FSE

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Chapter 1

Rain fell down upon the city of Darrintin, a steady downpour enough to get one wet and chilled to the bone if out in it for more than a second or two. It made the streets slick, reflecting the light from the traffic signals, street lamps, and storefront signs upon it. It was a dreary night and the wolf-like lupari was happy to be inside his favorite bar on it. The brown and grey furred male looked away from the wide window near him to focus on his drink again. He swirled it in his hand, watching as the ice spheres clinked about in his glass. The amber colored liquid was his only vice. It gave him comfort on nights like this. It helped him forget how lonely he was at times. He may have been a sergeant in the local peacekeeper force in Darrintin, a city of over seven million inhabitants, but he was proof that one could still feel alone even when surrounded by so many others both at work and in general. The lupari raised his glass and downed the liquor. It was strong and felt like liquid fire as it ran down his throat.

He put down the glass as his eyes caught sight of the vid screen that hung on a wall for those at the bar to watch. His ears swiveled slightly as he listened to the attractive female falashi deliver the news report. All other sounds in the bar dulled down to the lupari as he saw an image of the local galactic map appear and heard her speaking. She said that the UTO stellar travel authority had just issued an emergency edict that indefinitely banned all non-military or otherwise unauthorized ships from passing any closer than one hundred light years from UTO Rim space borders. This ranged along a massive swathe of space, from zero degrees to sixty degrees galactic longitude on the Hayestan arm. The lupari narrowed his eyes and wondered what in the stars could bring about that drastic an order. The rynar didn't have any military presence that far out as far as he knew.

His musings were cut short as a heavy hand slapped him on his back, making him lurch forward slightly. The sounds of the bar came crashing back in as well as the voice of the male ralai who struck him.

"Wake the hells up Herik. What's wrong buddy? We're supposed to be having fun and unwinding. It's the weekend. Remember what that is? Fun. You do remember fun, right?" The ralai grinned at him as he leaned over. The alien was big and burly, his orange and white fur clearly showing, the black stripes providing counter point to the rest. Terrans often said this sub-species of ralai reminded them of tigers. Having seen a picture of a tiger, Herik was in total agreement on that point.

"Yeah, I remember fun. I was just watching the data feed. You see? They closed off all travel to Rim space. What do you think could cause them to..."

The ralai cut him off by placing his hand in front of the lupari's face. "I don't give a steaming pile and neither should you. We're DCPK. Crap going on out there is not our business. Now get up off your furry ass and come join us Herik. The others are just about ready to give up on you, you know; but not me. I still believe I can drag you back to reality where all the rest of us continue to live."

The ralai tugged on the collar of Herik's thick jacket and pulled him to his paws. Herik sighed and tromped along at the ralai's side. Irnann was always like that, trying to boost the morale of everyone around him with good cheer. Herik often thought he should have been born a viliti instead of ralai. He seemed more like them in personality at least.

The pair shuffled across the room in the bar to a big table in the back. Around it sat a half dozen other officers, his friends and associates in the public peacekeeper force. Five males and a female, all of them dedicated to protecting and serving the public of the city for long hours, little thanks, and far less pay than any of them deserved to be honest. The group let out a cheer as Herik took a seat at the table with the rest of them. He received a few more pats on the back and a lean fellow officer, a sissach, poured him another drink. He heard a few of them congratulate the ralai on a job well done, to which Irnann claimed he always got his male. That caused the lot of them to laugh. Herik offered a smirk only because it was expected of him. If he didn't they would just spend another few minutes pestering him until he did.

This was the weekly ritual. Six days of hard work was shoved aside in a night of hanging out at the bar and making fools of themselves. They dragged him into it seven months ago and he didn't have the heart to tell them he was not the type who liked this. He preferred drinking alone to wind down from the crap he put up with all the time in the city. Dealing with the punks and petty criminals and the occasional big crime or two was a personal matter to him, not something to celebrate by washing it away with booze until he could barely walk straight. He only agreed because he had begun to hear rumors that he was being considered for a new psych evaluation, wondering if he was suffering from depression due to...

Herik frowned and put that thought out of his head. He had his work and that was enough. No need to dredge up bad memories from his past again.

"So I said, 'Sister? Hell, I didn't even know that was a female. I can't tell you sissach apart at all!'" cried out Irnann, finishing off the punch line to one of his many, many jokes, most of which were in terrible poor taste. All of the officers gathered at the table broke out into laughter, even the sissach. More liquor was poured and a good time was had by all. Herik put on a slight smile and played his part well enough for the rest to be convinced he was having the 'best time of his life' once again.

"Come on now, your turn!" called out the kiori female among them. She had red-brown fur with patches of white, with the biggest, fluffiest tail Herik had ever seen before. Squirrel, humans called the kiori squirrels, and Perrin was a fine, attractive member of the race. "Sergeant Rathan Herik, you have to share a story with us now. We let you slide last week, but not this time. So bark it out and no tail tugging. We want a real story, not some made up garbage."

