FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

******

She was flying, high and very, very fast. Below her she could see the curve of the earth as it appeared to twirl backwards, the swirling clouds bursting into brilliance as the sun rose in the west. She was in a cockpit, and even though it was dark she could make out two other figures in front of her, and one to her right. She was a part of the crew, and knew them all well. Almost too well. They felt closer than any family she had ever known. She knew them all like the back of her hand, and loved them like nothing else. Her crew. Her pack. The word floated warmly in her mind. Her pack was her family... She had a family... A real one. The wall illuminated slightly as she sat up, barely stopping herself in time as she noticed the ceiling a measly few inches from her forehead. This wasn't her bed.

She rolled over, and saw the opening of her bunk into the rest of a very small room... which definitely wasn't her bedroom. Her heart began to race as she climbed out of bed, the room suddenly becoming much brighter. Where was she? Why was she here? She didn't remember drinking at all last night... or did she? Max had told her they were going to have a party on the wharf on Friday... did she end up on a boat? Last she remembered it was a Wednesday though... what day was it? She was about to do a feverish search in her mind for the happenings of the night before when she came face-to-face with a mirror. A scared, bedraggled looking young woman stared back at her. It wasn't her wild hair, sleepy eyes, or unclothed body that caught her attention though. The solid, uninterrupted stripe of red around her wrist opened a floodgate of memories of the day before, flowing in reverse from Agner's sly move in the infirmary, to eating in a cafeteria surrounded by canine-esk extra terrestrials, to Grenkle pulling her aboard the ship from the clearing. She remembered her shock and fear at learning her fate, and the long hike through the forest in the dark. There was her father, telling her to pack little, and the judge, smacking his hammer. Oh God! What kind of trouble was she in? She was aboard an alien ship, handed off to an alien military. Her mind raced, images of every alien movie she had ever seen running through her mind at blinding speed. Her legs began to quiver, and she sat down on the bed again. There was something hard and rigid under her butt. She pulled out the book that she had forgotten about the night before. She had asked for it based on a recommendation by a friend, but knew nothing about the story itself. She flipped to the first page, and read a quote that headed the first chapter:

"I, a stranger and afraid, In a world I never made." -HOUSMAN

"Brother, you said it," she muttered.

There was a knock on her door.

"Just a minute!" She yelled, quickly pulling on her clothes before opening the door.

She didn't know what to expect; but the images of gurney ran across her mind, adorn with straps and several of the aliens waiting to tie her down and wheel her away to her doom. Or maybe just Agner and two others, impatient to experiment on a new life form. What she didn't expect to see was Grenkle, alone, looking like he had just rolled out of bed himself. His eyes were half open, and any fur not covered by his uniform had the appearance of "I'm-within-regulations-I'll-fix-the-rest-when-I'm-awake" look. He held and invisible plate in front of him and mimicked eating something with chopsticks.

"Nawath?" he asked.

"Uh," began Rika, still trying to recover from her mild panic. She froze for a few seconds as she collected herself. The word sounded like it should be something she knew.

"Yeah," she said, pulling herself together, "Nawath sounds like a good idea."

Grenkle didn't leave her much time to worry about her situation. He immediately started the language lessons again, beginning with the dining ware and tried explaining what she was eating. They didn't get very far, but he successfully kept her mind of anything else until the meal was over. Afterwards he lead her up to his office, where he fiddled with his PDA a bit before a small stack of papers slid out of a slot in the side of his desk, dropping into a folding tray one at a time. Rika was amused at this. Far more advanced than anything she had seen, and they still used the good old parchment.

"Wow, I can't believe you still use paper," she said.

Grenkle acted like a child, crashing his PDA into the desk with a mimicked explosion. She giggled.

"Hah! So even you guys have system crashes."

His ears flickered out in what Rika read as a smile. He handed Rika the papers that had stopped sliding out of the side of his desk. She fingered through them before realizing that it was the same two documents, printed twice. Once in the strange, bizarre characters she was learning to speak, and another time in English. She paged through the first document, the symbols making about as much sense to her as Egyptian hieroglyphics. She stopped at that last page though, and her heart caught. There at the bottom was her name, signed in her own handwriting. It was dated over two weeks ago. She skipped the second document, also written in rakkan, and went straight to the first one printed in english. She pulled both out and held them side-by-side for Grenkle to see.

"Are these the same?" she asked.

He nodded. She began to read the english document, running through the five steps of grief. At first she was in denial as she began comprehending the terms of her contract.

"No, no, this can't be. I didn't sign this.. I couldn't have..."

But she knew she had, just as she knew that her father had anticipated she would before she had even picked up a pen. She could almost taste the bitterness as it burned away at her- anger at her father for pulling a low trick, but more angry at herself for ignoring what she knew was good advice simply for the sake of rebellion. As she kept reading that too passed, and her rage melted into something different. She began rescanning the contract, looking for loopholes.

"Is there anyway I can not go? You know, like say I wasn't thinking properly, or cancel the contract before it takes effect?"

Grenkle shook his head. His face was blank, his body emotionless. He was simply watching her ride the roller coaster. A passive observer. Rika could feel a great weight wrapping it's self around her heart. They had her as securely by this contract as they did by the cuff around her wrist. There was no escaping. Her fate was spelled out in the black letters on the paper. Suicide crossed her mind, -briefly. The feeling of being trapped was almost overwhelming, but she loved life too much to not search for a sliver of hope. She picked up the contract again, looking over the conditions and terms she had agreed to without reading. Ten years. Supplied pay, room and board. Job description to be determined later. Entry grade to be first enlisted. A decade of likely traveling all over the universe, but never setting foot on earth again. Even once it ended, how would she get back? It's not like they ran a regular shuttle service to Earth. Or did they? Matt had left and returned evidently. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. It was ten years she had given away at a careless mistake, there was nothing she could to about that now. Perhaps she would have fun. She doubted it, but one never knew. It was certain that she would learn a lot, and how many folks could honestly say that they had ever met an alien, let alone served in an alien military? She stared at her signature at the bottom of a page filled with alien writing. Over all, actually, it didn't seem like she was getting too bad of a deal. When it came to extra terrestrials, this was lot better than being bound to a slab while they picked you apart alive...

"Well," she said, putting the document on Grenkle's desk, "it's going to be an interesting ride at the least. I take it I'm starting training?"

He tapped the other document in her hand. She gave him a puzzled look, then began reading. It was her orders, telling her to report for basic training at a camp she couldn't pronounce before the forty third day of a month she didn't know.

"I have no idea where or when this is," she said, pointing to the page. Grenkled motioned his hand landing on the table. "After we land? How long until we do that?" she said, feeling nervous. Grenkle flashed the ten fingers on his hands three times.

"Thirty? Thirty hours? No? Thirty days?"

He nodded, and Rika relaxed a little. She had time to prepare, both mentally and physically. She could continue learning from Grenkle, and hopefully have enough of a grip on the lingo to not be completely lost on her arrival. She looked back over her contract printed in english, her eyes stopping at the mention of salary.

"I'm going to be paid?"

Grenkle nodded with an expression that said "Really? Did you really think you wouldn't be paid?"

"How much is this in dollars?"

Grenkle picked up his PDA and fiddled with it for a few moments before scribbling a number in the margin of her contract. An accented voice over her shoulder made her jump.

"Its not much, but yoo'll get moor when yoor promoted."

Rika looked up to see Bar reading over her shoulder.

"Ehy Bar. It's still more than I've ever made before."

"Did yoo go o'er the contract with 'er Grenkle?"

He nodded.

"Good!" said Bar before turning to Rika, "I made an appointment for yoor entry processing this afternoon."

Rika shifted uneasily. Despite the friendly attitude of those around here she still didn't quite trust these people... especially when it came to anything medical, which was bound to be a part of it. She wanted to stay as far away from the infirmary as possible. Bar must have noticed her nervousness, because she crouched down to look at her eye-to-eye.

"Relax Rika'. We're not going to hurt you. It's un'le, unple... it sucks but the papers don't fill themselves out. And the exam is nothing to be afraid of. Nobody is going to be stabbed or cut open."

Rika nodded, but she didn't feel any better.

Bar drummed her fingers on the desk while looking at the wall. "I wish humans weren't so afraid of this kin' of thing. After watching those movies last time I kno' why though. Fucking skinnies."

Grenkle muttered something and Bar nodded in agreement.

"What did he say?" Rika asked.

