GOOD WILL SAILING (A WALTER FOX STORY)


by Little Bill



(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story follows “The Furry Sex Scandal" and “The Furry Sex Scandal: The Aftermath". It is also completely clean.)


No naughtiness in this account, dear reader. There was plenty of that in my last two accounts anyway, and this is about a little public relations exercise that the Earth authorities decided to arrange, not necessarily because any of the participants wanted to go through with it, but this was their world and not ours, and they wanted to disguise the fact that Sammy Skunk left his own world and become an Earth citizen under unpleasant circumstances. Considering what Sammy Skunk had done with his “sponsor" Jim was attacked and nearly killed, this was hardly a shocking decision.

So it was not a complete surprise when the Director of PERC, our research station, summoned me and my assistants into his office one day. “The Earth authorities decided to send you all off on a little vacation. You're going to make a day trip to visit Sammy Skunk and the human he lives with."

“All of us?" asked Freddy Lynx.

“Why do you think I brought you all in here? And no, you cannot opt out. You're going whether you want to or not."

“What are we supposed to do?" asked Timothy Squirrel.

“You're obviously not going to be recording or interviewing them," replied the Director. “You're supposed to visit them at home, and everyone is supposed to go out among the public and look like you and they are friends."

“Why would we need to do this all of a sudden?" asked Billy Otter.

“I'm not sure myself, but the Earth authorities wanted us to do this, and what they want us to do, we do. I'm sure you of all people here are aware of this. And it's probable that Sammy Skunk and his human aren't necessarily happy to meet with you either, but they know they cannot displease the Earth authorities either. I don't care what you think of them, but be sure to be nice and civil with them, whatever you think of them. Is that understood?"

We did, and said so. It was, after all, completely on the Earth authorities' sufferance that PERC could even exist in the first place. And none of us were really reluctant to do something besides our regular duties of interviews, data processing, teaching other PERC members English and Earthian customs, an so forth.

When the day came, we of course cleaned and groomed ourselves; it was an event that our hosts were paying for, so we had to be nice and polite. I called Sammy Skunk on his phone and was told that we would go to his apartment, but our day would be spent at the lake by the city, and to pack our swimwear. This was not entirely a surprise, dear reader. I knew that Sammy Skunk had been a recreational sailor back on his world, and wondered if he had gotten a boat. Jim and Sammy Skunk together would certainly make enough money to be able to afford one, and sailing on Earth could hardly be different from how it is on our world. Water there is the same as water here, and our planet is mostly ocean as well, and we have lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, and such.

So we packed our swimwear but dressed in regular clothes, and were given a van to take ourselves to a parking garage not far from their apartment. We walked there and were let in. I was there several times already, but my assistants were never there before, and when they walked in, they looked at all the furry decorations in surprise. I was surprised at their surprise. What did they expect of a human furry who had gotten an animal-person for a live-in companion?

We greeted our hosts and were invited to eat. They must have gotten advance information of the foods we could eat, for each of us got a plate of different foods, rather than all of us getting the same meal. My assistants may not have much liked Jim and Sammy Skunk, but they clearly were pleased by their hosts' consideration of their diets. As might be expected, some things that humans can eat I cannot eat, such as chocolate and garlic. The same is true of other animal-people, and our hosts gave us meals tailored to our respective diets. If Jim and Sammy Skunk's plan was to put us in a better mood, it succeeded. Our meals were relatively small, but we knew we would be traveling on the water later, so it was important that we did not eat too much beforehand.

We made some small talk, but soon after we ate, our hosts were anxious to take us to their boat, and we were happy to go. It was a sunny and mild day outside, ideal for sailing, and our jobs at PERC rarely had us travel on the water, so it would be different there too. Our hosts had a car which was too small to accommodate all of us and our luggage, so we used the PERC van which had enough capacity.

I drove us to the recreational boat docks, into the parking space that our hosts had rented. We all got out, and they led us to a building which had an area where we undressed, showered, and changed into our swim trunks, leaving our street clothes in rented lockers. Then we regrouped and walked along the pier until we reached a catamaran which our hosts said was theirs.

It was not huge, but larger than I had expected, and it could accommodate us all with room to spare. For those unfamiliar with boating terminology, a catamaran is a boat with two relatively small hulls with a platform atop them, and it was a sailboat with multiple sails. I remembered Sammy Skunk describing being a recreational sailor on his own world, and how he sneered at “gasoline sailors". We at PERC already knew of course about Jim and Sammy Skunk having gay furry friends who visited them about once a month for sex parties, and I got the idea that at least part of the reason for getting their catamaran in the first place was to associate with people besides other gay furries.

