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Future Sanctuary By Goliath Wildcat

Chapter 2: Neighbors

Commander Yamoti has a content smile on her muzzle while reading a small journal when a runner taps politely at the archway to her cabin almost two segments after her meal with the Captain.

When she looks up and acknowledges the runner with a brief nod she reports with a voice out of breath, "High Commander Yamoti, the Whiskers say they see something on the horizon. The Captain asks if you would come to the bridge at your leisure."

She nods and closes the book with a snap. Picking up her helmet as she stands, her armor clinking softly, "Of course."

She follows the young female runner to the bridge and the guard at the door snaps to attention and growls, "Attention!" as he snaps a salute with his right tentacle, his ceremonial spear held vertically at attention.

She's already waving one of her tentacles dismissively for the crew to stay where they are before the crew of the bridge can snap to attention. Without looking at him she looks out the windows and asks with a neutral tone and blank expression, "Alpha Captain Yaran, what's the situation?"

The Captain snaps a salute with his right tentacle, "The fleet is approaching at minimal speed to close in claw formation. As per orders we are not going to surround them or threaten them by giving them no escape. The Den Mother is keeping her Cub class skimmers in her launch den and in a poise of readiness in case we need them for a quick reaction force."

The blue furred female nods in agreement, her bi-viewers in her hands to give her a view of the massive mound of metal in the distance in front of them. "Status of the fleet?" she asks, her voice calm and reassuring as she studies what little she can see at this distance.

The Captain bows his head humbly as he reports, "Most of the ships are in perfect condition, but the Bright Sun reports her main deck has been fouled by one of the main weapons coming loose in the shockwave. They are attempting to make repairs now. I have ordered her Captain to stay back and guard our support ships. Even without the heavy armaments on her main deck, she is more than a match for any raider that might try to jump them."

The Commander lowers her binoculars and extends her hand to rest on the Captain's shoulder, prompting him to meet her blue eyes with his green ones, "Do not despair Alpha Captain Yaran, the fates can't watch everyone all the time. With only one ship damaged in that shockwave I think we have come through better then we deserve."

Taking her hand from his shoulder she once more looks through her bi-viewer as she mutters, "I should have waited till it landed to launch the fleet, but we need to be there soon as possible."

The Captain bows his head once more with a quick motion before standing erect next to her as a shouted voice calls from the speaking tube, "Bridge, this is Whisker Etan, I can see strange creatures on the ground in what appear to be small holes. The large metal boxes are visible about a loneg past with their great vessel a short distance further. I cannot be sure of distances Captain; those metal boxes are huge if what my eyes see is correct, larger than even the Burning Wind."

The Captain glances at the Commander and speaks with a quiet voice for her ears alone, "Etan is our best Whisker. If he reports such, it must be so."

The Commander nods as she studies the ground ahead her bi-viewers, "I would agree with him. But..." She hands the Captain her bi-viewers and points, "View the beings in the holes closest to us. What do they look like to you?"

Taking the Commander's finely crafted bi-viewers in his hands he adjusts then and peers at the funny figures that seem to be crouching in the dug holes. "They seem to be wearing a strange and dull armor that blends them with the ground. If not for the holes they have dug we might have missed them. And..." he breaks off and leans forward in shock and he tries to get a better look.

"Are those longfangs in their hands?" he asks quietly.

Yamoti nods her head, "Indeed, not as we would know them perhaps, but that is what they appear to be. Your opinion, Alpha Captain?" she asks with a soft and confident voice.

The Captain lowers the viewing device and hands it back to her with a stunned expression, "I suggest we halt the fleet a short distance from those soldiers. A few hundred paces should be safe. Perhaps a delegation can approach..." he stops at her shaking head.

"You are correct that we should stop where you said, but let us not send a delegation yet. Let them make the next move, much like a game of Kritch. Each piece must be moved in turn."

The Captain salutes her with a lighting quick flick of one of his tentacles before he turns to his bridge crew and starts growling out orders.

***

Corporal Langsten watches the massive flying ships close to five hundred yards and stop. Looking over at Sergeant Peters squatting in the foxhole next to him he asks in a quiet voice, "You want to call the Chief and tell him we got giant flying ships waiting out here over our heads?"