"He said at least yoo arn't as bad as Matt was. He was a pain in the... um, not anus... ass! Etsh, he was a pain in the ass to get anything done with. Trusted nobody."

"Really?"

"Etsh. Grenkle brought him on board the firs' time. Told me how he had to esplain everything in detail or he wouldn't move. He didn't even eat for a'most a week -thought we were gonna to try and drug him. Crazy fucking bastard."

Rika giggled, glad she wasn't the only one who thought he was a bit over the edge. Grenkle said something that she couldn't understand and Bar nodded.

"He's right, but under the circumstances I think 'll give yoo one more day of English."

Rika eyed Grenkle suspiciously.

"So you CAN speak english... you just refuse to."

He nodded, saying something in Rakkan. Bar giggled, her ears out in amusement.

"He says its to help yoo learn. I just think he's really rusty and afraid of embarrassing himself."

Grenkle bit his top lip, his bottom teeth showing in a gesture.

"Tha's like showing yoor finger to someone, Rika'" Bar explained, "Same to you Grenkl. Come on Rika', lets go finish gitting yoo enliste'e."

"Processing" sounded a lot more ominous than it really was. The anticipation of the horrible was always there. There was always another unknown step she was shuffled off to after another; from one office in the medical department to another without explanation only to learn it was something mundane like "touch your toes", "Walk to the wall", "fill out all this paperwork", "let me test your eyes," "read this for me"(She failed that one, was was suspicious of her hearing test: there was an awful lot of silence). The only excitement was one station where Bar, who had always followed quietly behind her and translated instructions when she needed to, began having a rather serious conversation with one of the staff members. After several minutes the other person left, and Bar looked at Rika and gave an awkward shrug.

"I guess they'll have to take care of that when yoo get to bootcamp. They don't have it here. Oo well."

"Have what?"

"This... this... this shit here on th' list. We'll explain later. Next room. Lets go."

And that was how it went until suddenly six hours had gone by and Bar sighed and put her PDA away.

"Finally. That sucked as much as the first time." The alien groaned. "I'm gooing to go eat. Why not come with me and then I'll get yoo back so Grenkle can keep playing language proofessoor"

Which he wasn't that bad at. Over the next month Rika would follow him or Bar around. They would show her things, and teach her the word for it. After she understood the english word was forbidden. She forgot, often at first, and they would correct her, usually with a short bark to interrupt her, then repeat the Rakkan word. It was painful. The native rakkan thought it was hilarious when she got corrected, especially the enlisted, with a few even mimicking her reactions to their friends. There were some days she felt like she got barked at more than talked to. Other times she almost felt like she could carry on a conversation. About a week before they landed she got to the point were she was talking with Grenkle and Bar almost completely in there native tongue, with them making small grammar corrections and occasionally teaching a new word.

One morning there was a knock on her door, and she opened it to find Grenkle there, like she usually did when there was a knock, only instead of his normal just-rolled-out-of-bed appearance he was strikingly well groomed and excited.

[We're home!] he exclaimed, grabbing her by the hand and half dragging her down the hall to a viewport. Below, and brown and green planet splashed with blue rotated slowly. Wisps of clouds streaked the surface. Rika could make out a pair of ice caps at the poles. Her stomach had butterflies. She would be starting her training soon, and she guessed it would be some sort of boot camp. After that, it was ten years of life on this planet, living with the rakkan. She hated to think about it, but it would probably become to her the same thing it was to Grenkle. "Well ol' girl," she said to herself, "welcome to your new 'home'."

---

Iranian Gulf. Dawn.

"All hands, check for fod, check your pockets, check the deck. Deck crew prep the cables, prep the fuel, prep the line. Launch crew prep the shingles, prep the cats, prep the steps. All hands ready launches, zero nine hundred recovery and turn around."

The PA system rang out loud enough for the entire deck to hear, the first set of pilots quickly hurrying to the rescue helicopter at the stern. Lifting off, it bobbled a bit in the thirty knot wind as it left the grayed tarmac. Cresting the side, it sunk a bit until it lifted into the air in a constant hover around the carrier itself. The one and two catapults at the bow spewed steam as the two small shuttles reset themselves. Eve watched mindlessly as the blast barriers came up, blocking the cone of superheated fuel and afterburner flame from her cockpit. The two F-35s' lurched suddenly against the hold back bar holding it in place before they shot, one after the other, across the deck and out into the air.

The barrier in front of her came down and a yellow shirted deck hand ran in front of them. He waved both of his hands outward at the elbows, quickly ushering them forward until they were guided onto the catapults path. She felt a slight bump as the hold back bar and launch bar snapped into place, the jet fighting to meet the the mating point. Hooked up and ready to go she followed the yellow shirts' instructions to push the throttles to max, pushing the nose of the fighter down against the raw power. Turning to a different yellow shirt, the "boss", she saluted and put her hands up on the bars next to the canopy.

Normally, she would have stared ahead waiting for the zero to one hundred thirty naught roller coaster ride. Normally. Today though, for some unknown reason she looked down at her fuel load. Within limits. She checked, but a single light caught her attention. A warning for high pressure in the tanks themselves. Looking to her right she held up a capital "T" with her hands, but the yellow shirt looked up and signaled for her to shut down, waving his hands frantically. Popping the canopy she looked back at what the deck hands were pointing at.

"Awe fuckin hell." Ruffles, her navigator cursed over the coms. "Scout, you fucking gassed the flight deck."

True to words, her eye caught a growing lake of jet fuel surrounding the deck, emptying from one of the five fuel tanks mounted underneath.

"What the fuck! What did I get stuck with you for anyway? My luck is already bad enough, I don't need to be fucking pallin' around with your reject-"

Eve turned around in her seat and ripped out the com cable from his mask, throwing it in his lap and sitting back down. She waited patiently as her bird's leak was plugged up and pulled back to the line next to the other idling fighters, before jumping out and heading back down to the ready room for an after action report, and a possible second assignment. Her navigator simply sat in his seat, bewildered.

Foss managed to catch the whole thing, inwardly smiling as that little shit in the back seat had, for the first time since they had come aboard, successfully shut his mouth. The rest of the crew said nothing, as they were trained to, and went about the frantic business of moving the other aircraft. Foss simply leaned against the main bridge's railing, watching the action flow beneath him.

A few minutes later, Eve, complete with the newly bestowed call sign of "Scout", walked back out of the hatch just below him. She clutched a green notebook, handing it off to a few purple shirted flight deck operators. Rounding the corner to the right she wordlessly saluted and shook the hand of the mechanic waiting, working fast to check the aircraft for its airworthiness.

"Fuel?" She asked ducking under a wing to check the aileron and flaps.

"Fifteen even with the drop tank Ma'am."

Eve frowned. "The board showed two wing mounted tanks, not a single belly mounted."

"Operations gave us the order about fifteen minutes ago Ma'am."

She sighed inwardly. Nothing was ever constant on the boat, so why did she expect otherwise? Saluting the sailor one last time, she climbed the ladder and strapped in, letting the canopy shut the noisy carrier deck, and effectively her own mind, out. Everything from here on out was pure muscle memory. Flip a few switches and watch the displays come on. Adjust the brightness so it doesn't hurt your eyes. Make sure all the readings are within limits. Make sure communications are working correctly. Give the thumbs up and wait for the yellow shirts to guide you out of your parking spot.

Things had been like this, simple and easy, for the last couple of months. No one asked anything of her except what was in her job description, and if it wasn't she found a way to make it seem like it was. She treated every situation with the cold and calculating eye she thought was needed to get her through the situation. Emotion, random as it was, had no place aboard the carrier deck, nor in the cockpit with her.

"Sonic two one one, you are clear to catapult four."

"Two One One, cat four, roger." She replied robotically.

"Weather is forty five knots over the bow, slight over cast. Pressure and barometric readings as follows:"

Eve copied down what seemed like an endless stream of numbers and entered them into the digital display in front of her while also watching the yellow shirted deck hands guide her forward out of her spot. The display to the right of the heads up display blinked a few times before it lazily corrected its heading to that of the ship. The aircraft, an aging single seat super hornet, had seen better days for sure. The displays had been upgraded hastily and replaced with a flimsy touch screen interface, one which didn't respond as well as anyone had hoped it would. Essentially, most of the cockpit hadn't changed since the original inception of the legacy alpha hornet, and because of that upgrades had been few and far in between.

