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FW3000

Main Characters. All Painted Dogs.

Male: Female:

Abrafo: Alpha male. 1st Officer Amaka: Alpha female. Ship's Captain.

Baako: 1st Navigator. Dayo: 2nd Navigator.

Baraka: Chief Hunter, xenobiologist. Kalisha: Medic.

Chigaru: Marine Captain. Nubiya: Daughter of Baraka and Amaka.

Themba: Chef. Titilayo: Moral officer.

Ramla: Guide/Seer Tamela: Marine Lieutenant.

Zuberi: Ship's engineer. Zuri: Keeper of the Tail.

Amaka's patchy ears tilted back as the metallic clang echoed through the hull, "Report Zuberi!" she snapped into the combadge she was wearing.

"Last clamp detached Captain. We are now in free orbit," the tinny voice sounded back as the view out of the front port started to change.

"About bloody time," Amaka muttered, flicking the channel to external, "We are free now Houston...you could have at least built this tub a little more hardily!" she barked.

"I assure you Captain that it was built to the best standards available..." the human commander's voice replied testily.

"Ah ha...then why did it just take my engineer two hours with a space cutter just to free us from the dock? I am of half a mind to abort..."

"You cannot abort Captain...you know the situation is critical. We must launch the colony ships in three months..."

"And you need us as your sacrificial lambs to pave the way for them...yadah yadah," Amaka interrupted as what was left of a muddied Earth came into view. "Lot of good it did our ancestors on the plains."

"You and the other zoo survivors get the moon of Hilotia as your reward for your services...both you and your feral cousins..."

"Until such time as you ruin the new home planet as well..." Amaka sighed, "Well what is done is done...We will do what we can and you know it, we have even less choice in the matter than you. Not much good though if the tub doesn't even make it there is it?"

"Our design engineers assure us that the liquid nitro clamp leak could have happened at any point...and that it was a fault on the space dock, not the ship that caused the issue."

"Yeah...well next leak could be the bloody oxyrecyclos...and then we get to make a nice crater for you to pay homage too..." Amaka mused as she flicked a few toggles on the power board in front of her and a light purple haze began to form on the Particle Decephaltor Cone as molecules began to bounce around and create a minor gravity well on the nose of the ship.

"If you keep taunting them, they will disable us here in orbit permanently..." Abrafo muttered, off mic from the seat next to her.

Amaka showed her teeth in a startlingly white grin within her patchy face fur, "They daren't..." she whispered back.

"We see you have activated your PDC drive...does that mean you are going to depart?" Houston control queried.

Amaka chuckled under her breath, "Yes we are going to risk our hides for you Earth...After all, that is why you bioengineered us...so no more precious human genes would be lost to the Preds."

Houston control sighed, "Then God speed you and good luck..."

"Hah! If you lot had stopped playing God, there would have been no need for this mission. Follow on our tails...but do not expect us to fight to our last when you arrive. The Southern Islands will be safe by the time you roll up...no more. Then we leave for the moon..." The ship nosed past Luna then, slowly building up speed, "I just hope humankind doesn't make the same mistakes on Hilotia!"

Amaka cut the contact then and looked across at her current mate, "All systems green?" she asked.

"Everything appears to be on track, Captain." Abrafo replied.

"Course plotted?" she asked, looking in the opposite direction at Baako.

"Yes Captain," the slightly smaller male replied.

"Then let's do this!" Amaka stated as the Mars shipyards came into view, the four giant hulks of the colony ships that contained the last hopes of mankind within them lay berthed, awaiting the occupants for their sleep-tank wombs. Hulls still sparkled as mag-welders flashed in the eternal darkness of the void as final panels were sealed into place by space-suited grunts.

The FW3000 itself held every non-human, wild species in stasis that a viable genetic population could be gleaned together of, from the human zoos within its giant belly...there was no marine life unfortunately...the oceans having been declared dead and poisoned over two hundred years previously. It was only a pimple compared to those ships that were receding behind them now though. Around two thousand 'predator animals' had been genetically manipulated of course a couple of generations back to walk on two feet, and talk...of which there were now twenty thousand plus in stasis tanks, including Amaka's latest litter of four, sleeping next to their feral origins. Single births were still only a common human thing... That had all come about when the dying reports and transmitted vids from the failed scout ship Sperous had reached Earth's satellites about the predators which stalked the land on Hilotia.

