Tales Of Redstreak Chapter 15

Story by Admiral Q on SoFurry

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#21 of Chakat Universe

Red's Vacation is cut short but shi meets some new people and strange stuff.


A week has pasted and it was time to head for home. Red grinned. 'Going home with two more mates. Not bad for one not born a chakat. I'm even beating Dallie and Coal with those numbers.' Shi places a shirt away when Coal opened the door. "Hey Red, Polkadot wants you." Red frowned, Shi saw them a few days ago and everything was fine. Heck Clarissa certainly knew how to please a chakat. Shi walked over to the comm unit and saw Polka's Orange and yellow polka dotted muzzle on the screen. "Hey Polka what's up?" The older chakat had a pained look on hir muzzle. "Well Red, I have a favor to ask of you." "Ask away." "Well a good friend of mine went to an engineer conference here in one of the more remote resorts and everyone there has got a bug and are under quarantine for the next two months." "Wow that seems radical?" "Well scuttlebutt is that the bug was an engineered bug that got loose at the conference so they're making absolutely sure it's dead before letting anyone out. But since shi is one of only two chakat's on board hir ship it's stuck and the captain is having problem's getting another chakat on board." "So you want me to go." "Yes, I know you're still on vacation but I got a deal set up that you can take the rest of it when you return. They only need you for one voyage. I owe Sparks a favor and I know you can..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Sparks!? Not Chakat Sparks of the Pegasus?" "How do you know hir?" "Was on the Pegasus for a bit." "Ohh, well you know the ship and her captain than. This is great oh please accept. I know I owe you one." Than the older chakat put on the sad puppy eyes look and that caused Red to laugh out loud. "WOW! you learned from Clarissa well." "Well she uses it on me enough, so?" Red senses hir mates behind hir and responds. "Let me confer with my mates. Computer mute please." A tone indicated that the channel was mute. "Well your thoughts?" Shi asks hir mates. Flameria was the first to reply. "Oh you're going but your taking me with. I was a good hunter and like to do that again everyone in awhile. So I'm coming." Red raised hir hands up. "Okay, okay noted." Shi looks to Fish. "I'm going to, remember I'm assigned to you so you have to deal with me." "Good thing I'm mated to you." Red said as shi rolled hir eyes. Shi then looks at Alexis. Walks up to hir and hugs hir. "I hate the idea of leaving you so soon." The wolf returned the hug. "But this is what you do. You help people. I still have a few months before I give birth to our child and Dallie can take care of me till you come home. But after that you WILL STAY home till our child is born." "Deal.?h Breaking off from their hug Red looks at Coal. "You can go, can I go with you?" Red shakes hir head. "No, I'm trusting you to take care of Alexis and my child. Give hir the best meals okay?" Coal nods. "Okay but please come home." "Haven't I've always?" Red goes back to the screen and has the computer cancel the mute it. "There are conditions if I'm going to go." "Alright let me get Admiral Kline on the line." The image of Polka shows hir head going down and they hear some typing. After going through an ensign in communications Red saw a familiar face on the screen. "Hey Red, how are you doing?" "Okay, little miffed about an interrupted vacation but I have a deal for you. I'll go with you but, Flameria is coming with me and wants to be with the survey teams and since you and your bosses assigned her to me Fish is coming as well. And finally I want to be home in time for my child's birth and be able to finish my vacation without further interruption." "We were packing up when Polka called so about a half an hour." "Alright, I'll make arrangements over here." He breaks his connection. "Well glad that worked out and I owe you one." "Arrange a nice vacation at some point in the future with just you, me, Clarissa, and the kids." "Deal." And shi ends the call and the family goes back to packing. Twenty minutes later they were having their first parting. Alexis was heading up in the shuttle with Sunspot, both are now pregnant and can't use the transporter. The second parting was at the Gateway station where Red, Fish, Flameria, and Firestripe wave to the others as they board the liner bringing them home. Finally they go through the docking tube that connects the Pegasus to the station. Red saw the security officer guarding the entrance to the Pegasus but was surprised to see Commander M'Lai there as well. "Commander, I didn't expect you do be here?" The petite Catian smiles at Red and replies. "I am responsible for the personnel on this ship and you're a special case, so I decided to escort you to your quarters personally." "Thank you. So what's the overall situation then? I know your chief engineer is down." "Yes Sparks and several others are quarantined. We had to recruit form Star Corps personnel in the local area but it's surprising how hard it is to get a qualified chakat onboard. I swear if you weren't available Boyce would have put out an add to have a chakat onboard, qualified or not." "Wow but Boyce is a bloody Admiral, how could he have such a hard time?" "Most of the fleet or corps chakats are either on assignment or on leave. Heck Boyce offered Polka a spot but shi wouldn't leave hir mate and kids that long." "Not surprise there, Shi's very protective of Clarissa since she was like a daughter before her change. Most of their families are either on one of the colonies, dead, or not well known." "How do you know that?" "Well Polka is now my comate. Me and Clarissa are now mates." Though sadly not parents yet. But Polka and Clarissa plan to visit Earth by the time Red returns so they can try again. "Oh, well then you would know. Here are your quarters for your stay and the admiral expects you for dinner tonight before you officially go on duty tomorrow." "Aye commander." Red gave the commander a mock salute and step into hir quarters. M'Lai left them to it and secretly smiles and the looks they would likely have. She wasn't wrong, all three adults stood slack jawed and dropping their suitcases. The living room was at least fifty feet wide and filled with couches and bean bags with a chair or two. The trio sees a small red blur of Firestripe checking out hir new place and begins sniffing around. that breaks the trio out of their trance and they further explore the suite. They had a kitchen area which had Red grinning, shi has learned a lot since shi lives with Coal. Next was the bathroom where they found a good size tub that had Flameria grinning at the fun that could be had there. They had 2 bedrooms. The smaller was designed for bipeds but easily convertible for taur use and a much larger bedroom seemingly design for Chakat use. They easily put their stuff in the large room and chilled before dinner. With Firestipe on a leash the group heads for the Admiral's quarters which were on the same level. Boyce was giving them the royal treatment this time. Red presses the doorbell and the door opens to revel M'Lai. "Good timing the dinner will be ready soon." They group heads in and Flameria takes off Firestripe's leash and the young kit