The super hornet had never been meant to server more then twenty years at the most, with it and the F-15 silent eagles sharing the generation four point five moniker. The super was an "in between" fighter, but say that to any pilot and they'd tell you other wise. It had been the fighter she had first trained on, and because of that there was a certain love. It was like adopting a dog with only two legs. You knew it was still a good dog at heart, and damned if it wasn't the most heart warming thing watching it walk around on its hind legs.

Scout chuckled into her mask as she steered slowly and precisely with her feet. Making sure to keep her eyes locked on the yellow shirts. The flight deck was a busy place during flight operations, with as many as twenty different aircraft leaving the deck during an operation over sea. She had learned real quick to listen to those who had been doing their jobs longer then she had been flying. A yellow shirt held both fists above his head and together like he was holding a metal bar. Tapping on the brakes, she watched as a blast diffuser came up, redirecting the blast from the F-35's massive engine on the catapult. It left the deck in a streak, and as soon as the gear went up at the end of the bow, it pulled up hard, accelerating upward into the thin clouds above.

"Showoff." She muttered.

The diffuser lowered and she was able to taxi to the "waist" catapult, a catapult aligned just along the left most edge of the carrier deck. Watching yet another yellow shirt, she taxied forward slowly, sparing only a small glance at the deck disappearing below the nose of the aircraft. It was unsettling watching the ocean waves chop together in the distance. Finally the catapult's track came into view and she taxied forward to the shuttle for the second time this morning. Scout felt the familiar thump as the shuttle made contact with the launch bar, and throttled up when the "Boss" waved two fingers at her. Looking down and checking her displays one more time, went through a robotic-like list of checks. Satisfied she could do everything she could from the cockpit, she gave him one last salute and placed her hands on the grips at the top of the canopy.

"One more roller coaster ride." She said tightening her stomach muscles.

Thrust back into her seat, the aircraft accelerated ridiculously fast, and before she could think, it dropped off the end of the carrier deck and accelerated into the sky.

"Sonic two one one all green, joining Targus one and two on the tanker track."

"Copy all. Have a good flight." Scout closed the comms with the tower and headed upward toward the small blip on the map that said "TNKR TRK 01A". The job she had originally charged with was tanker support for the recovery of the fifteen or so aircraft that had gone up earlier. While she was wrestling with the problematic bird below, another super hornet had replaced her, and now she was simply providing cover and support for the two single seat flying fuel depots.

Meeting up with the flight lead, lieutenant Hope, she formed slightly off to his left wing, careful to match airspeed. She gave him plenty of room to move about in the sky should he need to.

"Nice of you to join us lieutenant." He said mockingly.

"Callsign is Targus three. Scout." She said ignoring him.

"Targus two copies." The second tanker, holding a loose formation off to their right responded.

"Ah, the fist magnet talks does he?" Hope shot back.

"Can it you fucking tackle ass douche box."

Scout went over the voice in her mind and immediately made the match to the face. "Gabs?"

There was silence as the other pilot spoke up before the flight lead did. "Echo, Scout." He bit back.

It was Marcus after all.

"I saw what you did to the that little fucker earlier." Echo laughed into his mask. "My god you have no idea how god damn long I've wanted to just knock that guy out. I figure he'd still be talking if I did though."

Scout sighed. "It wasn't meant-"

"Save it. That guy deserved a hell of a lot more then just a comm check. We all heard what he said over the radio. Just, well, you know what? Fuck that guy."

"As flight lead, I order you to lock it up." Hope nearly screamed.

Echo simply chuckled. "You order me? Ha! I forgot you and that asshole are buds or something fucked up like that. I fucking out rank you, and Scout is a full Lieutenant."

"I'm gonna put this in my after action report when we get back!"

"That's equivalent to "I'm gonna tell on you!". Are you fucking serious man? Really?"

"Relax. He's right, we shouldn't be chatting like this." Scout said.

"You're lucky." Echo sneered at the flight lead. "Just go ahead and write your fucking report. I'll let everyone know about you-"

"Echo." Scout said evenly.

"Fine. Two more hours of this and I'll be back in my bunk again anyway."

The three planes circled for what seemed like an eternity before the first small blip lit up on their radar. It registered for a minute or two before fading off the screen. Radar error's were common, so they shrugged it off, citing the last few months of fruitless patrolling as their guide. The next radar contact had showed up just as the first one, unidentified and heading straight for them at a closing speed of mach two. It too, however, didn't stay but a few seconds, only registering as a floating blip on Scout's radar. It wasn't until the third and final radar contact that she decided to call the circling AWACS to check and see if it registered the random blips.

"AWACS Solex, this is flight Targus." Scout called out.

There was a minute pause before the radio crackled to life.

"Solex, Targus, go ahead."

"What are you doing?" Hope demanded. "I'm supposed to make the calls."

Scout ignored him. "Target acquisition heading zero two zero, mach two. Radar contact affirm."

"Solex disregard. It was just a simple radar malfunction." Hope whined.

"Solex, Targus, no contacts, sug-"

There was a crackle of static and a squealing hiss, before the radio went dead.

"See? I told you it wasn't necessary!"

"Oh yeah? Well this blinking fucking light says otherwise!" Echo snarled. "Positive contacts and an intermittent SAM lock."

Checking the radar and setting the small arm to scan intensely in a smaller area, she was rewarded with a small section of four blips, all leaving the AWACS location at high rate of speed, and heading directly for them.

"AWACS Long Arm, please identify targets, heading one one five."

No answer.

"Solid SAM lock and tone, I'm breaking into evasive maneuvers." Echo yelled.

"YOU WILL STAY WITH ME, IN LOOSE FORMATION ON THIS TRACK LIEUTENANT! I REPEAT YOU WILL STAY WITH ME!" Hope almost shot through the top of the canopy as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He watched helplessly as Echo's bird rolled to the right slightly and began ejecting flares. "This is insubordination and a punishable offense! You will return to formation immediately!"

It was at this time, that Scout's cockpit also lit up, SAM and several other missile lock and warning tones erupting into her headset. The radar showed the contacts less then ten nautical miles out, which meant the flight of three were in range for missile shots.

"I've got multiple contacts Targus One, please be advised." She warned.

"I'll be damned if some fresh bitch tells me what the hell to-"

Hope didn't finish the next word. Scout had seen the briefest flash of white smoke and fire reach up from underneath the blanket of clouds, moving as if it were nearly frozen in air. The missile headed directly for the oblivious flight leader and kissed the cockpit dead on with its ten foot long body. A massive plume of liquid fire erupted from the front of the stricken aircraft, before the trauma snaked its way lightning fast to the five drop tanks filled to the brim with jet fuel. They ignited, blowing what was left of the frame in all directions. The fighter decelerated fast as its stricken body became less then aerodynamic, eventually spiraling wildly out of control through the clouds, and to the ocean floor below.

Scout tried hard to avoid the explosion, banking to the left hard, but the engines still ingested a large amount of debris. Warning lights and alarms screamed murder through her helmet until she was able to right the plane again. Calming herself she checked the radar. Unresponsive.

"Typical." She bit through clenched teeth. "Targus two respond."

"Here." Echo responded.

"Status?"

"Jettisoned the extra shit, think Hope took the missile for me."

"Don't worry about that right now. Form up on me." She ordered. "We're heading back."

"Shit, you don't have to tell me twice."

A second lock light illuminated, before the stick went dead in her hands. Pulling up a diagnostic page, she watched as most of the systems gradually turned red, one after the other. The nose of the super hornet dipped slightly as she fought its dead weight.

"I've lost hydraulics, Markus, I might have to ditch it here." Scout said, fighting the panic building in her chest. Her heart felt like it was thumping hard enough to beat right out of her chest.

"Hold on. We'll deal with that if it comes up, lemme take a look." Echo maneuvered his plane underneath and around Scout's, assessing the damage. "You've got a pink slosh of hydraulic fluid down the right side, right over the avionics bays, and... Holy shit!"

Scout's heart caught in her throat.

"Eve... You're radar's gone!"

"I know, it keeps giving me an error."

"No, I mean its fucking gone! The nose cone isn't there anymore."

Looking up and over the HUD she saw for the first time how bad the damage was. The nose cone, like Echo had said, was missing completely, and it looked as if the entire radar antenna itself had departed the aircraft save for the gun mounts. The gun itself was sticking oddly part way out of the front, red hydraulic fluid seeping uncontrollably from the cracks along its frame.

"Just stay close and keep watching. If something like a wing falls off lemme know and I'll see if I can aim it away from any whales."

