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The conclusion to First Contact. And as promised, more sexy white lupine ass.

Rare Earth Common Ground

First Contact - Part III

2010 by Eldyran

In just eight standard galactic hours of leaving the planet of his birth, Karth of the Moons-Song tribe had found several things missing from his life: He had found his purpose among the diamond speckled night sky he had looked up at for so long. He had found what he thought was his spirit guide, an odd androgynous canid spirit of questionable intent. But most importantly, he had found a pack brother who had taken the first sacred steps of ritual bonding.

And now a run away asteroid threatened to take the most important of these things away from the white bipedal wolf.

Karth found himself alone in his assigned quarters, now appearing like a arctic wasteland lit up by twin moons hanging overhead. Alone that was, aside from the IEF ship itself, called Lompo by its motley organic crew, and the eccentric whisperer sneaking dark omen into his perked ears. Whoever the dark taunter was, it showed him that an asteroid was now on a direct collision course with a nearby secret Centauran research station, and his pack brother, the Jovian Rowan Irskirt.

Would you die to save him? The strange whisper asked.

The whisperer's wicked emphasis felt ominous and prophetic. He or she was asking for a sacrifice. There was too much sinister emotion in the disembodied voice to be apart of Lompo. Was this the spirit guide the Elders had told him would call out to him? Karth looked at the shimmering vision with Rowan's soft face, pleading to him without even knowing it.

"Yes. Yesss ...." Karth nodded and hung his head, eyes filled now with salty tears. They dropped to the icy crust down around his kneeling, slack form. An odd shimmer from the vision caught the desperate wolf's attention again, and Karth looked up.

Good.

The terminal characters comprising the vision dropped out of the snow filled air and began to swirl. The digital vortex formed the rough shape of another, albeit smaller bipedal canid. Karth blinked as the shape smoothed out, formed fur. While the apparition solidified some, its ghostly appearance looked neither definitively male or female. The coyote gave a half crazy smirk.

I've been waiting seven thousand years to hear you say that ...

Karth continued to look on at the phantasmal canid, the lower jaw of his white muzzle slack.

Whats wrong Puppy, did my beauty render you speechless? The coyote ran its paw's up the slender curves of its hips, claws rippling the soft underbelly to cup a pair of underdeveloped breasts. Karth couldn't see a sheath to speak of, but this apparition didn't feel female just the same.

"Who ... are you?" Karth whispered, his words snatched away on the bitter arctic gale. Lompo, monitoring Karth's Universal Translator, responded anyway.

| This query has already been discussed. | The ship said, unaware of the digital apparition speaking directly to the kneeling wolf. The coyote stepped up to him and cupped the sides of his white muzzle in deceivingly gentle paws.

Why, I'm the one whose going to save your precious plaything from being pulverized into gooey red paste. The sinister smile that came after sent a shiver up Karth's tail base and spine. Now, are you ready to help me rescue your precious damsel in distress you big, naughty, wolf?

Karth nodded, dumbly. The coyote's shark grin widened as those crafty paws roamed over Karth's soft white ears. The canid placed a chaste kiss on the tip of the wolven scout's nose before continuing.

Good. And don't worry about trying to talk to me. I can hear every naughty thought that runs through your dirty little mind. The coyote winked before giving his ... her ... upper body a haughty shake. The coyote's nipples almost rubbed across the wolf's muzzle lips. Now, tell our oh so helpful eavesdropper that you want to calibrate your habitat comfort coefficient, manually.

Karth blinked some at how forward the smaller canid seemed. He didn't know if he could trust this dubious apparition, but Lompo seemed oblivious to the danger coming toward them. The white wolf had little choice.

"Are you sure?"

| Our data banks are certain in this regard. You are again, in error. | Lompo announced. The coyote shot Karth a nasty look before smacking the tip of his square black nose. It made Karth's eyes water. If the coyote was a spirit, why did he just feel the smack?

Think it. Don't speak it. And you better start doing as I say. Remember, time is a factor in this, so please pay attention. The coyote crossed his ... yes his arms in annoyance against a flat chest. Karth was confident that small sheath wasn't there on the coyote a second ago. He rubbed his nose and nodded.

"I want to adjust my comfort co-efficient manually." Karth spoke up to Lompo, still caught in the middle of the artificially generated arctic storm buffeting him.

The vision of pack brother Rowan vanished suddenly, to be replaced by an odd, near flat pillar. As the curious wolf approached it, its control panel lit up. Neon blue runes floated mere centimeters off the panel, and Karth played with one that indicated 'light level'. The moons above him brightened as he increased his room's lux.

Good. The coyote next to Karth grinned. You aren't so dim after all. Now, follow the dancing lights ...

One of the unmarked, holographic buttons lit up with a fuzzy, ethereal glow. Karth's inquisitive paw tip hovered over it. After a moment of hesitation his claw clicked the interactive render.

| Habitat Privacy Mode engaged.| Lompo announced with even tempered indifference, now effectively cut off from what went on inside Karth's room. Aside from the obstinate mistrust the organic had shown it, the ship had no idea what the supposed spirit guide was about to have Karth do.

That's right ... the coyote encouraging Karth, putting a paw on his back. It felt hot in contrast to the winter storm swirling around them. The highlighted aura moved to a different key, and after Karth tapped it, the entire holographic panel rearranged, sliding about before his awe struck, yellow eyes.

Karth's claw moved about, following the marker. After only a few seconds, he started using his other paw to interact with the display. Within thirty, his claws anticipated where the glow showed up. His paws became a blur, his thoughts hazing over as a previously unused portion of his cerebellum took over. On a certain level, his conscious mind didn't know what his paw tips did. With a final tap, he stood back, somehow convinced that his job was done.

