eager to get some confirmation of Karl’s intentions. The rabbit was one of the best snipers on the force, even if his rifle was nothing but an old Dragunov that had certainly seen many better days before today. I’d learned to respect his judgment with time, and him my words when I said that something was urgent. He’d been there with me through the more turbulent years before the Mafia had taken more standing in the city’s scene and brought their own brand of justice to those who deserved it, and we’d been able to make a reasonable stand against crime. To push back with force now was something we’d hoped for some time, listening to the mayor’s almost tearful speeches about how the very heart of our land was wilting. I thought about those declarations as I sat down to my things at my desk and got my head back into the work, burning away the rest of the day to the steady beats of the small radio that sat on my desk.

(switch to Karl)

I always found it amusing how Dmitri always tried to keep up appearances through thick and thin, but I knew that he had to, should the media ask for some information on our work. Being constable, he was their first target, and he wasn’t in any hurry to get flooded with zealous reporters with an obligation for a headline. I always managed to escape that, and I had no ambition to climb into the higher echelons to make myself too visible. Actually, my ambition limited itself to what I did. I was a good strategist and a mean shot. Jeeze, I must have planned and executed either as a team leader or team member well over two hundred operations, at the very least. As for the number kills that I’d accumulated well, let’s say that there was no way to really be sure for when I was part of the unit for the first years, I knew that some others who took credit for my handiwork. To heck with it, I got promoted, not them, ha.

This job wasn’t that exotic, my dear cat Dmitri. There were only three doors into the hanger and the two main bays to cover, and I knew from experience that the bay doors were never used by a panic-stricken felons on the run from automatic weapon-toting policemen calling for them to hi the deck if they didn’t want to get turned into honeycomb. Still, I penned down for two people to cover them and basically cut the legs from under the suspects if they put a toe out of the location, in addition to the usual five-man insertion teams, one lead by me and the two others by some of my best men. The intelligence that my lynx buddy had handed me looked trustworthy, and it mentioned only a maximum of thirty people inside, which wasn’t that much to deal with if we tossed a few white phosphorus bombs inside to blind a bunch of them and then rush in with our new guns in our hands. I drew the usual little maps that I scratched to hand out during the pre-mission talk then called some of the guys in for a first run-through, just to talk it over and see if anyone had anything else to say or add.

I walked into the conference room that usually doubled up as an interrogation room whenever we actually needed some place to run interview with more then one person at a time. The only thing I smelled was the thick pasty aroma of perogies from one of the neighborhood joints around the station some of the guys called in for meetings on the station’s expense account, plus the sweet overriding sweetness of pop from huge two-liter bottles that sat in the middle of the table with plastic cups. I poured myself a glass of cola and drained it before I handed out the plans and started giving my routine pep talk, which though always pretty much the same time after time, always seemed to hit the mark and get my people in the mood for their work. This time wasn’t going to prove any different, and the prospect of possibly having to handle secondary objectives as the situation evolved threw in some extra spice that raised a few eyebrows and drew smiles around the room. I took a moment to look around with more attention at the three team leaders and their seconds to see how salty they appeared, seeing the very spark I sought in their eyes as they gave their views. If they were so wound up for the mission, wouldn’t it be better if we did the operation tonight, I thought, or did Dmitri have some sort of solid timeframe in mind? Without a clue as to the answer, I simply called for the guys to scribble their thoughts and go on without me for a minute while I took five to see the lynx. I stomped out of the place and scanned for the tomcat, spotting his ear tufts at the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup of bean juice to stay awake. Yah, I was really better off in my division…
-Hey Dmitri, I said as I took my own cup from the cupboard and passed the cat the sweetener.
-How goes, bunny?
-I hardly ever get called that, I laughed as I made my cup. How’s the desk?
-Empty and I’m bored out of my mind, yawned the constable. Sorry about that!
-It’s fine, I’m sort of cramped too. Well, I was just wondering like this if it would be an option for you to call your special friends and see if they could move the job to today? My guys are all revved up for this operation, and I don’t see why we’d give the scum another quiet night’s sleep if we can put them in chains earlier.
-I’ll give them a call, replied the lynx. You’ll be pulling the bigger load on this one, so if you’re ready, I suppose that it’s the deciding factor for this show to go on.
-Cool! I’ll be in the conference room for a while, if you can catch them. See ya!
