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The Exodus - Part 4

The Horoshi space program was at full swing, and had been for years. There were more applicants to the program than there were ships to put crews on. Every year or so another deep-space research ship was finished, and it went off full of supplies and research equipment. The ships were not that large, and thus did not carry many individuals at a time. Depending on the model in use, anywhere from 6 to 30 Horoshi could be housed on the things in relative comfort, and launched via their FTL drives to uncharted systems.

It had been 20 years since this new method of star travel had been discovered, but only about 15 years since exploration really took off. The first few years were just spent refining the technology, building the first few ships, and getting crews trained. Now the whole process was operating quite efficiently, and by the time they had a ship ready, they already had a crew waiting with anticipation. Ships were going out in all directions, to every solar system they could locate. Rather than only going to choice ones, they were hitting all of them one after another.

The entire system would be scanned over the course of anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, then the ships would move on. If they found something promising, they would report back to Aquitas. So far several likely worlds had been selected for possible alteration of the atmosphere, with the hopes of eventually producing a habitable climate. Others had been selected for plentiful minerals, or other useful resources.

But they had yet to find some perfect world, ready for settlement without having to change anything. There had been a few near winners, and recent observations combined with new mathematics were indicating that this might be a frequent thing. One ship had located an arid world that could have easily supported life, but it was already inhabited by developing life. It might be hundreds of thousands of years until they became a self-aware species capable of developing space travel, but the Horoshi weren't about to move in and take over the place.

The little insect like creatures would likely be the source of much research and philosophical debate for some time to come, as they definitely proved that complex and sentient life was not a completely rare thing in this Galaxy. Another ship located a tidally locked planet that had a green-belt of sorts around its equatorial range, between the light and dark side of the world. Life could have thrived in this green belt, but the Horoshi were deathly allergic to the plant life already living there. Fortunately nobody got killed examining the place, but it did create the need for more strict testing of the planetary surface before anyone was exposed to its atmosphere.

Other worlds were put on the list for possible atmospheric alteration, especially one which was perfect minus its helium atmosphere. If enough of the gas could be replaced with oxygen, it would be a great place to live. Minus of course the squeaky voice you were likely to develop after a few good deep breaths. Eventually they would find something, it was just a matter of looking hard enough.

Gratch and Whizzer lived together on one of the larger research and exploration ships, a more recent one built which they had moved to some months back. They were perhaps 100 light years from their inhabited worlds, examining a large blue star, quite a lot larger than the red dwarf their current population orbited around. It was a brilliant sight to see, putting out light the colour of Aquitas herself. For ease of filing, all the explored star systems were simply given numbers, and any planets within numerals attached.

This blue star was number 135, and it had a grand total of 6 planets. Planet I, II, and III were all dead worlds, their surface blasted by the heat and radiation thrown off by the hot star. The fourth planet out was a large irregular ball of rock, spinning in the opposite direction to the rest of the planets in the system. Its orbit was in a state of decay, and it was likely to either tear itself apart or fall into the star within a few thousand years. Likely it was a rogue planet that passed too close, and was captured into the harsh gravity of the big blue star.

The fifth planet wound up being a large a very colourful gas giant, with several thick rings spinning around it, and further out, many moons. Several of them might make excellent colonies one day, if they could be given an atmosphere and cooled down a tad. Likely a thick enough atmosphere would do just that, and permit liquid water to exist on the surface. It was a long shot, but it was just the kind of information they were out here to gather. The details were logged in the ships computer banks, and would be transmitted back to the lead research posts in orbit around Aquitas, once they went back. They still had one star system left to examine, so it was only going to be a short while longer.

The sixth planet wound up being a large frozen world, nothing more than a solid ball of ice around a dead rocky core. It wasn't anything special, so it really wasn't looked at all that much. Gratch finished a few last minute scans of the system as they prepared to leave, spinning up the engines and building speed to push themselves away from any planetary bodies. There was no sense in contaminating any of the planets with their engines EM bursts when they hit the FTL drives. After all, they might just come back in a few decades.

