Chapter 11: Headquarters of the Aristal Global Protection Agency
Feral waited while Aras checked the car for any nasty surprises then climbed in when he gave the all clear. Evening had fallen as they drove away from the place he'd barely been at a month. He watched the waves hitting the shore as Aras took a coast road to wherever he intended to go.
The drive was over an hour and led to the airport. Feral grimaced as he realized they were leaving Sandeval Bay. He hoped Aras remembered to repack his office, he didn't intend to be cutoff.
Aras drove through a gate that proclaimed it was for private corporate jets. He pulled up to a small gulf stream that was running engines in preparation for takeoff. A figure appeared from within and quickly took charge of their luggage as Aras escorted his mate aboard.
The interior was plush with all the luxuries of the wealthy. Feral sat in a very comfortable captain's chair with lots of leg room. He heard the heavy door of the jet clunk shut and the engines rev up. Soon they were moving off toward the runways.
A pretty stewardess came from the rear of the jet with a tray of drinks and finger foods. As she offered them to Feral, he noted she wasn't an ordinary stew...no stewardess he knew of had a
Beretta92FS tucked in the back of their skirt.
"Nice piece," He rumbled as she served Aras.
"Thank you, Commander. Is there anything else you'd like before we takeoff." She said with a warm smile.
"No, thanks." Feral said, holding the club soda she'd given him.
She nodded and returned to the rear and her seat. The Captain's voice came over the speaker, asking them to buckle their seatbelts, warning they were cleared for takeoff.
He watched the lights of Sandeval Bay vanish as they headed out over the water. Sighing, Feral decided he might as well sleep, no way would Aras tell him where they were going. To his surprised pleasure, his seat leaned quite a ways back, allowing a more comfortable position for sleeping.
It didn't take long before he dropped off. Aras watched his mate through hooded eyes. He was pleased when Ulysses fell asleep, with a little luck, he wouldn't wake until they arrived at their far away destination. He couldn't sleep, so took out his cell and began to make some calls.
Dawn was peeking through the jet's window, waking Feral. He yawned and looked around. Frowning, he realized they were still in the air. Before he could voice a question, the stewardess appeared and smiled down at him.
"Good morning, Commander. Would you like some crackers and camomile tea first then a light breakfast?" She asked.
He blinked at her for a moment, looked out the window then over to the other seat. Aras wasn't there. 'Must be in the head.' Feral mused. "I guess that would be a good idea, thanks." He finally said to her. She nodded politely and vanished into the galley.
Moments later, Aras appeared. "Good morning, love." He said warmly, coming to his mate's side and giving him a kiss.
Before he could straighten up, Feral suddenly grabbed the collar of the shirt Aras was wearing and pulled him close so their faces were nose to nose. "Where are we going?" He growled.
Aras' eyes looked down at his mate's grip on his shirt then up to his eyes. Ulysses was annoyed but not angry...at least not yet. Sighing, he reached his paw up and gently caressed his mate's fist on him.
"Easy love. We will be at our destination in another hour. I'm afraid you aren't allowed to know the location." He said quietly, a deadly seriousness in his eyes.
Feral paused a moment longer, then released Aras and slumped back in his seat in resignation. His mate was in charge here but some day soon, Feral promised himself, he would turn the tables on Aras.
At that moment the stewardess returned and set up Feral's anti-nausea meal before him. He picked up a cracker and viciously chomped it, pointedly ignoring Aras.
Shaking his head, Aras moved back to his seat, thanking the stew for bringing him a cup of coffee. He wouldn't eat breakfast until Ulysses had eaten his soother first, he certainly didn't want to cause his mate to toss his dinner back up.
They sat quietly, neither saying anything to each other. Aras' mind was on the results of his phone calls. He hadn't been able to get a line on who could have threatened his mate, no one at headquarters could answer any of his pointed and angry questions, but his superior promised to look into it and hopefully have something to tell him when he landed.
As Aras had promised, the wheels of the jet touched down an hour later. Through the window, Feral could see high mountains surrounding them. He had no idea where they were. Some fifteen minutes later they were walking down the stairs to the ground.
The landing strip was small and there were only a couple of hangars nearby. No other building was in sight. Feral turned to Aras and frowned in confusion. He held his tongue though and waited to see what was going on.
A good sized, well-armored jeep came racing from between the hangars toward them. It halted just a few feet from their luggage. A pair of well-armed Kats in business suits stepped out of the jeep and stood guard while a third climbed out of the driver's seat and grabbed their luggage, loading it in the back. Aras gently urged Feral toward the vehicle. They climbed in, the guards did the same, one riding shotgun, one sitting on a jumpseat before them and the third taking the driver's seat.
They were soon zooming off toward a hidden destination. It was far colder here than it had been at Sandeval Bay and Feral found himself shivering a little.