Chief Ward's gruff voice comes over the radio, "I already know. The Captain and I are en route to your location. Do not fire unless fired upon. Snipers keep your guns down; don't threaten them. Spotters, get a good look at those things. I want some good intel when we get there."

Sergeant Peters nods to the Corporal next to him with a grin, "You heard the boss. Crank up the mag on your visor and tell me what you see."

The Corporal presses a finger to the controls on his right forearm and starts adjusting the magnification of his visor. As the focus clears he almost falls onto his backside in surprise, "Sarge! There are giant cats on those things."

The Sergeant looks up in disbelief as he orders, "Share your feed."

The Corporal does so and the Sergeant blinks in near disbelief as he watches a white furred felinoid watching them from a small platform on a mast almost fifty feet above the deck of the foremost flying ship. The felinoid shades his eyes with one hand and wears loose fitting pants like a martial artist would wear. But all that is nothing compared to his surprise as he watches a furry tentacle snake from behind the creature's shoulder and casually scratches at an itch behind one pointed feline ear.

"Son... Did you just see what I saw?" he asks quietly.

"If you mean a humanoid feline scratch at its ear with a white furry tentacle Sarge... Yeah, I did," the young Corporal responds with nervous hitch in his throat.

Peters keys his mic and with a short cough reports in as bland a voice as he can muster, "Chief, you're not going to believe this."

Chief Ward is still questioning the Sergeant over the radio when he and Captain Long pull up in one of the small buggies the colony ship had brought with it. "Anyone reporting those ships coming any closer?" he asks with authority as they drop into the hole next to the two men.

Peters shakes his head, "No sir, and they aren't trying to surround us either. I find that a little reassuring at least. Radar on the command crawler shows this fleet and nothing else in the air for twenty miles. Estimate is we're looking at fifty ships of various sizes in two groups, this one here and another about a mile behind them. No signs yet of small fighter style craft, but that don't mean they ain't got them."

"Probably their support ships in the rear," Captain Long comments as he puts on a pair of mirrored shades and taps a micro-switch on the side a few times to get a close up look at the hovering ships.

"You're right gentlemen, those really do look like cats up there. Exquisite detail on the hulls of those craft, I wonder what keeps them aloft. They almost remind me of flat bottomed sailing ships."

He leans forward as if to study something closer and taps the controls a few more times, "Are those guns?"

Corporal Langsten gives his head a slight nod, "Yes sir, I've counted a few hand held versions of what appear to be guns as well as what I can only call cannons mounted in odd crenellations. And if you look along the sides of the bigger ships, I'd swear those are closed gun ports."

The Chief nods in agreement, "Like a picture of an old wooden ship indeed, just without the water and with some awfully funny sails."

He raises his visor for a minute and blinks several times to verify that he isn't hallucinating, "And flying of course."

He turns to Captain Long and clears his throat, "What do you want to do, sir?"

The Captain pulls off the mirrored glasses and rubbing his chin lets a slight frown cross his features, "I'd say they appear to be waiting for us to make a move wouldn't you Chief? If those are gun ports I'm glad to see they're closed and nothing we can recognize as a weapon is aimed at us."

Ward nods in agreement, "Yeah, their opening move was to show up with a sizeable flotilla, but they haven't attacked or threatened us yet. Should we hope for peaceful relations?" he asks looking at the leader of the humans on this distant world far from the cradle of humanity.

"Let us hope so Chief. With the loss of the labs and a good part of our engineering equipment we're going to need the help of the locals to survive I suspect. I'm not certain how long our technology will survive without the facilities and personnel we lost. We'll need to learn the techniques of these people to survive more than a few generations I fear."

The Chief nods and with a determined face sets his weapons down in the bottom of the foxhole. With quick and practiced movements he starts to remove his armor and battle-harness. Pulling off his black shirt he exposes his bare chest with its rippling muscle to the bright sunlight.

Without looking at him the Captain asks with a bored tone, "What are you doing Chief?"

Setting the heavy armor aside and removing the knife from his calf-sheath he smiles like a kid at Christmas, "I'm going to walk out there nice and slow, unarmed, and you're going to see what their intentions are."

"Now Chief..." the Captain starts but is cut off by Chief Ward's hard look.

"Captain, the colonists need you to be their leader. Me, well, I trained up a good second-in-command to take my place when I retire. Maybe that day is today and Lieutenant Jenson gets a promotion."