They were not in any hurry, so most of the crew went off shift to enjoy a few hours of rest. When they jumped to the new star system, they would likely hang high above the Z axis of the star for a day or two, to relax and run some tests before carrying on. It would be a nice break for the crew, whom had been quite busy for a full week examining the planets in star system #135. Standing and stretching, Gratch moved his large hide away from his workstation, and walked to his quarters.

When he opened up the sliding door, he was greeted by a lovely pair of Horoshi breasts, busy expanding rather rapidly towards them. He barely had room to close the door behind himself, before he got a snout-full of ballooning tit flesh. Reaching out with both musclebound arms, he gave them a gentile hug and squeak, rumbling to himself at the feel of such soft globes stretching out even larger in his grasp.

"Careful there husband, you might just pop me."

Whizzer always was a tease, and always had fun ways of welcoming him home.

"Nonsense! I bet you could get twice as large as you are now, without even batting an eye. Though if you do explode, you're cleaning up the mess once you get out of the medical bay."

This earned him a slap across the flank with a thick tail, and got him pushed up against the wall of their cabin. He was practically enveloped by the ballooning breasts of his mate, as shi just kept on filling up larger by the moment. Shi was already sporting breasts at least 4m in diameter each, and they continued stretching before his eyes. Shi was getting quite good at this he thought, and he figured shi must have a lot of time to practice at present. Shi didn't really have any duties on the ship, aside from helping out in the galley or assisting to tabulate data gathered on their journey. It suited hir well however, so Gratch saw no need to provide any suggestions or make any changes.

What he had in mind right now was the sheer size of his mate, as he buried his snout in hir cleavage to nuzzle around with a happy rumble. As shi passed 5m in diameter per breast, they both decided to be cautious and not fill up their cabin completely. It had 6m high ceilings, but neither of them wanted to go bursting anytime soon. They were both sure they could take the size and strain with ease, but there was always time for that later when they had more room, and less pressing matters to deal with.

Gratch helped remove the hoses from Whizzer's enlarged nipples, and decided to have a little fun himself. He hooked one up to hir already engorged phallus, and stuffed the other one into hir mouth, and sat back on their bed to watch the big lass fill out even more. Shi was obviously pleased with the idea, as shi rubbed at her swiftly growing belly with one paw, and hir elongating meat with the other. Quite randy himself, he leaned in close and licked hir gently behind one of hir frills, just the way shi liked it. Obviously shi was in no mood for teasing, and wanted to get right down and dirty.

Before long, Gratch was using a third hose to get himself quite a bit more pumped in the loins and belly region, and found himself a comfortable spot to stuff his engorged length under hir tail. She gasped at his size but purred all the same, lashing hir fat and swelling tail around as shi lay there ballooning on the deck, against a bed of hir own breasts and belly. Shi did her best to paw at hir own massive length as he serviced hir various entrances, thrusting in and out firmly with his massive tool.

They stopped with the bloating when the quarters began to get cramped, and instead focused on all the fun they could have in sexual conjugation. Shi made damn sure he got release several times over, while he made sure shi got the same. Ballooned boobs were squeezed and humped, bellies were squished together with squeaks and groans, massive tools were primed, sucked, pumped, and drained of their contents, and every inch of their swollen bodies was rubbed over and likely filled up even larger here and there with various fillings.

Both were panting, sloshing, and squeaking with every movement when they finally ran out of energy hours later, filling up most of their quarters to the bursting point. Gratch was fairly sure his hind end had swelled into their washroom, or perhaps one of the storage closets. He longed for more space to fill up and play, but it was kind of nice to fill up a room like this, especially when one had such good company like Whizzer. They slept where they were, cradled upon the bloat of one another like the best bed and pillow combined. Sometime later they would deflate, clean themselves up, and likely get a meal or two together. For now, they needed their rest. If Gratch was lucky, they'd have another go at their favourite pastime when were fed.

He certainly felt like one lucky Horoshi, that much was clear. And he was confident that Whizzer shared his viewpoint. They fell asleep in a happy afterglow, warm with the sensation of being so cared for by another. The next day awaited their attention.

*** ***

After a good nights sleep the two lovers reluctantly deflated down to a more mobile state, and went off to get something to eat. It wasn't exactly a 5-star diner aboard ship, but the galley managed to keep them all well fed. There was plenty of fish from their last stopover at Aquitas, breads, fruits and veggies, and whatever else they could think of. There was even a generous helping of eggs for those whom liked them, and most folks did. Sure a few folks got a little antsy about eating eggs, seeing as Horoshi hatched from them. But these were from an entirely different species, so most people got over their qualms and learned to love them.