There were little more than 6 million healthy humans left alive after the wars, plagues and pollution had eaten the Earth's atmosphere...and the world government had voted to send the remaining Earth predators out to combat the new ones, rather than risk any more of themselves... Naturally the Painted dogs were the ones to lead the expedition, having been the most successful of them with a ninety percent kill rate. There would always be the friction though between the lions, tigers, cheetahs, dingos, hyenas, and various other GM'ed species who awaited the hypospray of Kalisha to tickle them awake in the four years it would take to reach their destination.

"Jupiter approaching Captain," Abrafo reported, breaking the Captain from her brief musing.

"Noted." She tapped the ship wide intercom code into her combadge, despite knowing that there were only twenty two awake sets of ears to hear her on board, "Lock and load ladies and gentlefurs... Hyperdrive is engaging in T-minus sixty seconds. The new world awaits us all!" Amaka cut the com and double checked her own belts, watching the ship's clock tick over the required minute before flicking the toggle on her chair's arm.

Neptune stretched into a twisted, elongated ovoid through the plexiglass port, as normal space folded in upon itself and all the stars of the Milky Way turned purple in the haze of the microscopic black-hole that sucked the ship into the unknown ahead of it...

~~~~

4 years later...

"Oh not again!" Zuberi commented as Themba emerged from the 'tail' area on the ship adjusting his pants.

"What? It's all for the good of the mission," the cheeky chef replied with a wink.

"That's what you say..." the engineer replied, "Will Zuri even accept my business now?"

Themba slapped Zuberi on the back, "Of course she will...that is her job. With transition only a few days away and no Mate, well I am making the most of it. I think we may be a little busy over the coming months to worry about pleasurable downtime...Besides...we have bumped into each other a few times this week here as well...Yes?"

Zuberi turned his head away, his white fur patches showing a little pink in the ship's lighting for a few seconds, "Well...erm...I am unpartnered after all. The others seem to have paired off...and another forty tanks have pups in them than before we set out..."

"You still holding out for Kalisha?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Nah...I prefer the idea of a female only knowing the outside of me intimately. Medics give me the shivers..." Themba replied, "What's the issue between you two anyhow?"

"I smell of oil and grease, she smells of disinfectant and cleanliness. Not exactly my fault I crawl down tubes for a living!" Zuberi replied with a resigned sigh.

"Well Zuri doesn't mind...maybe she should get together with Kali and have a nose to nose..."

"And you would pay your whole service salary to see that, no doubt!" Zuri's voice interrupted as she came around the corner, "The bitch doesn't approve of my trade, so it ain't going to happen..."

"But I meant..." Themba protested, holding his hands up.

"I know exactly what you meant...now get lost..." she moved up to Zuberi and nuzzled against his neck, extending her tongue to lick him in a sign of affection.

"But Zuri..."

"But nothing...Kalisha doesn't know what she is missing in our tube-mole here. I don't want to see you in my quarters again for at least a rotation, understand? Or I will pass comment onto Amaka. Reg's are being bent enough as it is!" Zuri barked, causing the chef's ears to drop.

"Okay, okay...I give in..." Themba turned and stalked away.

"A little harsh maybe?" Zuberi asked as he allowed his hand to be taken.

Zuri grinned, "I think not...and I will have a word in the bitch's ear if you want. I would take you as my Mate any day, but well we both know that is not possible."

"Why me?" the surprised engineer asked as they entered the plush interior of her business quarters.

"Why not?" she asked as she pawed the lock onto engaged, "You are the only one that passes the time of day with me as another person...and you have very talented and strong paws..."

"Well...I mean..." Zuberi stuttered.

Zuri turned and kissed him, fingering the single clasp on her ship-suit, "Now, though, is not the appropriate time for words," she commented as it dropped to the floor between them...

**

"A word Captain, if I may?" Titilayo asked as she bumped into Amaka in the mess room.

Amaka looked across with a raised eye-ridge, "On the record or off?"

"Bit of both really...Call it a bitch to bitch if you will as you are off duty."

