{"sf1_id":265558,"sf2_id":"Rm0YO5Qn","title":"Up on the moon.","author":"Elia","words":31484,"posted_at":"2011-07-07T22:03:00.000Z","tags":["F/F","Feline","Future","Human","Love","M/F","Novel","Space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/265558-up-on-the-moon","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Rm0YO5Qn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/4f/9c/4f9caabc-a163-44bc-848e-1381fa174ac9","description":"","content":"**Up on the moon.  \n  \nElia Nemmar  \n  \nBeing a high ranked officer definitely had its perks. First class  \ntickets for the earth bound shuttle were one amongst them.  \nSlipping out of her shoes she punched down few dials then let  \nherself sunk into the leather padded seat as it slowly descended  \ninto a near horizontal position. Her ears twitched, steady  \npurring of the engines put her at ease, letting her mind finally  \nrelax. It was a dull year, dull, boring and uneventful. The  \nholiday leave came as a real blessing for she would not stand a  \nminute more behind that desk. Paper work, then some more paper  \nwork and after that even more paper work. How on earth these  \npeople could survive through all those centuries with all that  \nbureaucracy! Honestly that wasn't something she'd expected after  \nenlisting, well at least not in such excess. Damm... All it took  \nwas few milliseconds, few damn milliseconds that got her  \ngrounded. M'raava winced, she could still remember the pain from  \nthat explosion. How long it's been? Ten years already? Ten years  \nfrom her last combat flight.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; They've been a part of a deployment send to the Orion's nebula,  \nthe operation Hammer Head. A plan to tackle down all the remains  \nof so called space pirates. A bunch of outlaws and mercenaries  \nthat broke off from the planetary council after the great war.  \nThey run away seeking for better future and after finding none  \nthey came back reaping from earth what they could not find  \nelsewhere. And the earth did not welcome them with open hands but  \nrather with heavy gunships. She was escorting one of such ships  \nwhen all hell got loose, they found the pirate base but the  \npirates were waiting. It was one of the longest battles after the  \ngreat war. She didn't remember much of it even though her mecha's  \nflight journal counted more then fifty shoot downs. What she  \nremembered was the dull metallic clunk when her arm canon jammed.  \nThe rest was history, screens went red, beeping and flashing all  \npossible warnings. Flares deployed, She yanked at the controls  \nperforming perfect evasive maneuver avoiding the outburst from  \nthe hard kill system. All done but a millisecond to late, one  \nmissile got through. The impact alone wasn't too strong, barely  \nscorching her mecha and shattering it's arm. What finished off  \nher career was the mecha itself. The broken feedback circuit  \nroasted the radial nerve in her left arm before the safeties  \nkicked in. It was a miracle she hasn't blacked out - howling with  \npain in her helmet - and another one that she somehow managed  \nback onto her flagship. Crawling out of the cockpit she refused  \nthe stretchers and smiling marched towards the infirmary only to  \ncollapse after few shaky steps. She woke up, eight months later,  \nfloating within cryo-recovery pod with some tubing tucked deep  \ninto her nostrils and a rookie MED poking at the glass wall of  \nher pod. What followed was six months of re-convalescence and a  \nmonth of through out testing before the Military Medical Board.  \nTheir decision? Unsuited for combat. Of course no one said that  \nto her, officially she's been awarded for extraordinary service  \nand promoted. If she had known the same general who congratulated  \nher on the promotion also stamped an approval on her  \nreclassification from S1-Elite to A2-Reserve, she might have  \nclawed his face off.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ma'am?\" One of the stewards gently shook her arm, braking her  \nnap.  \n  \n\"We'll be entering the earth atmosphere in about ten minutes  \nplease fasten your seat belts and secure your belongings\"  \n  \n\"Thank you...\" She yawned surrendering her pillow and slightly  \nannoyed, she reset her seat to the standard position. Kicking her  \nshoes into the locker under her seat, she flipped the window  \nswitch and looked outside. The magnificent blue orb was hanging  \nright above them so close she felt she could touch it. How  \nwonderful it must been, seeing it directly with her own eyes not  \njust through the live HD feed. But that's ain't gonna happen. No  \none sane would built a spacecraft with so many windows, they were  \nusually built with no windows at all. Well maybe except for the  \nsmall ones in the cockpit that could be used for navigation in  \ncase all the electronic died. The passengers had to make do with  \nthe high resolution LCD screens shaped to imitate the late twenty  \ncentury airplane windows. Well it had some good sides, she  \ntoggled through different angles and finally settled with the  \nbroad cockpit view. Earth, her home.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It's been half a century now since they were introduced to this  \nplanet and probably even more since they were snatched from their  \nhome world, Shashtii. Who were the invaders? What were their  \nmotives? No one knows. They came without warning and strike  \nwithout a reason. Ripping worlds of their life, one after  \nanother, they exploited whatever they could then moved to another  \nplanet. Eventually they came to earth. Her ears dropped, the  \nshuttle drifted over a continent once called America. Now? A scar  \non Earth's surface. One amongst many. A message popped up and the  \nwindow shut down, they were landing.  \n  \nShe hunkered in her seat and double checked her seat belts as the  \nred entry lights flashed in the cabin. Suddenly her fur stood up  \non its own, turning her into a distorted furball. Damn it. The  \nshuttle used the newest safety field generator, latest  \nadvancement in re-engineering the alien technology. It was  \nperfect for keeping the load factor at human survivable levels  \nbut it also had a nasty habit of buzzing her fur out. Bugger...  \nAnyway, it wasn't as bad as it used to be when she first started  \nusing mecha. Well mostly due to the safety regulations, dust and  \nhairballs clog air filters at a horribly fast rate. Not to  \nmention the fire hazard. In oxygen rich environments such as the  \nspace stations or mecha's cockpit, an accidental spark could turn  \nher into a living torch. Due to all that and many more, her kind  \nwas obligated to keep the fur short or none at all if applicable.  \nNot that there were many S'hestir enlisted. It was a rare case  \nfor someone to find their calling in the Military, most preferred  \nless violent occupations.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The shuttle shuddered, breaking the sound barrier. She winced,  \nthat supposed to be soundproof? She could hear the boiling plasma  \nall around the ship in the raging inferno of the reentry. Her old  \ntraining mecha was better shielded... Sigh, humans.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nThe blue ford new continental peacefully slipped through empty,  \nsnow covered streets. The car's wiper zigzagged over the  \nwindshield, tirelessly sweeping away white shining flaks. The  \nraspberry sunlight was slowly seeping through puffy white clouds,  \nit was a beautiful morning.  \n  \n\"Ma'am?\" The driver asked as they turned into quite a familiar  \nstreet.  \n  \n\"Second one on the left\" She spoke watching the baroque alike,  \ncolorful facade. The building shape and colors might been too  \nfancy for a human eye but she found it strangely pleasing,  \nespecially after spending so much time surrounded by the dull and  \nshapeless military designs.  \n  \nHe parked near the stairs then sprang out to open the passenger  \ndoor and carefully helped her eased on her coat. High rank really  \nhad it's perks, she mused smiling.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thank you Private, that's all\" He put down her luggage and was  \ngone way before she could say Good Speed. Well no wonder, judging  \nby the amount of cologne he was wearing, a hot and ready  \ngirlfriend was probably waiting for him somewhere out there.  \nHumans. It must be really interesting, enjoying your life without  \nwaiting for that part of the year...  \n  \n\"Good goddess, who on earth could it be at this hour... M'raava!\"  \nHer mother almost jumped into her arms.  \n  \n\"Henry! Come quick! Our prodigal daughter finally returned!\"  \n  \n\"Oh stop screaming ya old woman, I'm not deaf. At least not yet  \nbut soon i might be if you keep on screaming like that. You  \nbetter let her in and close that door before she freezes, can't  \nyou see her winter fur hasn't kicked in?\"  \n  \n\"Oh dear, oh dear, you're trembling! Come in, we'll warm you up  \nand get you out of that dreadful thing!\"  \n  \n\"Mom... It's a uniform and it's not dreadful.\"  \n  \n\"Of course it is! Henry tell her!\"  \n  \n\"You look stunning my dear. Ah those womans in sexy uniforms, if  \nI'd been a human I'd be rock hard just by looking at you...\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Henry!\"  \n  \n\"A but that's true mama, just look at her...\"  \n  \n\"Argh! You both lost your minds!\"  \n  \n\"Thanks dad.\" She hugged him.  \n  \n\"It's good to have you back sweetie, been misin ya. How long will  \nyou stay?\"  \n  \n\"Two maybe three weeks if you can stand me... I'm sorry I should  \nhave change at the space port, I upset her.\"  \n  \n\"Don't worry hun, she'll be over it in no time. I'm sure she's  \nhappy, though... she might have had a point\" He smirked watching  \nher.  \n  \n\"You reek like a rusty old boiler.\" Ah, that. We'll it was some  \nsort of issue though after ten years in that moon base where you  \ncould actually taste the brand of oil used on the air filters,  \nshe totally forgot about it.  \n  \n\"Anyway your room's ready, you might as well take a quick soak  \nbefore your mother gets another of her attacks\" He flapped his  \nears and sighed, marching towards the kitchen.  \n  \n\"Dad, can I asked you something? All those years, you never said  \na thing. Does it not bother you?\"  \n  \n\"M'raava, your choice... I don't have to like it. It's your  \nchoice, your calling, your life. I respect that. Now off you go,  \nthat bathtub won't wait forever.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Watter. Hot, running watter. Contrary to the common believe that  \nfelines hate watter, M'raava dunked herself into the bathtub full  \nof hot steaming watter. Ah the ecstasy, there was nothing better  \nthan a nice hot bath after a year on that old, rusting moon base.  \nWell there was one tiny little thing that would make her even  \nhappier, a mind blowing orgasm. Unfortunately her last steady  \npartner bid her goodbye when she joined the Navy and doing it  \nalone just wasn't the same. Screw it, better this than nothing,  \nshe though spreading her legs as her paws found her secret  \ngarden.  \n  \n\"M'raava, are you still in there? Someone's asking for you  \n  \non the phone\" Her father knocked on the bathroom door.  \n  \n\"No way in hell I'm gonna answer that!\" She called panting, her  \nfingers were thrusting faster and faster, splashing watter all  \nover the place. Familiar tension was gathering inside her.  \n  \n\"It's from the moon base...\"  \n  \n\"I don't care, I'm on a leave! Whatever paper i haven't sign  \nalready, can wait till i return!\" She arched in the bathtub as  \nthe pleasure exploded, sweeping away her mind.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"They say it's urgent...\"  \n  \nShe sigh and relaxed, sinking in water. Her orgasm suddenly  \nevaporated, leaving no trace of that pleasurable tingling or any  \ncontent at all.  \n  \n\"Fine I'll take it\" She spoke, feeling she's gonna skin someone  \nwhen she'll go back to base.  \n  \nWarped in a white bathrobe and wearing pink bunny sleepers  \nM'raava went down the stairs, her soaked fur dripping heavily.  \nShe caught a glimpse of herself in the hallway mirror and winced,  \nthank gods none of the cadets saw her like that.  \n  \n\"Hello?\"She picked up the handset.  \n  \n\"Colonel M'raava?\" She recognized that voice in an instant, Peter  \nher aide. It baffled her. He knew how much she valued her leave,  \nhe wouldn't bother her with something trivial.  \n  \n\"Peter? What's going on?\"  \n  \n\"Colonel please, follow the procedure.\" The procedure?! What on  \nearth...  \n  \n\"Lieutenant Colonel M'raava Shigieshtii, rank number  \nnine-oh-five-oh-six-nine-seven-seven-four-oh-two\" She recited  \ninto the phone.  \n  \n\"Identity confirmed, opening channel... Channel opened.\"  \nEmotionless female voice answered her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Talk.\"  \n  \n\"I'm sorry ma'am, I know you wished not to be bothered but we  \nhave a little situation here...\"  \n  \nM'raava winced, digging her claws into a wooden plate hanged near  \nthe phone just for such occasions. It's been her first day off  \nand the famous trio already had made a mess. Why on earth...  \nThrough the past ten years since she came to that moon base,  \nappointed as a mecha flight instructor, many cadets passed  \nthrough her paws but those, those... Since they came to training,  \nexactly a year ago, it's been a constant chain of disasters.  \n  \n\"So what you tell me is that they went out for a drink, trashed  \nthemselves, trashed few noisy fellas then trashed the place as  \nwell and got arrested when... do i wanna know how they manage to  \npark their car on the roof of a Police station?\" She massage her  \nforehead trying to steady herself.  \n  \n\"No, on the second though I just don't wanna know. I'm tired and  \nI don't care, let the disciplinary commission handle that. Maybe  \nthey'll finally kick them out. So Peter if thats all of the bad  \nnews i would like to start enjoying my holiday leave\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm sorry ma'am, that's not all. The thing is...\" Peter's voice  \nbecame uneasy.  \n  \n\"According to the log we've already answered their inquiry and  \ndispatched an officer to handle the situation locally which  \nis...\" he paused searching for a better word.  \n  \n\"Quite impossible since we haven't sent anyone. Not to mention  \nreceiving the actual request...\"  \n  \nCourt martial, a voice of doom was screaming in her head while  \nstars were spinning in front of her eyes. She yelped and rapidly  \nsucked air, feeling as if she couldn't breath. Those morons, they  \nwere gonna get her jailed if not worse. Forging of official  \ndocuments and hacking one of the top security military networks  \nand probably impersonating high rank military personnel just to  \ncover up their excesses... Oh gods! Suddenly she realized  \nsomething, the procedure! Usually in such cases, the officer  \ndispatch would be...  \n  \n\"I beg you, tell me they haven't used my name.\" She whispered,  \nher voice trembling.  \n  \n\"I'm sorry ma'am...\" The wooden plate snapped under her claws.  \nEven though she wasn't directly responsible for their actions, if  \nthe news of what they done would ever reach higher ups, her carer  \nwould be flushed down the drain.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ma'am, is everything alright? Ma'am?\"  \n  \n\"Yes\" She answered after a brief pause.  \n  \n\"Does anyone else knows about it?\" She asked hoping for a  \nmiracle.  \n  \n\"No ma'am. As far as I can tell with my clearance, no one else  \nnoticed. It appears Sifer had been buzzing in the system and  \ncleared the records after he arranged the dispatch. Tho i think  \nhe overlooked the fact that our journals are linked, i got paged  \nand checked it...\" Well at least that was good news.  \n  \n\"Peter can you handle the clean up on your end? Make sure it  \nlooks legit. Also I'm gonna need some transfer papers and MP  \nescort, armed. How fast can you arrange that with a local base?\"  \n  \n\"Including all the formalities? An hour, maybe a half. Sifer  \npushed some papers already so it might be easier, i just validate  \nthem\"  \n  \n\"Thank you.\" She relaxed a bit, the situation could still be  \nresolved in a more or less quieter manner. At least she hoped so.  \n  \n\"Best of luck colonel, i don't really yearn for a reassignment.\"  \nHe forced a laugh and disconnected. The line beeped for a while  \nthen went down after the same mechanical voice announced the end  \nof secured transmission. M'raava stood there listening to the  \nstatic noise flowing through the handset, battling with her  \nthoughts. If she could intercept them, she might be able to  \nminimize the damage they've done. Was that really the only way?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Hey furball!\" Surprised, She jerked her head to see who was  \nshouting. Her father was standing near by, pointing his cane at  \nher.  \n  \n\"Dry yourself. You're flooding my floor.\"  \n  \n\"A?\" A giant puddle formed around her soaked slippers.  \n  \n\"Sorry! I'll clean that!\" She ducked her head avoiding her  \nfather's cane and sprinted back to the bathroom.  \n  \nVladimir Kovalskey trio, or rather Vladimir and Kovalskey trio  \nwas a group of well known misfits, gently speaking. Where chaos  \nand mayhem spread you would find them, the infamous trio. Such  \nwas the saying that went round and round the moon base. Generally  \nno one really knew how they manage through the academy or how did  \nthey pass the qualification tests but one thing was sure, they  \nwere good. Extremely good at breaking rules and regulations. The  \ntime they spend in flight and combat simulators could only rival  \nthe amount of time they spend in brig.  \n  \nM'raava sighed going through her old wardrobe,she already knew  \nwho's gonna have to sort out the mess they made.  \n  \n\"Dammit!\" She tossed the brush away, it was useless, her fur was  \nstill soggy here an there. The bath turned out not so much  \nrefreshing as she hoped for, mostly due to one unwelcome phone  \ncall. Never the less it made her realize how much her uniform  \nstank. Without even checking, she dumped all the cloths she  \nbrought home straight into the washing basket and tightly slam  \nthe lid. It'll be a miracle if she manages to wash that before  \nher mother sniffs it out. Anyway, she had more important matters  \nto attend. She took out from her closet a white elegant shirt and  \na gray dress smartsuit she once bought. Amazing, it's been more  \nthan fifteen years since she moved out but her room was still  \nintact, jut like she had left it the day she had told her parents  \nabout her enlistment. Somebody was even keeping it clean all this  \ntime, there was no sing of dust anywhere. Her mother must have...  \nShe discarded the thought, for now she needed a clear mind. She  \nzipped the tail flap and put on the jacket then turned in front  \nof the mirror. Good, that can be called official. Ah, one more  \nthing, she put on her black leather boots. Not that she needed  \nthem, shoes for s'hestirs were more of a commodity rather then  \nnecessity, their feet could handle snow and ice at temperatures  \nwitch would made humans loose their legs. However wading through  \nhalf-melted, salty snow and brownish disgusting mud bare footed,  \nwas quite a different story. Plus M'raava loved the looks these  \nboots gave her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"M'raava, there's a gentleman here asking for you.\" Her father  \nknocked at her door.  \n  \n\"Coming\" She garbed her purse, a matching black leather coat and  \nleft.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Ma'am?\" Sergeant Brown nodded at the marked military ford that  \nstopped in front of the police station, it seems they've made it  \nin time.  \n  \n\"Let's go.\" She got out of the van and casually walked over to  \nthe green ford, her escort paced in right behind her. Her little  \nprivate army generously donated from the navy special task force,  \nnine square-jaw muscular G-mans, wearing inconspicuous black  \nshades and 'make sure you see me' white earphones. A young  \nprivate opened the ford doors and froze dumbfounded, humans had  \nsome trouble telling s'hestirs apart though none would have any  \ntrouble guessing who those gentlemen in black shades were. He  \nreadjusted his jaw and let the higher ups do the talking. M'raava  \ntook the initiative, watching her clone getting out of the car.  \n  \n\"Colonel M'raava Shigieshtii?\" Her clone, wearing navy uniform  \nopened and closed its mouth several times then straightened up  \nand saluted.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thank you for your cooperation, we'll take it from here.  \nPrivate, you shall return to base and await further orders\" She  \npressed a piece of paper into his hands.  \n  \n\"Yes, ma'am!\" There wasn't much to read, just enough for him to  \nturn pale and drive away within next fifteen seconds without  \nasking any further questions.  \n  \n\"Hello Sifer, Been busy I see?\" She spoke at her clone, there was  \nno place to run, M'raava's little army surrounded them.  \n  \n\"Nice Suit by the way, Polymorph mark three?\" Sifer's fake tail  \ntwitched nervously.  \n  \n\"Bit sweaty isn't it? Never could catch my breath in one of  \nthese, it always made me pant like a dog\" Sifer small frame  \nshuddered visibly, his eyes jumping from M'raava to her escort.  \n  \n\"Probably that's why mark five have built in cooling system.  \nAnyway, documents please.\" She stretched out her hand. Sifer  \nlooked around then opened his purse, pulling out a batch of  \npapers, each carrying her signature. Fakes... M'raava winced, the  \nquality of those papers was, poor. Sifer was a smart kid,  \nprobably even smarter then she was, however it was a miracle if  \nhe managed to sing his own name without misspelling it. Poor kid,  \nwithout Kovalskey standing behind his back, he couldn't really do  \nmuch. She sighed tearing the fakes in half, then simply gave a  \nnod to her escort. The black van silently took the place where  \nthe ford stood, seconds later its side door opened and a strong  \narm pulled in the uniformed woman. One of the G-mans slide shut  \nthe van doors, others quite inconspicuously looked around.  \nM'raava's ears registered a muffled scream and a taser zapping  \nsomeones unconscious, then sergeant brown emerged from the van  \ncarrying a black briefcase.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Done.\" He announced. Few blocks away someone put down the phone  \nand pressed few keys on his notebook, the surveillance cameras in  \nfront of the police stations suddenly started working again, just  \nlike they mysteriously shut down exactly a minute ago.  \n  \nChief Konrad Sanko studied the papers spread before him, studied  \nthe fluffy female sitting before him then studied the overgrown  \nmuscle in a black suit that stood behind her and his six friends  \nwaiting outside his office. He moved his eyes back to the woman  \nfeeling her gaze run him through, then quickly looked back to the  \npapers and reread the last few lines then asked.  \n  \n\"There will be no official investigation?\"  \n  \n\"No.\" There was no emotion in her voice neither her body moved.  \nSanko stared into her unblinking cat's eyes, it was driving him  \ncrazy. Normal people blink all the time, she did not. Normal  \npeople sweat, scratch themselves, drum with their fingers... She  \ndid not. She was a monument of unmovable cat's grace, staring  \nwith her eyes at her prey until it surrenders. Annoyed he  \nscratched his signature on the transfer papers and pushed them  \naway.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thank you for your cooperation.\" She stood up while the muscled  \nsuit collected the documents. Sanko pushed the dial on the phone.  \n  \n\"Morris? Prepare the suspects for transport.\"  \n  \nVladimir Pavlovski was a bear like man from what left of Siberia.  \nHe was large. M'raava always wondered how did he pass the pilot's  \ntest with a body like that. His damn biceps was larger then her  \ntorso! And yet, he passed. Well he was most likely able to pick  \nup a car, bare handed. Maybe his heart could really handle that  \ntwenty G? Who knows? After all, he was the base medical mystery.  \nRight now five police officers were trying to stop that medical  \nmystery from plucking arms away from one of their colleagues,  \nwhile three others were having a similar trouble with Kovalskey.  \n  \n\"Vladimir! Kovalskey!\" M'raava screamed at the top of her voice,  \neven dust froze for a moment.  \n  \n\"Polnyi pizdets...\" Vladimir cursed, then simply laid down on the  \nfloor, hands and legs wide apart. Kovalskey shut up and cast a  \nquick glance at their guests.