Climbing out of the hole he retrieves a small bag from the buggy and digs through it before returning to the hole with what the Captain recognizes as the long ago designed 'first contact' book.

"Jim, you sure that is going to be of any use?" the Captain asks with a wary look at the ancient book.

The Chief gives a boyish grin, "Not a clue, sir. But this is exactly what it was designed for. Better to try and use it then go into this with no idea of what to say other then 'we come in peace'. You'd rather I walk up with an energy rifle and demand to be 'taken to their leader'?"

Captain Long chuckles softly and nods in agreement, "Alright, just come back in one piece and still breathing. I've lost too many good people today to lose my head of security."

***

The crew on the bridge of the Burning Wind watch in surprise as one of the beings appears to remove its coverings and discard its weapons in the hole with its fellows.

Yamoti lowers her bi-viewer and blinks a few times, "Is... is that being stripping?"

The young male near the front windows answers as he holds a distance viewer to his right eye, "Yes Commander. It appears to be leaving its pants on though, but I think I just saw it remove a small blade from its leg and discard it with everything else."

One of his tentacles flickers with nervous jitters from his shoulder before he brings it under tight control and it retracts into the pouch there, "Commander, why would it abandon its weapons?"

Commander Yamoti shakes her head in confusion, "I know of no reason it would disarm and remove its protection."

"An emissary perhaps, Alpha Captain?" asks the tall Gati of her Captain.

He looks at her questioningly, "Why would he disarm himself then. What would he do if the negotiations broke down? How would he escape to tell his people that war was coming?" He shakes his head and dismisses her suggestion with a flick of a tentacle, "Please stay silent when your betters are discussing.."

The tall Commander holds up one tentacle to silence him, "Your second-in-command may be right here Alpha Captain. In our culture emissaries never go unarmed. But what if in their culture an armed emissary is a sign of distrust."

She adjusts a few knobs on her bi-viewer and nods her head slightly, "The being appears to be carrying a book."

The young male watcher agrees, "Yes Commander Yamoti, and it appears the soldiers and the other strange one who came with it are watching intently though I can't see their eyes through their polished masks. While he might not be armed I count many longfangs in the holes. None of them are pointed at us, but they look ready for use if we attack their messenger."

Commander Yamoti nods and lowers her bi-viewer having seen enough, "Strange creatures, no fur but on their heads, no tails, no visible shoulder-limbs. Their hands show no sign of natural weapons or defenses."

Without turning she flicks a tentacle at the Captain, "Prepare your flitter to land me. I will meet this creature on his terms."

The Captain looks at her shocked, "But..."

She turns to glare at him with a stare that could pierce the thickest of armors and snaps, "Do not argue Alpha Captain Yaran, I am charged to make peaceful first contact by the High Mother herself. And if I need to disarm myself to show respect to these creatures I will."

The Captain chokes down a nervous swallow at her sharp tone, "At least take an honor guard with you in the flitter?"

She shakes her head as she turns to leave, "No, only the crew of the flitter Alpha Captain, that's an order."

He bows his head in submission to her as she leaves the bridge. Hearing the guard outside snap to alertness at her passing he reaches for the speaking tube, "Prepare my personal flitter for Commander Yamoti's personal use, crew only."

He hears a muffled confirmation as he slumps into his command chair and looks up at the tall Gati next to him, "If something happens to her, the High Mother will have my head. Pass the order for the whiskers to keep a watch on her. If she is in obvious danger from that furless thing, kill it."

***

On the ground below the massive flying ships Chief Ward watches the craft drift and roll in the breezes like a ship on the seas of old Earth. He speaks into his wireless headset with calm despite the racing of his pulse, "I see a small craft launching from that big mother of a ship in the lead, rather ornate little thing too."

He watches the small flitter come to rest on the ground fifty yards away in a cloud of dust. The stones held in odd cradles around the craft slowly dim till they resemble common dull gray rocks.

A tall figure climbs out of the odd little craft and stands in shining plate armor. He assumes the creature looking at him is a female from the mounds under her chest armor and something unidentifiable that just screams at his subconscious. He is surprised to see her draw a large two handed sword from her back and hold it horizontally between them.

He hears orders passed on the radio to keep on the ready but not to fire. "Calm down," he says with a whispered order as the figure drops the sword casually to the ground.