Gratch got extra portions of the wonderful fluffy eggs, plenty of fish and fruit, and some sweet rolls. Whizzer got much the same, but also got a heaping bowl full of porridge to complete hir meal. The two found a quiet place to sit, and squished their fat stomachs up against the table edges to devour their food with gusto. After having seconds and desert, they lounged over tea and simply talked with one another. Occasionally they'd exchange the odd rub of of a tail, or stroke of a big foot-paw over one flabby surface or another. It was quite clear to anyone watching, that they really did enjoy the company of one another.

The pair still stank somewhat of their romp the night before, so it wasn't long before they retired back to their quarters for a scrub down. They were lucky enough to have a big bathing chamber, large enough for both of them to use it at the same time without being cramped. It was lined with metals and plastics, and many drain holes in the floor. Water rained down on them from the ceiling, plus a few conveniently located sprayers along the walls. One could seal themselves in the fairly large chamber, and get nice and soaked from any corner of the room.

Gratch applied more cleaning fluid to his paws, and busied himself scrubbing Whizzer down all over the place, working up a wonderful lather. Shi was washing his tail as well, and they continued alternating who washed what, to make sure nothing was missed. It was always best to bathe with company, as they could get at the areas you'd otherwise miss. Even a less portly Horoshi had trouble reaching every little patch of hide. As they were playfully lathering up the others gut, paws started roaming places that didn't really involve cleaning.

Gratch leaned in over Whizzer's still rather large chest, and gave hir a kiss on the snout. They lingered like this for a while, cuddling and rubbing here and there, tongues lashing away between sharp teeth and scaly muzzles. Both were rapidly growing quite aroused with one another yet again, sliding slippery and soaped up hides against one another with growing intensity. Gratch fondled both of hir large breasts happily, squeezing and pinching like the overgrown tease he was, making sure hir nipples got plenty of attention. He was getting much the same in return, receiving a firm pinch on one of his flabby chest bulges, before having his loins playfully flicked and prodded.

It didn't take long for them to make a mess of themselves once more, prompting them to just stay in the warm soapy shower spray as they went about their business. Gratch slid himself home in one of Whizzer's many openings, pumping away as she gasped, filling hir up with his ample seed. He panted as he eventually removed himself from hir depths, and grunted as he was pushed over onto his fat stomach by a still very horny lass. Shi soon burred hirself up to hir hilt in his rear end, prompting a gasp from his snout. Shi certainly did like to dish it out as much as she received it.

Gratch moaned not long after as his already large belly filled up even bigger still, sloshing and churning with the warm sticky contents being forced in at high pressure. It was one of hir many ways of making sure he had just as much fun as shi did. After pumping Gratch up quite a bit larger, shi helped clean him off and remove any lingering musk. Shi tripped him up on his way back into the main room however, and once again plowed hirself home, filling him up larger still with her ample seed. The big fellow gasped at the rough treatment, hugging his ballooning gut with both forepaws as it sloshed and swelled up even larger. Shi dragged him back into the shower room for a little while longer, and only let him out after shi was completely sated... At least for now. Gratch doubted he could ever really quell her appetites some days. When he was finally allowed to leave, his gut hung down past his knees, with a diameter nearly as large as he was tall. It was impressive to say the least, sloshing with his every movement, and weighing him down quite a deal.

He was almost embarrassed when he was summoned to his workstation on the bridge not long after, huffing and puffing as he waddled and stomped his way out of their cabin, and down the hallways. He snuck a glance over his shoulder at his wonderful mate as he left, and got a lewd grin and a wink from hir on his way out.

"Don't keep me waiting too long. I'm just getting started with you, big boy."

