FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I wanted to try writing something completely different from my other series. This is my first stab at a science fiction plot. If you furballs like this story, I'll definitely keep the series going.

I enjoyed writing this (although the editing is always a nightmare) and I hope you enjoy reading.

Silent Guardians

Written By: Spudz

Space, utterly devoid of existence yet so peaceful and magnificent to those fortunate enough to travel across its vast emptiness. It is truly a wonder how within this infinite abyss, life somehow managed to take hold and thrive, defying the hostility of the environment around the tiny protective worlds that it calls home.

Orbiting high above one of these worlds, a lone spacecraft stood watch over the inhabitants of the terra firma below. It was an exceptionally beautiful planet with deep blue seas and lush green land that contained vastly differing landscapes and ecosystems. The world positively flourished with a diverse variety of life, giving rise to the evolution of intelligence. After millions of years, the planet had shaped a remarkably intellectual species that had evolved, developed language, waged war, established an incredible array of cultures, strived to reach the stars, and learned the meaning of self.

They called this world Earth.

"Truly a magnificent representation of nature's creative hand," Kanolos mused as he gazed out the bridge window of the orbiting ship to the terrain while it silently scrolled by. Unlike the diverse life below, he did not belong to this wondrous planet. His features bore a striking resemblance to Canis lupus, or the common grey wolf species that inhabited the world beneath, although he stood on two legs as opposed to four. His kind was known as kyree, a quick-witted and resourceful race of furs that had long ago ventured out into the great unknown of space.

Kanolos, or Kano as he liked to be called, sat at the helm with paws propped up on top of the dashboard of the controls while he watched the planet move by. He was a striking example of his race at twenty-two years of age by Earth standards, with creamy-white fur across his chest and abdomen that suddenly became a dark crimson red as it flowed across the rest of his figure. A splash of white fur adorned the kyree's_muzzle while deep swaths of black covered his hands, paws and the tip of his tail. It was amusing to Kano that he resembled a wolf in facial appearance and stature, yet his fur pattern closely matched that of _Vulpes vulpes, another species of Earth known as the red fox.

The kyree was slightly muscular, but not overly so. Being the pilot of a vessel didn't require much in the way of strength, but he still prided himself on keeping fit. Sometimes you just had to exercise when stuck aboard a ship without anything else to do.

Kano reached over and picked up a blank data pad before leaning back in his seat, paws still resting comfortably on top of the console dash. Quickly he entered a series of commands before bringing up the data related to the various canine species of Earth. After several moments of scrolling through information, the fur carefully eyed the frontal picture of a wolf that appeared on the pad. The creature stared back at him perceptively from the screen with its golden eyes mirroring his own.

"Who would've thought that another world would contain species that so closely resembled us," he thought. It had shocked his kind when they had first learned about Earth some time ago. The planet closely resembled his home world; Sora, which scientists believed explained the similarity of life. Sora certainly had creatures that bore a resemblance to Earth's intelligent race. It stood to reason that any small change in the conditions of the planet millions of years ago might have led to a different species evolving into the dominate intellect. That notion surely filled the mind with wonder.

Kano turned his attention back to the terrain as it slid by while the ship continued orbiting the planet parallel to the surface. It was convenient how the bridge contained a rather large window that flowed seamlessly from one side of the hull to the other, providing an excellent panoramic view of the surroundings. The spacecraft was just passing into the dark side of the planet where the sunlight seemed to yield to darkness. Looking out the window, the pilot could easily make out the distinct glow of the immeasurable number of lights that illuminated the cities of the civilization below as night fell.

For the local intelligent species, called human, the calendar date was the year 2010 A.D. They were an advanced civilization with the ability to build space-faring ships; however, the race was not warp capable yet. That fact was why Kano currently orbited above.

The kyree civilization was part of an organization of worlds called the Federation Alliance. This coalition managed a standing military; the Space Axis, and provided protection to all of the member species. The Axis was a force to reckon with, although the military had never engaged in hostile actions without first being attacked by another race.

Aside from the armed forces standpoint, the alliance also set forth a series of protocols involving all aspects of space travel. One such mandate dealt with non-warp capable civilizations.

By no means was a Federation spacecraft to make any form of contact with said civilizations without explicit orders from high command. Furthermore, any such world that fell within the coalition borders was subject to alliance restrictions. Consequently, the solar system incorporating Earth became a sort of no-fly zone for all spacecraft except one.

That was where Kano came into play. The job of his ship and crew was to maintain observation around the planet and deal with any incursions by foreign vessels if necessary. The prime goal was to keep the world isolated so that the human civilization could develop and mature in a natural, stable fashion. It was a fairly mundane assignment within the Axis, usually reserved for older obsolete warships with minimal crew. Things were slightly different though with his ship.

The starship Kano currently found himself aboard was named Arastos, which roughly translated to "swift" in his kind's old tongue. She sure was swift, touted as the fastest ship in the fleet with a slender hull design and four powerful sub-ether engines mounted in a quad-pod configuration along the aft structure. She had been built only one month ago Earth time and was still being worked through her space trials.

The ship was designed as a deep space exploration vessel, which required speed at the expense of armor and size. Thus, the spacecraft was relatively small for a fleet ship, only requiring a crew of six to fully staff and operate. She still had teeth, with a formidable complement of armament and shields to fend off adversaries; although, the ship wouldn't stand a chance going toe to toe with a capital fleet starship. The strategy called for turning tail and running if that particular situation presented itself. No spacecraft would have been able to keep up.

What Arastos lacked in standing firepower and armor, she more than made up for with innovation and technology. Along the underside of her fore structure rested the large slender longbow gun that jutted out from the bow superstructure noticeably and was a defining characteristic of the ship's shape. This particular armament was designed as a sniping weapon capable of targeting vessels light-years away. Although not as powerful as a fleet gun, it was useful as a harassment tool, and was still quite deadly against smaller ships. Arastos was the first Federation vessel to have this system incorporated into the design.

On the other hand, another part of the ship's technology had proven to be a tad annoying.

Kano punched some commands into his data pad and brought up the time for various cities across the world below. It was just after 4:00pm on the eastern seaboard of the United States, meaning their stock markets had closed for the day.

"Lumina, how did we do today?" the kyree said aloud even though no one else was present on the bridge at that moment.