I got a quick swipe of the cat’s paw on the right ear as I paced off, pulling my tongue out at him with a giggle as I made for the room again, finding my boys holding papers where they’d scribbled ‘Can we go to the party, dad?’ I shook my head and chuckled as I explained the hold up, with Dmitri having to plan a few local street closures for the perimeter to be safe, a nice cover, I thought. Ten minutes later, the lynx popped his stumpy tail in the door and made a thumbs-up sign, all we needed to know that we were a go for tonight. There was a certain rush of euphoria in the group as we pumped ourselves up a bit more and started calling everyone else to spread the word that we were going to ride in three hours. By an hour’s time, everyone who needed to know about the outing did and had reported in at the station for debriefing and preparation. Dmitri announced a bit late that he was going to come along as well, just time enough for us to dig up everything he needed to be dressed for the event, plus some extras. Out of all of us, he was one of the only who had a family to go home to, so it was sort of a sworn oath between the members of the group to keep a special eye out for them. The vans had been prepped by the pit boys in the parking, saving us the further delay of having to take care of them too, and all we had to do was jump in and strap down for the short drive. I read the familiar expressions of mixed anxiety and excitement on everyone, even Dmitri, and the moment that the vans split up to get in their planned positions, we undid our belts and got ready to spill out and execute. The driver called a count to three as he slammed the brakes and we jumped out, two men covering the two responsible for chaining the building doors to the special steel bar at the back of the van. The moment we had confirmation that the others were ready, the vans all simultaneously floored it and tore the doors out of their frames hence opened the way for us to go in. Flooding into the hanger, we called out for the immediate surrender of all persons in the building. Only one suspect came out from behind a car in the expanse with a firearm drawn, but over three dozen projectiles from the second insertion team tore him to bloody shreds, putting an end to any heroic attempts from his friends, who just as soon hit the deck without so much as a word, looking over at their rigor mortis-stricken buddy with flushed faces. We held fast until paddy wagons came to execute the arrests and pick up our victims, though their timing couldn’t have been more perfect, with a call from the Mafiosi hitting the front asking for reinforcement seconds after the last perpetrator was carried out of the building. I had everyone get back in the vans and drive to the garage as soon as they had a full head count, though my team was the first to get on the road again. We could actually hear a fierce firefight at the location, and blooms blared in the night from the garage and a nearby strip mall. The lynx radioed Vlad’s people to get an idea what the hell was going on, getting a familiar voice on the receiver.
-Red Mafia, this is Dmitri, what’s going on here?
-Dmitri, this is Bash, called the leopardess over the phone. They’re very well armed, more then we thought! We’re holding them down, but we have a man injured here.
-Got it, we’ll hit them from behind, sit tight.
I called for the driver to take a detour to come from the opposite side of the garage, where we would disembark and form up on the first door we could breach. The tension was incredible as the sounds of weapons fire sounded in the darkness, covering our footsteps as we ran to the back of the structure. The two other teams had joined us by the time that we’d chained a fire escape to the van and got into position to enter. On the count of five, the door tore off and we formed up on the door, firing at anything that moved inside. I can’t hope to relate what the melody of destruction that fifteen assault rifles firing in burst mode until their clips ran dry and a stunned constable’s pistol blaring its heinous symphony can sound like, but a simple massive sleet of lead ripped flesh and fabric into a vision of Hell until I called cease-fire. The Mafiosi had stopped when the infernal mechanical sound had started, and there was nothing but drone of the night as we checked the bodies of the gangsters inside the garage and policed their weapons.
-Oh God this is horrible, said Dmitri as he turned from the scene and started out of the building, slumping against the fire escape as he bent over to throw up.
-There there, tomcat, I comforted as I patted his back and rubbed it slowly. You okay?
-Christ, called the cat as he made a sign of the cross before splashing down more vomit, did you see all that blood..?
-Fifteen clips of thirty, a pistol with seventeen makes 467 bullets in eight people so fifty something each, I nodded, that makes a mess. Hey, we had to do it, they have wounded over there. We’ll go see how they’re doing, all right?
-Sure, moaned Dmitri as he pulled a handkerchief and wiped himself clean. Wow! What a night!
We made for the strip mall with the vans to check on our associates, finding a leopardess, a mink and four others holding very expensive-looking rifles, one of the latter holding some pressure on a gut wound. I had them all join us in the vans for a trip to the local hospital, at least the wounded man. Dmitri looked quite glad to see the first two of the made people, as did the women.
-That was insane, commented the mink. We took one of them down quietly from our position then they all just opened up. They must have had a stash on site or something to be that ready.
-I have to admit that I didn’t expect this sort of an opposition at either location, I commented as I tended to the wounded man. Looks like a through-and-through, maybe four inches long, but it grazed off a rib, you lucky bastard.
-How lucky, laughed the man before cringing in pain.
-Hey, you’ll be out of there in a few days tops, I waved, I know a few of the doctors at the hospital where we’re taking you. Does anyone else need medical attention?
-Not to my knowledge, said the leopardess. Once we have our friend here at your stitch man, would it be possible to get a ride back to our little bunker? It’s not that far away, but you could leave us somewhere we could walk it…
-We’ll drop you on your doorstep, I waved. First though, we usually have a little party after a mission to just sort of get over the shell shock. You’d be welcome to come if you want to come along, our treat.
-Don’t you usually put that on the station’s expense account, grinned Dmitri, because I swear that I saw a few on the sheets last month…
-Fine then, I laughed, your treat.