Shi certainly knew how to drive him wild. Once more reeking of arousal and likely dripping from his hidden loins as he waddled along, he eventually stuffed himself through the curiously narrow doorway to the bridge, and sat down on his chair. It creaked ominously under his massive girth, and he found he couldn't reach around his bloated belly to get at his keyboard. Shrugging, he turned around slowly to face the rest of the bridge crew, all of whom were wearing mixed expression. Most were amused, a few also looked and smelled aroused. He knew he was huge for a Horoshi, a size most likely coveted. Perhaps some of them would like to come home to play sometime. Whizzer certainly wouldn't mind, shi liked having new playthings.

"Heh, you summoned me?"

The captain blinked then snorted with mirth, knowing damn fine that he likely interrupted some fun going on in Gratch's quarters. He cleared his throat, trying to ignore the faint tingles of arousal he was experiencing both from the smells wafting around the bridge, and the sight of such a bloated Horoshi.

"Yes Gratch, we wanted to let you know that we were starting our survey of the first planet shortly. Umm... Are you going to be able to use your station?"

Gratch chuckled, and made a lunge for his equipment, and wound up with his keypads sitting atop the apex of his huge gut. At least he could get at them now, and was thus good to go. He nodded the affirmative to his captain, an older brown-tinged Horoshi with a tan underbelly. He wasn't very plump at all, which was odd. Must not be eating very well, he thought.

Everyone turned to their stations, and they all got to work. It was a short trip to the first planet in the system, hanging around a brightly burning yellow star. It had been assigned the number 156, in the big catalogue they were steadily building. As is typical with stars of this intensity, the first planet was nothing more than a scorched ruin. It was too hot to even attempt a reasonable landing upon, but filed away just the same. They completed basic scans rather quickly, and moved on further into the system. The second planet was a also quite barren and warm, devoid of an atmosphere but potentially usable as a mining site. It too got added to the list.

Where a third planet should be however, was an asteroid belt. It was likely something had been there at one point or another, but it had broken up into this field over untold amounts of time. As they sat there scanning the asteroids, workers from the galley brought in hot tea for everyone on the bridge, and assorted snacks. Whizzer was among the staff helping out at that time, and she threw Gratch and several others a wink and a wiggle. Shi certainly was one hell of a tease. Gratch figured he'd have to fill hir up nice and huge in return that night to pay hir back for this gigantic sloshy gut he was sporting. The snacks were at least a welcome thing to have, while they continued working. They noticed many useful materials in the asteroids, possibly enough to make a mining venture worthwhile. They could build a space station out there to gobble up the asteroids, and produce usable minerals for all sorts of applications. That earned it a few more notes in the file on this system.

Gratch slurped at his tea and munched on a sweet roll as he waited for the next system, one they were fast approaching thanks to their wonderful engines. It soon swelled in their monitors, revealing a rather lovely looking planet. It had dark green land masses with the odd bit of brown or grey where mountains were poking up towards the sky. There were clear blue oceans with inland seas tinted a soft green colour, as well as ample rivers. This was definitely some place to take a closer look at, and they set up shop to do just that.

They put their research ship into orbit around the lovely looking world, and began more detailed scans. Oxygen nitrogen atmosphere, in a mixture Horoshi could withstand without any health effects. There appeared to be a thriving ecology of giant plants and large animals, plus plenty of sea life in the oceans. There was no tilt to the axis of the world, giving a fairly constant temperature of 30c everywhere but the poles. There were no ice caps at the poles, but it did rain there quite often if the weather maps they were generating were accurate. They sent down little robot probes to gather more detailed scans, and samples of the plant life and atmosphere.

While the automated probes were busy, they circled the planet again and again, taking detailed images of its entire surface, and producing a digital map. They also gathered information about the size of the planet, and whatever else they could think of. It was more than twice the size of Aquitas, roughly 31000KM in diameter. Preliminary observations showed that it had less gravity than their watery world however, perhaps only 2/3 what a Horoshi was used to. Obviously it didn't have a very dense core. Over a third of the planet was solid land, spread out in 5 continents of various sizes, with small islands here and there as well.

From what Gratch had learned back in his early education, there was likely more usable land here than what had been available back on their ancient home world. He found he was writing page after page of valuable data on this new world, while thinking that perhaps they had finally found someplace more permanent to settle upon. The probes came back with good news, namely nothing to report. The air was clean, the animal and plant life was non-toxic, and there was nothing to stop them from going down to have a look for themselves. The captain decided to take the whole ship down, making use of its landing engines to bring them in for a soft landing somewhere.