Suddenly, a small ball of light appeared on the dashboard of the helm controls next to where Kano's paws rested. The light grew and began to take shape until a miniature figure of a female kyree stood on top of the console with a hand on her hip. The small white-furred hologram wore a mischievous smile while regarding him.

"Better than I expected," Lumina replied with mirth.

Lumina was the A.I. construct assigned to Arastos, providing various supporting roles for the crew during operations. She had a nasty talent for being able to hack into almost any system imaginable and was quite good with electronic espionage when the situation warranted it.

Constructs were a fairly new technology, as only a handful of them currently existed. They had a tendency to lack tact, usually throwing caution to the wind and stating things bluntly and upfront, which sometimes grated on the nerves of the crew. It took some getting used to when dealing with a construct. It had certainly taken Kano a while. Lumina loved to rub his fur the wrong way.

"Overall it was a down day," the construct continued. "But, I was able to sell some key stocks short to turn a nice profit. Of course, only I would've been able to see the signs that warranted the action." She smiled wickedly from the console surface as Kano shook his head.

"Obviously I could never duplicate your success oh mighty one," the kyree replied with slightly more exasperation than he intended. Although Lumina proved to be a pain at times, she was damned good at playing the stock market that the humans had created as some crazy form of making money. Kano could not begin to grasp how the system worked, but the A.I. had dived right in and begun investing with amazing results. She had managed to accrue a nice sum of their currency over the past month, which proved useful when the crew of Arastos took trips down to the planet's surface.

Kano's thoughts were interrupted as the audible sound of the bridge door opening resounded behind him. The _kyree_turned in the seat to see his captain as she entered the bridge from the corridor behind.

Riyla regarded the helmsman with a warm smile that he mirrored. Like Kano, she was also kyree with glossy black fur that completely covered her figure from pointy ear to paw. She wore a simple working shirt and matching pants that accented her feminine features quite nicely. The crew of Arastos enjoyed keeping the atmosphere of the ship relatively informal compared to most other fleet vessels, as evidenced by Kano's similar clothing to her own.

Riyla was strikingly young for a captain at twenty-three years of age by earth's calendar; in fact, the _kyree_was the youngest female officer to assume command of an Axis fleet starship in recent history. It was noteworthy how she had graduated command school with flying colors, thus resulting with her becoming the captain of Arastos right out of the shipyard.

"I'm glad you showed up," Kano began as he stood. "Mrs. High and Mighty was just rubbing my nose in her success."

"I can't help it if I'm just an overall smarter fur than you," the hologram countered from the dash.

"Now, now... you two play nice," Riyla chided with a grin. The captain turned her gaze to the miniature figure of the construct. "I'm guessing that we made out in the positive today."

"Of course," Lumina replied curtly. Although the hologram of her kyree figure was displayed on the helm dash, the construct's perception was actually spread out across the various sensors of the bridge. Early on in her life, the A.I. had learned that those of flesh and blood were able to communicate with her better if she displayed a holographic imagine of herself for them to converse with. She supposed it just felt uncomfortable to the crew if they tried speaking with a disembodied voice.

"Good," Riyla said, moving to stand next to Kano by the helm controls. "Can you display the numbers for us please?"

"Yes captain."

A series of numerical data began to appear in the air just in front of the two furs. Quickly the statistics detailed their financial holdings and accounts that the crew had spread out across the electronic network of the human civilization so as not to rouse suspicion. Overall, they had a combined wealth that could buy a rather large house down on the surface.

"Hell, we can just ditch this ship and retire along some nice beachfront property," Kano chuckled as he viewed the data.

"Yeah," the captain agreed with a smile. "But, where is the fun in that?"

"I suppose your right," he replied as he turned to regard Riyla. There was one more aspect about his captain that was worth noting.

Tenderly, the crimson-furred _kyree_wrapped his arms around her slender waist and gazed lovingly into his mate's wolfish yellow eyes. She smiled affectionately as he tilted his head and opened his muzzle. Riyla quickly mirrored his actions and locked in a passionate kiss with Kano as they savored the warmth and intimacy of their partner.

The two kyree were a mated couple, joined in eternal companionship just a year ago. It was not uncommon for furs enlisted in the military to be mated. Realizing that separation of partners was unacceptable, the Space Axis made great strides to keep mates together as they served, which proved to be a popular move and boosted enrollment. When Riyla had received command of Arastos it necessitated the appointment of Kano as the pilot.

However, Kanolos had not been assigned the helmsman solely because of his mate. The pilot had received outstanding marks in piloting school and graduated top of his class. He could fly circles around anyone and was capable of piloting almost any vessel within the fleet with utter ease. Together, the mated kyree composed a formidable team.

Their tongues wrestled fervently as Kano let his hands roam across the small of her back. The male _kyree_felt her hands firmly grasp his hindquarters while he moaned into their kiss. The crew most definitely enjoyed the informal atmosphere of the ship.

Thankfully, Lumina elected to not interrupt their passion. She had learned the hard way that you just did not disrupt any aspect of desire between mates. Not too long ago the construct had butted in rudely while they were mating much to the kyree's combined ire. Riyla had actually stormed out of their quarters stark naked and yanked Lumina's vocal and visual display chips from the A.I. matrix array for a day. The construct learned a valuable lesson from that encounter. Riyla had later apologized, and told Lumina that she still could interrupt if something terrible was about to happen, like say the ship's plasma core breaching.

After several blissful moments, Kano disengaged from the kiss and pulled back to gaze at his mate tenderly. "I don't deserve you," he said, grinning.

"Oh shove it fly boy," Riyla replied with a smile, cuffing him lightly on the arm to his amusement.

"Now that you two are done giving each other an oral exam, may I interject?" Lumina said with some annoyance from the dash of the helm. "I believe the crew should be checking in from the surface any moment."

Arastos had a total standing staff of six furs. At the moment the remaining four, excluding Riyla and Kano, were on the surface attending a conference in the human city of Cancun, Mexico relating to their Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Apparently, the climate was a heated topic of debate for the species as they wrestled with increasing pollution problems, a predicament that plagued all developing intelligent species at some point or another.

The crew had deployed to the surface using the shuttle housed in the small hanger of Arastos, hiding the spacecraft underwater in the ocean while the furs ventured into the city. Apparently they had checked into a luxurious hotel, which would seem impossible without causing a mass panic at the sudden appearance of aliens. Thankfully the crew had a way to blend in seamlessly with the human population. So, why not spend some of the currency Lumina had acquired?

"I have an incoming transmission from the surface," the construct suddenly said.