"She used your full name Herik. You're on the spot now buddy," joked Irnann. The others joined in on the laugh.

The lupari sighed inwardly. He took a breath to get himself ready for the ordeal when his yutri suddenly chirped loudly from his jacket pocket. Herik did his best to not let the look of jubilation flash across his face as he fished it out to answer the call. He glanced at the screen, pointed to it, and said, "Gotta take this call. I'll be back in a few."

The rest of his co-workers threw up their hands or groaned in annoyance as Herik slid off his chair and moved away from the table towards the restrooms in the rear of the bar. He entered an empty stall as quickly as possible; locking it behind him, then took a seat. He was so happy for the call that he did not even mind the smell about him in the restroom. One tap of a claw tip on the screen and a holographic image of a human female's head appeared over the yutri. She was blonde with short shaggy hair down past her neck. Her skin was pale, eyes a piercing shade of blue, and her smile was almost infectiously pleasant.

"Hey you," she said to the lupari.

Herik grinned and said, "Hey you too."

"So, was my timing impeccable as usual? Did I rescue you from the others?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes you were right on time Amy. I don't know how you do it, but I won't look a gift... horse?"

"Yup, horse is right."

"A gift horse in the mouth. So how are you? Are you ready to take the test?" Herik tried to remain calm. His free hand rested on his lap, palm facing upwards, his fingers slightly curled in. He reflexively ran his thumb along the inside of his first two fingers as if he was petting something small and delicate.

"Boy have you been out of the loop Rathan. I told you last week, I was taking the test today. I finished it already."

The lupari's ears drooped down and he felt terribly embarrassed. "I... I'm so sorry Amy. I missed being there when you got out of the academy hall. I wanted to be there for you," he said, his voice almost a whimper.

"Stop that you big softy. You got work. I understand if you couldn't make it; even if you forgot. You have a ton of things on your mind."

That cheered him up slightly. She was so forgiving of any of his faults. "So? Did you... did you pass?"

"You call me Officer Amy Besnizski from now on, thank you very much. As of next week I will be a full member of the DCPK." The look of elation on her face made Herik's heart soar.

"You did it!" he cried out happily. "I can't believe it! You're one among only fifty humans to be peacekeeper officers on this entire planet. That's fantastic Amy!"

Her head nodded. "Yeah, it is pretty damn cool. My parents are going to be so proud of me when they get the message I fired off to them. You're the second person I called you know, you big lug. I only got home a few minutes ago. I want you to come over. We can celebrate, go out, and have some fun."

"I'd like that a lot. Hey, I just got my hands on the new model Proxy they are implementing in the force. I can show up in that."

Amy smirked and said, "All right, but only for a while. I want to spend time with you, face to face. Not staring into some creepy bot eyes. I miss being held by you."

"Me too. I mean, I miss holding you," he almost stammered. He hoped she didn't notice how much that made his ears blush. He tried to flatten them down against his head the best he could.

Amy chuckled softly. "I know. We should have graduated the PK academy together, you and I, but better late than never. Oh oh, I have even better news to share with you when you come over."

"What's that?" he asked, his ears perking back up.

"I said when you come over and not until then. So, I know how much you hate to drag yourself away from the others but..."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," he said quickly.

Amy laughed. "See you soon Woof."

Herik sighed. "Don't call me Woof."

"Sure Woof. Later." The call was terminated and the hologram of her head vanished.

Herik's heart soared. Amy was his best friend, almost family as far as he was concerned. He loved her as much as anyone he had ever loved, but it was a pure and platonic relationship. He met her on the second day of his attendance in the Peacekeeper Academy. He was assigned to her as Guardian and she his Charge. She took to it like a duck to water. He was the nervous one and never sure he could handle her delicately enough. She helped him through it. Amy was a daring, bright human woman; more full of life than anyone he had ever known. She quickly became the light in his life, helping to pull him out of the dark place he was in after his sister's murder. He was almost self-destructive before her, constantly depressed and prepared to throw his life away to attempt to strike out against senseless crimes in the city. Were it not for Amy, he was sure he would never have been composed and calm enough to graduate in the end.

She stuck by his side, even after her accident in the last year of academy. The vehicle crash broke both her legs badly, enough that it took her two years of therapy to get back on her feet and in shape to attend academy once more and finish her training. He remembered how even then, with both legs broken, she was still cracking jokes and utterly convinced she would be a peacekeeper officer. She was there to help do her best to cheer him up. However, with her not at his side all the time as they were in academy, he had sunken back into his depression again. With her being a peacekeeper and free to see him more often, he hoped life would become better. He needed her desperately. His only family left.