-Then sure, we’ll come along, nodded the mink. By the way, the name’s Bang, and this is Bash.
-Karl, I replied, shaking their hands. Dmitri told me all about you.
-Did he now, smirked the leopardess.
We swung by the hospital a few minutes later, where I personally led the way with Dmitri to the doors of the emergency department to get orderlies to carry the wounded to a safe room where he would be taken care of as close to a VIP as a patient can get. I had a reputation with the staff because of the number of times we ended up there to retrieve a suspect we’d had to neutralize with a little more force then usual, and they knew that I was serious when I said I needed their best treatment. Just as soon as he’d vanished in their care into the building, we turned the wagon train around and headed for the Red Rabbit, a pub a few blocks from the station where I’d called for the ‘Black Coat Special’, which was my code with the people there for a 20 something group that needed a good time and some pretty decent chow. By the time we walked into the joint, the servers had finished putting the tables together and bringing out plates of finger food for us to feast on while we downed the few pitchers that also lined the middle of the banquet. Bang and Bash sat opposite each other, the leopardess flanked by Dmitri and me with the rest of my people spread over the rest of the other seats with the Mafiosi mixed in anywhere. It was quite funny to see our gang, most of us still dressed in our suits, while the underground sported black market flack jackets and whatever else their particular tastes required. Bang and Bash were friendly like no other, and had a wicked sense of humor to go with their tomboy looks, which didn’t even subtly suggest that they were probably lesbians, though I didn’t bring up the subject in case it was something they didn’t really want to go into. Instead, I looked forwards to the rest of our work together, explaining what we were able to do in more detail, getting a similar account from the two in return.
-The next little intervention is more of a hunting match then anything, stated the leopardess. You see, there’s a shipping yard we scouted out that’s being used to carry large amounts of oil from pipeline taps here and there over the continent. Trucks come in and out like clockwork to transfer to commercial vehicles for resale on the black market.
-Sounds like a huge source of revenue, said Dmitri. Black gold is pretty easy to skim too, if they just take a bit at a time.
-It could just show up as I little leak somewhere, I added, and its owner wouldn’t be the wiser.
-I suppose so, shrugged the mink. Well, you see, we’d very much like to take over the business, but with a front that we’ve established over the last few years, which actually legitimately buys and resells fuel. The facilities are already there, so it would save a lot of time to just be able to move in once the occupants are no longer a problem.
-Who are they, I asked, and how well are they set up there?
-Extremely well, to answer the latter, answered Bash, and they were a splinter group from a group of Chechen terrorists that were eliminated a while back. Now we’ve been getting information that they’ve been saving up their money for something big, maybe in the category of mushroom clouds, if we understand each other. The question is whether they were able to acquire one or not. If they were and we go in with force, well, there’s no telling if they wouldn’t trigger it before we’re able to make ourselves at home.
-I see, I said as I ate a bunch of fries. So by hunting match, you mean that we’d snipe out the majority of them before moving in, to minimize the number of people in our way.
-That was Vlad and Vanessa’s idea, nodded Bang. It may be a bit violent, but seeing what’s at stake, it might just be the safest for everyone involved.
-It sure would be, I said. I’m a gun, and so is Willie over there, so that means two of us working the place over while our teams deploy. If we’re able to get decent positioning, then it shouldn’t be too difficult. Hey Willie, can you bring my gear to the station after? I’ll walk it to my place after this.
-As usual, replied the other policeman.
We had a darn good time for over two hours until there wasn’t an empty stomach anywhere at the table and everyone had just enough drink to be on the verge of drunk, just sort of warm at heart. I was one of the last to leave, right after Dmitri had shown the group from the underground back to the vans, paying my tab off at the same time. The payday had been a few days back, but I had been pretty quiet and had plenty in the coffers to have some fun. The air was just pleasantly chilly as I jogged in my unequipped intervention clothes, but I couldn’t see my breath in the air just yet. My place was on the street behind Dmitri’s and we’d hung out together like good old boys until he’d gotten married and we’d sort of stepped it back a bit, him being busy with his family and everything. We still paid each other visits every week, and his kittens called me the Easter bunny because I always brought a few chocolate bars for them when I went. I didn’t have a family of my own, just because of circumstances or some sort of bad luck. I never dwelled on it because I found that I lived a pretty good life nonetheless, taking vacations anywhere I felt like when I had enough leave days and affording myself little luxuries whenever I needed some divertissement. As I locked the door behind me in my simple bungalow, which I’d gotten for a bargain because of the fact that we’d actually made an intervention here at the beginning of our career to take apart a crack lab and the value of the house had suffered like nothing else, I tossed my wallet and things into the basket aside the entrance and went to crash on the sofa, turning on the television to whatever was on the channel it was set to. I never watched it, but I liked the background noise to blur things out for me to get my head back on straight.

