Case of the Spotted Band , livre ebook

Title Page
The Case of the Spotted Band
Volume Two of
The Case Books of Octavius Bear
Harry DeMaio



Publisher Information
“Alternative Universe Mysteries for Adult Animal Lovers”
Published in the UK by MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive,
London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed in 2015 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2014, 2015 Harry DeMaio
The right of Harry DeMaio to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Except for certain historical personages, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not of MX Publishing.
Cover design compiled www.staunch.com



Dedication
Dedicated to GTP
A Most Extraordinary Bear



Acknowledgements
These books have evolved over a long period of time and under a wide range of influences and circumstances. I am indebted to many people for helping to bring Octavius and his cohorts to the printed page. Thanks most especially to my wife, Virginia, for her insights and clever suggestions as well as her unfailing enthusiasm for the project and patience with its author. To my sons, Mark and Andrew and their spouses, Cindy and Lorraine, for helping make these tomes more readable and audience friendly. To Cathy Hartnett, cheerleader-extraordinaire for her eagerness to see this alternate universe take form. To Jack Magan, Dan Andriacco and Zohreh Zand for their assistance and support.
Thanks to the members of the Monday Morning Writers Group for their help and encouragement. A special thank you to my editor, Coleen (Ms Comma-kaze) Armstrong for her battlefield survival techniques on my punctuation and grammar.
Kudos to Jim Effler, my illustrator, for bringing the characters to life beyond my fondest expectations and to Bob Gibson for his excellent work on the covers.
If, in spite of all this assistance, some errors or inconsistencies have crept through, the buck stops here. Needless to say, all of the characters, situations and narratives are fictional.



Information
The Development of Civilization Volume 2 Part 1
Our Origins
(From “An Introduction to Faunapology” by Octavius Bear Ph.D.)
“About 100,000 years ago, according to scientific experts, a colossal solar flare blasted out from our Sun, creating gigantic magnetic storms here on Earth. These highly charged electrical tempests caused startling physical and psychological imbalances in the then population of our world. The complete nervous systems of some species were totally destroyed. For example “Homo Sapiens” lost all mental and motor capabilities and rapidly became extinct. Less developed species exposed to the radiation were affected differently. Four-footed and finned mammals, birds and reptiles suddenly found themselves capable of complex thought, enhanced emotions, self-awareness, social interplay and the ability to communicate, sometimes orally, sometimes telepathically, often both. Both speech production and speech perception slowly progressed with the evolution of tongues, lips, vocal cords and enhanced ear to brain connections. Many species developed opposable digits, fingers or claws, further accelerating civilized progress. Some others (most fish and underground dwellers) were shielded from the radiation and remained only as sentient as they were before the blast. This event is referred to as The Big Shock . It remains under intensive study.”



