FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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.

Chapter 2

Herik stepped out of the public transit module and pulled up the collar on his heavy jacket. He slouched slightly as he stepped into the rain which continued to fall on the city, hoping the high collar would keep the water from running down his neck and soaking his fur. The lupari quickly descended the stairs from the transit platform and made his way towards the border of the southern end of the city. He could see it just down the block. It was the most recent addition to Darrintin, four years old, an entire new district in the process of being built. A wall separated it from the rest of the city proper, though the wall was only fifteen meters high. It was composed of advanced duracrete with a hyper-alloy steel framework inside, specifically designed to prevent almost any vehicle from crashing through it; a barrier to protect those who lived beyond the wall. As he drew closer to it, Herik saw lights clearly illuminating a sign on the wall. It read 'New Eden' in bold letters, both in UTO standard and in terran English below it. A smile spread on his face as he saw those words. Behind those walls were almost ten thousand humans, part of the first wave of immigrants to flood out and embrace the stars and space outside of their own world.

The lupari walked over close to the wall, a neishor peacekeeper nearby acting as guard. There was always one there at all hours of the day, just to make sure some foolish youth or other citizen did not cross over the wall and cause no end of trouble for the far smaller race of humans. He presented his PK emblem to the massive guard who nodded in response. Herik went up to the edge of the wall, easily able to look over it. He brushed his hand across his wet brow, flicking water away, and lost himself in the view of a tiny city scape spread before him. It was like looking at a perfectly detailed one-tenth scale model of civilization. The architecture of the buildings was mostly blocky and lacking the esthetics he was used to seeing in many UTO structures, but they appeared sturdy and stable. Lights shone out of myriad windows and neon signs flickered in the dark before late night store fronts. To many of the other races and even in the media it had gained the moniker of Toy City, but to Herik it was much more. It was home to Amy, which made it his favorite place in the entire city.

He stood there for a few minutes, just appreciating the district and catching a few glimpses of humans scurrying about in the rain. They were just as eager as anyone else to get out of being drenched. With a chuckle, Herik pulled himself from the sight and headed towards the building just to the left of the wall. The UTO standard building was only three stories tall, which made it over four times the height of the little wall. The sign over the entrance doorway declared it the Union Hall. It was a diner and meeting place for both humans and the other much larger races of the UTO to comingle and get to know each other better. It was an extremely trendy place to go to and was packed most hours of the day by UTO citizens wanting to get their first glimpses of humans in the flesh. By this time at night, well past high moon, there were only a handful of folks who usually went there. Herik and Amy were usually part of that crowd, but tonight he wanted to try something a little different at first.

He stepped inside and took comfort at the immediate warmth and lack of rain falling on him. Resisting the urge to shake his head and fling water all about, Herik snatched up one of many towels hanging on a peg board just to the side of the entrance. He dried his fur off, deposited the damp towel into a receptacle for it, and made his way over to the main eatery location. Herik quickly ordered himself a cup of coffee, a human drink that was only found here in Union. It was extremely expensive due to the sheer amount that larger UTO races would consume at once in a single cup. Herik was twenty two meters tall, a far cry taller than the barely two meters tall for humans. So the cups of coffee he drank were lots bigger than human cups, but to him it was worth it. He paid for the drink and a few meat sticks, then took a seat towards the rear of the diner on the second floor eatery. That was the spot with the wide transparent polymer windows which allowed one to see past the wall and overlook New Eden.

The lupari settled into a seat at a table that was flush up against the window. A ledge ran all along the inside of the window at table height and connected with each table found there. The tiny humans could take the mini-transport trams along the ledge and get off at the table they chose to have a meeting with whatever larger person they were going to see. Herik's eyes focused on the human scale booth and table attached to the main table, just so humans and 'giants' could eat together in the same place. He also knew that those trams ran out from the diner hall and connected to stations along the wall, so humans could get home easily and never have to worry about moving through the potentially dangerous larger city area.

He took a sip of the coffee and winced at its bitter taste. He always forgot to put the sugar in it. Herik grabbed up some sugar tablets at the table and dropped them in. At least this stuff always helped clear his head after having some drinks for the night. Amy introduced him to it two years ago. He smiled as he remembered how he blamed her for trying to kill him the first time he drank it. She laughed for hours at him, especially when all the caffeine in it made his ears start to twitch uncontrollably. The lupari then looked closely at the tiny booth to make sure it was still there. When he saw the little scratched in words in the plastic table top, 'Amy-n-Woof,' he felt fully at ease. He still couldn't believe that she etched that into the table with a knife, right in the middle of a crowded day. She was utterly fearless.

He ate a little and drank some more of the hot beverage before pulling out the small case from the inside of his jacket pocket. Herik carefully opened it up to reveal his Proxy. These were the newest measures taken by the local peacekeepers to allow the non-human members of the UTO to enter and enforce the law in the human sized New Eden on even terms. First introduced five years ago in the corporate sector, they quickly caught on in other fields of society. It was estimated that in no more than another two years Proxies would be available for public purchase. Herik's Proxy was a humanoid robot, vaguely shaped like a male lupari. It was complete with digitigrade legs, a mechanical tail, and ears that could swivel and move similar to the real thing. Through the use of a Proxy, any non-human size UTO peacekeeper could safely enter New Eden and enforce the law without endangering any humans or their buildings due to their size.

He took out the Proxy and set it upright on the table. The lupari then pulled out the neural interface jacks and plugged them in, put on the virtual reality goggles, and inserted the ear buds. When it was fully activated he would see through the Proxy's artificial eyes, hear through its audio receptors, and speak through it vocal speakers using the little communicator attached to the goggles. He had spent three months in training to get used to controlling one of these extremely expensive toys and was good enough now to handle it easily. Herik leaned back in his seat and transmitted the activation codes to the Proxy.

The inside of the goggles blocked off all sight to the outside world his eyes normally saw and replaced it with the view that the Proxy had. It was as if the world had suddenly become gigantic to Herik. Everything looked insanely big now. He turned his head, the Proxy's head, and saw himself leaning back in the seat. The first time he had seen the world from the point of view the humans did all the time, he panicked and pulled out from the Proxy. It took two days to get accustomed to that. After that, it was much easier. Again, it was Amy that helped him, assuring him he could do it and that he had to use it to come see her in New Eden and have dinner at her place. Two months later he did just that. At least his Proxy sat there while she ate and taunted him for an hour on how good the steak was she had.

The Proxy took a few steps, Herik getting used to it and running diagnostics to make sure everything was in order with it. Finally, once it all checked out, he headed towards the transit dock at the table's edge. He ordered a tram to come and waited the few minutes for it. The Proxy entered the sleek enclosed vehicle when it arrived then was whisked off towards the tunnel that led out of Union Hall. He always loved to see the city at this size. It became even more of a marvel, the Toy City suddenly blown up to real city size. It really was all just a matter of perspective.

Minutes later the tram docked at the stop he needed to get off at, the one closest to Amy's residence. Herik walked along and looked all about, like a tourist to a new world, his head whipping left and right as fast as the Proxy could turn. He halted it when a pair of humans walked towards him. Both stared in shock at the Proxy, it was still a very rare thing for common civilians to encounter them. Herik raised up his hand and waved at them.

"Good evening citizens. Nice night aside from the rain isn't it?" he asked, his voice came out clearly through the speaker in the Proxy. The man and woman, middle aged humans, nodded in mute agreement with Herik and stared wide eyed at him as he walked off. They noticed the peacekeeper emblem on the Proxy and the man mumbled something about 'Robocop', though the allusion was lost on Herik.

The Proxy was waterproof, so the rain did it no harm at all. Herik took his time walking down the human district's streets and looked at each building as he passed it. He stopped by a store, closed for now, and peered through the window at the goods for sale inside. Human items, exported off earth to this world for human consumption and purchase. How he longed for the day when humans could share their products with the rest of the UTO on a more even basis. Amy claimed that the human entertainment industry put the entire combined entertainment complex of all the other member races to shame. She was sure that Hollywood would eventually corrupt the rest of the UTO just as it did on earth. Herik had to see this for himself as he did enjoy watching a good deal of tri-vid films, especially falashai cinema.

He finally arrived at Amy's residence. It was a three story building and she was on the third floor. The Proxy stepped inside the entrance vestibule and pressed on the button to alert Amy of his arrival. The paw of the Proxy tapped on the ground. Due to the neural interface even common physical tics, such as Herik tapping his paw, was frequently displayed by the Proxy. He waited over a minute and pressed the button again, then a third time two minutes later. Herik scowled while the Proxy's mouth opened in reaction to his growing concern. He began to get a bad feeling about this. Amy never took that long to answer him, nor did she fall asleep if she knew he was coming over like tonight. That just wasn't her. He had the Proxy activate its internal yutri and call Amy's number. Another two minutes passed and there was no answer. Her comm did not even slide to message mode.

Herik took no time to deliberate what he should do next. He slammed the Proxy against the light inner door and broke it open immediately. He ran inside and rushed up the staircase to the third floor, taking three steps at a time in his haste. The Proxy halted before the door to Amy's apartment and Herik stared at the portal. It was partly open; the door lock damaged and kicked in. The Proxy lowered its hand to the right thigh which opened up and slid out a pistol. He gripped it firmly, the safety on it unlocking only when held in the Proxy's hand. Herik shoved the door open and went to enter the room but felt the Proxy shudder and stumble instead of moving in smoothly. A warning flashed before Herik's eyes that his neural link efficiency was suffering due to his elevated anxiety. He had to calm down. That was the key to making the Proxy work well. The lupari took a few deep breaths, calmed himself slightly, saw that the link was stable once more, and then entered the apartment.

The lights were still on and the sound of music playing clearly came through the Proxy's audio receptors. He held the pistol before him and swept each room as he looked for Amy. He recognized the music playing. She introduced him to it. Genesis. The singer was Phil Collins. The song was Follow You, Follow Me. Herik's heart ached. That was their song together.

He entered the living room and saw the scene before his Proxy's eyes. The room was a shambles. Her lamp was broken; the vid screen was on the floor, and her favorite painting askew on the wall. The glass coffee table before her couch was shattered, fragments of glass all over the rug. There was a stain of blood on some of the fragments.

Herik's Proxy rushed through the rest of the rooms of the apartment, crying out her name as loud as he could. Nothing. She was not there. He saw no sign of her. Her bedroom was also a shambles, her belongings strewn about. He felt his panic rise again, the Proxy shaking in response to it. His heart pounded in his chest, the sound thrumming in his ears like a beating drum. It was happening again.

His sister, shot and killed for thirty credits on a street in the middle of the night.

The Proxy shook and connection warnings flashed all across the screen before Herik's eyes. It was about to shut down temporarily to preserve system stability of the Proxy.

She was all the family he had left. His parents both died when he was young. Amy was all he had left. He couldn't lose her. He needed her.