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Indeed we are.\" he whispered and followed his friend example.  \nVladimir and Kovalskey never had the slightest trouble  \nrecognizing their colonel. She could be standing in a crowd of  \ns'hestirs and they would knew, their balls knew. Kovalskey still  \nhad scars...  \n  \n\"Sergeant if they try anything shoot them. If they try to speak,  \nshoot them as well.\"  \n  \n\"But Col...\" Kovalskey opened his mouth though the sound of  \nsafeties being flipped off silenced him. Swallowing, he backed  \noff. Those weren't the stun guns used by the police but good old  \nrifles loaded with live ammo. Also the MP's looked extremely  \ntrigger happy.  \n  \n\"And more importantly,\" M'raava continued.  \n  \n\"If that short one,\" She pointed at the bound and naked Sifer,  \napparently MP's stripped him off the camouflage suit.  \n  \n\"Would try to touch something even remotely connected with a  \nmicrochip, some sort of a network or even a light bulb, shoot  \nhim, then shoot him again till he stops moving. That'll be all,  \nget them off planet before i change my mind.\"  \n  \n\"Ya heard the colonel, move out!\" The sergeant screamed at his  \nmen, then with a quick salute he bid her goodbye. M'raava watched  \ntill the unmarked military van, alongside it's escort,  \ndisappeared behind the corner. No troubles, no press, no  \nquestions. All went smooth, Peter did a great job arranging all  \nthis. With a sigh she got back into the car, the familiar young  \nprivate from the morning closed the door behind her then hooped  \nonto the drivers seat. She studied him, nice young human,  \nprobably in his late twenties. Tall, well built... Not entirely  \nher type.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You've got some lipstick left behind your ear\" Burning bright  \nred, he tried to remove the invisible lipstick with his palm.  \nM'raava looked away, rolling down the window and letting some  \nfresh air in. Of course it was easier to say 'you have lipstick  \nbehind your ear' then 'you stink like the bitch in heat you just  \nfucked'. Humans just didn't get it. She sighed with relive when  \nwind cleansed a bit the car's air. Not that she had anything  \nagainst females, human females usually smelled much better then  \nmales but this one, she felt like... Cats! Those little... Urgh!  \nM'raava's insides cramped in terror. Even though her kind was  \nconsidered of feline family, she would not allowed herself  \nanywhere near one of those night prowlers. Definitely not during  \nspring. Something deep within her made sure of that.  \n  \n\"Ma'am?\" Private Luis cast her few curious looks in the mirror,  \nunsure what was happening.  \n  \n\"Tell me private, is there any place near by that serves  \nsomething worth eating?\" She asked searching for a way to excuse  \nherself from his further, aromatic company.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Emm...\" He took a quick glance around before answering.  \n  \n\"I think there's a nice restaurant right the corner, should be  \nalready open at this hour.\" He consulted his watch.  \n  \n\"Is it any good?\"  \n  \n\"Hard to say Ma'am, too fancy for my paycheck. Though I heard  \nthey're always packed by the evening, hard to squeeze in.\" He  \nanswered, impatiently watching his wristwatch as the red light  \nstooped them. He winced, one hot chick was waiting for him back  \nin his apartment but unfortunately every minute was bringing him  \ncloser to finding a cold and empty bed.  \n  \n\"In a hurry are we?\" M'raava observed as he begun sweating even  \nmore while they waited.  \n  \n\"No Ma'am.\" He answered though there was no confidence in his  \nvoice nor in his scent. Her rank was intimidating.  \n  \n\"You sure? Maybe she's still waiting for you? Is she?\" Fighting  \nwith herself M'raava leaned closer.  \n  \n\"Emm... Yes Ma'am. Sort of...\" His face turned darker shade of  \npurple with each word he spoke.  \n  \n\"Okay, here's the deal. Drop me off by that restaurant and you're  \nfree.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Is... is it really okay Ma'am?\" His eyes shined with happiness.  \n  \n\"Yes.\" Whatever, as long as I get out of this car! She though,  \ntaking shallow breaths, unable to take that scent any longer.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nThe air, fresh marvelous air! Taking long deep breaths M'raava  \nenjoyed the fresh morning breeze as it carried mouth watering  \nsmells from near by bakery. Her stomach growled in less then  \ncivilized manner. That remained her, she had skipped her  \nbreakfast.  \n  \n\"'The Jungle', huh?\" She read the name from a strangely colored  \nneon sign. Fancy name for a restaurant. Oh well, she might give  \nit a try, can't be bad if it's so popular. She thought as she  \nmarched through the automatic doors.  \n  \nThe small sized waiting room was rather typical, lots of stones,  \nwood paneling and crystal candelabras. Nothing fancy. M'raava  \nsurrendered her coat and after being carefully taxed, she  \nfollowed the maître d' up to her table. She marched through a  \ndoor frame imitating a cave entrance, wondering what a table her  \nsemi-formal, civilian attire got her. Judging by the look maître  \nd' gave her, possibly nothing fancy. She wasn't really dressed  \nfor this place... Good goddess! M'raava gasped when they entered  \nthe main room, it was impressive. There were real trees and  \nbushes growing here! And the floor, the floor was covered in  \nnothing more then grass. Natural living grass, amazing. In a  \nlarge, court sized room, somebody planted a bounty of all sorts  \nof plants and trees, forming a maze of conveniently set, private  \nalleys. Each ally was supplied with it's own marble table and a  \nset of four white lacquered, oak chairs. S'hestir made chairs.  \nFrom each table a single patch of round varnished sandstone slabs  \nrun towards the entrance, joining on its way with other paths,  \nforming larger branches that finally connected together in a  \ntrunk at the entrance. Amazed, M'raava studied the stone tree.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"This way please.\" Smiling Maître d' beckon her down the stairs  \nonto the main floor and guided her through the stone branches  \nmaze to her table. After helping her with her seat, he presented  \nher the menu, bowed and left. Astonished, M'raava looked around.  \nThe walls and the ceiling were made of hardened glass or some  \nother similar material and were a part of a giant fish tank that  \nsurrounded the whole room, filling it with gentle blue glow as  \nall light came only through those walls.  \n  \n\"Saa, i do hope it's not too fancy for my paycheck...\" She sigh  \nstaring at the mermaid that just swam above her, sending her a  \nkiss. If that was a girl in a mermaid suit, it was a freaking  \ndamn realistic suit!  \n  \n\"Who do we have here? Had an angel came to earth? Moon wasn't  \nenough for you M'raava?\" A velvet whisper coming from nowhere  \nmade M'raava's fur puff out. Somebody stalked her from behind.  \n  \n\"As jumpy as ever fluff? Haven't they taught you anything in the  \narmy?\" That scent! Only one person could smell like that.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"K'sita!\"  \n  \n\"Hello Fluff, been a while hasn't it? Anyway what kind of  \ngreeting is this? You're not even gonna hug me?\" K'sita dropped  \nher ears and made a sad face, when it came to these little acts  \nthere was no better actress then her. M'raava sighed and stood  \nup, well it's just a hug isn't it?  \n  \n\"Ma'am if I may suggest a private place where you can continue  \nyour conversation with full intimacy...\" A slightly bothered  \nmaître d' appeared from nowhere, making K'sita withdraw her  \ntongue. Released from her friend's arms and slightly out of  \nbreath, M'raava dropped back to her seat. There was something in  \nK'sita that would make anyone melt in her arms, or in case of  \nmales, she could pump them up so painfully hard till they were  \nable to punch holes in brick walls with their boners.  \n  \n\"No need Paul, we were discussing our order.\" And her tongue was  \nabout to go where no one else have gone and do what no one else  \nhave done.  \n  \n\"We'll take the usual. Also if you'd be so kind and pick us  \nsomething nice for a drink, I'd be very happy.\" She prised him  \nwith one of her magical smiles that made pants drop with  \nanticipation.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ah, with my pleasure ma'am!\" He bowed and left, honored. Some  \npeople paid her much for such smile, he had it for free.  \n  \nIt wasn't long when their order came up, with best regards from  \nthe chef, carried in by a three waitresses. The girls, human,  \nwere stark naked, not counting the paint that covered them from  \nhead to toes. Each was painted as a differed animal. Lynx and  \nocelot set down their plates for them while a gazelle filled  \ntheir glasses. The usual turned out to be a red meat salad, with  \nlots of juicy red meat and well, M'raava stabbed her portion with  \na fork, maybe they'll find the salad later after they deal with  \nthe meat?  \n  \n\"So fluff, talk. Where have you been, what did you do and why did  \nyou ignored your good'ol friend?\" K'sita sat leisurely across the  \ntable, her entire body focused on M'raava. It was almost  \nmythical, her ability to listen. It made everyone loosen up their  \ntongues, spilling out most hidden thoughts. She just sat sipping  \nat her wine while M'raava blabber out whatever came to her mind.  \nThe ate talking and when their plates were clean, a ferocious fox  \ncame and picked them up.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Well, well, well... So Miss \"Slice me own throat\" Fluffy  \neventually turned out to be an upstanding citizen. I shall call  \nyou Colonel McFluff...\" She mocked up a salute, surprisingly even  \nthat looked sexy.  \n  \n\"K'sita, please...\"  \n  \n\"Heh, you're no fun Fluff. You live in space, you've seen some  \ndistant stars and alien planets, you fly most advance and most  \nexpensive equipment and your job lets you blow things up. Plus  \nall those young cadet's at your disposal... Honey you have one of  \nthe most interesting jobs on the planet, show some contentment.\"  \n  \n\"Contentment?!\" M'raava sighed, her ears dropped.  \n  \n\"I live in a rusting, oil-stinking tincan three hundred thousand  \nkliks away from any civilization. Last time I went to the outer  \nstars I almost died, ending up in a jell-o for eight months. We  \nfly junk-grade training equipment while most of the time, my job  \nmakes me responsible for preventing morons from blowing things up  \nand the cadets are a constant pain in the ass. The most  \ninteresting thing I did last year was growing a tomato in a shoe  \nbox!\" She Shouted, her voice echoing through the room. The maître  \nd' praised all gods they were the only guests at the moment.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm sorry, my holiday leave had a bad start and my cycle is  \ntotally messed up by the moon-earth transition. Sorry.\" M'raava  \nhide her face in her hands.  \n  \n\"You do smell stressed... You should use some fun, relax. Tell me  \nwhen did you do it last time, had some fun?\" K'sita's eyes were  \npiercing.  \n  \n\"Well, now and then when I feel like, just like anybody else...\"  \n  \n\"Oh, don't give me that crap, I'm not talking about self service.  \nIt's like smelling food, it doesn't count, it leaves your body  \nhungry. Well? how long?\" M'raava remained quiet, her face still  \nhidden in her hands.  \n  \n\"No, you're joking... Right? M'raava? Girl, that's unhealthy. Not  \neven a quickie? Good lord, what the hell your mate been doing all  \nthis time?!\"  \n  \n\"What mate?\" M'raava sprawled herself over the table, her paws  \ndrumming mindlessly.  \n  \n\"But I thought...\"  \n  \n\"We talked once or twice since I enlisted. I thought we could  \npatch things up, I rent a room for a Christmas leave. No one ever  \nshowed up.\" She shrug her shoulders.  \n  \n\"C'mon we're leaving.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"But the bill...\"  \n  \n\"It's on me, come.\" They stood up and left.  \n  \nM'raava wondered, it happened so fast. One second they were  \ngetting inside a taxi, the next, rolling in a giant heart shape  \nbed, rubbing against each other, K'sita petting her, working out  \nthe mood. Her own purrs roaring through the air.  \n  \n\"One thing I don't get. You've been locked out with all those  \nmales and well, nothing?\" K'sita's tongue slowly worked its way  \nup M'raava's neck.  \n  \n\"I'm the only S'hestir on... b-board...\" Waves of shivers were  \nmaking its way through her spine.  \n  \n\"So what? Males are males, you take one and you use it. Give it  \nnudge, stick it up your ass and it's smart enough to do the  \nrest.\" K'sita's breast were rubbing against her.  \n  \n\"But a human?\"  \n  \n\"Why not? Almost all of my regulars are human. I'd say sex with a  \nhuman is even better, if you're careful that is.\" K'sita's paws  \nwere finding all the magic spots, awakening the long surpassed  \nneed. M'raava bit her lips, her body tensed with pleasure but the  \nrelive not came , K'sita withdraw her paws.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Nuh-uh! Naughty, naughty, selfish little girl. Did I allowed you  \nto cum? No. Naughty, we do not rush into things, we savor the  \nmoment.\" The little pink pill she inserted when they arrived at  \nthe hotel, should have dissolve by now. A warm, pleasurable  \ntingling deep inside her abdomen confirmed it.  \n  \n\"And naughty girls should be punished\" They shuffled. The dark  \nfurred female settled herself above her friend's head, pressing  \nher private lips against M'raava's muzzle.  \n  \n\"Lick\" She ordered. M'raava grabbed the feline's bottom, pressing  \nit closer. Her tongue worked in long, deep strokes.  \n  \n\"Sah, Not bad. Not bad for an amateur, not bad at all...\" K'sita  \nthrown her head backward and enjoyed, Her juices were flowing in  \na steady silver stream, spiced up by a secret, pink ingredient.  \n  \nM'raava lied motionless, someone was licking her face clean.  \nEverything was a haze. Her heart pumped madly, her breaths were  \nfast and shallow, her body burned ready to explode.  \n  \n\"The heck did you gave me?\" She whimpered.  \n  \n\"A bonus...\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Strong arms rolled her over, her body instinctively took the  \nlordosis pose, lifting her rump high. Her tail shifted exposing  \nher swollen private lips, flooded with M'raava's love juice and  \nready. K'sita smiled adjusting the strap of her human shaped,  \nextra large, double dildo. She ran her paw along the shaft,  \ntesting her newest toy. Its second end wriggled hidden deep  \ninside her while nano circuits stimulated her clit. That's space  \ntechnology for ya! K'sita bit her lip tightening another strap,  \nthis time around her tail, pushing a second intruder deeper into  \nher tailhole. Now she was secured, a s'hestir from behind and a  \nhuman upfront. Both toys molded up to the finest detailed and a  \nbit overgrown. She steadied her breath, now to cater to her  \nguest.  \n  \nImpatient, M'raava wagged her butt in the air, between her legs a  \npuddle was growing bigger and bigger with every second. Slowly,  \nK'sita crawled back onto her oversized bed and with her face an  \ninch away from her friends private garden, she puffed at her  \nsoaked pink lips. M'raava screamed, spraying her lover's face  \nwith juice. She had cum, she climaxed just from that?!  \nUnimaginable! Her whole body burned, something was wrong.  \nSomething was terribly wrong, it should not be this good... She  \nscowled, K'sita grabbed her but and spread her pussy lips with  \nher paws.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Naught, naught girl...\" She spoke, her hot breath whipping  \nM'raava's private parts, sending jolts of pleasure deep inside  \nher.  \n  \n\"You've cum without me. Shame on you! As a punishment, I'm gonna  \nshow you how I lick a pussy.\" She pressed her face against  \nM'raava's bottom, her tongue dancing a waltz of ecstasy. She  \nsucked, leaped, kissed... M'raava lost track halfway along the  \nwaves of emotions overflowing her body. Her mind was at the edge  \nor breaking, so were her body. K'sita kept her at the brink of  \nanother powerful orgasm, making the tension gather and cumulate  \nto the point M'raava could no longer handle.  \n  \n\"S-stop... N-no, n-no m-more...\" She pleaded, unable to break  \nfree.  \n  \n\"Say it, say what you want. Beg for it!\" K'sita teased her,  \nsliding the dildo's tip up and down her entrance.  \n  \n\"Lauder! I want the whole building to hear it! Speak what you  \nwant!\" She groped M'raava's tail at the base and pressed the  \ninvader firmly against her pussy lips.  \n  \n\"Fuck me! Please make it stop! Let me cum, please! Fuck  \nme!\"Desperate, with tears in her eyes M'raava screamed at the top  \nof her lungs. K'sita smiled.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Good girl.\" She whispered then took her hard from behind, just  \nlike a male would do, nipping at her neck. Shocked, as in slow  \nmotion, M'raava felt something large sunk inside her. The feeling  \nwas of a fuse slowly reaching its end then, when she was filled,  \nher muscles twitched and forcefully contracted, blowing her world  \napart. Breathless, pushed way off the edge, M'raava fainted,  \nsinking in pleasure.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"M'raava? Sweetie? M'raava?! Are you alright? Can you hear me?!\"  \nSomeone was screaming into her ear, She wagged her hand at it and  \ngrumbled something.  \n  \n\"Thank goddess! She's alright...\"A laud sigh of relief came from  \nabove, making her rock her bottom. Surprised, M'raava discovered  \nher belly was still full of someone. Painfully full. She risked  \nher eye open. Her head was resting on a furry chest, a chest with  \nextraordinary large breast. At least for a s'hestir.  \n  \n\"Honey! Don't you ever dare to scare me like that!\" K'sita hugged  \nher, pulling her even closer.  \n  \n\"Buh?\" Baffled, M'raava winked at her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You've been flying for five hours straight, I've been starting  \nto worry. I shouldn't have given you that much...\" K'sita's ears  \ndropped, concerned.  \n  \n\"I'm fine, I'm fine...\" M'raava pat her boob, making a small  \nround bell attach to K'sita's nipple, jingle.  \n  \n\"But... urg... Can you please pull it out already?\" It was  \nalready past beyond a point of being pleasant.  \n  \n\"Uh... Well, I would if I could. It seems you are holding it with  \nyour teeth.\" She gave her a little smile. M'raava reached under  \nher own tail, her muscles were rock hard and painfully cramped.  \n  \n\"Fuck...\" She sigh. K'sita pet her gently.  \n  \n\"It happens. Try and relax.\" Or we'll call the paramedics, K'sita  \nthought. Stressing a stressed out person usually don't help.  \n  \nThey spend another hour simply cuddling and talking, as long as  \nyou consider cuddling in terms of M'raava squeezing K'sita's  \nboob. It was an exceptionally nice boob with a beautiful nipple.  \nMany believed K'sita had a boob job but only a happy few knew  \nthey were hundred percent natural. M'raava cupped the bouncy lump  \nin her palm.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ain't bored yet Fluff?\" K'sita raised an eyebrow at her.  \n  \n\"Never!\" M'raava grinned and squeezed happily.  \n  \n\"Well then, maybe if you'll let me unbuckle...\"  \n  \n\"Hell no, you stuffed it in, now suffer.\"  \n  \n\"If you put it that way,\" K'sita reached for a silver remote with  \na pink button.  \n  \n\"Then let me at leas have some fun.\"  \n  \n\"Whatever.\" She played with a bell attached to K'sita's nipple.  \n  \n\"Very well then.\" She pressed the button releasing the  \nvibrations. M'raava screamed climaxing again and again...  \n  \n\"D-don't...\" She whimpered when the spasms finally cased. The  \naphrodisiac still held her body under its charm.  \n  \n\"So sorry Fluff.\" K'sita kissed her forehead, petting her head.  \n  \n\"Sorry?\" M'raava chittered.  \n  \n\"I haven't felt better in years!\" She rolled in bed, stretching  \nherself. Her last spasm disconnected them, splashing the room  \nwith her juices.  \n  \n\"Heh,what a perverted pussy. C'mon let's get you a shower. You  \nstink!\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Take care Fluff.\" Hugging her, she planted a kiss on M'raava's  \nlips. It was one of those making your knees bend, leaving you  \nyearning for more. But there was no more, the cab doors slammed  \nshut leaving her behind on the other side. M'raava smiled, K'sita  \nreally did made her happy. Happy, written with giant H and triple  \nP. She was one of those rare people, spreading happiness wherever  \nthey went. It was truly amazing how she read others, giving them  \n, not what they wished for but what they really needed. Even if  \nthat meant a kick in the balls with a steel pointed stiletto...  \nM'raava smirked, why could she imagine people actually wiling to  \npay just for that? Sigh, it was possible. Especially after that  \nspecial treat she received. Well she still felt a lil bit stoned  \nand even a slightest scratch on her secret button would send her  \nthrough the roof but for the first time in a long, long while,  \nM'raava felt good. Really damn good. She felt satisfied, as if a  \ngiant load was finally taken off her shoulders. She stopped to  \ngive her hands a rest, the bags were biting into her paws. Her  \nChristmas shopping were done and now she simply prowled through  \nthe mall, happily humming an old tune her band once played. Those  \nwere the times.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; She got her throat chopped and almost lost her voice, all in the  \nname off music. She stopped by the music shop watching through  \nthe window a clerk setting up some fancy instrument. Her memories  \nwere coming back. How old she was? She couldn't remember.  \nProbably too young and too stupid. She gathered few friends, as  \nsilly as herself and they called themselves... Something funny  \nthat was, The Beasts perhaps. She wasn't sure so long ago it  \nseemed.  \n  \nThey weren't bad, quite the opposite some might say. They played  \nhere and there but nowhere truly important. The reason was  \nsimple. Even as good as she was some notes would never pass  \nthrough a S'hestir throat. They found some doctor, a butcher was  \nprobably a better word, who agree to do the procedure... She  \nraised her head, concealed beneath her fur a thin vertical scar  \nran from her collar bone almost up to her chin.  \n  \nSince her parents would never pay for such madness, the band  \nchipped in and paid for her surgery. It left her mute for five  \nlong and sore months but when her vocal chords finally healed,  \nthe effect was outstanding. She could sing and gods how she sang!  \nIt was unbelievable how much her voice had changed, from an  \nunknown local band they morphed into super stars, the latest  \ndiscovery. She cleared her throat and sang trying her voice, it  \nwas still inside her, all those alien tones. She closed her eyes,  \nher song now carrying untold sadness.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was after their second concert, she walked off the stage  \ncoughing and sputtering with blood, unable to say anything. They  \nrushed her to hospital right after she collapsed. When she came  \nto, she found herself in bed, connected to a respirator, tubes  \nrunning down her throat. The diagnosis? The guy who cut her,  \nbotched it. Her vocals were indeed empowered however every time  \nshe sang, she put so much strain on them they were deemed to fall  \napart. In other words she was slaughtering her own voice. She  \ncould sing for a year, maybe two but then... A tear slide down  \nher cheek, if only the medicine was what it is now. It's been  \nmore then fifteen years before they could threat her but, by that  \ntime her band cased to exist and she had already moved along  \nanother path. The song ended.  \n  \n\"Bravo! Bravo! Bravissimo!\" Few people were clapping their hands,  \nstarring at her.  \n  \n\"A-ten-hut!\" Someone screamed and all suddenly straighten up.  \n  \n\"Been a while colonel\" A male wearing white Navy suit came out  \nfrom the crowd.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thomas?\" Surprised, She watched her old left wing.  \n  \n\"Commander Thomas\" He grinned flashing remarkable white teeth and  \nshowing off his new insignia.  \n  \n\"You a commander? I'll rather wax myself clean then believe it!\"  \nShe chittered.  \n  \n\"Better tell me who did you buy that from?