Heck, I thought as I threw off my shirt, it was a nice night, and tomorrow would be a total bust with the sniping match. I needed a little something extra to really kick back, just take the edge off for a few hours. Reaching under the sofa, I took out my little stash, opening the lid to look at the crack baggies inside. I’d been doing rocks for a few years, but not that many people knew. I guess that it was inevitable that Dmitri would find out, though we were too close for him to call me on that. After all, we’d done grass for a while back at the academy, and we knew each other too well to turn around and do something like that. I dropped a small piece in my pipe before installing my compact Bunsen burner to melt it. The first puff was just great, the stale-tasting smoke flowing down as I breathed in slowly, turning sweet as the last of the stone evaporated. I turned off the burner and cut the gas before putting down the pipe in the box and cocking my head back over the sofa and staring at the ceiling, the noise from the television nothing more then that as I felt everything just drift away. I smiled as I cleared everything to a blank, sighing deep. Maybe a few minutes later, because in this chemical Shangri-La, I couldn’t really tell time all that well, nor could anyone, I suspect, I hear something beyond the television, something my ears locked on right away. The door opened and in walked Dmitri, calling out for an reply as his keys fell in my basket. Oh God, I thought as I tried to get over the drug and scrambled to put my things back into the box and put back in its place, just a few seconds. I just had time to close the lid and lock it before the lynx appeared in the living room, looking at me with a curious air as he watched me put my things away under the seat.
-Hey Dmitri, I called to the cat, trying to regain enough control over myself to sound in my right mind. So you dropped our friends off already?
-First thing after I passed by the station, nodded the tomcat as he raised his nose to get a better scent. Wait a second though, what’s that..?
-Ah, nothing, it’s just stale in here, I replied, stumbling over to open a window, this’ll change the air a bit.
-Karl, did you just light one up? I thought that you were putting that out the door…
-I tried, I sighed as I leaned over the windowsill. Don’t worry yourself sick, tomcat, it’s only one for a few days.
-Sure, sure, muttered the lynx as he walked over to put a hand over my back. Hey, we’re here for you, you know that, right? I mean if you ever have anything you want to talk about, we’re here.
-There’s nothing, I reassured, turning to take the cat’s arms and give them a comforting shake. It’s just to give my brain some rest. So what brought you over here at this hour anyway?
-Oh, Daniella and the kittens were asleep when I went home, and I thought I could crash here for the night. You don’t mind, do you?
-Not at all, I made the bunk this morning.
-Thanks! Say, I was just wondering…
-Yeah?
-How does it feel, you know, rocks?
-Like being picked up by God and rocked in the clouds for a while, I smirked. Well, that’s how I feel anyway. I don’t recommend it though, it’s not so good you couldn’t live life without it.
-I’m curious, nodded the lynx. Just like college, eh?
-So you want me to cook you one? Are you sure?
-Why not, shrugged the cat as we slammed down on the couch. Just a little one.
-That’s all I’d give you for a first one, I laughed as I prepped him a hit. There we got, just sip slow…
Ten minutes later Dmitri and I were on cloud nine, both grinning wide as we commented on the buzz. The cat could handle it better then I’d thought, but then again he’d always been more solid then me.
-Damn, this is harder then pot, laughed the lynx. I feel sleepy…
-That’s why I keep covers over here, I commented as I reached on the table aside us and took two wool sheets. Here, get comfy…
-Sure, giggled the cat as he slumped over me and put his head on my lap for me to put the cover over him. Just like college, eh?
-Right near, I whispered. Shit, it’s been so long, like another life or something.
-At least we don’t have to bunk with anyone we don’t want, giggled the tomcat as he snuggled under the cover. Damn, you have to stop working out, my cushion’s hard here.
-Stop complaining, I retorted, grabbing his tail and giving it a tug. Just a sec though, I don’t plan on sleeping with my pants on.
-Me neither, seconded the lynx as he struggled with his fly. Shit, this is tricky when you’re halfway gone! I can’t get this stupid thing…
-It’s jammed on your shirt, I commented as I reached over to give him and hand. There, pull hard.
-Gotcha, the cat cried in near victory as he managed, though just as quickly I felt something spiny hit my hand.
-What the-ouch! Did you get a burr stuck on you?
-Not I did, laughed Dmitri, though I suppose you wouldn’t know what that was. Take a guess!
-You mean that was..? Poor Daniella, that must smart!
-Nah, it’s just when it’s really there, you know? It must be the rock, waved the tomcat. So you mean you never saw a cat’s cock? Never?
-Well, we did have the showers at the academy, but I wasn’t staring or anything.
-Hey, here’s for your curiosity, shrugged the lynx as he raised the cover and pulled down his briefs. Sort of like a pine cone, I guess.
-Man, you must be wasted, I laughed as I reached over to test him, and I must be even worst to be doing this… yeah, you’re right! I’m just smooth as silk.
-I remember, grinned the cat as he looked over to me, just ‘cause I did stare.
-Did you now?
-Well, it was a weird time in my life, you know, full of questions, sighed the cat as he leaned back over me. About who I was, who I wanted to be with for the long run, you know, all that stuff.