The physical mirage of Karth's icy birth planet dissolved around them. Aside from what looked to be a replica of Dr. Chako's examination ring, the room was barren. Even the sonic show Rowan had asked for earlier was now gone. Karth looked at the inert ring and then back at the shorter canid next to him. He thought back to the invasive procedure the Martian had subjected him to, now hesitant. The coyote responded before Karth could even ask.

Yes, its going to hurt. Karth looked at the coyote, worried. Hey, would this face ever lie to you? She gave a coy grin, paws resting on her now wider hips. She made an innocent face with full, pouty muzzle lips. Her breasts were plump, fitting in with the voluptuous curves of her new body quite nicely.

Will you stop doing that? Karth's thought spiked with annoyance. The coyote stopped pouting at once, her body shifting once again. He moved up to Karth and put his ripped arms around the wolf's neck. A wide but well cut chest pressed against the wolf's own adolescent, budding musculature. Karth felt a heavy sheath rub against his.

Like what you see now, Puppy? A firm jaw and decidedly masculine muzzle framed the coyote's rough, seductive gleam. Karth almost nodded on instinct, the phantom whiff of dominate male heat slipping into his lupine nostrils. At least in his mind.

When the still shorter canid leaned forward for a less than chaste kiss, Karth held him at bay. Without warning the bipedal yote's form morphed into Rowan, still seeking that kiss. Karth snapped out of his lust dazed haze and pushed the shape shifter back down onto the hard gridded floor with an angry snarl.

How dare you ... the fake Rowan spat out in return, incensed. He slipped back into the coyote's base, androgynous guise.

Give me back my pack brother, now. Karth demanded, his claws twitching with deceived fury. The coyotes nasty gleamed directed him back to the examination ring.

Just remember who helped you when Lompo would not.

If the rebuke of the coyote's advances angered the spirit, he, she, it, (or even hir?) didn't seem to stop this unusual show of charity. Karth couldn't tell what the smaller canid wanted in return, but he obeyed anyway, for Rowan's sake. The wolf let out a nervous exhale as he approached the ring. He stepped inside, one hind foot first. Then the other. The same yellow glow encircled him, lifting him off his hind feet.

Karth heard something drop out of the ports in the ceiling. It didn't look like a snake at all. The octagonal box with spikes and needles sticking out one side dropped behind his head where he couldn't see. He panicked momentarily, flailed. Two metal bands formed; one around his neck, the other under his muzzle and up across the top of his brow.

His claws reach for them on instinct, realizing they held his head still. The wolf passed out momentarily as several things punctured the top of his neck all at once, arching up just under the back of his skull. Karth had brief flash of light behind his eyes and almost retched at the pain before the blackness swallowed him.

* * * * *

Karth's yellow eyes blinked open a short time later. His pupil's expanded and contracted, fighting to adjust to the light of his barren, featureless room. He tried to sit up but nausea overcame him. Instead he rolled to his stomach and fought his way up onto his knees. He was surprised to find himself dressed in the same type of gray thin suit his pack brother Rowan wore. It felt odd against his fur, like swimming in water.

Where are you? What happened? Karth thought aloud, reaching behind himself to touch the back of his head. He felt his white fur there gnarled with small blood clots, along with a series of smooth metal contacts.

I was about ready to slap you awak_e. The whisperer said. Karth looked around, but didn't see the canid anywhere. _Think about where you want me to appear. The wolf didn't quite understand what the coyote asked for. Couldn't the spirit just manifest when it wanted to? You have a direct interface into this ship now, along with its ability to create matter at whim.

Karth squinted and imagined the smaller canid standing next to him. He felt a queer tingling at the base of his skull and a humming line of yellow appeared just off to his right. It zipped down to the floor, creating a more opaque version of the yote. Instead of being naked, yellow holographic arraignments adorned the canid.

"Not exactly my first choice but ..." The substantial coyote felt about his digital modesty. Yes, aside from a decidedly effeminate build and appearance, there was no doubt Karth had imagined him male. Maybe this time it would stick.

"You can speak." Karth questioned, moving up as if to touch him, but then thought better of it.

"I have vocal cords now. Yes. They help." The canid grinned up at him before taking a sharp claw and slicing it across the other paw. The yote hissed with pain as blood seeped from the cut, but his crazy grin never faltered. "Its been toooo longgg ..." Karth watched on, dumbstruck by the former spirit's sadism. The coyote looked up, eyes narrowing. "You have the means now. This ship can't stop you. Go. The clock is ticking."

The yellow line zipped up from under the coyote's hind feet and up to the top of his head, swallowing him back into the electronic ether. Karth turned to look at the door, which opened without him even getting close to it. He ran through it, not quite sure how to rescue Rowan, but knowing he had little time left regardless ...

* * * * *

Back on the Centauran research station, Rowan looked on in shock as Old Solarian scrolled across the terminal before him. No one had seen it in several centuries, not since the quarantine of Earth in 2153. Without warning his synthetic leader, the mechanical mantis know to the expeditionary party as |03|, stuck one of its two load bearing forearms through the terminal's screen.

Rowan dropped backward as demolished terminal showered him in shattered glass and sparks. The expanding acrid cloud of burnt circuitry looked odd in near zero-G. Leyden was the first to admonish the synthetic, as Ik'vas was too busy pushing the flailing human off herself to snap at |03|.

"Well, that was productive." The plasma beings' arcing themselves between platinum spheres articulated. They rearranged themselves into a sphere formation, floating a meter off the metal floor. "I assume that ..." Leyden began, their lightning arcs zapping between the formation with high intensity annoyance. |03| withdrew its arm from out of the destroyed console and turned to address its assigned organics.

| This mission is terminated.| The machine chittered, cutting off Leyden, and promptly shut down.