Amaka nodded, "Ready room in ten, bring your snack, you know me and formalities by now."

Titilayo grinned, "Of course...thank you."

**

"Problem Titi?" Amaka asked, revealing that the record light was not green on her desk as the moral officer settled into the chair opposite.

"Not as such...but the crew are a little on edge over transition..." Titi replied, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"That is only to be expected," Amaka replied, "But I can tell that is not what has bought you here. Having trouble with Ramla?"

Titi grinned, "Absolutely not...he may be an old fart, but well as our litter last year proved, he is not past it yet."

"Then why the bitch to bitch?"

"Baraka and Chigaru are squaring off again over Tamela. She is ignoring both of them as you well know...but it is starting to cause friction again."

Amaka sighed, "I will try and calm Baraka's testes...I know he has been using Zuri recently to ease frustration, but I thought Chigaru was nosing after my daughter?"

"More than nosing, her cabin is rarely occupied at night. That is half the problem...Baraka thinks that Nubiya is too good for the likes of a 'marine grunt', as I believe I have heard him slander Chigaru in the gym area."

"Well, they must work together when we land in four days. There is no better hunter tracker on board. It is almost a shame that he lost to Abrafo in the Will contest before we left. He was a far better pick all round both on duty and off, if you catch my drift...still is..."

Titi snorted, "Not exactly something a Captain should say...even off the record."

Amaka grinned, "Well...how about a friend then? Anything else I should know about?"

"Only that Zuri approached me about Themba..."

"Reg. bending again? A complaint?"

"No...more a warning that others were not happy with her unavailability on any of his down shifts."

"I will have a word."

"Would probably help...plus as a favour, could you rotate Baako and Dayo's shifts until we land?" Titi asked.

"Oh? Reason?"

"Why do you think Tamela is knocking Baraka back?"

"Oh, you mean..?" Amaka queried.

"Yes...having Tamela and Dayo both 'off-shift' at the same time will help them both. You were aware of their orientation?"

"I was aware of Tamela's...Dayo I didn't suspect as she littered with Lovell in the first year, before he had that accident in the thruster room."

"Let me just say that it was a cover if I read the situation right...or at least she goes both ways. Though Zuri has never broken confidentiality, I know I have caught Dayo walking away from her quarters on more than one occasion." Titi confirmed.

Amaka shrugged, "Doesn't bother me either way, as long as there is no conflict...and she doesn't try and kiss me on the bridge!"

Titi snorted, "I would almost pay to see that!"

"As Themba would to see Zuri and Kali get it on as well..." The Captain replied with a laugh.

"You know about that?" Titi asked, "I got it through scuttlebutt in the grunt's mess."

"I was inspecting a panel around the corner that had caused a flasher on the bridge...and overheard. I was going to have a word with Themba over what you have just bought up when I had the chance anyhow...and Kali about Zuberi..."

"Not your place as Captain...I think I will develop a slight discomfort in the stomach after eating this meal," she gestured with her sandwich, "And maybe pay a visit to sick bay."

Amada nodded, "Be discreet...I want no aggravation. Captain's orders."

"I always am, Ma'am. There will be plenty of that I assure you when we start waking everyone up!"

"Tell me about it! Well thank you for the chat. Let me know if anything else comes up please."

"You will be the first to know about it," Titi replied, standing and saluting before leaving the room.

Amada smiled as the door slid shut, pulling up the deck tracker which zoned in on every life sign on board with an implant, including herself. Abrafo was on the bridge duty, probably playing chess with Baako as they were sharing the controls together. Baraka was in the gym...alone. She stood with a stretch. "Time for a workout I think...Hopefully I'll resolve at least one of these tensions and my own as the showers are unisex..." she muttered, smiling to herself as she went to change into her workout gear in her quarters.

****

"See anything unusual?" Amaka queried.

"Only what could be gleaned from the reports," Baraka replied from the auxiliary station behind her, "There are rather a lot of large life-forms on the prospected landing site near what is left of The Sperous. Makes you wonder how the prey species can keep up with the depredations they must impose."