He hears a sigh of relief in his headset and mumbles into it again, "At ease, I think she's trying to show that she means us no harm."

The Chief watches her pull two small pistol like objects from pouches on her belt before crouching to set them to either side. He raises an eyebrow in surprise as two tentacles, covered in the same blue fur as the rest of her, reach around and assist her hands in releasing catches on the heavy armor that covers her. A brief chuckle can be heard before the Captain's voice comes over his headset, "Enjoying her strip show are you Chief?"

Chief Ward ignores the quiet comments from the other men as she sets the pieces of her armor aside and stands in only boots and a pair of pants that would look right in a dojo.

She starts to walk toward her with slow and easy steps. He follows her lead and walks forward to meet her halfway, six feet separating them. He watches her flick a tentacle to her right eyebrow in an odd salute as a growling purr that must be their language leaves her muzzle. With military precision he snaps to attention before returning it with quick movements of his right arm.

She speaks a few more sounds in a growling, purring voice that he understands nothing of and stops, waiting for a response.

He clears his throat, "I don't understand what you're saying but I sure hope you're peaceful." Taking the book from under his arm and bowing slightly he holds it out to her.

She blinks in curiosity before she points to the book followed by a tap to her chest between her blue furred breasts. He again bows slightly to her and holds the book out a little further, indicating that she can take it.

She steps forward to carefully take the book with careful hands. Stepping back to her former position she opens the plastic cover with extreme care to examine the book's contents.

He continues to watch her as she studies the illustrations and scientific notations with rapt fascination. Turning to one page she seems almost startled and turns the book to face him. A tentacle extends from behind her shoulder to tap the pictures of a nude man and woman.

First it taps the man and points at him which he acknowledges with a nod. Turning the book back towards her for a moment she once more shows it to him and this time her tentacle taps the picture of a woman, a fetus indicated in her womb, and points to herself.

"Yeah, I think you're a female," he responds, nodding his head in agreement and hoping that it means the same thing to them.

She once more returns to studying the book before the sounds of an explosion rolls across the land from behind him and he turns in surprise to see gouts of flame roar into the sky. Pressing his hand to his headset he shouts in anger, "What is going on?"

"We're under attack, sir. Small flying ships just hit us from the other side, they're fast buggers and came in under our radar, but we're handling it." As he receives the report he watches the traces of energy weapons arc up into the sky.

He turns to glare at the female with a fierce expression in front of him and points to the air behind them. He blinks for a moment and his face calms at seeing her snarl, long fangs exposed like an enraged cat. She isn't looking at him, she's looking into the sky over his people.

Turning again he sees small dart like versions of the big ships looming over them streaking over the crash site. He notices one arrowing towards the pair of them and the telltale flicker of a muzzle-flash from its prow sends him into action.

With a shout of warning he tackles the almost seven foot tall female cat to the ground as a stream of projectiles tear into the ground where they had been standing. Flying dirt covers the two of them and he coughs roughly before yelling into his headset and trying to help the tall female back to her feet, "Get those buggers!"

***

On the bridge of the Burning Wind the Alpha Captain watches the exchange of the book with tense muscles at the risk Commander Yamoti is taking with her life. He is so focused on the scene as she points between the book and the alien that the voice from the speaking tubes makes him jump in surprise, "Captain! Whisker Etan speaking, we have raiders closing from the far side of the crashed alien craft."

His eyes widen in shock as he sees a fiery blast roar into the sky and the tiny shapes of Republic Raiders streaking over the alien's metal boxes. "Ready the weapons! Alcami Yakin, battle power from the stones! We will show the Republic why they should not mess with things not of their business."

The voice of Whisker Etan calls out again from the speaking tube, "Alpha Captain, I can see strange beams of light rising from the alien's positions. Their longfangs are throwing light into the air!"

Every crewman with a view gaps in surprise as two of the beams meet on a raider craft and the small lodeship explodes into a fireball or wreckage and dust.

"What creatures fight with light?" the Alpha Captain asks in shock and amazement.

Gati gives a soft cough to bring him back to the here and now, "Orders Alpha Captain?"

He blinks and shakes his head momentarily to clear it before he scowls at Gati and shouts the order, "All longfangs are to fire on any craft they can see. Do not, on the lives of all our families, shoot at the aliens!"