A clearing was selected on one of the many continents, in some thick grass and near a jungle forest of some sort. The large barge-like ship came out of the atmosphere ringed in fire, and rapidly cooled down as it made it the rest of the way through the thick atmosphere. The ship touched down with minimal thrusters right in the middle of the grassy clearing, managing not to start any fires or put too much of a dent in the soft loam.

One Horoshi crewman was allowed to leave the ship via a little passenger airlock along the port side, while others waited in pressure suits to fetch him back inside should the air disagree with him. The fellow took several deep breaths and looked around, shrugging and signalling that it appeared to be safe. The rest of the crew waited a few minutes anyways, while their companion made himself comfortable in the grass, laying back and sunning his big belly while he was at it.

Eventually others came out, satisfied that the air was fine. Further tests confirmed that nothing appeared toxic on this lush green planet, and likely quite a lot was even edible. They gathered many samples for testing, from everything they could think of. Gratch got Whizzer and went for a walk, aiming for the nearby jungle to examine a few things. It felt nice to walk around in the grass, and not on deck plating. Whizzer seemed to enjoy it as well, and patted Gratch's swollen belly as they went.

The two soon found themselves looking up at some very large trees, thick things with leafy canopies, and frequently covered in hanging vines. They were growing a fat globular kind of fruit, orange in colour with swirls of red here and there. They were smart enough not to dig in right away, and instead took samples to be tested back on the ship. They also found some plump berries growing on low bushes here and there, and even a sort of flower that was connected to a long white tuber under the surface. It smelled sweet and starchy, and it got added to a growing pile of swag to bring back with them.

"Well, what do you think Whizzer? I think we've hit the jackpot. Want to come back here after we've made our report, and start a colony?"

Shi looked thoughtful for a while, then smiled and nodded, leaning up on the tips of hir clawed toes to nuzzle him under the chin. They walked back to the ship hand in hand, carrying their booty within large paws. It was certainly a welcome addition to the test batch, and all the fruits and vegetables wound up being quite edible. The tuber wound up cooking up into a sticky mush that was fantastic on its own, and also went well with anything. They could also grind it up and make a hearty kind of bread with the mush. The fruits and berries were sweet and juicy, and complemented any meal they had over the next few days.

They spent their time planning out possible colony locations, gathering more fresh food for their next few meals, then packed up shop and returned to orbit. They had a few more days of work left in system examining things, then off they'd go to make their report. And what a report it was going to be! This new planet even had several large moons, all of which bore faint atmospheres. Likely spill-over from the host planet, but it was something to work with. If they were large and dense enough to support an atmosphere, then it could be built upon over time and provide even more usable land for colonization.

Eventually they broke orbit and continued their research, finding the last 3 planets in the system to be fairly large gas giants. Each bore a collection of moons, some of which might make good outposts of their own at one point or another. Preliminary surveys suggested all sorts of valuable minerals all over the place, plus various usable gasses in the atmospheres of the gas giants themselves. It definitely looked as if they'd struck gold with system. They lingered only long enough to make sure they'd gathered all the data they wanted, and spun up their engines for the jump back home. They were far enough out that it was safer to make the trip in two jumps, so they had a day or two to relax during the trip.

Gratch went back to his cabin and soon found himself quite literally tripped up by his horny mate, and was soon laying belly-down on the deck while his massive belly sloshed and filled up even more. Whizzer was obviously happy to see him, and was doing hir best to bloat him up to fill the cabin at this point. He rumbled and moaned with the pleasure of it all, and wondered if he'd even be able to stand by morning, let alone get to his station. Likely he'd have to be drained by then, if his constant filling was any indication. As his belly and sides just kept on sloshing and filling out wider by the moment, he swished his fat tail around and thought just how lucky he was to have such a horny minx for a mate.

Life was definitely good.

*** ***

Word spread fast of their discovery.

After making their initial reports to the leaders of the space program, and in turn the government, folks of course started talking about it. Within days Horoshi everywhere were openly talking about the first major discovery of this new space endeavour. It wasn't long before public forums were asking what was being done about this wonderful new planet. Some Horoshi seemed willing to pack their bags and head out right now, to take advantage of all the new open space.