-And you looked at me that way, I asked with an eyebrow raised, really now?
-Sure! I mean you were the best of our class, bright, athletic, pretty damn well shaped for a twenty-ish rabbit. Don’t take it the wrong way, but I soaked a few Kleenex with that in mind.
-I’ll be, I bellowed as I put an arm around Dmitri and gave him a hug, I wouldn’t have thought. So what did you think of when you did that, eh? Me and you in the range, one of us pulls his ‘gun’?
-No, just a night of studying that went somewhere, replied the lynx. Man, I must be really gone to be saying this…
-You are, I seconded, but hey, I guess it’s just the right time to exorcise those demons, eh? Put it all out there, you know?
-Just because you asked, smiled the lynx as he pulled off his underwear and threw them with his pants. Come, just give me something to remember, eh?
-What happened in your dreams there, eh? Who did what?
-Oh, well…
-Out with it, what happened?
-You sort of played with me, then did me you know, like that…
-Shit, I’ll stick to the script, I laughed as I got naked and took the lynx against me.
Dmitri didn’t resist at all, actually planting a long kiss on me as he rubbed himself against me. The lynx was soft and warm, and I could see affection in his eyes past the veil of the haze, purring hard as I stroked his coat. His hands gripped me tight and firm, his claws flexing once in a while when I touched somewhere especially sensitive, igniting my senses like fireworks. In slow movements, I reached down between his legs, masturbating him a bit until I continued further down and started massaging his ass. The lynx yowled and moaned as I cupped his rear with both hands and kneaded his flesh, but soon took my cock to hold it upright and whispered that he wanted it hard. I raised him delicately and eased him down on it, getting a few moans and gasps as he closed his eyes and relaxed as much as possible. Seconds later, he had his hands on my shoulders and bobbed up and down, freeing me to jack him off.
-Come in my ass, moaned Dmitri as he moved on me, come on you cute bunny, fuck the lynx like a whore.
-There, you hot slut, I groaned as I accelerated his stimulation, supporting his back with my knees, there!
-Oh, just do me, exploded the lynx, falling on his knees for me to go on.
-Pack you tight, I called, reaming the cat before I shot off in him. And there goes the kitty!
-Meow, called Dmitri as he sent his own load flying, landing in his whiskers. Oh baby, that’s good…
We crashed like a pile of unsteady bricks over the sofa, fast enough for my cock to give a sucking sound as it pulled out of my unlikely partner, who quickly crawled to get back in place to lie over my lap with one of the covers over him, smiling a dumb happy smile as he closed his eyes, contracting his claws a second before blacking out. With his weight on me and the rock starting to give way back to a dazed reality, I didn’t have that many options other then surrendering to sleep and fading away.

I woke up in a rather strange position, wrapped up in my cover with something in my face I couldn’t really identify. Unwrapping myself, I found my stare locked on Dmitri’s backside, his balls happily resting against his legs with his tail twitching once every few seconds. I gave a small huff in surprise, the wind of which against his scrotum must have been sufficient to bring him out of his slumber, for a moment later he gave a little yowl and turned to cup his genitals with wide open eyes, looking quite red in the face as he got up and gambled off to gather his clothes, dispersed over the room in a totally random fashion. I respectfully didn’t make any comment and gave him a hand, showing him to the washroom to clean up. I sat aside the door with my own things, talking to him through the door to get some idea what was going through his head.
-Hey, everything’s good in there?
-Sure, I’m just scrubbing my face here. What happened, exactly? I have something in here like syrup or something.
-So you don’t remember what happened?
-Not everything, replied the lynx. I know we did something, then we started talking, but after that I don’t have any idea how we could have ended up like we woke up. Sorry for having that in your face, by the way.
-That’s fine, that’s fine! I can’t say everything’s crystal clear on my end either, sort of like an awakening dream, you know?
-Right on the money, nodded Dmitri, standing in the doorway as he opened the door in his underwear, his whispers still a bit wet. Just between us, I was thinking of maybe getting fixed, you know, just for safety’s sake. What do you think about that?
-Just for safety?
-Well, that and just sanitation. Like I also have something that feels like hemorrhoids this morning. Do you know about something like that?
-Sorry to say it, but can I take a look? I might know something if I can recognize it.
-All right doctor, grinned the cat as he pulled down the back of his briefs and lifted his tail. You see? It looks irritated or something!
-Yeah… you see, that has to do with last night. I’ll be plain and honest with you ‘cause we go back a long way. We were stoned out of our minds, especially you because you never touched rocks, and you came onto me hard…
-Oh no, gasped the lynx. You mean we… we had sex? You sodomized me?
-And masturbated you like a puppet, I nodded. You said you had this old thing from back in the academy, and you wanted to play it out.
-Oh God, I remember now, nodded the tomcat, looking positively aghast. Karl, I’m so, so sorry.