Echo didn't laugh. "Was that a joke?"

"Sort of."

"Keep your deadpan humor to yourself. If John heard you say that he'd slap the piss out of you."

Scout looked out the cockpit and to the right at Echo, he had his mask off to the side and the bulbous helmet camera pulled up. He wasn't smiling and she knew exactly why.

"I know he'd say some sappy shit like 'Think about the children' or 'Give your extra paper towels to the poor so they can make paper mache houses' or some stupid shit like that. Foss would know his stupid fucking sayings better. But John isn't fucking here anymore."

Rage. Hatred. Self doubt. Remorse. All emotions now running through Scout, mixing and tumbling through her mind fighting for dominance. Images, spotty incomplete images, flooded her head, swirling in a cloud made of tornadic emotion.

"I'm not doing this here." She said clearing her head.

"Well, fucking good then. When we get back I'm reporting your ass for psychological compromise." He said coldly.

Scout's mind suddenly went blank and her blood ran cold. "You wouldn't..."

"Oh I wouldn't? Fucking try me. You've been moping around the ship the last eight months like a..." He struggled to find the words. "Like a zombie. I get that you lost someone important, I totally fucking get that, but you're doing this weird shit called apart... Apartmental-"

"Compartmentalizing?" She finished for him.

"Fucking yeah. That shit. That's some dangerous shit, and neither me or Foss want to see you go off the deep end like what normally happens to idiots who do the same thing. You're too fucking good for that Eve, too fucking good, and I'll be damned if you try and jump off the carrier deck without me saying something first."

"Wait- You think I wanna commit suicide?"

He nodded exasperatingly. "Fuck yeah I do. Foss won't say anything until the last possible minute, but when I don't like what the fuck I'm seeing I don't just turn off the fucking TV."

Scout simply sunk back in her seat. Sure, she'd been trying to keep to herself, but she had no idea she was sending out so many signals to her friends. And then it dawned on her.

"I've been an ice bitch over the last couple of months haven't I?"

"Uber bitch." Echo replied.

Watching the fuel gauge tick slowly down to below five thousand pounds, Scout jettisoned the belly tank. The stick became a bit lighter in her hands, but only by a small amount. She still had to fight the forward pull with most of her arm strength.

"Don't think it's just me who thinks this way Scout. The three of us; me, you, and Foss, gotta stick together. We're still considered cannon fodder by the Navy."

"I'm down to less then five grand of fuel left. We'll finish this on deck." She said with a tone that said "No Exceptions."

---

They had landed at what looked like a large, runway less airport. There had been a sleek, oblong dark gray vehicle with windows outside the terminal that she had immediately recognized as a type of bus waiting for her at the landing platform. Just like on the ship, eyes followed her everywhere. People gawked and she wished she could just evaporate and be gone. They looked like the rest of the rakkan she had seen, but for some reason these faces struck her as being younger. She didn't know why, there wasn't any distinct feature she saw that looked different. Perhaps it was the way they acted, having more energy and less skilled at hiding their obvious astonishment at seeing her. Grenkle followed her onto the bus and sat down next to her. She watched the eyes turn to him and several heads give the comical cock to the side of curiosity as they returned to her. To her relief much of the attention let her as they sat down. Grenkle brought out his curious hand-held and typed out a message in english.

"Ready?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm scared shitless."

The deep growl of his voice made her look up from her lap.

[How is your growl?] he said in his native tongue.

[Slow,] she tried to growl back. [I am learning a lot, but there is a lot I still haven't learned.]

He nodded and gave her a pat on the back, [We're fairly open to outsiders. Try to make a friend or two once you're there and they'll help teach you. About three quarters through you'll get a visitors day. Your dad has already arranged for myself and Bar to be there.]

[He will not be there?] She looked hurt.

[He will if he can. The have him on a pretty fast schedule for a few weeks and I don't know if they will let him go for that or not. If not you'll be among good people. He will be there when you finish training, regardless.]

She looked back at her feet an nodded. The equivalent of twenty earth weeks of training. If it was anything like Earth boot camp that she had heard of (mostly from Matt's stories), it was pure hell too. Could she make it? They were so different both physically and mentally from her, what if-

She was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. Grenkle was pointing out the window with a claw. [Dachie lives on the other side of Hendrith Tail, the canyon there. He's a great guy, but his clan adopted Kelly, who you'll probably get a long with well. She's a little older than you, and pretty easy going. She's a human, too. Well, used to be, so she should be able to relate a little bit. I'll be sure to pass his address to you after you've started training... er, rather, get out of training.] Outside her window a breath taking landscape flew by at an amazing speed. For miles out she could see the top of a snaking canyon, topped by dark green trees and foliage that contrasted the vibrant red and yellow layers of stone that alternated down the walls. "It's beautiful," she said in english.

[You should see what it's like flying through it,] he replied in rakkan.

They didn't say much after that. She spent most the remaining time gazing out the window and thinking. Where was Matt? Who was Matt? He had adopted her just under five years ago. Until then, life in the foster home had been the norm: Controlling "parents" who ensure those under them got the bare basics while the reaped the profit of the government "aid". Matt had seemed full of life, yet slightly weathered, reminding her of someone who had been far places and done odd things, but was ready to do it again. She loved it when he visited the home. His weird looking old truck and tired clothes were always associated with interesting projects for the kids and other entertainment. Rika remembered the day he had rolled up to the foster home pulling a welder with the back of the truck loaded down with metal pieces and parts. She had been sent to sweep the sidewalk after the autumn wind had blown debris all over it, and was just finishing up when the eire noise of his truck pulled in. It was eery in that there was never any engine or motor noise with it, instead it stealthily rolled along with only the occasional groan of the tires or creek of suspension. Or like that day, the rattle of the welder behind it and loose parts in the back. They worked late into the night on the go-cart, her foster parents allowing her to stay up past the normally strict bedtime to help. Matt might have had something to do with their relaxing the rules, she realized. She had been to interested in building the go-cart, asking questions and wanting to be shown how it worked and what to do. He had taken a liking to her, and was using the projects as an excuse to spend time and get to know her. Like how he used to tell her stories... The stories! She gasped to herself as the realization hit her. The bizarre tales of creeping through the forest, being chased by some unseen foe, of creatures from another world and working as a guide for them on earth... She glanced up at Grenkle, his eyes were closed and his head was bobbing sleepily, yet his features matched one of the characters in Matt's tall tales exactly. Tall tales that were looking less and less tall as time galloped on... What a strange life to live. It was funny how he never told any stories about his life before he met the rakkan. She didn't remember him mentioning it at all over her past five years living with him.

"Grenkle,"

"Ergu, uh? Huh?" he blinked sleepily.

[Who is Matt?]

[Ah,] he replied, [you know him as well as I do.]

[I mean his past. I'v heard stories about you and others that I think are probably true, but what do you know about him? And what did he do before you... er, took him?]

The alien chuckled: his eyes sparkling with a series of short, quiet barks.

[To tell you what I know would take longer than we have time for. I'll write you about it. You'll be sure to get lots of letters. Before we got him he was a mechanic in the military on earth. He was a mess, too, like an overfilled ----------.]

[I didn't catch that last word.]

[Um, a thing that squeezes air so you can use the squeezed air.]

She nodded, thinking that he was talking about a shop compressor.

He offered his PDA and she took it, pressed the right arrow button and the screen started to play a video. It was of the earth, as seen from an aircraft or satellite. Despite it being night the picture was startling clear. The image quickly zoomed in on a coastal town, then an airport. She could make out buildings, and then they grew larger and she could see a group of blotches grow into aircraft parked next to a hanger. The camera continued to zoom in one of the aircraft, an older style jet no longer used, until it focused on a pair of figures working in a hole on top of the aircraft's wing. One of the figures appeared to be holding a flashlight and handing tools to the other, who appeared to be having some difficulty getting to something inside the hole. The way he wiggled his whole body in an attempt to get his hand in a different position was almost comical. He kept stopping too, and looking over his shoulder, as if he felt her watching him. He spoke with his partner after doing this a few times, who shrugged before they both continued what they were doing. A few minutes later it was obvious he was getting frustrated, and then suddenly he stood and threw the wrench down in disgust. The man went to step away, and his feet shot out from underneath him, causing his body to bounce of the fuselage of the aircraft before dumping him unceremoniously on the ground below. This didn't help his mood, and he stood up quickly, smashing his head right into something angular that was hanging below the wing. He threw his helmet into the ground furiously and start yelling at the jet and kicking the tire. She didn't know why, but the whole act was hilarious to her. She found she couldn't stop laughing after the airplane had ungracefully committed him to the whims of gravity. Grenkle had been looking over her shoulder and was doing his own strange chuckle.