I suppose I should point out that we at PERC had brought a quantity everyday street clothes and undergarments when we came to this planet, but utility and other clothes we needed were either human garments re-tailored to suit our animal-person bodies, or custom tailored ones made out of whole cloth. The space shuttle that takes people and materials between our planets can only carry so much, so we depend on our Earthian hosts to supply us with our needs. Our worlds can only “connect" with each other for three hours per year, when both our planets send their respective shuttles. I do not understand this process any more than the average layman; I am trained as a sociologist and not as a physicist or astronaut, and my skills are in learning foreign languages very quickly and in dealing with different kinds of people, even weird or repulsive ones, in a civil and reassuring manner...as well as being able to escape or defend myself if I deal with anyone with harmful intent.

Why mention it now, dear reader? Because all our swim suits were meant for humans, but with holes added to accommodate our tails. Chairs, motor vehicles and such also have to be adapted to our physiognomies as well, since most of us are not human in shape and proportion. Though few of us PERC members were expected to have the ability to swim, there were plenty of eventualities we had to prepare for, especially those of us who had to interact a great deal with Earthian society-including me and my assistants. Billy Otter, as might be expected, is a very strong swimmer even by otter-person standards, though I never had any reason to inquire about how my colleagues were skilled in that aspect. I have only minimal swimming ability myself.

As we got near the boat, Timothy Squirrel said, rather nervously, “Um, I should let everybody know that I cannot swim."

“You don't really need to," replied Jim. “We're going to be wearing inflatable life jackets when we're sailing."

“And I can rescue anybody who falls in," added Billy.

“So there shouldn't be any problems," concluded Sammy. “Ready to board?"

It was cooler over the lake, and Sammy and Jim had swimming trunks on as well, though I noted that Jim also wore a shirt. Then I realized that unlike the rest of us, he was not covered with fur. We all boarded the boat and donned our life jackets, except for Billy who said it would do him more harm than good, and everyone knew he was an expert swimmer, so we did not press the issue.

Our hosts untied the catamaran from the dock, and used long poles to push the boat further into the water. We thought we would have to paddle our way into the deeper water, but Jim and Sammy simply raised the sails and the boat started moving immediately. We offered to help manipulate the sails, but our hosts told us no, they would do it on their own. It took a bit of scrambling on their part, but our hosts obviously knew what they were doing, and it was not long before the boat was moving toward the middle of the lake, at a speed I did not think a sailboat was even capable of making. My assistants of course seemed equally surprised, except for Billy Otter.

“You're not gasoline sailors," Billy told Sammy.

“Absolutely not," Sammy replied rather haughtily.

Dutifully, we waved at other boats. This was a public relations project, after all, and we had to look like we were all friends. I suspected that the boat ride was the idea of Sammy Skunk and Jim, to make sure plenty of people could see us having fun together. And I got the impression that my assistants were enjoying the boat ride, whatever we thought of Jim and Sammy Skunk. And we could not think too badly of them, with all the trouble they were taking to entertain us.

We sped toward the other side of the lake, which was large but not vast. I assumed that our hosts were already familiar with the entirety of the lake and its environs, as they waved at every boat they went past, and most people waved back at us. Evidently Jim and Sammy Skunk were familiar sights to all the boaters on the lake, and none of their fellow boaters seemed surprised to see them. (Earthians are of course more accustomed to us animal-people by now, but one of us actually appearing among them can still cause a surprise.) Jim and Sammy steered the boat toward wherever people could see us, but not so close we would be in anybody else's way.

We made it a point to be seen, members of PERC with Jim and Sammy Skunk, having fun together and showing no signs of animosity. There were no video cameras around and our trip was not staged; Jim and Sammy let us know that they knew the purpose of the boat ride. It was to show that Sammy Skunk was getting along with his former colleagues and there were no visible hard feelings.

Of course this was not true, dear reader. I made the mistake of taking Sammy Skunk to a furry convention, when he spoke the language but was not trained to deal with humans as I was. I could not keep a watch on Sammy every second, and he was found by a group of gay human furries, and the rest can be guessed. One of them was Jim, and Sammy Skunk had actually emotionally bonded with him and wanted to stay with him for the rest of his life. The Earth authorities and the rest of us PERC members reluctantly agreed to let Sammy leave us and stay on Earth-he was now essentially a damaged person among his own people. The official story we told the people of Earth was that Sammy Skunk simply was adopted as Jim's pet space alien, and everyone preferred to keep that story up.