"Go ahead and open a channel Lumina," Riyla replied as she moved to stand at the captain's position just behind and slightly above the helm controls.

A screen appeared in the air over the dash of her position that quickly snapped to a picture display showing a female human staring back at them from what appeared to be a hotel room. There was one thing that was wrong with the human's appearance, her eyes. Instead of the common blue, green, or brown color that the human species exhibited, her eyes were colored a deep yellow tinge, much like the kyree's own wolfish kind. It was the one flaw in the camouflage that the crew used to move about freely within the human civilization.

"Good evening," the supposed female human said warmly. She spoke in Basic, the common language used throughout the Federation Alliance.

The crew was capable of reading and speaking a handful of languages that the locals used, thanks to a complex learning system that literally shoved the language into the mind of the fur much like downloading data off of a network. The development of this technology for assimilating languages had been a long and rocky road and was still being refined. To the crew of Arastos, the process of learning the human tongue had proved to be quick, yet utterly horrible with massive headaches that resulted after the procedure.

"Greetings Eriras," Riyla replied with a smile. "Why are you still cloaked?"

The human on the screen seemed to mull over the captains words for a moment before realization played across her face. "Oh sorry... after using it all day, you sort of forget you have it on." She quickly reached up and grasped the time device, or watch as the humans called it, on her wrist. Aside from keeping the time, this particular watch had a more pivotal function.

The same technology that projected the hologram of Lumina also worked as a cunning camouflage. By simply overlaying a holo light pattern around the target individual, the device could bend light to obscure the features of the fur and project a wholly different outward appearance to those around them. The effect was the removal of the tail while replacing the alien's features with the outward appearance of a typical human.

The draw back was that the holographic camouflage could not change their eyes without blinding the crew. Thus the wolfish yellow eyes had to remain when using the device. Further, the disguise only worked visually. If someone brushed up against the individual, they would still feel the fur as opposed to smooth skin. Another problem was the tail as it still existed behind the crew member even though the hologram bent light around the appendage to make it invisible to the naked eye. They had to be extra careful not to get a tail stepped on or brushed against for fear of discovery.

The human twisted the face of the device one direction before reversing it back the other way. Almost at once the air around her figure seemed to skew before abruptly pixilating and obscuring her form. After a brief moment the space suddenly snapped back to normal, revealing a completely different individual from before.

The female that now sat in front of the display was not human, but she also wasn't kyree.

There was one interesting detail about the kyree home world Sora. The planet didn't have one, but rather two distinct intelligent species that inhabited the terra firma. This second species, known as kenseng, resembled that of Panthera tigris, or the tiger species of earth in another astonishing similarity with their own planet. Kenseng, however, didn't share the striking orange fur of the tiger, but rather could possess a variety of muter colors much like the kyree.

The history of both species was fraught with countless wars and conflicts between them that at one point had threatened to obliterate all sentient life on Sora some hundreds of years ago. After innumerable years of fighting, the two species finally came to accept one another and coexist peacefully. The lessons learned were not forgotten as the kyree_and _kenseng jointly ventured out into space, forging new bonds with alien races and exploring the great unknown.

Eriras was an attractive representation of the kenseng race. Her coat was creamy-white that completely covered the fur's slender figure from muzzle to the very tip of her tiger-like tail, interrupted at regular intervals by distinct black stripes that also stretched across her form. Quick-witted, sly, and with a temper to boot, she was a personality that complemented the ship's crew nicely as an engineer, working to maintain the key systems of the starship from the engineering deck.

Eriras smiled warmly from the display as she now regarded the captain in her true form.

"I suppose that is better eh?" she chuckled while subconsciously rubbing the underside of her feline muzzle in mild embarrassment.

"Oh it wasn't a problem," Riyla replied quickly. The kyree leaned against her captain's chair as Kanolos moved to stand in frame beside her. "So, what news do you bring concerning our dear human friends?"

"Not much I'm afraid," the_kenseng_ said with a frown. "The two sides just can't seem to come to an agreement about how to deal with the climate problem... or if there is actually a problem to begin with." The engineer sighed heavily on the display. "If there is one thing that bothers me about humans, it is their inability to work together and compromise at times."

"Keep in mind that our own history is tarnished with the same hindrances," the captain chided lightly. "It is just something a race has to learn as they evolve and grow."

"I suppose you're right. Anyway, we just stopped by our rooms for a quick report. The rest of the crew is next door."

After a brief pause Eriras allowed herself a smile. "We're going to head down to the beach for some relaxation. You two should've come down with us. The weather is positively wonderful," she added.

"I wish we could've," Kanolos chimed in with a grin. "But someone has to mind the ship, lest we let Queen Construct take over Arastos and leave us inferior furs behind."

"I resent that title Kano," the hologram said scornfully from the captain's dash. "I prefer the label Supreme Being."

"Anyway," Riyla butted in as she returned her attention to the display. "I suppose there won't be much of any change in the ongoing debate. Go ahead and take tomorrow off and enjoy some recreation."

"Can do," the _kenseng_replied with cheerfulness. "We'll see you back onboard tomorrow night."

Eriras abruptly turned her attention off screen for a moment as someone spoke to her. "Oh... before we sign off, Taylo has a request," she quickly added. The engineer moved away from the display and was replaced by another member of the crew.

Like Eriras, Taylo was also kenseng_with the same tiger-like features and stripes, although his fur was a rustic-brown in stark contrast to her white coat. He was mated to his _kenseng_counterpart similarly to the two _kyree he now regarded, working with her in engineering as the second technical crew member. Together the two furs labored vehemently to streamline and maintain the ship's systems. They had actually managed to coax an additional three percent of efficiency from the main plasma core after leaving the shipyard by adjusting the input manifold settings oh so carefully.

"I forgot that I was running a diagnostic on the number two auxiliary fusion reactor," the male _kenseng_said bashfully. "Could you have Lumina terminate the analysis and store the resulting data in my network working directory?"

"Already done Taylo," the construct replied off screen. "The data will be waiting when you return tomorrow."

"Thanks for the help Lumina. Now please behave yourself. I don't want to put you back together again like the time you rudely interrupted the captain and Kano." Riyla averted her gaze from the display, blushing fiercely under the fur at his remark.

"Yes papa," the A.I. replied mockingly as her hologram disappeared from the console dash.