"Well that was in the reports, wasn't it?" Abrafo queried.

"Only thing that was in them, was that the prey species are hermaphroditic and seem to be able to fertilise, gestate and give birth at the same time in a constant cycle from the age of a couple of months...and that they were non-toxic to humans and us. More a case of one plus one equalling six as well, if you catch my drift...They are not single births, but the survival rates must be low with that lot eating them. The Flora of the world is also incredibly fecund, and therefore copes with being grazed constantly. I am hoping to be able to glean more information from the data-banks on The Sperous if they haven't been corrupted. There is going to be a big problem when the food chain is disrupted..." Baraka stated.

"Fauna sounds like a fox's wet dream..." Abrafo commented, getting a grin out of the others on the bridge.

"Not going to be our problem," Amaka stated seriously, "The humans made that mistake once already, and they are going to do it again here if they spread off the Islands. Look at rats and cockroaches...or Cane toads in Australia. At least they will have a good protein supply while they fight the forest for farming land."

"Why are we doing this again?" Abrafo asked.

Amaka sighed, "Because if we don't, the minute those colony ships pop out of hyper, they will vapourise us - even if we just cut and run to the moon. I genuinely believe though, this time the world council will not destroy this place so quickly...or should I say that even with modern tech, it will be a millennia or two before humans are numerous enough to be a problem here."

Baraka snorted, "I think it more likely that this place will destroy them first! Just look at The Sperous...only the metal scanners can see it!"

"Well then it is a good thing that we have astrogators on board, and telescopes. If the humans start to get out of hand in a few generations, hopefully we can get away before they decide that our moon is a little more hospitable to them. We already know from the files that there is a couple of possibilities available that this tub could go and nose at when we have detached the cradle."

"I hope we don't have to do that. At least we know the moon is balanced. We plan on leaving the food chain in place, just removing those that threaten us directly," Baraka commented.

"We clear to land?" Amaka asked.

"I would send in a haymaker first to be honest...Some of those trees are nearly 100 metres tall despite the vid records stating that the area was clear felled only a hundred years ago to give a cordon-clearing to the doomed scout."

Amaka sighed, "Do it then..."

Baraka nodded and toggled a single switch, watching as a drive trail dropped away from their current geosynchronous orbit until it entered the atmosphere below of the iridescently green and blue globe below them. A flare brightened the view-screen as it detonated. "Looks like Themba will have fun getting a BBQ together for evening mess," he muttered as they waited for the now cleared patch to become visible again without heavy smoke.

Amaka pressed her com badge, "Kalisha...is everyone who needs to be, clear from the cradle?"

"Yes Captain...the four thousand in the landing party are packed in like sardines on the lower decks, standing room only," the medic's voice replied.

"Good." She switched to shipwide, "Separation will occur in T minus two minutes, mark. Hold onto whatever you consider most precious everyone, but don't think you're getting time off until we have camp set up tonight!"

"I have my quarters locked..." Zuri's droll voice replied as the sounds of laughter fed back through the bridge speakers, fetching a smile from Amaka and the others.

"Zuberi...start separation please," she ordered.

"Yes Ma'am."

Amaka raised an invisible glass in her hand as certain tell-tales started to blink from green to red... "To our new lives, everyone..."

"May they be long and full of pups," Abrafo finished, throwing his invisible glass over his shoulder as there was a clank, and the FW3000 broke free from the cradle and PDC drive, beginning to rotate in freefall.

"Baako, engage thrusters...we will run a skim glide to see what else we can glean from the air before we touch ground."

"Yes Captain." Baako replied, dialling the corrected course into the computer as the thrusters rumbled...the hull vibrating slightly as the globe below began to grow bigger, the dark ovoid that contained the remaining feral species of Earth, and the non-military and younger furs remaining hanging in geosynchronous orbit like a black moon in space, it's internal machinery humming efficiently and awaiting its caretakers to return...if they could.