"..." Leyden floated about, buzzing with disbelief. A small lighting bolt jumped out at the inert hulk sitting lifeless before them. It sparked against the silent chassis, but otherwise did no harm. It was Leyden's equivalent to a pyrrhic kick in the shins.

"What was that about?" Rowan asked, getting to his feet.

"I don't know ... but itsss not good ..." The Sha'ar hissed out. The female raptor tapped the side of her helmet with her sharp claws. "Lompo isss not resssponding on the intercom ..."

* * * * *

Karth ran out of his quarters and smack into Dey-Jay. The meter tall blue plumed avian pilot chirped out in surprise as the two tumbled in the outer corridor habitat ring from the collision. Some of her shiny trinkets tumbled out again from unbuttoned pouches hanging across her breast belt.

"Hey, watch it!" She squeaked in annoyance, climbing to her iso-dactyl feet and unruffling her mussed up feathers with her beak. "Where's the hull breech?" Karth grabbed the outer parts of her folded wings and shook her to get her attention. Dey-Jay's small under developed scute covered arms flailed about at the rough, desperate shake.

"We have to get Rowan! He's on board that rock outside and there's a ..."

"Hey hold on there a minute!" Dey-Jay shook off the wolf's large paws, pecking lightly at them. "I just dropped him off not an hour ago. There's no way they are done on that asteroid yet."

"There's no time to explain! You have to listen ..." Karth's paws clenched in frustration. He wasn't used to dealing with avians. Let alone talking avians. He got pecked again for his trouble. She certainly didn't approve of the raven skull necklace he wore.

"Look here! Just who you think you are, mister?" The small bird showed a lot of moxy by making a hop towards the wolf, twice her height. "First you just show up on this ship like some stowaway, then you steal Rowan from under my beak ..."

Karth's low growl cut her off, fangs bared a few centimeters from her beak. That finally got her attention.

"If you don't shut up and listen, Rowan is going to die!" Her jealous, beady eyes grew like large, dark saucers.

"H ... how? Why?"

"There is an rouge asteroid on its way. It's heading right for him!"

"That's impossible. Lompo would instantly detect such an event. I haven't heard a proximity alarm yet ..."

Karth growled in frustration, and without thinking, mashed his two paws flat together. As he spread them apart, a holographic feed of the approaching danger filled the space between them, unknowingly projected by Lompo. Dey-Jay's head turned this way and that, her tail feathers fluttering as she judged the speed of the incoming asteroid and the approximate distance the feed offered.

"Do you believe me now?" Karth's heart thundered, adrenaline racing through him.

"Enough squawk! Lets fly!" Day-jay didn't even bother to collect her things and instead hopped back down the bend in the outer habitat ring corridor before taking flight. Karth raced after her, his hind paws slipping a little on the smooth floor. With a graceful swoop, she turned and flew up a narrow ramp.

"Incoming!" She screamed, buzzing what looked to be a squat, four legged plant.

The purple plant withdrew its florescent green flowers into protective stalks and hunkered down as the bird zipped past. Karth dropped to a quadrupedal run before bunching and leaping over the odd creature in his path. His four paws made contact with the ramp's floor and his powerful legs propelled him up the steep, narrow corridor. If he had to guess, it probably led him back to the center of the ship, but this time somewhere above medical and central engineering.

It didn't take long for the two to make it to Lompo's single hanger. Lompo's only shuttle, Corvina, sat perched on its landing pad. Like its mother ship, Lompo, the short distance shuttle had few smooth contours along its outer hull. To anyone with knowledge of aerodynamics, it certainly didn't look like a vessel capable of precise atmospheric flight. All of its running lights were off at the moment, its black, sharp cornered hull looking more like inert cargo than anything else.

A few coolant lines fed the inverted, forward slanted rhomboid, but aside from a few synthetics going over some routine maintenance, the hanger was otherwise empty. Some of the smaller machines scurried out of the way as the two hellbent organics raced through the hanger. Dey-Jay darted into the open hatchway in the back of the shuttle, Karth following up the short loading ramp close after.

The shuttle looked more spacious than the outside suggested; owning to the fact that IEF ships had little internal fixed comforts. Karth looked about the passenger compartment, but didn't see any anywhere to sit. Dey-Jay landed close to a ring set into the floor of the pilot's area. It looked pretty similar to the one Karth had just conjured up back in his quarters, but twice as wide. Corvina chittered with a burst of base trinary in a decidedly feminine tone, the stasis field forming around Dey-Jay and lifting her in the air.

| Welcome back Pilot Dey-Jay.| The shuttle offered. | All operations are nominal, however, Lompo has informed me that the expeditionary team does not yet need retrieval.|

"Tough, we are taking you out anyway."The blue plumed avian tapped at some of the holographic displays that had just formed around her with her underdeveloped arms and delicate claws. The coolant hoses connected to the shuttle popped off a moment later, and Corvina gently lifted off the launchpad though the billowy mist around it. Karth's stomach fluttered. The shuttle's rear hatch closed and sealed with a soft hiss, an atmosphere containment field forming behind the passenger compartment with a soft blue glow.

"Karth!" She squawked back at the wolf through the 360 degree render of the space around Corvina. "Find a seat already! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

"I would if there were ..." The wolf began before falling backwards into a smooth contour that had just formed out of the floor underneath him with a surprised bark. It even had a hole for the wolf's tail to fall through. The seat slid forward, just behind and off to the right of the pilot. A seven point harness formed out of his contoured seat and locked around the white wolf.

| I apologize for the inconvenience, Pilot, but Lompo has not granted clearance for takeoff. | Corvina announced.