"She can be a piece of work," the kenseng chuckled. "I'll see you two tomorrow. Don't get too lonely up there without us," Taylo added with a wink as the white-furred hand of his mate came from off frame to rest on his shoulder. With that, the video feed closed and the display quickly winked out of sight leaving Kanolos and Riyla staring out the bridge window at the planet below.

Kano moved behind his mate and gently encircled his arms around her slender waist as he embraced the black-furred kyree fondly. She brought her own hands up to rest on top of his while they stood together in the peaceful silence of the bridge. Both furs basked in the warmth of their partner as they enjoyed the lengthening quiet for several wonderful minutes.

"Just another month for this assignment and then we can finally set out on our real mission," Riyla said finally, breaking the silence.

"I know," her mate replied. "The human race is certainly interesting, but I want to venture out and explore space. It will be great to finally cut loose and put this ship's speed to good use."

"Well we're just about done with the space trials."

While she talked, the captain slowly began guiding Kano's hands across her body. The male kyree grinned as he felt her direct his touch until his right hand lovingly cupped her modest breast through the fabric of her shirt, while his other hand found its way between her legs. His mate whimpered softly as Kano massaged her wonderful furry orb, feeling the nipple harden beneath the clothing. Deftly his other hand maneuvered underneath the hem of her pants. He started tenderly rubbing his digits against her undershorts, teasing his mate's treasure as she began to pant at his ministration.

"Oooohh... that is lovely," Riyla groaned while her mate tortured the kyree so delightfully. "How about we find a more comfortable place?"

With those words she carefully extracted herself from his embrace and moved toward the door, looking back over her shoulder with hunger as her black-furred tail wagged happily. Kanolos wasn't about to disappoint his mate as he fell instep behind the captain. They didn't have to travel far down the brightly lit corridor since their quarters was the closest room to the bridge.

Riyla casually thumbed the entry pad to their room causing the door to slide sideways into the wall with an audible whoosh. Quickly she stepped through the threshold into the relative darkness of the quarters.

The space was just barely lit by the glowing light strips along the upper walls, providing just enough illumination so as not to have the occupants stumble over furniture and the like. The room was positioned along the port side of the ship that allowed for a stunning view of Earth as it slowly rotated by outside the windows. A rather large and comfortable looking bed adorned the wall along the far bulkhead with a view screen mounted on the opposite surface of the quarters.

The two kyree enjoyed playing video games together when there wasn't much do to, as evidenced by the human gaming console that sat on a shelf below the screen. Kano had bought it a couple weeks prior during a trip to the surface. They typically linked up with the planet's vast information network and played what the locals called first person shooter games, randomly connecting up with individuals spread out across the terra firma in a challenging competition of hand to eye coordination and reflexive skills. It was interesting to talk first hand with a wide range of individuals down below, although common courtesy was generally tossed out the window when everyone could hide behind a veil of electronic data.

Riyla took in the breathtaking view of Earth through the window as she stood just inside their quarters. Suddenly, the hands of her mate wrapped around the kyree's waist and gently spun her around to gaze deeply into Kano's golden eyes. No words needed to be spoken as the furs locked passionately in a kiss, while the door slid shut and cut off the light from the corridor.

Taking control, Kanolos skillfully brought his hands down to firmly grasp her supple hindquarters, lifting his mate up as she moaned into their kiss and wrapped her arms around his back. He padded over toward the bed while Riyla briefly pulled away before affectionately licking his muzzle fur, tickling his whiskers in a way she knew he loved.

Kano reached the edge of the bed and gently sat down upon the sheets while Riyla still assaulted his fur with her wonderful tongue. The black-furred kyree agilely straddled his thighs as she giggled while he smiled lovingly at her attention, tail wagging happily behind his figure.

Riyla was a first-rate captain and a proficient leader. Kano would certainly follow his mate into hell and back if he had to. But, what he loved most about her was that she was such an affectionate mate, abandoning her rank and the authority that it demanded so that she could be his lover, which was far more important to both of them than any duties they had.

"Although sometimes she gets that commanding itch," the red-furred kyree mused with a grin, feeling her hand press firmly against his chest. The male promptly fell backward onto the sheets as he looked up at Riyla while she mirrored his grin playfully, still straddling his lap. Quickly he lifted up his butt so that the _kyree_could rearrange his wolfish tail to comfortably rest between the legs as opposed to lying on it awkwardly.

"Let me take that troublesome clothing of yours off," Riyla said throatily, while she reached down to grasp the bottom hem of his working shirt. In one fluid motion she pulled the clothing up over Kano's head while he helped by bringing his arms up. Once the offending shirt was gone, the female kyree let her eyes wander over the features of her mate. The strikingly crimson coat of his body yielded to creamy-white fur that started at the tip of his muzzle and splayed across the _kyree's_slightly muscular chest and abdomen before disappearing below the hem of the pants.

Riyla lowered herself and ran the side of her muzzle across his chest fur; reveling in how soft it always was while he chuckled at the tickly sensation. Deftly she reached down and undid the clasp to the front of his pants that had now tented with the male's growing arousal. Kano began to pant as she slowly slid down his body and began tugging the annoying clothing down his legs.

Once the pants were gone, all that remained was his undershorts, which stood tall with his painful erection poking up beneath the fabric. Gently Riyla traced a finger around the protrusion, eliciting a whimper from her mate as he panted with increasing lust.

"Seems my stud is ready for some action," Riyla declared, grasping the hem of the fabric. Without any further stalling she quickly pulled the undershorts off and haphazardly discarded the cloth onto the floor. Now the female kyree was free to drink in her mate's wonderful malehood.

The smooth white fur across Kano's chest and abdomen extended down to the male's crotch where his red, tapered canine-like penis stood fully erect out of the white-furred sheath. The knot at the base, which was similar to their four-legged canine cousins of Earth, was barely visible as his member pulsed slightly with the kyree's rapidly growing desire. Two white furry orbs rested snugly underneath that contained the male's delightful seed, begging to be emptied.

Riyla's heartbeat quickened at the sight of his malehood. She longed to have that wonderful cock of his buried deeply inside her. First though, the kyree wanted to taste him. His legs hung off the side of the bed, allowing her to kneel on the floor while sliding up between the male's limbs to come face to face with his throbbing erection. Riyla gave a deep sniff, inundating her senses with his arousal as he looked down at her with yellow wolfish eyes clouded in lust.

