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Docking was a routine maneuver that hardly required any attention from the human occupants of either ship, and Strong Soul left Micah and Jules to take care of the details between themselves. With a tiny feeling of emptiness, she drew back from the joining and back into her own body, letting the others find their way back with her. The Mrr'tani on the Ferret were still close in her mind, though, and she could still feel their excitement and joy.

The entire battle, if it could be called that, had taken less than five minutes, a fact that brought Strong Soul's eyes back to the screen in front of her, wide and disbelieving. Everything she'd seen and everything she'd done had all been done quicker than she ever felt possible. When she finally tore her eyes away from the chronometer, she found First Spark's eyes regarding her with a new respect, something that bordered on sheer worship if she was feeling the girl's emotions correctly. From Stargazer, though, there was an increased sense of respect as well, but over that, she found something that she would never have admitted to herself that she was seeking. He was proud of her. His eyes said it all, even without the link she shared.

It was the same with Night Star, though his was tempered with something deeper, something that he only shared with her. He felt the same as the others, joyous, reverent and proud, but the feeling that churned beneath the surface of their Mrr'ouwff, no matter what else was going on was even stronger and more apparent, matching the look in his eyes. It was enough that she couldn't keep his eyes for long, looking away with a heat touching her cheeks beneath her fur.

"Well done, Keeper," Stargazer said plainly.

"Thank you," she answered, standing from her seat and stretching. Though it had only been a few minutes, she felt as stiff as she did when she sat for hours.

"That was incredible!" First Spark said, standing with her. She reached out a hand to lay on Strong Soul's arm, touching as if to make sure that she was real.

"That was only the first part," Strong Soul answered. "Now comes the part where we figure out how to get the humans onto the planet without the other Mrr'tani tearing them to pieces."

"They respect you, Keeper," Stargazer said. "They'll listen to what you tell them."

"You didn't feel what I did, Stargazer," Strong Soul said. "They weren't simply ready to kill those humans. They were prepared to tear them apart. I felt that desire."

"It is understandable, Keeper," Stargazer said. "The humans of the Allied Planets have been the source of pain and torture for many years. Many of the Mrr'tani on that ship have known no other life, and the only thing that sustains them is the thought of one day being able to take revenge."

"We can't let them do that, Stargazer. No matter how right it is, we can't give the humans anything to turn us into animals."

"I agree, Keeper," he said, bowing his head. "But I believe you do yourself an injustice when you discount how much power your words and thoughts have with the Mrr'tani. You must realize that you are not simply a Mrr'tanah. You are the one for whom the Mrr'tani have been waiting since the Night of Blood."

"No, Stargazer," she said, "I'm not that one. Catcher of Souls was that one. I'm something different."

"As you say, Keeper," he conceded. "The fact remains that the Mrr'tani will listen to what you have to say without you needing to exercise any undue control over them."

"We'll see, won't we?"

The ships drifted closer to each other through the void, each minute bringing them mere inches closer together. Despite the speed of the battle, nothing physical seemed to move very fast in the vastness of space, and Strong Soul found herself standing next to the Pride's airlock drumming her toes against the deck, her mind moving through everything she planned to say, all that she planned to do. Despite the frenzied pace of her thoughts, she didn't let any of it show, keeping her face a mask of calm. It didn't help that she knew the others could feel her impatience and uncertainty.

She was about to face almost a thousand of her own kind to somehow talk them into following her, likely in some futile attempt at freedom. How was she going to convince them all? Did she even need to convince them all? What would she do if they didn't follow her, and decided to go their own way? Would she have to try to stop them, or should she let them go?

Questions upon questions flowed through her mind and she hung on every one as the distance between the two ships finally reached zero. With a thump that reverberated through the ship, the Pride tied itself to the Ferret and Strong Soul looked up at the airlock panel as the light flashed from red to green.

With a breath, she gathered her thoughts and pressed the button that opened the airlock. As always, the tube that connected the airlock to the other ship was empty and she walked silently through it, Night Star at her side with First Spark and Stargazer hardly a step behind. The airlock on the Ferret was much larger than the one on the Pride, being a tug and not a simple freighter. The Ferret was meant to be the workhorse cargo hauler of the Alliance, and though it usually pulled the cargo with it, trapped between grav beams mounted on pylons that stretched almost a kilometer beneath it, it was also designed to carry more sensitive cargo within its hull, and the airlocks had been designed for that purpose.

Strong Soul felt even smaller than she usually did standing in the daunting room as the outer door closed behind her. She didn't know what to expect when the inner door opened, but nothing prepared her for what she actually found with the hatch slid to the side.

The room beyond was one of the cargo holds on the ship and it was filled from wall to wall with Mrr'tani bodies. The scent of fur, some washed and some not hit her in a wave, almost as overwhelming as the surge of emotion that crossed into her mind at the same time a resounding cheer met her ears. The entire experience almost sent her to her knees and she reached out to Night Star, hand clutching his shoulder to keep herself upright.