Dey-Jay looked up to the projected image of the hanger doors above them. They were still closed. Karth looked up to them as well, heart sinking at the lost time. If those doors didn't open now, Rowan would die. He felt another tingle at the back of his skull as the hanger doors pulled apart without Lompo's consent.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Day-Jay whistled, unfolding her wings.

Corvina mimicked her pilot's every movement, and the shuttled soared up through the hanger's atmospheric containment field. Once clear of the hanger door, Dey-Jay dove forward. Corvina roared off, skimming a mere meter above Lompo's own featureless hull. Karth almost passed out from the sudden acceleration despite internal dampening. He felt his stomach jump in his throat as Corvina inverted and dove under an asteroid in their way.

"ETA till destination!" The pilot squawked, sending the shuttle through a small debris cloud. Corvina shuddered as it plowed its way through, structural integrity fields straining to keep the ship in one piece.

| One minute, five seconds. Structural integrity fields down 15%. | The shuttled quipped.

"ETA till object designated 001 impacts intended destination."

| One minute, fifty seconds.|

"Damn it!" Dey-Jay screamed. "That's not enough time!" She spun the ship between two smaller riods, trying to skim a few precious seconds off the clock. Karth's yellow eyes misted, sealed despite the forces pulling his gut insides out. It made him want to wretch.

No! He reached out to his pack brother. Rowan!

* * * * *

Back on the hidden research station, the three remaining team members tried to decide what to do next. They had never had their supervisor shut down of all things. Why had |03| terminated their mission?

"Doesss it matter?" Ik'vas hissed out. "We are ssstuck until Lompo decides to retrieve usss."

"This whole mission has been suspect." Leyden buzzed, their arcs thrumming. "But I agree with our saurian engineer. It seems as if we have been left stranded. I suspect now is not the time to bring up the fact that I do not need to breath."

Both Rowan and Ik'vas glanced at their hardsuit's readouts. Both of them had a little more than three hours of air remaining. Plenty of time for them to figure out a way ...

Rowan!

The Jovian leaned up against the wall beside him, suddenly dizzy. He dropped to one knee without realizing it. A sudden feeling of desperation and urgency rushed through his gut. Ik'vas just stared at the mammal instead of helping him up.

"Are you ill, Rowan?" Leyden asked, rearranging their platinum spheres back into a bipedal form. They offered a three fingered 'hand' to the Jovian, knowing that his hard suit would shield him against any unintentional shock they might accidentally deliver. Rowan took it and pulled himself up to his shaky feet, as if suddenly weak.

"Karth's coming." Rowan said, short of breath.

"How do you know?" Ik'vas seemed doubtful.

"We don't have time. We have to get to the surface, now." The Jovian seemed to lurch in staggered strides toward the elevator. The urgency in his voiced sounded like a matter of life and death across the intercom.

"What about |03|?" Leyden asked, their arcs dimming inside their globe head. Rowan turned, just for a moment.

"If we don't get to the surface in the next minute, we are all dead!"

The other two looked at each other and took off after the Jovian, leaving the inert machine to its fate.

* * * * *

"How much time?" Karth asked, claws digging into the smooth armrests of his seat. They swallowed the sharp points without much resistance, but did not puncture. The wolf could see the camouflaged entrance to the research station highlighted in the view screen surrounding the pilot. The shuttle roared full speed down at the asteroid before them without even slowing down. Karth was certain they were going to plow straight into its pockmarked surface.

"Fourty six seconds!" Dey-Jay tweeted, beak tight as she angled her tail feathers and tilted her wings at the very last second. Corvina swung around and dropped onto the asteroid's surface as if it was a bird alighting on the top of a narrow pole. The sudden deceleration and drop made blackness creep into the edges of Karth's vision.

The wolf fought to remain consciousness, watching the distance indicator of the other asteroid streaking toward them shrink with alarming speed. It was still just a speck in the distance, but that was all relative. The massive rock now hurled towards them at several kilometers a second, smashing its way through the stony field with massive inertia. The steady beeps giving an auditory clue to the proximity of the oncoming danger grew shorter and shorter.

"They they are!" Dey-Jay shrill voice exclaimed as Rowan, Leyden, and Ik'vas appeared from out of the elevator doors. She opened the rear loading ramp with a sharp pneumatic whine, prepping herself and the ship for a hasty dust off. Karth tried to get out of his seat, but his harness would not release him.

The three bounded toward the loading ramp, little dust clouds puffing up around their feet as they scrambled for the safety of the shuttle. Karth's claws dug in deeper as he turned his head as best he could, watching the his pack brother bounce across the surface of the asteroid with dreadful slowness. It took then ten seconds to reach the ramp and throw themselves through the soft blue glow of the atmospheric containment field.

But it was ten seconds they didn't have.

The three landed on top of each other in a clumsy heap, but Dey-Jay didnt waste any time. She pulled the ramp shut and took off at full speed, sending the three sliding across the grated floor back through the containment field. Leyden crackled as they smacked up against the back of the shuttle in a mashed pile. Ik'vas gave out a shrill scream as her right arm broke from the hard impact.

Corvina formed a net around the three, unable to get them a seat in time. The first chunks of demolished asteroids knocked out of the oncoming juggernaut's path whizzed by the fleeing shuttle. There were so many the holographic display around the pilot couldn't keep track of them all. Deep thumping klaxons went off as one of the smaller pieces clipped the shuttle, spinning it out of temporary control. The hard jar rattled Karth's spine, making him see stars.

| WARNING WARNING WARNING | Corvina repeated over and over again with forced urgency, as if no one aboard had any clue something was amiss.

"I know! I know!" Dey-Jay chirped back, righting herself with a deft twirl. Corvina followed suit, spinning under the temporary shelter of another asteroid just as five chunks pelted the larger rock. Dey-Jay shot for the safety of Lompo despite the deadly rain of spinning, jagged fragments, but it was too late.