-As much as I am, I replied, putting my hand over his shoulders. Hey, don’t worry about it, it was a weird thing, and I’m not all that sure what happened at all.
-I don’t know what to say to Daniella about this, moaned Dmitri, feeling around his ass. Karl, for the love of God, you wouldn’t mention this, would you?
-No, no, I wouldn’t.
-Man… you know what’s strange?
-What?
-It sort of tickles when I walk, laughed the tomcat.
-Does it now?
-Every time my fur rubs on it, yes! I… I wonder how it was? You weren’t too rough, I hope?
-Nicer then you were!
-Well then. If I’m going to have memories about this, I might as well be clear about them…
I dropped everything as Dmitri bent down and pounced on me, nailing me down to the ground as he licked and kissed me, then dropped over me, throwing away his things to have his hands free to hug and caress me. I did just the same, groping the feline ferociously, playing with his privates generously. In a heartbeat, he turned to put his cock in my face with a mean air to him.
-You know how lynx and rabbits lived before the Second Genesis, eh?
-You were predators and us your favorite prey, I nodded.
-Then suck off your predator before he remembers those times, growled the tomcat as he playfully clawed at my sides.
-Yes constable, I replied as I took his entire undercarriage in my mouth.
I gummed and sucked at the lynx for over fifteen minutes until I simply switched to a good old fashioned blowjob, jacking him off cruelly until I took his load and swallowed hard. My tongue and cheeks were numb from the spines on his head, but somehow it just felt good to have a repeat with the cat, just to make sure that I hadn’t been hallucinating before. Darn, darn, darn…

Some time later, we were both in the constable’s car, rolling on to the station to get ready for our previously outlined operation. I had everything I needed there already, and had cordially invited the lynx to give him a bit of a primer on sniping at the range at the same time that I practiced to make sure that I wasn’t too rusty. Missing a shot in a mission like this one, where not only the fact that we hit a target but also how and where we hit it mattered, was not an option. We passed by the gun locker to get our wares, myself picking up my beautiful SPAR .33 while Dmitri took one of the 'guest rifles', a few DRVs that the department kept mostly for practice's sake or if one of us were unable to field our usual equipment for some reason. I personally maintained the one that the lynx picked as my backup, and had taken it out on a few runs, finding it reasonably performing for its age and initial quality. I doubt that the cat would get to use it that much, just because I set things so he would be my secondary, to take his shot if I missed mine. It was an insurance policy that I rarely afforded myself, just because of the lack of trained personnel to take the position, but depending how good he was, I might suggest for him to do it more often. We took the stairs to the sub basement of the station, basically into an old stretch of abandoned sewers that we had access to and had turned into a shooting range a few years ago. We called it the Sandbox for a while, because of the fact that we had filled in the canal with sand to remove the difference in height between the walkways and the most important of the cross section of the expanse, but it soon was renamed the Dungeon, as with only a few aeration shafts here and there to give natural light and some fluorescent floodlights to compensate, the austere stone construct had every bit the character of a medieval prison. I liked it though, for it did the job great for sniping practice, being almost two hundred meters long if the shorter-range targets were moved out of the way, and because if the lights were turned off, if offered a chance to get used to night vision situations with the rifles. I didn't consider that brand of cruelty for Dmitri's first encounter with my preferred form of art, rather getting the two of us to lie down on the Astroturf-covered platform near the entrance of the Dungeon and coaching him through a few shots to start off, then with the cat nice and confident about the routine, I moved the obstacles out of our way to get a worthy challenge. He shot a bit slower then me, but I took the time to check his performance once every two or three slugs, either giving him some advice or patting his shoulder.
-This isn't all that bad, commented Dmitri. I guess it's because there's no wind and all that, eh?
-That's another lesson for another day, I nodded with a grin as I took out the clip from my weapon and put it down. From the weather this morning, I think the worst we'll have is maybe a ten kilometer breeze, so that's rather negligible for the most part, especially if we have it to our backs, and we'll be high enough that drop won't be too bad if you follow the ticks on your scope.
-So I hold unless you miss, right? I don't think I'll be that busy...
-Aw, thanks, I chuckled as I gave his side a little rap. Let's go back up for lunch, then we'll start the briefing. By the time we're done, we should be right on schedule for our match.