Smiling wickedly, the female _kyree_reached up to grasp the base of his red furry tail, tenderly running her fingers along the soft fur. Meanwhile, her other hand extended up to softly cup his furry balls, while she continued stroking her fingers along his tail.

"Stop teasing me," Kano whined in anguish.

Riyla wasn't quite ready to stop just yet, as the black-furred kyree brought her head down and opened her muzzle. Swiftly, she stroked her tongue along the furry orbs, running the appendage across his genitals and matting the white fur while his scent infused her senses.

"Oh you're being ruthless now," the male groaned above Riyla as she continued her attack, making him squirm against the sheets. After a few more strokes she decided to stop tormenting him.

Kano tensed up suddenly as he finally felt the distinct warmth of his mate's tongue slide along the underside of his pulsating malehood. Encouraged by his reaction, the female _kyree_again applied a lengthy stroke of her tongue along his member, eliciting a whimper from the male. Her tail wagged happily as Riyla began running the appendage against the length of his throbbing member, doubling back to the tapered tip in a circle while he groaned louder above her.

Grinning to herself, Riyla moved her tongue below his swelling knot and applied a rough stroke around the sensitive base, causing the male to buck his hips involuntarily at the sudden pleasurable assault.

"I'm sorry...," Kano stammered as he fought to regain his composure. "God... you are wonderful with your tongue."

"I'm not done yet stud," she replied huskily while repositioning herself above his abused malehood. In one fluid motion, the kyree opened her muzzle and enclosed the tip of his penis within her mouth. Quickly she slid the rest of his malehood inside her slick muzzle, stroking her tongue along the underside while being mindful of teeth.

Kano collapsed onto the bed as his cock was subjected to an overwhelming barrage of pleasure. The male barely managed to look down and watch his mate pumping her muzzle against his member, all the while gazing up at him with her wolfish eyes that sparkled with mischief in a way that drove him crazy. A steady sound of slurping and sucking started resonating off the bulkheads as Riyla hastened her rhythm.

She could feel his knot beginning to inflate as it pushed against her nose while she worked. The female _kyree_dexterously opened her muzzle and took the bulge into her mouth, quickly bringing her tongue to assault the base of the knot. Riyla scraped the appendage across the tender flesh repeatedly, working fervently to taste her reward.

It was proving too much for Kano as he felt his peak rapidly approaching, panting roughly with his muzzle ajar and tongue lolled out in his blissful state. God was her tongue heavenly.

"I'm... getting... close Riyla!" he stuttered while gritting his teeth as the pleasure built and threatened to overwhelm his consciousness.

Riyla was not going to let up. She was a kyree on a mission, longing to taste his wonderful seed. Redoubling her efforts, she continued thrusting her muzzle against the sensitive flesh, sucking ravenously as the kyree coaxed her mate to a splendid climax.

Kano tried to hold out as long as possible, but it was a losing battle. The male leaned forward suddenly, feeling his balls tighten as she gave one last vicious stroke of her tongue along his sensitive base. The male kyree finally gave in to his desire and whimpered loudly as his peak enveloped the fur's awareness, drowning out Kano's surroundings while his member pulsed and shot thick spouts of cum into his mate's waiting muzzle.

She felt him tense up below and welcomed the sudden spurts of his seed that coated the inside of her mouth. Riyla continued to greedily suck on his quivering malehood while he rode out his climax, loving how wonderfully salty he tasted. For several glorious moments Kano remained frozen in bliss while she drank in her reward.

Afterward, the male _kyree_collapsed back onto the sheets, panting heavily with his tongue flopped out to the side while he savored the afterglow that shrouded his consciousness. Slurping sounds resonated from the side of the bed as Kano sat up to watch his mate clean his knotted erection. Riyla made sure to lick every facet of the tender flesh while he brought a hand up to stroke through the black fur between her pointy ears.

"That was wonderful," the male said as she finished her cleansing and gazed up at him lovingly. Kano could just lose himself within those beautiful yellow eyes of hers.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it stud," she replied with mirth, licking her chops. "I always love how you taste. Now... I've been dying to get out of these bothersome cloths for a while now."

With those words Riyla quickly stood and began to unceremoniously disrobe; first, starting with her shirt before working through all of the clothing she wore in record time. After a few moments, the female kyree stood nude before Kano as her attire now sat pooled at the fur's paws.

Kano drank in her naked figure hungrily. Unlike his multifaceted coat, her entire form was covered in black fur, flowing down her pointy ears, past her muzzle and slim shoulders, down further still across the kyree's modest supple breasts with two petite pink nipples poking out slightly from the surrounding fur in the cool of the air.

The lovely black coat continued down her slender stomach, flowing across her navel and eventually down further to Riyla's true treasure. Here the black fur gave way to the two blushed, puckered lips of her magnificent sex, slightly swollen with the kyree's strong arousal. The surrounding fur was matted with her sweet nectar that permeated the air with Riyla's overpowering scent, driving Kano crazy as he sat on the bed riveted on her form. Riyla wagged her fluffy tail happily as she watched his eyes roam across her figure.

"You're just as beautiful as the day we met," Kano said bashfully, smiling at his mate.

"And it is all for you," she replied, mirroring his smile. The female kyree swayed her hips as she padded back toward the bed.

Whatever Riyla had been planning was interrupted as Kano swiftly reached out and grasped her arms, making her yelp in surprise. Not losing his momentum, the male quickly pulled his mate to the bed, sliding her on top of his figure as she started giggling.

"Sorry I couldn't wait any longer," he chuckled.

They locked muzzles briefly in another zealous kiss as Riyla grinded her body roughly against his form. Carefully, Kano rolled her over so he was on top. "My turn," the male added with a grin as she gazed with feral desire at her mate.

Kano began to affectionately lick the side of her muzzle, tickling her whiskers much like Riyla had done earlier. She certainly enjoyed the attention as much as him. Slowly the male worked his tongue down the side of her neck, across her shoulder, and downward further before reaching his mate's supple breast.

The male kyree stroked his tongue against the smooth black fur of the furry orb while Riyla whimpered beneath. Quickly Kano zeroed in on her pink nipple, teasing the flesh into beautiful hardness by giving long strokes of his appendage while she squirmed and writhed at his ministration.

After a few moments, the _kyree_changed his attack and gently took the petite nipple into his muzzle. She began to pant as the male lashed his tongue repeatedly against her tender flesh while sucking delicately with his mouth.