Herik saw red flashing across the screen. If filled his entire view. He did not know if it was the screen itself or his mind playing tricks on him. Rage and fear tore through him, built to a crescendo... then stopped.

Herik went dead calm. All red lines in the Proxy cleared and system shut down was averted.

The lupari lowered the pistol and slid it back into the inner holster of the Proxy's leg. The leg plates slid over and concealed the weapon again. Herik's focus was clearer than it had ever been before. His gaze ran over the bedroom and he began to take stock of all of Amy's things that he saw. He recognized a lot of it. He saw money and a few pieces of jewelry that she owned; mostly rings and a bracelet. She did not dress gaudy often and her clothes were more functional than fashionable. Nothing was stolen. He even went through her, what was the human word, wallet. All her identity cards were there as well as her three credit account cards. He dropped the wallet and stalked out of the bedroom with a purpose.

In each and every room he saw signs of her things being tossed about, but nothing stolen that he could see. His search ended up in the living room again. More Phil Collins played. Land of Confusion. He liked this song as well, though he barely registered it playing in the background.

He moved about, looking for anything that could have been a clue or hint as to what happened. He found her yutri. It was broken, apparently smashed deliberately or stepped on. They did not break from simple falls out of a person's hand. They were too well made for that. Herik had the Proxy kneel down by the blood stain. He carefully lifted up a few pieces of glass that had the blood on it. This was human blood of course. If the human was from this world, from inside the city, it would match DNA files accessible by the peacekeepers. A panel opened in the forearm of the Proxy and he deposited the glass fragments inside it.

He turned his head and suddenly noticed it; a piece of cloth was almost hidden under the couch. The Proxy reached over, shoved the couch back slightly, and took the cloth in hand. It was a small white rag or handkerchief as the humans called it. He raised it up and stared at it closely. He could make out some discoloration on it. Those were likely sweat stains. That meant a scent. If there was a scent, he could also use that to his advantage. The cloth went into a second evidence case inside the Proxy.

His final sweep of the room revealed slight dirty prints and streaks left on the floor. Marks left behind by three different people, the humans who attacked her. The Proxy took image captures of each partial print and filled in the details of the full print via visual inference software running in it.

Herik had the Proxy stand up and sweep about the room one final time. Amy was not robbed; this was not a random crime of opportunity. He was sure she was not murdered. At least she wasn't murdered here in the apartment. Amy. His Amy was taken from here by human assailants. Why and where she was taken to he was not sure yet, but he was going to find out. Even if he had to tear apart the entire city, both New Eden and full size Darrintin, Herik was going to find his Amy.

In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins began to play as the Proxy made its way out of the apartment.

Chapter 3

Sergeant Herik strode up the steps that led to the entrance of Peacekeeper Center 12, the center which he worked out of. It was a sleek black building, composed of a sturdy alloy polished to an almost mirror sheen. There were no windows on any Peacekeeper Centers as most of them doubled as emergency shelters for civilians in times of crisis and were intended to be proof against both military attacks as well as some natural disasters. Fortunately no events happened to necessitate such actions during Herik's time as a peacekeeper. Twin cameras monitored all who entered and exited the center, plainly obvious to all who approached the building.

He had called in the incident at Amy's home, explained all that had happened and was desperate to start looking for her. Every minute that passed was a minute colder any possible trail could get and that was unacceptable to him right now. He stepped through the automatic doors and entered the building, not caring about being wet at the moment as the rain still fell outside. Fellow officers greeted him but the lupari said nothing in reply. He barely heard them speak. Herik strode through the main hall of the center and headed to the elevators. He took the first one he could get to the third floor and walked out to the collection of desks and monitors that he was normally stationed at when not out on patrol. As it was late night, the staff was slightly reduced in number. Herik stalked forward towards his superior's office when he heard a familiar voice call out to him from behind.

"Sergeant Herik, sir, the lieutenant isn't here yet. He should be arriving shortly. Is there anything I can help you with right now? I've been apprised of the situation already. I... I noticed it on my monitor detail. It's Amy, isn't it sir?" The feminine voice dipped to a near whisper at the last words.

Herik turned slowly to look at the female viliti before him. She was a tall member of her species, less than half a head below him in height and covered with brown and white fur in splotchy patterns. Her ears were very long, even for her kind, and she tended to keep them pulled back and lightly bound together to keep them out of the way. Officer Milaj Ivinni was a data coordinator in the center. Her job was to provide technical support and information to peacekeepers out in the field. Though a full peacekeeper officer, she rarely left the center. Herik knew she preferred it that way. She hated direct person-to-person confrontation, but excelled in the tasks set before her at her terminal, and loved computers.

The lupari gave a slight nod of his head and mumbled, "Yes."

"I thought I recognized the address sir. I offer any and all assistance to you that I can provide on this matter. I'm sure the lieutenant will agree to send you on the case immediately and we can..."

Herik held his hand up and sighed, "Please Milaj, not now. Just... just let me sit here in peace and wait for the lieutenant, okay?"

The viliti looked a little crestfallen and backed up a few steps, almost stumbling over her big paws. "Yes sir. I'm sorry for being a pest sir." She turned around and began to shuffle off towards her data station and terminals.

Herik watched her go and immediately felt bad. His tail flicked in annoyance, mostly at himself. "Wait. I'm the one who's sorry. You're not a pest Milaj. I'm just out of sorts at the moment. Forgive me," he called over to her.

She halted immediately and her little nub of a tail that poked out of the rear of her black and gold uniform wiggled. Milaj looked back at Herik and smiled. She clutched a large data pad to her bosom with one hand and pointed to her station. "Right there... I mean I'll be there, right there, when you need... I mean if you need me sir. Not that you have to use me as there are others here to provide support, but if you..."

"Milaj, that's fine. Go. Shoo," he said. It was almost impossible for him to not smile at her awkward enthusiasm. Even as emotionally scattered as he was at the moment, Milaj was there for him and making him feel just a little bit better. The viliti scampered off to her cubicle, took a seat behind the partition, poked her head up over the barrier once to look at him, and then ducked back down out of sight. Herik sighed and took a seat at his desk a short distance off. He slumped back in the chair heavily and covered his face with his hands.

He kept running over the sights of Amy's home in his head, over and over. He was trying to see if he missed any slight detail. He was sure he hadn't. The Proxy saw all that could be seen. He was thorough after he calmed down. Herik dragged his hands down his face then shook his head. The lupari pulled the Proxy out once more and set the case before him. He took it out and set it up, then began to remove the evidence he collected from the site. He knew this was a breach of protocol. He was supposed to leave it on site, but he had to follow this up. It was Amy. He had to find her. No one else cared for her like he did.

Herik pulled out a small set of micro tools from the top shelf of his desk, used to make repairs and adjustments to Proxies just like his. He activated and linked into the Proxy, had it remove the small swatch of cloth from its arm then took the visor off to see it with his own eyes. Though the Proxy could see and hear better than he could due to its sensors, there was one thing it could not do. It could not smell. There was no way for it to translate any data in the form of scent to him. That he considered the Proxy's biggest flaw. For a lupari to not have access to their sense of smell was a truly disorienting matter. They had the keenest sense of smell out of all the member races of the UTO, able to discern the slightest of details by scent alone. For Herik, not smelling things in his Proxy made him feel half blind, but he had learned to adapt. He hoped that future models of Proxies would be developed that could get past this sensory hurdle.

The lupari used a set of tiny tweezers to lift up the thirty centimeter by thirty centimeter square of cloth. He carefully raised it up to his nose and sniffed at it a few times, waving it side to side. He immediately frowned and his nose crinkled slightly. The dominant aroma on the cloth was strong and pungent. It reminded him of some manner of cologne or body wash, likely meant to hide unpleasant body odors due to perspiration. This was a distinctly human strength scent. Almost none of the regular sized thirteen races would use such a powerful fragrance, as virtually all of them had better senses of smell than humans did. Herik turned his head quickly and sneezed, rubbed at his nose, then went back to sniff at the cloth again. Under the oppressive cologne smell was a bare trace of human scent. They had very distinctive smells, but unfortunately he might not be able to precisely pinpoint the specific person this belonged to. He silently cursed the cologne.

Herik carefully set the cloth to the side within a small evidence tray. He next took out the bloody glass fragments and set them in the tray too. For this he would need Milaj's assistance. She could get a run up of the DNA in minutes. If it was on planetary file, then he would have his match and the hunt would be on immediately. If not... Herik shook his head.

"Milaj," he called out.

A clamor arose from within the cubicle the viliti was in and the sound of things hitting the floor was heard. Herik saw a data pad get bobbled up into the air then snagged by a brown furred hand before it fell. Milaj scurried out from her station, data pad in hand and her yutri at her hip. She practically skidded to a halt at his desk and huffed softly.

"Yes sir?" she said.

Herik nodded to the chair at the side of his desk. She looked at it and back at him, a quizzical expression on her face. The lupari glared at the seat then back at her. "Oh oh!" she exclaimed and quickly sat down. He sighed softly and smirked.

"Milaj, I need a blood analysis and DNA trace on this sample. How long will that take?"

She peered down at the tiny fragments of glass and her nose wiggled a little. "Hrmm, not a lot to go on there. Just powder really. I estimate about ten to fifteen minutes. I assume you want it checked against the human database we have, yes?"

Herik nodded. "Exactly. All this was taken from the site via my Proxy. There is no way this is anything but evidence left behind by humans. They committed this crime against their own. One of them is responsible and out there, and I'm going to find him and any of his accomplices."

The viliti's big paws shuffled on the floor, a look of slight apprehension on her face. "Umm, sir, shouldn't this all be done by proper evidence investigation technicians? Evidence is not supposed to be... removed..." Her voice trailed off as she saw the look Herik fixed her with. "Right, Amy. Soooo, I will get this blood analyzed right away for you sir."

She took the evidence tray in hand and carefully carried it back to her station to carry out Herik's request. He hoped she would not get into any trouble for this. He would take all the blame should he have to. It was his fault after all.

The lupari leaned back again and let his mind wander. Memories of years gone by raced through it over and over. He remembered the first time Amy met him, when they were paired up as Guardian and Charge. All the others were slowly trying to get used to the humans they were with, doing their best to convince them it was safe to be held in their hands. Herik had lowered his down before the blonde haired human girl with her back turned to him. He clearly recalled clearing his throat to get her to pay attention to him and stop talking to another human. When she turned he heard her shout, 'OMG I got a woof!' She practically jumped upon his hand, almost causing him to jerk it back in surprise. She called out for him to lift her up and asked what was taking him so long. He remembered how embarrassed he was when he saw that everyone else was staring at him and her in a mix of shock and mirth. Amy demanded he lift her up to his face whereupon she hugged his muzzle with no sign of fear whatsoever. She was either the bravest insane person, or the most insane brave person, he ever met. Their friendship started from that moment onwards.