The Players in Book 2
Octavius Bear - Narcoleptic war hero; consulting detective, scientist, inventor; seeker of justice; mega-billionaire owner of Universal Ursine Industries; gourmet/gourmand; somewhat sedentary and grouchy just on general principles.
Mauritius (Maury) Meerkat - Part-time narrator; assistant to Octavius; African émigré with a French-Dutch background; clever with a shady history.
Inspector Bruce Wallaroo – Irrepressible but brilliant marsupial; an international law and order genius from Down Under; often calls on Octavius and Maury for support.
Imperius Drake - “ Moriarty with wings !” Arch-villain; leader of the Black Quack gang; brilliant but loony duck who has developed a serum to make the animal kingdom his slaves; seeks vengeance for ridicule by the scientific community and the death of his beloved mate, Lee-Li-Li; Sworn enemy of Octavius Bear.
Bearoness Belinda Béarnaise Bruin Bear (nee Black) - Now wife of Octavius; very rich widow of Bearon Byron Bruin living in Bearmoral Castle in the Shetlands; Owner-pilot of the last flying Concorde SST; Gorgeous polar superstar, with the Aquashow, “Some Like It Cold.”
Bearyl and Bearnice Blanc - Belinda’s stunning twin polar sidekicks; Actress and singer, respectively. Co-pilot and flight engineer of Belinda’s SST.
Otto the Magnificent - AKA Hairy Otter - Once a terrible illusionist magician, Otto, after escaping the claws of Imperius Drake, developed some amazing powers courtesy of Imperius’ genetic alterations. He becomes a major player in Books 2, 3 and 4.
Chita - Beautiful, fascinating, clever, sexy, immoral and highly independent feline who is now seeking revenge on Imperius for attempting to kill her. Currently living in Rio and a member of the Spotted Band, Chita reappears in subsequent books as a principal character in her own right.
Cyd - Chita’s probably fictional identical twin.
The Spotted Band - A South American rock group of feral cats: Ozzie , an Ocelot; Jake , a Jaguar; Lepi , a Himalayan Snow Leopard and the irrepressible Chita.
Frau Schuylkill – Octavius’ beautiful Swiss she-wolf housekeeper/cook/pilot/security officer with many other mysterious and military talents. She rescued Octavius from his dive off the Breakurbach Fallswhile struggling with his nemesis, Imperius Drake.
Wyatt Where – Another wolf. Former military intelligence officer who had retired to a security post at the Bank of Lake Michigan in Chicago and then quit to join Octavius.
Howard Watt - A porcupine, high tech security authority who also left the bank with Wyatt to join Octavius. A laser and particle beam accelerator expert.
Bigg Baboon - The major muscle in Black Quack; the archetypical dumb heavy.
Pontius Puma - Arrogant Brazilian racketeer who controls all entertainment in Brazil and does substantial worldwide trading in stolen military and industrial secrets.
L. Condor - a voiceless Andean Condor cyber-net genius with a 12 foot wingspan. Destroys Pontius Puma’s criminal network and meets Imperius Drake in wing-to-wing combat.
The Taurus Brothers - Belial and Brutus; The Chicago Bulls; “facilitators;” classic thugs who do work for both Imperius and Pontius Puma.
Doctor “Odd” Vark - Chief Geneticist at Universal Ursine Industries.
Doctor Chiti BingBang - Chief Physician at Universal Ursine Industries.
Bella Donna Black - Belinda’s aunt and Sow of Honor at her wedding.
Wallingford Penniped, Ph.D. - Octavius’ scholastic mentor and Best Male at his wedding,
Elijah Elk - Justice of the Peace, Churchill Manitoba.
Juno Bear - Octavius’ mother .
Agrippa Bear - Octavius’ half brother.
Brazilian Wallaroos - relations and friends of Inspector Bruce Wallaroo



Locations in Volume 2
Cincinnati; Rio and São Paolo; Churchill, Manitoba; St. Louis; Reno and Las Vegas.





Prologue
The gibbon looks much like an ape
With dark eyes and a long slender shape.
He will tell you his views
As he chatters the news.
Now, let’s go to the videotape!
“Mass Assassination Foiled! Genetic Geniuses Jolted! Bear Beats Back Blue Bayou Bombs!” The Nevada tabloids started it and then it circled the world in newspapers, newswires, websites, blogs, twitters, radio, TV and skywriting - the sensational story of the thwarted attempt by Imperius Drake and the Black Quack Gang to kill off the vast majority of the world’s genetic science community, all of whom were attending the Quadrennial Worldwide Convention of the Genetics Science Profession - The Genius of Genetics 2014 - in Las Vegas.
KRAP-TV News, Channel 16, Las Vegas - “All the News While You Gamble and Gambol!!” - said it all.
“Good evening, this is Charles Gibbon with the latest news. This late breaking item right here in our own desert backyard. This evening a major international disaster at the Blue Bayou Resort and Casino was bearly averted when Imperius Drake, the mad genius canard of crime was prevented from triggering off one thousand anti-personnel bombs disguised as musical souvenirs. Only the quick action of Octavius Bear and the phenomenal aircrew of his C-5A, The Ursa Major, saved the evening. The event, a major convention of the world’s best and brightest geneticists, was wrapping up with a spectacular Grand Finale when some great detective work by the Nevada and Las Vegas Police, combined with Blue Bayou security and the legendary ursine detective uncovered the unthinkable plot for mass assassination just moments before the bombs w