His second-in-command repeats his orders and the entire fleet of lodeships seems to turn slowly in place to bring their massive broadsides to bear on the swarm of raider craft. Through the decks under their feet they can feel the minute shivers that indicate the largest of the Burning Wind's weapons are firing in retaliation at the raiders.

A swarm of their own small Cubs launch from the Den Mother's massive flitter dens and into the fray. The pilots in the small single crew fighters use all their exceptional skill and appendages to pilot the complex craft towards the enemies. Their own hull mounted longfangs spitting muzzle-flashes as tiny darts fly towards enemies that come too close to the fleet.

The Captain watches from the bridge, his lips are curled up in an angry snarl, his ivory fangs glistening in the sunlight streaming in the windows. "How is the Commander?" he snaps at the officer standing at the distance viewer.

"The alien saved her, Alpha Captain. He knocked her out of the line of fire from one of the Republic's Swarm Raiders," he reports with a feeling of relief.

The Alpha Captain stops snarling and looks at the young male questioningly, "Knocked her? He touched the Commander?"

The officer doesn't even look up as he responds, "Yes Alpha Captain, she was distracted by the surprise of the attack and was not paying attention as a Swarm closed, firing at the pair. If he hadn't reacted, she would have been grievously wounded, if not killed."

The Captain blinks in almost comical confusion as he tries to assimilate how things can be going so bad in such a short time. "Has she killed him for such an insult?"

"No Alpha Captain, she seems to be trying to drag him with her to cover inside your flitter."

***

The tall female has a tentacle wrapped around Chief Ward's bicep and is tugging him towards her craft as the massive flying ships above them open up with blasts of what he can only think of as railguns on the attackers. The brief flash at the muzzle as a solid projectile is accelerated at extreme velocities is well known to him.

He hesitates for a minute before he hears Captain Long's calm and commanding voice on his headset, "Go with her Chief, it's too long of a distance for you to run back to us while under fire." Without another word he gives in and lets the tall female drag him to the strange vessel a short distance away.

The female warrior snatches up her pistols as they pass her pile of armor and weapons before leaping into the open access with him in tow. She lets go and growls what he assumes to be an order to the single crewman in the cabin, who just happens to be holding a pistol like object aimed at the Chief's head.

With another growl and an ear shattering roar, louder then he has yet heard her, she slaps the pistol out of the crewman's hand with a tentacle and strikes him across the face with a spread hand. Claws in her finger tips express to leave furrows across the cheek of the olive green furred male that start to well and drip red blood down his cheek.

The crewman drops to the floor on all fours, his forehead touching the deck in utter submission at the angered female. A high pitched whimper of sound comes from the cowed figure as the female glares down at him, her tufted tail and the tentacles sprouting from her shoulders flicking in what appears to be agitation.

He hears a wooshing and the pings of projectiles bouncing off the small craft's armored hull as a few tear through the weaker points to make the occupants duck leaving streaks of sunlight streaming through the tiny holes. Snatching up the unfamiliar sidearm he squats by the door and looks out to see a pair of the small enemy craft circling the grounded craft, small blasts indicating they are armed with the same railgun-type weapon.

Hoping the gun's safety isn't engaged he raises the gun, aims down the squared barrel at what appears to be a cockpit on one of the circling craft. Using every ounce of his years of practice and conditioned reflexes gently squeezes the trigger.

The muzzle of the gun bursts in the familiar flash of a railgun shot and he grins as a hole appears in the window of one circling craft followed by a coating of the inside surface with red liquid. He watches the craft plow itself into the turf fifty yards away and tries to bring the pistol to bear on the other craft.

Before he can get a good shot a swarm of four of the smaller friendly craft pepper the hostile vessel with their own fire and it veers off, attempting to climb for altitude. It looks like it will make it safely away till one of the stones in its cradle suddenly explodes under a hail of impacts and the small vessel slams itself into the ground at high speed.

Lowering the pistol he lets out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding. He looks over his shoulder to see the tall female once more standing over the smaller, and still cowering, male. Her eyes studying him intently as if he is a prey animal and she is deciding how tasty he will be.

The Chief looks out of the craft's wide windows to see the battle starting to wind down and speaks into his headset, "Report?"