More memories flashed by and Herik had a smile on his face from it. He was broken from his reverie by a hand gently shaking his shoulder. Herik opened his eyes and glanced up, meeting Milaj's green eyed gaze. She blushed and pulled her hand back quickly when she saw he was awake.

"Yes?" he asked her.

"Oh, ah, you looked like you were sleeping and I was afraid to bother you, but I thought you might like to know that it's done."

Herik frowned and looked at his chronometer. He had dozed off for almost a half hour. Without looking up he asked, "So, what's the result Milaj?"

The viliti looked a little nervous and said, "The blood is definitely human, and not Amy's. However, the DNA is not on any of our files, either for the city or entire planetary database. This is an outworlder, one who has to be here illegally, or his DNA data would have been automatically entered into the system. I... I'm sorry sir. I can't get a positive match for him other than to assure you he is male, between the ages of thirty two to thirty five terran years old, has brown hair and eyes, is more than likely overweight due to the presence of an FTO gene variant, and has a higher likelihood than normal to contract the neurological disorder humans refer to as Huntington's disease. I'm sorry I can't get any better details for you without making use of the units we have in the evidence hall."

Herik nodded. "You did fine Milaj, thank you." He felt his heart sink a little more as he realized how much harder it might be to find Amy now. He had to hope some video units may have picked her up as she was being stolen away. Darrintin was a generally lawful society though, open and trusting of its citizens who usually returned that trust. Ubiquitous video observation was a thing of a more paranoid past long, long ago. Herik rubbed at his face once more, trying to decide what to do from this point on.

"Um, Herik, I may have something applicable to Amy's disappearance, though you won't like to hear it."

He looked at Milaj between his fingers before his eyes. His ears flicked slightly and he nodded for her to continue.

The viliti quickly set down her pad and connected it to her yutri to bring up holographic displays for Herik to see. Without a word she began to flip through several news feed articles about human disappearances. He saw that they were scattered across the planet from among the three human districts found on it. There were also other articles detailing disappearances of humans on other UTO planets. They were spaced out across a period of three years, a total of almost a hundred humans. There were no clear matching qualities among them though. It was a broad mix of demographics. Male, female, old, young, different ethnicities; nothing matched at all as Herik looked over the data. He lowered his hands and stared at Milaj.

"Is all this factual? I don't place any faith in those pathetic propaganda and conspiracy articles that come out Milaj. I know you read some of them," he said.

"No no sir, not at all. These are actual articles from reputable planetary news feeds I have been collecting," she said hastily.

"Then why hasn't this been brought to my attention before?" he growled.

"You are not on the missing persons' task force sir. You deal with theft, robbery, and homicide, as per your requested assignment. You patrol the streets and keep them free of crime."

"Why aren't we having officers deal with this? How wide spread is this? Who the hell is taking humans?"

"We do have officers assigned to these crimes," she said softly. "They are a small group as set up by Lieutenant Tashk. Five officers total."

"Then I need to be on it. Have any of these humans been found yet? Are these even all related or just a string of coincidences?"

Milaj began to organize the various articles, her fingers deftly sliding the holograms about in the air, putting them into order based on the planets they happened on. "When looked upon in this matter, it seems like a series of unassociated events happening across twelve worlds. A human or two here vanishes over a three year span; four missing from this planet; another five from this one. They are spread out, just random enough to not raise extreme suspect, however..." She shifted them all into full chronological order of the crimes as a whole, "This has been an ongoing series of events for the last few years, moving from world to world in an almost predictable manner. Someone or some group has been snatching up humans, slowly and carefully. Picking from among them in a way to arouse the least amount of outcry, at least from what I have pieced together. Over ninety five percent of the humans that have gone missing are unmarried, with little to no surviving family, and no connections to any major corporations or local government. Not a single one has been found in this string of disappearances either."

Herik growled in anger. "Are you sure about this Milaj? I want to agree but this is still..."

"I'm sure sir. I know you know I like to read mystery novels and conspiracy theory articles and such fare, but this is real. Humans have been abducted on UTO worlds for the past three years in a slow and methodical manner. It almost seems like they are chosen for their differences from each other, as if as broad a selection of humanity was being... collected. By spreading it out across many worlds it keeps the events from raising too many suspicions. Few peacekeeper centers work on a cross planet scale. Crimes are rarely that broad and sweeping. Those crimes that do cross planetary boundaries fall into the jurisdiction of the military; piracy, major smuggling, and other similar illegal practices. However, the military is too busy to delve into the minutia on a single world at a time in a matter such as this."

"So you're suggesting that someone or some group is snatching humans up slowly but surely, one at a time, across over ten planets, just to avoid it looking too suspicious." Herik looked over the data and his brow furrowed once more. "It even follows a path, heading from coreward on out, stretched across a major trading line."

"That line begins in Medigaa-III and winds through six of the highest density population belts," said Milaj. "And it concludes... here, on our planet. Khorosh."

Herik gripped the desk he sat at tightly. His claws scraped along the top of it, etching lines in the hard plastic. "Sentient trafficking?" he asked as he met the viliti's gaze. "It's not common at all, but it happens."

"If so, this is the first recorded incidents of it befalling humans. Due to their fragile nature, the penalties for abusing humanity are extreme. I can't imagine who would dare to try something like kidnapping humans, other than their own species." Milaj tapped on her chin a few times and mumbled, "Then again, I have read that their own history is utterly mired in abuse of their own kind to an almost psychotic level."

"I have to bring this to the attention of the lieutenant then. I'll tell him I noticed this. I won't drag you into it Milaj. I know what he thinks of you already," said Herik.

The viliti forced up a slight smile. "Oh, I don't mind if he thinks I'm socially unadjusted or weird. I don't live with him, so no big deal." She shrugged and tried to keep the smile on.

Herik knew she had a reputation in the center for being the odd one out, the girl who believed in space faring birds or unknown alien races living on the fringes of UTO space. That coupled with her awkward social mannerisms and general uncoordination made her an object of some fellow officers' ridicule. She was teased or made the butt of jokes on far too common a basis, enough so that Herik even snapped at other officers for it. His standing up for her at all is what made Milaj so willing to help him in any and all matters.

The lupari reached over and put his hand atop hers. "I appreciate you, you know that. If all this you showed me is real too, then you have no idea how much this means to me if it leads to finding Amy."

Milaj blushed slightly and nodded. She was terrified on how to respond to his words so she changed the topic immediately. Her eyes darted towards the lieutenant's office. "He's here you know. He came in while you were napping, to address this missing person case. Frankly, I'm surprised. I thought it would take him a lot longer to get here. He must have been out in the city at the time."

Herik nodded and stood up. "Thanks. I'm going to speak to him on this now. I can't waste any more time. Amy's alive, I can feel it. If some freak or freaks took her, I have to get her back." Herik quickly used his yutri and linked to Milaj's. She shared all the compiled data she had on the missing human cases, copying them onto his device. The lupari quickly made his way to his superior's office, leaving Milaj to gaze after him fondly.

He rapped on the door to Lieutenant Sekma Tashk's office. He briefly heard the gruff voice call for him to enter. Herik slid inside the Spartan office quickly and shut the door behind him. He moved over to the chair before Lt. Tashk's desk and took a seat. Tashk was a lupari, same as Herik, with dark brown and black fur. A touch of grey was flecked across his muzzle, a slight hint of his increasing age. His amber eyes rose up from the data pad in his hands, a cold and stern gaze. He was a thirty eight year veteran of the peacekeepers and was not afraid of pulling rank and chewing out his subordinates. With a nod of his head, Herik was given permission to speak up.

"Sir, I trust you know exactly who was taken from the New Eden apartment this evening. Am I correct sir?" said Herik.

The lupari nodded.

"Good. No need to mince words then. I formally request to be on the case to find her and the persons responsible for her abduction."

"Denied," said the lieutenant flatly.

Herik sat there, stunned, for a few moments. Lt. Tashk's gaze never wavered, looking Herik eye to eye. Before the sergeant could speak up Tashk spoke first.

"I already have officers to assign to a missing person case, trained for such duties, and proficient with Proxy use. They can scour the New Eden district and find who is responsible for this. You're too close to the victim, this Amy of yours," he said.

Herik finally found his voice and barked out, "She's my Charge. I'm her Guardian. You have to..."

"I don't have to let you do anything, is that clear Sergeant Herik?" snapped Tashk. "The whole Guardian/Charge dynamic is fine in academy or in the military or whatever, but here in the peacekeepers, that doesn't fly. When the first humans are fully integrated, they are going to be assigned to provide aid in their district, to police their own people, so we normal sized folk don't have to use a pathetic toy to safeguard a race too small to be able to protect themselves easily. That aside, you are too emotionally attached to this person to do the job as required by the law. You will continue with your regular duties as per protocol Sgt. Herik. Is that clear?"

"But she was one of our own! She just passed the exam and was..."

Again Tashk cut him off. "I know that! I was informed of this while I was out having dinner with some friends. If you don't think I'm concerned enough about her disappearance, you're out of line then. I am treating her disappearance with the same exact respect and attention that any citizen of our city deserves according to the law. I'm not about to make any exceptions to the way this center runs just to appease your feelings about some tiny person you like to cuddle in your hand like a doll."

"You son of a..." growled Herik. He leaned across the table and put his face closer to the lieutenant. He grabbed him by the collar of his black and gold jacket, tugging him forward. "There are dozens of more cases like this going on. This is not an isolated event, you hear me? This is not just happening here, but on other worlds too. Humans, scores of them, are being taken by someone. You need to look at all the data I have here in my yutri."

Tashk growled, baring his fangs, and gripped Herik's wrist. He yanked his hand off of him and shoved the younger lupari back. "Don't you ever lay a hand on me again like that or I'll have your emblem!" he snarled. Tashk leaned back in his seat and glared at Herik. "You get out of my office and take two days off to calm down. Not another word from you. Out!"

Herik stared at Tashk, eyes wide, barely reigning in his anger. He finally stood up and shoved the chair away from him, knocking it over in the process. He stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him, the sound reverberating through the large open hall. Several heads poked up from their cubicles to see what happened, then ducked down just as quickly.

Herik stormed back over to his desk, which Milaj rapidly scurried away from. The lupari threw himself into his seat and gripped the sides of his desk with both hands. He growled under his breath. Don't get angry. Get smart. Don't let emotions get the best of you silly woof. Amy's words jumped into his head. She used to tell that to him all the time when she saw his temper flare or when he was overcome with bouts of depression over his sister's murder. She spent hours with him calming him down, always finding the time to help him. He needed her now so badly, but he had to find her first. She needed him. Herik closed his eyes so tight tears streamed down from them. He took slow, deep breaths, calming himself little by little. Finally, he relaxed and raised his hand up to wipe at his face and nose.