Their population was still growing, and the construction of new artificial island cities was only going so fast. Emigration to their in-system outposts only went so far to relieve the expanding population pressure. What they all really needed was a planet they could just throw up buildings on, without having to first spend years making platforms for everything. Aquitas was nice and all, but development was certainly limited.

Public meetings were held on ever platform, as well as smaller meetings on their outpost worlds. The Horoshi were soon reminded that it wasn't just a matter of moving to a new planet and moving into your new house. There was literally nothing there at all, other than native wildlife and the like. It might take a while to get a stable colony going, and they were already starting the process.

Survey ships had since gone back to the new world, and were gathering detailed information about mineral content, possible mining locations, sources of fuel, access to temporary building materials, and even food supply. Once a first colony site was selected, they would happily ship off a first batch of settlers. A new research ship still under construction was being converted into a colony ship, and likely a future passenger liner. Rather than banks of crew quarters, it would have large open berths with folding bunks and seating. The trip would take about 2 days on the safe side, so passengers would likely want to get some rest.

There would be enough food aboard to give everyone good rations, and quickly get them to their intended destination. All of the cargo space would be filled with equipment for building temporary shelters, begin farming, building mine sites for more useful materials, and whatever else came to mind. The bunks were comfortable enough, and could even detach from the floors and walls with ease. The idea would be to take them off the ship at the other end, and use them for bedding on site. It was one less thing to pack for the journey. Likely parts of the ship would be stripped off as well, and a mostly empty husk would fly back to Aquitas for another load of equipment.

The whole process was taken slowly and deliberately, paying the utmost attention to detail. This was not the rushed settlement of Aquitas. They hoped to do things right on this planet, and not spread over it like a parasite. Plans were already being proposed for new mega-city buildings to be put together on site, after the first small colony got started. It appeared they had an ample supply of many light and strong metals to build just about anything they wanted.

And they definitely had an ample supply of eager Horoshi who wanted to go and make a fresh start on this untouched planet.

Gratch was one of them, and he had temporarily excused himself from his duties in space to wrap up some affairs back home. Whizzer came along, and they got themselves checked into temporary lodgings in one of the smaller buildings around the great space elevator. Shi stayed behind to relax and catch up with some old friends, while Gratch went off to see his family. One by one he visited siblings, aunts, and uncles living in and around the city, plus the outlying settlements. He sent various communications off to family living on the outpost worlds as well, expressing his desire that they all opted to resettle on the new world.

All that was left on his list were his grandparents. He met up with them for dinner one evening, and was brought back to a simpler time when he often visited with them, or stayed for extended periods while attending school. Sitting around a small table exchanging conversation and laughs, he finally brought up the subject.

"Ahh, its great to see you all again. It has definitely been far too long. Surely you've heard of what I've been up to by now, and what we found out there."

Chu nodded hir head, smiling with delight at the accomplishments of her grandson. Rajax and Teeka followed suit, beaming with pride. Gratch noticed that they were finally starting to look their age, and tried to remember exactly how old they were. They were far from the 200 or so years that was the average Horoshi lifespan, but not that far. Still, most Horoshi were living longer these days, so who knows how long they'd last.

Rajax cleared his throat and reached over to pat his grandson on his massive shoulder, still quite dwarfed by the musclebound brute.

"Yes, we've heard. It sounds absolutely wonderful! I assume you and Whizzer will be joining the colony then?"

Gratch nodded, and continued.

"Yes, that we are. But that's what I came to talk to you all about. Most of the rest of the family are coming too. Perhaps not right away, but likely within the first few trips. I'd like you all to come along as well. It would be great to have the whole family together again, in the same town."

The three elders looked to one another for a while, then sighed and smiled at the same time.

"No m'boy, we can't. Maybe if we had been asked decades ago... but no. We've practically lived here all our lives, and it is our home. Perhaps we'll visit once passenger travel is set up between the worlds, but we're here to stay. Our children and all of you grandchildren can of course do as you please. You're welcome to come visit us anytime, we'll likely still be here."

Gratch nodded, looking just a little upset. He had expected this, but he had to try. Of course they wanted to stay, they'd lived here for at least a century now, if not longer. The dates were fuzzy in his mind. They would not have access to the same kind of medical care on the new world, not for a while anyways. It would take time to build up a modern infrastructure. It was likely that they'd be living in tents for the first year alone.