quickly finds Ember and begins to play with eachother. Everyone but M'Lai settle down in the living room as the Caitian commander finishes up dinner. "So Fish," Boyce began. "You driving Red here crazy enough?" The pink cat smiles at the human and replies. "Crazy enough to make me hir mate." THAT caused a raised eyebrow and the cat to giggle. "Truthfully Admiral I was feeling envious of Red. Shi had a family that loved hir and shi loved back. I saw them adopt two people in bad shapes and brought them happiness. I had no family Admiral. I didn't even have a home outside of my ship or station quarters and I didn't want that anymore and I got the family I yearned for." Boyce looked at Red. "I guess I might have made a mistake in ordering her to look out for you." "Well I didn't need her, she needed me and my family so it works out in the end. And she did help Alexis with hir decision." "You're wolf friend from Double H?" Midnight asks. Red nods and looks at Boyce with a conspiratorial smile. "The nanos struck again." Shi then explained how Alexis is now carrying hir child. Boyce was speechless for a bit with a jaw dropped Midnight and Rosepetal. When he could speak again Boyce first said. "Crap, I guess I have a challenger for the most studliest being in the universe now.' Which got Red laughing and Boyce hit with Midnights tail. After the laughter died down Boyce had a very serious look. "What you just reveled lends credit to a theory some of our scientist had about the nanos in you and maybe the others." "Huh?" "Well after studying the notes and files that the nanos could be very adaptive and possible stop you from physically aging anymore. If they could change your sperm to be viable with your biped friend then I could see them stopping the aging process." Red personally hoped he was wrong. Shi cared for hir mates and family dearly. The possibility of seeing them aged and die while shi didn't was chilling to say the least. "We should run some more test and..." "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Red growls, "The government already intrudes on my life a little too much. I'm drawing the line here. I will find out in time whether I will age or not." Bgoyce saw Midnight and the kits wince at first saying Red was really angry so Boyce raised up his hands. "Okay, I surrender. No more test as far as the nanos are concerned." Red visibly relaxes and also tells them about Larsa and Clarissa while Boyce privately thinks. 'Boy! Dodge the bullet on that one. Note to self. Don't EVER mention test in front of Red again, Shi's almost as scary as Neal when he loses his cool.' That video from New Kiev still haunts the admiral. "So admiral, can you give me a rough idea where we are going this trip?" Red asks. "Well we are set out to explore the Kruperu Sector. The probes we sent got a lot of strange readings from the probes we sent out there but they also found a couple of possible colonies." "Cool." As dinner finished Flamy got Firestripe and the group heads back. After putting Firestripe to sleep the three adults spent some quality time together. Fish admits she never had another girl bring her to orgasm before. She might like being bisexual. The next day Red and Flamy were ordered to report to Lt. Commander Leekan For assignment while Fish took Firestripe to daycare. The room they went to looked like a classroom with desks and chairs that could convert into cushions for taur species. They and many other various beings enter the room and the two mates take seats by eachother. Eventually everyone was seated. And a Cougar female came in with the Lt. Commander's rank in a Life science uniform. For a minute Red thought it was Mounty but that could never be. Shi was still recovering from the surprise shi got a few days earlier. Red was talking with some of hir clan members getting to know them when the doorbell went off. Shi paid it no mind as the chakat's who normally live here would answer it. A few minutes later Autumnsun showed up. "Redstreak there's a couple wanting to see you." Curious Red followed Autumnsun to the entrance room. There shi saw two biped Cougar morphs, they looked familiar to hir. They projected fear and hope...and pain, a deep pain. Hir telepathy wasn't detecting any threat from them so shi continued on. The male, holding the female close to him to comfort her looks up and asks. "You are Chakat Redstreak?" Red nods. "We're Adam and Silvia Quickgraze." That was a bombshell, shi almost lost hir ability to stand. 'Mounty's parents.' "Let's...(gulp)..let's move this to a more private area." As Red leads them away Autumnsun was curious. She felt the cougar couple's fear and pain. And Redstreak as soon as hearing their name went from a friendly and curious chakat to a great pain. Knowing Red will be too busy to answer shi goes to find one of hir mates. The easiest to find was Coaldust. Shi usually in the kitchen at some point help making dinner for the guests. "Hey Coaldust, I have a question." Coaldust wipes hir hands and looks at Autumnsun. "Ask away." "Does the name Quickgraze mean anything to you?" Coaldust looks at hir in shock and horror. "Where did you hear that name?" "A couple of cougar morphs came here looking for Redstreak and shi had a worse reaction. I was just curious, if it's personal I'll back off." "It is personal, very deeply for Red but I'll tell you the basic. Mounty Quickgraze went to the specialized Starcorps training that Red went to. They were roommates and became friends there. Mounty was killed on the F.S.S. Grissiom. I know my daughter Quickgraze saw the result when Red got that memory back and I saw the echoes of that pain." Coaldust looked seriously at Autumnsun. "You have to understand one thing about Red. Shi protects others and I wouldn't be surprised if shi considers Mounty a failure." "Thank you for sharing Coaldust." Autumnsun leaves the kitchen in deep thought. Meanwhile Red brings Mounty's parents into the personal room set aside for hir stuff and offers them a seat. "I'm surprised to see you here." Red admits. "It took awhile to track you down, especially when you disappeared for months then when you came here. We (sigh) we just wanted to meet you. You were the last person to see our daughter alive." Red looks at the ground and sets hir haunches down. "Yeah, shi was in my quarters on the Grissiom. She was due to leave for the next planet survey and wanted to spend sometime together before she went." Red smiles at the memory. "She was telling me how her mother was nagging her on getting a plant." Red hears Silvia snort. "Then Mounty got the call to run an errand. A typical everyday ship errand that I suspect she be back in a few minutes. I....