As for Sammy Skunk's former colleagues, there were mixed feelings. Some view Sammy Skunk with contempt, others with sympathy for having been exploited, but even though Jim had the decency not to let go of Sammy Skunk when he had reason to, no other animal-person could ever be expected to like him. But I and my colleagues were civil enough toward Jim, for he was hosting us at his expense, and he was civil enough toward us, despite the fact he must have known about how we felt about him.. All of us sociologists have met far worse people in our careers anyway.

So we all waved to people we saw, looking cheery-and it was a nice day, and we were out having fun instead of having to do office or field work for a change. The wind had been in our favor, but now it was starting to die down. And our hosts were starting to lose their wind too, having had to keep pulling ropes to steer and manipulate the sails all the time. We saw this, and asked them maybe the boat could be stopped for a while, and they happily furled the sails.

We were parked somewhere in the middle of the lake, and Billy suggested we might swim for a while. He went in, but the rest of us decided to decline for the moment. We watched him as he swam, and he did no fancy tricks; he was not that sort of person. Still, some boaters who were nearby stopped to watched, for it is not every day an animal-person otter swims in your presence. Then Billy came up to the boat, and we assumed he was tired. But his next action surprised us.

“Anybody up for a ride?" he shouted at us.

“What sort of ride?" someone asked, and Billy said, “One of you to ride on my back while I swim. Of course it will have to be someone smaller."

“It wouldn't be a good idea for me," Timothy replied. “I can't swim at all."

Billy looked toward Sammy. “You should be lightweight enough."

Sammy looked surprised, undoubtedly because another animal-person was willing to do that with him, who was essentially an outcast from his own people. “Really?"

“You've been doing all the work, it's my turn," replied Billy, who swam up to the side of the boat. The rest of us hoisted Sammy over the side, so that he was sitting atop Billy's back. Sammy was less heavy than I anticipated, and I was pleased that my colleagues at least were willing to hold Sammy, rather than treat him like somebody they did not want to touch.

Sammy managed to get himself on a sitting position on Billy's back, and Billy started swimming on the surface of the lake. Billy actually managed to move at a surprisingly fast pace, even with the weight and bulk of Sammy on his back. Sammy himself seemed surprisingly relaxed, evidently fully trusting that he would not fall off Billy's back.

The rest of us watched in surprise. We did not have a set program in mind, but none of us had expected this to happen. Not that we objected; I was sure the humans who saw them would think the whole stunt was cute. But the real surprise was that Sammy Skunk, though smaller than most of us, still must have been a heavy weight for Billy to carry on his back.

We were not surprised when Billy's swim did not last a long time. He swam up to the side of our boat, and with nothing said we all took hold of Sammy and pulled him onto the deck. Billy was able to climb aboard unassisted, but once he was on deck he flopped down on his back.

“You all right?" I asked.

“It was a bit of a strain," Billy replied. “I've taken little kids on my back like this, but Sammy Skunk was a bit heavier than I realized."

“I'm sorry," said Sammy.

Billy gave a slight laugh. “It was my idea, not yours. You were small but not that small. In any case I'll feel better in a few minutes."

So Jim raised the sails and we traveled around the lake again, Sammy watching Billy worriedly until the latter finally got up. “I'm all right," he said.

“Thank goodness," Sammy replied. “I fear I injured you."

“I'm a strong swimmer even by otter standards. I figured you could use a little fun."

“I do have quite a bit of fun, don't worry," said Sammy. “In fact, Jim never did any sailing until I came along."

“He's right," added Jim. “The only boats I ever sailed on were tour boats until I met Sammy. We moved to a city on a lake, Sammy mentioned how he grew up sailing for fun, so why not?"

“I remember hearing the joke that the happiest days in a recreational sailor's life is when you but the boat, and then when you sell it," piped in Freddy. “On our world as well."

“Either they bought a boat which was a lemon, or they found they didn't like recreational sailing," replied Sammy. “I read about Ted Turner and how he used to sail in boat competitions until he gave it up all of a sudden. He admitted he didn't like sailing, he liked winning."

“You ever tried racing?" I asked.

“No, sailing was always my way of relaxing. I had enough stress with everything else in my life."

