Work The Problem Ch. 05

She could only see out of a little gap between the ground and Forrester, and in the middle of that gap was the portal. After a long, horrible moment of waiting a huge gout of flame shot from the portal, and amidst that flame was a welter of charred wings and armor. There was a noise that sounded like the world was caving in.

And then the portal irised shut and winked out of existence. The silence rolled back in like a wave.

The sergeant rolled off of Holly. "Sorry, ma'am, but I'm better armored than you."

Holly wheezed and tried to sit up. She nearly succeeded.

Keith Jenkins stumbled up towards the two of them. He looked a little dazed, but otherwise okay. There was a long bloody mark all down one side of his leg. "Sarge! You okay?"

The sergeant stood. "I'm okay. Nowak got hit in the leg, Wilson is...down."

The lieutenant nodded, his face dazed. "What happened with Fletcher? I though he was going to jam the accelerator and get clear."

"No time. That close to the portal, we could see a whole bunch of those fuckers getting ready to come storming through."

"Shit. You okay. Holly?"

She finally got enough breath back to respond in more than a croak. "My chest hurts, but just from getting jumped on. This guy weighs a lot." She pointed at Forrester.

Forrester grinned. "Would you rather have some shrapnel in your backside?" His grin died as he looked back up at Jenkins. "L.T.? You don't look good."

The lieutenant swayed. "Shrapnel, yeah. Think I caught some in my thigh when the portal got blown. Feelin' kinda dizzy." He fell to his knees then forward onto his face.

Holly scrambled to her feet as the sergeant cursed and lunged towards his commander.

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"I'm not putting you down ever again," said Ned into one of Holly's long ears. He held her as if they were in a strong gale, as if she'd blow away at the slightest loosening of his embrace. Behind them was a huge pile of burned and shredded terror-bird corpses, the remnants of Yuri's defense of their rear. The terror-birds' other portal had winked out just as suddenly as the main one; both portals were clearly both generated from the same location.

She hugged him back just as fiercely, using both her arms and legs. "Oh, really?" she asked. "Even when I gotta pee?" She kissed his cheek.

"Even then."

The survivors had regrouped at their cache of supplies. Leslie was unconscious, but still alive thanks to a quick tourniquet. Jenkins hadn't been so lucky. Even with a desperate bandage to try and stop the bleeding from his artery, they hadn't been able to save him.

Sergeant Forrester looked like he was ready to cry, rip something in half, or just do both. But instead the big man was keeping the Rangers busy sorting and cleaning their gear. All the while, more and more curious rabbit-people began to gather around them.

One of them pushed their way through the throng of gray-furred bodies and drew himself up. "Are you Arnbock?" he demanded.

She nodded and climbed down off of Ned. "That's me."

"I'm Lambert Bilberry, the deputy assistant to the Mayor of Sullivan City. Where's the First-Paw?"

Holly looked away. "Fletcher is dead."

Bilberry's officious manner crumbled a little. "Oh. We received some confusing radio transmissions from him saying that some different creatures had opened another portal and that you stepped through it."

Holly gripped Ned's arm. "Yes. It's a long story."

Bilberry rubbed his forehead. "I'm sure. Right now I just need to know if the situation's contained."

"It is for now," said Ned. "We've got guys up on the ridge keeping watch just in case they open another portal."

Bilberry gave Ned a sidelong glance. "I see. And you are one of these...other creatures?" He pronounced the last two words as if describing a piece of leftover gum.

Ned figured that punting one of the local politicians into orbit would not give a good first impression. So instead he smiled and stuck out a hand. "Ned Chiang, pleased to meet you."

The assistant gave the hand a tentative look but didn't take it. "Um, and where is your portal?"

Ned turned to look at the space where it had been. "It was there. My people are probably trying to reestablish it, but I honestly don't know how long that will take. Maybe an hour or two?"

"Okay." Bilberry sighed. "Do you have any wounded?"

The rabbit-guy's stock suddenly went up quite a few points in Ned's eyes. "Just one. You should talk to Sergeant Forrester. He's the big fella over there."

Once Bilberry walked off to do so, the other onlookers crowded in on Holly and Ned. He felt hesitant paws touching and poking at him, and Holly was kept busy trying to explain to her fellow lagomorphs what had happened.

Suddenly there was a shriek of delight and one of the female rabbit-people lunged forward out of the crowd. Holly gave an answering happy cry, and then the two hugged and promptly began crying and nuzzling each other.

Finally Holly broke away long enough to grab Ned's hand. "Ned! This is Emma, one of my best friends!"