(Red starts crying) I never got the chance to save her. I felt her pain and then she was gone." All three were crying now and eventually went into a three way hug. Mourning the lost of the someone they loved. Red's pain will always be there but more endurable than before. Shi in essence had it buried when shi got hir memories back but now shi doesn't need to. The Quickgrazes were leaving with Coal and the others and with contact info exchanged. Shi pictured them being long term friends. Focusing back on the Lt. Commander shi sees the Cougar activate a hologram. "Everyone this is the first planet we'll be exploring. M-29857654, The probe's basic scans showed a tropical climate. We also had various metals seemed to be there so hopefully not only could this planet be a bread basket but also could be another resource area. No initial signs of intelligent life. Though us in furs may be a bit uncomfortable." That cause a few chuckles. Luckily Flameria's culture geared her to be nude most of the time and any clothes they did have was for weather, a place to put items, or going for style. Heck Red never saw a vest they made covering their breasts. Red hir self had that rub off on hir but then again not long after becoming a chakat did shi bother with clothes but that heat is going to be bothersome. "The second planet M-29857700 has a more temperate climate and inline with a pre gene war Terra." "Earth." Red replies. "Excuse me Lt.?" The cougar asks. "Apologies Lt. Commander but please call my home by it's proper name." "But Terra is it's proper name." "No, we call it Earth. How would you like it if someone decided the formal name for your home was something other than you call it. Sorry but I'm kind of tired of it." "Admittedly you have a point Lt. Redstreak, however would you please choose a more appropriate time for that." "Sorry, shutting up." "Good, any more questions and suggestions can wait till I'm done. For both of these planets I'm sending out 5 teams to explore the various sections and find good resources. Now since the quarantine many of you are either star corps or contractors so we will be doing a basic field training test. Equipment is in the the storage room next to us and I'll meet you all in Holodeck 3." They all head for the equipment room and the next couple of hours spent doing what they know of wilderness survival. Finally Lunch break and Red and Flamy hit the mess hall for they were hungry and it was closer than their quarters. Grabbing big meals they fine a spot to sit and began eating. They had just started when a voice said. "There you are!" Both look to the source of the voice and see a foxtaur vixen heading their way with her own plate. Red would have dismissed her out of hand except for two things. One she had no head hair and two she had two tails and red gold colored fur. "I was right you are a Kitsune Foxtaur arn't you." "Yes." Flamy replied. "But I don't know you?" "I'm from Amursa, name's Pardina Sunset." With her free hand she extends it out for a shake. Flamy took it. "Flameria Blazerfur from Elmas. Didn't think there were any kitsunes outside of Narnia?" "I thought the same. So what brought you to leave Narnia?" Flamy smiles and hugs Red. "This lovely mate of mine." Red smiles and extends hir hand. "Chakat Redstreak, child of Sunspot and Fireblaze." "A pleasure so how did she cause you to be here?" "Shi was my mate when Bombshell came. Shi needed other chakats to remain healthy and I was pregnant with hir child." "How? She's a female." Red grins and replies. "Nope, I'm a hermaphrodite. I'm both male and female though I have a male bias." "Wait that sounds familiar, Oh wait your that couple Paloci talked about. Said you were a danger to our people." Both foxtaurs heard growling from Red and both see a cold fury in the chakat's eyes. "I think we're done here." Red turns to leave with a sadden Flamy following. "Wait, wait please. I question her veiws. I have her side but what about yours?" Red pauses and looks at Flamy before looking at Pardina. Pardina felt like something ruffling her brain when the chakat sighs and says. "Follow us then. This is too public for this kind of chat." Red took the foxtaur to their quarters and explained the truth of hir and Paloci. Pardina listened intently to the story. When finished Pardina comments. "Wow, she hasn't learned has she. Well thank you for telling me." "Well." Flamy starts. "I was wonder what basic news you have of our home planet." The three spent the next couple hours talking of Narnia. Red spent most of the time heading for the first planet either training for the survey, sexual and non sexual time with hir mates, hanged out with Midnight and hir family on board and of course music as RS. A day before planet fall Red and Flamy got there assignments and met their fellow teamates. First was Flamy, Red would be surprised if Boyce or M'Lai didn't have something to do with that. Then it was an otter morph named Kayla, a foxtaur male named Balazar, The final member was a tall rugged human from the StarCorps named Dale Perkins. Their assignment was a tropical area near a mountain region and they were to find any useful minerals or signs of inhabitants. The team decided to spend the rest of the day getting to know one another. At dinner Red noticed Dale writing something on a PADD while he ate an chatted. "Whatca writing?" He looks up and smiles. "Hey Lt." Red hold up a hand. "Red while off duty." "Okay, well writing to my wife Mary-Anne." "Oh, nice. You have a picture of her?" "Yup." He searches his pockets before pulling out a picture. It revel a lovey red furred fox morph female with maroon hair. "She's beautiful. Reminds me of my wolf mate Alexis, but as a fox." "Yes." He looks at the picture again. "I'm one lucky guy." "So how did you two meet?" "Grew up in the same town. Had many common interest and spent a lot time together. I was the envy of all the males in town. We both wanted to explore space so we tried to get into Starfleet. She got through I came up short for them but great for the Starcorps. We tried making a long range relationship, but I felt like I was holding her back. We talked about it and were just about to break up. Then after a nights sleep," Dale smiles again when Mary-Anne admitted she didn't much that night. "She refused to break up and transferred to the Starcorps. She said as much as she loved exploring space she loved me more. And usually on the same ship." "So why isn't she here at lunch with us?" "She's taking care of our kid." "OH! Congratulations. I know what it's like having kids." "So, how did you meet your mate?" "Which one? I have 5 of them." "Okay how about the first then." "Oh, I got caught in an experiment gone wrong and the transporter malfunction and shi was one of the first to help me out in recovery." Red takes out a picture of hir family and shows it to Dale. He points to Medallion. "I know hir, see at the Gateway all the time." "That's my sister Medallion. Shi works on the Gateway and was on hir way to work when shi met me." "Wait," Dale looks and Red carefully. "You're that guy changed into a chakat aren't you?" "How do you know that? That isn't widely known Unless your involved with Starthinker's project." "I was on the space station the StarCorps mantains getting ready to beam down with Mary-Anne and chatting with a Chakat when they said we had to wait due to a transporter malfunction at one of the sites and they shut down all transporters and check them before resuming operations. Good thing too. They found a guy trying to plant a bomb in the computer room. I would have been transporting down went that would have went off. Goldfur said I was darn lucky for the malfunction happening, The are the bomb would have destroyed usually stored body patterns for the transporters." "Good for you, a few years ago I would have said bad for me but I wouldn't trade my family for anything. Wait did you say Goldfur?" "Yes, shi was a cougar patterned chakat with long blonde hair. Why?" Red smiled. "Goldfur is a good friend of mine." "Nice, tell hir I said hi." "I'll do that." The next day Red's team got ready to beam down to their site. They have a look around and see a tropical forest around them. They themselves were in a large plain next to a big mountain. A big thing they notices was the buildings. Buildings carved out of the mountain or made of stone and now covered by leaves and vines. Red taps hir commbadge. "Redstreak to Pegasus." <Pegasus here.