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Ra'Jirra woke to Geeus knocking at her door.

"Sorry to bother you, Arri, but a ship just came in from Elsweyr with an urgent message for you," he said when she opened the door.

She took the letter, inviting him in. "Please wait here a moment, Geeus. This may be important," she said as she opened the message.

It was an encoded message in Ta'agra from Em.

****************************

Your dark friend brings news.

Hammerfell ship due to sail in two days.

Urgent to move ahead at all haste.

All protocols relaxed. Complete your mission.

EM

*****************************

Ra'Jirra tore up the letter and burned it while Geeus waited. While he was technically a member of the HMSS, he was not high ranking and did not know precisely what her mission was. It was time to inform him.

"Change of plans?"

"Yes. The expedition to the village will need to take another route. Just you, me and the cat."

"Come now, the cat?!"

Dar'Amon stalked around the corner and jumped onto the couch where Geeus sat.

"Dar, say hello to our friend," she said, then started thinking.

"Hello," said Dar'Amon.

Until that time, Ra'Jirra hadn't known that Argonians could actually scream. Geeus sounded remarkably like a little human girl.

"Geeus, meet Dar'Amon," she said. "He is an Alfiq. Or, close enough to one."

"I... I've heard..."

"It's okay," Dar'Amon said, brushing against Geeus who pulled away instinctively. "I don't bite."

"A talking cat?!"

"Alfiq," Dar'Amon corrected.

"We've got a change of plans, Dar. Our time window just dropped to two days. Three at most. We've got to get to that village as soon as possible."

"CATv3?"

"That's what I'm thinking. Geeus, I need you to get ready for a trip. Cancel the porters, then pack whatever you need, but as light as possible. Just a backpack. Then, have someone unpack that big crate of ours at the dock. We'll meet you there. I think we might need you. We've got to get to that village and we haven't got time to walk. We have a fast boat, you might say."

Geeus stood, looked askance at Dar'Amon again, and nodded.

"Good. Go on, get moving," she commanded and ushered him out, then turned to Dar'Amon.

"You ready for this?"

"Always ready, Ra'Jirra."

"Not me. I'm hungry. Give me 15 minutes to get a backpack ready, and then we'll go see what we can find for food around here, with some to travel with as well. I don't think we're going to be dining at any more restaurants for a while."

********************************

An hour later Ra'Jirra and Dar'Amon met Geeus at the docks, the latter clad in shorts custom fitted for his large tail. The CATv3 was being lowered into the water by two other Argonians.

"Perfect," Ra'Jirra said, approvingly, and removed her coverall to reveal a white belted bikini with a wicked looking knife at one hip and a holstered gun at the other. She tucked her clothes into her backpack and seated herself on the vehicle.

"You'll sit behind me, Geeus. Hold on tight because this thing is fast. Dar'Amon will sit up here with me. Come on Dar, don't be shy. We've got a long way to go and the sooner we get there, the better."

The cat jumped onto the seat and settled in between her legs, followed by Geeus who stepped hesitantly onto the CATv3. It shifted under his weight but he soon got the feel of it and sat behind to Ra'Jirra, who switched the engine on and squeezed the accelerator gently. The craft sputtered before coming to life and soon they were underway out of the bay and into the ocean.

"Now hold on Geeus. I'm going to open it up. I'll stay close to the coast, so let me know when we're near!" she shouted over the wind and the surf as the craft crashed down from wave to wave.

She felt the argonians hands touch her waist lightly and sighed. Then she grabbed his hands and wrapped them firmly around her, shouting, "No! I mean it! HOLD ON!"

And then she gradually increased the throttle until she felt she was at roughly 75% of full speed. They were out of sight of the city in another 10 minutes' time and practically flying over the waves.

Dar'Amon whooped and she might have let out a yell or two herself, but she noticed the argonian's arms were now wrapped around her in a death grip, his chest right against her back.

"You doing alright back there?" she called.

She felt him nod as they flew up the coast at a speed she felt confident she had never matched before.

A half hour later Geeus shouted something to her that she could barely make out, so she slowed to a more reasonable speed.

Dar'Amon said, "woohoo" in a rather sickly voice.

"It's just around the next bend. Do you want to proceed on foot? They won't like this craft. They probably won't like you for that matter."