"With the weapons on those big flyers and their little friends, I think we've just about got it mopped up here Chief," responds the ever calm voice of Captain Long. "How are things in there with that half-naked alien?"

Chief Ward looks over his shoulder to see the crewman still cowering, his head far forward exposing the back of his furry neck, "I think she just saved me, and I returned the favor. I followed her into the craft to find what looks like a pistol pointed at me. I wonder if I insulted them by touching her or something."

"What else could you do Chief, she would have been turned into perforated meat if you hadn't tackled her to the ground."

There is a long pause on the other end before, "What do you mean returned the favor? Didn't she return the favor to you by stopping the pilot from shooting you?"

He chuckles softly, "Picked up the pistol that was aimed at me and downed one of a pair of craft that was circling us taking pot shots. The other was driven off and shot down by our associate's little friends."

He looks momentarily down at the odd weapon still in his hand, the muzzle safely pointed down and out of the craft's access. "I think she agrees with the saving her life part considering how she was carrying on with the crewman after disarming him."

He looks back to his host and mumbles into his headset, "I'll report further when I can. I think I need to try to find out what I can, sir. They're technology is a strange mix of advanced science and backwards materials judging from what I see here."

"Very well, call us if you need a pickup, I'll have a Hopper ready to retrieve you when you call for it. Check in once an hour to let us know you're still with us. Use your own discretion and be careful Chief, I want to debrief you in person when this is all over. Captain, out," finishes Captain Long and the communication circuit clicks off softly.

Chief Ward flips the pistol over to grip the squared barrel and extends it to the tall female still staring at him in what he assumes is curiosity. The smaller male peeks at him through barely open eyelids while the offering is made but makes no other movement to intervene.

She points a long finger at him and makes a pushing gesture, palm towards him. He interprets it to mean he should keep the weapon. He holds the gun flat against his chest, "You want me to keep this?"

She gives what he would call a closed lip smile and gives a polite bow of her head to him. He returns the bow and slips the pistol into a cargo pocket of his pants.

***

Commander Yamoti looks back down at the cowering male with a deep growl of menace, "What were you thinking you foolish cub?"

"He attacked you Commander," whimpers the bleeding male kneeling before her. "I saw it through the window. He knocked you to the ground, he touched you. None is allowed to do such a thing without permission."

"He was saving me you young cub, I was shocked that the raiders had attacked without trying to send their own envoy and I hesitated. He only knocked me down to preserve my life you foolish cub. Without any help from you," she growls loudly.

She looks away from the cowering fool in disgust and watches the battle continuing outside, "Get back to your controls and prepare to take us up to the Burning Wind."

She reaches out to gently finger one of the holes in the hull nearby, "If more of the Swarm Raiders come this way they could get lucky and destroy this little flitter and no one, not the aliens or our own fleet might be able to stop them."

The olive green furred male cautiously returns to his controls and starts to manipulate the complex arrangements of levers and handles, trails of red blood leaking down the side of his face. "Are we taking that with us Commander?"

A tentacle cracks like a whip across the bleeding cuts on his cheek and he recoils in pain as the Commander growls low in her throat, "Do not be insulting cub. A brave warrior is someone to respect."

She schools her features and turns to face the pale skinned alien again. With one hand points upward, "We will return to the safety of the Burning Wind, will you accompany us?"

The alien looks at her blank faced for a minute before understanding shows in his eyes and he bows his head slightly to her.

"The emissary seems to understand and agrees to come with us." She steps to the doorway and grips it in her hands as she growls out orders to the pilot, "Give me a few sub-segments to retrieve my armor. My honor guard would be ashamed if I left it here and returned half dressed to the Burning Wind."

With a spring of her strong legs she darts across the short distance to the pile of items and snatches them up before darting back into the craft. Without looking towards the pilot she sets her bundle of armor down and orders, "Return to the Burning Wind, fly now."

"Yes Commander Yamoti," answers the pilot as he adjusts the lodestones in their cradles to gently lift the small flitter from the grip of the ground. He pulls a horizontal lever and something starts to softly hum behind the rear bulkhead of the vessel as it propels forward.

The Commander starts to put her armor back on with practiced ease keeping the odd emissary in her view much as possible. He has seated himself in what appears to be a rather painful pose, his legs crossed in front of him and his hands on his knees. His eyes are closed and his breathing seems slow and steady, as if he were in a spirit trance.