By three the entire team involved in the mission was up to speed on everything and ready to execute like clockwork. We also received an anonymous call telling us that our hot dogs were ready to be picked up at the Black Mink, which I took as a signal from our friends that they were ready as well. Taking it as a final check, we took to the vans to deploy, splitting up to attract less attention in broad daylight, all but ours setting up in the perimeter we'd planned. Five minutes after we gave the call, they would move in and breach the compound, save if I gave the word 'Red Letter Day', in which case it was a rush-in and clean-up job with no mercy shown. The mafia also had their people in the perimeter, gathered casually here and there at the rally points Vlad had indicated to Dmitri. The lynx and I took another ten minutes to get to the roof of the office block which would serve as our nest for the operation, right across from a radio tower which would be the one used by our friends. As soon as I had assembled and tightened up my equipment, I took a look across with my scope to see if the mafia snipes were mission ready, getting a positive answer as I saw a pair of minks, Bang and another grey soul, squatting Indian-style on a maintenance platform looking back at me in the same manner. I called mission go as soon as Dmitri nodded at me, and hitting the asphalt, we started our work. I looked for isolated targets of opportunity or ones that I could use as bait for others, calling them to Dmitri before taking them out. I hit six outlying guards with direct head or upper torso shots, getting the last one in plain sight of three more of his colleagues, who ran up to help him, each getting their own bullet in return, one of them from the mafia, as it would be. The minks were deadly as well, maybe as deadly as me as they did their own sweep, and soon enough, we had taken out all the lower-risk targets, leaving only the more visible ones to be dealt with. I called for everyone to get ready for insertion before starting on them, though the minks had taken the lead and picked off a few themselves. Ten minutes later, a flood of fully armored interventionists and mafia members breached three sides of the facility and the distant muted staccato of Steyrs rang out in unison, leaving us to cover the situation to make certain none of their opponents got out of the trap. Tense minutes later, a few teams of our people appeared in the yard, waving their arms in 'all clear', one of them finally firing a green flare, the final sign that they were done. I checked with the team leaders to get a status of their members, each confirming the signal with zero injuries and assorted comments on the mafia, who had also got out of the fray without a scratch. The firepower we had deployed had been such that they hadn't been able to do anything in response, only here and there trying to set up some barricade that had been broken before being finished.
-We should do this more often, sighed Dmitri as I traded waves with the minks across the field.
-The issue of the nuclear device still stands though, I reminded. Let's get our people out of there, and I'll radio in hazardous materials to do a sweep to locate it. As soon as we verify what it is, we'll be able to address that issue.
-You're all business today, laughed the lynx, poking at my tail with the butt of his gun. Fine, let's extract.

I called in 'all clear' in reply to the group in the yard, instructing for them to get back in position to go home after providing cover for hazmat, which I heard the mafia were interested in as well to thank us for the help. Two safety teams arrived twenty minutes later in full radiation gear, entering the yard through a broken fence to start their work. Dmitri and I looked on with a kind of giddy anticipation from our little masterpiece, not even noticing that the two mink had left their vantage point and had come over to join us until one of them gave a giggle. Spinning around, I caught sight of them before hopping to my paws and greeting them.
-Good afternoon ladies, I said as I shook their hands. Let me be the first to say that you're remarkable markswomen!
-Oh, we have enough practice to get good at it, grinned the grey mink. I'm Vanessa. I don't think we'd met?
-I don't believe so, and but I'm quite glad we just did! You two are sisters, I guess?
-Yes, nodded Bang. She old! I'm not!
-I married a Mafia Prince, you married another grease monkey, returned Vanessa, taking her kin in a headlock and rubbing her head.
-We have teams looking for the nuke right now, commented Dmitri. Oh, I think they just found something... looks like a SKUD launch module with a refitted warhead!
-Sure does, I seconded, looking at the form of the vehicle as the team wheeled it out of one of the buildings into the yard to work on it. That'll be hard to explain back at the station!
-Yeah, we were doing a bust on a crack house and we found this in the garage, laughed Dmitri. I'll think of something to write up.
-Well, I may have an offer, stated Vanessa. We'd be able to return it to the armed forces through a contact we have if we'd be able to recover it ourselves. If money's an object, we certainly don't mind offering...
-Oh, we owe you more then we could ever repay already, replied Dmitri, and to know that it'll be in better hands will make us all rest quieter tonight. As soon as I have the signal that its safe, I'll have everyone pull out, including the safety teams. Oh, do you have means for its transport?
-With your kind offer in mind, I'll call Vlad right away, nodded Vanessa, getting out her cell phone to get in contact with her husband.
Five minutes later, we received confirmation from the teams that the device was missing a few components that had been found in the same room as the warhead itself, and wasn't in order to be detonated. Neutered as it was, it could be stored for quite a long time without event. Dmitri called them back to the vans and gave them their leave, in time for a three-vehicle convoy of military transports to roll in to replace them and under out eyes, one of them equipped with a crane and flatbed hoisted the dangerous tinker toy onto its back before being cover up under heavy tarps. A few soldiers came out with what appeared to be Geyser counters to make sure that it was suitable for transport as a last precaution before they returned to their rides and just as discretely as they had arrived on scene, they departed once more with only a short honk of the flatbed's horn as a general, undirected greeting to whoever was responsible for their recovery. Vanessa placed another call to Vlad, addressing him as 'polarshka', which I tried not to giggle at out of respect, though the pet name was very funny to hear labeled to a Prince.
-Well, that's over and done with, called Bang. Could you give us a ride again? Our guys down there left with the trucks we hitched a ride on to get here.