> "Pegasus, we have found signs of intelligent life but they look abandoned. I'm sending the team to investigate." <Understood Lieutenant, proceed with caution.> "Roger." Red breaks the connection and looks to hir team. "Kayla, Dale, you take the forest. Flamy, you and I will take the mountain and Balazar you set up the bigger equipment and camp." With nods the team splits up and Red and Flamy head for the mountain. Minutes later Red and Flamy have made good time up the mountain. Both of Red's talents were working full time but shi doesn't sense anything but hir mate. She takes out hir tricorder and begins scanning. Shi is only getting trace metals right now. Nothing worth exporting but could be used for the potential colony. She goes into one of the buildings. Clicking a flashlight on she is surprised by how empty the place was as shi search through it. Shi saw shelves carved into the wall and have various knickknacks. Many were broken and a few strewn on the floor. She saw a table of wood, completely rotten yet still standing. She found a cooking area and 2 seeming bare rooms and what looked like a storage area. Seeing nothing else shi heads back outside. Shi saw hir love looking at a rock intently. "Find something?" Startled Flamy looks up. "Oh!, Red, maybe. There is a crystal in this rock." "Could be useful." Wiping hir brow shi and Flamy continue exploring. Meanwhile Balazar was setting up camp. He just finished assembling the three tents for them to sleep in and was starting to assemble the larger equipment when he heard noise from a nearby ruin. He pick this spot for if the weather got bad they could retreat to the building that seem structurally sound and empty. Drawing his phaser he approaches the building and taps his commbadge. "Lt, getting some noise from a building. I'm checking it out." <Be cautious Balazar.> The foxtaur walks into the building and a loud says. "Hello?" He scans the room with his flashlight. Then he steps on something squishy. Lifting his forepaw and aiming his light down. He sees a teal pile of goop. It was trying to reach for him. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" He scrambles back with his phaser pointed at the goop but the hand that holds it is shaking. The goop rises up a bit and the foxtaur is surprised to see a mouth form. ".....food.......need food." "Well I'm not it." "hunger....i hunger...need food." Balazr feels around with his flashlight hand till he found a candy bar. He takes it out. "Here eat this." He chucks the bar at the goop. He misses the mouth but it doesn't matter as to Balazar's shock he sees the candy bar be absorb into the goop. "...more..?"The goop asks desperately. "I have more at camp. You promise not to eat me and I'll give you some." "...promise...?" "I'll take that, follow me." Balazar leaves the building and looks behind him seeing the goop follow. He gets to base camp and rummages through their food supply and takes out a couple of energy bars. "Here you go and I can have a meal cook in a couple of minutes." Tossing the bars to the goop he cooks up an MRE while the goop sat there and hopefully not thinking of eating him again. Once cook he lays it near the goop. It makes tentacles and takes the MRE and gulps it down. He sees it get a bit bigger. "More...please." "Okay give me time to cook more." "What's going on Balazar?" The foxtaur looks to see the lieutenant and that strange foxtaur vixen Flamy. "Shir, found this in the building. It can talk but it seems very hungry." The chakat nods and taps hir commbadge. "Redstreak to Pegasus, we've encountered intelligent life. Starting first contact operations." <Understood lieutenant. We're sending Fish down to help.> the chakat frowns. "I prefer someone else. Fish is taking care of my daughter." The next voice shi heard was Midnight's. <Don't worry Red, shi's staying with my family till you return.> Balazar lifts an eyebrow and places the MREs in front of the goop. And again the thing goes to consume them. Red eyes the thing, It was like a teal jello and it just ate two MREs designed for TAURS. "Okay Midnight, I trust you and you better send down more food. The little guy is eating a lot. Better send enough for ten taurs for 2 days." <I'm not taking the blame when Coaldust yells about you getting fat.> Red laughs and replies. "No worries Midnight. Half the time I wonder how SHI doesn't gain weight." <And the other half?> "Then I remember how often shi works hir mates and comates in the ...mmmhhhh pleasurable studies." <AAAAAAHHHH!> The light goes on in Midnight's head. Yes though pleasurable those studies can be a workout. Shi smiles and ignores the blushing around hir. <Well they'll be sent down soon.> With the connection broken off Red orders. "Balazar I'll handle the cooking, you finish setting up the equipment." "Aye,Shir." Being mated to a cook allowed somethings to rub off on hir and soon the aroma of good cooked food filled the air and shi looked at the being seeming trying to drool. Didn't take long for that to go too and the goop seemed larger now. And shi hands it ten more helpings when the whine of the transporter was heard. Shi turns to find Fish with a couple of trunks. The pink biped cat ran up to Red and the two passionately kiss. This gets the attention of the creature, curious if one was eating the other. Fish as to break off first due to her smaller and single pair of lungs. "The trunks have all the food you wanted. You're sure you need this much?" "Take a look at our teal colored black hole." Fish looks and sees the creature downing a huge bowl of whatever her mate made. Ten minutes later a much bigger blob was there and it didn't take the last bowl. The all heard a gurgling and the creature open up it's mouth and.. "BBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPP!" Red was the first to comment. "Wow, I think the ground shook." Balazar laughed at that while both Fish and Flamy shook their heads. Night begins to fall as Dale and Kayla return and the blob seemed comatose. Red was making supper for all of them when the blob shifted. It didn't move toward the food but thrashed about in place before a form started taking shape. First the main part of the blob rose into the air supported by four stalks. Then part of the blob bends upwards and two limbs appeared. Slowly a head and tail appeared and the limbs got more detailed. Soon paws and hands form in detail. A muzzle formed and took a fox shape. A nose appeared, typical black. In minutes it was done, a foxtaur was in front of them now. Due to lack of breasts Red assumed the being in front of them was male. He had light teal fur over most of his body with the typical white under belly seen on all foxes. However is left hand, 3 of his paws, the tips of his ears, and his hair were a bluish black color. His front right paw was the same light teal as the rest of his fur. Shi saw a small white diamond on his forehead. His