The clipped, urgent beeps of the incoming asteroid fell to a single high pitched whine.

The avian pilot's eyes widened as something almost too fast to see shot past them. A millisecond later the Centaruan research station exploded, huge parts of the asteroid spinning and tumbling away from its broken core. Another spherical wave of deadly projectiles raced towards the tiny shuttle. Dey-Jay knew they were never going to make the safety of Lompo.

"Hold on!" Her scream was shrill with adrenaline. As if Karth, Rowan, and the other passengers had any other choice.

Dey-Jay spun Corvina around, dove back toward the oncoming rush. Proximity and warning klaxon's blared furiously, overlaying each other at the absurdity of what its pilot asked of it. The first of the finest particles slammed into Corvina, peppering the wounded vessel with the force of a shotgun blast.

| Warning: Structural integrity fields down 87%. Imminent danger of hull breech. I recommend more aggressive evasion. |

Dey-Jay didn't even answer, instead opting to swoop and skip behind larger and larger asteroids, using them as shields until they started disintegrating. Once the fastest moving threats passed, Corvina swung back into the oncoming torrent. The shuttle soared and flipped, sometimes riding the surface of the same deadly spinning fragments that threatened to smash the tiny ship. Like a ever shifting, three dimensional maze, the shuttle banked and swooped around the slower fragments spinning towards them. The maze threatened to dead end at any moment.

Two of the larger pieces spun around, their farthest outcroppings catching on one another. Their bases snapped, inertia breaking up the spires from the bottom upward. Corvina dove down through the gap between the disintegrating spires, riding a wave of destruction that lapped at her sharp contours of her shiny black hull. Karth drew in a deep breath as another fragment bore down on them without warning.

Dey-Jay pulled a near ninety degree bank straight up, Corvina sparking along the obstacle as small pockmarked pumice made contact with her hull. Karth's heart sunk into his chest. He couldn't even breath. A yawning crater rotated into view just off to to their right. Karth didn't know how she saw it. The inertia pressed his muzzle deep into the soft headrest cradling his head, starving blood to his brain.

The wave of mayhem started sneaking around the front edges of the ship, overtaking them.

Corvina yawed right and spun down into the hollow just as the crumbling spires threatening to crush them slammed into the edges of the deep crater. The ship made a jarring halt, just five meters from its stony bottom. Karth's eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets, but then there was ... nothing.

After a moment, the protective cocoon of the cavity broke up and floated apart, leaving the ship largely unscathed. The rays of the twin red giants in the distance sparkled off some parts of the hull not gouged from its rough ride. Dey-Jay's song of relief piped through the passenger compartment before she floated down exhausted to the floor of the stasis field. The net keeping the three passengers contained in the cargo area dissipated.

Leyden was the first to get up, helping Rowan up. Ik'vas snapped at the offer for help, cradling her broken forearm. By that time Karth's harness unlocked, retreating back into the seat of which it had formed. The wolf got up, shakily, and staggered toward the cargo compartment. Corvina dropped the containment field before he passed through it, hugging the shorter human's hard suit with small tears gathering in his yellow eyes.

"Oh Rowan, I thought I'd lost you ..." Karth whined, his white ears folded back. His bushy tail swished back and forth with much deserved relief. Rowan's gloved fingers reached up near his neck and undid the latches on his helmet. Once Karth let his pack brother out of the hard embrace, Rowan took it off and let it fall to the grated floor with a thunk.

"I made a promise." Rowan smiled up at Karth, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling. "And its a promise I'll keep ... for as long as I live."

Rowan's gloves reached around to the back of Karth's thick scruff, pulling the anthromorphic wolf into a deep kiss. The Jovian's lips sought Karth's, but his canid muzzle lips felt slack in disbelief.

Had this human just implied mateship? Karth broke the kiss long enough to rest his forehead against Rowan's, having to again, stoop a little.

"Rowan. Are you sure you want ... to be my mate?" Karth's eyes trembled. He wasn't sure how they would make it work. There were so many obstacles between them, so any unknown cultural hurdles, so many rites that needed to be approved by an Elder. Rowan smiled up at Karth.

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life." He offered, reaching back up to seal his words with a soul searing, open mouth kiss. Karth's yellow eyes closed with the feeling, his canid tongue dancing about his pack brother's own.

They refused to break the tender moment, even as Leyden helped tend to Ik'vas' broken arm. With much effort, Dey-Jay resumed the helm and brought Corvina about to rendezvous with Lompo, trying not to let her own feelings get in the way of Rowan's happiness.

* * * * *

Back in Rowan's quarter's, Karth laid Rowan down on the smooth synthetic fabric of his bed. The Jovian's naked skin flushed pink with anticipation as Karth laid halfway beside, halfway on top of him, the wolf's white fur impossibly soft against his bare body.

After they escorted Ik'vas to the infirmary, the two wasted no time in rushing back to Rowan's quarters and sealing their commitment to each other. As Karth's tongue offered small tender licks up the Jovian's bare thigh and up to his muscular chest, the wolf could see why Rowan had suggested showering in Karth's quarters instead of his own.

Rowan's quarters were a mess.

Not only was the room small, but stacks of paper magazines and numerous eccentric souvenirs collected from dozens of densely habituated worlds dotted the mussy room. Framed posters of some early 20th century Terran pulp circulars hung on his walls, one such one called 'Amazing Stories', although Karth couldn't read its sharp angular runes. While the Imperium discouraged frivolous material gain, Lompo allowed Rowan these novelties aboard.

Though merely replicas, generated by simple and ordinary machines, these trinkets gave Rowan much emotional comfort.