Amaka braced herself as the atmosphere began to buffet the ship, her eyes constantly scanning the instruments for anomalies, but none showed as they broke cloud cover into the unpolluted atmosphere. "Any of the large avians present?"

"None on the scanners Ma'am," Baako replied.

"Proceed with the glide then Navigator. I will bring her in myself when we come in sight of the clearing. Constant monitoring please Baraka...be nice to get some numbers on the Preds."

"Yes Ma'am," they both responded, hunched over their respective control panels as the multiple islands flitted by under them, getting closer and closer as the decent plateaued out slowly.

"Deploying landing gear," Amaka said as the haymaker's haze of smoke appeared on the horizon. The whirring of the twenty never before used skids sounded as they extended from the belly of the elongated delta winged ship. Now the PDC drive and cradle were detached, The FW3000 kind of resembled one of the old shape sub-orbitals from the 20thcentury...only stretched to around one hundred times its length.

"All are locked in place and ready," Zuberi reported over the com.

"Thank you engineering," Amaka replied as she took hold of the yoke and prepared to disengage the computer's autopilot.

"That is the target island, Ma'am," Baako stated as a wall of green ahead climbed over the horizon ahead of them as they skimmed the ocean's surface."

"Acknowledged," she replied, "Time to see if my simulator scores were accurate," she muttered, flicking the switch that gave her full control of the ship. Leaning back slightly she raised the nose to clear the impending greenery, startling the arboreal inhabitants of the canopy into fright, flight and screeching as the near sub-sonic windblast shattered unprotected eardrums and branches snapped under the strain. "Engaging front thrusters," she reported, feet slipping into the braces as everyone was thrown into their harnesses.The forces braked the ship quickly as it entered the smoke bank.

"We should be over the landing site in three kilometres Ma'am...two...one..." Baako reported.

"No cross winds..." Abrafo reported.

"Going into hover..." Amaka flicked another toggle, and a vast rumbling started, the twenty sets of skid thrusters kicking in, four in the base of each slab of titanosteel as the smoke suddenly cleared, the ship popping through the still burning fire-line and into the scorched area left by the napthene compression bomb. The twenty eight thousand tonnes of the FW3000 slowed to stationary, and then rotated slightly under her control, positioning the prow to face where The Sperous lay concealed under its green death blanket, before she gently reduced power and dropped it slowly and carefully, each of the skids touching down at precisely the same time.

Amaka sighed in relief and cut all power from the skids, "Looks like the sim hours did pay off then gentleman."

"Good landing Ma'am." Abrafo commented as she continued to power everything down.

"We have an audience," Baraka reported.

"A threat?"

"Not to the FW Ma'am...but now I can monitor them from ground-level I can see why The Sperous couldn't escape them..." Baraka answered, flicking his infra-red readings to the main view-screen.

"Those are big motherfu...erm...very big..." Abrafo breathed, the wraith-like heat signatures of creatures showing through the greenery to the scanners.

"You watched too many Sam Jackson movies from the 20th C Abrafo...curb the language before you open your gob! Estimates Baraka please!" Amaka ordered.

"Yes Ma'am!" Abrafo answered.

"The larger visible ones are around forty to fifty tonnes mass, twenty five to thirty metres from footpad to shoulder...conformation unsure," Baraka replied.

"They are a threat to the wings then..." Amaka muttered, flicking on her com. "Chigaru...pick out the three most competent ship mounted sharpshooters you have for nine hour rotationals... we have a twenty seven hour day here and dawn only broke an hour ago. Have the best report to the bridge immediately!"

"Yes Ma'am," the Marine's voice replied through the com.

"Ground temperature?" Amaka asked.

"Reading at thirty two degrees, but there are some seriously hot spots around the stumps...air clear enough to breathe if a little smoky, at twenty five." Baako reported from his station.

Amaka grunted as pawsteps jog-trotted up behind her and she turned, a slight smile appearing on her face as Tamela saluted on arrival. "Morning Lieutenant...take the gunnery station please and ensure that nothing bigger than a feral fox gets into this clearing."