The jeep drove between the two hangars, at the end of the alleyway was a strange platform. The jeep stopped on it and suddenly they were going down, it was a huge vehicle elevator. The walls going by were thick concrete, lit by lithium strips.
The ride took some ten minutes and made Feral feel a bit creepy and nervous. It was obvious, their destination was very far underground. Finally, the platform came to a stop and a door opened revealing a huge well lit open area that was obviously a combination vehicle and aircraft hangar area. Their jeep drove off the elevator and made for a far wall where several doors were.
Feral looked around. Above the floor was a suspended tower that look just like one that handled aircraft but this one obviously controlled the activity going on around them on the floor. He could see security was very tight here by the number of guards and security cams visible.
The jeep stopped and deposited them at one of the non-descript doors. Aras led him toward the right hand door and opened it. Inside was a receptionist who had the responsibility of screening all who entered. There was a bank of security monitors to one side of her and a com center before her.
She smiled at Aras and eyed him with curiosity. "Aras...so good to see you again, though it is a surprise."
"Hello Carol. Yes, it is an unexpected trip. Could you give my mate, Ulysses a visitor's pass please." Aras asked as the receptionist who was armed just as the stewardess had been, pinned a strange badge on Aras' shirt label.
"Ahh, so this is who you gave up your career for. He's a fine catch, Aras. Congratulations." Carol said warmly. "We have to scan him first."
Aras stepped in front of Feral suddenly. "Is the scanner safe for someone who is pregnant?" He asked in concern.
Carol's eyes widened and flew to Feral's belly and noticed the slight bulge there. Quickly regaining her professionalism, she frowned a moment in thought. "I'm not certain. Obviously the question has never come up. Let me call medical to be sure." She said and moved back to her desk. Placing a remote headset on, she pressed a button on her console.
"Yes, Carol at reception. I need a question answered, please...are the security scanners harmful to a foetus...I'm not joking...there's a guest who is pregnant here and I need to know...yes...then I guess you better send someone up that can do that...yes immediately...thank you." She cut the connection looked over at Aras. "They don't know what its affects might be so they are sending someone with a handheld they say is perfectly safe."
Aras relaxed in relief. "Thank you, Carol."
She nodded but was prevented from saying anything else by a signal from her board. She was soon speaking to someone about a shipment.
Feral tuned her out and looked around though there really wasn't anything to see in this small room. Their wait wasn't long before a large door behind the receptionist slid open to reveal two Kats. One was in a black suit, the other wore a doctor's coat. The doctor hurried forward, nodded at Aras and proceeded to run a handheld device over Feral's body, from head to toe.
"He's clean!" The doctor announced then returned through the door that slid open for him. Feral had time to notice that everyone seemed to have those small devices on their collars.
"Well that was quick." Carol said briskly as she once more approached Feral but this time held one of those devices though his was quite a bit different from everyone else.
"I'm to escort you to the Chief, Aras." The Kat in the black suit said politely.
"Thanks, Brian." Aras said nodding.
The three of them made for the sliding door and walked through. All Feral saw was a gleaming hall of metal with many offices leading off of it. They walked until they reached an elevator and climbed aboard. They went some seven floors up, to Feral's surprise then decanted to another floor that was carpeted and had fewer doors. They went to the one at the end, the door opened silently revealing a very nice reception area with a much older secretary.
"Aras, so pleased to see you again!" The she-kat said warmly, getting up from her desk to greet him with a hug.
"Hello Orchid, it's great to see you too. This is my mate, Ulysses Feral." Aras introduced them.
"Welcome, Commander Feral. I'm pleased to meet you. We were all shocked to find our confirmed bachelor had taken a mate. You've made him very happy." She said.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm glad to hear that." Feral said politely, unsure what else to say. It was becoming very obvious to him that Aras had been well liked and much missed when he left the spy business. He hoped no one held a grudge against himself for that.
Orchid turned her attention back to Aras. "He's waiting for you. Go right in, your mate may go in as well." She said pressing a button on her desk which opened the door in front of them.
Aras nodded his thanks and strode forward, Feral followed reluctantly behind him into an office he wished he had. All the latest surveillance equipment was located behind the imposing older Kat that sat behind an enormous oak desk that was covered with files and reports. There was another wall covered in equipment he wasn't all that familiar with.
"Ahh, Aras, welcome. Sit please." The older Kat's pleasant tenor voice directed.
Aras did as ordered, gesturing for his mate to sit beside him in the comfortable chairs set before the desk.
"Sir, this is my mate Commander Ulysses Feral. Uly this is the Commander in Chief for the Aristal Global Protection Agency, Niles Saberforth." Aras performed the introductions.
Brilliant copper eyes studied Feral keenly. The dark tom felt like he was being dissected by the intense regard. Despite feeling out of his depth, he didn't glance away and returned the gaze with an intent one of his own.
Apparently, Mr. Saberforth was satisfied with what he saw because he released Feral from his gaze and turned it on his erstwhile former spy. He dug a file from the stack on his desk and tossed it to Aras who picked it up and began looking over the contents.