Karth didn't feel too bad then, about sliding off their thin suits and dropping them to the cluttered floor of Rowan's quarters. Now alone, Karth allowed himself to concentrate on Rowan's alien body without distraction. As the rough pads of his paws glided over the Jovian's soft, furless skin, Rowan moaned softly as his lover explored his adolescent body.

The wolf's sharp claws tickled a little as they roamed over his naked chest, but instead of illiciting a laugh, Rowan gasped lightly at the sensation. He pulled his head up from the gray silvery material of his pillow to watch the wolf's keen interest. Down between them, his erection laid stiff against his lower belly.

But Karth was not interested in just one part of Rowan's anatomy. His curious square nose found its way into the pit under Rowan's arm, inhaling the human's light musky scent deeply. The burst of masculine aroma in his senses made the wolf pant with lust. He was not at all surprised to feel his his cock tingle, to look down between them and see his pink tip slip out of its white sheath.

Rowan's hand went immediately to grasp the canid hardness, feel the impressive weight of the wolf's arousal. Karth let out a deep, drawn out growl of satisfaction at his touch. The tip tapered canid maleness glistened under the light. A bead of arousal formed at its slit, and Rowan smeared it about with the palm of his hand, stroking the wolf lightly.

Karth's eyes closed with the sensation. He wanted nothing more than to mount his love, drive his huge lupine shaft deep inside Rowan. He fought against the pubescent urge. No, he would follow his tribe's ways of restraint and self control despite his racing heart and molten hormones coursing though him.

"Are you ready for the next rite?" Karth's growl quivered. He wanted so hard to fuck the hand envelope him, to buck and shoot his sticky load all over Rowan. But that was not the way of his tribe. Not yet anyway.

"Yes." Rowan pushed some strands of dirty blond hair out of blue eyes. His short breathes felt uneven. He too wanted to do this right, even if he didn't understand why Karth's tribe was methodical in such things. All his kind did was say a few words, maybe exchange gifts or metallic bands. Sometimes they didn't even do that.

"Then follow my lead." Karth asked, pulling himself up to kneel astride of Rowan. The wolf let their shafts touch, glide against each other. Rowan shivered and stifled a moan as Karth rocked back and forth, slowly grinding against each other.

"No." Karth panted, bending over a little to run a thumb claw over his lover's soft cheek. "Let it out. Let everyone know what we are doing, and why we are doing it."

Rowan's blue eyes slitted with a nod, his mouth opening to let a loud moan out. He looked down, watching their rigid shafts slide back and forth over each other. Karth's knot looked half formed, threatening to push out of his sheath opening at any moment. But it was the sight of the small spurts erupting from the lupine tip that drove the Jovian mad with lust.

Each squirt coated his own tip, only adding more slippery sensation to the frot. Karth bent down farther and licked his pack brother's nose. When Rowan went to kiss him, Karth backed off and shook his head, then offered his nose. It took a moment before Rowan got it. He smiled before licking Karth's nose in return.

Karth knelt back again, resting his butt cheeks against the back of his legs. The fur of his bushy tail tickled the sensitive parts between Rowan's toes. When Karth's huge paw gripped both of their shafts, Rowan arched against it in instinct.

"Place your hand on my paw. We do this, together." Karth waited a second before adding. "For we do not find bliss separately anymore. There is no longer you and I." Rowan looked up to Karth, listening. "There is now only, We."

Rowan laid his hand over Karth's. Together their cupped hand and paw cradled their slick sexes. Karth guided them, allowing slow, drawn out strokes. His paw shook at the sensation as the underside of their tips ground and slid against each other. The feeling was electric. It was if Rowan could feel everything that Karth felt; the hot rush of blood past their eardrunm with every thunderous beat of their hearts, the sharp intake of air their lungs took in with each up stroke, the tightening of their balls on each down stroke.

Karth's knot finally pushed its way out of its sheath, and the wolf pressed it down against the base of Rowan's hardness. It felt so slippery, hot, and thick. On the next down stroke their interlocked paw and hand opened enough to allow his knot to slip through. The wolf tilted his head back and flattened his ears with a long, drawn out growl of need.

A sudden spurt of salty, watery pre shot of Karth's tip, splattering against Rowan's naked chest. The Jovian used his free hand to rub it all over, taking a minute to play with a now slick nipple. He moaned at the erotic moment and arched up deeper into their interlaced fingers. His slit also leaked profusely, and the human found fought back the urge to beat themselves to climax right now.

Karth listened to his pack brother's grunts, felt him squirm underneath. The wolf rocked his hips in tandem, his thrusts growing more urgent as his insides tightened. Karth knew he couldn't keep this up forever, and he leaned down to lick Rowan's lips.

"Are you close?" He whispered.

"Yesss ..." Rowan whined out, arching more. "Really close."

"Will you mix seed with me, Brother?" Karth leaned back, stroking them harder and hard. His knot slipped in and out of their slick, tight union. That steamy question was all that it took to tip Rowan over the edge, his hips bucking faster, helping to drive his cock through their hand and paw. The Jovian tightened, shook hard as he raced to climax.

"Oh Karth! I'm ... I'm going to cum!" He moaned out. His body shuddered as the first rope of thick cum shot across his chest.

Watching his pack brother get off against him sent Karth off as well. He tipped his muzzle to the ceiling and let out a fierce howl, splattering the human's chest with his thin, salty seed. They continued to shoot, each time adding more and more to the hot, spreading pool on Rowan's muscular chest. Their seed glistened under the soft banks of lights above them, mixing.

They shuddered against each other until spent, relaxing to catch their breath in the afterglow. Karth smiled down at Rowan, placing a paw tip in the cooling puddle between them and playfully dabbing the human's nose.