"Yes Ma'am," Tamela replied, taking control of the designated control panels.

"Lieutenant, can you try and shock-kill them please...no explosives unless they don't drop. I and the other xenbios need to work out exactly how they tick inside and if they are mangled, that makes thing difficult." Baraka requested.

Tamela looked across at Amaka who nodded assent. "I shall do my best then Sir," she replied.

"Just don't let any of them get close to the ship under any circumstances...and watch the air as well for the avians," Amaka stated.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Chigaru, I am opening the airlocks now. Be on full alert and stun-kill everything even if it looks cute! We do not know what we are dealing with yet, so don't assume anything isn't hostile. Worse-case scenario, we eat non-synthetic tonight!" Amaka ordered, releasing the seals as the belly ramps descended and all the marines started to jog out onto the surface.

"Yes Ma'am. We will have a perimeter set up within the hour."

"Good...I know we have others on board who are itching to do their parts."

"You're telling me," Baraka muttered.

Amaka grinned, "You will get your chance...let the grunts make us as safe as they can."

"Chigaru will do a good job, and then you braincases can play with your alien guts as much as you want..." Tamela commented, her finger pressing a firing stud. The ship reverberated as one of the port cannons fired a concentrated beam of neuron disruptors into the forest where a large bluish shape had breached the foliage. It took three more shots until a groan answered and the shape collapsed forward onto the fire cleared ground. "There is the first sample for you," she continued with a grin.

Baraka zoomed in on the 'corpse' "Mmm...still breathing...what setting did you have that DR on marine?"

"Seventy percent, Sir," Tamela replied.

"Three hits and not dead...Mmm...No central nervous system then, or a well-insulated one... Hexapod...Put another shot into the area above the mouth please...I am assuming that is the head...there are no eyes as we know them..."

"Yes sir!" Tamela replied, adjusting her scope and firing again.

"Breathing appears to have stopped," Baraka reported, unbuckling his harness.

"Stay at your station!" Amaka ordered.

"Yes Ma'am," Baraka answered slumping back into his chair.

"I want full perimeter before any non-combatants step out of this ship!" Amaka reiterated.

"Yes Ma'am," Baraka replied, "Though I shouldn't need to point out that as the Head hunter, my scores are better in paw to hand, and on the ranges, than Chigaru's..."

"I know that, as I know everything about everyone on this ship. However you are not to risk yourself as the head scientist. Understood?"

"Understood Ma'am," he replied.

Abrafo smirked to himself at his station at the dressing down of his competition.

"Good..." Amaka switched to open com again, "Anything to report Chigaru?"

"I am not sure if our popguns will be much good against those, Ma'am," he replied.

"That is what the ship is here for Captain. When you go hunting, we will have to use the projectiles...xenbios be damned!"

"Yes Ma'am. You can let the construction crews out now...and the dirtdiggers...we already have regrowth sprouting in places," Chigaru reported.

"What, already?" Baraka queried.

"That's what I said braincase!"

"Shut up grunt!"

"Enough you two or you will both be on report!" Amaka shouted.

"Yes Ma'am," they both responded.

"Request permission to hack through to The Sperous, Ma'am," Baraka asked, "I need any data ASAP so we have somewhere to start."

"Can you manage that Chigaru?" Amaka asked.

"If you point me in the right direction Ma'am...I can't see f' all apart from green around the clearing. I can set a squad on it."

"Draw a line straight from the bridge forward...The Sperous is approximately two hundred metres in." Baako replied.

"Roger," Chigaru replied and a squad carrying heavy cutting gear peeled of and began to work on the obstructing growth.

"Lieutenant...keep vigilant over them please." Amaka instructed.

"Always Ma'am," she replied. The ship hummed again as she fired in five different directions at the same time.

"Trouble?" Amaka asked.

"Our audience is wanting to participate...nothing I can't handle Ma'am."

"But can the ship..." Amaka turned to Baraka, "You got enough to play with at the moment?"

"I can certainly get some ideas..."

"Tamela, switch to explosives...we can't run the solars down faster than they can recharge. We can go back to stunning when the first of the hydrofuse-reactors is up and running," Amaka ordered.

"But..." Baraka started to protest.

"But nothing...Better we are safe than stranded with a busted foil."