Still, it was likely they'd not be totally cut off from one another. Communication might be a problem, but plans were already on the table to carry mail back and forth between the colonies with a ship or two. Likely the same ones carrying around more equipment, passengers, and settlers. The evening ended all too soon, and he waved goodbye to his elders. They looked perfectly happy with one another even after all this time.

He was certain they'd be just fine, even with an empty nest.

*** ***

The first wave of colonization had gone smoothly, and it didn't take more than a few days to get their temporary colony up and running. They had gone with group lodging for convenience, erecting long buildings made out of metal tubing and plastics, with strong synthetic cloth strung up for walls. It was largely just to keep out the sun during the hotter periods of the day, should one want to get out of the heat. It got fairly warm on their new home, and many the big portly Horoshi could often be found bathing in cool rivers, or swimming in the nearby lake. It was usually quite the sight, big thick tails lashing all over the place in foamed up water.

Before long they were cultivating various plant life they found both tasty and edible, sticking with entirely native produce for the time being. Later hydroponics bays would be set up for growing anything from off world, namely the various items still grown since the first journeys of the Arc ships. Hunting parties went out in search of any tasty animals they could bring down, while others set up shop on the lake shore and fished. After a month the first mine opened, using manual labour at first but quickly switching to machine-digging once a supply ship dropped off some new equipment.

Near the mine they built a smelter, followed by storage bays. Ore was smelted into ingots for use in the days ahead, and stored securely in the bays. Eventually they would have enough usable metals on hand to begin constructing small factories, with more equipment sent to them by the orbital construction yards around Aquitas.

Miners and farmers from their outposts worlds made for a pre-trained workforce, while the rest of the population was rounded out from every profession they could think of. Their little colony soon had a thousand hard working Horoshi on hand, busy with this and that on a daily basis. Gratch and Whizzer both lived with several other Horoshi in their group lodge, but they managed to have a little curtained off section of the building to themselves. They had converted their salvaged bunks into a double bed, just big enough for them to cuddle up on at night. Or any other time they wanted to have some fun, for that matter. They regretted that they had to keep some of there expansive hobbies to a minimum, but there weren't exactly personal air hoses in every wall like their former homes. Nor was there much space to get really large to begin with.

They had to make do with cuddling, the odd friendly puff of air muzzle to muzzle, and of course lots and lots of mating. More than a few mornings had one or both of them sloshing to one work site or another with distended fluid-filled bellies, snickering to themselves and smelling musky as can be. They didn't exactly need a lead researcher or engineer on planet at present, so Gratch took to farming with Whizzer. They both had a crop of those tasty tubers previously discovered at the edges of the jungle, and they had taken to cultivation quite wonderfully. The plants grew like weeds too, producing an edible root every 50 days like clockwork. With the fairly constant weather on this planet and its relatively long year, they would likely get many harvested crops before a year was out.

This planet was a lot like their ancient home world in terms of time travelled around the star. The former world had taken almost a perfect 500 days to make a complete orbit, while this one took 510. They still measured a year in terms of 500 day intervals, and thanks to the weather on the planet the overlap of days was hardly noticed. Eventually they would modify their time measurement to match up with this new world, as more and more Horoshi moved in.

After the first few years, their little settlement had grown into a lovely town, with proper houses and many mass-occupancy buildings. Nothing like the great Archologies of Aquitas, those would come later as the population continued to grow. Likely this town of there's would stick to smaller buildings for now, and would be changed up as needed. Gratch worked for the town council helping to plan and develop new expansions, and eventually other settlements around the continent. With this one settlement thriving, future ones wouldn't have to start with such basics as they had. They could go into a new area and build proper housing right off the bat, and include all the infrastructure any Horoshi would desire.

Their own town had a multitude of public bathing facilities that were quite popular, and were frequently filled with dozens if not hundred of mixed-gender Horoshi splashing around in either plan water or ample bubble suds. They were expecting another few thousand Horoshi in short order, likely bringing their population up over 20,000. Before they knew it they would have to build that new town, and likely start planning on cities.