'Is he communing with his spirits,' she thinks to herself as she finishes adjusting her armor with a few tugs from her shoulder tentacles at the straps her hands can't reach. 'Or is he somehow communicating with his superiors. He was talking more than I expected, even though he must know I can't understand him, but it was quiet, as if he were not speaking to me.'

She notices again the small device attached to what she thinks is his ear and wonders at it again. 'What technology do they possess?'

***

As the flitter returns to the flitter den of the Burning Wind the red armored troops of Commander Yamoti's elite honor guard form a line at rigid alertness as she steps from the small flitter and orders in a loud and ringing voice, "Find a garment for our visitor."

As the strange furless being exits the access of the flitter one of the red armored warriors looses a snarl and charges the alien with a roar of rage, "How dare you defile the Commander with your touch!"

She turns; a snarl already on her lips, but the fight is over before she can command the warrior to stop.

In the blink of an eye she watches the emissary dodge the thrust weapon, grab the soldier's outstretched arm, and spin with a motion too fast for even her combat trained reflexes to follow. There is a series of crunching sounds and the elite honor guard crumples to the ground, cradling his right arm against his chest and mewling like a beat kitten. His right knee bent at an unnatural angle and unable to support him indicates how the emissary dropped him so easily.

As the others split to form up around her and surround the alien she finally roars, "STOP!"

The well trained warriors pause at the single word and their leader turns to kneel on one knee in front of her, head bowed, "He is a threat Commander Yamoti."

She studies the odd furless being for a few minutes, noticing the stance and the way he holds his hands, "No, he was only defending himself. He has a handfang I let him keep after he destroyed a Swarm with it. It's in a pouch on the right leg of his pants. If he were hostile, that would have been a far more advantageous weapon than taking on an armed and hot blooded male in unarmed combat."

She snaps out a quick gesture with her right tentacle and orders, "Back away from him, all of you, slowly. He must be a strong warrior to be able to disable one of your comrades, let us not provoke him further. The High Mother wishes peaceful contact with these Star Travelers."

She hears the emissary's quiet voice once again and notices a tiny blue light on the device on his ear. 'Reporting to his leaders the insult done him?' she wonders silently and curses to herself. 'Spirits help us if we have angered his people who fight with light? I must do something fast to undo the insult of an attack on such a great warrior.'

Looking back down to the armored figure kneeling before her she orders, "Honor Lead Vorga, find the emissary something befitting his rank and abilities. He came to us without weapons and yet seems able to defend himself against the most highly trained of our warriors. Let us not anger his people further by being less than honorable."

The short male warrior kneeling before her, his glossy black fur with red rosettes still standing slightly on end from the high of possible combat salutes with a tentacle flick and returns to his feet, "You," he snaps a tentacle at one of the lesser guards as he orders in a crisp tone, "Go to our den and return with my finest robe and sash for the emissary. He is about my size and structure, they should fit him. The rest of you, back away further and return to calm before I rip out your throats with my own fangs," he snarls showing the ivory fangs ready to carry out his threat.

Commander Yamoti glares at the whimpering warrior still cradling his arm where he fell from the emissary's strike, "Call for Menders to see to him, he will be discharged when we return to the Homeden."

She looks around to her other honor guards standing stiffly around the flitter den. "No one who can't control themselves will remain among my honor guard. Is that understood?" she asks with a snarl.

The guards snap salutes with their tentacles to their right eyes and hold it there till she waves a tentacle in dismissal and turns from her honor guard with a angry chuff at them.

Returning her attention to the emissary she bows deeply, her hands spread open to her sides to show no weapons, "My deepest apologies emissary of the Star Travelers."

***

Chief Ward slowly relaxes out of his martial arts stance and takes a quick glance at the red armored figures backing away at the tall female's growled commands. He was pleased to see his self defense training works even in the slightly higher gravity of this world. It had been entirely reflex, a charging opponent, grab the arm, twist and strike to shatter the elbow, strong downward kick to the side of the knee to drop the aggressor. The warrior was still lying on the ground, mewling like an injured kitten.

One of the armored figures, a male only about as tall as he kneels in front of the tall female and speaks to her with a quiet voice in their native tongue. She answers him without lowering her voice, seeming quite displeased at the actions of her people towards him.