[That's him?]

He grinned and nodded, [the man himself.]

[This his hilarious! Where did you find this?]

[The internet,] he said, [Our internet.]

[Are there more?]

He nodded, [If you don't tell him I'll show you. Oops--Later though, we're there.]

She could see a gate ahead, guarding what looked like a low building and a huge expanse of wilderness surrounded by a very tall fence. Three rakkan wearing military uniforms stood at the gate. One of them was a dark gray like Grenkle's and she could see that he was armed with not only a side stunner like Grenkle's, but a longer, rifle-esq arm that he carried slung in front of him. The other two wore similar uniforms, but wore a thick green bar on each shoulder, were unarmed, and looked extremely unhappy.

Grenkle stood. [Well, here's where I leave you.]

She smiled nervously up at him. [T-thank-you,] she stammered.

He smiled. "Sink or swim, and good 'uck," he growled in the first english she had heard him use, then turned and stepped off the shuttle.

---

"Blood Two One One, three nautical miles, hook down, flaps full. Call the ball."

The Landing Signal Officer, or LSO called. The dim Fresnel lens mounted just to the left of the recovery area of the carrier deck, suddenly brightened, the "ball" as it was, floating just above the green horizontal bar of lights. The small landing strip seemed infinitely smaller from six hundred feet in the air at distance.

"I have the ball," She replied.

"Little less power."

She complied wordlessly, struggling to fight the aircraft's entire weight on the stick, while maintaining a steady airspeed just above stalling. It felt like riding a lead brick. Looking off to her left, she smiled as Echo maintained a steady flight off her wing. The ball dropped underneath the line just a little, and she corrected instinctively.

"One thousand feet." Echo called. "Nine hundred."

"Little more power."

"Eight hundred feet."

The stick was beginning to shudder in her hands for some reason, fighting her grip on it.

"Seven hundred."

"On glide path."

"Six hundred. Five hundred. Four hundred."

"Power. Power. More power." The LSO demanded.

The Ships deck started to rise up to meet her abnormally fast, almost like it was an elevator making for the top floor. Then, the entire ship suddenly swayed to the left.

"POWER POWER POWER! WAVE OFF! WAVE OFF!"

Training took over. Selecting full afterburner and putting the tailhook up, she used both hands to pull back on the stick waiting for the familiar bleep and deedle deedle of an angle of attack alarm. Only, it never came. Things seemed to move in slow motion as the right engine fire light illuminated, and she finally lost all response from the aircraft. It yawed uncontrollably to the right, nosing over until Scout was looking directly up through the canopy at the ocean. Ejecting now would mean she'd be rocketed out of her seat into the pounding surf, and almost certainly to her death.

She could hear the muffled screams of the signaling officers, probably telling her to eject, and Echo's voice screaming nonsensically over the comms. She'd heard impacts like these usually killed the pilot immediately, but no one was really sure.

"What a great way to find out for myself." She mused as the black water hurtled at her.

***

Foss watched from the commanders bridge as the two hornets approached, noticing immediately the extent of the damage to the plane trying desperately to maintain flight. The nose cone was missing, and it looked as if it had torn away a large part of the nose with it, the gun barrels sticking out part way. What the hell had happened up there?

The taxi light mounted to the nose gear flickered brightly for a moment, before a bright orange fireball shot out of the right engine. There was a moment when it looked like the pilot was in control, it looked as if the plane was hovering in mid air as it nosed up and matched airspeed with the moving carrier. Then, just as the left engine lit off its after burner, it cut out, leaving the air unusually silent. The fighter nosed off to its right just behind the ship rolling over almost completely. It was then that he saw the numbers emblazoned on the side.

"Two One One..." He trailed off.

His heart rising into throat, Foss could do nothing but watch as the hornet dove into the sea, the crash obscured by the rest of the fantail at the stern. The super hornet following went to max afterburner and rose slowly straight up into the air. Seconds later, the ships droning alarm drew all member of crew to the aft end of the deck, each search desperately for the primary indicator of life. The parachute. "All hands clear the deck, recovery of three aircraft imminent. All hands clear the deck." The loudspeaker urged heartlessly.

It seemed as though the call had reached deaf ears at first, before senior personnel ushered the shocked and much younger deck hands off the landing area. Not more then a minute later, the trailing super hornet caught the wire, the pilot pulling into his parking spot and jumping out, almost ripping his oxygen mask as he jumped from the jet without the ladder. Foss finally saw it was Marcus, and decided now was a better time then any to head down to the flight deck.

---

She didn't know what Grenkle's rank was, nor that of the angry looking rakkan with the green shoulders, but she saw them look up when he got off. He spoke a few words, they nodded and said something in acknowledgment before he walked into the guard house. The guard waved the shuttle through the gate, and she saw him close the gate behind them as they pulled through. The shuttle stopped immediately again. The doors opened again, and Rika sank in her seat, as if her body already knew what to expect. A mean, angry muzzle popped through the door. It's eyes scanned the entire bus, as if looking for easy prey. She could envision smoke coming out of his nostrils and him preying for any excuse to wail the living hell out of any one of them. [FROM NOW ON, YOU WILL NOT SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO!] snarled the drill instructor, [YOU WILL RESPOND TO EVERY THING YOU ARE TOLD WITH EITHER YES OR NO, AND YOU WILL FINISH EVERY SENTENCE IN SIR! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?]

The shuttle gave a dishearten yell, [Yes Sir!]

[WHAT? THAT'S NOT ---------- LOUD ENOUGH!! YOU WILL GIVE EVERYTHING YOUR ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM EFFORT. AGAIN, DO YOU ---------- UNDERSTAND ME?]

The shuttle responded louder, Rika's throat in pain trying to make the unfamiliar noises so loudly.

[YES SIR!]

[YOU ------- SUCK! LOUDER ------!!]

[YES SIR!!] Shit! She was beginning to go horse already!

[YOU WILL OBEY ANY AND ALL LAWFUL ORDERS GIVEN TO YOU BY ANYONE ABOVE YOUR RANK, WHICH IS PRETTY ---------- MUCH EVERYONE HERE.]

He paused, and the bus didn't wait around to see if they should respond or not. Rika yelled as hard as she could, though doubted she was making much noise anymore.

[YES SIR!!]

[YOU WILL MAINTAIN ONE ARM'S DISTANCE FROM ALL INSTRUCTORS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?]

[YES SIR!]

[ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?]

[NO SIR!] [HOW THE ---------- AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS IF I CAN'T HEAR THEM? GET OFF MY --------- ----------- BUS!]

[YES SIR!]

[WHY THE ------ AREN'T YOU MOVING YET ----------- IT?! MOVE!!!!]

Rika launched herself off the seat and towards the door, flying past several other rakkan and bolting out the door past the demon on the bus. The other CI was waiting for them.

[GET ON MY FOOTPRINTS!]

There were a large number of red footprints on the ground, in rank and file. She scrambled to stand on them with the other recruits.

[FROM NOW UNTIL YOU LEAVE MY CAMP, YOU WILL SPEAK ONLY IN THIRD PERSON, AND YOU WILL REFER TO YOURSELF AND YOUR FELLOW RECRUITS AS 'RECRUIT' AND THEIR LAST NAME. EVERYONE ELSE YOU WILL REFER TO AS DRILL INSTRUCTOR, THEIR RANK AND THEIR LAST NAME. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?]

[YES SIR!] Rika started to panic inside. She was horrible at rakkan, and could barely speak first person. The instructors must have known, because the tan furred demon from the bus appeared in between her and the recruit in front of her and snarled down in her face.

[YOU ------ AT SPEAKING, DON'T YOU?]

[YES SIR!] Yelling hurt like hell, but she didn't dare drop her volume.

[---------- HUMAN, CAN YOU EVEN READ?!]

[NO SIR! NOT RAKKAN SIR!]

[NOT RAKKAN?! WELL --------- GUESS WHAT? HERE THERE IS NO OTHER -------- LANGUAGE!]

[YES SIR!]

There was some chittering behind her at her high pitched yelling. The gray furred instructor appeared there immediately, snarling and growling.

[WHAT THE ------ IS SO --------- FUNNY?!]