-You need not even ask, I replied. That's one nice piece by the way...
-If I got a buck every time my girl Bash told me that, laughed the mink as we walked back to our van, riding it back to the mafia homestead.
-Why don't you come with, offered Vanessa. You already know the place, Dmitri, but it would give the bunny a chance to hop around a bit.
-I'll have a chance to thank the good Prince for his patriotism and generosity at the same time, I said with a nod. I should have brought a home warming gift, perhaps?
Vanessa gave a laugh and slapped my back as I followed Bang's instructions to park, right aside a fine pair of motorcycles I couldn't help but whistle at. The chocolate mink told me they were hers and Bash's, which I had to difficulty believing, one of them having 'Bad Kitty' monogrammed on the muffler shroud and a feline paw print on the spoiler while the other had 'Think Mink' stitched into the seat in silvery thread. I shook my head as we walked inside under the watchful eyes of a few mafia guards, several of which I recognized from the intervention through my scope, a few of them involuntarily grinning as we passed by. On the top floor, we finally reached a nice salon where a great titan of a polar bear was sitting with a good cigar, looking drunk with its flavor. As we came in, he cut it and stood to welcome us one by one, introducing himself to me in a familiar fashion.
-Good evening, proud rabbit, said the bear. I am Prince Vladimir Treshka, but I insist that you can call me Vlad as everyone else in this room do.
-I'm Karl Kinski, I replied accepting the brotherly hug Vlad offered, almost getting crushed by his strength.
-What is your position with Dmitri, if I may ask? You must be of some standing to have found yourself as his side.
-I'm head of interventions, I stated as we sat down. I'm also one of the staff snipers in the force, though that quality is strained by the skills of the present attendance.
-Ah, a very good person to know indeed, laughed Treshka. Cigar? We just received these today from the Baltic. If you can believe it, they're actually seaweed, but you'd never know the difference!
-Someone read Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues once to often and took it to heart, I chuckled as I accepted a half-Churchill from the Prince.
-Dmitri, mothered the bear, don't tell me that you'd refuse a good vice?
-I wouldn't, smiled the lynx as he took one too. To our work, for the better of our country!
-Aye, seconded Vanessa as a lighter was passed around. With these two actions done and the other smaller ones we discretely took, I suppose that there only remains a handful of targets of any importance.
-We can simply choke them out at this point, waved Vlad. An intolerable police presence in their vicinity and the constant interception of their supplies should nail their coffin shut.
-And then one of these days an incendiary rocket accidentally flies through their window to say hello, I smirked, right?
-We can spare a few, replied Bang with an equally evil smile.

We stayed with Vlad and his own until both Dmitri and I could read the sleepiness in the bear’s eyes get the better of him and his conversation waiver. I knew that he was too polite to say anything, but I made the most neutral comment about the night and how it sometimes brings slumber upon those who try to resist its opium, the undertones of which the Prince understood perfectly, giving all of us leave to go if we wanted to see what sort of hospitality the mafia could offer. As we were getting up to go, Bang waved us along to come and take it easy at her place for a while, stating that there was a chance that Bash would be there already as well. Prophetically, as we walked into the apartment, the black leopardess was in a dark grey night robe, nodding to us with a smile.
-I could hear you guys from down here, smiled the cat. I heard all about the mission too, not that it’s a surprise when my crazy mink is out on the prowl.
-Roaar, sounded Bang, getting down on all fours and trying to give a feline growl, though it came out too high pitch and cute to be anything near intimidating, not that it stopped her from pouncing on Bash the moment that it ended.
-Catch the mink, called the leopardess as she picked her girlfriend from the air and fell with her on the mattress, flying back just enough to give Dmitri and me a free peek at pretty much everything. Oh, sorry for the show, not that it matters too much.
-Righty, I said with a mixed smile. So how’s life since the big deal?
-Busy, smiled Bash, cradling Bang as soon as the mink had righted herself. We still have orders at the shop, hence why I wasn’t able to join the party today. On the other hand, money’s pouring in like mad and I went on a little shopping spree for stuff, including this robe.
-What I’m wondering now is what comes next, stated Dmitri with a thoughtful air. You know, now that everything’s quiet? I suppose that all there’ll be for us to do is maintain the status quo and keep our eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble on the horizon.
-Well, Vlad had an ambitious list of projects that he was excited to start, mostly expanding our markets in import and exports. Since we have such wonderful contacts in the armed forces, we don’t have any concern about security outside the city.
-That’s a comfort, I grinned. Where did those trade routes serpent off to?
-Western Europe, though for the moment, we don’t have any influence West of Poland save for some great friends in Malta, but there’s a limit to what they can help is with in terms of volume.
-I’m certain that fate will continue to be kind to you, I waved as I kicked back on a nearby sofa with Dmitri.
-Yep, hummed Bang. You guys up for a movie?
-What do you have?
-An American Werewolf in London, grinned the mink as she popped the DVD in the deck.
-What a strange coincidence…