tail had the bluish black stripe separating the teal fur and the white tip. When he opened his eyes they were a shade green. He stretched and sighed before looking at everyone. "Hello everyone." Everyone stood there in stun silence. It was Fish who broke it. "That was SO COOL!" She ran up to the new foxtaur and touched the fur on his flank. It felt in between rubber and fur, it felt...nice. "I love how your fur feels." The foxtaur looks at her and smiles. "Thank you, it took some effort." Fish smiled back at him. "So, now that you can talk better care to explain who you are and how you know our language?" "Of course Lieutenant Redstreak. My parents called me Vox and I've been listening to your group since you arrived." "That's pretty good. So where are your parents?" Vox looked to the ground with his ears and tail drooping. "I don't know. They just disappeared. I haven't seen another of my kind since." Fish touched his arm and gave him a sympathetic smile. She knows what it's like to be alone. Red grilled him for a few minutes on various things, like did he need to eat like a platoon of starving taurs. He said he needed more mass to take this form to communicate though he was hungry too. But most of the rest he just couldn't answer. After some debate it was decided that Vox would sleep with Red and hir mates. Fish cuddled nicely with Vox, he was a bit afraid but she felt so nice and worked getting to sleep. Red watched on for a bit. When it seemed like he was not going to attack or absorb Fish shi relaxed. Using hir telepathy shi only found happiness of meeting new people and a relief from the loneliness he felt for years. Satisfied and with Flamy's hand pulling at hir chin shi laid back down. Red awoke the next morning to find Fish okay and still cuddled next to Vox with a smile on her face. Shi yawn and shifts, and got a pleasant feeling from hir cock. Shi looks over and sees hir cock buried in Flamy's pussy. 'when did I do that? Hhmmm must have been from that very nice dream.' With some reluctance shi pulled out of hir mate and went to make breakfast. In minutes the aroma of cooked food awoke the rest of the camp. The put a double helping in front of Vox who frown at them."I'm not a pig." Could have fooled me yesterday." Red quips. "That was the simple fact I hadn't eaten all day and I need the mass to assume an adult body." "You mean we were dealing with a child yesterday?" "Yes, one of the few things my parents taught me was to become an adult I have to assume an adult shape. I didn't do that till yesterday." "Then just eat what you can." The rest of breakfast when without incident. After breakfast Red wanted Vox and fish to stay behind but Vox wanted to help and knew some areas they might like. Shi asked why. "Well if there is any of my people left your people could find them. And if not then at least the planet will be used. So both Vox and Fish joined them, during some of the more treacherous areas of the mountain Fish was carried by either Red or Flamy. Vox wanted to carry Fish but both Red and Flamy vetoed that for he was still getting use to four legs. Flamy occasional kept him from falling when he tripped. Despite that he showed them a cave filled with crystals. While some had monetary value quite a few were useful for focusing lens. The next two days Vox showed them what he knew of the planet and just their area alone was enough to encourage colonization. They beam up to the ship and they had Vox go through various test. Eventually a meeting was held and Boyce asked for a summary of the planets potential. "Sir this planet is excellent for farming and mining. Our teams found a lot of crystals and metal. Though the metal would be best used for local construction and there is many plants and fruits we can use and possible export and the land is very fertile and our seeds should have little trouble with it." "What about his people?" Boyce asks gesturing to Vox. "We found ruins all over the planet but nothing to state why they are abandon nor did we find any other beings like Mr.Vox. Perhaps an archeologist team can figure it out." Red watches Vox looked down and shi thought shi saw his fur coloring get darker. And see and Midnight both felt the sadness radiate from him. Fish rubbed his back in sympathy. "Mr. Vox, for what it is worth I'm sorry but maybe the other team will find other survivors since they will be staying longer." Vox just nods. "Well any detail on what Mr.Vox is?" Dr.Kelly speaks up. "Well he's some kind of shapeshifter, we figure he can still take any shape or form he wishes. The scan he did of him now shows him as a fully functioning foxtaur male but he does have something in his fore head where we see that diamond shape. Our best guess is that's his core. Destroy that and he will die for the electrical impulses come from there first then into his brain. As already noted he has extraordinary absorption ability." "Is he a danger to us doctor?" "We say not much. Maybe the absorption makes him higher than the standard being but as both lieutenants Redstreak and Fish reported that he is lonely and seeks companionship." "Very well doctor. Mr.Vox I see two options for you. You can stay here. We will provide a shelter for you and you can wait for the science team. Or you can travel with us till the end of the tour and find a place on one of our planets." "I've been alone long enough sir. I'll go with you." "Very well, we'll assign you some quarters." Fish raised her hand. "Sir he can stay with us." Red looks at her surprised. "He can?" Fish looks at her mate. Fish nods and Bouce interrupts. 'That's actually not a bad idea. Fish can do her thing and I know Red can watch over him." Red growled. "No fish for the pink kitty." That got a groan from Fish. "Well, come on Vox, let's get ya a room." As they head back to their room Vox looked around amazed at the Pegasus and her technology. Red just had to smile knowing that innocence hirself at one time. When they got to their quarters Red tried to allow Vox to pick a room. Before he could even start Fish took him to her room. It seems Fish was quite smitten with the teal shapeshifter, at least in his current form. Red would have interfered normally but shi sensed Fish's interest was not just a romp with an alien being. And Vox certainly won't be lonely. The family settles in for a nice evening as they warp to the next area. Red was working on dinner when Fish showed up again. "What ca ya making love?" "Oven baked potatoes." "Oh, sounds yumming, one of Coal's dishes?" "Nope, this one is from my original home. Cut up some potatoes, putting them in a bowl filled with onion soup mix and vegetable oil, stir it up and bake." "Sounds yumming, especially with fish." "Nope, no Fish for you. Not for a awhile." "Awwwww." " That's what you get for forcing the head of this house to act." "But I thought Dallie was the head?" "At home home yes but away and with just my mates I'm the head." "Are you really mad at me?" Fish asks quietly. "Only a little and that mainly for going above my head. I think Vox will benefit from living with us, but he's now YOUR responsibility." Fish raised her right hand and replied. "Scouts honor!" Red snorted and retorted. "I know for a fact you were never in the scouts." Fish then giggled ran up to red and hugged hir as she kiss hir. "I promise. And I'll make it up to you later