The chittering was silenced. The tan demon didn't even look up from staring her.

[IGNORANT -------!] He looked up from her, [WHO WANTS TO TEACH THIS WORTHLESS TRASH HOW TO ---------- TALK?]

There was a voice that came from behind her. She couldn't tell if it was male or female from the sound of it. To her both genders sounded the same.

[THIS RECRUIT WILL SIR!]

[WHO THE -------- IS THAT?]

[RECRUIT BOCCAR SIR!]

[GET OVER HERE!]

[YES SIR!]

There were footsteps behind her and a short rakkan, maybe as tall as herself if only a little taller, popped up next to her. Rika could only catch the figure out of the corner of her eye, and she fought the urge to look.

[DO YOU SEE THIS WORTHLESS CREATURE?]

[YES SIR!] The rakkan next to her screamed.

[YOU, FLAT-FACE!] The instructor shouted, in reference to Rika.

[YES SIR!] Rika shouted.

[LOOK! DO YOU SEE THIS RECRUIT?]

Rika looked. The other recruit was actually very close to her height, and covered in black fur with the exception of a red blaze that ran from it's nose to just above it's dark blue eyes, and a patch of light grey fur that went from the bottom of it's throat to where it disappeared beneath a reddish brown shirt. But the look was a very quick one. She didn't bother wasting time-

[YES SIR!] she screamed.

[GOOD! SHE'S TAKEN THE UNGODLY TASK OF TEACHING YOU WHAT A CHILD KNOWS. YOU WILL LEARN FROM HER, AND YOU WILL LEARN FAST! BECAUSE EVERY -------- TIME YOU CAN'T SPEAK RIGHT YOU WILL FEEL PAIN! RECRUIT BOCCAR!]

[YES SIR!]

[YOU WILL TEACH THIS RECRUIT AT EVERY ------------- OPPORTUNITY YOU GET AND YOU WILL TEACH HER AFTER LIGHTS OUT EVERY NIGHT! I HAD BETTER NOT SEE YOU TWO APART UNTIL SHE CAN SPEAK LIKE A ---------- ----------- AND READ AND WRITE A -------- NOVEL! I WANT PEOPLE TO THINK YOU ARE JOINED AT THE HIP! IF SHE IS PUNISHED, YOU WILL BE TOO! IF YOU GET PUNISHED, SHE WILL FOLLOW! DO YOU ---------- UNDERSTAND ME!?]

[YES SIR!]

[GET THE -------- BACK WHERE YOU WERE!]

[YES SIR!]

The black-furred rakkan disappeared from her side. Rika snapped back to looking straight in front of her, aware that the drill instructor was still staring at her.

[THIS IS CALLED A FORMATION! THE ROWS ARE SQUADS, AND THE COLUMNS ARE RANKS! REMEMBER HOW FAR AWAY YOU ARE FROM THE RECRUIT IN FRONT OF AND NEXT TO YOU, BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE GIVEN THE COMMAND TO FALL IN, THIS IS HOW YOU WILL STAND! DO YOU ---------- UNDERSTAND?]

[YES SIR!]

[OUT --------- STANDING! FACE TO YOUR RIGHT!]

Rika did her best to imitate the right-face she had seen in movies and her dad do a few times while goofing around. There was an explosion of laughter from her left -one of the drill instructors had moved up and stood there without her knowing.

[WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU LOOK LIKE A -------------- WITH A BROKEN LEG! IS THAT HOW YOUR KIND TURNS FLAT-FACE?]

[NO SIR!]

The CI stepped in front of her, his ears flicking in what Rika was learning as the rakkan expression of amusement. He lowered his voice, and it made her shiver, wishing he was yelling.

[You are going to be so much fun to toy with. It is going to be great! You'll want to kill yourself if the training doesn't do it for you!]

The other instructor had opened a door at the end of the low building and shouted back at the platoon.

[FILE IT OFF, FIRST SQUAD THROUGH FOURTH RIGHT NOW! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! YOU'D BETTER BE ------- SPRINTING!]

The second instructor quickly stepped to the side of the formation, and began screaming at the other recruits to run faster, much to her relief.

After they had sprinted into the building, down a series of hallways, into a small auditorium, been screamed at for sitting down without being told, standing up, sitting down again, being told to stand again and screamed at for not sitting down fast enough, sitting again, standing once more because someone didn't move as fast as everyone else and sat for a final time, a handful of rakkan not in uniformed filed in behind a cart stacked with brown folders and began walking around, calling out names among the chaos and handing out the folders to every one.

Rika barked as her name was called in a heavy rakkan accent. The clerk who had called her walked briskly over and dropped a plain brown folder with a remarkably boring sheet of paper glued to the cover. Rika looked down at the strange symbols and weird lines on the paper and felt the panic rise in her chest. These were forms, and she had no hope in reading them, let alone filling them out.

[RECRUIT BOKKAR! WHY THE --------- ARN'T YOU NEXT TO RECRUIT FLAT-FACE?]

The tan demon was standing in front of her, staring down at her with almost a snarl. She could hear the short recruit stand on the other side of the auditorium.

[THIS RECRUIT DIDN'T SEE-]

[DIDN'T SEE THE HAIRLESS, PALE, FOUL SMELLING TURD IN THIS PUNCH BOWL? DIDN'T SEE AN OPEN SEAT NEXT TO HER? NOT A --------- EXCUSE! GET OVER HERE!]

[YES SIR!]

There was a blurr that when it stopped moving became the black rakkan with the red blaze from before standing at attention facing the drill instructor.

[RECRUIT BOKKAR REPORTING AS ORDERED SIR!]

[YOU WERE GIVEN AN ORDER RECRUIT! YOU HAD BETTER -------- FOLLOW IT! WHAT ABOUT FLAT FACE? -------- HER, RIGHT?] [NO SIR!]

[WELL THAT'S NOT WHAT YOUR TELLING HER! SHE'S AN ILLITERATE IDIOT, AND WE HAVE PAPERS TO DO, BUT YOU ARE ACROSS THE -------- ROOM. YOU CAN READ, WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU CARE? ISN'T THAT RIGHT?]

[NO SIR!]

[------! WHAT ABOUT IN COMBAT?! ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK OUT FOR YOUR FELLOW, OR ARE YOU GOING TO ONLY CARE OF NUMBER ONE? YOU DISGUST ME, RECRUIT BOKKAR! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY WHEN THIS IS DONE, AND FLAT FACE WILL BE WITH YOU, SINCE YOU JUST KILLED HER!]

[YES SIR!]

[SIT!]

[YES SIR!]

She moved to sit in the seat to Rika's left, but the reddish furred rakkan that occupied it remained frozen, staring in fear up at the drill instructor. The CI glared down for a few seconds that seemed to last for eons, then he exploded.

[WELL?! MOVE YOU -------- BUTT HUFFER!]

The rakken tore out of the seat and down the row. Recruit Bokkar scrambled to get in the seat as soon as they were gone. Rika could see her struggling to keep her ears from folding back out of the corner of here eye -she didn't dare look that way directly with the DI standing there.

[RECRUIT FLAT FACE, GRAB HER HAND!]

Rika looked over, and saw that the black rakkan had lost the battle with her ears. They were plastered back along her head, combined with her wide eyes giving the impression of a scared dog. Her arm was hanging limply by her side, and Rika could see her nervousness increase when she moved to take it. Her hand was cool and damp with sweat from fear. Rika felt it tense as she wrapped her fingers around it. Recruit Bokkar was clearly afraid of her. Why then had she volunteered?

[Awwww,] mocked the DI, his ears flicking once in amusement, [how sweet.]

[NOW,] he yelled, returning to his normal tone, [YOU TWO LOVERS WILL HOLD HANDS UNTIL MYSELF OR INSTRUCTOR MERRMAK TELL YOU OTHERWISE, UNDERSTAND?]

[YES SIR!] they replied in chorus.

[FAN --------- TASTIC! AND YOU, YOU'D BETTER NOT --------- HER PAPER WORK AWAY!]

[YES SIR!] screamed Bokkar, hoarseness in her voice becoming evident.

The CI's screamed a few more threats at the recruits aimed at making them behave before they quietly slipped out of the room. Rika's attention turned to the civilian rakkan that were still calling out names and handing out the last of the folders on the cart. The rakkan next to her was shaking, he hand quivering in hers. Rika looked over and saw that she was obviously distressed, staring at the desk mounted to the arm of the seat with the same scared look from moments before. Rika gave her hand a gently squeeze to get her attention. The rakkan jerked up and stared at her with a terrified look.