He activates his headset with a click of his tongue, "Captain, might have an incident here."

"What is it Chief?" the Captain asks, the sound of voices cheering in the background.

"I think I must have really violated some taboo here in touching her, even if it was to save her. What I can only call an honor guard just tried to gut me with a weapon resembling a pike."

"Situation?" asks the Captain, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Under control it would seem. She's ripping into what I think is the head of her honor guard. I disarmed the one who attacked me and disabled him. He should recover in time."

There is a heavy pause before the Captain speaks again, "This is a critical time Chief, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you alone in there. What if I order a squad to..."

"Sir, with the chewing out she appears to be giving the honor guard here, I suspect this won't happen again. Besides, a squad of men with our weapons here would probably be a pretty big threat. You've shown them what our weapons can do when you opened up on the attackers."

Again there is a long and potent pause before the Captain responds, "Very well Chief, but listen. Anytime you want I'll send an emergency team in to get you out of there if I don't hear from you. So stay in touch."

"Copy that, sir. How's the fight going on out there?"

"Just mopping things up right now. Long, out," and the communicator goes quiet with a soft click.

The kneeling male stands and loudly growls orders to one of the others, a black furred tentacle with red rings pointing out the individual who runs off to carry out his orders. With a flash of fangs the warrior growls to the others and they step back another step, seeming to snap to attention.

She gives an almost dismissive wave of a tentacle at the figure of the still mewling warrior and growls a command, causing two more of the honor guard to leave the landing bay at a run. Looking around at the assembled warriors her voice carries a level of command equal to a drill sergeant to a group of cadets. The warriors snap her salutes with their right tentacles which she dismisses with a casual wave of her own.

Turning to face him directly again she bows low and speaks in her native tongue, her voice once more the pleasant and soft purring growl she uses when addressing him. He bows his own head in response and looks around at the alert warriors.

The sound of heavily booted feet on the wooden deck announces the arrival of a green furred male wearing an elaborate uniform. The male, slightly shorter then himself and carrying a good spare twenty pounds, steps up to the blue furred female and salutes her stiffly. She returns the salute casually and talks to him in quiet tones, the softly spoken alien words drifting across the short distance to his ears.

The newcomer seems to be agitated, a tentacle slipping out to point in his direction is slapped down by a quick movement from the female as she raises her voice as it gains a high pitched growl of what he is beginning to suspect is a sign of anger. The newcomer bows his head deeply to the taller female and backs away a short distance before turning and leaving the bay.

The first warrior sent on an unknown errand passes him at the large door with a salute the shorter male doesn't return. In confusion the returning warrior watches the retreating figure for a moment and the warrior's ears flick much like a Terran cat's might. With no other sign the armored warrior runs towards the black and red furred male and holds out a bundle with a deep bow of his head.

Taking the bundle he turns to him and takes a few steps forward to hold the bundle out to him with a bow of his head.

Chief Ward taps his chest, "For me?"

The warrior bows again and holds the bundle further out for him to take.

Stepping forward he takes the bundle of cloth and unrolls it to find an intricately embroidered silver and black robe like article of clothing with a wide sash of a silvery silk like substance. He looks up to the blue furred female who bows her head slightly and pantomimes putting it on. 'Guess they don't want me running around their ship half dressed,' he thinks to himself as he pulls on the robe and cinches it closed with the sash.

The male warrior steps back as the blue furred female steps forward to hold out a hand to him. The Chief notices the honor guard growing even stiffer in their stances of attention but the female flicks a tentacle at them and they seem to relax back into attention. She waves her hand towards herself briefly before holding it out to him again.

"I sure hope you want me to take your hand lass," he mutters softly to himself as he reaches out and takes the offered hand.

The furred hand is warm in his with the tiniest of pricks from the tips of her fingers indicating that her claws are sheathed. He can feel bare pads of flesh along her fingers and on her palm, 'Probably so she can grip things without the fur interfering with her grip.'

She gently pulls him to stand next to her and giving him a closed lip smile escorts him into the halls of the flying vessel. The armored guards silently take up positions in front and behind them in escort.

All characters unless otherwise stated are the intellectual property of Chris Gilman [aka. Goliath Wildcat] Story © Copyright Christopher Gilman 2009 all rights reserved tell me what you think