tonight." She said suggestively. "You better." The two spend a few moments passionately kissing. Dinner was an half an hour later and a contented family that went to bed. The next week Pegasus studied a nebula and a spacial anomaly as Red's family taught Vox how to live in the Federation. Eventually Pegasus orbited the next planet on the list. Red was assign the same team to lead as last time. Rad was getting hir equipment and hopes Fish can handle Vox AND Firestripe while their gone. Hir team beams down and scouts the area. They first find a big cave that could easily hold hundreds of beings. After finding a good campsite they had the rest of their supplies beamed down. That's when Red noticed a teal colored box. "VOX!" Shi growls as the box morphs and reforms into the foxtaur form the shapeshifter adopted as his true form. "I told you Vox to stay on the ship, you can't be here." "Please Red, I wanted to see another planet." Red sighs and taps hir commbadge. "Red to Pegasus. Be advised that Vox manage to get on the planet. He'll be staying with the team, let Lt. Fish know." <Understood Lt. Redstreak.> Red then looks seriously at Vox. "You will do exactly as I tell you and stay close." The Teal foxtaur nodded. The rest of the day went well as they gather data and samples. It was Red's and Flamy's first time sleeping with Vox and they could see why Fish liked to. His fur is so comfy and it's unique texture was attractive. The next few days was more of the same till one day it was really windy and stormy. They are trying to make it back to camp and their path took them next to a small ravine made by a river. Vox was by the cliff and tried to rest against a tree to catch his breath when he heard a snap and groan and he started falling. Red keeping an eye on Vox saw what was happening and raced over and leaped and caught the foxtaur shapeshifter and both land on the other side of the ravine. The two taurs looked at eachother. "You okay Vox?" "Yeah, thanks for the save." Red smiles when they both here a snap and Red disappears from view and Vox leans over the edge with an arm extended. "NNNNOOOO!" And watch helplessly as Red hits the river. Tyger looked over the wooded forest see if shi could find any prey to hunt. Shi and hir partner Skystreak hunted this area for years since it was assign to them by Whitetip. Such a strange number of years shi's had. Ten years ago shi was a human male taking a forced vacation by his kids to get over the lost of his wife. She had died of cancer 5 years earlier and he wasn't the same happy and generous grandpa his grand kids remember. Then that trip in that old 747 the next thing he knows he's in a feline body similar to a taur and had boobs and a pussy to go with his cock. Whitetip quickly took control of the situation and we have been growing ever since. Shi quickly got use to hir new form and phrases. They called us chakats due to a surprisingly similarity to a fiction species on the web. Some try to shun the idea but shi thought why not. In hir years shi has seen truth become more stranger than fiction. Shi looked at hir hand. The palm side white fur that covered hir from hir lower chin, past hir nether region and inner thighs. The rest of hir was tiger pattern accept for hir hair. Purple color hair as natural hair? Whoever changed them had to have a sense of humor. Thus shi took the name Tyger after a phrase in a poem and took to being a new life for hir. She was in a young body again and with no way to get home has done hir best to make this planet home. Though having no real hunting experience shi volunteered to try and they paired hir with an experienced hunter who took the name Skystreak for the light streaks of blue interrupting hir otherwise white fur. Tyger never thought shi could love again but shi did. Shi didn't even know hir mate and partner's original name or gender and shi doesn't care. This is a new life for both of them and wouldn't trade it for anything. It was fun being a father again but it was certainly an experience being a mom. "Love I'm getting a bit thirsty." Tyger nods to hir mate (what else could I call hir wife or husband just didn't apply). "We'll head toward the river then." They kept an eye out for food as they approach the river. They also eye the damage yesterday's storm caused. 'What was that!?' Tyger thought as shi saw a hint of gold in the direction of the river. The two head over that way and start racing then they find out it's a chakat. They start going over the chakat and both notice something strange. First was the fur pattern, Tyger didn't recognize it and the chakat is too old to be among the first generation of chakats born on the planet. "Sky do you recognize hir?" Shi shook hir head. "I was hoping you did." Tyger looks down again at the stranger and the other oddities appear. The chakat was wearing the remains of a gray and black shirt, not one of the colonist bothered covering their tops. Everyone is the same gender and they all already saw eachother naked. Finally it was the belt. Clearly design to carry many items for the wearer and clearly impossible to make in the colony right now. Could this be the first sign of those who kidnapped and transformed them against their will? The chakat's lower chest was rising and falling so shi was still alive. "Get your drink love and help me get hir on my back. Whitetip needs to see hir." Red groaned as shi ached all over. That was quite a fall, shi probably be dead without those nanos. Shi heardf whispering and shi tried getting hir upper torso up when shi felt some support and shi heard a voice say. "Take it easy there I don't know the extent of your injuries." Red opens hir eyes and sees....CHAKATS! Shi expanded hir empathy powers and yes they sensed as chakats. And they felt with a mixture of fear curiosity and anger. Shi looks next to hir and sees a chakat with black fur covering most of hir body with hir forearms, feet to the ankles, upper front torso to the chin, stripes on hir back and hir hair were white. Shi ask Red. "How does your pain feel?" "Like aches after a hard days work." "Well," a rust colored chakat with auburn hair interrupted. "Shi speaks English. Shi must be part of the group that did this to us." "We have no proof of that Di Vargin." A black leopard patterned chakat with white tipped ears and a white and black colored hair retorted. "For all we know shi could be from an earlier group that has gotten to space travel. Who knows how many times this has been tried before us." Red was observing as the debate went on a bit. Everyone shi saw around hir were chakats. None wore any clothing and a couple had what looked like bows and spears and maybe a crude saddle back. "Well stranger I'm Whitetip, leader of our group." The leopard chakat said. "Chakat Redstreak, child of Sunspot and Fireblaze. I'm a Lt. In the Starcorps and currently assigned to the Federation Starship Pegasus." "You see shi has to be part of it." The one called Di Vargin proclaims. Red frowns at them. "Part of what?" Shi asks. "Oh yeah like I'm going to believe your ignorance." "Give hir a chance Di Vargin." Whitetip interjects and looks at Red shi continues. "Redstreak ten years ago our group were humans from Earth till someone kidnapped us and turned us into these creatures. The fact you call yourself a chakat is interesting since that's what some