"Good idea," she said and pulled the vehicle to a stop near the beach. Geeus helped her drag it ashore and moored it to a tree, just in case the tide came up while they were gone.

Dar'Amon threw up.

"No, you guys go ahead. I need to rest a bit," he said, and curled up in the shade of the CATv3.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ra'Jirra asked, worried about him now.

"I'll be okay. I just need to stop moving in my head first."

"Okay, but this may take a while. No idea what this survivor is going to be like."

"Wears-Only-Ropes," Geeus supplied. "That's her Common name."

"Well give Wears-Only-Ropes my regards," said the cat. "I'll come round when I get feeling better."

Geeus and Ra'Jirra continued down the beach and around the bend. The village was not far inland and Geeus introduced himself there. They were sent to a group of older argonians that spoke only Jel. Ra'Jirra did her best but it was soon apparent that they wouldn't speak to her directly. She followed the conversation however as Geeus asked them about Wears-Only-Ropes.

Two hours later, they'd learned all they could from the argonian elders and were walking back down the beach towards the CATv3 and Dar'Amon.

"Altmer. I bet the Dominion is involved," Geeus was saying.

"Undoubtedly. I think they are trying to start a war between Cyrodiil and Hammerfell. And this isn't the first time either.."

"You'll stand out like a sore thumb at that camp, Ra'Jirra. You know that, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. And I know you're not a full agent, Geeus, but what do you think about going in and checking out the camp? Tell them you're a friend and looking for her. If Wears-Only-Ropes is there, I'd really like to talk to her directly. Maybe you can convince her to take a long walk on the beach where I'll be waiting. If she's not there, she's probably gone to that island they were talking about."

"Not a problem Arri," he said, but she took his hand.

"Ra'Jirra. My name is Ra'Jirra. I've been under an alias, but if you're going to go this far with me, you should know who I am."

"I knew who you were," Geeus smiled. "But thanks for the confidence anyway. And of course I'll go."

"Well alright then, let's crank up the CAT. Speaking of which, where's Dar?"

Dar'Amon sprang out of the grass nearby. "Here I am! Ready to go again?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you all about it. There's an altmer camp up the beach a fair distance. We'll ride the CAT and keep an eye out for it, then stop out of sight while Geeus goes into camp to see if Wears-Only-Ropes is there."

"Wait, altmer?"

"Just hop on board," Ra'Jirra said as they hauled the craft back to the water. "I'll explain."

They continued on up the beach for 20 minutes before the CATv3 died.

"So," Ra'Jirra smiled sheepishly as she opened a small compartment where a length of rope was stashed. "How's my strong gondolier?"

Geeus hit the water before she finished talking and took the rope from her, fashioning a loop around his neck and tying the other end to the front of the CAT. She thought she heard a sigh of exasperation from the argonian.

"It should recharge overnight anyway," she said as she felt the CAT surge forward under his power.

"That would be good," he said. "I don't think I could tug you all the way to the island. Can you swim?"

"Yes," said Ra'Jirra.

"No," said Dar'Amon.

"You can't swim?" Ra'Jirra asked, looking down where he lounged on the seat in front of her.

"I can for a little bit. But we're talking about the ocean here! I couldn't even make it to shore from here."

"Jeeze! You better not fall off then!"

"Considering the warm spot I've been riding in all this way, wild horses couldn't tear me away."

"To be honest, I expected a bad joke by now. But you'd better not push it or I'll stuff you in my backpack instead."

"That's why I haven't made the joke! So what, you think the altmer are destroying the ships?"

"I'd bet my ass on it. They must have an engine of their own, or something similar. Otherwise I don't see how they could overtake a powered ship for long."

"They only have to hit and run though. A few well placed mines would do it."

"I don't think so. No, this whole island and the hiring of the argonians. That sounds like a ship of their own to me."

"Ra'Jirra, have you ever wondered why the altmer want this war? What's in it for them?"

"Well, diminishment of their rivals I suppose."

"I don't think that's quite it, Raj. I think it's something deeper. They're afraid."

"Afraid? Hell, they've got magic. What have they got to be afraid of?"

"Engines, for one," said Dar'Amon as they rode slowly towards shore.

She thought about that.

"You're a smart cat, Dar'Amon," she said a few minutes later.

"I'm not paid for my tail muscles," he laughed, looking at Geeus in front of them.