Soon Kano shifted his focus to her other breast, making sure to give the nipple the same wonderful treatment as the first. He was rewarded with his mate's increasingly louder whimpering as her breast was tortured oh so delightfully.

Riyla basked in the pleasure, relishing the feeling of his warm, slick tongue dancing across her abused nipple while the kyree felt the male's hand come up to massage her other furry orb gently. She was getting wetter by the second and longed to have him treat her most prized treasure to the same lovely attention.

Kano decided to stop teasing his mate and released his hold on her tormented breast. Slowly the male began sliding down her figure, occasionally stroking his tongue across her silky black fur as he travelled. He paused briefly to tickle her navel, eliciting a giggle from Riyla, before he continued until finally reaching her lovely flower.

Her arousal saturated the air, driving Kano's senses crazy as he gave a good whiff with his nose. Riyla's tail wagged as she watched the male kyree gaze hungrily at her heated sex. Not wasting time, he carefully leaned down and gave a long tender lick of his tongue along her outer lips causing her to moan at the sensation. Invigorated, Kano opened his muzzle, and applied another scrape against her folds, parting the blushed lips slightly as he cherished her taste.

She began to pant deeply again as the male continued his ministration, grinding his flat canine tongue along her swollen sex as she writhed and twisted beneath him. Abruptly Kano moved to rasp his appendage against the beautiful button that poked out above, causing Riyla to bark suddenly as she was overcome with an intense wave of pleasure. Oh... he could apply that tongue like a surgical tool, knowing just where and how to work his mate to a wonderful release.

Riyla rapidly leaned forward with another abrupt bark as she felt his distinct cold, canine nose push against her heated sex. She looked down to catch sight of Kano gazing back with wolfish eyes full of mischief.

"You're evil," she panted, while her tongue flopped out sideways with muzzle ajar.

Kano simply grinned at seeing his mate so disheveled before the male kyree turned his attention back to his prize. Deftly he pushed his nose forward, parting her folds as he buried the tip of his muzzle within her burning sex.

Riyla collapsed back onto the sheets with a deep whine of ecstasy as her lips were parted so wonderfully. She felt his wonderful tongue begin scraping along her inner folds as it twisted and squirmed about, seemingly with a mind of its own.

"Oh god... don't stop!" the female kyree barked as her tail thrashed about beneath him, tickling Kano's neck fur.

He enjoyed hearing his mate so impassioned. Redoubling his efforts, the kyree continued assaulting her abused folds with his tongue, curling it along her walls as he thrust forward to simulate male penetration. Kano quickly focused his attack on that one particular spot both kyree knew drove her crazy with pleasure as his mate began writhing more forcefully against the sheets. He continued breathing out of the corners of his muzzle, allowing the male to keep his nose buried within her tormented sex.

Riyla's peak quickly approached as she continued whimpering loudly. She felt him zero onto that one special spot that drove her crazy, making the kyree arch her back and wrap her legs around his head while he worked. Closer... and closer... and closer still until the next stroke would push her over the edge.

Kano abruptly withdrew before pushing his tongue as far into his mate's sex as possible. Riyla tensed up while arching her back even higher, gritting her teeth as the kyree_whined noisily above him. The male felt her walls contract around his invading tongue as she was overcome with intense waves of pleasure that washed across the female _kyree's awareness and caused her body to feel on fire. He greedily drank in her sweet nectar as she pushed her legs against the back of his head, locking the male inside her quivering folds while she remained unmoving in ecstasy.

After several breathtaking moments, Riyla came back to the here and now. She quickly crumpled back onto the bed as her body was overcome with a warm afterglow, panting roughly with exhaustion. The kyree was hardly aware of her mate pulling his nose out of her tortured sex.

He began to tenderly lick her outer lips, cleansing the black fur around her flower as she lay motionless. He really did enjoy how she tasted. For several minutes he bathed her heated lips with his tongue, heightening her afterglow's intensity as she recovered her composure.

Regaining her senses, Riyla gazed down compassionately at him as he withdrew his tongue. Kano crawled up alongside his mate as she turned her body sideways on the sheets to regard him with a heartfelt smile.

"Your tongue is wonderful stud," she chuckled as he grinned wickedly.

"Well, I love how you taste," he replied mirroring her grin.

Seeing the mess on his nose, Riyla leaned over and began to lick his muzzle fur. She rasped her tongue around his whiskers, tasting herself as the kyree cleaned his nose affectionately while Kano held still and smiled. Her tongue felt heavenly to him as she worked it all over his muzzle with loving care.

"There we go; good as new," Riyla said after she had finished her task. She then noticed his malehood, which still stood erect out of the sheath, although the knot had deflated since her previous ministration. Casually the female kyree reached down to trace a finger lightly against the tender flesh as he whined at her teasing touch. "How about we take care of that," she added throatily. He simply smiled in agreement.

Riyla crawled over to the headboard of the bed with Kano in tow. Quickly she rearranged the pillows to create a comfortable backrest before turning to grin at him as he cocked his head to the side in puzzlement. Without further ado she grasped his hand and maneuvered the male into sitting upright against the soft cushions. It finally dawned on Kano what she wanted to do as he quickly rearranged his red-furred tail to sit comfortably.

Grinning at him, Riyla deftly straddled his thighs and licked his muzzle compassionately as she reached down to grasp his throbbing malehood. Carefully she brought his canine penis to rest against the outer lips of her heated sex as he growled playfully.

With one fluid motion she THRUST herself downward, taking his wonderful cock completely into her quivering lips as they moaned in harmony. His malehood spread her wide perfectly as she gazed deeply into his wolfish yellow eyes, clouded with the male's heightening pleasure.

Slowly, Riyla raised herself up, feeling his member pull out of her ravaged sex until just the tip remained snugly within her folds. She then quickly thrust downward slightly faster, hilting his malehood within her lips as she whined with the wonderful pleasure.

The male panted as she began to build up a rhythm, smashing her hindquarters down onto his hips while grinding his cock so wonderfully within her tight lips. Her sex gripped his malehood like a vise, pulling and squeezing the tender flesh powerfully.

Both kyree succumbed to their baser instincts as they mated passionately while a steady sound of slurping and slapping resounded off of the bulkheads. Nothing in the world felt more right to them than to be coupled with their mate, fervently thrusting toward a brilliant release.

Kano eyed her supple black-furred breasts that bounced tantalizing close to his muzzle. Skillfully he took her sensitive nipple into his mouth and sucked gently against the flesh while his hand massaged her other breast lovingly, working to bring his mate to another breathtaking peak.