\"  \n  \n\"Colonel, you hurt my pride. These are real... A but anyway, boys  \nwhat are you waiting for? There's a Lady here, show some respect\"  \nHe nodded at his company.  \n  \n\"Ma'am if you allow...\" Two young pilots took out the bags from  \nher hands before she manage any protest.  \n  \n\"Senora...\" Thomas bowed kissing her hand in an old-fashion way  \nas he always did. M'raava's ears flickered with embarrassment.  \n  \n\"Chasing Skirts as always Tom?\" Another Voice joined in, familiar  \none. They turned around facing a man who just came out of the  \nmusic shop, holding a pack of drumsticks. He approached them with  \nthat carefully paced gait, so typical for any self respecting  \ndrill sergeant. M'raava coked her head gently to the right,  \nstudding the green eyed stranger. She could not place him under  \nany name she recalled, however... A whiff of wind stirred the  \nair, her nose twitched tasting the scents.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm sorry but have we met already?\" He was dressed civil yet he  \nsmelled strangely familiar. Deep dark wood with a trace of lemon  \ngrass and a tint of... gunpowder. A dangerous man.  \n  \n\"Yes, i believe we had. Alex introduced us.\" He stretched out his  \nhand.  \n  \n\"Colonel Arpad Apaffy.\" His grasp was strong. She felt he might  \nhave had easily crushed her paws if he wanted.  \n  \n\"Lt. Colonel M'raava Shiegesti.\" She let her claws gently pinch  \nhis skin. Their hand shake seemed unusually longer then it should  \nbe. What was that?! Her imagination was probably playing tricks  \non her, his face... It was brief, a blink of an eye but she could  \nswear his face looked as if he was disappointed he let her go.  \n  \n\"I think we've got all now.\" He addressed Tom. M'raava looked  \nfrom one to another, what could they get from here? Navy shopping  \nin a music shop? She raised an eyebrow, it was at least  \nsuspicious.  \n  \n\"All what?\" She asked.  \n  \n\"Instruments, We're setting up a new years party at the base.\"Tom  \nsighed.  \n  \n\"Somebody spread some fake flayers advertising our band and the  \nso called new year's party. We managed to straighten things up  \nbut unfortunately the higher ups thought it was a good idea and  \ngave a go for the whole thing. As you can imagine the excitement  \nwent through the roof - every excuse to get drunk is good enough  \nfor those rookies - and now we're stuck with responsibility.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You mean the Flying Orchestra gonna perform again?\" She  \nchittered. For some strange reason her old squad was packed with  \nmusicians or at least with people able to play on something, not  \nnecessarily designed for that purpose.  \n  \n\"Si senora. Toni, Paul, Adam, Everard, Otto and Arthur our new  \nsinger. You probably don't know him, he took over our squad after  \nyou got promoted. He's quite good.\"  \n  \n\"So I've been told. What about Joice? I haven't heard from her in  \na while. Is she alright?\"  \n  \n\"She's fine. She finally got a child permission and got pregnant  \nlast spring. She probably won't come, she took the maternity  \nleave. Alas we were lacking a drummer, fortunately our friend  \nfrom the confetti section,\" He nodded at Arpad.  \n  \n\"Agreed to take her place.\"  \n  \n\"Confetti section?\" She stared at him in disbelieve, Arpad  \nsmiled.  \n  \n\"Internal security, department of handling of sensitive data. We  \nstore, sanitize and dispose of every document that passes through  \nthe base.\" Well that would explain the confetti joke, her own  \noffice produced at least six barrels of paper shreds a weak and  \ntones of documents. She imagined how much the whole base must  \nproduce with its endless bureaucracy.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"It's not that bad, machines do most of that crap. We only handle  \nsanitizing requests, those have to be done by hand.\" He seemed to  \nbe reading her mind. She gave him another glance. Funny, he  \ndidn't look like a librarian, more of a spec ops. All those  \nmuscles just didn't fit with an archivist.  \n  \n\"What about you M'raava? Will you come?\" Tom broke the sudden  \nsilence.  \n  \n\"Come? Where? The Party? No thanks, I'll pass. I'm on a leave and  \nI don't wanna any cadets within three mile radius of me. Enough  \nis enough. I don't wanna babysit those \"ma'am I'm sorry I've  \nforgot my brain\" maggots, for the whole new year. No-no.\"  \n  \n\"Oh come on, you wont even notice. MP's gonna moderate the whole  \nthing.\"  \n  \n\"I'm sorry but that's a final decision. I'm not gonna change my  \nmind, i want some peace and...\"  \n  \n\"I'll get you the VIP pass? You'll be sitting with the band, best  \nplace right next to the stage. Every one from our squad should be  \nthere. What do you say?\"  \n  \n\"Free drinks?\"  \n  \n\"You can drink out your liver if you want, all on the house.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Alright, alright. I'll come.\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nSneeze and sneeze again, M'raava worked within the white walls of  \ntheir cellar, hanging out laundry. It was the warmest place in  \ntheir home yet her paws still felt numb. Dammit! She triple  \nsneezed, almost dropping her freshly washed uniform. That damn  \nmoon base, her yearly cycle was completely messed up because of  \nit. She sneezed, making her own ears ring. It's been the most  \nfreezing weak of the year yet her damn winter coat still hasn't  \nkicked in. It'll be a miracle if she won't end up with a cold or  \nsomething worse. A runny nose can totally ruin the feast.  \n  \n\"I've turned the heating up a notch\" Her father sat himself on  \nsome old boxes.  \n  \n\"Tha-a-a-anks da-aad...\"M'raava sneezed out. Her father sighed  \nand shook his head.  \n  \n\"Honey, why don't you sleep it off while you still can?  \nTomorrow's the feast, you wanna be sick whole year?\" An hour ago  \nM'raava would argue, right now it seamed quite reasonable.  \n  \n\"Oh, i almost forgot. Your brother called, they'll be coming  \ntomorrow. He was anxious to see his big sister, it's been a  \nwhile.\" Indeed it's been. Last time she saw him was about five  \nyears ago. Her holiday leave never quite fit with his free time,  \nthey were always days, sometimes hours apart.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"They? Who's coming with him?\" She asked, hanging out her socks.  \nHer father looked puzzled.  \n  \n\"You don't know? He got married two years ago, i thought you guys  \nkeep in touch with each other.\" M'raava sneezed, her knickers  \nshot out of her paws. What to say? They called each other from  \ntime to time but that was rather sporadic. The sub-space calls  \nwere too expensive for private non military use and the old radio  \nconnections lagged terribly, making the conversation unpractical.  \n  \n\"He really haven't told you?\"  \n  \n\"No, its new to me.\" She pulled out a napkin and blew her nose.  \nHer father hissed in distaste, he was an honest man, he would  \nnever tolerate disrespect in his family.  \n  \n\"Please don't blame him, it probably wasn't his fault. It's a  \nnightmare for civilians to contact a moon base. Besides, we had a  \nlarge CaB two years ago, if he send the notice through normal  \nmail it's no wonder it never reached me.\" She put away the empty  \nbasket. Her father squinted his eyes, studding her.  \n  \n\"CaB?\" he asked.  \n  \n\"Crash-and-Burn, the cargo ship got hit by a micro meteor and  \ncrashed during landing. There wasn't much to gather after it  \nburned.\" Two hundred thousand pounds of fuel and oxidizers went  \nka-boom when the ship touchdown at twenty kilicks per second, it  \nliterary kicked her out of her bed that night.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"That cargo ship was carrying mail and...\" A sneeze of a cyclone  \nmagnitude bend her over, her eyes watered.  \n  \n\"Fluff. Bed. Now.\" Her father spoke, his voice was amazingly calm  \nconsidering that a long yellow snot just landed on his face.  \n  \n\"And don't you even think of getting up until that cold goes  \naway.\"  \n  \n\"Yes, Sir!\"  \n  \nIt's amazing what a bowl of fat broth with lots of juicy meat  \nchops and a night of good sleep can do for you. Humming happily,  \nM'raava brushed her fur. The sneezing was gone, her nose was  \nclear, she looked and felt better, much better. Done. She put  \ndown the brush and admired her work, her fur looked purrfect. She  \nsmiled to herself. That nap was really a good idea, not only her  \ncold passed away but she also avoided all that holiday uproar,  \nand that was something even worse than a runny nose. Her mother  \nput the house upside down and inside out, preparing for the  \nfeast. The dinigroom was cleared of all unnecessary furnishing,  \nleaving only the old, round wooden table, standing proudly in the  \ncenter of the room. It stood surrounded by nine, equally old,  \nencrusted, s'hestir chairs. Way too many for five people but, as  \nthey say, better more then less. Especially on the feast night.  \nThis night was an affluent night. A night when each cub could  \nfill it's belly and every adult shared good hunt. A night to pray  \nfor goddess grace. Such as the old one's believed, sigh most  \npeople nowadays didn't even understand. Christmas, Feast, Yom  \nkippur, Vesak... All no different for them, just another occasion  \nto celebrate and throw a party. The great war brought many deaths  \nand many changes...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"M'raava honey, aren't you ready yet?! N'arjn should be here any  \nmoment! He called they just got off the highway.\" Her mother  \nscreamed somewhere from downstairs. Her high pitched voice seemed  \nto ignore all those thick walls and other sound barriers. She  \nsigh and donned her white, high-neck long dress. It had a  \nseductive open back, with the cut running as low a her tail base,  \nbut otherwise was elegant enough to satisfy her mother taste.  \nWell she probably could go stark naked, clean-shaved or wearing  \nanything she fancied as long as it bore no resemblance to any  \nmilitary uniform. Sigh.  \n  \nShe was half the way down the stairs when an irritating, familiar  \nsound made her stop. Her tail fluffed out, her ears flared.  \n  \n\"Daad!\" She growled at him. Her father greeted her whistling and  \nbumping his cane against the floor, the racket he made could  \ncompare with a room full of cadets ogling a hot chick.  \n  \n\"Henry! Stop that nonsense at once!\" Her mother slapped his tail  \nwith a dishtowel.  \n  \n\"You old fool, when will you learn to behave? A?\" She wag her paw  \nat him, he just smiled making big cub's eyes.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Argh! M'raava, you handle him. I have no strength left for this  \nold clown!\" Her mother scowled and tottered away, fixing this or  \nthat in some final preparations.  \n  \n\"Well?\" M'raava walked over to her father, giving him a look she  \noften used on her cadets. He didn't budge a bit, apparently  \ncountless years tucked under his tick hide made him indifferent  \nto such tricks.  \n  \n\"Stunning as ever my dear fluff.\" He barred his fangs in a broad  \nand wide smile, the black tux he wore and his elegant cane made  \nhim look royal.  \n  \n\"Saa, i wish i knew how mom puts up with you...\" She readjusted  \nhis bowtie and leaned closer, whispering.  \n  \n\"Really dad, where did you learned to whistle like that? A?\" She  \nasked, nibbed with jealousy. A whistling S'hestir was not an  \neveryday view, she for example, just couldn't.  \n  \n\"Here and there.\" He winked at her.  \n  \n\"C'mon Fluff, let's greet our guests. I think I've heard their  \ncar.\" Nonchalantly, he offered her his arm then, together they  \nwalked to the door.  \n  \nIt seemed awkward at best. Three against four, stood in the broad  \nhall. News of Her brother marriage came as a surprise to her but  \nshe would never though... Silent, for a second that seemed like  \neternity, they just stared at each other. Shocked.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Probably too scared to actually realize what he's doing, N'arjn  \nintroduced them. R'hrsa, S'errei and Fran, his girls. M'raava  \nknew he was running in full auto mode, his mind replying what was  \nthought and practiced countless times. During the heat of battle  \nall soldiers worked the same, conciseness switching off while  \ninstincts and training took charge. She studied them one more  \ntime. R'hrsa, a tall and slender siamese kitten, probably the  \noldest one from the lot. S'errei, she was smaller and seemed most  \nfragile of the three. Her fur resembled the one of a clouded  \nleopard. She wore a dress similar to the one M'raava had. And  \nthere was Fran. Dressed in white, fur-padded coat and white satin  \ngloves, blond haired goddess. Shyly, she smiled with her full  \npink lips and gray marble eyes. A human.  \n  \nShocked, her parents stared speechless. They knew N'arjn have  \ntaken a mate, a more than one they've learned. But a human?!  \nScared, Fran step back a little, until her back bumped into  \nN'arjn's chest. R'hrsa and S'errei flanked her in a protective  \nmanner. M'raava watched, this moment lingered way too long. She  \nstepped forward, she knew how it feels to be different. She  \nembraced Fran, hugging her and rubbing against her in much  \noverdone passion.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Hi! It's nice finally meeting you. N'arjn talked so much about  \nyou!\" She cast him a bone numbing look, his ears dropped  \ninstantly while his eyes cried thank-you-thank-you-thank-you...  \n  \n\"My ow my, such beauties. I'd never imagine I'll live the day  \nwhen i have four daughters.\" Her father picked up the act  \ninstantly. He greeted them one by one, according to the lore,  \nblessing and welcoming at the same time. When he reached Fran, he  \nheld her palm pressed against his cheek for a bit longer, looking  \ndeep into her eyes.  \n  \n\"Beautiful indeed.\" He finally spoke and guided her through the  \ndoorsill, into the living room.  \n  \n\"Mother, me thinks we can finally do the light and fire ceremony  \nlike the old ones did. Why don't you take the girls and prepare  \neverything?\" Their mother's eyes suddenly light up.  \n  \n\"Light and fire...\" She whispered, her nostrils flared excited.  \n  \n\"Yes, Yes! Let's make haste, it's nearly nightfall!\" She hurried  \nthem into the kitchen. N'arjn, with his ears dropped and his tail  \nwarped round his legs tried to follow yet his father cane stopped  \nhim.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Young man, \" He said softly.  \n  \n\"We need to talk.\" Henry never shouted at anyone, the majesty of  \nhis voice usually was enough to make one's knees tremble.  \n  \n\"Yes, Sir!\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nShadows danced in the orange glow of the fireplace, adding to the  \nsacred atmosphere. There is something magical in those warm  \nflames, in that amazing radiance. It baffled, amazed, served and  \nterrified people for centuries. It cleansing known not only  \namongst humans. In a world without a moon, S'hestirs learned to  \nprise it's glow and the safety it gave. It purified the food,  \nfought off predators, kept them warm through the winter nights,  \nlessen the darkness and ward off ill fortune. Now, in a room  \nstripped of the electric light, they gathered around the fire as  \nthe tradition told. M'yerra as the oldest female of the house,  \nconducted the ceremony. She thrown a handful of herbs into the  \nfire and praised the goddess for all they received. Then Henry,  \nas father of the house took some herbs from the pouch she offered  \nhim and thrown them into the fire, again praising the goddess.  \nAnother portion of herbs was thrown and the children retold their  \nparents prayers.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Goddess let your light protect this household in the coming  \nyears, for such we offer,\" M'yerra bowed and with long iron  \npincers, she picked up bright red burning coal from the fire.  \n  \n\"Youngest in the east,\" She touched the coal to the tip of feast  \nlantern filled with oils of the youngest fruits. It instantly  \nlight up with bright blue flame. S'errei stepped forward and took  \nthe lantern, then walked over to the easter corner of the room  \nwhere she held it up high.  \n  \n\"Strongest in the sought,\" Again she touched the knot of another  \nlantern, this one however was filled with strong scented oil of a  \nrare fruit, valued for its medical use. Urged by her mother's  \nstare, M'raava took the lantern and plodded to the southern  \ncorner. It was said that the bearer of this torch would remain in  \ngood health for the coming year. As kids they joked that's  \nbecause of it's stench, even the sickness runs away...  \n  \n\"Wildest in the north,\" Encouraged by the Henry's nod, Fran shyly  \ntook the third lantern and following the others example, she  \nmoved to the northern corner. The oil in this lantern came from  \nthe lr'hon tree, considered a strongest aphrodisiac amongst their  \npeople. A drop of this oil granted all the wildest passions.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"And the oldest which governs the west.\" R'hrsa took the last  \nlantern filled with the oil of most mature fruits that burned  \nwith strong white flame. It was the brightest of the four, a mark  \nof the wisdom and guidance. Holding it high in the air she went  \nto the western corner where she stopped for a single moment then,  \nstill holding it high, she circled the room.  \n  \n\"Be prised the easter light! Protector of the youngest.\" She  \nstopped behind S'errei and bowed her head towards the light.  \n  \n\"Be prised the southern light! Warden of hale.\" She spoke  \nstanding behind M'raava who, was moments apart from blowing away  \nthe flame with a giant sneeze.  \n  \n\"Be prised the northern light! Keeper of family.\" Her tail  \ndiscreetly slide over Fran's ankle.  \n  \n\"I prise you western light! Guardian of the path.\" She returned  \nto her corner and raised her lantern as high as she could then,  \nafter a moment of silence the girls lowered their lanterns and  \nleft them shining in the corners.  \n  \n\"Thank goddess...\"With watering eyes, M'raava blew her nose in  \nthe silver napkin her father produced. She eyed Fran, the girl  \nseemed normal and unaffected or at least unaware of the torches  \ntrickery. On the other side, Fran's pupils were unnaturally wide  \nopen... Oh somebody's gonna have a pleasant night.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Nicely done,\"Henry clapped his paws smiling. He could see the  \nspark in his mate eyes, she's gonna gloat about the ceremony, so  \nrare.... such an honor... Sah. He came up with a perfect escape  \nroute.  \n  \n\"Now i think we all deserve a little treat to our dry throats and  \ni have something special saved for...\" He made a step toward his  \nstudy and collapsed, hissing in pain.  \n  \n\"Henry!\" In a blink of an eye M'raava's mother was next to him.  \n  \n\"Henry!\" She screamed holding his arm. Henry's face was a mask of  \npain and torture. Scared they gathered round him.  \n  \n\"Not a seizure... not a stroke... neither heart attack...\" Fran  \npushed through and run a quick check on his vitals.  \n  \n\"Muscle cramp?\" His right leg seemed painfully bent, she could  \nfeel the tension under the skin. Gently she stretched his leg a  \nbit, it seamed to lessen the pain. So, a normal cramp? She pulled  \nhis leg until it returned to more natural position and held it  \nthere. The difference was already visible, Henry's face relaxed  \ninstantly, his breathing slowed down.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm... alright, alright...\"he stuttered. His leg was still  \nfighting with Fran's grip.  \n  \n\"Like bald you are! You scared the hairs out of me you old fool!  \nFalling like that...\"  \n  \n\"Fran, is it serious? Can you something about it?\" N'arjn looked  \nfrom her to his father. She pressed a portable medical scanner  \nagainst Henry's lap, It pinched him, taking a sample then beeped  \nseveral times and printed out the results.  \n  \n\"As far as I can tell there's nothing to worry about,\"she scanned  \nthe numbers.  \n  \n\"Simple cramp cased by fatigue. Sir, i assume there's a reason  \nyou're using that cane? \" She asked.  \n  \n\"A, old wound. My right leg tires pretty easily, can't run  \nmarathons without it. My third leg.\" He smiled yet his ears were  \nstill half dropped. Fran considered his answer.  \n  \n\"Honey, can you bring the table from the car and those self  \nheating pads? I might be able to help a little.\" N'arjn shoot out  \nof the room instantly and after a minute of two, was back holding  \na massage table and a blue, plastic case.  \n  \n\"Where should I set it?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Somewhere private would be best. A smaller room on this floor?\"  \n  \n\"There's a study here...\"  \n  \n\"Don't know what you're trying to do but that unnecessary I feel  \nmuch better already...\" He tried to stand up and winced in pain,  \nhis muscles were still tensed.  \n  \n\"Oh shut up old fool and do what she says!\"  \n  \n\"All set Fran!\" N'arjn came from the other room.  \n  \n\"Good.\" Suddenly, she put her arms around Henry then simply  \nhoisted him up and carried away, much to everyones amazement.  \nOnly M'raava left more or less unaffected. She had seen such  \nstrength displays on a daily basis, especially when Vladimir was  \nsomewhere nearby. It puzzled how much strength was hidden in  \nFran's gentle frame however it was not unusual. This was earth,  \nhumans home, they were born to it's gravity. It made them  \nstronger, much stronger.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Please don't look at me like that.\" Fran's face burned up. If  \nshe were a s'hestir, her ears would have dropped at least by  \nhalf. Amazed and hidden under a dozen of self warming pads, Henry  \nstudied the human female.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"It's really nothing unusual. In my field of work a lot of  \nstrength and stamina is required. My patients need help with lots  \nof simple tasks.\" And all those sex marathons those three give  \nher on a regular basis, possibly have some effect as well.  \n  \n\"A, that I believe. Saa, honey did anyone told you already, you  \nhave talented hands. It's been ages since anything made me purr  \nlike a cub.\"A steady rumble was coming from his throat. One by  \none Fran worked through his muscles.  \n  \n\"Sir, if I may ask something...\"She asked after a while of  \nawkward silence.  \n  \n\"Nope. Well, unless you drop the 'sir' thing.\" He chittered.  \n  \n\"Just call me Henry or dad if you prefer.\"  \n  \nShe went silent for a moment, gathering courage.  \n  \n\"So... Dad, may I ask you something personal?\"  \n  \n\"See honey? It wasn't so bad.\" He snorted out.  \n  \n\"Ask what you want sweetie.\"  \n  \n\"I've been wondering, why Henry? It does not seem like a S'hestir  \nname.\"  \n  \n\"Saa, that's it?\" he laughed yet his laughter soon changed into a  \nhiss when Fran's hands started working on another muscle.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"My name is (...)\" He made a long growling noise.  \n  \n\"H'rarregrret...\" Fran's tongue gave up half way, Henry's name  \ncould not pass through her throat but simply ended as a cough,  \nmaking him chitter.  \n  \n\"You sure are something kiddo, most people don't even bother. Rot  \nit, not even my kids can spell it. For them I've always been  \nHenry. Even my M'yerra have some trouble saying it. But that  \ndoesn't answer it does it? You see, when i was a cub myself,  \nthose weren't the easy days. You had to work to live and fight if  \nyou must, no one cared about the names. It's been a hard year and  \nI've been strong enough so father got me a job in the nearest  \nfactory. They didn't care either, as long as you could work,  \neverything was fine. I still remember the manager's face when he  \nask for my name. Henry, he said, you look like Henry. They gave  \nme a work jumpsuit with the name Henry sewn onto it and a guy  \nnamed Butch shown me what am i supposed to do. Then came the  \nother jobs, the name was easy on humans and it just sticked. I  \ndon't mind it, it grown fur on me. That much covers it i believe.  \nSo now honey, satisfy my own curiosity. Why N'arjn, why not  \nsomeone else?\" He eyed her, Fran's face burned up with scarlet.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I... I'm not sure how it happened. It's a long and convoluted  \ntale.\" She spoke shyly. It still baffled her how open those  \npeople were about things like that.  \n  \n\"My dear, those lumps ain't just for show,\" He flapped his large  \ntriangle ears.  \n  \n\"They make us great listeners. Try me, the short version that  \nis.\" He winked at her, making her smile.  \n  \n\"The short version a? S'errei seduced me, i think that would be  \nit. I was her lead DPT during her physiotherapy, i supervised her  \nworkouts and... well from word to word, touch to touch. Something  \nthat started out as a medical massage turned into an affair and  \nlater when they sniffed her out it ended me up in a bed with two  \nhorny felines and your son fucking my brains out.\" She sighed,  \nthe actual story was much more bizarre.  \n  \n\"Quite bluntly said my dear.\" Henry smiled enjoying her touch,  \nthe pain was long gone and his leg never felt better.  \n  \n\"Are you happy with them? Does N'arjn takes care of all your  \nneeds?\"  \n  \n\"Yes.\" She whispered and her face again burned up.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Well then, there's nothing I'd be concerned about.\" He grinned  \nsitting up.  \n  \n\"Come, let's join them before my M'yerra eats her own paws.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nGood goddess, never again. I ate too much. M'raava burped heavily  \nwhile loading up the already overstuffed dishwasher. As usual for  \nthis kind of family meetings, where lots of specialty dishes was  \nmade, there was no way of saying no to all this food. Every year  \nshe made a promise, she would never, ever, eat this much again  \nand every year, she failed miserably at keeping that promise.  \nWell, maybe next year...  \n  \n\"Hey there big sis, whacha doing?\" N'arjn scratched on the door  \nframe.  \n  \n\"Trying... to... make... this damn... thing... work!\" M'raava  \nfinally slammed the door closed and set the washing program.  \nMaybe she shouldn't pack there so much stuff? She turned around  \nand asked.  \n  \n\"How's Fran? She's fine?\"  \n  \n\"Uh, yes. The girls are keeping her entertained.\" He shrugged his  \narms and sighed. It took some time and some wine but the effects  \nof the western light finally took the best of Fran. She became  \noverly too friendly and well, they took her upstairs back to  \ntheir room. She inhaled a lot of the oil fumes while the strong  \nwine did the rest. Right now her mental state was probably no  \ndifferent from a living sex toy. Quite an interesting way of  \nspending your evening.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Pops didn't know the stuff affects humans as well.\" He said,  \ndoubting in each and every word. M'raava shook her head, their  \nfather always carefully thought through his decisions.  \n  \n\"Anyway, I'd wanted to thank you for, you know, everything. I  \nthought pops gonna kill me and you never answered my mail, I was  \nscared shitless. It's amazing how well they took it. \" His ears  \ndropped, She pat his shoulder.  \n  \n\"I never got that, so sorry about not knowing. Hope he didn't  \nscold you too hard? Did he?\"She coked her head.  \n  \n\"Ah... well we had a little chitchat. Nothing serious.\"He quickly  \nassured her.  \n  \n\"And thanks for the book! How did you know? An original  \ntranscription of the S'errar tales. It's a rarity, there were  \nonly a few printed.\"  \n  \n\"A wild guess I'd say.\" It was easy enough, her brother loved  \nreading books. Get him a good one and he's your best friend.  \n  \n\"By the way, girls got you something nice. I've put in your room,  \nhope you don't mind?\"  \n  \n\"Gifts? You can put there as many as you want.\" She smiled, it  \nwas always nice to get something. His watch beeped.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Huh? Already?\" He mumbled to himself cheeking the watch, then  \npulled out a box of pills and gulped down some. Sigh, poor  \nN'arjn. Unlike humans, s'hestir males required some help in  \ngetting into the mood. Well, he knew what he was up to, taking  \nthree mates. He saw her grim face.  \n  \n\"Hum? Want some? They work on females too.\" He offered the pills,  \nthey smelled funny.  \n  \n\"No, thanks. My stomach ain't gonna make it if I'll add more  \nchemistry to the mix.\"  \n  \n\"It's herbal,\" He chittered.  \n  \n\"Completely safe and tested. Non addictive. Well, they can make  \nyou eat your own carpet but i assure you, you gonna have a great  \ntime eating it.\" Nepeta cataria, She read the label. That  \nexplained a loot. To put it bluntly, Catnip...  \n  \n\"I'll pass. Tho, you should not make your ladies wait.\" She  \nwinked at him, indicating the growing bulge in his pants.  \n  \n\"Oops. Thanks again sis.\"He hugged her and quickly run up the  \nstairs.  \n  \n\"Good night to you too.\" She chittered. Oh, catnip. Saa, she had  \nsome interesting memories of it's use and abuse... Including,  \nwaking up in K'sita's arms. She sat at the bottom of the stairs,  \nthose were the times. Young and fearless, she lived fast and...  \nstupid. She made choices, some good other worse. She  \nexperimented. The Navy changed her. For better perhaps? There was  \nsomething in her work that she deeply loved, something she could  \nnot live without.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"But a human Henry? How...\" Her ears caught some bits of  \nconversation. Warped in blankets and huddled together, her  \nparents sat near the fireplace. They talked about, Fran? Sah,  \nsuch a surprise. She would never thought that her kid brother...  \nTriple married and with a human. Sigh, it's funny how people  \nchange.  \n  \n\"Leave it be honey, she's a good girl. Besides I like her and  \nI'll risk saying you gonna like her too.\" My, my. Her father  \ndefending Fran? She really was something, there was no easy way  \ninto his favors.  \n  \n\"Why don't you give the girl a chance she deserves? A?\" He nipped  \nat the back of her neck while his hands were traveling beneath  \nthe blanket.  \n  \n\"H-Henry?\" Her mother breath was becoming heavier, her purrs  \nlauder.  \n  \n\"I've snatched N'arjn some of his magic pills. I think they're  \nworking...\" That was enough for her, a tiny little bell rang  \ninside her head, signalizing the end of eavesdropping and a good  \ntime for retreat. Knowing her parents still had enough strength  \nleft for sex at their age was one thing but witnessing it? Umm,  \nno. Just no. She shook her head. At some age people deserved even  \nmore privacy then they thought. She got up and climbed the rest  \nof the stairs, then followed the empty corridor, back to her  \nroom. She paused half the way, her ears twitched. Sigh. S'hestirs  \nput a lot of thought into their houses, they value their privacy.  \nMultiple bathrooms, thick walls, heavy reinforced doors, sound  \nmuffling tapestry and wood paneling. All that was important to  \ngive one some sense of private space, yet... A moan echoed  \nthrough the hall. Gotta love those feast night traditions filled  \nwith passion of lr'hon fruits, M'raava sighed. Her brother was  \ndefinitely enjoying it. Lifeless, she plodded along. Hopefully  \nthere's gonna be something on TV. Something like, porn? Yes,  \nperhaps...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Porn. Humpa-dumpa, humpa, humpa, hump-a-splat porn. The problem  \nwith most porn was simply too much of pumping and too little or  \nno quality at all. Heck, anyone could make such movie if they  \nwanted and lots of people did, net was full of it. Unfortunately  \nonly a few knew how to make good porn. The result of that M'raava  \ncurrently observed on the fifty two inch screen of her plasma TV.  \nBoring to say the last. Lame actress squealed some incoherent  \ncurses in a fake voice from under a grotesque mask, her face  \nturned into. It was hard to decipher either she was suffering a  \nsevere cause of constipation or if it was her interpretation of a  \nsexy 'more I'm cumming' pose. On second thought, M'raava squinted  \nher eyes and crooked her head bit to the right. Nope, that didn't  \nhelp. Now her face looked as if she was gonna puke any moment  \nplus, at this angle her jumping fake boobs looked as if the  \nimplants were gonna poop out... That was too much, M'raava  \nchanged the channel. More males banging on more females, a woman  \nhumping a gaged man, an international threesome, a man doing a  \nsheep, a horse whacking a pony-dressed up female... Each channel  \nshe flipped to aired something not worth even four seconds of  \nattention. Well, maybe except for a woman strapped to a table in  \nsomewhat intriguing pose, doing self cunnilingus. She decided to  \nchange the channel before her bored brain managed to coaxed her  \ninto seeing if she could reach hers with her own tongue...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Boring, boring, boring, I've seen this one already...\" She  \nskipped through the channels, dangerously nearing the end of the  \ntwo-hundred, channel list.  \n  \n\"Oh com on, even the reruns from the late twenty century are more  \ninteresting...\" Desperate, she turned up the volume. The laud  \nthumping sounds and muffled cries of pleasure coming from across  \nthe floor were annoying.  \n  \n\"Holy fuck... It's been five hours folks, give it a break  \nalready!\" She groaned, the thumping became even lauder.  \n  \n\"That's it, I'm counting to ten and then I'm crushing the  \nparty!\"She laid down counting.  \n  \n\"One...\"Laud THUMP! came from behind the door.  \n  \n\"Two...\" THUM-THUM-THUMP! It seemed to go even faster.  \n  \n\"Three...\" THUM-DA-THUM-DA-THUMPP! That bed will not hold much  \nlonger.  \n  \nShe was about to Say four when the music distracted her. Music?  \nShe raised her head, another movie was starting however this  \ntime, it had music. Some porns had something unimportant  \nplim-pluming in the background, most didn't even bother but this  \none, it was different. Erotic, mesmerizing melody quickly  \nenchanted her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was morning, warm orange light soaked in through large Italian  \nwindows. The room was spacious, occupied only by an old oak desk,  \ntall book shelf and a black leather sofa. It was a study of sorts  \nor maybe an office. Inside, a lone man in his mid thirties, sat  \nbehind the desk. He had short, jet black hairs, uncanny emerald  \neyes and neatly shaved, handsome aristocratic face. He was nude  \napart from the silk, scarlet gown loosely draped around his  \nathletic body. His hand worked tirelessly, dismounting and  \ncleaning his silver gun as if he was actually caressing his  \nbeloved girl. Suddenly, a knock on the door broke his  \nconcentration. Without an invitation, somebody barged in.  \nIrritated, he looked up at the intruder. Bathed in the morning  \nlight, surrounded by his goons, there she was. A beauty hidden  \nunder long, silver fur coat. Just like he ordered. He waved off  \nhis guards and leaned back in his chair. Hidden under her hood,  \nbreathing heavily, she waited until her escort left. It was hot,  \nunbearably hot but that was the idea. The combined warmth of the  \ncape and the that spring morning made the workings of the pill  \nshe had taken even more intense. Just like he ordered.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; She looked up, he was watching her, enjoying her torment. There  \nwas that glow in his eyes, she shuddered, was he going to... No!  \nTerrified she watched him reaching for a crystal vial and spill  \ntwo more pills on his desk. They've been giving her those since  \nyesterday, one every hour. Her body was glutted by the pure  \nlr'hon juice and her mind was at verge of breaking, she could  \nbarely think. Just like he ordered and now he ordered her two  \nmore. She hesitated, he urged her with a nod. Trembling, she  \nwalked forward and reached for the pills, there was no escape,  \nshe put them in her mouth and swallowed.  \n  \nContent, he watched her shiver. Her body was at edge, her time  \nwas now.  \n  \n\"Dance.\"He ordered.  \n  \nSlowly, she removed her hood and unbuckled her coat. Freed, it  \ndropped on the ground exposing her slender frame. Careful, she  \nstepped out of it, balancing on the tall, platform stilettos. A  \ncreamy haired s'hestir lady, dressed in a thigh, shining-red club  \ndress with large lacing on the sides. She swayed her hips  \nstarting the dance.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Mesmerized,M'raava pushed the record button. This was it, a good  \none! It was real, so real she could not believe it. With her eyes  \nglued to the screen, M'raava followed the girl, reading her  \nmoves, her emotions. Oh gods, it was real! You just can't fake  \nsomething like that!  \n  \nSuddenly he grabbed the dancer and pressed her against the wall,  \nlifting her off the ground. With one hand he held her arms above  \nher head while in the other, she shivered, he had a long, shining  \ndagger. He brought it close to her face, making her kiss the  \nblade. Scared, she waited while he let the blade slide lower, its  \ntip brushed her neck, then traveled down the valley between her  \nbreast where the dress fabric stopped it. Terrified, she dared a  \nlook at his face, his eyes were burning with desire. Snip! She  \nshuddered. Snip, snip! One by one the blade cut through the  \nlacing, freeing her of her dress. With final snip, it fell on the  \nfloor. Again he raised the dagger, she screamed, he punched it  \nsomewhere high in the wall. Now with a free hand, he undone his  \ngown and raised her leg. Her juices were dripping with a steady  \nflow, he smiled and rammed hard inside.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; M'raava bit her lip, her paws found her already moist groin. She  \ncreased it a bit and easily slide in, her juices had overflown  \nlong ago.  \n  \nHe took her against the wall then thrown her on the desk and hit  \nher from behind, her breast jingling up and down. Screaming and  \nclawing at the wood, she trust her hips at him, returning his  \npassion.  \n  \nLying with her butt up high, M'raava slammed her paws in and out  \nwhile her second hand rubbed her clit in a frenzy. She wanted  \nmore, more!  \n  \nIt was the final scene, they were lying on her silver coat, now  \nshe was on top, riding him. He held her arms away from his body,  \npumping her while she rammed her bottom against him with even  \nmuch greater vigor, her claws sliding in and out of it sheaths.  \n  \nPanting, M'raava stared at the giant human dick sinking again and  \nagain inside the girl, splashing her juice all around. She was  \nalmost there.  \n  \nWith one final trust, they both climaxed, the feline gal roared  \ntrowing her head back. The movie ended, freezing on the girl's  \nface, twisted by a powerful orgasm.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; M'raava scowled, spraying her bead, enormous pleasure exploded  \ninside her womb. Panting she reached for the remote, rewind then  \nframe by frame examined the ending. It was good, so fucking good.  \nShe felt a distant hunger, she wanted more! Oh what she would  \ngive to be in that actress place... What a silly though, fucking  \na human. But that giant... rocking up and down... She longed for  \nsome pleasure she could not describe.  \n  \nWondering, she stood up and walked over to the box, a mock-up of  \na reinforced military crate. A Box of Essentials, stated its  \ntitle, her present. She undo the clamps and lifted the lid and  \npulled out the manifest. She had read it already, she just wanted  \nto make sure she really saw that. Here it was, number nine. Cyber  \nskin, human shaped, multi speed, piston action with harness  \nincluded, Lucky Nine. She pulled it out, it was - large. Holding  \nit in one hand she went back to bed and fetch he purse, holding  \none last present. A crystal vial with a small pink pill floating  \ninside. K'sita's parting gift.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Should she? Her body longed for, she gulped the pill. She rewind  \nthe movie then forcefully pushed in the intruder, tightly  \nsecuring it with leather straps. Surprised, she found it had an  \nattached padlock, her though run quick, she would be locked out  \nwithout release... Excited her paws snapped the lock on their own  \nfree will, the key was in probably in the box anyway. Ready, with  \none remote she pushed play,the other she set to low, awakening  \nthe mechanical beast. The movie unfolded, nearing its end, the  \nactress roared, M'raava squeezed the remote. Small red light  \nflashed indicating turbo trust mode. M'raava's body arched but  \nshe was no longer there. All that left was pleasure, the pill  \nworked it's magic. The remote fall out of her lax hand and  \nsmashed on the floor, jamming itself on the random pleasure mode.  \nInside M'raava's belly a fearful motor steadily purred, the feast  \nnight gonna be long.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nHumming Fran walked to the bathroom, finally she had some time  \nfor herself, the others were out, shopping. The last few days  \nhave been a blur for her, the last she remembered clearly was the  \nfeast, the bounty of food and that wonderful wine... Well that  \nwas it. After that all she could recall was pleasure. Too much of  \npleasure, she was still sore here and there and her back looked  \nlike the dark side of moon, riddled with cuts and jabs. Urgh,  \nit's gonna sting for sure, she winced. Her pelt wasn't as hard as  \ntheirs and she usually suffered some damage but she wouldn't ask  \nthem about declawing themselves. It felt horrible, like asking a  \nhuman to cut off his fingers. No, she wouldn't dare to ask for  \nthat.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Oh! I'm Sorry! I didn't know someone was in, the doors were  \nopen...\" Fran quickly backed out from the bathroom, her sister in  \nlaw, M'raava was in there. Hoping she didn't offend her, she  \nturned around... Hold on, something was wrong out there.  \n  \n\"M'raava? Is everything alright?\" She knocked on the door.  \nStrangely, there was no answer. Worried, Fran put her ear on the  \ndoor. She couldn't hear anything... Suddenly a muffled cry made  \nher jump back. It sounded strangely familiar... Oh, what a faux  \npas, she caught her sister in law while she played with herself.  \nAnd when she thought she was up to a good start, something like  \nthis happen. Silently she retreated, hoping M'raava won't hate  \nher for such intrusion.  \n  \n\"W-wait!\" A pleading whisper came from behind her, hanging  \nclutched to the doorknob M'raava looked at her, her eyes begging  \nfor help.  \n  \n\"C-can... y-you... Aah!\" She collapsed onto the floor in what  \nappeared to be an... orgasm?! Fran rushed to her side.  \n  \n\"M'raava are you alright?!\" Suddenly she saw something familiar,  \nlocked round M'raava's waist.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Not again...\" Fran sighed, she warped M'raava in her bathrobe  \nand carried her back to her room.  \n  \n\"Feeling better?\" The human asked, pondering through her luggage.  \n  \n\"Y-yes, thank you. It stopped.\" Shyly M'raava sat on the large  \ns'hestir bed, observing Fran.  \n  \n\"How did you know?\" She asked. Fran liberated her from the  \ntorture pleasure with a universal remote.  \n  \n\"R'hrsa is an engineer, she owns the company that designed those.  \nIt's her best selling product, tho it has few drawbacks. Like the  \nthin key snapping inside the lock and the remote jamming in  \nrandom. Here it is!\" Happy, Fran came back holding a small  \nleather case.  \n  \n\"Open up wide please.\" She ordered then kneelt between M'raava's  \nlegs and unfolded the leather package.  \n  \n\"Wow. What a collection. What are you again, a physician?\"  \nM'raava looked at an impressive collection of lockpiks. Fran  \nsmiled.  \n  \n\"What can i say? Living with those three makes you learn all the  \ntime.\" She took two strangely folded wires and begun prodding at  \nthe lock of M'raava's belt.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Sah, that i believe but where did you learned that?\" Instructed  \nby Fran, she took a different position.  \n  \n\"Well, when R'hrsa brought back home the production samples,  \nguess who tested it.\" She took another lockpick as the previous  \none didn't work like she expected.  \n  \n\"A. I can imagine. How long it took you?\"  \n  \n\"About four days tho i had my sweet revenge. And you?\" Fran siled  \nand her red smile suggested she wasn't so docile when she wanted.  \n  \n\"Since the feast.\" Fran looked at her in disbelieve.  \n  \n\"That's long. Lets get you out of it then.\" The lock clicked  \nhappily and Fran unhooked the malfunctioning padlock.  \n  \n\"All done.\" She helped M'raava got up.  \n  \n\"Tho, I'd advise you to be in the bathroom when you unbuckle  \nthat.\"  \n  \n\"Thank you sis, you're a life saver.\" M'raava hugged her, eager  \non getting that large synthetic intruder out of her womb as fast  \nas possible.  \n  \n\"No, I should be thanking you. N'arjn couldn't handle it without  \nyour help. He told me everything. Thank you. If there's any way i  \ncan repay you...\" Suddenly M'raava sneezed. She pulled a napkin  \nfrom her robe and blown.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You can tell me where did you got that coat of your's. My whole  \ncycle's messed up, my winter fur won't grow. I'm thinking I'm  \ngonna need one of those if I'm to make it through my leave  \nwithout freezing.\" She nodded at the Fran's snow white coat.  \n  \n\"Is it synthetic? It does look warm.\"  \n  \n\"Huh? That one? Nope, its real fur, custom grown, s'hestir fur.  \nS'errei's fur in this case. She donated few of her skin cells and  \nthey've grown it over a custom made frame. Sound's creepy but  \nthat's the best coat I ever had. I just don't wanna know what the  \npaid for it.\"  \n  \nM'raava studied the coat, now that she thought of it, the coat  \ndid smell like her. It was faint but it was there. Creepy or not  \nit seemed warm and that was something M'raava needed. Maybe  \nshe'll manage to buy a regular one at least? She's definitely  \ngonna need one if she's going to that ball tomorrow.  \n  \n\"I wonder if any shops gonna be opened tomorrow.\" She wondered  \nout laud.  \n  \n\"Fat chance. It's new years day, most of the shops closed today  \nalready.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; M'raava winced, she had nothing else that would fit with her  \nsatin dress. Well it was only needed to get her there without  \nfreezing but still, she just couldn't go in anything.  \n  \n\"Say, we're staying in tomorrow. Would you like me to lend it to  \nyou?\" Fran grinned, plotting something.  \n  \n\"Would you?\" M'raava asked.  \n  \n\"Well, I could. But on one condition. Can you tell me where your  \nparents keep the rest of the oil from that lantern I held?\"  \n  \nAh, M'raava suddenly understood, already imaging herself arriving  \nat the party in her scarlet satin dress and Fran's white coat.  \n  \n\"Deal.\" She said.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Thank you and welcome all to this new years ball. I'm not really  \nsure who's brightest idea was to make our good for nothing band  \nplay tonight tho I'm quite convinced that the amount of booze  \navailable behind those counters will compensate...\"The sudden  \nlaughter of few hundred men silenced him for a moment.  \n  \n\"Anyway, before we start and before you'll get too drunk to  \nactually listen...\"Another wave of applause cut into his  \nsentence.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'd like to introduce you someone special as we have a very  \namazing guest today. Since it's an old friend of my own old  \nfriend and since I've heard a lot about her, I thought i should  \ndo a little background check. Gods, you gotta love that high  \nlevel clearance.\" Another round of cheers hit the air.  \n  \n\"Easy men, easy. I know you're eager but before I'll introduce  \nher I'm gonna tell you some about hear past...\" Half listening,  \nM'raava looked around intrigued. There's been quite a lot of  \nladies out there in the ocean of males, even a few more S'hestir  \nwere present. Her table was right under the stage, the chances  \nwere the special guest might be sitting near by. She wondered,  \nwho could that be? A famous model? An actress? A porn star?  \nM'raava let out a sigh, somehow she could think of nothing  \nsensible. Tomas and his pack were simply too perverted.  \n  \n\"Never the less, She proven herself in combat during the...\" Oh  \nso she was from navy? Interesting. She casted another look yet  \nnone of the girls she could see around, fit the description. Wait  \na second... Her fur stood up.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"And since her path started within the great Lirium Hall i even  \nwent to the trouble of buying one of her CD's. Laugh all you  \nwant, I'm satisfied. It happens her band committed a cover of a  \nvery old song, a song I've fallen in love with, a song with witch  \ni would like to open todays evening. So without any further ado,  \ni present you, Colonel M'raava Shigieshtii\" A jupiter light  \nsuddenly flooded her table, her jaw dropped.  \n  \nNot really sure how it happened M'raava stared at the gathered  \nguests clutching tightly the wireless microphone, the thundering  \napplause still ringed in her ears. The band finished setting up  \nsome of the most archaic instruments she ever saw and they begun.  \nHer tail swayed, her body already matched the tune. She took a  \ndeep breath and sang.  \n  \nBonfires dot the rolling hillsides Figures dance around and  \naround...[footnote:  \n\u0026nbsp;All Souls Night Lyrics by Loreena McKennitt.  \n]  \n  \nM'raava hauled herself back to her table. She was drunk, tired  \nand sleepy. The night already passed by without her noticing. She  \nlooked around, on the stage Arthur was singing Soldier's Side by  \nSystem of a Down, witch sounded remarkably good considering what  \nhe have drank and the fact that he was keeping near vertical  \nposition only thanks to the mic stand witch he was clutching with  \nboth hands. Here and there some pairs were dancing to their ow  \nbeat, ignoring the surroundings, kissing. Somewhere further away  \nsomebody was puking his guts out already, M'raava's ears couldn't  \nexactly pinpoint the direction. The crowd was melting away,  \npeople were leaving and MP's were picking up from the floor and  \ntoothing to the cars those who could not go by themselves. It was  \ntime to leave.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Quite a night, don't you think?\" Arpad dropped at her table,  \ntossing away the drumsticks into an empty glass then finishing  \nthe water directly from the crystal jug.  \n  \n\"Hrnth, talk to me more. Maybe I'll even remember it by  \ntomorrow...\" Well, the chances were rather low, every pore in  \nM'raava's body was oozing alcohol vapors, one more drink and she  \nwon't need a rocket for the return journey.  \n  \n\"I guess that means yes?\" Arpad laugh. The band lost count after  \nthe sixth crate of booze, even his head felt bit clouded.  \n  \n\"Hrnkhhh... yuurr anhaa yaa...\" Arthur mumbled then tumbled down  \nand fell asleep hugging the microphone, large subwofers magnified  \nhis snoring. M'raava winced and checked her watch, it was seven  \nin the morning already. A time to go home.  \n  \n\"I think I'm done for... Gods i haven't drank that much in ages.\"  \nM'raava's voice was sore, she hasn't sing that much in a long  \nlong time either. It'll be a miracle if i can talk tomorrow, she  \nthought.  \n  \n\"Ladies and gentlemen, or at least all those who still can  \nunderstand me...\" Thomas liberated the microphone, he seemed  \nawfully sober. Of course he was, he never drunk.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"It appears I've got the doubtful pleasure of announcing the  \nfinal dance. So here it is, thank you all for coming and spending  \nthis night with us. I hope we all can say, we had a good time  \ntonight. One last time, for you all. Good bye.\" He bowed and  \nwalked off the scene, leaving the air filled with soft piano  \nmusic. One last time the floor filled with dancing couples.[footnote:  \nOne Last Time by James Onohan  \n]  \n  \n\"Care for a dance colonel?\" Arpad walked over to her and offered  \nhis hand. M'raava hesitated, should she? Her body had slight  \ntrouble staying upright, s'hestirs really weren't born to handle  \nliquor and what she drank was sufficient enough to knock out two.  \nShe felt a slight tug, Arpad pulled her out of her chair and  \nright into the middle of dancing crowd. Just when did her paws  \nended up in his palm? Who knows, there was some kind of magic  \nhidden in those moments. A magic that made anything possible.  \nThey swayed trough the crowd, Arpad's arm embracing her waist,  \nbrushing her fur. Suddenly he pulled her closer, pressing her  \nsmall frame against his body. M'raava smiled, it was pleasant.  \nSomehow this song felt as it it was meant to be dance like that.  \nShe let her head rest on his shoulder. However magic can not  \nleast forever, the song ended sweeping the floor with silence.  \nHere and there people kissed. Sigh, i wouldn't mind a kiss or  \ntwo, she thought locked in his arms.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Gods I'm drunk...\"She mumbled. Arpad smiled and released his  \ngrip, it felt awkward. Silent, they walked towards the coatroom.  \n  \n\"I'm so, so terribly sorry ma'am...\"The check girl seemed more  \nthen terrified.  \n  \n\"Your coat ma'am... we can't find it anywhere...\" M'raava glanced  \nat the human in velvet bunny suit. It must be some kind of a  \njoke, she hoped.  \n  \n\"W-we can offer a compensation for the l-lost i-item i-if you  \nfill in this form p-pleas.\" The girl shyly pushed forward a blue  \nform, scared of the drunken high ranking feline that might turn  \nferal any moment. Apparently it was not a joke. Crap.  \n  \n\"N'arjn gonna kill me, that was Fran's coat...\" M'raava sighed  \ntaking the form.  \n  \n\"Can you at least get me a taxi?\" She asked making the bunny girl  \nturn from pale troubled to pale frightened.  \n  \n\"Taxi? At this hour? On the new years day? Come on, i have a car  \nfrom base, I'll drop you off.\" Arpad picked up his fur padded  \nleather jacket. Why not? M'raava wondered, should be fine. She  \nnodded then slowly followed him outside.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Jimmy! Hey!\" Arpad shouted at a young lieutenant, casually  \nchatting with one of the bunny girls.  \n  \n\"Sir?!\" He run up to where they stood and saluted.  \n  \n\"Get the car ready but on the double, we have a lady to escort.\"  \n  \n\"Sir! Yes, Sir!\" Smiling, he saluted again and disappeared within  \nthe parking lot. Funny did he blink at her? M'raava shivered, it  \nwas snowing.  \n  \n\"You're cold?\" Arpad eyed her carefully.  \n  \n\"It's nothing.\"She put on a weak smile.  \n  \n\"Don't mind me, I've been born in a fur coat. I don't mind little  \ncold.\" To late, he was already unbuttoning his jacket.  \n  \n\"Come here, you're almost naked in that dress.\" Technically he's  \nright, M'raava noticed. Her satin dress was the only garment she  \ncurrently wore.  \n  \n\"Better?\"He warped her in his jacket, it was pleasantly warmed up  \nby his body.  \n  \n\"Mmm.\"She nodded enjoying the warmth. Jimmy Finally brought the  \ncar and sprang out to open the door, they slipped in and huddled  \non the back seat. She felt the acceleration pushing her deeper  \ninto her seat as the car speedily zoomed through empty streets.  \nHer body relaxed a bit, gravitating towards Arpad's arm. She felt  \nso sleepy...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"M'raava?\" Somebody gently shook her, pulling her conciseness  \nback into her body.  \n  \n\"We're here.\"  \n  \n\"Hrnh?\" She blinked with her sleepy eyes, haven't they just got  \nin?  \n  \n\"A, sorry. I must have dozed off.\" She yawned looking around,  \nthat was her neighborhood. Hope i haven't drooled on you... Hope  \ni haven't drool too much, her mind corrected itself, there was a  \nlager wet spot on his shoulder. Arpad politely pretended he  \nhasn't noticed, neither have he told her she licked his face. It  \nwas a secret worth keeping, who knows maybe some other time he'll  \ngive her something more to lick on.  \n  \n\"Come.\" He opened the door and helped her out, then guided her up  \nthose few ice covered steps. M'raava's stiletto heels crunched  \nthe ice as they walked. They stopped at the door step, Silent.  \n  \n\"Say would you...\" M'raava started but she was given no chance  \nfor even a word more, their lips touched, Arpad sealed her mouth  \nwith a kiss. M'raava's eyes suddenly got bigger, her tail puffed  \nout and lashed madly. What on earth?! Her body seemed to work on  \nits own, she returned the kiss, their tongues found each other.  \nFinally their lips parted, yet they still stood there locked in  \neach other gaze. Gods, what's going on? M'raava was lost, her  \nbody had never reacted so strongly towards anyone yet now a mere  \nhuman exited the deepest parts of her being.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"How dare she!\" Suddenly a loud shriek coming from inside,  \nshuttered the silence.  \n  \n\"What will people say, we were respected citizens! Out of my way  \nHenry! I'm gonna show her! Once and for all I'm gonna show her  \nwhat do i make of her and her army!\" Bare claws clattered on the  \nfloor, towards them. Arpad straighten up just before the doors  \nflung wide open.  \n  \n\"How many times...\" Her mother's jaw dropped, her voice stuck in  \nher throat. Arpad was all she could see. Giant, muscular, almost  \ntwice as big as her. If fur could change colors, her mother would  \nbe pale right now.  \n  \n\"Thank you for a wonderful night colonel. It'd be nice to do it  \nagain sometime. Ma'am\" he took his jacket and with a cheerful nod  \nat her mother, was gone. M'raava watched as he walked back to his  \ncar with a fluid, almost inhuman speed. Yawing, she pushed her  \nmother inside and closed the doors behind them. She can deal with  \nher later, she thought marching half-asleep towards her bedroom,  \nmuch, much later.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nFran thought she had seen much in her life, yet again life  \nsurprised her. And by all means it is not easy to surprise  \nsomeone named Franchesca and weed into a polygamous s'hestir  \nfamily. However Fran, slightly surprised, stopped at the kitchen  \ndoor and stared. Bathed in the reddish evening sun, her sister in  \nlaw, loosely draped in a pink bathrobe, slept behind the kitchen  \ntable. Giant chunks of blue cotton wool were poking out of her  \nhalf dropped ears while a big bag of ice topped her head in a  \ngravity defying manner. Fran smiled, apparently the party was a  \nblast.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; M'raava's conciseness slowly returned to her body, allured by a  \nmagnificent, familiar smell. What was it? She wasn't sure, none  \nof her senses worked properly thanks to the roadworks and missile  \ntesting currently occurring inside her brain.  \n  \n\"Black?\" She risked a guess, pushing out her hoarse voice from  \nterribly dried throat. She could almost feel the sand moving with  \neach breath she took.  \n  \n\"Nope, just chocolate latte with some honey and spice\" Fran's  \nwhisper scratched the boarder of pain, M'raava's plastered ears  \ntried to sunk back into her skull.  \n  \n\"I've made you a toast...\" She added now in the softest voice she  \ncould muster. From her experience she knew that s'hestirs with  \nhangover didn't fit well with human company, best to leave them  \nalone. She picked up the tray with breakfast she prepared and  \nwalked out of kitchen.  \n  \nNibbling at her toast, M'raava studied the naked human. Her back  \nthat is. Hundredths of thin, long scarlet lines crisscrossed all  \nover her body. She wondered...  \n  \n\"Does it hurts?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It made Fran stop in the door. She turned around and cast her a  \ntroubled look, her face was burning.  \n  \n\"Sometimes... Sometimes they forget. Human skin is not as thick\"  \n  \n\"I'm sorry that was untactful of me. Pleas ignore it, I'm drunk\"  \n  \n\"No need to. I wouldn't trade this family for any other. I'm  \nproud I'm a part of it\" Fran smiled, it was a true smile.  \n  \n\"Besides a quick rub with first aid lotion... M'raava, are you  \nexpecting someone?\"  \n  \n\"No, why?\"  \n  \n\"There's a military car in front of the house.\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Ma'am, will you please come with us.\" A uniformed sergeant spoke  \nmuch too laud for her ears and definitely too laud for her  \nhangover. M'raava looked over his shoulder, pale young guard with  \na machine gun poorly concealed under his duster, stood near the  \nopen car doors. The body armor he was wearing made his head look  \nsmall compared to his torso.  \n  \n\"Ma'am?\" The sergeant remained her about his existence, serving  \nher one of the standard military issued shut the fuck up and get  \nin expressions. She sighed and went down without saying a word,  \nanything else seemed quite pointless. Finishing her latte, she  \nsurrendered the mug and seated herself inside the car, adjusting  \nher bathrobe until it covered all the proper areas.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The base seemed deserted. Except for the gate guards and her  \nescort she hasn't seen a soul within the complex. The party  \naftereffects would explain a mild lack of personnel but this? No.  \nSomething big was happening, whatever it was.  \n  \n\"Ma'am, everything's been prepared...\" They shoved her into a  \nbriefing room and sealed the door.  \n  \n\"Morning colonel\" A familiar voice greeted her from the screen,  \nPeter looked more or less the way she currently felt. He gulped  \ndown some bubbling white liquid and continued.  \n  \n\"I'm sorry for the inconvenience ma'am but the situation got even  \nmore interesting. About three hours ago sensors picked up an  \nunidentified object nearing our solar system with extremely high  \nvelocity, its estimated course will pass the earth's orbit within  \nseventy two hours. It has about one point nine mile radius and  \nunreadable mass signature. All units are being put in stand by  \nand there are sealed orders awaiting you ma'am\" Peter paused and  \nwent through some papers while M'raava took out few pills from  \nthe prepared box and thrown them into a glass of water, they  \nbubbled viciously.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I've arranged for an emergency shuttle, it is being prepared as  \nwe speak. I'm afraid it'll be one of the UCV's refitted for  \npassengers. They're not very accommodating but it'll be a quick  \njourney. Also about the uniform, that was the only fitting one  \nthey could provide...\"  \n  \n\"Will do\" M'raava waved him off and disconnected. That  \nconversation could wait, right now she was focusing all her will  \npower at keeping inside her stomach the bubbling white liquid she  \njust drank. SAT-5[footnote:  \n\u0026nbsp;Standard Anti Toxin, 5 mg.  \n] could remove most of the deadliest toxins from the body within  \nseconds and even cure hangovers over minutes, unfortunately it  \nalso tasted like shit and had a nasty tendency of making the user  \npuke his guts out.  \n  \nM'raava pulled her face out of the toilet and flushed, her  \ninsides finally settled down. Now all she needed was a shower and  \nindustry grade hairdryer. Unfortunately there was no time for  \nthat, she cleaned herself with a paper towel and sucked onto few  \nmints. It made her look more tolerable, well at lest by human  \nstandards...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; She advanced towards the foiled package hanging on the wall then  \nsliced it with her index claw. Tossing away what left of the  \nfoil, she skimmed through the manifest.  \n  \n\"Military parade uniform, female, shoulder marks included, Rank  \nLt. Colonel. One jacket, white, buttons golden. Check\" M'raava  \ntook it off from the coat hanger and put it down on the desk.  \n  \n\"One shirt, white, long sleeves. One necktie, blue. Double check.  \nOne skirt, short, white, built in waist chincher, s'hestir  \ncompatible... Lovely, check. One tights, light tan. Check\" She  \nthrow them straight into bin.  \n  \n\"One thongs, white, back lacing, s'hestir compatible\" She studied  \nthe article, stretching them in her paws. The idea of wearing  \nunderwear seemed repulsive. However her statutory short fur did  \nnot cover much.  \n  \n\"Oh joy\" She sighed pulling them up and readjusted the back  \nlacing around her tail. Well better this then flashing pink at  \neveryone.  \n  \n\"Checked. Let's see what left, One cap, check and one pair  \nhigh-heals, white and of course, s'hestir compatible...\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Not bad, not bad at all. Well, they haven't called this Parade  \nuniform for no reason, M'raava thought as she paraded through the  \nempty corridor alongside her drooling escort. Even the sarge  \nthrown her few curious looks, it pleased her in some almost  \nsickening way. She caught a glimpse of herself in the glass wall  \nthey passed and grinned. She was hot! Maybe she wouldn't dare to  \nchallenge anyone from the Recruitment department, their boobs and  \nother traits were legendary, but the suite worked it's magic. As  \nhellish uncomfortable as it was, it made her look... One of the  \nsoldiers almost tripped when her tail lashed against his swollen  \ngroin. Joy, oh joy. She remembered the actress from that human  \nporn movie, her shuddering body, her cries full of ecstasy, her  \ncontent purr... M'raava's not entirely sober imagination pictured  \nher in the actress place, screaming, clawing, riding that human  \nto the sounds of her own purrs... Her thongs suddenly became  \nuncomfortably moist.  \n  \n\"Ma'am\" The segregant punched in few dials on the lock and shown  \nher through the door, stealing one final glance at her. His cold  \ndemeanor could mask what he felt, even his eyes said nothing but  \nM'raava's nose knew the truth. Amazing what a piece of garment  \ncan do to a human while her pheromones could not. The doors  \nhissed behind her, giving the sarge a chance to scream at his  \nmen.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Morons! Imbeciles! Dimwits! Fucktards! Son's of bitches...\" She  \nstopped, this doors were probably bullet and sound proof by human  \nstandards.  \n  \n\"Dick heads, When will you learn to think with your brain instead  \nof your balls...\" Tho it seemed, they were not s'hestir  \ncompatible. She sighed and walked down the ramp towards the  \ndocking bay, her ears still could pick up a faint conversation.  \n  \n\"Hope the guys from surveillance got us a photo or maybe a clip,  \nthe angle they can get with those new cameras...\"  \n  \n\"Don't even start it! We already got the cleaning duty and i  \nreally don't wanna do it with a toothbrush...\"  \n  \nUnmanned Cargo Vehicle or UCV for short was a large orange pipe  \nwith an engine strapped onto one end and the second end bolted  \nshut, thus creating a cargo hold, fitted for the current needs.  \nM'raava knew those kind of vehicles, she have seen many of them  \nas they regularly cruised between moon and earth caring supplies  \nfor the base. Sometimes they've missed the landing point,  \nproviding some form of entertainment for her and her cadets as  \nshe often volunteered to do cargo recovery missions. Well every  \nexcuse to get some real flying done was good enough plus, it  \nprovided a break from the ever present base boredom. She  \nremembered last year when Admiral Maxwell Hurnth, a day before  \nhis retirement, organized some decommissioned UCVs for target  \npractice. That was a good day...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Do you carry any weapons colonel?\" The white dressed technician  \nasked when she step into the scanner box.  \n  \n\"Apart from the built in ones?\"She stretched out her claws,  \nneatly clipped and blunted round the edges but still deadly.  \n  \n\"Nope\" She rarely carried a weapon, there wasn't much need for  \nthat.  \n  \n\"Any jewelry or other items you wish to report ma'am?\" he asked  \nin the same bored tone.  \n  \n\"No. Other items?\" The technician gave her a polite smile.  \n  \n\"Artificial limbs, medical implants and equipment, body pricing,  \nsex toys, intelligence equipment, identity chips, weapons...\"  \nSpeechless, M'raava stared at him, the list seemed endless.  \n  \n\"Ma'am, I've been working here for five years and I've already  \nseen many interesting items and pulled out more then few from  \nmore or less interesting places\" He pointed at the box of rubber  \ngloves.  \n  \n\"So none of the above?\" He smiled and his smile implied he can be  \neither very polite or very thorough.  \n  \n\"No...\" The machine buzzed and started scanning.  \n  \n\"All done, right this way please\" He unlocked the security gate  \nand led her trough the bay towards the black striped, makeshift  \nyellow lift. It was a simple metal cage strapped onto a mobile  \ncrane and fitted for personal safety. He locked them inside then  \nfiddling with the console, he brought them up to the UCV's hatch.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ma'am, if you please step away from the gate. Thank you.\" He  \nmade sure the lift cage was properly aligned with the hatch and  \nafter testing if the space is safe to pass, he gestured her into  \nthe ship. They passed through the L-shaped corridor and through  \nanother airlock into the main passenger compartment. Now this is  \nmore military like, M'raava sighed. Calling this section of the  \nship small would be an overstatement. It was, bluntly speaking, a  \ncorridor with six rows of double-seats, cramped under each wall.  \n  \n\"Your seat colonel.\" Disappointed, she dropped into her cup  \nshaped safety seat and let him do the rest. The technician belted  \nher tightly and readjusted her seat position. The archaic five  \npoint safety harness was compatible with neither her tail nor her  \nmini dress. Well at least that crotch belt covers more than those  \nthongs, she tried positive thinking.  \n  \n\"The ship is fitted with the newest safety field however, for  \nyour own safety, please remain in your seat during the liftoff  \nand landing procedure.\" He warned, yawing discreetly then saluted  \nand left. M'raava listened to the sounds of his footsteps until  \nthey disappeared on the other side of the airlock. At least this  \ngonna be a short one, she hoped. At full speed those tincans can  \ndo it in twelve hours, to the moon and back. Well with actual  \npeople on board that might be up to eight hours one way, not bad  \neither.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Attention! Commencing starting sequence, stand by for  \ncountdown.\" Emotionless, computer voice announced. Why do they  \nmake them all female? She wondered. Even her mecha's AI, Chubby  \nsounded as if K'sita did the voice-over, possibly enjoying  \nsomething set to full speed in both her bodily sockets at the  \nsame time.  \n  \n\"Two... One... Liftoff.\" Suddenly and invisible force stomped her  \ninto her seat while the gravi-magnetic support sleds, accelerated  \nthem up to the escape velocity. What the hell?! M'raava huffed  \nand puffed, squeezing her muscles just like during the training,  \ndoing all the anti G maneuvers she knew just to remain conscious.  \nA safety fields?! That was at least five or six G and she had no  \ndamn pressure suit!  \n  \n\"Safety field engaged.\" The voice announced. About the damn time!  \nShe hung limply in her harness, for the first time in her life  \ntankful of the fur fuzzing, tingling sensation that spread  \nthrough the cabin.  \n  \n\"Well, lets hope it lands better than it starts...\" A male voice  \ncough out from the seat on her left. M'raava jerked her head  \nsurprised, how did he?! Weren't she supposed to fly alone? Wait a  \nsecond, that scent...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Arpad?\" She risked a guess, the male in navy uniform struggled  \nwith his seat. His large frame had no luck either in fitting into  \nthose cupped torture chairs.  \n  \n\"Well at least my bigger part,\" He lean out of his seat, grinning  \nat her.  \n  \n\"I think we've lost my stomach somewhere above eastern Europe.\"  \n  \n\"Please, don't remind me...\"She winced at the memory, She left  \nhers in the base toilet with a little help of SAT-5.  \n  \n\"What on earth are you doing here?\"  \n  \n\"Hiking a ride beauty.\"His eyes were glued to her, staring,  \ngroping. Another wave overflown her already soaked thongs. Damn  \nyou parade uniform!  \n  \n\"Something wrong with that colonel?\" He asked, his eyes still  \ntraveling. Uh, there was nothing wrong with that, she knew all  \nmilitary personnel was probably rushed back to their posts and he  \nhad the right to be here but his eyes...  \n  \n\"No, I just thought I'm gonna be flying alone. \" She finally  \nspoke, it was more of a wish then a statement. After that party,  \nthere were some unresolved matters between them. Like, for  \nexample, that kiss. That fucking damn good kiss... an ancient  \nswitch flipped inside her, putting her body on full alert. Her  \nnostrils flare sniffing while her little triangle radars mounted  \nat the top of her head scanned all the sounds.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Something's wrong.\"She spoke staring into distance while her fur  \nfluffed out. Arpad stared at her wagging tail, she looked like  \none exploded hairball. What the fuck could set her off like  \nthat?! Suddenly the lights flashed in a familiar way. M'raava  \nhissed, all the horror movies she saw suddenly passed through her  \nmind. Too many started with flashing lights on board some  \nabandoned spaceship.  \n  \n\"Power surge?\" He asked studding the flickering light.  \n  \n\"No, i don't think so.