The lupari got up, shut off his yutri, and was about to exit the stall when he heard two people enter the communal restroom. It was a loud and boisterous entrance and the sound of one being shoved by the other against a wall was clear enough to Herik. The one that hit the wall groaned in pain.

"Listen up you little fur stain. If you don't have the credits on you as agreed, I'm gonna have to take it out of your scrawny little ass," growled one voice.

"W-wait, please. I just need another day, one more and I swear I'll have it," whimpered the other.

"Chagray isn't the most giving of people when it comes to getting his money! You're late, I break something. Those are the rules. No rules and everyone will start to think they can just pay anytime they like. So, pick a body part or I pick one for you."

"No no, pleeease!" the other whined in fear.

Herik unlocked and opened up his stall door and walked out. He saw a slim and terrified looking ashar pressed against the wall, his long thin furless tail thrashing about wildly. A huge and muscular arkatian had him pinned there with a single beefy hand on the smaller rat-like humanoid. He remembered how Amy had called the few arkatians she had seen dragons. Herik never got around to seeing pictures of terran dragons, but he did know that she assured him that arkatians were dragons. All he knew is that the reptilian looking race was the largest of all the member races of the UTO, this one easily standing a head taller than him. The arkatian looked towards Herik and glared at him. The ashar also looked and his eyes alone conveyed that he begged Herik for help.

"You... get out," growled the mostly black scaled arkatian at Herik. "This is none of your business."

Herik looked to the smaller ashar, could feel the fear, smell it on him. "Why do you owe him money?" asked Herik.

"Gambling," whimpered the terrified ashar.

"You shut up!" snarled the arkatian at his victim. He looked back at Herik. "Last chance, go now."

"Make me," he said. Herik knew he should have just shown him his PK emblem. It might have made the huge bully back down, but he hated seeing the little folks getting picked on by the bigger ones. Hunters and prey. Strong and weak. Herik did not believe in that. He was a peacekeeper to bring peace and security to all, to prove everyone was equal and that all needed to learn to work together, not inflict violence on others. Unfortunately some refused to accept the easy way of learning that lesson. Some had to do it the hard way. Some, like this arkatian, had to be hurt to understand that it was wrong to do the hurting. Besides, Herik was off duty and left his weapon in his vehicle. He was sure the brute would not take 'stop' from a smaller lupari like him without a gun to back it up.

The arkatian shoved the ashar to the floor and turned to fully face Herik. He cracked his knuckles as he took a step towards him. "You got a death wish runt," growled the looming dragon.

Herik smirked up at the arkatian and merely shrugged. The arkatian swung a massive fist out at him with an accompanying snarl. The lupari closed in before the punch connected, getting inside the reach of the arm and making it miss. He remembered his close quarters combat training lessons, especially about dealing with arkatian anatomy. Punching and striking at the majority of locations on the torso, stomach and chest, were almost useless due to their excessively strong and reinforced bodies. Though some people had the laughable idea that being muscular alone could protect you from physical harm, for arkatians it was almost true. Herik was taught to strike for their vulnerable points, the joints, the sensory organs, and for the much taller arkatians, the easily reached vitals. He leaned in and punched as hard as he could at the groin of the brute, then shoved him back with all his strength. The arkatian was clearly not a well-trained fighter or Herik would have had a much harder time of it, so he counted his blessings as the dragon's head slammed against the wall even as he let out a whimper of pain from being hit in so sensitive a spot.

The arkatian slid downwards to the floor in front of Herik, hands covering his crotch. The tiles on the wall where his head contacted were cracked badly, though that did not seem to harm the arkatian much at all. It looked up at Herik, eyes almost squinted shut in pain. The lupari raised a fist and punched the brute once more with all his might, on the side of his snout. Its head snapped to the side, a single tooth flying from its mouth. The arkatian fell over and lay still on the floor at Herik's paws.

"Gods and stars damn it!" cried Herik as he shook his hand a few times, his knuckles and fingers ached from delivering that one hit. It felt like he punched a duracrete wall.

He looked down at the ashar, rubbing his bruised hand. The lupari motioned for him to get up to his paws. The smaller male did as order and pulled himself up, staring in shock down at the fallen dragon.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Yeah. Now listen, I'm a peacekeeper. You are going to have to go to the precinct and report that you're being threatened with physical harm or this is going to keep happening to you, or worse. I know it is embarrassing as hell to be caught up in this entire thing, gambling and owing a loaner credits, but you need to do this for yourself. We can't protect you if you don't meet us half way. Give all the details to the officers there and let them know who the illegal loaner is as well. We can help you, you just have to trust us."

The ashar nodded his head slowly and said, "Yes sir. Thank you again. I swear, I'll go to them right away." The ashar quickly scampered out of the restroom.

Herik shook his head and sighed. He stepped over the massive arkatian and began to head out. Now all he had to do was tell the others he had to go and meet up with Amy. To Herik, the night was looking up already.