The sudden attack on her breasts caused Riyla to whine louder as she continued smashing her hindquarters against his hips, savoring the feeling of his tapered cock scraping deeply against her folds. She could feel the knot forming again as it slammed against her outer lips on each thrust, begging to gain entrance. The female kyree always loved to have the delightful bulge lodged tightly within her. Swiftly, she intensified her efforts, slamming down harder onto his hips and grinding the knot ruthlessly against her heated sex as she worked to tie with her mate.

Kano could feel his knot grinding up against Riyla's tortured lips and ached to be coupled with her. The male began to thrust upward during her downward plunge, straining to push the bulge into his mate. She suddenly withdrew from his malehood almost completely before pounding down as Kano rammed his hips up to meet her plunge. His knot grinded cruelly against her sex one final time before it slipped inside her folds with a pop.

Riyla yelped as the bulge finally entered her quivering lips, inflating further as it locked the mating kyree_together just like their four-legged cousins of Earth. The intense feeling of being so completely filled by his member pushed the _kyree to the edge as she clenched her teeth and screwed her eyes shut.

Kano felt his peak fast approaching while the male began to wildly thrust upward against his mate's motionless form as he firmly grasped her hips, striving to reach his release.

The sudden rapid thrusts by her mate pushed Riyla careening over the edge as her peak flooded the kyree with a boiling sea of ecstasy. She threw her head back and whined loudly while the pleasure cascaded across her awareness, overwhelming the _kyree's_consciousness as she rode out her powerful climax.

The male felt Riyla tense up in his lap as her sex squeezed his malehood remorselessly, imploring him to let go and fill her needing folds with his wonderful seed. Kano couldn't hold out any longer as he gave one last desperately powerful thrust, grinding his tapered malehood harshly within her quivering lips.

He released her abused nipple from his muzzle and growled softly as the kyree felt his aching balls tighten. The pleasure peaked and washed over Kano's awareness, flooding throughout his body as he shuddered and shot thick creamy ropes of his seed within her heated sex. The kyree quickly reached out and pulled his mate close, pressing her modest breasts against his figure as he savored her warmth. Her folds milked his malehood mercilessly, encouraging his cock to pump more of the kyree's cum within her.

Riyla continued to whine as she felt his seed flood her ravaged folds, filling her so wonderfully. She could do nothing but grasp him tight as she rested her muzzle against the side of his neck while she trembled at the overpowering sensation.

For several glorious moments, the _kyree_remained motionless in bliss, shrouded in the intense ecstasy of their combined orgasms as Kano continued thrusting weakly to prolong the pleasure.

Gradually both furs came down from their peaks, panting from exhaustion as they enjoyed the beautiful afterglow that ensued.

Riyla collapsed against her mate's figure as she rested her muzzle on top of his shoulder and tried to catch her breath, tongue lolled out sideways in her weary state. Kano gently wrapped his arms around her quivering form and held her tight. Together they rested, propped up against the headboard of the bed while the Earth continued to silently scroll by out the window.

"I love you Riyla," Kano spoke after several minutes of peaceful silence. He slowly stroked his hands across the small of her back, running his fingers through her soft black fur. "I always will."

"I love you too Kano," she replied, still resting her muzzle against the crimson fur of his shoulder. "Always and forever."

Riyla shifted her position slightly, and whimpered as his knotted erection moved within her sex. His seed provided an odd cooling feeling to her seemingly white-hot folds in a satisfying way. "I suppose we're going to be tied for a while," she breathed while closing her eyes.

"Well I don't want to be anywhere but right here with you," he replied with a smile as he reached up to stroke the fur between her ears.

Riyla simply hummed in response, deciding that a late-afternoon nap was a good idea as she drifted off to sleep. Kano smiled to himself as he held his mate tenderly. All was right in the world as he too was overcome with sleep soon after.

The next day came as Arastos continued her lazy orbit of the planet, invisible to the inhabitants below as she sustained her endless circles of the terra firma. The two kyree had enjoyed a pleasant nap the day prior, followed by dinner and a rousing session of gaming with their anonymous human counterparts. It was always funny to them how the humans went crazy when they found out the individual that had beaten them so badly was in fact a female, i.e. Riyla. She was very good at their first person shooter games, just slightly better than Kano. Yesterday had been enjoyable. However, now the kyree had to be all business.

Riyla sat at the captain's position on the bridge as she poured through some data logs concerning the ship's space trials. Meanwhile, her mate sat at the helm, just in front and slightly below her console as he ran checks on the sub-ether engine nacelles in preparation for the upcoming test. Arastos was about to conduct one of the most important aspects of space trial certifications, maximum slipstream stress testing.

In order for a ship to achieve faster-than-light travel, the basic physical laws of the universe first had to be thrown out. Conventional thrust had proven to be incapable of breaking this critical barrier due to the relativity law of light speed, in which a ship would require an infinite amount of energy to achieve the velocity of light. So how do you achieve faster-than-light travel if you can't break the laws of physics? Simple, you just bend the rules... literally.

The four sub-ether engines mounted along the aft section of the ship were designed for just such a purpose. Instead of simply propelling the ship forward using conventional thrust, these particular devices pushed the vessel out of the normal framework of space into a sub space called slipstream. When in slipstream, the ship actually didn't technically move, but rather the fabric of space shifted around spacecraft. How fast a starship could travel in slipstream actually related to how far the sub-ether engines could pull the fabric of space for each jump.

The test was designed to push the engines to their absolute limits, seeing how far Arastos could travel for a single jump without burning out any hardware or destroying the nacelles.

The shuttle containing the rest of the crew had just arrived minutes ago in the ship's hangar. Eriras and Taylo were already in engineering as they began preparing systems for the upcoming stress test, while their counterparts headed for the bridge.

Kano looked back from his console's data screen as the bridge door swooshed open behind him. Two furs came through the threshold from the corridor behind and stood regarding the captain and him with a warm smile. They happened to be a mated couple just like the rest of the crew, but with two unique differences.

The first crew member's name was Yanashi, although she liked to be called Yana for short. Like Kano she was _kyree_with fur that closely resembled that of the grey wolf species of Earth, starting with a lighter shade of grey across her chest and abdomen that faded to a darker tinge along her back and tail. Calm, discreet, and compassionate, she was the quietest member of the crew and not much for conversation.