\" Her ears turned left and right searching  \nfor something.  \n  \n\"The engine's not working, i can't hear it.\"  \n  \n\"Come on, we're inside shielded passenger compartment, do you  \nreally believe...\"  \n  \n\"We're not on a first class cruiser, the engine's less then sixty  \nfeet away! In this tin can even you should feel it!\" That shut  \nhim, Arpad sat in silence listening.  \n  \n\"The air filters are dead as well, can't hear the humming...\" He  \nfinally spoke after a while. M'raava nodded, it explained the  \ndensity of smells now reaching her nose. It's nothing big, she  \ntried to convinced herself, the backups should start any moment.  \nWell, even if they didn't there was still the passive system, two  \nlarge liquid oxygen tanks. They should hold enough air for about  \nfive day long journey, plenty for a trip to the moon and back.  \nThe lights flickered again, then one by one shut down with a laud  \nclung. M'raava's eyes blinked, her night vision sucked out all  \ncolors from the surrounding. The emergency lights shined like  \nsmall suns, tucked here and there for convenience.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Now that's ain't what should happen...\" Arpad blindly fiddled  \nwith his seat belts. M'raava was faster, she already got up and  \nmoved through the narrow passageway towards the cockpit. She was  \nalmost at the hatch separating pilots from the passengers, Arpad  \nfew steps behind her, when the world ended.  \n  \nIt is hard to describe the feeling, maybe like an eighteen wheels  \ntruck ramming your chest, blood boiling in your veins, unearthly  \nsilence crushing your brain and most terrifying, the ice cold  \nhand squeezing your heart so hard till it stops. And when your  \nheart stops, there comes darkness. Thick, suffocating darkness.  \nWithin that darkness M'raava cough, gasping for air, sucking it  \ninto her burning lungs. What the hell happened?! Were was she?!  \nWhy is it do dark in here?! Her mind boiled with questions,  \nfeeding her fear. Why am i... Floating?! Panicked, she trash  \naround but neither her arms nor legs, not even her tail, could  \nfind any footing. Blind, suspended in nothingness, she screamed  \nterrified, clawing at empty space.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Mi a baszás!?\"Arpad cursed, plucking his ears. Terrified  \ncatgirls, howling within confined space were not exactly  \neardrums-friendly.  \n  \n\"Meg?rültél M'raava!? Franc megegyen macsek, the hell you  \nscreaming for... Szent szar!!\" He barley dogged a furious claw  \naimed at his face, right now M'raava was no more then a spinning  \nball of claws and fangs, franticly searching for some footing.  \n  \n\"Na, ezt most jól kifogtam!\" He grabbed her tail and pulled, she  \nlanded safely in his arms.  \n  \n\"Kurva élet!!\" Arpad scowled. Putting a person in a headlock  \nusually helped safely detain her. Usually. However now he had  \nsome second thoughts. A set of sharp fangs and claws can cause  \nsecond thoughts.  \n  \n\"Faszom!!\" M'raava anchored herself in his arm in a way a  \nscardycat would anchor himself. She bite and clawed at anything  \nthat gave her any support.  \n  \n\"Francba!Normális vagy, M'raava!? M'raava!\" He screamed into her  \near.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Emmm... Sorry 'bout that...\" She uttered warping a white bandage  \naround Arpad's forearm, the thick, operalenght rubber gloves she  \nwore, squawked and squealed with each move. It was a part of the  \nstandard military first aid kit. Cheap transparent, plastic  \nraincoat and long, claw-proof rubber gloves. Bit cumbersome yet  \nsimple and extremely effective at keeping fur away from the  \nwounds and blood away from the fur. It saved many lives during  \nwar and even more long after.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Happens...\" Aprad frown studding a small plastic cylinder he  \ntook from the kit, a full syringe was trapped inside. Again, he  \nreread the label. API-HT, 5cc.[footnote:  \nAll-Purpoe-Injection, Human type  \n]\u0026nbsp; In case of S'hestir bite inject into muscle tissue.  \n  \n\"You were vaccinated, were you?\" He looked into her eyes, they  \nglowed reflecting the chemical light stick that floated above  \nhim.  \n  \n\"I'm scheduled for a renew next month...\"M'raava's ears dropped.  \n  \n\"Nem is én lennék...\" His fucking luck, when something goes  \nwrong, it goes wrong all the way. He pulled out the syringe and  \nremoved the needle cap with his teeth. He hated crappy  \npoliticians, he hated all that useless bureaucracy, he hated that  \nfucking moon base... Yet that was nothing compared to the way he  \nloathed needles. Why oh why the fuck it has to be the long one!?  \nTaking a deep breath he squeezed the air out of the syringe, then  \nbefore he could change his mind, he stabbed his arm.  \n  \n\"Are you... alright?\" Nursing his arm, Arpad floated an inch  \nabove the floor. His face turned bit pale plus he hasn't spoke  \nsince the injection.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'll live. Say, that renew of yours. Is it combat or basic?\" he  \nfinally spoke.  \n  \n\"Both, why do you ask?\" He laughed, making her fur puff out.  \n  \n\"In that case, here you go\" He tossed her another plastic  \ncontainer. API-ST,4cc[footnote:  \nAll-Purpoe-Injection, S'hestir type.  \n]. In case of digesting human blood, inject into fat tissue.  \nS'hestir only.  \n  \n\"Crap...\" M'raava's ears dropped even more, it was a freaking  \ndamn long needle!  \n  \nIt's been more then fifty years since s'hestirs came to earth, or  \nto be more precise, since they were brought. They were peaceful  \npeople, handy and hard working. However they did not came alone,  \ntheir bodies brought visitors that traveled without tickets.  \nSilent, unseen, waiting. Waiting for an emotion that would set  \nthem free. Some say it was love others point out hate. The truth  \nwas simpler, both of them were guilty. Two different species,  \nlocked on one mutilated planet... People experimented, on both  \nsides. These were the first victims of the scratching fever.  \n  \nScientists were not entirely sure what it was, a virus or a  \nbacteria? There were not many left alive that could name it. It  \ncame from the s'hestir's body, grew up in human blood stream then  \nwent back where it came from and started killing. It decimated  \nthose who survived the war before the vaccine was made.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Stand still Colonel\" M'raava bend over Arpad knees and dug her  \nclaws into the synthetic carpet, anchoring them both to the  \nfloor. Or at least to the wall that used to be the floor before  \nthe gravity decided to go on vacation.  \n  \n\"H-hey!\" She yelped when strong male arms rolled up her skirt.  \nWell, there wasn't much to roll up. Those skirts were designed  \nfor walking, parading, not for sitting and definitely not for  \nbending over. Arpad grinned, what a view! His hand slide over her  \nample rump, brushing the silky fur.  \n  \n\"Sah! What kind of medical procedure is this? Mind you not do  \nthat!?\" She hissed, covering herself with her tail. Shame, such a  \nview... Ah, he loved parade uniforms and those magical military  \nissued thongs. Made for the recruitment department out of that  \nwonderful dry-opaque fabric. It was quite an excellent imitation  \nof silk with one tiny difference, add a drop of water and you get  \na see-through membrane. Ah, quite a view.  \n  \n\"Ma'am\" He spoke politely, barely restraining his laughter.  \n  \n\"Please remain calm, I'm just surveying for an injection spot.\"  \nHis hand hand traveled back and fourth over very well developed  \nfat tissue deposit, located at her bottom.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Gee and i thought it was groping... oh unlucky me...\"She  \nsmirked, warping her tail tighter between her legs and round her  \nwaist, covering what neither her short fur nor her thongs hid.  \nArpad sighed watching the needle sunk into her bouncy butt cheek,  \nit really was a dam long one.  \n  \n\"All done.\" He tenderly stroke her buttock, making her tail  \ntwitch. Strangely this time she didn't protest it, just silently  \nenjoyed his touch for a moment or two before she released her  \ngrip, making them float apart.  \n  \n\"There's no power?\" She finally asked, studding the chemical  \nlight stick Aprad took from the emergency kit while she was  \nunconscious.  \n  \n\"No, the engine blew it all. The shield's barely holding on  \nwhat's left, hard to say how long, we're running on fumes. Though  \ni wouldn't be bothered by that.\"  \n  \n\"Huh?\" M'raava's ears rose up.  \n  \n\"See for yourself.\" He nodded at the now open cockpit hatch, it  \nwas strangely dark inside. Alarmed, she bounced off the seat and  \nfloated towards the hatch, snatching on the way one of the  \nfloating lightsticks. The inside of the cockpit was dark,  \nstrange. Here and there some lone control lights flicked  \nunsettling yellow or orange however the whole place seemed  \ndreadfully dead. She flipped the navi unit switch several times,  \nthen gave up. All it did was barked out low power warnings.  \nHoisting herself into navigators seat, she pressed her eyes to  \nthe visor. Well, nothing fancy like a window but even this  \nthincan had some optical navigation system in case of power  \nfailure. The quality of picture send through the beams of optical  \nfibers was, shitty. That or something very wrong happened with  \nher eyes. She rubbed her eyes and tried again unfortunately with  \nthe same result, some small bright dots hidden behind veil of  \nbloody red mist.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Fuck...\" She squeezed her eyelids tight, pressing her palms  \nagainst her eyes. Something was wrong, very wrong. The lightstick  \nfloated somewhere behind her back but all she saw were her paws  \nand lighted up parts of the console, everything else drowned in  \nthe red mist. Her night vision was gone...  \n  \n\"Everything's fine?\" Arpad slipped in through the hatch.  \n  \n\"That one's broken.\" He pointed at the visor.  \n  \n\"A?\"  \n  \n\"Something busted the main line, switch to the backup.\" He pushed  \na leaver near the visor, changing the batch of the fiber lines.  \nThe visor instantly lit up.  \n  \n\"What the hell?!\"Franticly she flipped through back, front and  \nthe sides. Neither earth, nor the moon was anywhere in sight. But  \nthat's impossible! She scanned the stars looking for any familiar  \nshapes or set navigation points. Not even the far away  \nconstellations looked right.  \n  \n\"Impossible! We... we jumped?!\" Her ears dropped. A nightmare of  \nevery space traveler, a jump through hyperspace without any set  \ndestination, straight into unknown.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Seems so.\" Unwillingly, Arpad confirmed. His voice was dull, yet  \nsomewhat peaceful. M'raava run through various scenarios in her  \nhead. Experience and military training calmed her.  \n  \n\"How long?\" She asked, trying to recall what she knew about the  \nUCV.  \n  \n\"Five days on pure oxygen. Two, three weeks if we get the air  \nscrubbing systems working.\" He read from a note riddled with  \nvarious calculations. It surprised her, she felt nothing. She  \njust heard she had days, maybe weeks of life left and not even  \nher ear twitched. Strange, she always though such news would  \nbrake her yet she sat there unmoved, cold as ice.  \n  \n\"We won't starve, the cargo's full of food but we're low on  \nwatts. The shield's eating what left of our fuel cell, as of now  \nit's on eighty percent and dropping. Probably won't hold if we  \nhit something big. The system turned off all it could but we  \nstill lack about two hundred watts to get the life support  \nworking and at least ten times as much if we wanna try any long  \nrange communication.\"Arpad finished flipping through his notes.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Fubar...\"She sigh closing her eyes. Mom, dad, I'm sorry.  \n  \n\"Don't give up yet honey, I've got an idea. Come.\" Kicking  \nagainst the console, he pushed himself back into the passenger  \ncompartment, M'raava followed. They stopped near the airlock  \ndoors, Arpad cheeked the pressure gauge then opened the first  \nhatch and flown in. M'raava paused by the door, starring at the  \nwall. It was... dented. Something smashed pretty hard against it.  \nGoddess... The wall, it...  \n  \n\"It's better not to think about it.\" Arpad's voice made her  \nshudder, he saw what she was studding.  \n  \n\"Did we?\" Her paws were trembling.  \n  \n\"Yes. The ship jumped when we got up, the physics did the rest.  \nThe safety field just couldn't take it, we hit the wall pretty  \nbad.\" He fiddled with a fake wall inside the airlock, it's lock  \ngave up exposing an emergency stockroom.  \n  \n\"How?\" M'raava's large terrified eyes met his gaze. It was  \nimpossible, they should be dead by now. Arpad unbuttoned his  \nshirt, beneath...  \n  \n\"Impact armor?\"  \n  \nHe nodded.  \n  \n\"It saved me more than once but i never thought it's  \ncat-proof.\"He forced a smile, it wasn't a pleasant memory. He hit  \nthe wall so hard, his whole world went black, milliseconds later  \nshe rammed into him, his body cushioning her fall. It was a  \nmiracle he hasn't broke any ribs, his whole chest still hurt.  \nDamn, they were so lucky. His armor exhausted the whole charge,  \nthe battery got literary cooked and that's something difficult.  \nIt takes about six direct hits with those pre-war, old RPGs to  \ndischarge it... Better not to think about it. He calmed himself.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Well, take a look a this.\" He tapped at a small control pane,  \ncovered with discouraging warning sings. Emergency signal beacon,  \norbital use only. Huh? So what? M'raava mind was still occupied  \nby that large dent in the ships wall. A small orbital probe,  \nproviding geolocation, weather reports and a comlink with  \norbiting ship for survivors in case a rescue party arrives. It's  \nusually deployed just before landing if the planet is suitable.  \nHere, out in nowhere, it was completely useless. Anyway, they  \ndidn't have enough power...  \n  \n\"It has it's own power cell?! You think we could tap into it?\"  \nExcited, M'raava recalculated their chances. They were looking  \nmuch ,much better now.  \n  \n\"I'm more than certain, It's a standard point two gigawatt fuel  \ncell. We can patch it through the auxiliary circuits, straight  \ninto the main backups.\" It sounded simple.  \n  \n\"So where's the catch?\"There's always a catch. If all brilliant  \nplans were so simple, world would turn into a better place, like  \neons ago.  \n  \n\"It's deployed by small blasting cap and a solid state rocket  \nmotor. It's gonna kick it pretty far away from the ship. Somebody  \nhas to go out and catch it before it'll fly away. I think it goes  \nwithout saying, this might be a one way journey.\" Damn you  \nMurphy's law... In a place like this anything can go wrong. And  \nby saying anything, you mean anything. A swarm of micro meteors  \ncan turn you into Swiss cheese, your oxygen tank might fail,  \nsafety rope might snap, your suite can leak, you can forget to  \nopen the valve, your jetpack might run out of fuel or the  \ndarkness can snatch you... That was not uncommon, people often  \nwent insane just by staring into the wast, endless nothingness.  \nThey called it stare of doom. It can happen to anyone, anytime.  \nYou can not get used to it, you can not master it. It shuts down  \nyour body and locks your mind. Not many recover, it depends on  \nthe severity of the experience. It can go from simple panic  \nattack to complete withdraw.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Is that necessary? Can't we access it from inside?\"She asked  \nalready knowing the answer.  \n  \n\"If you don't mind cutting through the plaiting...\"Arpad shook  \nhis head, there was too much risk involved. It has to be done  \nfrom the outside.  \n  \n\"Okay, we've got the suits, we go out. What's then?\" Let's hear  \nhis plan, She thought. Her own mind was too confused at the  \nmoment.  \n  \n\"We'll blast it from the airlock. The ship should counter  \nautomatically so hopefully we won't start spinning. I'm not  \nexactly sure how fast the beacon will move but we have  \napproximately ninety seconds before it'll go out of the jetpack's  \nrange. Somebody have to catch it and stop it before that happens,  \nthen bring it back to the ship...\" One of rare qualities of  \nvacuum is it's friction or lack of thereof. Throw a coin up and  \nit will continue traveling up, endlessly maintaining it's speed  \nuntil someone or something stops it. Though it also works the  \nother way round, let your jetpack run out of fuel and you're  \ndone. You can hang an arm length away from your ship unable to  \nreach it, there's nothing out there you can use to push yourself  \nback to the ship.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'll do it.\"M'raava slowly spoke, making him stop middle word.  \n  \n\"You'll do it? \"  \n  \n\"I'm smaller and lighter then you also i have more than twenty  \nthousand hours of flight experience on those.\" And every other  \nflying crap stationed on the moon base, she thought.  \n  \n\"If we are to maximize our chances, it has to be me.\" Arpad  \nfrowned, her reasoning seemed right. She was a pilot, who would  \nbe better suited than her? Besides, her S'hestir frame granted  \nher some advantages. With less mass, fuel efficiency would be  \nhigher and the same oxygen tank gave her about fifteen to twenty  \npercent more time compared to a human. There was no point  \narguing, It really made sense.  \n  \n\"Fine, you'll do it.\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nIt was a small room. Plain and unappealing in it's utilitarian  \ndesign of white walls and reinforced doors. What else is there to  \nsay about a brig? On a space of no more than twelve square meters  \nthree holding cells were set, each with its own set of massive  \nsteel bars, all in one toilet-sink and wall mounted,  \nsleep-on-me-not cot.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Fuck, fuck, fuuuck! We're so fucked!\"Sifer, possibly the  \nsmallest of the three, squealed banging his head against the  \nwall. This time they've dunked into some really deep shit.  \n  \n\"Yes, we've heard the first time. Mind you stop doing that  \nalready?\"Kovalskey moisten his finger against his tongue than  \ncarefully flipped another page. The book he was reading seemed  \nterribly worn out as if through years of use. It was a thick book  \nyet not so old as its look suggested. It was the newest military  \nrules and regulations cookbook. For some reason it seemed  \nvaluable to know what they're accusing you of while you  \naccidentally end up in a military court.  \n  \n\"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!\" Kovalskey sighed disappointed, the kid was  \nrather stubborn.  \n  \n\"Vladimir you try it, I've lost my hope in him.\" He changed  \nanother page.  \n  \n\"Zavali yebalo...\" Vladimir yawned from above of his round of  \nsolitaire, His cards seemed even older then his friend book. For  \nsome strange reason Vladimir's requests were usually honored  \nquite instantly.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thank you.\" Kovalskey spoke from below his lecture, it was a  \ngood book. Suddenly the main gate flung wide open and rather  \nannoyed guard marched in, screaming.  \n  \n\"Attin'hut!\"  \n  \nSifer seemed too terrified to move, Vladimir sighed and dealt  \nanother card while Kovalskey rustled changing another page, it  \nwas well audible in the resulting silence. All in all, the trio  \nignored the order.  \n  \n\"At ease, thank you corporal. I'll handle the rest.\" The laud  \nsounding dismissal gathered their attention, especially while it  \nmade their guard turn darker shade of his usual annoyed purple.  \nWhatever was able to set him off like that was worth some  \nattention, Kovalskey looked up from his cot.  \n  \n\"I'll be darn...\"He put down his book. The presence of M'raava's  \naide, First Lieutenant Peter Jackson did not signal any bright  \nprospects for their future. He was her personal lap doggy,  \nusually doing all the dirty work. Vladimir raised his eyebrow,  \nnow they really were fucked.  \n  \n\"Hello ladies, been a while hasn't it?\" He smiled, the trio  \nwinced remembering the last time he dealt with them.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"And here i thought you'll be happy to see me. Bit disappointing  \ni must say. Anyway, the reason I'm here is because i have a  \nproposal for you. Two days ago a grid of our long range scanners  \ndetected an unidentified object nearing our solar system with  \nextremely high velocity, as of today it is possible that it was a  \nfalse positive caused by some fluctuations in the scanners  \nnetwork. However until we are sure, all defenses are on top  \nalert.\" He took a deep breath which was quite unusual since he  \noften made an expression of being able to talk without breathing.  \n  \n\"However an incident has took place, an UCV carrying on board  \ncolonel M'raava has been declared missing short after liftoff.  \nPossibly due to a malfunction in its warp drive...\"  \n  \n\"That's heavy...\"Sifer whistled. Such a malfunction usually  \nresulted in either a big boom or unguided space-jump, both  \nequally deadly. Peter silenced him with a stare and continued.  \n  \n\"Our sensors have not detected any subspace explosions and based  \non all our tracking data, entry conditions, drive type, available  \nenergy and jump survivability a list of some possible exit  \ncoordinates granting the highest chance of survival was  \ncalculated.\" He unbuckled his shirt pocket and presented a square  \nnavi-disk.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Unfortunately since base currently cannot delegate any  \nresources... Computer, emergency lock release! Verification  \ncode...\" He spat out a long line of scrambled numerals.  \n  \n\"Verification rejected. Access den-n-n-n-ied!\" The artificial  \nfemale voice stuttered then suddenly the main lights went out and  \nemergency sings flashed red. The cells locks disengaged.  \n  \n\"I've spoke with the old man, you've got seventy two hours. After  \nthat you either find them or report back.\"  \n  \n\"And say if we don't?\" Kovalskey came closer and took the disk  \nfrom his hand.  \n  \n\"You're officially AWOL, the safety codes you've received will  \nexpire within seventy one hours fifty nine minutes and ten  \nseconds. You better not miss it...\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nM'raava tugged at the golden buttons slowly stripping off her  \nuniform. She yawned, the ship's watch showed Monday morning.  \nThey've spend last twelve hours going over the details again and  \nagain until it sunk deep into her mind. She could replay each  \nstep and procedure they though up without looking at the wall,  \nalmost completely covered with plans and schematics they've  \npainted. The plan, a product of their hours long mind storm, have  \ntaken a seemingly acceptable form and covered most probable  \noutcomes as well as few improbable ones and a happy go lucky  \none... Sigh, She scratched her side. As much as she loved the  \nhourglass figure the skirt's corset gave her, her back and her  \nribs were killing her now. She should have taken it off  \nyesterday, before going to sleep. After they settled on the  \ndetails, they've agreed to rest. A hungry and tired body can do  \nmore damage then hordes of most cunning enemies. It was a good  \nchoice, she felt better now, warmer inside... Or maybe that was  \njust the effect of the emergency ration tube she just sucked out  \ndry? Never mind that, first thing first! She yanked at the  \ncorset's zipper, apparently stuck with her fur, and hissed. The  \ndamn thing pulled out few hairs but finally surrendered. With a  \nsigh of pure ecstasy, she unzipped her skirt.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thank Goddess...\" She rubbed her sides and stretched her back.  \nAt long last, her waist size as well as her breathing, returned  \nto normal. Undoing the tailflap, she pushed her dress down and  \nshook it off her leg. She would have done that yesterday, just  \nlike she got rid of her heels, but some modesty forbid her from  \ndoing so. After all she was traveling with a human, an outranking  \nofficer and to make matters worst, it was That human. Something  \nmade her turn and see if Arpad wasn't peeking. What a though...  \nHilarius! Never the less, she moved bit deeper into the airlock  \nand unbuttoned her shirt, from time to time eying the cockpit  \nhatch. Well, he might have... She sigh, what was she thinking? It  \nsounded almost as if she wished he would peek on her. Poor kitty,  \nyou have banged your head too hard, she told herself staring at  \nher own breast. The fancy push up bra gave her at least one more  \nsize to her cleavage. She poke them with her paws, the view was  \nimpressive. Her wardrobe would definitely benefit from a few more  \nbras like this one, she noted and reached for the clip. Unhooking  \nit, she took off the bra and carefully stored it in a small  \nlocker, hoping he won't find it. Now, all what left were her  \nthongs. Theoretically there was no need for those in a space suit  \nor even they might end up being in the way if she would require  \nany of the suit other capabilities but, for the first time in her  \nlife, she felt somewhat reluctant to remove them. Murmuring  \nannoyed at herself, she pulled them off an quickly tugged them in  \nalongside her bra. If she were bit more careful, she would  \nnoticed the thongs were clearly see-through in places where she  \nmoisten them. Naked, she reached for the suit.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was nothing like the old bulky space suits. These were the  \nnewest one piece, rapid on, Titan-Five suits. Based on  \nre-engineered alien technology, made of a fabric so strong it  \nwasn't cut but simply molded into it's shape under tremendous  \nheat and pressure. Five millimeters thick suit of that fabric  \nprovided a protection comparable with about fifty feet of  \nbunker-grade, reinforced concrete and all this under a mere  \ntwenty pounds of weight. She opened the suit's back and hoisted  \nherself inside, warping her tail around her waist. It wasn't very  \ncomfortable but for a while, she could manage. She put her arms  \ninto the sleeves and fit the helmet over her head then closed the  \nsuit back lid. The autolock mechanism initiated itself, sealing  \nand pressurizing the suit. With a hiss it molded itself around  \nher.  \n  \n\"Testing, testing, can you hear me?\"  \n  \n\"Laud and clear colonel.\" Arpad's voice beamed from her headset.  \nHissing, she readjusted the volume to a s'hestir tolerable  \nlevels.  \n  \n\"The suit's locked and sealed. Running overpressure test... Test  \ncomplected at one point seven oh one ATM, pressure stable.  \nRunning self diagnostic. All systems fine.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Roger that. Be there in a while.\"  \n  \nM'raava depressurized her suit and opened the visor, there was no  \npoint in wasting oxygen waiting.  \n  \n\"Ok, the weather seems fine. No space junk, dust clouds or  \nmeteors within our scanner range and as much as i can tell we are  \nstationary. If were gonna do it, I think we should do it now.\"  \nArpad flown out of cockpit, wearing a similar suit. He stopped at  \nthe airlock entrance and studied her, his face concerned.  \n  \n\"You're sure about this?\" He asked, She answered with a nod.  \n  \n\"Ok then, let's do this.\"  \n  \nHe helped her on their only jetpack, checked if all the tools  \nwere secured, checked their suits then they did a dry run without  \nblasting the beacon then finally, refilled their tanks and took  \ntheir places in the airlock. M'raava at the outer doors, Arpad  \ndeeper at the controls.  \n  \n\"Ready?\"  \n  \n\"Yeah.\"  \n  \n\"Blasting in three, two, one...\" There was no explosion, just a  \nmild and distant thung that made the UCV shudder. More or less  \nshe was ready for this, she waited till the UCV countered then,  \nlike and unwinding spring she shot out of the airlock, the  \nthrottle pressed full open. The beacon showed up exactly where  \nthey thought it will, left of the airlock and already two hundred  \nyards away. She took a lock on, her HUD instantly adding markers  \nand displaying estimated distance. It was quickly flying away  \nhowever it's speed was constant while M'raava still accelerated.  \nFocused on the little white dot she squeezed out whatever she  \ncould form her jetpact, trying not to think about the mad rate at  \nwhich it burned through its fuel. Ninety five percent, ninety  \ntwo, ninety, eighty nine, eighty eight... It was around eighty  \npercent when she matched the beacon's speed but she let it drop  \npast seventy five before she let go of the throttle. So far so  \ngood, she was approaching it with a steady nine meters per  \nsecond, holding a hook in her hand, when she noticed something.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"FUCK!\" She cursed adjusting her speed.  \n  \n\"The damn thing's rotating!\" In all of their planning they've  \nmislooked this one. It was a spin stabilized beacon.  \n  \n\"Ignore it. It will stop when you decelerate. Just hook it up and  \nmind your hands, the teether will hold. You've got forty seconds  \nleft!\"  \n  \nGritting her teeth she catch up with the beacon and positioned  \nherself just behind it. She could see the eye on the side of  \nrevolving satellite, now just to time her arm... The eye and the  \nhook meet while the momentum yanked it out of her paws. Gotcha!  \nShe squeezed the throttle, switching to counter thrusters. The  \nsafety line painfully tugged at her harness but didn't snap. It  \nworked, she was slowing down!  \n  \n\"Deacceleration completed at eighty nine seconds.\" Arpad  \nannounced when she came to relative stop. She released the  \nthrottle and let the stabilizers do the rest. She caught it, they  \nwere half there. She looked at the fuel gauge, forty seven  \npercent, not much of a safety margin. It was even less then she  \nthought. Did they made a mistake? They've calculated the fuel  \nconsumption several times, considering every possible variant off  \nbeacon size, speed, mass and model. The took in the account the  \ntype of blastingcap and the size of the solid state rocket.  \nThey've checked, several times, each others calculations. There  \nwas no way they could fuck this up, unless... Her eyes found the  \nbeacon serial numbers, it was one of the earlier models,  \ndecommissioned long ago, almost twice as heavy ans the ones  \ncurrently used. They've failed.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Everything's fine? M'raava? Speak to me. What's going on?\" Arpad  \nvoice echoed in her headphones. He was no more than a distant dot  \nof blinking warning lights. Heck, she wouldn't even noticed him  \nwithout the tracking marker. Her body was shivering, her heart  \nrumbled inside her chest. She read the distance, two thousand one  \nhundred sixty nine meters.  \n  \n\"Colonel please respond. Colonel? Dammit M'raava! Stop fucking  \naround and say something!\" He watched her through the ship  \ntelescope, she floated motionless, tethered with the beacon.  \n  \n\"I... I'm not gonna make it.\" Her voice was weak, no more then a  \nwhisper. Arpad relaxed, she was alive!  \n  \n\"What the fuck are you talking about! We run through this, we  \ncrunched the numbers. Stop fucking around and get back in here!\"  \nShe did not respond, all he could hear was her wheezing breath.  \nDammit! Wait a second... You moron! He slapped his forehead and  \ntoggled his screen to her readings. Her EEG was off the chart,  \nsame with her heartbeat and breathing. Fuck, if she won't stop  \nhyperventilating, she's gonna burn through her oxygen tank within  \nminutes. A warning beeped up, elevated ammonia levels, great,  \njust great. Poop went her bladder...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Fuck it.\" He hacked into her suit override, scanning for  \ninjector controls. Well, she was in shock, wasn't she? He pushed  \nconfirm, her suit calculated the dosage and jabbed her hip,  \npumping in the sedative. It was instantaneous, her breathing and  \nheart rate dropped right after the injection though her EEG,  \nalthough back into nominal parameters, was showing up lots of  \nirregularities. She was stoned. Well, could've been worse...  \n  \n\"Wake up soldier! What the fuck are you doing maggot! Who told  \nyou you can rest?! Bring that piece of junk over here! Move it,  \nmove it!\" Arpad screamed at the top of his voice, ordering  \nM'raava around. His drill segregant would've been proud hearing  \nhim and seeing the proficiency at which he jammed orders into  \nher, keeping her constantly occupied.  \n  \n\"Sir! Yes, Sir!\" She screamed back, her hands working on their  \nown.  \n  \n\"You call that flying!? My grandma would do better!\"  \n  \n\"Sir! Yes Sir!\"  \n  \nFuck! She ain't gonna make it. There was not enough fuel for it,  \nor to be more precise, she won't have any fuel left to stop.  \nGaining speed in space wasn't a big deal, losing it? That was  \ninteresting. She already burned almost all what she had left on  \nsimple corrections.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Good, now keep it steady soldier! Keep it steady!\" He grabbed a  \ngun shaped object and crawled out of the airlock.  \n  \n\"Sir! Yes Sir!\" M'raava answered, carefully working the throttle,  \nunaware of her empty fuel tank. The jetpack run dry. C'mmon  \nhoney, just a bit! Held on the outer bulk of UCV by a strong  \nmagnetic shoes and three safety lines, Arpad raised the grappling  \nhook and aimed. C'mmon, make it close, make it close. He had only  \nfive hundred feet of wire attached to the magnetic hook.  \n  \n\"Bring it nice and steady soldier!\" He could see her already  \nwithout zooming in, she was coming dead onto the UCV. Now! He  \nsqueezed the trigger, sending the hook at the beacon's center. It  \nslammed against it silently and sticked there. Seconds later,  \nM'raava zoomed past him.  \n  \nWhat happened later was so brief none off them could clearly  \nrecall. Tho, Arpad had never forgot those giant sparks coming out  \nof the grappling gun while its brakes burned. Scared he let it  \ngo, thankfully it was chained to his harness. It yanked him off  \nthe bulk and snap two of his safety lines. Floating in space, he  \ncursed.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Never! Fucking! Again! I'm gonna board one of those!\" He grabbed  \nhis last safety line and pulled himself back into the airlock  \nthen started reeling in the wire. At its other end M'raava  \ndangled, chained with the beacon.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nThere are mornings and there are mornings. One of those you  \nwished to last forever and one of those, more common, pray it  \nnever happens again mornings. M'raava suspected it was one of  \nthose more common ones as she woke up with a mother lode of all  \nheadaches. She groaned.  \n  \n\"Why, morning colonel. Hope you had a nice dream coz we're still  \nstuck in this fucking damn thincan.\" Arpad welcomed her with a  \nwide grin. He was back in his uniform, currently pulverizing the  \ncontest of a military ration. M'raava sniffed detecting a faint  \ntrace of chicken curry but apart from that, the air was clean.  \nIts quality significantly improved over the past few hours.  \nM'raava's ears twisted, she caught the faint murmuring of air  \nfilters doing their job.  \n  \n\"We did it?\" She asked squinting her eyes.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Yes, you did it. You caught the damn thing and brought it back  \nand you did it with a surgical precision, you missed the ship by  \nonly three feet but never fucking again you dare to scare me like  \nthat! Under-fucking-stood!?\" He screamed at her, threating her  \nwith his fork, making her ears drop and her tail puff out. His  \nreaction was at least awkward. Silent she studied him. He was  \nirritated, she could sense that, it was oozing from him. Their  \nsituation improved, he should be happy but he's mad why would he?  \nBecause he cares. Something from deep inside answered her. What a  \nsilly thought, why would he care? They've just meet, well they  \nhad some fun together and that mind blowing kiss could have some  \nmeaning behind it but would he really... a human...  \n  \n\"I was low on fuel, there was no way the jetpack would make it  \nwith that payload. How did i stop?\" She asked, her headache  \nintensifying.  \n  \n\"I've caught you with the grappling hook, you've fainted when it  \nstopped you. I pulled you out of the suit,hope you don't mind.\"  \nHe gave her a quick look, finishing off his ration.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Not really. Thank you.\" She rubbed her hip, it stung. He had put  \nher in the emergency mylar bag and tied her to the wall. It was  \nquite comfortable and covered her from neck to toes though, she  \nwould use something else then duck tape to secure it round her  \nneck. The duck tape had a nasty habit of pulling out her fur.  \n  \n\"...\" He murmured something.  \n  \n\"I'm sorry, I didn't understand.\"  \n  \nHe Looked at her, how could she... Ah, those ears. He relaxed and  \nleaned back in his seat.  \n  \n\"I'd be surprised if you did, it was Hungarian. Just don't mind  \nit, it's a bad habit of mine.\"  \n  \n\"Bad habit a?\" She chittered.  \n  \n\"I too have one of those...\" And a drawer full of chewed out  \npencils. A, that reminded her, if they ever make it back, she  \nhave to pester Peter for more of those scented wood, chewing  \nsticks. Soft peach was pretty good.  \n  \n\"Hungry?\" He nod at the crate of emergency rations secured in a  \nchair next to him. Her belly growled.  \n  \n\"I'll take that as yes, Garfield.\" He laughed.  \n  \n\"Why you human!\" She hissed at him, being compared to some old  \ncartoon!  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm not fat! And i don't sleep whole day!\"  \n  \n\"And you are much better built, those are quite nice assets.\" He  \nmade a suggestive gesture with his hands.  \n  \n\"Hey!\"  \n  \n\"Well, pardon me colonel but I ain't telling lies. Anyway, what  \ndo you want? We have chicken curry, mashed potatoes, rice with  \nvegetables, teriyaki beef, salsa. Well i advise you start from  \nthose you least like and work your way up.\"  \n  \n\"Blah, I'm not that desperate. I would never forgive myself if we  \nwere rescued before I'll reach my favorite.\" She rustled inside  \nher bag then using her claws, cut out two holes for her arms and  \nput them through.  \n  \n\"That's handy, a built in scissors.\" Arpad watched her carefully.  \nShe grinned at him and unbuckled herself from the wall then  \npushed away, aiming at the rations box. That did not end well,  \nthe bag hindered her movement and she ended up heading, butt  \nfirst, towards Arpad's face.  \n  \n\"Gottcha.\" He caught her and put her on his lap.  \n  \n\"Do that again and I'll start thinking you do it on purpose.\"  \n  \n\"Pff, humans ain't my type. Now, where's my chicken?\" She slide  \noff his lap and buckled herself in the next seat.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Sigh, you broke my heart. Here you go.\" He handed her already  \nsteaming ration.  \n  \n\"Self heating? Nice. It seems you've got some good points, i like  \nmen who can cook although, I didn't know spooks have hearts.\"  \n  \n\"Oh, we do have them. We lock them in our desks at work, so they  \nwon't bother us while we heartlessly censor your emails before  \nsome third grade journalist publish them.\"  \n  \n\"You read peoples mail?!\" M'raava froze with a fork in her mouth.  \n  \n\"Nah. It's all done by computers.\" That relaxed her a bit.  \n  \n\"Well on the other hand , if it's full of spicy details about  \nyour sex life, we read it out laud.\" That almost choke her, she  \ncough out large chunk of meat and stared at him.  \n  \n\"Hey, hey! Why the scary face? I'm just kidding. True, we have to  \ncheck everything that goes in or out of the base but it's done  \nwith full secrecy and you know that. Nothing leaves the desk of  \nthe one whose reading it, it's not worth it. You'd get a court  \nmarshal and a bullet in the head if it did.\" He considered her  \nexpression, it was hard reading those people but it was visible  \nshe was unsettled.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Fine, better change the subject. While you were having you  \nlovely cat-nap, I've connected the fuel cell and run few tests.  \nLife support is fully working now and if we believe our navi  \nunit, we should be somewhere between Earth and Andromeda so it's  \nnot that bad considering we have a colony there. They might even  \npick us up on their sensors.\"  \n  \nWell it raised their chances, M'raava thought licking out the  \nremaining sauce from her ration.  \n  \n\"What?\" She asked, Arpad stared at her in that special way people  \nsometimes stared at her while she used her tongue.  \n  \n\"Oh, nottin.\" He smiled and looked away. Funny, she got a lot of  \nthat especially when she ate popsicles.  \n  \nLife of a space castaway isn't very exiting. Apart from waiting  \nthere's not much else to do so, they waited. They ate. They slept  \nthen they ate some more and then slept some more. After they got  \ntoo bored to sleep, they talked. They talked about work, about  \nlife, about themselves about the future and the past. About her  \nfamily, about Arpad's Hungarian family, a noble family. The time  \nflown lazily and it strangely pleased her. Maybe because she was  \nwith him? After those few days it became apparent there's at  \nleast some sparkling between them. M'raava wondered, they've been  \navoiding a certain subject all the time.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Say, do you find me attractive?\" They could die any moment, why  \nshouldn't she ask?  \n  \n\"Huh? Is that a tricky question? Why do you ask?\"  \n  \n\"I'm just curious. I never really put much care in that mater but  \nplease, tell me, as a human being, what do you think of me? Do  \nyou find me attractive?\"  \n  \nArpad frown, he didn't expect something like this.  \n  \n\"Oh, just forget I've asked...\"  \n  \n\"No, I don't mind.\" He looked at her.  \n  \n\"What do I make of you? You're a smart and attractive woman. The  \nfact that you're a S'hestir makes a relationship only more  \ninteresting.\"  \n  \n\"More interesting? Well, from what I've heard most people call  \nsuch relationships disgusting, we're considered animals after  \nall.\"  \n  \n\"Nah. You shouldn't listen to that kind of babble, especially  \nwhen more then sixty percent of humans have a thing for felines  \nand it haven't changed for ages. Besides, more than two third of  \nall porn circulating through the Internet is currently S'hestir  \nrelated. On our base, for obvious reasons, I'd say it's even more  \nthan that. So yes, I find you attractive.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Hmm, If you put it that way... I have one more question. That  \ntime, after the party... Was it because we were drunk or...\"  \nAnnoyed, Arpad closed her lips with a kiss. A long and deep kiss.  \nIt left her speechless.  \n  \n\"Did I satisfy your curiosity?\" He spoke holding her chin, his  \nnose an inch from her nose. With closed eyes M'raava slowly run  \nher tongue around her lips, tasting their kiss.  \n  \n\"Not sure,\" She finally spoke, looking into his eyes.  \n  \n\"Mind you elaborate on your answer?\" Smiling, Arpad pressed their  \nlips together again, M'raava embraced him, her claws digging into  \nhis vest. Finally their lips parted. M'raava shivered, that was  \nimpossible! She wanted more! Her body was yearning for this  \nhuman, she was dripping wet and all that just from a kiss?! That  \nwas improper and unrealistic but it was happening. Good goddess,  \nM'raava girl, what did you pack yourself into? Her conciseness  \nset off all warning sings.  \n  \n\"Um, c-colonel, I believe it is highly inappropriate to continue  \nin our current s-state. The shock we've received might be  \nimpairing our judgment.\" She tried to escape from his grasp yet  \nhe just pulled her in even stronger.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"And what if i decide to continue? Will you oppose? Will you  \ndefend yourself?\" He whispered into her ear. She already knew the  \nanswer, her body was screaming it for her. She had no rule over  \nit.  \n  \n\"No...\"She said softly.  \n  \nCovering her breast with her arms, M'raava shyly floated in the  \ncabin. She had never felt like this before, so bare, so exposed.  \nArpad stripped her and now he was openly staring at her body,  \nrunning his fingers through her fur, his fingertips gently  \nstroking her skin.  \n  \n\"You're beautiful.\" He pet her neck with his index finger until a  \nsteady rumble filled the air. M'raava' ears dropped, she was  \nashamed how easily he made her purr. Why does he look at her like  \nthat?! Why does it feel so strange, so good... She shivered when  \nhe brushed his face against her chest, holding her with his arm.  \n  \nArpad inhale deeply, the smell of her, the smell of her fur... So  \nwonderful. Their eyes meet, gently he pushed her arms away,  \nexposing her erected nipples, all the while looking into her  \neyes. Shyly, she looked away. Interesting. He have heard lot  \nabout s'hestirs and their mating rituals tho, no one mention them  \nbeing shy. Far from it. Smiling, he sucked onto her pink nipple.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ai! Don't bite! They're very sensitive.\" Gently, she pushed his  \nhead away.  \n  \n\"Should I stop then?\" He threaten.  \n  \n\"No!\" She guided his head back to her chest, running her paws  \nthrough his hairs while his tongue dance with her nipple. It was  \ninteresting tho she wanted something more, something more direct  \nbut should she ask? He was a human after all, What should she do?  \nSuddenly she gasped, something brushed her, tickling her private  \nlips. Arpad's fingers toyed with her entrance, his fingers  \nhunting fro her pleasure button.  \n  \n\"Sah!\" She jumped in his grip, it was so sudden, so different  \nfrom the touch or her paws.  \n  \n\"Something's wrong?\" Cautious, he stopped.  \n  \n\"Wrong? No. Just different.\" She warped herself around him, Face  \nto face.  \n  \n\"It's good. Quite good.\" She started another kiss, her tongue  \npressed against his lips and slipped in. The kisses she enjoyed,  \na silly human thing that felt quite good. Pop, pop, pop. One by  \none she unbuttoned his shirt, clipping its buttons off one by one  \nwith her claws instead of unhooking them. Returning the kiss,  \nArpad rubbed her back, enjoying the shape of her rump. It felt so  \ngood as if it was made to be caressed. His hand slide beneath her  \ntail, she was ready!? Breaking the kiss he looked into her eyes,  \na secret desire was burning inside them. She wanted, so fast...  \nBut how should they do it? On earth the gravity did most of the  \njob but here? As if reading his mind, M'raava floated away and  \nanchored herself on first seat, exposing her butt. He was hard  \nalready, she remembered the bulge she felt in his pants but now,  \nthe pinkness of her exposed sex made him even harder, almost  \npainful.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Well? Ain't you gonna claim it?\" She wagged her butt. Smiling,  \nArpad pulled off his pants and tossed them away. Freed from its  \ncaged, his member rise up, swollen to the point where all its  \nveins became visible. A thought crossed his mind, he stayed in  \nhis vest and put back on the velcro shoes.  \n  \n\"Careful what you wish for.\" He said grabbing her butt from  \nbehind and spread her pussy lips with his fingers. Her juices  \nleaked out in bubbles, unable to drip on the ground they sticked  \nto her fur. She looked almost like a woman down there, possibly  \nbit tighter then average human female and her lips were better  \nconcealed but a woman she was.  \n  \n\"Oh, i wish for a big, hot boner sticked right in here...\" She  \npat herself, splashing her juices all around. Weightless sex was  \nalways messy.  \n  \n\"As you wish.\" Her pressed his shaft against her entrance and  \nslide in, making her hiss in pain.  \n  \nM'raava bite the seat, digging her claws in. Great mother of all  \nfuck, he was huge! He filled her all the way in and stretched her  \nto her limits yet, there was still more. And K'sita did that  \nevery day?! Fuck! She groaned through her teeth, panting heavily,  \nher body was at the edge of breaking. Arpad stopped, she was  \ntighter then he thought, this might be a trouble. He waited  \nawhile, she was burning hot inside, possibly due to her higher  \nbody temperature. Stroking her back tenderly, he spoke.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm gonna move a little...\" He pulled out half way then sunk  \nback in and again...  \n  \nM'raava clenched her teeth, she felt like screaming. With each  \nstroke he rammed her faster and faster... Suddenly she found  \nherself slamming her own butt against him, unaware when the pain  \nhad vanished. Apparently her muscles have adjusted, allowing him  \nto slide in and out almost effortlessly. Again the air was full  \nof her purrs and her cries of pleasure were filling the air.  \nArpad grit his teeth, her body felt amazing, he might not least  \nany longer. Suddenly her muscled clenched, trapping him inside  \nwhile her walls contracted, pulsating, milking his stick. Arpad  \ncame, unloading his hot semen deep inside her. It seemed there  \nwas no end to their unified orgasm. Sweating allover and panting  \nlike a dog, Arpad finally pulled out of her. That was insane, his  \nwhole mind almost got blown away and there was no end to it! Her  \npulsating muscles kept him at the edge for all this time! He  \nlooked at her, her pussy was still twitching, spiting out her  \njuices mixed with his cum. Finally she settled down and opening  \nher eyes she turned around, facing him.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Morrrrrre!\" Was all she said. There was no escape, she jumped,  \nwarping herself around him, anchoring her claws deep in his vest.  \nThank gods he had it on, he felt her claws raking at the  \nbulletproof fabric. She pressed her rump against him, her secret  \nmouth swallowing him in on gulp. Riding him in this mad ride, she  \naltered her pace and technique, changing the depth of her  \nstrokes, the angle, the speed... Arpad scowled, she made them cum  \nagain, then again. There was no end to it. Her body sucked him  \ndry and when he had nothing left to unload, she still rode him.  \nAfter about three hours that seemed like whole eternity for him,  \nM'raava finally settled down, pressing herself against him.  \nOvertaken by pleasure she haven't noticed when Arpad, with a  \nshaking hand, reached for his pen and she couldn't even feel the  \nneedle jab while he pressed it against her neck. A hidden piston  \nworked squeezing out the drug. They had some fun, now was time  \nfor some work and hopefully, some answers.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Nier a'sharr Ma'raa.\" Soft whisper tickled her ear, M'raava  \npulled herself closer, anchoring her clws in Arpad' vast.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Hrth.\" She snorted.  \n  \n\"Been a while since I've heard that.\" She answered, her purrs  \nstill rumbling in the air.  \n  \n\"Was it? Hard to believe after what you just shown me. \" Arpad  \nsmiled, she was a one horny pussycat. What a treat he got  \nhimself... Well, she left him sore here and there but it was  \nworth it.  \n  \n\"Most people these days use simplified English. You'd be  \nsurprised how many s'hestirs can't even spell their own clan  \nname. We've been assimilated, I think. Anyway, where did you  \nlearned that? A?\" Her tail warped around their bodies kept them  \ntogether as they floated in the cabin.  \n  \n\"Y'hhra Shessrr fhrra's.\"  \n  \n\"Showoff. Tho i didn't know they teach s'hestir in a cowshed.\"  \nShe chittered.  \n  \n\"And here i though i was doing great. There goes the catch  \nphrase.\" He sighed.  \n  \n\"But surely, how do you know so much about us? You're not some  \nkind of a fur-freak rapist? Are you ?\"  \n  \n\"God forbid. Work requirements. I can also speak German and some  \nFrench although you don't hear those too often these days. Old  \nlanguages are dying out alongside the old world. There's so few  \nof us left these days that language diversity became a hindrance.  \nMaybe that's better? The less divide us the stronger we stand.\"  \nArpad stared into empty space, mindlessly petting her back, just  \nabove her tailbase. It was strangely pleasing.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Fh'rras.\" She spoke, guiding his hand back to the spot where it  \nfelt best.  \n  \n\"Y'hhra Shessrr fh'rras. Next time you should say \"Y'hhra Shessrr  \nfh'rras\", unless you were indicating your teacher is a  \ncow-udder.\"  \n  \n\"Why thank you miss...\"  \n  \n\"Did you hear that?!\"  \n  \n\"Heard what?\"  \n  \n\"Shh!\" She silenced him, her ears turning left and right.  \n  \n\"Orange-honey-pot, orange-honey-pot, this is bad-boy-one, over...  \nOrange-honey-pot can you hear me?\" A voice mixed with static  \nflickering, ran through the cabin. Naked, bouncing off the walls,  \nM'raava rushed to the radio. The same message repeated again and  \nagain, they were being hailed. She grabbed the mic.  \n  \n\"This is orange-honey-pot! Bad-boy-one can you...\" and then  \nsomething clicked inside her head, her brain put two plus two  \ntogether. She knew that voice.  \n  \n\"KOVALSKEY!!\" Maksymilian Kowalski yanked off his earphones and  \nquickly turned down the volume. He rubbed his ear, Colonel's  \nvoice, if she wanted, could give a migraine even to a dead man.  \nHe flipped a switch opening a long range channel.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Moon base, calling moon base, this is bad-boy-one. We found the  \npackage, over.\"  \n  \n\"Bad-boy-one this is moon base, we read you. What's the status?\"  \n  \n\"The package's safe and sound,\" Very sound, it was still ringing  \nin his ears. M'raava's vocal chords were know from the broad  \nspectrum they could produce, from extremely pleasurable soft  \nnear-purr whispering up to the suicide-inducing heavy noise she  \nused while discipling her cadets. The felling was comparable with  \nbeing squashed by a giant tombstone while myriads of old, grating  \ncemetery gates played crescendo inside your brain. After such a  \npeep-talk people could be easily divided between one of two  \ntypes. Most common, I'm never doing it again type or less  \nfrequent, type of people that started carrying a pack of  \nheavy-duty rubber earplugs, wherever they went.  \n  \n\"Commencing extraction...\" His left hand instinctively reached  \nand felt his side pocket. Inside, a small plastic box held a pair  \nof white earplugs.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nArpad sunk back into his armchair, it was one of those things  \nthat grown on people. Just like an old pair of shoes snugly fit  \nover their wearer, the black leather seat welcomed him. It was  \nold, dirty and falling apart, yet on the whole damn base there  \nwas nothing more comfortable. At least for him, over the years  \nthe armchair molded itself around his body. He was tired, his arm  \nhurt like shit and he was irritated. Five days, he wasted five  \ndays on nothing. Well maybe not entirely, his fingers played with  \nempty, labelless vial. Damn at least that worked.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Somebody screwed up, they almost died. He pulled out his phone  \nand send an empty message to an empty phone number. Most  \ncellphones would not allowed such, however not this one. Arpad  \ndid not wait long, the phone rang just when he was about to put  \nit away.  \n  \n\"Yes, it's me. I'll live. Yes, the compound worked. Nothing. It's  \na dead end, she's clean. Fine. Can you check something for me?  \nWho knew, i want the names... Fuck him, I want those names.  \nSound's good, I will\" He closed the lid disconnecting. How the  \nhell they knew he'll be there? Were they trying to get rid of  \nher? No, she's irrelevant. She knows nothing, she's been  \nnowhere... It was aimed at him and him only, he was supposed to  \ndisappear.  \n  \n\"Bassza meg!\" He slammed his fist against nearby table and  \nwinced, the arm was killing him. It was probably the high time to  \ntake care of it, the ambulatory was down the corridor anyway. He  \ngot up and paused, M'raava... Her dossier lied open on the table,  \nher blue eyes shined at him from her photos. Slowly, he closed  \nher file. Arpad had one golden rule, never mix work with his  \nprivate affairs. Up to this day his interest in her was purely  \nprofessional but now, she was clean. There was no need for  \nfurther investigation. He picked up the documents and shoved them  \nback into the safe, double cheeking the lock before he left.  \nRelaxed, he strolled down the corridor, into the med-bay. She was  \noff the list and away from the interest of his department. It was  \nquite possible their paths will never cross again, even working  \non the same base. He grinned, since it was like that, maybe it  \nwas time to show her some private interest? Maybe, he smiled,  \nmaybe.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \\*\\*\\*  \n  \nDesperate not to blink, M'raava stared into the blinding  \nbrightness. Her heart raced pumping blood ful of adrenalin, she  \nwas terrified. God pleas no, please no... She prayed silently.  \n  \n\"Look up please. Good, now to the left. Good, and to the right...  \nOk, that's it. You can blink now.\" Doctor Jean Atteri scribed  \nsomething it the files, browsing through M'raava's medical  \nrecords.  \n  \n\"Well, let's see colonel. The scans show no internal damage, the  \nlungs are clean, heart's fine, blood tests are fine, no signs of  \nthe fever...\" She paused and gave M'raava a strange smelling  \nwhite stick.  \n  \n\"Can you please chew on this? Good. What else...\" She studied the  \nform, ticking off points here and there.  \n  \n\"The patient is responsive... Who the heck designed those  \nforms... Hmmm, minor damage to the retina...\" M'raava shivered,  \nso it was true.  \n  \n\"Iz, Iz shomthing ong 'ith my eyez?\"  \n  \n\"Well i can see some irritation here and there also you probably  \nsuffered a mild concussion, it would explain that temporary  \nblindness... Oh, relax big scarily cat! I'm not gonna take your  \nlicense, its nothing your body wont handle on it's own.\" M'raava  \nsighed with relive and quickly smoothed her erected tail fur.  \nThat puffing out, annoying fifth limb, was sometimes more  \nembarrassing than blushing.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"To be on the safe side take two of these once a day. It should  \nspeed up the recovery and strengthen the blood vessels in your  \neyes. You can give me that already.\" She took the stick before  \nM'raava could bite it in half, it's end turned dark blue.  \n  \n\"And as perceived the saliva test came negative. As much as I'm  \nconcerned you're fine but just in case I'll keep you here over  \nnight plus judging by the elevated levels of your hormones, i  \nthink a week off should do you good colonel. Now if you please go  \nthrough that door, there's a bed ready in the lab.\"  \n  \nM'raava slide off the exam table and shuffled along to the  \nairlock. A box of horse size pills and a week off... It could  \nhave been worse, she tried to convince herself. Crap, she rubbed  \nher eyes. It was dark in here and her night vision was still  \nscrewed since the accident, the muddish red fog covered the whole  \nroom. She sighed and waded towards something she hoped, was the  \naforementioned bed. Being as naked as her kind can be, she let  \nherself drop on the bed. It made a laud Ough!  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Mi a cafrangos nyavaja!? Who the fuck...\" Arpad's hands grabbed  \nchunks of fur, apparently growing all over the attacker.  \n  \n\"M'raava?\" With ears dropped, her blue eyes met his in I'm so  \nterribly sorry glance. What the fuck was goin on?! What is this  \nplace and why the hell was he naked?! Wait a second, last thing  \nhe remembered was the medbay, Jean patching up his arm and - he  \nwasn't sure - something pricked his neck... He pushed M'raava  \naway and slammed the intercom with his fist.  \n  \n\"You fucking bitch! You drugged me! What the hell do you think  \nyou're doing!\" He barked at the comm box.  \n  \n\"Tsk,tsk, tsk. Is that how you thank your friend?\" Jean toggled  \nthe cameras until she got a better view. Arpad was cursing her  \nback up to the fifth generation, accenting each sentence with a  \npunch on the intercom. She sighed, so predictable.  \n  \n\"Pofa be!\" She ordered, Arpad shut up instantly. Over the years  \nshe learned cursing in every single language humans used. It  \nwasn't very hard, not when you had to deal with suffering people.  \nIt's amazing what they can come up with when you show up carrying  \na large rectal probe.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Now if you please listen. Both of you have been through some  \nquite significant trauma and even if you can't feel it, your  \nbodies need some time to recover. Also there is a slight  \npossibility that you may have contracted the scratching fever.  \nThe chances are very low however due to the fact that this  \ndisease can remain dormant for generations until given proper  \nconditions, it's still a possibility. Since both of you've been  \nslack on statutory vaccination renew, this makes you both a  \nthreat to the base and planetary safety. As a base medical  \nofficer i can not ignore such threat. You'll be detained for the  \nduration of the statutory quarantine period so please act like  \nreasonable adults and use this time to rest. By the way, the lab  \nis sealed and the comm network disabled in case you got some  \nbrilliant ideas. Also, after the beep, I'm gonna totally ignore  \nyour presence. Beeeeeep!\" She turned off the comlink and silenced  \nthe speakers. On the screen Arpad silently screamed, waving his  \nfists at the cameras. Jean got up, her stomach was growling. It  \nwas time for a snack.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Dögölj meg!\" With one final punch Arpad smashed the comm box,  \nventing his anger. Quarantined...  \n  \n\"Fuck!\" He dropped back on his bunk, it was pointless. They were  \nstuck in there.  \n  \n\"Sorry...\" M'raava whispered, her ears dropped. She felt guilty,  \nit partially was her fault they were here. If she had kept her  \ncool on that ship, they wouldn't be here. On the other hand, she  \ngrinned, if she had stay cool some things might have never  \nhappened. Quite pleasurable things. In a bit better mood, with  \nher hands outstretched, she waded through the thick red mist.  \nWhere the heck was that second bed? She was sure she smelled some  \nfresh beddings from this direction. Probably just few more  \nsteps... She shrieked.  \n  \n\"Wha...\" Arpad gazed at her and froze. It seemed as if he saw the  \nwhole scene in slow motion. In the other end of the room  \nM'raava's body became airborne. She tripped over a stool and  \nplunged face first toward the ground, madly flapping her arms.  \nHer claws grabbed a shelf, that slow her down but did not stop  \nher. The cheap plastic rack tightly packed with laboratory  \nglassware, soon followed her in the journey to the floor,  \nspraying the room with glass shrapnel.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Good grief... M'raava?!\" Something yelped from under the plastic  \nrack.  \n  \n\"Just don't move, there's glass all over the floor!\" Arpad sat up  \nlooking for his shoes.  \n  \n\"Easy to say for ya...\" She balanced on her knees, her fur puffed  \nup. Thank goddess the empty rack wasn't that heavy. Arpad reached  \nbeneath his bed and opened a small cupboard. It was empty.  \n  \n\"That whore! She took my clothes! Tolvaj ribanc!\" The floor was  \nglittering with small, deadly sharp diamonds. He looked around,  \nthere's gotta be a way. Taking his bedsheets he tear off two  \nlarge shreds, folded them and tightly warped around his feet then  \nwith the remaining part, he started clearing the path towards the  \ncatgirl.  \n  \n\"Hope you're not going anywhere coz this gonna take a while...\"  \n  \n\"Ha... ha... ha... very funny.\" She froze in half push-up pose,  \nher knees were killing her.  \n  \n\"Better don't move that leg, there's a large chunk next to it.\"  \n  \n\"Fuck!\"  \n  \n\"Told ya... You cut yourself?\"  \n  \n\"Don't know, can't see it. I think it's just a pinch, can't smell  \nthe blood. Mind you hurry up?\" Her strained arms were sore and  \ntrembling.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You can't see it?\" He stopped sweeping. Main lights were turned  \noff, only the emergency exit sing was casting a dim blue light.  \nQuite enough for him and his human eyes, but for her? It should  \nhave been no different then broad daylight, maybe colorless but  \nquite bright.  \n  \n\"It's temporary.\" But might become permanent if you don't  \nhurry... She added in her mind. There was some vicious glittering  \nin a place where her face might fall.  \n  \n\"From the jump?\" He had to assure himself, the compound's  \ndocumented side effects were nausea, diarrhea and excessive  \nsweating. But blindness? No definitely not.  \n  \n\"Yeah.\" She sighed.  \n  \n\"Jean says it could've been worse if i hadn't hit you.\" She  \nforced a laugh, it didn't sound convincing. They've hit the wall  \nat five hundred G, they'd be dead if not for his impact armor. It  \ntook most of the beating, they've got one tenth, maybe one  \ntwelfth of it. Heck, it was design to sustain subsonic  \nprojectiles in repeated series and all other crap people can  \nshoot or throw at you. The old Kevlar vasts were no match for it  \nbut he would never thought it can dampen a drop like that.  \nThey've made a nine inch deep dent in the wall, the bitch was  \nright. If M'raava had missed him by a hair, her body would simply  \nsplatter all over the wall.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Okay, don't move.\" He put his left arm under her armpits and his  \nright arm between her legs, then picked her.  \n  \n\"Hey! Watch it! Where do you thing you're groping?!\"  \n  \n\"Huh? I don't know what your talking about, I'm just making sure  \nyou won't accidentally drop while i carry you.\" He grinned and  \ncarried her up to the air curtain and punched the switch with his  \nelbow. The steady cold blow quickly swept away the fine glass  \ndust from her fur.  \n  \n\"Careful!\" She hissed as he readjusted his grip.  \n  \n\"You know, girls are sensitive there too...\"  \n  \n\"You mean here?\" Arpad pulled back his arm a bit, M'raava yelped.  \nNow his palm, instead of resting on her belly was directly  \ncupping her secret lips. He let his fingers play. M'raava  \nwriggled in his arms a bit then hanging limply she surrendered,  \ntaking in all the pleasure.  \n  \n\"Pervert, i should skin you for this.\" Her purrs were becoming  \nlauder and lauder. He put her on the bed.  \n  \n\"Well i think your body doesn't agree with you.\" His hand was  \nflooded.  \n  \n\"Should i stop?\" He withdraw his fingers.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Don't even dare!\" She grabbed his hand and pressed it back where  \nit was. She even spread her legs wider apart, something seemed  \noff.  \n  \n\"Are you gonna do something with that piece of pork or should i?\"  \n  \n\"How did you...\" His shaft was getting painfully hard, her  \nreaction did not make it any easier.  \n  \n\"I don't have to see it, i still can smell and hear it. Your  \nheart is awfully laud and your male scent... \" he saw her nose  \ntwitch.  \n  \n\"I wonder... i always wanted to do that.\" Suddenly she grabbed  \nhis butt and pulled herself closer, his whole stick disappeared  \nin one gulp. Arpad scowled, M'raava's head moved back and forth,  \nher tongue dancing around him. She finally released him and  \nchuckled as she carefully licked his tip.  \n  \n\"Funny, it twitches inside.\" Arpad was breathing hard, the hell  \nwas that?! Her rasp tongue, her warm mouth, her razor sharp  \nfangs... All was in there, the thrill, the pleasure. M'raava  \nslowly licked him from the base up to the tip, then again she  \nsucked his whole length in, her purrs thundered through the room.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ow gods!\" He screamed, grabbing her head. It felt as if his mind  \ngonna explode any moment.  \n  \n\"Ek-Khem!\" Came from the intercom. M'raava froze, her mouth was  \nfull.  \n  \n\"Before you continue, there are leather gloves and condoms in the  \nbox on the wall. I must insist, I don't feel like scrapping  \nsamples from all over my clean room. thank you...\"  \n  \n\"I'll go get it.\"Arpad volunteered, M'raava sighed and let it  \nslowly slip out of her mouth.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nM'raava's purrs vibrated in the silence that filled the room, it  \nwas amazing. She did it again, she slept with a human. The same  \nhuman. Her body floated up and down in waves of his breaths, she  \ncould hear his heart racing in tact with her own heart. She never  \nfelt like that. It was... Good. Ow crap! No, not right now! No!  \nShe definitely wasn't thinking straight, her cycle... Her body  \nwas pumped up with hormones, endorphins and all that chemical  \nmambo-jumbo that made you feel butterflies in your chest. This  \ncouldn't be love, could it? Love, love was a human term for and  \nemotion design to justify lust and hardwired into human brain by  \nthe society. Her kind did not worked like that. For s'hestirs it  \nwas simpler, they met and bond if they liked, if they found  \ntrust. You take, you must give as the old ones said. But humans,  \nhumans just took. Was he just taking now or would he give back?  \nSex wasn't a problem, they did not perceive it as taboo, rather  \nas a pleasant thing to do. It bound families, made them stronger.  \nThe only trouble was in timing. Once a year females were keen on  \nchoosing their partners more carefully, it was a sign of greatest  \ntrust to be chosen by one. She felt vulnerable, what would he do  \nwith such gift? You won't know until try, K'sita always told her.  \nIt might hurt if you choose poorly but it will hurt even more if  \nyou'll let the chance slip through your paws. Was this the chance  \nK'sita was talking about? M'raava wasn't sure. However, her body  \nlonged, it felt the need. She gambled.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Say... would you... i can invoke a certain rule... once a  \nyear... I'm entitled to a week off with...\" She swallowed.  \n  \n\"With my designated mate\" There, I said it. Now he's gonna weird  \nout and run away. M'raava thought snuggling to his chest, praying  \nnot to hear the words he'll probably say.  \n  \n\"Would you like me to?\" He asked running his fingers up and down  \nher spine.  \n  \n\"Yes.\"Goddess only know how strongly she wished it.  \n  \n\"Then I'd love to. Lharn h'rra sha[footnote:  \nA phrase from the old Language, part of the mating ritual. Spoken  \nby the male taking in a female in heat. Lit. I accept the Gift  \n].\" He answered, planting half kiss-half lick, right behind her  \nlarge fluffy ear.  \n  \n\"Thank you.\" She whispered hugging him closely, Arpad winced,  \ngritting his teeth.  \n  \n\"Next time you're taking the damn gloves...\"  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nJean slurped in another mouthful of instant noodles, sitting  \nbehind the reception desk. She liked her job, it was boring.  \nBeing the head of base medical division was the easiest job she  \nhas done so far. She was a trainee from the deep space, Jupiter  \nquarantine division. Half of the stuff they dealt with in there  \nwas still classified and another half could give you nightmares  \nfor lifetime, after that everything seemed easy.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Dr. Jean Atteri?\" Somebody knocked on the glass wall.  \n  \n\"Yes?\" She answered, poking in the white box with a pair of  \nchopsticks. Some dried sauce sticked in the corner of her lips.  \n  \n\"I'd wish to speak with colonel Apaffy.\" A civilian dressed in a  \nplain gray tunic, popular amongst space travelers, stood in front  \nof the desk.  \n  \n\"Colonel Apaffy? I'm sorry never heard of.\" She returned to her  \nnoodles.  \n  \n\"It's strange i was told I'd find him here under your care.\" She  \ncasted another look at the stranger, this one longer then before,  \nthen in a theatrical fashion she leafed through the patients log,  \nmaking sure he'll get a glimpse of each page she read.  \n  \n\"Nope, there was no one with that name admitted within the past  \nten days. May i have your name Mr...\"  \n  \n\"Plain. Joe Plain.\" Oh sure, they all were plain. She have seen  \nmany of the like on Jupiter S-3 base.  \n  \n\"May I inquire about current whereabouts of colonel Apaffy.  \nPlease?\" Damn. There was level four clearance red visitor plate  \nhanging round his neck. He had rights to know. Jean sighed  \nputting down her snack and keyed in Arpad's name into the system,  \nit buzzed and spat out few lines.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Colonel Arpad Apaffy has left for earth on December twelfth. He  \nhas yet to report from his holiday leave. Is there anything else  \ni could assist you with Mr. Plain?\" She glanced at him over her  \nspectacles.  \n  \n\"Yes, there is. May i speak with mis M'raava Shigieshtii?\" He  \nasked omitting M'raava's rank.  \n  \n\"I'm sorry that is currently impossible, colonel Shigieshtii is  \nbeing quarantined.\" Eat this! Clause eight of the interstellar  \nsafety regulation, no actions may be taken against subjects of  \nquarantine until they being declared safe to the general public  \nor until their disposal.  \n  \n\"I see. Thank you.\" He left under the now more attentive eyes of  \nsecurity. Jean wondered, her remaining noodles were cold she  \nthrown them into the trash can. Crap. She pulled out her phone  \nand send an empty message to an empty phone number.**  \n    \n  \n\u0026nbsp;\n\n  \n  \n\n"}