"You're the one who saved her?" asked Emma. She had a white streak of fur next to each ear and violet eyes in place of Holly's blue.

Ned shrugged and blushed a little. "Well, not really, I mean all I did was hurk..."

He was cut off as Emma leaped up and wrapped her arms around Ned's neck. "Thank you so much!" she cried.

"Urk...you're welcome," gasped Ned.

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After a few more hours, it became clear that the Earth portal wasn't re-opening anytime soon. By now the space where Hadley's farm had been was surrounded with a mass of berms and earthworks which were positively bristling with weapons both human and lagomorph in construction. The lagomorphs set up a round-the-clock watch in case the terror-birds tried to reopen any portals.

In the meantime, the humans had been offered a place to stay in the city. Unfortunately it was in a warehouse since none of the 'normal' buildings were sized large enough for them. The rabbit-people definitely pulled out all of the stops in setting the place up, however. There were plenty of mattresses and blankets to go around, and for now Ned and Holly were relaxing as the other humans bunked down around the pair. Most of the other soldiers were there except for Sergeant Forrester and Corporal Morillo. The former was off helping organize the defenses at Hadley's farm and the latter was off donating blood for Corporal Nowak. Yuri had insisted on staying right at the portal's location just in case they opened it up again.

Ned and Holly were both too exhausted for 'gettin' nekkid and foolin' around', as she put it. She did curl up next to him with her head on his shoulder, which was still nice.

"What do you think happened on your Earth?" asked Holly as she nuzzled against Ned's chest. "They should have been able to reopen your portal by now."

Ned shrugged and stroked her head. "The first time we opened ours, the terror-bird's portal was already established. Now that their portal is gone, it might be that our people need to apply more power since we're not 'piggybacking' on theirs anymore. Don't worry. John and Arnold are on the case, and they're pretty smart guys."

Morillo came strolling into the warehouse. One of the sleeves of his shirt was pushed up and he had a bandage taped to the crook of his elbow. "Leslie's awake," he said.

Instantly everybody in the place was up and crowding around him. Morillo held up his hands against the welter of questions. "She's fine, she's fine! She told me to tell you all to stop dickin' around and to get the damn portal back open. She's got a nerdy doctor back home that needs some serious sexing-up. If you fuck around too much, she'll come down here and kick all your asses. And yes, she said she can still do that even with only the one leg."

"That sure sounds like Nowak," said one of the others with a laugh.

Holly looked a little uncertain. "Does Leslie know we can't open the portal on our side?"

Morillo nodded and smiled. "Yeah. She's just keeping these bozos in line, is all." He motioned with his chin at the other Rangers.

Emma peeked in around the doorway that Morillo had just come through. Her long ears were tucked behind her head. "Er, hello?" she said, tentatively. "May we come in?"

Morillo looked a question at the others, who looked just as confused as he did. Ned noticed that Holly didn't look confused. Her expression was more one of surprise mixed with dread.

Before Ned could ask Holly what was up Corporal Morillo shrugged, smiled, and said, "Sure! Come on in!" Emma smiled in return and her ears went back up as she stepped in and then to the side.

What followed was not the throng of curious rabbit-folk that Ned expected. Instead, about twenty of them, both male and female, filed in an orderly manner through the doorway and gathered in a group in front of the humans.

Emma came forward to stand in front of them. She'd been wearing something like a tracksuit the first time Ned had met her, but now she wore a simple green dress with a floral print. "My friends and I wanted to formally welcome you to our city."

Morillo nodded. "That's mightly neighborly of you. Thanks."

Ned looked down and noticed that Holly was waving subtly with her paws, apparently trying to catch Emma's attention. There were a few 'shushing' type gestures in there as well. Holly's ears were tucked behind her head, a sure sign she was stressed.

"Holly?" he muttered. "What's wrong?"

Emma smiled brightly at them all. "No thanks are necessary! It's been a long stressful day for you all, and you're such a long way from home. Yes, you definitely all need a nice relaxing orgy."

She reached down and gripped the front of her dress, then pulled it up and off in one smooth motion. She wasn't wearing anything underneath it. Her gray-furred form was more curvy and padded than Holly's but still just as breathtaking. Emma put one hand on her hip and stood grinning in all her naked loveliness while the others behind her also disrobed just as quickly. Within moments the lagomorphs were all stark naked and smiling happily at their human guests with a complete lack of embarassment. Ned couldn't help but note that a few of the males were already 'raring to go', so to speak.

The humans just stared in shock and silence. The stunned silence was finally broken by Corporal Morillo's voice.

"What."