Rowan laughed, squirming at the sensation of having half of his body covered in male spunk. It smelled of sex and heat, love and commitment. He dabbed two finger tips and marked his love about his face and muzzle like it was war paint. Karth grinned.

"We are at war, then?"

"Between us?" The Jovian smirked. "No. But to anyone who dares coming between us."

"You do not seem like a warrior." The wolven scout smiled back down at him.

"No. But I will be, for you."

Rowan's hand reached up around and grabbed Karth's scruff, drawing him down to his lips for a savage kiss. Karth's chest fur dipped into the sticky mess between them, but he didn't seem to mind. After a few minutes they broke the kiss to snuggle against each other, paws and hands roaming about, savoring the moment After a long, comfortable silence, Rowan spoke.

"So, what's next?" A naughty grin spread across his soft face.

"Since I have already tied you, it is customary to tie me, sealing our commitment." Karth licked the Jovian's nose with a long slurp.

"I think I can manage that!"

Rowan pushed Karth off and flipped him with ease, his dense Jovian musculature making him stronger than his soft features and short stature suggested. Within seconds he had the taller wolf pinned on his sticky, cum matted chest. The Jovian moved aside the white bushy tail and slipped his semi-hardness up and down the wolf's ass crack, smearing a little leftover cum all over the Karth's black pucker.

"Wait." Karth whined a little, stunned he was man-handled so easily. His muzzle was pressed hard into the bedding, tail up and ass exposed to his would be mate. It was a wonderful, submissive feeling he was not all that used to. "We must wait."

"For?"

"These things take time. Its not heard of to complete all the bonding rites within a single day." Karth looked back it him from folds of the crumbled up bedding, a sheepish look in those bright yellow eyes.

"Maybe Im just an overachiever then." The glint in those blue eyes was just priceless. Rowan's tip spread the wolf's hole.

"No, I mean my kind spreads these rites out for many light-night cycles." Karth barked softly at the sensation, tensing.

"How many years is that?"

"I think five of your years."

"How long do you live exactly?" Rowan back offed a moment, stroking his still slick half erection with adolescent vigor.

"Fifty? Baring starvation or accident."

"So, why spread out the mateship rites for a 1/10th of your lifetime?"

The Jovian seemed genuinely interested, although Karth could tell that the human's hormones were in full effect right now. He seemed to be in male heat almost continually. It was interesting, and potentially sided in his favor. Females of his kind only when into estrus at timed intervals, which tended to drive the males of his kind into pent up fits out of season.

"We mate for life. And although we are allowed different partners for different reasons, spiritual, creative collaboration, sometimes pleasure, the mate we choose stays with us till we die. We take that long in order to be certain of our choice."

"I see ..." Rowan paused, trying to temper the fires of his lust with what little wisdom his meager travels had already given him. He was, however, still sixteen. "So, is it just spreading out our rites that makes a difference?"

"No. Our Elders must witness our coupling for it to be declared official and binding."

"Oh!" Rowan's cheeks flushed a little. Exhibitionism was not considered abnormal by any stretch of the imagination for the organics of the Second Imperium, but Rowan still clung to the human aversion to having parents watch in.

"And if they don't witness, its just ... unofficial then?" The Jovian maneuvered his words with coy ease.

"Pretty much, why?" One of Karth's white ears perked. He never saw it coming.

"I'm willing to accept that ..." Rowan said, before pushing his cock inside Karth.

The wolf's yellow eyes went wide in surprise as the human's flared head slipped past his tight virgin ring and popped inside his ass. Karth's claws dug into the rumpled bedding, a sharp growl of slight pain slipping past his fangs. Luckily Karth had two things going for him. One, humans were physically smaller than him, although Rowan was by no means average girth for his species. Two, there was still plenty of cum still slathering over and leaking out of Rowan's shaft that it provided plenty of lube for his first entry.

I can't believe you fell for that! The coyote whispered to him, a hint of laughter edging his disbelieve.

Still, the second the human mounted him, Karth tightened on instinct, gripping paw fulls of the shiny bedding. He grunted out with both pleasure and a small bit of pain. Rowan eased off a little, but did not pull out. He let the wolf adjust a little to entry before grabbing Karth's scuff. The wolf's ears flicked about, but he did not buck.

Despite the slight pain, the sensation of having Rowan's cock head inside him was indescribable. When the Jovian grabbed his scruff and pulled lightly, Karth couldn't believe how much it made his heart fluttered, his own shaft twitch. It still dangled halfway out of its matted sheath to the bedding, dripping.

When Rowan eased forward and pushed himself all the way in, it felt so right.

Karth grunted when Rowan's sacs bumped up gently against his own. He felt so full, it made the wolf squint, tail curling. Rowan pulled back just a little, then shoved himself back in, the lines of muscle in his abdomen flexing with the effort. The wolf barked as the fullness returned, the human's thick sex bumping and rubbing against Karth's prostate.

Small whimpers of pleasure clawed their way out of Karth's black muzzle lips each time Rowan repeated. Karth found himself arch his hips to meet his lover's thrusts on instinct. He angled his hips, making the human go deeper. The rubbing sensation made his insides itch. It felt incredible.

"You like that, Wolfy, huh?" Rowan teased, pulling back on Karth's scuff even as his sped up. "You want more?" Karth found it hard to nod with the loose skin on the back of his neck tugged on like that.

"Ugh ... harder ..." Karth panted out, the hard length between spread legs swinging now. The glistening pink spear slung a constant dribble of pre into Rowan's bedding with each meaty slap of their hard rut.

This wasn't Rowan's first time at the helm. But he couldn't call himself experienced by any measure. He drive himself into the wolf again and again, enjoying the sensation of his lover's fur and tail brushing over his smooth skin. The way that Karth arched his back, taking his cock deep drove the novice explorer wild. He could feel the twinges of another climax building at the top of his balls.