The lupari froze in place, his hand up at his nose. He felt a sensation creep over him like he had never felt before. It was a knotted twisted feeling in the pit of his stomach, churning in place. He was not sure if it was disbelief, confusion, anger, betrayal, or all of them mixed together.

The door to Lt. Tashk's office opened up then closed after the lupari exited it. He quickly pulled a rain coat on as he strode off towards the elevators, not sparing as much as a single glance towards anyone else in the hall. His tail thrashed behind him in agitation as he stormed out. Herik's eyes locked onto Tashk and followed him until he was out of sight.

Slowly he stood up and sniffed at his wrist again. The scent of that pungent human cologne was on his wrist, the exact spot where Lt. Tashk had gripped him. It was faint, but it was there, an unmistakable odor. The slightest trace of human scent was there as well. His eyes narrowed to menacing slits as his thoughts raced at the implications of that.

Herik called back to Milaj in a calm voice. "I need you to be my assist on this Milaj. I'm going out and am keeping you on open call. Will you be there for me?"

Milaj stood up inside her cubicle, her head well over the top of the partition. She was unsure what he needed her for, or why she felt this unnerving calmness overcome him, but she gave the only answer she could to him. "Always Herik. I'll stay as long as you need me."

Without another word Herik stalked off after Tashk. He was going to get an answer from him, and hundred gods of the ralai help him if he was in some way involved with Amy's disappearance.

Chapter 4

The rain had stopped falling but clouds covered up the night sky, casting a somber mood over the city. Personal transports still moved from place to place, even at this late hour of the night. Herik had tailed Lt. Tashk's vehicle the entire time after it left Center 12. He made his way through the traffic, careful to lie back just enough to not arouse the other lupari's suspicions. He made sure to keep records of the exact route taken and where they were likely headed to. To Herik, it appeared they were on the way to the southern outskirts of the city, where a large amount of shipping and receiving warehouses were to be found. The number of other vehicles thinned out as they reached that part of the city and Herik was forced to drift further behind Tashk's vehicle and hope he could keep the tail going successfully.

Herik felt anxious as the surroundings changed from the common civilian domiciles and shops to commercial structures. They were large and blocky, dark and brooding buildings with little positive character or personality to them. Lighting was not evenly spaced along the roads here as minimal activity transpired in this part of the city over night. Thus, when Herik cut his vehicle's headlights it made it that much more difficult to drive. He had no choice in the matter. Pretty much the only vehicles on the road were his and Tashk's, and if Tashk saw his lights it would definitely arouse suspicion. When he turned the corner he saw Tashk pull his vehicle over almost a block away. He was finally stopping. Herik did the same. He pulled over, shut the vehicle down, and quickly pulled out a set of visual magnifiers from the compartment between the front seats.

Through the magnifiers Herik saw Tashk standing there at the corner. The lupari looked nervous, his tail flicking rapidly behind him, his ears swiveling in all direction rapidly. He was waiting for someone, Herik was sure of it. Tashk raised his wrist and checked a chronometer then began to pace, his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants.

Herik checked through the supplies in his vehicle for the audio amplifier unit. A swear escaped him when he saw it was not present. He must have left it in the Center after the last time he had to take it out for maintenance. If Tashk was about to meet someone or several individuals, Herik knew he had to hear what they said. The lupari slowly opened the door to his vehicle and slid out, moving as quietly as possible. He knew how good his own hearing was and decided to take no chances in dealing with a fellow member of his species. Herik left the door partially ajar and checked the air current. He was upwind of Tashk. That was extremely good news for Herik. Even at a distance of half a block, if he were downwind of a fellow lupari, he would be found out within mere minutes.

Herik continued to creep forwards, using the many recessed doorways and alleys between buildings to keep himself concealed. After covering about half the distance to Tashk he saw headlights begin to shine down a side street. A vehicle was coming to join up with his target.

A moderate sized hover truck pulled into view. Tashk raised his arm up to shield his eyes as the vehicle directly faced him, bathing the lupari in its lights. A few moments later the lights shut down and Tashk growled slightly in annoyance. He rubbed his eyes as the doors to the truck opened up. Herik watched from his hiding spot as four figures stepped out. He saw two ralai, an ashar, and perhaps the shortest neishor he had ever seen. The neishor stood perhaps an ear's height higher than Herik as most, when normally they were almost as tall as the arkatians. The neishor was dressed in an expensive suit with a stiff high collar. He was terribly wide at the shoulder, likely very muscular under all the fabric. The others with him were in more casual clothes, jackets and loose fit pants. The small group stepped up to Tashk, the neishor out front. His thick hooves clopped heavily upon the duracrete ground. His voice was deep and rumbling when he spoke.

"Problem?" was all he said.

Tashk frowned and barked out immediately, "Problem? Yes I've got a damned problem! Do you know who your men snatched tonight?"

The lupari paused, waiting for a reply from the neishor. Dead silence lingered between them, the neishor never broke eye contact with Tashk. Herik saw Tashk's tail thrashing grow even faster. The lupari finally snarled and spoke when it was clear the neishor had no intentions of answering him.

"She was a peacekeeper! She just graduated from the academy. Your men were supposed to grab only low profile targets; nobodies. Humans no one would raise a fuss over if they vanish. Why the hell did they grab her?"

"She fit the criteria of the next desired product," rumbled the neishor. The expression on his face looked almost like he was bored.

"Product? Gods your boss is screwed up in the head and he has all of you following in his ideals. They're humans! A sapient race we're talking about here. They're still the current rage all through the UTO in case you haven't noticed. This is an insane risk we take doing this."

"Are you not satisfied with the credits provided you by my patron? Is this a crude way of trying to extort more out of him?"

"What? No. I... I'm telling you this is becoming a problem. This human had a friend here. She..."

The neishor cut him off. "It is your responsibility to keep these matters in check. I thought you said you had your officers on a tight leash. Is this no longer the case?"

"I have my men and they're loyal to me. But this human girl, she's a friend of one of the better peacekeepers in my Center. He's really close to her. He already approached me about her disappearance and I told him to back off. I know him; he's not going to do that. He's as stubborn and driven as they get. He's going to look into this on his own. We don't need that kind of heat. You have to let her go."

The neishor took one step closer to Tashk, his hoof made a sharp sound that echoed through the street. "I have to do nothing you tell me to. I answer only to my patron, and so do you, through me. Don't_ever_ assume you are in any form of advantageous position in the current arrangement you have with my patron. Is that clear?"

Herik was almost surprised when he saw Tashk's reaction. The lupari backed up and his ears folded down. His tail nearly tucked between his legs. In the few years he worked under the lieutenant he had never seen him intimidated before, by anyone. Right now, he was practically scared of this neishor.

Tashk's tone softened and he held his hands up almost apologetically. "L-listen, I'm just concerned this could cause trouble. We don't need this kind of exposure or someone digging too deep in this matter. It's bad for us and your patron. I already heard some rumors that a few Centers on other worlds are starting to put some of the pieces together on what you folks are doing here. It's just a matter of time before..."

The neishor's hand swung out and gripped Tashk by the throat before he could even react. The burly figure pushed him back and against the wall behind him. Tashk let out a grunt of pain as he slammed into it. Herik stared wide eyed as the neishor slid Tashk up the wall, lifting his paws off the ground by several meters. Tashk gripped the neishor's forearm and hand, trying to get him to release him. He began to gag and choke, unable to get air in.

"Your concern is limited expressly to the city of Darrintin lieutenant. You are to keep matters of human disappearance in control here. Not in another city, not off world, not anywhere else but here. All other matters are not your concern and are being handled by others of equal, or perhaps superior, competence as compared to you. Are you no longer capable of performing the service you are so lavishly being compensated for?"

Tashk continued to gasp and shook his head side to side. He could not free himself from the neishor's grip at all. The other three men behind the neishor chuckled to each other as they watched the lupari struggle futilely.

"Do you find the task distasteful? Do you feel this is a concern I need bring before my patron?" he rumbled, his voice dipping even deeper than before. Again, Tashk shook his head in the negative.

"Then you will do as you always do. Clean up the mess and sweep the dirt under the rug." The neishor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small credit card. He slid it into the lupari's jacket pocket, patted it once then released Tashk's throat. Tashk crumpled to the ground in a quivering heap, coughing and sputtering. The lupari slowly pulled himself up to his paws, using the wall for balance for a time. He glared at the neishor, who had already turned his back on the lieutenant.

"You will be contacted next quarter after my patron has picked another candidate, as usual. You will escort the retrieval experts and comply with them in all ways, as usual. If we have to have another talk like this again, we will have to begin to discuss matters of finding a new person capable of performing your duties lieutenant. That is all. Go," rumbled the neishor.

Tashk rubbed his neck, checked the credit card, and slid it back into his pocket. Without another word he staggered back to his vehicle and climbed in. The assistants with the neishor all chuckled amongst each other some more and a few tossed derisive comments after the lupari. Herik watched Tashk start the vehicle and drive off. He crouched down in the recess to give his lieutenant as little chance as possible to see him as he drove by. The vehicle passed him by and was gone in a few more moments, the humming sound of its engine faded away in the distance.

Herik turned back to look at those who remained behind. The neishor pulled out a small communicator and walked around to the other side of the vehicle. The three males were still together and one of them pulled out a yutri as they waited for word from their obvious boss as to when they should get ready to leave. They began to watch a small holo-vid. Herik's mind and heart raced. These men knew what was happening. They were responsible. The neishor had all the answers and could lead him to this 'patron' and more importantly, to Amy. He rushed out from his hiding spot towards the three.

The two ralai and the ashar barely had time to react, shocked looks upon all their faces, as Herik attacked. He lunged forward and slammed one ralai in the center of his chest with a knee. The blow drove the feline looking humanoid into the side of the vehicle with a dull hollow sound and rocked it side to side. The force was powerful enough to dent in the light material it was composed of. A groan escaped the ralai as he slumped down to the ground. The ashar dropped the yutri and let out a startled cry before Herik swung out with a fist, smashing the smaller male across his face. He spit blood and staggered to the side. The other ralai was over his shock and struck back at Herik. He released a quick flurry of punches, each of which the lupari stopped. Herik trapped the ralai's arm when his last punch was sloppy and overextended. He twisted it at the elbow, forced the ralai to bend over at the waist by pushing down on his shoulder, and slammed his knee up into the ralai's face. The ralai barely let out a groan as he collapsed to the ground.