There is not too much else to add about the trip, dear reader. We basically sailed around some more and waved at people, then we eventually tired and went back toward our catamaran's slip. Once we were fully parked and went through the building where we changed back into street clothes, I brought us back to Jim and Sammy's apartment.

We relaxed and conversed a bit about minor matters, but basically our mission was accomplished. Our sailing trip was not expected to make the local news (and it did not), but people saw the group of us having fun, and the relationship between my assistants and Jim and Sammy Skunk warmed somewhat, not into outright friendship, but suspicions were relaxed. It was late afternoon, too early for dinner, so we opted to go back to PERC base. We all were civil enough toward our hosts when we said our goodbyes, but we were rather surprised when Billy Otter actually embraced Sammy Skunk (but not Jim). We knew that Billy Otter was one of the people who felt sympathy toward Sammy, and he did give Sammy a ride on his back, but we did not expect the two of them to become outright friends. But Sammy seemed to be very pleased that Billy had done this, even if the rest of us had no compulsion to do the same. Well, after our initial shock, we headed back to the van and returned to PERC base and made our visit to the Director as planned.

We would not have said anything, but Billy Otter did admit to his hugging of Sammy Skunk, which was a great shock to the Director. “The idea was to make the world think that Sammy Skunk was not a shameful outcast from our people," he said, “but you didn't have to overdo it."

“There are people who think Sammy Skunk was some sort of monster for leaving us and being with an Earthian," Billy replied defensively. “Did I say I hugged Jim? He had the decency to keep Sammy Skunk with him despite all he went through, but that doesn't mean I like him.

“Before I came to Earth, there were times I gave back rides to little kids. Sammy was the first adult I tried it with, and he was heavy enough so I couldn't carry him for long. Why did I do it? You wanted to make it look good between us and Sammy Skunk, so I figured anyone who saw us would consider it cute. Sammy Skunk certainly enjoyed it, so I figured, mission accomplished.

“And I am well aware the Sammy Skunk bonded to someone who took total advantage of him. But what could he really do except stay on Earth live with this person? Go home and become a pariah? The Earth authorities themselves certainly got that idea, so why do you think they let him become an Earth citizen?

“You may be mad at him, but I'm not! He was taken to a furry convention, and for the first time in his life he was hero-worshiped, so of course it went to his head. He wasn't prepared for it! I think anyone who sneers at him is being unfair! I wanted him to know that not all of us despise him! Am I wrong for feeling that way?"

Even the Director had no counterargument, so we were dismissed and returned to our departmental quarters to return to our regular tasks. We sent a courtesy note to Jim and Sammy Skunk for hosting us, and we got a thank you back, and Sammy thanked Billy Otter profusely for having given him a ride on his back. Billy of course was very pleased that he had made Sammy Skunk so happy and told him so.

All correspondence between anyone in my department and anyone outside of PERC, as you might expect, has to go through me personally. I could visit Jim and Sammy Skunk whenever I wanted, this privilege was granted to me by both the Director and the Earth authorities However, I make it a point not to visit them too often, as I do not care to make myself a nuisance to them. And still, it is the Director, with the blessing of the Earth authorities, who gives me assignments as to where and when I am supposed to go. Airline and hotel or motels are arranged for me, but I can go where I want to for meals and buy gas or other supplies; humans have lost their fear of me and nobody refuses me service nowadays. My assistants usually go with me instead of on their own on any travel assignments; and my two female assistants always travel with me or a male assistant. Yes, on both our worlds, females to have to be careful of their personal safety.

I mention this last part because I am the only one who can freely visit Jim and Sammy Skunk, and none of my assistants can visit them without my presence. Billy Otter and Sammy Skunk do exchange correspondence, but their conversations are basically pleasantries and everyday matters; they are friends but not close ones. While it would not surprise me if Sammy Skunk might desire a sexual relationship with Billy Otter, there is nothing to indicate any such proclivities on the part of Billy. For one thing, most of us PERC members tend to be older and have diminished sex drives; for another, there have been cases of PERC member who have developed romantic relationships despite the Director's strong discouragement of this, and invariably such relationships come to grief with PERC members sent back home in disgrace as a result. Also, as I have mentioned, we animal-people are less tolerant of homosexuality than you Earthians are, and Sammy Skunk is already an outcast from both his colleagues at work and his own world. Anyone who would dare have sex with Sammy Skunk could look forward to a ruined career at PERC.

So at least Sammy Skunk now has an actual friend among his former PERC colleagues. I guess the trip was worth it after all.