"Yes Ma'am,"

"I think we can leave the bridge now...Tamela, stay on con and report if anything you can't handle appears. I need to be groundside now."

"Yes Ma'am...and thank you..."

"Thank you for what?" Amaka asked.

"Dayo," Tamela replied, turning back to her screens as she switched ordinance without another word.

****

"Anything recoverable?" Amaka asked Baraka as he sat down next to her and the other voyage crew around the camp-fire as Themba served them all with some sort of seasoned critter on a plate with some tubers that had tested as edible as well.

"Databank electronics are corrupted...full of some sort of fungus that eats the metals, we will have to monitor the FW for that as well just in case, but they are hermetically sealed supposedly...The datacrunchers are working on them for me. Not even skeletons left of the human crew...just shipsuits full of calcium powder. The flora and fauna here sure like to snack..."

Amaka grunted, "Lost nine marines and two civs today, three dogs, two foxes, one hyena, a dingo and four lions, plus numerous injuries...some of the little creatures that look like grazers have nasty teeth and hunt in mobs. No intelligence signs, just overwhelming numbers. Three went to poison plants, they were dead before Kalisha could get to them. I need to know what we are facing soon, and possible solutions quicker."

"How long before the main base camp is set up?" Baako asked Chigaru.

"Two days if the weather holds. We already have the braincases' lab up in part so they can start gut plunging. Dorms were first priority though as we can't sleep on the FW...too many of us out of the cradle now," he replied, stretching as Nubiya settled down next to him and nuzzled against his neck.

Baraka glared daggers at them, but Amaka spoke up before he could erupt, "Understood. Run triple watch patrols as we don't know what night Fauna will emerge. Trust nothing."

"Understood Captain," Chigaru replied, speaking quietly into his wrist com.

Another flash lit the sky above them as a gun discharged...a small explosion and a scream sounding from the forest as whoever was on duty removed another threat.

"My team and I will have everything powered up and ready to go by dawn, Ma'am." Zuberi reported, "Including the labs off battery."

"Don't run yourself into the floor engineer..." Baako cautioned.

"Makes a change from tube crawling...worry not, I will not make any mistakes," he replied.

"Make sure you don't...we have little enough in the way of back up. I do not want to have to break into our moon cargo as I seriously doubt the humans will replace anything we use for them when they arrive."

Zuberi grinned, "I would leave them the dodgy stuff Ma'am..." he gestured up at where their final destination glowed green in the sky, "Sanctuary will be as comfortable as we can make it for our residence there."

"Sanctuary?" Amaka queried.

"That is what the grunts are calling it...I know no name has been settled on yet, but..."

"That true Chigaru?" Amaka queried.

"That seems to be the most popular of the names..." he replied quietly.

"Mmm...seems fitting I suppose, until we find our own planet. We will have to take a vote on

it of course...but I can't see why we don't settle on that for now," She topped her glass up with filtered water and held it aloft to the subject of their musing, "To Sanctuary...may she live up to her name!"

"To Sanctuary!" the others all echoed, taking drinks of their own.

"Right...I am back to work. Catch you all at dawn...it has been a trying day." Zuberi commented, getting up and stretching.

"For you as well...be careful," Kalisha commented quietly as she stood, "I shall go check on the ones that were just injured before I retire."

Zuberi's eyes followed her as she walked off into the darkness of the night, "Did she just?" he queried.

"I believe she did...now pay heed to her advice," Zuri commented as she stood, "Anyone need me tonight?" Themba turned with a grin... "Not you...I need a rest!"

"Ahh...but..." Themba protested.

"Leave off Themba," Amaka replied quietly, "I would have thought we were all too tired for that anyhow, I know I am."

"I have high energy levels..." Themba protested.

"Should I give you a gun and send you out on one of the patrols then?" Chigaru asked in a rare display of drollness.

Themba's eyes glanced at Amaka until she grinned, "I could order it you know..."

"I think I have just become tired..." the irascible chef commented, backing away from the fire as everyone remaining laughed at his expense.

"To bed then..." Amaka commented, "See you all on the new dawn."

****