Herik caught the glint of pale light off metal out of the corner of his eye. He slumped to the side just in time to avoid being cut by the knife that the ashar had pulled out. The blade sliced at Herik's jacket, raking a long gash in it. The ashar continued forward, slashing and stabbing at Herik. The lupari backed up, keeping just out of range of the knife as he yanked his own jacket off and held it between his hands. When the ashar thrust out with the knife again, Herik parried him and trapped the knife and hand of the ashar in the jacket, which he quickly wrapped about the blade, rendering it useless. The peacekeeper pulled the ashar up to him and kneed him in the stomach twice. As the smaller foe fell forward, Herik slammed his elbow down on the back of his head. The ashar hit the ground unconscious.

Herik retrieved his jacket, spun it around, and pulled it back on himself in a single fluid motion. The sound of heavy hooves came to his ears, making them flick a few times. The neishor slowly walked into view from around the front of the vehicle. He snapped shut the communicator he held in his hand and slipped it into an inner jacket pocket. The broad humanoid horse looked over Herik from paws to ears. He arched one eyebrow. Herik panted slightly and began to pace around the neishor in a semi-circle.

"Where's Amy?" he growled.

The neishor slowly turned as Herik moved around him. He once more had that bored, almost emotionless expression on his face.

"Who is your patron?" Herik snarled.

"You must be the problem the lieutenant just told me about," rumbled the neishor.

"Where do you have her? What the hells does your patron want with her?"

"He was careless enough to let you follow him here I see. How unfortunate."

Herik felt the rage in him rise up, the sound of his heart pounded in his ears. "Tell me where she is!" he shouted. "Tell me before I beat the information out of you!"

The neishor titled his head on a slight angle to the side, a distasteful look on his face. He exhaled sharply through his nose.

Herik's patience fled him and the lupari closed in and swung at the neishor with all his might. To his shock his fist whiffed over his target's head. The neishor had spread his legs, bent at the knees, ducking under the punch. At the same time he slammed his fist into Herik's stomach. Herik's eyes went wide and he let out a gasp, spit flying from his mouth. He staggered back several steps before he caught his balance. The lupari was partially doubled over, arms folded over his stomach. The pain was intense. He never felt anyone hit him that hard before.

The neishor stood back up, brushed off his suit jacket, and approached Herik. "You should have thought this over a little more carefully pup," he rumbled. His hooves clopped and scraped along the ground.

Herik shook his head, forced down the pain, and swung back out at the neishor when he was in range. He made sure he would not be taken by surprise by the speed of his foe once more. A swift flurry of blows and parries was traded, ending with Herik trying to hook the neishor's leg and trip him. The neishor raised his leg just enough for the lupari's sweep to pass under his leg, spun around and stepped half a body length away, then slammed his hoof down on the ground, his side facing Herik. The neishor tugged at the bottom of his jacket, straightening it out. He frowned at Herik, looking at him as if he was some manner of distasteful nuisance.

The lupari snarled and lunged forward at his foe. Another small flurry of punches was released by Herik, all parried. His final one was caught in the palm of the neishor, his strength so great that Herik barely budged the enemy's arm despite his swing. The neishor twisted Herik's wrist sharply but Herik flipped sideways in the direction his wrist turned to avoid a sprain or break. He landed on his paws, his hand free, and brought up one arm to elbow the neishor on the shoulder. The neishor moved in as expected by the lupari and his elbow struck, but the neishor barely flinched from the impact. Herik felt his jacket gripped by both hands of his enemy and could only watch for the brief moment that it took for the neishor to smash his head down against Herik's face. Pain exploded through him and blood poured from his nose immediately.

Herik stumbled back against the vehicle which he found at his rear now. His head spun but he was not so dazed as to not throw himself to the side to avoid the hoof of his enemy when he kicked at him. The hoof smashed into the passenger side door, staving it in and crushing both the handle and entire locking mechanism. The window on the side shattered from the blow as well. Herik realized the neishor was something much different from anyone he had ever fought before, both at the Academy or even in the VR simulations with Amy. He was truly dangerous and freakishly strong.

Herik drew his pistol and swung his arm towards the neishor in a fluid motion. The pain and disorientation was just enough to slow him down. The neishor grabbed the inside of Herik's forearm and pushed it aside as he fired. The weapon made a loud crack sound as it discharged its energy bolt, but the shot went well wide of its target. Herik's hand was slammed against the side of the vehicle once, twice, then three times; the gun falling from his hand to the ground after the third. The neishor reared back his fist and swung at Herik, who barely ducked under it in time. Again the side of the vehicle was almost smashed in completely. Herik staggered away from it and looked frantically for his gun. As soon as his eyes fell on it, the Neishor's hoof slammed down atop it. He heard an awful crunching sound then saw a few sparks from the weapon. When the neishor removed his hoof it was quite clear that the weapon was too damaged to safely use.

The lupari cradled his injured hand against his chest and spit blood out of his mouth as he backed away from the neishor. The menacing figure continued to walk towards him in a slow, almost casual manner.

"There is no point in running. You're already injured and obviously not skilled or strong enough to stop me. If it makes you feel any better, you put up a more of a fight than I've had in quite some time. It pleases me to be subjected to this, a feeling I thought I'd not have again," rumbled the neishor.

Herik stumbled down the street, towards his vehicle. He had to get to it. He couldn't beat that thing. His mind raced. All he thought about was Amy. He couldn't fail her. He had to live. He had to.

The neishor drew closer to Herik. The hooves grew louder as he approached.

Herik reached his vehicle and yanked open the door. He saw the neishor begin to run, to close the last bit of space between him. If it got hold of him again Herik was unsure of he could escape or even survive.

A rumbling sound was heard and bright lights turned the corner. Herik was already in his vehicle, facing the neishor, when the large truck made the turn. The neishor's arms flew up to shield his eyes and he practically snarled in anger and surprise. Herik started his vehicle and threw it into reverse immediately as the neishor ran to the side to get out of the way of the truck. A loud horn blared out and Herik's vehicle darted backwards. He winced in pain as his injured hand manipulated the controls to steer. Another quick shift of controls and he drove forward, leaving the neishor behind.

The lupari drove recklessly fast, putting as much distance between him and the neishor as possible. He took turn after turn and constantly looked for signs of being tailed. Finally, after almost ten minutes, his racing heart began to slow down, along with his vehicle. Herik panted heavily and brought his hand up to his nose. He wiped more blood off on the sleeve of his jacket. He was alive. It was pure, dumb luck that he was alive, but he accepted that. That's all that mattered. As long as he lived he could keep looking for her.

Herik didn't give himself a moment to feel distraught about failing to get the information out of that neishor. He still had other options open to him. He flicked on the comm in his vehicle and called into Center. He patched into station three twenty two.

"Center twelve. Data station three twenty two, how can I help you?" asked Milaj. Right now, to Herik, he voice was the sweetest thing in the world.

"Milaj, it's me, Herik. I need you, are you free?" Herik heard some rattling sounds in the background and what might have been something else being dropped off her station table. The viliti may have mumbled something under her breath as well before answering him.

"Yes! Of course. Wet, but free. How can I help you?"

"Milaj, I need Lieutenant Tashk's address."

Chapter 5

Herik was parked across the street from the lieutenant's home. The lieutenant was home as Herik saw his vehicle parked in the driveway leading up to the house. He stared at the front door with such intensity that he thought for sure his anger should cause it to burst into flames a mere moment later. The lupari had a small medical kit at his side on the passenger seat. He had already applied a coagulant spray to his knuckles, which were bloodied after being smashed against the neishor's vehicle. He then wrapped a bandage around his hand and sealed it with some medical adhesive. The comm unit in his vehicle crackled to life and Milaj's voice came through to him.

"Please Herik, think this over. You have to be utterly sure of this before..."

"I'm sure. I was right there. He was talking to them about taking Amy. He was there with this freak of a neishor. There's no mistake. I couldn't get details from the neishor. I won't fail again with Tashk," growled Herik.

"Please, let me call up some backup for you. With other officers there this can be handled in the proper manner. I know you want Amy back and I want her to be safe too," pleaded Milaj.

"No," snapped Herik. "No one else Milaj. He has other officers loyal to him and in on his crime. I don't trust anyone from Center 12 at this time. Please, if you want to help keep me safe, don't get anyone else involved in this. I... only trust you now Milaj. Only you."

Milaj made a funny little sound over the comm, almost like a 'squeak' of joy. She finally said to him, "I understand. I promise to keep this in the dark for you. Though, it's really going to be awful if we get fired over this." She sighed heavily.

"I don't care if I get fired, as long as I get Amy back. I'll do what I can to keep you clean of any mess I make. Herik out."

He flicked the comm unit off, fetched his backup pistol, stowed it into his jacket pocket, and climbed out of his vehicle. The lupari strode across the vacant street, not a soul in sight to him at this time of the evening. He stepped up to the front door of Tashk's home and pushed the chime button to let him know someone was there. Herik shuffled in place, paws moving side to side, to keep warm. A chill night breeze blew by and made the lupari shiver for a moment. His ears twitched when he heard the sound of someone approaching the door. A light went on just beyond the door and Tashk's gruff voice called out.

"Who's there?" he asked. Herik heard the wariness to it. Tashk was clearly on edge from the night's events.

"It's me, sergeant Herik. I need to speak with you lieutenant. It's important," he said, doing his best to keep his composure. Herik could barely reign in his anger at the moment, hearing the lieutenant's voice set him completely on edge.

There was an uncomfortably long pause between Herik speaking and Tashk's reply. "About what sergeant? It's extremely late and I want to go to sleep. There is an abysmal amount of work to do tomorrow."

"It's about the missing human sir. Amy. I believe I have a lead that needs to be brought to your attention."

There was another long pause. Herik heard the sound of a drawer sliding open. There must have been a small table or desk right near the front door.

"I told you to stay off that case sergeant. Now follow my order and..."

Herik kicked at the door with all his might, smashing it open and splintering some of the wood door frame. The lupari drew his pistol and rushed in to see Tashk staggering back in surprise. A small pistol was in the other lupari's hand as well. Tashk brought the pistol up and aimed it at Herik, who did the same to him. Neither fired. Herik cautiously paced to the side, his gun never wavering off Tashk. He noticed that Tashk's hand was trembling. He was nervous, jittery, and looked at Herik with a trace of fear in his eyes. Herik immediately picked up a very strong scent of alcohol on the older lupari's breath.

"What the hell sergeant!?" he snarled at Herik. "Put that gun down right now! Are you insane?!"

"Where is she?!" roared Herik.

"What are you talking abou..." said Tashk, but Herik cut him off before he could finish.

"Cut the crap! Where is she? Where does the neishor bring the humans?"

Tashk's ears went flat and he looked even more worried. "How did you..."

"I was there! I followed you and heard you speak to the neishor. You son of a bitch! How could you do that? We're supposed to protect them! We're supposed to stop people from doing things like this to them! We took a vow to uphold the law!"

Tashk managed to work up the will to snarl back at Herik. "You think we can do that? You think we can really keep a vow like that all the time? You poor, naïve little bastard. I bet you still think the whole 'shining beacon of hope' speech you hear at graduation from Academy really is true. All that crap about working towards a bright future that everyone in the union can benefit from. That we can bring peace to the city if we all just work together."

