Hammers in the Shadows

Part One: Shadows and Ice - Chapter Seven

Zane snorted since he had been to a few meetings over the years which ended up that way, "Been there, done that and dealing with some elders is like digging a hole in water. They can't see the real world has changed over the years. They still see everything through what they grew up with. They are positive that all this lovely tech will vanish and it will all go back to the good old days." He shook his head after saying that.

When we reached his office, Oscar was placing the coffee and food on the coffee table, "If you need anything else Zane contact me." He gave me a smile as he submitted before leaving the office. I knew that he had other work he needed to get back to, such as it always was with Juniors.

"Sit, have something to eat and some coffee. Adam is taking care of something right now. I will link to him and keep him updated." Zane settled down in a chair and poured the coffee and grabbed some of the snacks as well.

I took something to eat and a cup of coffee as well and began to eat as I pulled a tablet out of the briefcase that I had brought with me and quickly set it up to show the depth of the situation. "Between Ice Valley, Midnight Forest, and their allies I'd calculate that we are outnumbered by a factor of perhaps fifteen to one. We aren't a weak pride by any stretch of the imagination but against those kind of odds it is only a matter of time." I said taking a sip of my coffee.

I watched as he looked at the map that I was showing him before standing up. He waved me over to his smart table and connected to the tablet to display the map on the surface. It gave a much better view of what was going on, "Now that we can actually see what you are talking about..." He flashed a grin at me and I shook my head slightly. The table was a newer version of what we'd installed in Security at the Pride House, but that was the only one in the entire Pride and it had hit our Pride finances badly.

I looked enviously at the table, "Wish we could afford more than one of these things." I told Zane as I quickly pointed out the salient points on the map. "We have our entire territory monitored by sensors, the previous versions that we could afford and our flying eyes in the sky... though in the past month six birds have gone missing. I think that some wolves have figured out that there is more to our ravens than meets the eye."

"Just recently I convinced Adam I needed one. They are a bit on the spendy side but worth it. When I have, our sensors called up any incursion will show on the desk top. I know the territory pretty well by now and it gives me an advantage over those crossing over. I know what the terrain is like and what they might be facing. It tracks the patrols as well." He was looking at what I was showing him, "So what are your thoughts? How are you thinking about dealing with this?" I could see, from his eyes, and from his posture that depending on what I told him about my thoughts on the current situation would dictate on how they would respond to honor the treaties that I'd signed a few weeks earlier.

I looked at the map, before closing my eyes, "I just want to defend my pridemates, it isn't about the land for me, it's about my fellow cats, the Elders, the Juniors, the Protectors, the Cubs, and my mate. If I could figure out a way that we could get out of this situation with a minimum of casualties I would take it." I told him glumly. "The Pride has been there for over a hundred years but it isn't what I'd call a defensible location."

"Move? Find a new territory? I know it might upset some of your older Pride members but at least they would be alive to bitch at you. It's what Tashi's Pride did and it saved them. It is a hard thought I know. Not sure about you cats but wolves tend to be very protective of their territory. It almost becomes part of our identity." It had been hard for Tashi's Pride to start over but they were doing well now and growing. They had started making trinkets and items native to Tibet and they were selling well. Some of the youngest adult Pride members had taken jobs in a nearby town as well.