"Commander Weiss," someone called,"We have a human here."
It was a young private from my division. The 42nd Division to be exact.
Yes, the famous "Rainbow Division" was under my command. And, much to the
distaste of the Single World Government, it had sided with the anthros.
Though myself and many of my men were anthros, not all of my troops were. Some
were anthro sympathizers, others family of anthros, and others who were not willing to
turn against their brothers in arms over a physical difference.
Things had been going badly for the Resistance. Even though we had the physical
advantages, the SWG had many more troops and weapons. Fortunately, they had not
resorted to nuclear weapons to eradicate our kind.
However, I fully expected a quick turnabout. Buford Spalling had been assasinated, by
a human no less, and the SWG was slowly reverting to the independent countries it
had once been. And after an inner rebellion in the United States of America, the
people finally had control over their government again.
This is not to say they accepted us any more than before. No we were still at war. But
now it wasn't so much a hate war, but a war for dominance.
This human was a problem. We had attempted to keep out of human business, they
tended to lash out as soon as we had helped them. But no matter how hard we tried,
we could not pass an innocent in need.
This particular man had been found in a car crash as the private was telling me, but,
on second thought, why don't I just let him tell you?
"...And he was the only survivor. The rest of the vehicle's occupants were dead on our
men's arrival. The automobile was armored, so we figure he must have been someone
of importance."
"Well done, young fox," I instructed the vulpine, "Leave him here on the bed and alert
a doctor."
"Yes, sir."
"And once you've done that, could you please send for General Natopt?"
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
With the increase in injuries lately as we began another campaign, my office/room had
been converted to an extra hospital wing due to its size and convenient proximity to
the actual infirmary.
There was something about this man that looked familiar. But with all the blood I
couldn't place my finger on it. General George Natopt would have profiles on any
person of interest.
The doctor armadillo arrived and began his practice with a young raccoon nurse. Not
afraid of blood, but thinking it better to leave them alone, I walked out into the hall.
General Natopt arrived with his files on human authority figures. I was able to narrow it
down to two possibilities. After all the blood was gone, we could verify our findings. I
believed the man to be either the SWG's attorney general, or the new President of the
United States. I myself hoped it would be the latter, seeing as anyone from the SWG
would be difficult to work with.
The doctor exited the room and allowed us to enter. The man was coming to, but was
hooked up to at least three machines. He looked up as we entered and I knew it was
the President.
This was both good and bad. Good that he would be more willing to cooperate, bad
that we might have the entire US military on our tails (no pun intended). After all, the
US and Russian militaries had made up the bulk of the SWG's military force.
"Oh, good, more visitors," the man remarked sarcastically, but good-humoredly,"Who
do I have the honor of addressing?"
"I am Commander Sean Weiss and this is General George Natopt, officers of the
Anthromorphic Allied Resistance military, 42nd Division. And who might you be?" I
asked for conformation.
"Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States of America and Commander in
Chief of the US Military."
"Franklin Roosevelt?" Gen. Natopt asked.
"Not FDR, though I'd like to think I'll be as good as he was."
"Very well," I interjected. There was business afoot. "Mr. President, some of our troops
found your vehicle crashed on the side of a road. We suspect a roadside bomb,
though we could not determine who's it was. You were the only surviving member.
And. It is miraculous that you have survived."
Here, Roosevelt bowed his head as though thinking about the others in the car.
"It was all secret service in that car. They sacrificed themselves for me every day.
Were their bodies recovered?"
"Yes, sir," I informed him,"Their families are being located and we would like to arrange
for them to be taken by your own men to their loved ones."
"I believe that will be possible," he stated,"But how long were you planning on keeping
me here?"
Ah, the real question.
"No longer than necessary, sir. We could keep you here until your own doctors could
take over, though it looks as though you will has a speedy recovery. However, I would
like to talk to you about something. General, dismissed."
"Yes, sir," Gen. Natopt responded, though I knew he would be just outside the door.
"You see, Mr. President, I am the unofficial leader of the Resistance, seeing as we
have no official government. To that effect, I would like to talk to you as both leader to
leader and man to man."
"Certainly," he answered,"Though I must say I'm surprised."
"At what?"
"Well, no offense, but I didn't expect a wolf to be so...chivalrous."
"We're not animals...well, not in that sense anyway," I defended myself.
"I see," he said as though he already thought that,"And I assume you want to talk of
peace?"
"Yes, sir, that was my intention."
"Well, Commander, you see I've been trying to get my country to end the war for
months now. The thing is, my people just don't want to back down. However, I'm sure
that if we were to agree upon a mutual truce, they would accept."
"Very well then, let's talk peace."