From him and the rest of her entourage, she drew the strength to stand herself back up, letting the sheer emotion flow around and through her, focusing on letting it exist without affecting her, just as Silent Heart had taught her. She lent a small portion of that strength to First Spark when she felt the girl's own senses overwhelmed as much as hers. Together, they kept each other steady as the cheer died down, replaced by an excited murmur.

She closed her eyes a moment and felt the connection still with Jules, taking the time to look through her sensors at the small human crew sitting dejectedly in their mess hall. While a few of them sported bruises and abrasions, every one was otherwise unharmed. That fact alone lent Strong Soul more confidence, and when she opened her eyes, she felt the weight of every Mrr'tani on the ship looking at her expectantly.

"I am sorry," she said finally, mustering up the courage to put her thoughts into words. "I am sorry that it took me so long to do what I know now must be done. It has taken me too much time to find myself and figure out what it is that I have to do. Your ship is the first strike, the first of many."

Another cheer went through the crowd and Strong Soul felt their exhilaration. It swelled in her mind and her heart and with that feeling, she drew her shoulders back lifted her head just a little more.

"You are all now free," she continued. "Free to choose your own path, free to go where you will. When the humans are delivered to the planet, we will take you all somewhere safe, and from there you can go wherever you like."

The murmurs went through the crowd and though she felt the happiness and joy still within them, there was a growing discontent and fear.

"However," she said over the rumbling of voices, "what comes next isn't something I can do on my own. I intend to give each and every Mrr'tani the freedom you have now, but to do that, I will need many more Mrr'tani to join me. I must ask that you look inside and make a decision for yourself. Any that wish, we will deliver to Mss'ranaw, the Mrr'tani refugee fleet. Though life is not necessarily easy there, your work will benefit you and your kind and you will be safe. But there are millions more like you who long for freedom and if you join me, you can give to them what has just been given to you."

The rumbling sound grew and the crowd shifted as some began to step forward, pushing their way through to get to the front. Strong Soul watched and opened her mind as she felt the swell of pride from most of the Mrr'tani in front of her. She knew that she'd made an impact, even if there were some that would take the first option. The fight wasn't for every one of them and she'd accepted that before they even came on board. The elderly and the broken would be well taken care of on Mss'ranaw, Fire Thrower would see to that. As would all the able bodies who decided to seek sanctuary. All of them would be welcome.

"The choice need not be made now," she called over the noise. "We will be almost two weeks to Mss'ranaw. For now, I need each of you to see to the duties for which the humans trained you. Any damage to the ship needs to be repaired and we need to get to the fleet safely. For now, things will proceed as they always have. Please see to your duties as you always have. I do not wish to exercise the same control over you the humans had, so I will simply ask it of you. Bring your fellow Mrr'tani safely to the fleet together, please."

Strong Soul smiled and she felt Night Star's hand on her shoulder and his breath against her bent ear.

"Very inspiring, love," he whispered with a quiet chuckle.

She returned the smile and stepped up to the Mrr'tanou closest to the airlock.

"I must speak with the one you call Firebreather," she said, bowing politely.

"I thought you might," the Mrr'tanou said with a smile. "Come with me."

He turned towards the large hatch on the far side of the bay and Strong Soul and her companions followed him. The other Mrr'tani were starting to file out, as quickly as they could through the smaller door that led to the rest of the ship. As they started making their way through the crowd, the ones nearest her felt the proximity of her mind to theirs and turned to look at her, starting to split apart and make a pathway all the way through the crowd. As she walked through, hands touched her arms and she felt the pulses of excitement and curiosity against her mind, touching almost as physically as the fingers on her fur. Every one of the Mrr'tani hungered for her touch in one way or another, and it was easy enough to give them.

She didn't worry about any of them being trackers or traitors. At this point, it hardly mattered. They would be going with the ship to Mss'ranaw anyway. She was confident, though, in her assessment of the minds around her. The trackers had never had any need to conceal themselves, being the only sensitive Mrr'tani for as long as they could remember. None of the more normal Mrr'tani would have been able to feel them, and any of those that could had long been recruited for tracking or killed.

Firebreather was standing near the far hatch, obviously one of the last to have arrived. It was not hard to pinpoint him as they approached with the reverence and respect that the others showed to him. As the crowd parted the final few meters in front of them, Strong Soul found herself looking into a strong and determined face, something that was different than some of the others around her. Where theirs reflected their happiness, his was one of cautious wariness, not unlike the mask Stargazer's face assumed on occasion. The Mrr'tanou was as tall as Night Star and his fur bore one of the more common patterns of the ocean clan, the darker stripes forming patterns that brought to mind stars on a cloudless night along his shoulders, and the black in his fur shone a deep, dark blue when the light hit just right.