"That's all the information you requested. As you can see everyone you asked about can be accounted for. None of my operatives can identify who your mystery attacker was. You are certain it was not from Megakat City?" Saberforth rumbled questioningly.
"As certain as we can be sir." Aras responded not taking his eyes off what he was reading.
"Commander?" Saberforth cocked a questioning eye on Feral.
"No one knew I was gone, sir. Besides, our omegas want to take over Megakat City, which I fail to understand why, so they aren't interested in anything outside our borders." Feral answered, shrugging his shoulders.
Nodding his head, Saberforth leaned back in his seat. "From what we've seen whenever my operatives have entered your city, you're right about that. Huh! We can't make sense of those beggars reasoning either. There's a huge world, barely explored outside Megakat City yet they are determined to have that place." He shook his head at such single-minded stupidity.
Feral snorted. "Yeah, unfortunately, no one can understand, even we who live with it everyday."
Aras interrupted their light conversation with a sigh of disgust as he tossed the folder down. "Someone blatantly attacked my mate, that's a fact but trying to find who it was is a needle in the proverbial haystack. I thought for certain at least two of my former enemies were responsible but that's been shot down."
"Just because its not one of your more visible enemies does not mean there isn't someone out to either make you look bad or to hurt you." Saberforth said thoughtfully.
Aras frowned and stared at his former boss. "You don't mean here? That we might have a disgruntled member of our own team doing this?" He asked incredulously.
"When all else has been ruled out, your own house has to be the next culprit." Feral intoned, knowingly.
Saberforth cocked an eye of pleased surprise toward the enforcer. "Very good Commander and so very true, unfortunately. It's obvious you've dealt with this before, yourself. Yes, Aras, I do mean here. It's personal."
Aras sighed and rubbed his face. Feral felt for his mate. Saberforth had been correct, he'd had to face this very thing in his own enforcers once. No one wants to find out that those you trusted could harbor ill feelings against you and act on them. He leaned his face toward Aras and nuzzled him tenderly.
His mate turned his face and accepted the offer of sympathy and understanding.
"Alright, so an internal investigation is required but if I conduct it the perpetrator will just play it cool until its over. So what do you suggest, sir?"
"I have a team in mind that could discretely search around. It won't be one of our operatives but ones who normally work within our command who no one would suspect and who they wouldn't be afraid of revealing themselves to." Saberforth said briskly. He pulled another file from the pile. This one was very thin, holding only a few pieces of paper.
Aras accepted it and read the contents. His eyes widened as he looked back up and stared at the old tom. "Surely you're joking, sir! These two...they have no experience in this kind of thing..."
"They have more than enough for this task, Aras. They are the equivalent of a civilian CSI unit. Trust me, they'll find whoever it is. All you have to do, in the meantime, is guard your mate and do some training of new recruits to keep you busy." Saberforth said blandly.
"What? But sir..."
"You do not work here any longer, Aras. So I expect you to obey my rules on my turf, understood?" The old kat said in a voice of unmistakable steel.
"Yes sir." Aras knew when to back down. When Saberforth was this firm, he would not change his mind and would brook no argument.
"Good! Your quarters haven't been assigned to anyone so you might as well use them. I want you in the training area by eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. Commander Feral, you will be at his side. Who knows? You might pick up something useful. Dismissed." He said, returning his attention to his work.
Sighing, Aras stood up, followed by Feral and left the chief's office. Orchid nodded at them as they went by. His mate said nothing as they made for the elevator and went up another four floors. They decanted on a quiet floor, the halls carpeted, pictures on the wall, and to Feral's shocked surprise, one side of the hall was a wall of windows that looked out over a frozen landscape.
High, rugged mountains surrounded them, covered in snow. The sun burned down on them bringing no heat to warm the landscape. It was obvious they were in some very high mountain range somewhere but Feral was unable to fathom where.
"Beautiful view isn't it. Our headquarters is buried inside this mountain but they were smart enough to realize its workers needed to have access to natural light so these plus others on a recreation wing and the employee's residential wing are the only windows in the place. The glass is mixed with agracite making them nearly impenetrable. This, of course, is the agent's residential wing when they are home." Aras explained.
"It's amazing!"
"Here's my old room." Aras said, smiling as he opened a door to what amounted to a small apartment. It had an efficiency kitchen, nice size bathroom, bedroom, and living space. Because he no longer lived here, the walls were bare and it had an empty feeling to it. There luggage sat on the floor near the door.
"So this is my new home until you find the one threatening me, eh?" Feral sighed unhappily.
"I'm truly sorry, love. However, there are many things to do here, I promise. Why don't we eat and rest right now, then I'll give you a tour." Aras said, understandingly.
"Sure, I've got nothing else to do and I obviously can't wander around without you." Feral said flatly. 'Gee, seems more like a prison to me!' He thought unhappily.