Yana was one of the two tactical crew members assigned to Arastos, commanding all of the ship's defensive and offensive armaments. Aside from her primary task, the kyree also served as the medical officer aboard when the situation necessitated it.

Her mate, whose name was Shyla, aided Yana with commanding the tactical systems of the ship. Unlike Yana, Shyla was kenseng with a deep crimson fur color that closely matched Kano's. Her fur contained the distinct black tiger-like stripes that covered her coat from pointy ear to tail much like her kin in engineering. Shyla was more outgoing than her mate, typically striking up conversations and telling jokes to make others laugh when spirits were down. She certainly was the shoulder to lean on in hard times. Aside from being a weapon's officer, the _kenseng_acted as the ship's cook. She was particularly good at baking desserts.

"You two hold down the fort ok while we were gone?" Shyla asked while placing a hand on her hip.

"Of course," Riyla replied with a grin. "We had each other for company."

"Well that's good to hear," the kenseng chuckled. She quickly dug in the pocket of her shorts. "We brought back some souvenirs." With those words she tossed two objects to Kano and Riyla. They turned out to be pairs of overly large neon pink sunglasses. Both put the ridiculous shades on and turned to regard one another with goofy grins.

"Hell, I should pilot with these bad boys on," Kanolos laughed.

"Those suit you well Kano," Yana chimed in with a giggle. All four furs had a good laugh, while Lumina secretly took a snapshot to store for later teasing.

Eventually, it was time to get down to business as the glasses were put aside. Yana and Shyla took their places at the side-by-side tactical consoles that faced the starboard bulkhead of the bridge, while Kano finished his testing of the nacelle systems. It was necessary to have the tactical crew at their stations just in case they exited slipstream into a nasty horde of unfriendly starships.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Riyla said from the captain's controls. "Initiate sub-ether startup sequence."

"Aye captain," Kano replied. Swiftly the kyree entered a series of commands into his dash controls that resulted in a sequence of data cascading down his display, showing the startup progression checklist as it was being carried out automatically. A low, almost inaudible hum began to resonate throughout the ship's hull as the engines were spun up to idle. "All engines showing idle. No irregularities detected," he added after roughly a minute.

Riyla thumbed a button on her console to bring up a voice channel to engineering. "How are things looking down there?" she asked while her voice was carried down to the space below.

"Everything is running within normal parameters," Eriras said as her disembodied voice echoed around the bridge. "We're all set down here."

"Ok standby," the captain replied. She released the button and turned her attention to tactical. "Tactical status?"

"All systems on standby," Yana replied from her console.

"Helm, come about to predetermined coordinates," Riyla commanded.

"Aye captain, coming about," Kano acknowledged. The kyree brought his hand up to grasp the thruster controls. With skillful motion, he maneuvered the control stick as the view outside the bridge abruptly changed. The maneuvering thrusters quickly reoriented the ship as it now sat with the engines facing the planet surface and the moon just visible along the port window. They had no set place to go, just a general direction.

"Reposition complete," the pilot said after he had stopped the rotational movement of the vessel.

"Helm, conduct object collision analysis," Riyla ordered. Before jumping to slipstream, they first had to make sure they wouldn't end up inside a planet at the other end.

"Aye captain," Kano acknowledged again. He quickly punched commands into his console, which resulted in a holographic map materializing along the forward window. The database contained a vast array of stellar information that was useful for plotting courses. With the help of Lumina, the pilot did a quick series of calculations until he had a formula established.

"At the ship's current orbital rate and projected maximum slipstream speed, we are safe to jump for another 30 seconds at our current axial position," he concluded.

"Very well," the captain replied. She paused for several seconds. "Punch it..."

Kano reached over to throw the throttle to the redline.

" STOP!"

The voice of Lumina boomed across the bridge as the pilot quickly retracted his hand from the controls. Panic played across his face as he searched his display quickly to make sure all systems were still in the green.

"What's wrong?" Riyla asked tersely as her eyes darted about her own display.

"It's the ISS!" Lumina exclaimed with dread evident in her voice. No one on the crew had heard the construct speak with such raw emotion... something was terribly wrong.

Riyla tried to discern what the A.I. meant by "ISS." Suddenly the thought snapped into her awareness, making the captain go cold with horror. "Oh god, you don't mean the human's space station?!" she breathed.

"Yes... it collided with a satellite!" the construct exclaimed.

"Bring up the camera!"

When the crew had first arrived in orbit they made sure to stay as far away from the human's space station as possible, which meant Arastos currently circled the planet completely opposite from the ISS. However, they had deployed a small spy probe that now sat in synchronous orbit with the structure to monitor their activities.

Lumina quickly brought up the camera feed from the probe, and things did not look good at all. The space station was heavily damaged with one of the major solar panel structures completely missing. The crew compartment was shredded along the one side with pieces of what had to be the satellite imbedded in the pods. The structure was venting a copious amount of liquid as it spun awkwardly from the force of impact.

"Lumina can you give me a status update?" Riyla ordered. "Is the Russian escape craft still intact?"

"Scanning..." the disembodied voice replied. "The escape capsule is still attached to the station, but debris has punched a hole in the craft. It is unusable."

"Do the humans have any scheduled launches soon?!"

Lumina paused for a second as she accessed the planet's information network. "They have a shuttle on the launch pad in Florida," she stated. "But it is experiencing leaks with the fueling system. They can't launch for at least another month."

"Damnit!" Riyla exclaimed. "How long can they survive without assistance?"

"The station is leaking atmosphere alarmingly quick," the construct said. "The six crew members have sealed off an intact pod and are currently taking shelter in there. Life support is failing and I'd estimate survivability at roughly 30 minutes."

Kanolos spun around in his seat to gaze intently at his mate as she chewed on a finger. The two kyree made eye contact in the silence of the bridge as Riyla nodded slightly. It was obvious what had to be done.

"Coming about!" Kano exclaimed as he violently jerked the controls over, causing the ship to spin quickly. Once Arastos was parallel with the surface the pilot punched the impulse engines to full, powering the starship forward as the inertial dampers struggled to keep the crew from being plastered to the bulkhead. They had to get around to the other side of the planet quickly.

Riyla gripped the armrest of her chair tightly as she was pushed back into the seat with the ship's rapid acceleration. The captain gazed out the bridge window nervously as one thought dominated her mind.

They were about to break one of the most significant protocols of the Federation...