Geeze, she though, the poor thing is strung tighter than a bow string.

Rika tried her best to give her a warm smile, being careful not to show any teeth.

"Ehy," she said in a low voice, [Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm terrified of all of this too.]

The rakkan seemed to relax slightly. Her shaking lessened, though she still looked afraid. Rika waited a few seconds for an answer before trying again.

[Thank-you for, uh, coming out to help me.]

[Coming out... you mean _________?.]

Rika nodded. She could see her fight to compose herself.

[I am sorry,] the rakkan said slowly, [I am very afraid of you.]

[Then why did you volunteer?]

[I want to have courage for the training. The only way to do that is to face your fears. I also thought it would impress the instructors.]

Rika nodded, [I might look scary and furless and flat faced and smell funny, but I think I have a lot more to fear from you than you from me. My name is Rika.]

[Gamun.]

Rika shook the hand that she was already holding, [Good to meet you.]

[QUIET] yelled one of the clerks at them, [OR I'LL BRING THE COMBAT INSTRUCTORS BACK IN HERE!]

[YES SIR!] shouted Rika.

[Pay attention,] he continued to the platoon in an irritated tone, [I'm only going to go through this once.]

The clerk went on to tell them how to fill out the forms, step by step. When it came to listing three jobs and three preferred units Bokkar asked Rika what she wanted. Rika didn't even have a clue what the work possibilities were, let alone what units existed.

[I don't know, just give me something interesting.]

Bokkar wrote three things down for each, but didn't explain what she wrote. Rika had made a mental note to ask her to explain latter, but that had long been forgotten in the chaos of the next few days. After the forms had been filled out and collected the CI's seemed to appear back in the room again, along with chaos. There was more screaming and yelling, running down hallways, down a ramp into what looked like a tunnel, and down another hall where they were made to line against the wall, crammed crotch to tail. The line inched forward towards a door where the recruits were issued a grey uniform like that of the drill instructors, only with a bright orange shoulder bar instead of dark green. They were also given a water bladder, a utility belt, what she guessed was a hygiene kit (It had a wire fur brush, what she guessed was a claw trimmer, a tube of a past-like substance and a toothbrush), and a pair of dark grey boots. Then it was off to a sprint again, down another hall as she struggled to hold everything in one hand and maintain her sweaty grip with Bokkar's hand. The were shunted into another room that was empty with the exception of rows of plain, empty tables. There they were told to fill in and stand behind the tables and drop their issued gear on the floor. There was more yelling, screaming and chaos as recruits were scrutinized, picked on, and toyed with like a cat plays with a mouse. They were made to empty everything out of their pockets, and then to strip. Rika pulled the book Matt had handed her the night she had left earth and placed it on the table along with two pens. Bokkar had pulled out a scrap of paper with writing on it, a blue money stick, and one of the rakkan's strange hand-held computers, this one was tiny though -about the size of her thumb. They stared at each other uneasily.

[Now for the awkward part,] muttered Bokkar.

Rika took a deep breath and bent over, using Bokkar's hand for support as she untied her shoes and pulled the off with her free hand. Then she pulled off her socks, stuffed them in her shoes and stood up to set everything on the table.

Bokkar's eyes were affixed to her feet. [How the heck do you walk?] she whispered.

Rika just shrugged and began hurriedly undoing her belt and pants, all to aware that Bokkar was watching her every move with curiosity. She pushed her pants and underwear to her ankles and stepped out of them, picking them up and putting them on the table as she stood up. Bokkar looked the newly exposed parts of her up and down with awe.

[You really don't have any fur on you anywhere, do you?]

[Just down here and my head,] whispered Rika, getting ever more uncomfortable, [your turn.]

Bokkar's eyes got wide as she realized her exposed fate was the same. Quickly she undid the latches on her boots and pulled them off, then pushed down her pants before dumping everything on the table.

It was the same thick fur that she had everywhere else.

Why do they bother wearing clothes? wondered Rika. It was as if Bokkar was just as clothed as she was before- nothing could be seen except a patch of the same greyish-red fur she had on her neck that ran from under he shirt on her belly down between her hips and ending just above where Rika guessed her crotch should be.

A drill instructor walked down their row of tables, searching through every recruits clothing and belongings. They would separate them into two piles, one to keep, and one to put in a box, which he gave them. Almost everything went in the box, including the clothes.

When he came to Bokkar and Rika he stopped and stared at them. [Break hands]

[YES SIR!] they yelled.

[Take off your shirts.]

[YES SIR!] They scrambled to tear their shirts off and dump them on the table. The drill instructor seemed dumbfounded by Rika's bra.

[What the ------- is that? You humans wear too many ----- clothes. Off with it.]

Rika scrambled to remove it and dropped it on her table. She wanted to curl up in a corner and hide, but forced herself to stand in the cold air, suddenly wishing she had thick fur like that which covered Bokkar.

Their belonging's were searched, separated, and boxed. Rika was allowed to keep the book and her pens. Bokkar was allowed her scrap of paper and her money stick. They listed everything on a piece of paper which was placed in the box, the containers were sealed, and they were told to get dressed in the uniform as other drill instructors collected the boxes and carted them off through a back door in the room. The drill instructor had begun to walk away when he stopped and turned back, his ears flicking in amusement.

[Oh, and when your done... I'd better see you spouses hold hands again.]

The suit wasn't even close to fitting Rika. It was far to small in some places, and sagged in others. There was a sleeve down the inside of the left leg that Rika guessed was for a tail, along with a hole above her butt that was low enough to leave her feeling slightly exposed. The suit looked like it was missing a zipper. Rika had seen Grenkle put his on before though, so she closed the suit by touching the two sides together. The material stuck, alined its self and sealed seamlessly together. The only evidence left being the small hole on the suit's collar that would undo the process. The belt fastened much the same way She glanced over at Bokkar to see if she was done, and noticed that she had opted to stick her tail through the hole. Rika wondered just how uncomfortable the tail sleeve was -it didn't look like something that could be pleasant for any length of time.

[My feet won't fit in these boots, it's like you guys walk on your toes or something. There is no way I can wear these. What should I do?]

[I don't know, just put the rest of your stuff in them and carry them,] replied Bokkar.

Rika nodded, stuffing the bladder and her book into them before holding them out to Bokkar.

[Put your stuff in them. We don't have pockets.

[TIME"S UP, GET OUT!] screamed the grey furred CI from the bus as he burst back through the door.

Bokkar nodded, dumping her belongings into one of the boots before snatching Rikas hand again and bolting for the door.

[RECRUIT FLAT FACE!]

Rika and Bokkar stopped and faced the tan furred drill instructor they had just passed.

[YES SIR!] she screamed.

[WHY THE -------- ARE YOU NOT WEARING YOUR ------ BOOTS?!]

[THEY WON'T FIT ON THIS RECRUIT'S FEET SIR!]

The CI stared at her bare feet, then at the boots.

[I HOPE BY GOING BAREFOOT YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO ACTUALLY WALK INSTEAD OF SLAMMING YOUR FEET AROUND LIKE A SHAVED LAZY MONKEY! CARRY ON!]

[CARRY ON, AYE SIR!] screamed Rika, racing Bokkar to catch up with the rest of the platoon.

They ran back through the halls, back up the ramp and outside. It was dark when they left the building, and the two CI's from when the bus pulled in screamed at them to get in formation. Then the started off at a break neck walking pace down the road away from the gate. They rounded a bend in the road and what looked like a small town came into view. There were a number of two story buildings that all looked the same on one side of the road, and a mix-match number of other buildings on the other. They continued the pace down the road, passing recruits doing exercises as fast as they could while DI's screamed a them. They were passed by a platoon running. They appeared to be barely working, their pace even and fluid, but they flew by at a pace that amazed her. She couldn't even run that fast if she was in peak shape and trained to race! Even at their fast walk, the platoon blew by them as if they were going backwards. They walked past a platoon marching in the opposite direction. Rika was amazed at how proud they looked. They stood tall, looked focused, and appeared to be almost one body. Their instructor was calling cadence as they marched, the platoon occasionally replying back, answering with one voice. Then they passed another platoon marching, this one clearly a lot newer than the other. They were all slightly out of step, and looked timid. They're alignment with each other was off person to person. When they called back it was just with noise, there was no single voice of the platoon.