"Yes," snapped Herik. "Yes I do."

"Well it's a lie! You know what I learned after all my decades as a peacekeeper? I learned that it's not the good people who run the Union. It's the corrupt bastards. The people with all the money hold the power. The sniveling bottom feeders we put away are just a distraction from the real ones who pull the strings. The civilians see us lock up these petty scum and feel relieved and at peace, while the real monsters stay free."

"Then why don't you expose them; lock them up as well?" snarled Herik. He still kept his pistol aimed at Tashk. His gaze never strayed from him for a moment.

"I tried once! I got my ass demoted after nearly getting killed for my efforts. Why do you think I'm still only a lieutenant? Someone makes sure I don't get any higher because I pissed off the wrong person. I'm in the exact position of authority to be of most use to him. So now, I do his dirty work and keep my mouth shut and collect the scraps he gives me. With any good fortune, I was going to have a nice little sum put aside for early retirement and get out of all this crap before I got myself killed." Tashk chuckled softly and shook his head a moment. "Looks like that's not going to happen now, is it sergeant?"

"No, it's not. You're going to have to answer for what you helped do. Tell me what it is exactly Tashk. Take this chance to redeem yourself, even if it's just a little bit. Who is doing this and why? Where can I find him and the neishor?"

"Gods kid, you really must love that little toy alien."

"Her name is Amy," growled Herik.

"I know. You talk about her so much it's burned into my damned brain," he snapped. Tashk stared at Herik a little longer in silence then lowered his arm. His gun hung down at the side of his thigh. Tashk slumped back against the wall and slid down until he was sitting. "Hell, I can't shoot you." He lowered his head. "You... remind me of myself over thirty years ago. Back when I used to believe it too."

Herik remained cautious and still kept his gun pointed at Tashk as he crouched down before the lupari. The edge to his voice was gone when spoke next. "Please lieutenant. Please, you have to help me. I couldn't get the information out of the neishor. He... he almost killed me. I had to run. You're my only lead. I can't lose her Tashk. She's all I have left."

The older lupari nodded slowly. "The neishor is Gaddol. Ex-special forces elite from the good old UTO military services. We made that monster. He works for a ralai by the name of Em'hrar Nashurr. He's one of the richest faces on this world kid; deals in imports and exports and has a net value of billions of credits. He has law enforcement, politicians, and other figures of authority in his pocket on about a dozen worlds."

"So he's the one who's doing this? He's having humans abducted across multiple planets?"

Tashk nodded slowly. "You must have had this brought to you by that viliti, what's her name, Milaj. That's it. Smart as a whip that one, just kind of... well, spacey," he said as he waved his hand in circles at the side of his head. A lopsided grin was on the older lupari's face.

"Yeah, she told me about it. So this Em'hrar is snatching up humans?"

"Yeah kid. He is. He has other humans working for him that go into their tiny toy settlements and pluck them out of their homes at night. They look for single people, people that won't be missed as much. But they have to match Em'hrar's particular... tastes... at the time," said Tashk with a look of disgust on his face.

"What do you mean tastes?" Herik asked slowly as a queasy feeling crept into the pit of his stomach.

"I mean they have to fit a certain look. Sometimes he wants a female blonde with blue eyes. Another time he wants a dark skinned male with no hair. Sometimes old, sometimes young, his choices are all across the board. I don't know why he picks them or how, it's just what he does."

"What does he do with them Tashk?" asked Herik, his voice sounding more anxious now.

"He... he's into Subjugation," said the lupari slowly, looking down at his empty hand and his pistol as they both rested on his lap. "I mean... I don't like humans much at all. Got no use for a toy race. Look at them, tiny and helpless. We had to save their asses from the rynar. They brought nothing to the Union except their weapons technology. Like we need more destructive weapons, right? If they weren't so small, they'd be little more than a drain on all our resources. That said, what he does to them... they... they don't deserve that." Tashk shook his head side to side slowly. "They don't deserve it."

"What does he do lieutenant?" Herik's voice rose high, almost cracking. He felt fear creep into him as he saw the look in Tashk's eyes.

"He made me watch," Tashk whispered. He met Herik's gaze and the older lupari's eyes were wide and wild looking. "He said I'd only understand if I tried it. That I couldn't know for sure unless I tried it. I heard the tiny screams..."

Herik stared in mute silence. He could not believe what he was hearing. It had to be wrong. Tashk had to be trying to scare him or something.

"What he made me do for him. All those... my fault," whispered the lieutenant. "Now it's all over. They'll lock me away forever, but I don't deserve that. Neither does he kid. Herik, don't let them put him in prison. Not for what he's done. Not for that."

Tashk raised his pistol to his head and put the barrel into his mouth in one swift motion.

"NO!" screamed Herik as he moved to grab the lieutenant's arm. He was too late. The weapon fired with the sharp crack common to the energy pistols. The wall behind the lupari's head had little to no blood on it, but a significant hole burned through it. Tashk's body slumped to the side and his pistol fell out of his hand and onto the wood floor.

Herik dragged himself to his paws, reeling at what he just witnessed. The lupari backed up from the body and shut his eyes tight. For all his faults, he knew Tashk was a strong lupari with a near indomitable will. Whatever he was part of, what he had witnessed, drove him to this and caused Herik to question exactly what he had fallen into right now. He would not back down, but he had to approach this cautiously. Too much was at stake and this ralai he now knew of must be some manner of monster to do these things.

The lupari exited Tashk's house, pausing at the front door to catch his breath and steady himself. He quickly moved to his vehicle and got in. Herik drove to Center 12 over the course of a half hour, his mind racing the entire way. His vehicle skidded into the parking lot across the street from the Center and came to a stop. He trotted the short distance to the Center, scowling at the brisk wind and chill night air of the evening. His thoughts were still a jumble in his head and he paid no attention to any of his fellow late night peacekeepers. The only destination he had on his mind now was Milaj.

Herik stepped into the lift and took it to the third floor as he had earlier. For a brief moment he had a bad feeling sweep through him. He did not know who among his peers had been working for Tashk, and consequently the ralai. The neishor could have already made calls and informed them of his activities. Would they be willing to go so far as to try and kill him, a fellow peacekeeper, just to keep their crimes hidden? When Herik realized he had reached his floor and been standing in the lift for almost a minute the lupari quickly shook his head and stepped out into the expansive open hall.

He made his way past a few desks where other officers on the late shift were doing their work. There were very few of them, but Herik felt as it all their eyes fell upon him as he passed by. The lupari strode directly over to Milaj's cubicle and saw the viliti hunched over her yutri and looking over three different news feeds at once, while simultaneous playing a little game of some kind on her work station's computer. Herik reached over and grabbed Milaj's wrist. The viliti practically jumped out of her seat and made a comical noise of panic until she saw that it was Herik.

"Oh! Whew, sorry. You scared me there Herik. Next time could you... eep!" she exclaimed as the lupari pulled her out of her seat. Milaj barely scooped up her yutri and hooked it onto her belt. She hopped on one big paw then almost stumbled over them as he tugged her away from her work station and across the hall with him towards the lift. Once he led her into it and the door shut he let go of her wrist. Milaj went to speak, but Herik clamped his hand across her mouth. He shook his head side to side and softly shushed her. She slowly nodded and Herik lowered his hand from her mouth. The two of them reached the base floor and made their way out of Center 12 without another word.

Herik led Milaj by the hand down the wet streets of the city. They went three blocks away to an all-night eatery. Milaj new it well enough as she often took her lunch breaks there. It was a cozy little place with a few private booths and open tables. At the time it was at night, the eatery was all but empty, only a few haggard looking citizens drinking or eating something hot to get the chill of the evening out of them. The two of them slid into a booth and got comfortable after a few moments. Almost immediately a cute female tordenchi came over and took their orders. Herik went to order a coffee but stopped himself and instead got some soup while Milaj asked for her usual. When the tordenchi moved off Milaj finally spoke up in hushed tones.

"Herik, what the heck is going on? Why did you drag me out of my station? I can get docked pay for this."

The lupari slid his hands over and took hold of Milaj's hands in his. She glanced down then back up at him, a confused look on her face.

"Lieutenant Tashk is dead," began Herik. He went on to explain all the events of the night to Milaj. He told her what he overheard and about the brute of a neishor. He told her about how he fled and went to Tashk. He told her how he took his own life. The shocked expression on Milaj's face slowly faded to one of great sorrow.

"He still has peacekeepers in his service, under his thumb Milaj," said Herik. "I don't know who in Center 12 I can trust, except for you. This ralai Tashk named has to have a lot of influence across multiple worlds to pull this off. I need you to get me any and all information you can on him. I need to know where he lives, what property he has in the city, and what might be the most likely place he would keep any humans he's had captured for him."

Milaj nodded her head slowly. "A-alright. I can do that for you Herik. I just can't believe that Tashk is gone. He was... he was a little mean but I thought he was a good officer."

Herik squeezed her hands once more then released them. "He was. It's this ralai that made him do wrong."

The viliti nodded and pulled up her yutri. She flicked it on and took out a few additional modules and began to hook them into it. Herik did not recognize them at all and cast a curious glance at Milaj as she worked. She noticed his look and smiled at Herik.

"They let me patch directly into my work station at Center 12 and thus into the full database of Centers citywide. I know it's not allowed... but I like working at home sometimes. I built and programmed the modules myself." She had a proud little grin on her face.

The viliti brought up several holo-screens and started poring over the data that was there. Herik saw news articles, civilian records, property listings, and flight documentation among them. It was too much for him to take in all at once, his mind didn't work like Milaj's did. He could not multitask and speed read as she did regularly.

The food arrived as Milaj did her research. Herik took his soup while Milaj reached over and slid a plate with two huge slices of sweet cake and fruit before her. She also claimed a very tall glass of milk. The time passed and Herik did his best to remain calm. He occasionally looked about the eatery to make sure they were not being watched or there was no one suspicious lurking about. He knew it was slightly paranoid, but he wanted to take no chances. As more time passed, Herik began to tap his paw on the floor quickly. He stopped when he felt Milaj's much larger paw slide atop his and press down upon it, pinning it to the floor.

"No tap taps," she mumbled, "It's distracting." Herik felt a slight blush rush up into his ears. His tail swished behind him a little faster, sweeping across the seat cushion at his back.

More time passed and Herik saw Milaj finish off the last of her cake. He was really unsure where she put all of that inside her, but she managed it easily enough. With a loud slurp the viliti finished her drink and slid it aside. She spun her yutri around and pushed it before Herik.