of the teens and kids called us at first and we took it." "Well that can't be the group I'm with. It would have taken them as long as the did to tell me they couldn't change me back. They wouldn't make me suffer that for nothing." "Like you know suffering." Red growled out. "More than you. I lost my home, my time, and my body. And unlike you I had no one who had the same pain. IF it wasn't for Dallie and Coal I wouldn't be living right now. SO don't YOU talk to me about SUFFERING." "DI VARGIN BACK DOWN!" Whitetip yells startling the scientist, it's been a while since he heard Whitetip yell like that. "That was out of line Di Vargin. We have no idea what shi's been through just as shi doesn't know what we've been through." Whitetip then looked at Redstreak. "Redstreak I am sorry for that out burst. It was uncalled for but the beings who sent us here and change us is a soar subject for us." "I know that feeling very well." Red's stomach then decided to make itself known then with a HUGE growl. Red smiled sheepishly. "Well," Whitetip starts. "I guess any further questions can wait till later. Tyger, Skystreak you are to guard hir." They both nod as the rest walk away. Red reached up to tap hir commbadge but hit hir chest instead. Looking down shi sees fur where hir badge should be. Looking down hir upper torso shi sees a very torn and dirty uniform and a battered belt. 'Crap it's gonna take them awhile to find me then.' Shi then decides to use hir telepathy and searches the minds of hir guards. Shi first search for hir badge, they may have taken it but nope shi didn't have it when they found hir. Shi also discovered that both were male before the change but only the white and blue one knew hir partner was a male before. Red wondered how many relationships here were like that. Finding what shi needed to know shi resumes hir normal stance. Red then sees that white and black chakat from before with a tray of food. "Here you go, eat up." Red didn't know what all the food was but hir stomach didn't care it wanted FOOD. In minutes the food was gone but shi was still hungry. "Could I have more?" Shi asked. The chakat looks at hir surprised but went and did what Red asked. Minutes later shi appears again. "Ah thanks...." "Oh forgive me, my name is Kathrine." "Thank you Kathrine." Red then proceeded to chow down that as well. when only bones were left Red sighs and tries to hold back a burp but fails. Kathrine looks at hir in shock. "That was enough food for TWO chakats!" Red frowns and thinks for a bit. Then shakes hir head. "It's gotta be the nanos, that had to be a long fall." "Nanos?" "A couple years ago I was kidnapped and experimented on by some radical humans. The result is the red streak in my fur and likely healing, haven't been servery injured since the nanos so this is just a guess, but maybe the nanos need the protein to help with repairs. I can tell you that I'm full and still aching all over. We'll see how quickly that goes away." "Sounds logical." Kathrine then tilts hir head to the side. "So this isn't your original chakat form?" Red chuckles. "Not in the least, let's see if I still have it." Red searches hir belt. "A HAH!" Red pulls out a card shaped object presses it a few times and hands it to Kathrine. Kathrine sees what appears to be a family photo. Shi saw several chakats and what appeared to be anthropomorphic animals but what caught hir eye was near the middle shi saw a pair of identical chakats smiling at hir. The only differnece shi could tell off hand was hairstyle. "So one of these is you?" Red holds on to the streak of hair near hir right eye. "Ah, so why the name Redstreak?" "My hair is red and I put a streak of it near my eye. It fit with the usual naming of chakats." After a bathroom break Red and Kathrine talked for a bit before Red got tired and fell asleep. The next couple of days Red spent talking with chakat's interested in hir and allowed to walk outside with an escort, the two hunters that found hir. Shi also debated with that Di Vargin, the guy really was a socialist but they were able to compare their worlds. While in Red's home universe Herman Cain won the 2012 election and after some hard times his policies lead to an era of prosperity. It directly led to the start of Globaltech and his fate. In Di Vargin's time Obama won a 2nd term when Cain bowed out to save his family harassment on baseless attacks from women paid by the left to say he went after them sexually. So the fight between the two philosophies continue. As does America's financial problems the country has to deal with. While not allowed to leave the cave shi did get chances to play with the children. Shi smiled at them and missed Firestripe and hir other children. Kathrine watch hir with the kids, allowed them to play with hir tail and allowed them to climb over hir and of course tickling them. "I betting you're a parent?" Red looks back at hir and smiles. "Yup, 3 no 4 times over. A couple of my mates and a child wait for me in orbit." "Mates? As in more than one?" "Yup, chakats believe that love should be shared and don't experience jealousy. It's common to find multiple mates and from my experience they are the most stable relationships I've seen. Family is VERY important to chakats and the bigger the better." Then both of them heard a commotion outside and both sensed worry and curiosity and to Red a familiar presence. A group of local Chakats appear in a rough circle trying to protect the being inside. But Redstreak spotted red/gold fur and raised hir hand and yelled. "HEY PARADINA, OVER HERE!" The foxtaur raises her head above the chakats since she's taller and looks around and sees Red. "By the Kitsune you're alive!" Red smiles and replies. "It will take more than a cliff fall to kill me at this point." One of the Chakats who has talked with Red though shi can't remember hir name turns around and asks. "You know this being?" "Yes she works with me on the starship." Red then looks at Pardina. "I lost my commbadge you need to let Admiral kline know about them and me." "Yes lieutenant." She taps her commbadge. "Scout Sunset to Pegasus." <Pegasus here Scout.> "Pegasus I found Lieutenant Redstreak and shi's alive. I've also found a colony of Chakats here." Pardina has reached Red and they are put together while most of the local chakats look in surprise. When Pegasus replies it's the Admiral who speaks. <Did you say a colony of chakats? How the hell do we not have a record of that?> It's Red who answers. "Sir they are not normal chakats. They used to be humans and were taken and transformed against their will. From what I've seen and heard they had to make everything they have from local stuff." <Good to hear from you Red. Your mates have been worried sick and Vox really guilt ridden. You okay there?> "Lost my commbadge, my uniform is torn up but thanks top those darn nanos I'm alright." <Stay put for now I'm sending a team down.> "Understood." And Kline signed off. In minutes the hum of a transporter is heard and Admiral Kline, Commander Midnight, A medic appeared to the shocked expressions of the local chakats. Some slowly approached Boyce slowly. Midnight started going for hir phaser but shi didn't sense danger but wonderment. The chakats lifted up a hand and touched Boyce's face much to his and his team confusion. Red however read their minds and knew why.