"So you're the Keeper of Hearts," he said plainly.

Though his words were abrupt and the sound of his voice suspicious, Strong Soul could feel the unspoken hope underneath his calm and rugged exterior. It rumbled beneath his thoughts, something that he dared not express, something that had been dashed too many times for him to lend it much credence.

"I am," she answered, bowing slightly. "Thank you for trusting me."

"Don't know that we had much choice in the matter," he said, his eyes locked onto her, watching her closely.

"There is always a choice, Firebreather," she said, rising back to meet his eyes. "Not everything in legend is completely true."

"We heard the rumors, same as everyone, it seems. A little Mrr'tanah somewhere around the outer rim that was bringing back the Mrr'tani and their culture and driving the humans crazy. The humans didn't want us talking about it, so there wasn't much to go on. I just figured it was rumor and stories."

"I hope that this will be the first of many true stories, Firebreather," Strong Soul said with a smile. She left her mind open to this new one, letting him explore the depths of the Mrr'ouwffi and the connection he now shared with not only the rest of his crew, but others on many worlds.

"What do you need from me, then?" he asked.

"You know this ship better than any of the other Mrr'tani," Strong Soul said. "I need you to be the rock for the rest of them. Until now, the humans decided everything about this ship and how it ran. Now I'm leaving that to you, at least until we get to Mss'ranaw."

"You're making me the Ferret's captain?" he asked, smiling.

"I suppose I am," she answered returning his smile with a genuine one of her own. "How much was damaged in the battle?"

"Very little. We managed to secure everything almost at the same time, something I guess was your doing."

Strong Soul felt something inside him giving a little, and she nodded as she watched his face as his protective expression faltered slightly.

"I never felt anything like it," he said, his voice quavering. "It was like we all knew what the others were thinking, but even more than that."

"I know. And you never have to live without that connection again," she said. "Though it will dim when I'm far away for now. We have no Frr'a'narr'ahn of the ocean clan yet."

"Then I suppose I'm going to have to stay nearby, so I don't lose this feeling," Firebreather said with a grin.

"I'll be happy to have you and the Ferret along with me. There's much to be done, but right now, let's start with getting the humans down on the planet."

"The Mrr'tani here would just as soon see them floating in space without suits," Firebreather remarked.

"I know their feelings, Firebreather, but we're not going to give the humans the opportunity to prove their propaganda true and use it against us. I will not have us made out to be monsters."

"Very well, Keeper of Hearts. We'll continue course for the station and we'll drop them off there. Another supply ship should be around before they run too low on supplies. At the very least, there's ice that they have the equipment to turn to water and oxygen, and the human crew said when we got here that they have a year's worth of emergency rations, so they'll live until the next supply run."

"That's what I'm counting on. Anything that happens to them will be the fault of their fellow humans, not the Mrr'tani."

"The port bay is empty, Keeper," Firebreather said. "You can land your ship inside and stay with us if you want."

"That sounds lovely," she answered. Then she turned to Night Star. "You want to land her, or should we let Micah take care of it?"

"Much as I trust the old bucket of bolts," he said, "I think I'd be a bit more comfortable bringing her in myself. See you in a while?"

"I'm going to speak to the humans. And don't worry, love," she said, smiling when she saw his expression, "I've got Stargazer with me. I'm sure he can handle a few disarmed humans."

"I'm sure you're right," Night Star said. Then he stroked her shoulder with a smile and turned back to the airlock door to take care of the Pride.

"I know you have a lot to do, Firebreather, so we won't keep you from it. Jules can guide us to the mess hall. If you don't mind, I'll meet you on the bridge when I've finished speaking with the human crew."

"Jules? The AI?" Firebreather looked at her, the confusion evident in his raised eyebrow and perked ears. "All right. I'll have a couple of Mrr'tani keep an eye on them with you."

"That would be fine," she said.

Then she turned to First Spark. "Why don't you head to the infirmary. You're one of the best medics here, and I know there's been at least a couple of injuries. You can see to them."

"Of course, Keeper," First Spark answered with a smile. Despite them having traveled together for as long as they had, there was still the feeling of great respect and devotion from the young Frr'a'narr'ah and it still brought a smile to Strong Soul's face.

"And you get to come with me, Stargazer," she said, turning to the hatch.

"I never doubted," Stargazer said, following along, his face set in its usual inscrutable expression. The pride was still there beneath it, and it brought a glow to her heart. She knew then without a doubt that Stargazer would follow her to the end of the galaxy and back, and having him by her side made her feel all the more safe. Together, they walked out of the cargo bay, the wash of emotions still behind them buffeting her mind. She had more work to do, and so did they. She would have time in the near future to enjoy basking in the Mrr'ouwff.