Great flying airships had been built to fly low over the terrain, their huge gas bags lifting even the heaviest of Horoshi crew as they surveyed the rest of the continent up close. Other airships had been dispatched to examine the other continents, plopping down survey markers here and there for future expansion. It was unlikely they would start building on the other masses of land for years or even decades, but Horoshi always did like to plan ahead.

After the 10th year on their new world, a meeting was held between the three current townships, to finally assign a name to their lovely world. They had simply been referring to it as "the colony" for the past decade, but they were here to stay and it was time to change things. A few words were said about their history and origins, and the great ancient disaster that had prompted the race to cut its numbers and take to the stars. They had finally found a new proper planet to live on, where they could truly prosper for the long term.

Several names were suggested, but one really stuck out. It was chosen almost unanimously, and holds true to this day. Once again, the Horoshi have made a home for themselves on the planet Horoshi. It has a nice ring to it, after all.

Gratch settled back in his office towards the end of his shift that day, stretching his still massive arms and looking out of his 5th story window. The construction site could be seen off in the distance, where the ground work was being laid for the first truly major building on the planet. They were building the first level of an Archology, which would hopefully house several thousand Horoshi workers and such for the time being. As the need arose, they would add more levels to the structure, until it challenged the skies itself like the great conical structures back on Aquitas. It would hold future businesses, hundreds of thousands of settlers, industry, power plants, waste disposal, and science facilities. They wouldn't need on-site parks and the like, as anyone could just walk outside and enjoy the thick grass, nearby river, and jungle vista.

It would likely be several years before the great structure was built, and it was all too likely that they'd build another one nearby. Other such projects were starting up in and around the smaller towns, and bit by bit the older facilities would be torn down in favour of the mass-occupancy buildings. They wanted to keep this new world of theirs as green as possible, while at the same time spread out their population. It had been agreed in a prior meeting to limit cities to 5 Archologies each, giving somewhere in the 1 to 1.2 million range for population. Already most of the towns were nearing the hundred thousand mark, so it was likely a good thing that they were starting on these massive projects. Huge hydroponics facilities in each building would aid in feeding the Horoshi, while surface farms raised fish and animal life for consumption. Some scientists were working on ways to grow food in the lab, so they would need even less space to keep themselves fed.

But for the time being, such ventures were all just science fiction.

The Horoshi continue to thrive on their new home world, as their population grows both from within and from without. Eventually they plan to settle more planets, and truly make use of their wonderful method of star travel. But for now, they're happy to finally have the chance to rebuild their numbers, and make a stable and happy home for themselves. Passenger travel kicked into high gear once a starport had been built on the surface, and Gratch and his family all got together again for one hell of a party.

Rajax, Chu, and Teeka were all turning 200, and they had decided to take a trip to Horoshi to celebrate while they still could. They were still in good health, and would likely stay so for some time. But it was better to celebrate when you could, rather than put off things that might not be there in a few years. A banquet hall was leased for the occasion, as 4 generations of their family all got together to celebrate. Some of Gratch's siblings had started families of their own, and already had young children whom were several years old.

Gratch looked around the large table that had been put together for them, and the dozens of Horoshi whom were all seated there. Standing up, he tapped a claw against his beverage container, the ringing sound quieting everyone and gathering their attention.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming. We're here to celebrate the 200th hatching day of our elders, Rajax, Teeka, and Chu. It goes without saying that none of us would be here if it wasn't for them, quite literally. They're only here for a few short days however, so lets make this a hatching day they'll never forget!"

Every single one of them, even the children, raised their glasses in salute. A rousing call of "Huzzah!" went up from one end of the table to another, prompting beaming smiles of pleasure to pass over the wrinkled snouts of their three elders. Chu even blushed. Tails thumped up and down to join in applause, as they sang songs, told stories, and stuffed themselves silly.

It was one hell of a party, and everyone was certainly glad to be there. They all hoped that the family would continue to grow and stay in contact, and looked forward to many more celebrations just like this one. Gratch raised his glass once more, standing tall over everyone else, and raised his voice amongst the clamour.

"Welcome to Horoshi, the home of my family and yours. Huzzah!"

It was the start of a very wonderful new chapter in all their lives.

The end.