"That is everything I was able to compile on the ralai you named Herik. Em'hrar Nashurr is seventy six years old, is of the ra'ihash sub-species of ralai, and has a net worth of sixty nine billion credits. That does not count the value of his company, Nashurr Transit Amenities. The company, of which Nashurr is the primary share holder and chief executive officer, is estimated at two hundred forty four billion credits in value and has a fleet of thirteen primary cargo vessels and ten hyper courier craft at its disposal. He employs over five thousand individuals across myriad worlds and has dedicated trade arrangements on fifteen planets along the most lucrative trade route in the UTO, the Amanua Shipping Lane. Nashurr is a known philanthropist to several causes, has an annual scholarship fund handed out to those aspiring to the medical profession, and sponsors several fund raising events on three world. He also gave generously in the development of New Eden here in the city. He has no current wife, his last one dying seven years ago. He has one daughter who is currently estranged from him."

Herik scowled as he looked over the data. "He sounds mostly perfect, but he's not Milaj. There has to be something here. What about the neishor who works for him?"

She pointed at a screen to the side. "Gaddol Edesk. He has served as Em'hrar's bodyguard and assistant for nine years. Ex-military with a dishonorable discharge for violent behavior, Gaddol served three years for beating a superior officer so badly he was in a coma for a month. He is a known madmannut, the neishor word for 'master,' of a popular hand combat style the species calls hunask."

Herik reflexively rubbed at his hand and grumbled, "Yeah, I kinda figured that out."

Milaj pointed to another series of screens. "Now here is where it gets interesting, where things start to fall in line Herik. This is a listing of all planets that the ralai's company regularly visits and the times of shipment arrivals and departures. Each of these worlds is among the list of those worlds that humans have gone missing from in the last four years. Every time a human has disappeared it falls within ten days before or after the arrival of a hyper courier ship from Nashurr Transit Amenities. Said courier always is carrying some manner of luxury items onboard and checks clean, however it is highly probable that a being as small as a human could be smuggled through any checks or scans."

"I suppose bribes could help that along nicely as well."

Milaj nodded. "Exactly. The couriers always make a return trip here, regardless of the last world they were on."

"So the ralai lives here?" asked Herik, sounding anxious now.

She nodded again. "Yes. He has multiple residences across the world, but his primary one is in this city, or rather, on its outskirts. The address is here. I would think it highly unlikely that he would keep the humans in his home though Herik. If he really is behind all this, then these two storage facilities of his are the most likely of locations. He could always claim he was unaware of illegal activities within them. What I don't understand though is why? Why would he do this? Capturing humans, likely killing or torturing them, it makes no sense. He has everything. He has constant health record listings and his psychological profile shows no aberrations at all."

Herik frowned. He glanced at the data then back to Milaj. "Milaj, does the word Subjugation mean anything to you?"

The viliti looked up slowly and stared at Herik. "Where did you hear of that?"

"I forgot to mention it. Tashk said something about the ralai being into Subjugation. What is it? Is it important?"

"I read about it. It's an ancient philosophical practice held by the ralai. It was common among them thousands of years ago, pre-technological revolution of the species. Today, it's followed by less than one in ten million ralai. Those who do follow it are often looked upon as upholding the traditions of their race and seen as either throwbacks to an older time, or paragons."

"Is there anything about it that could lead to him doing... all this?" Herik waved his hand at the data of the ship travel times.

Milaj nodded slowly. "Yes, yes it could. Subjugation is the belief that one must experience all that there is in life in order to truly understand it and one's place in it. Without 'subjecting' yourself to something you cannot be sure you like it or not, if it should be a part of your world. Thus, followers of Subjugation try literally everything they can. Every type of physical and cerebral activities, the tasting of foods of all kinds, engaging in endless dialogue on preferred actions, seeing every kind of video imaginable; nothing is supposed to be skipped by them."

"That sounds a little weird, but not all that bad," said Herik.

"It also includes performing illegal activities Herik. The consumption of drugs, committing crimes which include theft, arson, and assault, and... murder," said Milaj in a whisper.

"What? That's insane. It would never be allowed," growled Herik, though he felt a slow uneasiness creep over him again.

"It isn't, on any UTO world save for the five ralai home planets. Followers of Subjugation must all be registered and strict lists of all activities they perform are recorded and have to be kept as open record. For legal activities they can do them on any UTO world without question. But the committing of crimes is done on their home worlds where they frequently have support groups help them achieve the goals with the limits of their society and to help have as little negative impact on other ralai. Those ralai who commit their one crime in the name of subjugation do not have it listed on their records as having committed a crime at all."

"How the hell can this be allowed?" snarled Herik.

"Herik, the UTO is based on the premises of tolerance and acceptance. The laws are made to provide equality and acceptance for all races, their beliefs, and cultures. Even practices that other races may find disagreeable are to be accepted, as long as it does not impugn upon another race's moral beliefs or deny them their rights. Ralai are highly religious on the overall, yet no ralai takes umbrage with my utter disbelief and refusal to accept a creator deity. Similarly, I have no qualms with their beliefs in gods. It does not harm me in any way that they believe in a god. My beliefs are still mine. Thus, Subjugation has to be accepted, with the provisos put in place when it comes to illegal activities of the philosophy."

"So a follower of this can literally get away with murder?!" he exclaimed, his voice rising.

"Only once. Ralai who perform a crime, which must be done in the presence of a fellow follower of Subjugation as a witness, are expected to undergo evaluation after each such act. The performing of something as awful as murder is supposed to teach them the value of life, how precious it is, and how horrid a feeling is caused by taking it. Those ralai who are not revolted by the act are usually taken in for extensive psychiatric help. Remember Herik, the ralai are still alien to us. They have their own mindset, which differs from you lupari and we viliti. We are, after all, aliens in each other's eyes."

"So... if all this is true and Em'hrar is doing this Subjugation thing and came to the conclusion that he liked murder, why is there no record of him following Subjugation?"

Milaj blinked in shock for a few moments then spun her yutri back around and pored over the data.

"You're right. There is no record of it at all. That's... are you sure Tashk said Subjugation?" she asked.

"Of course I'm sure. It's not a word I'd pull out of thin air."

"Then he has somehow arranged to have any data of him following Subjugation expunged from his personal records. He's wealthy enough to afford a professional and a skilled extranet hacker could achieve this."

Herik nodded. "So this ralai is following Subjugation without a record and came to the conclusion sometime in the past that he liked killing. Liked it enough to keep doing it. Then, when humans suddenly showed up into the picture, he tried it on them... and liked it even better."

"Remember Herik, it is more than just a like or dislike. The follower does this to find their path in life. To discover what their real purpose in it is. He does not just like killing, since he keeps repeating it. He most likely believes that it is his purpose in life to kill them. He is killing humans because he thinks he was meant to do so, and he derives pleasure from fulfilling his life's purpose. He is not insane in his mind. To him the conclusion he has reached is completely rational and nothing will ever dissuade him from this path now that he has found it," she said.

Milaj quickly began composing a message file on her yutri with the destination of Center 1 and the chief of peacekeeper operations. Herik saw it show up on the holo-screen and placed his hand over the yutri, disrupting the screen.

"No," he said. "No one else gets involved in this."

"But... we have enough data here to get us permits to search his ships and holdings. I'm sure we will find the evidence that can lead us to a conviction."

"By the time all that is done and over with Amy will be dead. He'll have killed her and my soul along with her. I have to go now. Rules, laws, everything else be damned. Send all the data you have on him to my yutri. I'm going to get her and make this monster pay for everything he has done to those poor humans." Herik removed his hand from Milaj's yutri.

The viliti sighed and did as Herik asked. Herik slid out of the booth and up to his paws. He looked down at Milaj and smiled. "If I don't get in touch with you in six hours' time, then send your message to Center 1. Just give me those six hours."

Milaj nodded in agreement.

"Herik," she said in almost a whisper, "You know that... there are others who care for you as much as Amy. Others who... would like you to come see them sometime too."

Herik smiled. "I know. If I come back from this, I promise to go see them as well."

The lupari turned and strode out of the eatery. Milaj lowered her face down into her hands and began to cry.

Chapter 6

Herik parked his vehicle down the block from the storage facility of Nashurr Transit Amenities. It was past zero three hundred hours in the morning and the only thing that kept the lupari pushing past his fatigue was his determination to save his friend. The building was mostly bathed in darkness and he saw no sign of any activity within from his vantage point. It had few windows, though that was common for most warehouses. He decided to wait a little while and see if there was a sign of occupation before he burst in. His defeat at the hands and hooves of the neishor earlier had taught him the value of some caution rather than leaping head long into the unknown. The lupari slid down lower in is seat and pulled his jacket collar up a little higher. He stared at the building's entrance and side alley where transports would pull up to make pickups and deliveries. As he did so his mind wandered slightly, back to more pleasant time.

* * * *

Herik brought his forearm up and blocked the high kick that came at his head. The blow had a great deal of strength behind it, far more than he would ever have expected from his attacker. Before he could ready any retaliation his foe moved closer and grabbed him around the back of his head with both hands, pulling downwards slightly. Three attempts to knee him in the stomach were barely prevented by him. Herik grunted and shoved up and back with all his might. He pushed his attacker away, but the foe hopped up at the same time and kicked at the lupari. He caught the foot right under his snout and his head snapped up. Herik staggered backwards, twinges of pain darting through him. He could not believe that this enemy could do this to him. It seemed impossible considering all he knew of the foe. His mind reeled at the implausibility of it. Even as he regained his balance and threw a punch the enemy brought up a leg and kicked his arm aside, stayed balanced on one foot, and used the same leg to kick him straight in the stomach. The blow knocked Herik completely off his paws and sent him sprawling to the padded mat on the ground. He laid there on his back, wheezing a little as he tried to catch his breath. The enemy walked to his side and loomed over him, hands on hips and a smug look of satisfaction across the face. Herik glanced to the side to see the bare off pink colored feet and toes right beside his head.

"Want a hand up?" asked Amy as she bent over and held her hand down to him. Her shaggy blonde hair wasn't even matted down with sweat; then again the Virtual Reality simulation did not take every detail of verisimilitude into account. It did capture the gleam of joy in her blue eyes though.

Herik took her hand and she helped pull him up to his paws. Feedback from the combat simulation helped him feel the same approximations of fatigue and bruises that would have happened were the pair actually able to fight face to face in this manner. It was the fifth time they had gone into the simulator together and Herik still could not get over how giddy it made him feel to stand before Amy, the human only half a head shorter than him in this. She said she was pretty tall for a human female, five foot ten inches he recalled, though he had no idea what a foot or inch distance really was. All he knew was that seeing her this way fascinated him and made him so happy.

Amy slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. "You're getting better. This is only your fourth lesson and there's improvement. Keep this up and you're gonna surprise the hell out of whoever you face on the practice mat next time."

"Better? You spent an hour kicking the crap out of me Amy," he grumbled. His ears lowered and he almost whined. "I think you like beating on me."