Karth felt the human inside him thicken, grow even harder. Even though his lover didn't have a knot, he knew what was about to happen. The wolf's claws dug deep into the bedding as the itch inside him tightened. He let out a another drawn out howl as something between his hips twitched and pulsed, making him clench. His lupine length slung long gushes of his second orgasm into the bedding under them.

Rowan's hands gripped Karth's furry hips as he felt the wolf tighten around him. The Jovian couldn't hold back any longer, and drove himself deep into the wolf one last time. With a satisfied groan he emptied himself into his mate, claiming him. They remained locked like that for several moments, letting their climaxes crest. Their flexing, sweaty bodies gave themselves fully to the last act.

They collapsed into the sweaty, gooey sheets in spent exhaustion.

In the afterglow, Rowan stoked Karth's ears tenderly, still laying on top him. The Jovian was half hard and still deep inside the wolf. Each time he moved slightly they both felt a slight gush. Karth turned his head to lick Rowan's face.

"That was incredible ..." He panted, still fighting to regain his breath.

"I know ..." Rowan kissed the wolf's muzzle lips.

They laid there for a long time, clinging to each other. Both of them knew that Lompo was done charting this star system. It was now on a course back to Karth's icy birth world. They didn't have a whole lot of time remaining together. They hadn't thought that far ahead in all honesty.

"Would you want to come back with me?" Karth's ears flicked in though as Rowan stroked them.

"I ... signed up for a five year tour with the IEF." The novice explorer sighed. They snuggled a little bit more, thinking. "Have you thought about joining the IEF?"

"Would it accept me?" Karth gave a questioning look at the naked human still buried deep inside in.

| Please submit a proper IEF application for review. | Lompo chittered above them in response. Karth wondered if the ship had been monitoring them this whole him. If so, Rowan didn't seem to mind.

"Does this mean that Karth can become part of the crew?" Rowan seemed surprised at the ship's unexpected interest in Karth. He had no idea that Lompo was at more interested in Karth's presence around him than the scout himself.

| This ship will return in two Galactic Standard Years to collect the autonomous miner. During that time the IEF will review your application. If it determines that your aptitudes would compliment this ship's primary function, then you will be assigned to it. You will hold rank, receive semi-annual performance appraisals ... |

"Thanks, Lompo," Rowan offered, "But I think Karth might be more interested in co-habitation with me rather than IEF perks."

| Understood. Passenger {Karth Moons-Song}, please consult Xeno-Biologist Vos if you have specific concerns or questions concerning the formal application process. | Karth nodded, still slightly uncomfortable that they were having this three way conversation while Rowan had him mounted.

"Lompo, what is our current ETA to Karth's planet?" Rowan asked.

| One hour, forty minutes, twelve seconds. A multitude of new obstacles in the asteroid field have required several course corrections back to stellar body M1-o2-432. |

"Come on!" Rowan exclaimed, pulling out of Karth and jumping out of bed. He took hold of the wolf's paw and tugged him toward his quarter's sonic shower. "There isn't much time. Lompo wont waste time dropping you off."

They rinsed off together, saying their hard good-byes as best they could. Afterward they pulled on their thinsuits and rushed to the science lab to see Vos.

* * * * *

As Lompo lowered its ramp, the shrill arctic gale welcomed Karth back to his birth planet. He almost couldn't feel the icy air through the insulation of his thin suit. Snowflakes twirled past his white ears as the wolf bent down and gave his prospective mate one final embrace.

"You will come back to me, soon?" Karth asked. The howl of the wind shrieking up through the ramp's struts seemed sad, but hopeful.

"I promise, pack brother." Rowan offered, resting his brow against the wolf's furry forehead. "Two years."

"It seems so long." The wolf bit his lower lip. The Jovian pushed a small sparkling crystal into the wolf's left paw.

"Here." He said, smiling. Karth looked down at the clear, flawless jewel sparkling in the floodlights lighting up the darkness underneath the ship. "It'll remind you of us."

Karth looked down. A hologram sprang to life just above the jewel, flickering for a moment till the image clarified. It showed him and Rowan standing at one of Lompo's view ports, holding hands for the first time before this planet's twin moons.

"I'll be here, waiting." Karth's lungs hitched, threatening to break into sobs. "For you, my brother. My mate."

They kissed one final time before Karth walked down the ramp, back to his birth planet. The moment his hind feet crunched through the top crust of ice to sink onto the back of the Broken Sleeper, he turned to watch Lompo raise its ramp with a pneumatic whine. True to Rowan's words, the ship wasted no time with their useless organic sentiments. Karth's mate waved one last time before the ramp closed.

Through the billowing whiteout swirling around Lompo's landing struts and blinking running lights, Karth continued to stare up at the alien vessel as it took off up into the star speckled night sky. As the last of the floodlights dimmed around him, the coyote appeared next to him, naked again. He draped himself around Karth's right arm as if they were a close, cozy pair. Karth looked down at the crystal still held tightly in his left paw.

It twinkled like the stars above.

Don't worry, Puppy. The coyote pecked the wolf on his white cheek even as Karth added a howl to the winds. Your adventure among the stars has just begun ...

_ ~ Fin Part III ~ _

I'd like to thank Azelis for inspiring the best parts of Karth, namely, his ass. I'm kidding.

Many thanks to CoyoteOldOne for inspiring the wonder and excitement in this first chapter.

Many muzzle licks to Lykos Bane, Sanada-mutt, WhyteYote, and many others for always willing to talk to me about writing.

A special grope goes out to Koshne. The conclusion to 'In Treatment' is next on my plate. Get out the lube.