None of them ever thought they see a human face again.

The silence was broken when a red shape bust through to revel Flameria. "RED, Red where are you!?" she yells frantically. "Over me Flamy." "RED!" She races over and hugs the gold furred chakat hard and starts crying. "Red, we feared the worst." Red hugs her and pets her head. "I'm okay Flamy. I'm okay the nanos helped. I'm okay." Flamy kept sobbing for a few minutes but she could calm down. Boyce walk closer and coughed. "I hate to interrupt Red but could you point me to their leader." Red lifted hir hand and pointed to a dark furred chakat with white tips on hir ears. "Whitetip is their leader." The human admiral approached Whitetip. "Shir Whitetip, is there any need for Shir Redstreak to stay? As you can see hir family misses hir and you don't need a hostage. We'll do are best to help you and figure out what's going on here." Whitetip talks with his seconds the Colonel and Di Vargin before addressing Boyce. "Redstreak is free to go provided we have help from you." "Agreed." Soon Red was beam aboard and check out in sickbay with Flamy never leaving hir side. "Well I see no injuries, I'm guessing your nanos in action again. And your guess about the nanos causing your appetite is right on from what our team reports from that station." Red nods in understanding. Those darn nanos, while this time they've been very helpful who knows what else they were doing to hir body....hir body. Shi does see this body as hir own now rather than a copy of a good and kind being who took hir as a sister. When the checkup was done the pair headed to their quarters on the ship. The door opened and the small red blur ran to hir. Red picked up Firestripe with ease. "Hello my daughter." "Papa!" The two hugged tightly and a door open to reveal Fish and Vox. Fish ran and hugged hir mate and Vox approached timidly. "I...I'm so sorry Red." "Do you understand why we barred you from coming?" "Because it was dangerous andi could be hurt....or killed." Red nodded. "This is a very serious and dangerous line of work Vox. You did very well to survive on your home world but not every world is like your home world and you didn't do it in your current form. I get you started on classes soon okay. We're both lucky the nanos repair damage very well." Vox looked and felt more relived after that chat and Red played with Firestripe for a bit before putting the cup to bed and spent some intimate time with BOTH of hir mates, Fish was surprisingly creative in her positions. The next few days the Pegasus stayed in orbit helping out Whitetip's colonists with colony giving therm supplies to make life a little easier. Boyce had ordered a freighter to send more equipment a colony would need and he happen to know a group of freighters capable of doing it. Whitetip and some of hir upper people took tours of the Pegasus and looked at everything with awe. Red chatted with Whitetip and some of the others. Thankfully not Di Vargin who was in stun silence when shown the warp core. Red also notice Fish spend a lot of time with Vox and shi did sense affection between them. As they leave Eden as Whitetip's people called it they head further out to a region where the probe got some really strange readings. There were no planets in the region just some nebulae and occasional asteroid. M'Lai looked over to her sensor officer and asked. "What are the sensors reading?" "A bunch off stuff commander, many we can't identify but I am reading a lot of chronoton radiation in the area." For hours the ship scanned the area and Boyce came onto the bridge for his usual shift after inspecting the latest adjustments to the engines. 'You may take the engineer out of engineering, but you can take the engineer out of the man.' A couple more hours pass as they hone in on a strong chronoton reading when a huge flash happened and the ship rocked and the Klaxon flared and the ship automatically when to red alert. "REPORT!" "CHRONOTON SPIKE SIR!" "Damage report." M'Lai commanded. "Minimum the repair crews are already on it." A caitian engineer reported. "Sir!" The sensor officer exclaims, "I have another ship on sensors." "Onscreen." Boyce commanded. The view switched to an orange gold nebula but there was a dark shape in it. "Magnify." The AI complied and the imaged zoomed into this.

Boyce looked at the ship in wonder. While her nacelle struts were the wrong shape and the engineering section too skinny she was a dark image of the Pegasus. "Miss Doohan how did we miss a ship that big?" "I don't know sir." The female dog morph replied. "It wasn't there before the spike sir. I'm also reading a smaller vessel that appears adrift." "Let's deal with the big one first. Comm open hailing frequencies and languages." The comm officer complied. "Unidentified ship, this is the Federation Star Ship Pegasus. Please state your name, intentions and due you require assistance?" For a minute or two the black ship did nothing then the ship turned away and went to warp. "okay I'll take that as a no. What's the status of the other ship?" "Sir she's adrift and small, maybe enough room for 7 people. SIR I'M DETECTING LIFESIGNS!" "Bring it in then. Medical teams and security teams to the main shuttle bay." The small craft was tractored into the main shuttle bay on the saucer where the requested teams were waiting. Red happened to be in the security team as the craft was put down. The craft looked primitive, maybe a couple of decades ahead of Red's home but what was really odd was the modern engines slapped on the ship. 'Why would someone put modern engines on an ancient craft?' Once down Red held up a hand to keep the medical team back as shi and hir team secured the ship. Climbing over the ship shi found the hatch and the manual override and twisted and pulled. The hatch opened outward. And Red some gray smoke come out the top part and she peered in. There was sparks and grey smoke everywhere, but luckily all by the roof. At first the ship appeared empty but then she spotted someone by the window. It was a taur from the shape and shi headed over. Not sensing danger shi touched the taur and pull it back a little. IT WAS A CHAKAT! I little chubby for the average chakat and with light brown fur and dark red hair in a ponytail braid. Shi was unconscious so red tap hir commbadge. "Medical teams your clear to come in, we have a chakat, injuries unkown." The team hurried in and Red assisted them to getting the chakat on the gunnery and Red notice more details on the chakat. On hir light brown fur shi had dark brown spots and the light brown more reddish/brown with true brown socking both pairs of hir feet. The two weird features though were the black tail with two white stripes and the Red paw on hir right breast. Shi has never seen a chakat with a red paw before. Shi thinks it's a dye job but that's normally taboo for chakats. Shi looked at the chakat with curiosity as shi was rolled away.