The CI made a sharp left, and lead the platoon to a door in one of the buildings. He stopped abruptly, causing the platoon to almost trip over it's self as people stopped suddenly and frantically tried to fix their position in the ranks.

[FREEZE]

No one dared to move a muscle.

[DID I TELL YOU TO FUCKING ALINE?! DID I SAY TO ------- MOVE?!]

The platoon answered back with noise, though Rika knew they were all screaming the same thing.

[NO SIR!!] she yelled so hard her throat hurt.

[THEN YOU WORTHLESS SACKS OF ------- WILL NOT ------ MOVE, OR SO HELP ME I WILL SNAP YOUR TAIL LIKE A -------- ---------- AND -------- YOUR --------!! DO YOU -------- UNDERSTAND?!]

[YES SIR!] Rika screamed. Her voice was giving out again already, and she hoped to whatever God there was that wouldn't be a problem.

[WHEN YOU GET INSIDE, YOU WILL FILL IT IN ON THE LINE, TWO PER BUNK, FRONT OF MY SQUAD BAY TO THE BACK, HEELS AGAINST THE LOCKER. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?]

[YES SIR!]

[FILE IT OFF FROM THE LEFT, from the left AND ------ MOVE IT! March!]

Three rows of bunk beds ran down the length of the squad bay, evenly spaced and aligned with each other. A red line ran down the inside of the two outboard rows of bunks and on one side of the center. They filed it in, squad by squad, with Bokkar running in front of Rika. Inside the DI's made them move until they shared the same bunk bed towards the back.

[TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT WHERE THE -------- YOU ARE, AND REMEMBER IT. THAT IS THE PLACE YOU WILL STAND AT ATTENTION WHEN YOU ARE TOLD TO GET ONLINE. IF YOU ARE STANDING TO THE BACK OF MY SQUAD BAY YOU WILL BE SLEEPING ON THE BOTTOM BUNK, YOU TO THE FORWARD OF MY SQUAD BAY YOU WILL BE SLEEPING ON THE TOP, UNLESS YOU ARE RECRUIT BOKKAR OR RECRUIT BENDRIN: YOU TWO LOVERS WILL BE HOLDING HANDS UNTILL THE DAY YOU LEAVE MY STATION!]

Rika groaned inwardly. She had always thought descriptions of bootcamp were exaggerations, but this was looking more and more like "hell" really was adequate.

---

"Try and keep up Evelyn!" A young man called through the open visor of a motorcycle helmet.

The sky was dark, but the streetlamps kept the winding turns and shallow bends mostly visible. The road was built into side of a cliff, so that anyone travelling down would only have to look off to their left at the desert and city in the distance. It was breathtaking to look at during the day time, but at night it held a totally different appeal. One that could just suck you in.

"Not if I can help it Johnny boy!" She called back.

They both kicked up their motorcycle stands at the same time easing forward and opening up the throttle as the tires left the dirt covered rest area. He would take the lead like he always would, and she would pass him on the nearest corner. They would trade spots until the midway point of the hill, and then just ride side by side until they hit the bottom. It was the way they always blew off steam, and a way for them to spend time together away from their noisy jobs.

"Define irony." Eve muttered as she pulled the throttle grip back, letting the GSX-R's one thousand cc's push her down the road in an ear rattling roar.

John had promised to find some way to cheer her up, after the little debacle that had earned her call sign was finally made "public" among the other pilots. After a lot of brainstorming, some fighting, and some tender making up, they dropped Caroline off with their grandma-like neighbor Miss Petruci, and headed out for a night of riding.

"I wanted to do something special, but this seemed like the only thing that I've ever seen you enjoy other then a book or watching our daughter." He had pleaded his case. It was an after thought now however, as she sped down the winding curves in bliss.

He would overtake, she would take back. It was an adrenaline rush of speed, danger, and really a sort of a strange disconnected intimacy that only they seemed to understand. Left long curve that morphs slowly into a slight dip, followed by a sharp right around a haripin. Speed up again at the apex and pass him one more time until the straight away ends, then ride the gentle curves side by side down the mountain, watching each other the rest of the way.

She could remember the noise and feel of the engine humming away beneath her, the riding leathers forming a protective barrier against her skin and the off hand chance that she would make contact with the road. She even thought she could smell the slight fragrance of cologne that John wore. He'd never put too much on, but just enough so that she could tell he was wearing it. Just a small detail in a long list they'd shared with each other.

Pulling up next to him, they exchanged their customary high five and prepared for the much slower travel down. A flight left here, a much sharper right there - it was all driven into their memory from countless rides before. A few more turns, and ride the hill the rest of the way down until the road meets the highway. A speed limit sign passed them, and they slowed to obey it, falling one in front of the other, then back as they passed a bicyclist. It would be smooth sailing now.

It seemed funny now that the only words she could mutter at the time were: "OH SHIT!", but after seeing the small van skid uncontrolled into their lane, it was as if her body, mouth included, had switched to autopilot. It would be useless to lean back and put your hands in front of your face, but she did it. There wasn't much else to remember after that. Just a screech and a sudden transition to black. It was like the movies she had seen, where a character is knocked unconscious, only here, you could never hear what really knocked you out.

Never.

The memory always seemed to stop there, sparing her of the truly awful reality behind it. It had been both a curse and a blessing, but mostly a curse, as the memory usually manifested itself during times when she needed it the least.

A cold wetness licked at her face as she ventured through the blackness of what could only be dream sleep. It seemed to move downward until she could only speculate upon one conclusion.

"I wet the bed."

Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find everything but what was in her room as a child. The cockpit, still intact was flooding ever so slowly with water, and she was now up to her chest in it. She could see daylight outside. Unfastening her straps, she grunted as a she struggled to remove a leg harness. Looking around the cockpit, she looked for anything still functional.

"Can't blow the seat out." She said quickly. The canopy would only be slowed by the water's resistance, which probably meant if she chose to eject at that point, she'd hit he glass surface. "Only option. Blow canopy, swim up." However far "up" was. She could faintly hear through her helmet the sound of the super hornet's body creaking as it tumbled slowly through the murky water. Acting quickly, Scout grabbed the yellow and black striped handle mounted to the left of the hud. Pulling back, she was rewarded with what sounded like a shotgun being discharged next to her ear, followed by a loud hiss as the rocket motors struggled to remove the canopy from its frame.

Taking one last deep breath she let the frigid sea water engulf her body. Her float coat finally expanded under the contact with sea water, and almost instant started propelling her to the surface with its buoyancy. Slowly, ever so slowly, she kicked and chopped at the water trying hard to reach the reflection at the oceans surface. It seemed like an eternity before she broke the water, gasping a lungful of fresh air as she came up.

There, waiting for her in a very low hover, was the aging frame of an SH-60 Sea Hawk. A rescue diver mounted at the open door dropped in and swam over, rolling Scout on her back and one arm stroking back to the drop zone. Before she knew it, she was traveling sky ward on a hook with the same diver, and almost thrown into the chopper. The diver, a young man she noticed, started removing unessential gear from her vest.

"Can you feel it when I do this?" he yelled over the cabin noise.

Scout squirmed as he poked sharp tool into her leg. He took her vitals quickly and efficiently, not sparing a moment for anything but diagnostic work.

"She's conscious and aware," He said yelling to the crew chief. The swimmer looked back at Scout with a compassionate eye. "You might have a concussion okay?" Scout nodded back. "Gimme a run down of whatever hurts, wherever. I don't care if its a pin prick or a level ten ouch, I just need to know what's wrong."

"Everything except my head is good. Headache, but that's it."

"That's good! We'll be aboard in a minute or two, so just relax."

She gave him a thumbs up and laid her head back down on the Helicopters floor.

"You're lucky you know." The diver began again. "You're about the only pilot I've ever seen survive a non-ejection water impact with little less then a headache." he said with a smile.

She could only smile for some reason.

A few seconds later the helicopter landed on the carrier deck, a frenzy of medics personnel and pilots there to greet her with wide eyes as she walked slowly to the island's door.

"Hey, hold on a god damn second! Lemme through!"

Scout looked up to see Echo pushing his way into the crowd around her.

"How many fucking lives do you have catwoman?" He asked taking a deep breath. "I thought for sure you were..."

Foss grabbed his arm and gave him a stern look, letting him go as he pushed Scout through the door. Looking back, Foss gave him a strange look.

"Are you coming?"

Echo shook himself. "Damn right."