She held a hand up, her thumb and forefinger positioned with an inch of space between them. "Maybe just a little bit," she said.

She laughed and Herik joined in on it. To him, her laugh was what happiness was supposed to sound like. He only knew of one other person who laughed that way, his sister. The sound of a chime went off all around them. Both of them reflexively looked about for the source of it, though they knew they would not find it.

"Ah hell, time's up already?" griped Amy.

Herik nodded. "Yeah. It goes by too fast, doesn't it?"

Any nodded in return. The incredibly athletic woman stretched over her head, showing off a tightly muscled build the equal of any gymnast found on earth. Herik had oddly come to really appreciate how he could see her definition so much easier than on some of his own kind. The fur covered up a lot of details, especially in the winter when their coats grew in thicker. He had gotten used to seeing a being with no fur by being around Amy, and no longer considered it ugly in the least bit.

"It makes me wish we were allowed more than one hour a week in the simulator for personal recreation. I swear, I'm gonna buy me one of these first chance I get," she said.

"Will I be able to link up with you?" asked Herik.

"Of course you big brute. Neither of us are likely going to get a chance to go visit my home world any time soon, so I want to show you some of the sights. A sim of it is better than just looking at pictures. Plus, you can be at a proper scale to really appreciate it. Eighty feet tall is not the right size to be when you look at the Grand Canyon or the redwood trees in California. Kinda ruins the whole aura of grandeur, you know?" she said.

"Nope," he said with a silly grin on his face.

Amy shoved him playfully and the lupari stumbled to the side. He stepped back up to her and took her in his arms, hugging her to him. His tail wagged behind him so very quickly. She hugged him back and sighed. One of her hands ran up to his head and scratched behind his ear. Herik loved the feel of that and fought off every instinct in him to make the little whine and whimper sound he commonly did when he was scratched there. Amy left nothing go and would likely have ruthlessly teased him about it for a decade was she to have heard the sounds.

"I can't thank you enough Amy," he whispered to her. "Getting to know you, meeting you like I did, how you've helped me through all this... I don't have the words."

"You don't need words Herik. I know you were low then, but you're better now and you're going to be better still. I'll be right here at your side. You're my Guardian. You have to stick with me. It's why I also have to keep training you. My Guardian needs to be tough to keep me safe."

Herik nodded. "I swear Amy I'll always be there for you. You're my sister now and nothing will keep us apart."

"You're my big brother and nothing will keep us apart. I believe in you Herik, always. You just need to believe in yourself as much as I do. Once you can do that... nothing will stop you."

The simulation derezzed around them. Herik removed his visor and interface plugs and Amy did the same. The human smiled up at her towering guardian from her position on the table near the simulator station. Herik reached down and carefully picked Amy up, wheelchair and all, and kept her safely cradled against his chest. Her blue eyes sparkled and she had that look in her eyes again.

"What?" he asked. The lupari's ears folded back a little. He still could not understand how a creature less than a tenth his height could unnerve and intimidate him so.

"Next time we're going into a transposition sim. No fight club."

Herik gulped. "You mean one of those sims where I'm the... and you're..." he mumbled, his voice trailing off.

Amy nodded. "Oh yeah. Then we're gonna have some real fun Herik." Her chuckle afterwards made the wolf tremble. Amy was hard enough to handle just like this. His mind reeled at the idea of her being huge and him tiny. "Home Jeeves! Warp factor five."

* * * *

Herik's memories of time spent with Amy faded when he saw a ralai walk right up to the front door of the warehouse. He rapped on the door then entered a few moments later when the door was opened up for him by someone inside. That was all he needed to see. Somebody was home. Herik quickly checked his pistol and holstered it. He grabbed up two more erestel charge cartridges for the weapon and jammed them into his jacket pocket. The lupari exited the vehicle and made his way across the street.

Instead of going straight to the front door, Herik jogged down the side alley next to the building. The lupari saw a door back there with a flickering light dangling above it. A truck was also parked there. He went to the vehicle first and crouched down at its side. The lupari pulled out a snap-open knife and jammed it into the thick inflatable tires of it, one after the other. The air hissed out of them and the truck settled down to the ground. Herik flipped his knife shut, stowed it away, and moved over to the door. He pulled out a micro tool kit and began to work on the lock, giving thanks to whatever lupari deity was listening that it was an older style locking mechanism. Picking a lock was not something he learned during Academy training. This was something else he had to credit Amy for. She never did tell him how or why she learned to pick a lock though and the question always lingered in the back of his mind.

With a satisfying click, the lock opened up and he pocketed his tool kit. Herik drew his pistol, pushed the door open, and slipped inside. He glanced about, expecting someone to come after him any moment. Even though he saw no security system and heard no alarms that did not mean they weren't there. He would have been surprised if there was nothing of the sort present. Herik padded slowly down the hallway before him. It was dimly lit and a little dirty. The building was old and in need of some maintenance. He saw doors with little signs marking them as Records or Supplies. As he reached for the first handle he heard the sound ahead. Someone was approaching quickly, bare paws thumping heavily on the ground. Herik crouched down and aimed his pistol towards the end of the hallway where there was a turn to the left. A ralai stepped into view with a pistol in hand. The feline did not even let Herik speak and turned to aim at him. Herik fired two quick shots from his pistol. Both caught the ralai in the chest and slammed him back against the wall behind him. He fell to the ground a moment later and dropped his pistol.

Herik swiftly moved to the fallen ralai and went to check him. The lupari barely threw himself back and out of the line of fire when he saw two more enemies down the hallway. Their pistols fired and plasma shots crashed into the wall, boring holes in it and searing the edges of those holes. Herik rolled to his paws, crouched once more, and swore to himself. He leaned around the corner low to the ground and fired two shots at the first one. The shots slammed home in the chest and head, knocking the ashar back into another ralai. Herik rushed around the corner as the ralai pushed the ashar's body away. Just as he raised the pistol to fire, Herik was upon him. He kicked the ralai's arm to the side, disarming him of the weapon at the same time. Herik used his same leg to kick his foe in the chest. The ralai fell to the ground in a heap. Herik stepped up to him and aimed the pistol down at the ralai's head.

"How many more of you are here?" he snarled at him. "Where are the humans? Answer me!"

Fear was firmly etched across the ralai's face. Through the pain he felt the ralai managed to say, "Ten of us... in the main shipping area. One in side room past the locked door marked Refrigeration. Humans in there... guarded."

"Herik swiftly kicked the ralai across his face, knocking him unconscious. "Thanks," he growled and continued along the hallway. He stooped down and snatched up the fallen ralai's pistol as he went. Holding one weapon in each hand, Herik came to the end of the hallway where he found the door marked Shipping already open. He put his back to the wall and listened. Herik heard the sounds of others moving. He picked up the low click and whine of an energy pistol being primed to fire. Voices were whispering to each other, telling them to get in place. The lupari nodded, took three quick breaths, and dove into the shipping area.

He came in low to the ground from his dive and took in as much of his surroundings as he could in a glance. It was a large room filled with shipping crates and boxes and metal shelving. He caught sight of three targets, one out in the open between shelves and two more partially covered by crates. Their shots erupted above and to the side of Herik, flashes of blue plasma slammed into the walls, doorframe, and through the door he just dove through. Herik fired from both pistols as he moved. His first shots caught the exposed lupari in the chest twice; he was blown back and hit the floor. As he hit the floor and slid along it his second shots ripped into the crate and the head of a partially concealed ralai. The enemy fell out of sight with a sharp cry of agony. Herik finished his slide and rolled to the side into cover as two bursts of plasma scorched the floor in his wake. He heard another two blasts slam into the crate, damaging it greatly, then leaned out and fired at the final enemy. Both his shots connected and the target was dropped.

Herik paused and held his breath for a moment, letting his senses seek out any new enemies. He heard at least two others coming. The lupari left his cover and swiftly moved along between two rows of piled up shipping containers. As he reached an intersection between rows he saw another ashar step into view, his arms outstretched and clutching a pistol in both hands. Before the ashar could react Herik rushed up and slammed his shoulder into the enemy, shoving him into the metal racks and pinning him there, his arms pushed into a position over Herik's shoulders where he could not bring the gun to bear on him immediately. The lupari noticed a second foe down the row that turned to face the commotion he had just made. Herik crossed his arms, his left hand and pistol tucked under his own armpit and his right hand and pistol tucked against his shoulder, aiming down the row at a falashai. Both weapons fired twice and both his targets collapsed.

The peacekeeper rapidly made his way along the new row, scanning for this door that he was told of. He finally saw it ahead. The sign read Refrigeration just as he was told. Herik stepped out from between high stacked crates only to see a pile of them get shoved over atop him. He threw his arms up to prevent any from smashing onto his head. Pain shot up his arm and shoulder and one of his guns fell from his grasp as he staggered to the side. He heard a snarl, but it was distinctive, almost accompanied by a laugh-like cry. The female asishi tackled Herik before he recovered. He remembered how Amy said that they were the only UTO race that 'creeped her out', comparing them to terran hyenas both in looks and for the peculiar laughing sound they made when excited.

Both of them hit the ground, the asishi on top. Herik swung his pistol up to shoot at her while she swung a knife down at him. Herik grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the knife and she did the same to his gun arm. A wild look was in her eyes as she glared down at the lupari, her lips pulled back to expose many jagged sharp teeth. They halted each other's arms, matched in strength. Female asishi were bigger and stronger than the males of their race and often more aggressive and dominant. Both their arms shook with the strain and the asishi continued to make that unnerving growling laugh. Herik shifted his leg to get some leverage but the female moved in response, hooking her leg around his to keep him prone under her. Herik saw her slowly move her head down towards his gun arm as they struggled and his eyes went wide. With a swift lunge she clamped her jaws down on his forearm, drawing blood immediately from the bite.

Herik let out a cry of pain and his pistol fell from his hand. "You bitch!" he snarled as he threw his body to the side. The two of them tumbled over and the asishi lost her grip on Herik's forearm. Herik brought up his legs and shoved her away from him. Both swiftly came up to their paws, Herik barehanded and his enemy still clutching her knife. She flipped the knife in her hand so the blade was pointed down along the inside of her forearm. The asishi raised her arms up in an offensive stance, keeping her free hand and arm in the front, covering up some of the motions of her hand that held the knife. The lupari groaned inwardly. She knew how to use a knife correctly, not like the fool ashar from earlier. His enemy licked her lips, dragging Herik's blood into her mouth and chuckling at him. She lunged at him first with a series of probing slashes and cuts. Herik cautiously slapped her hand to the side twice and backed up a few times to avoid the well placed cuts.

"Let me guess," he growled, "Gaddol hired you on, didn't he? Military training, most folks don't know how to knife fight anymore."

"He sure didn't pick me for my sparkling personality," she snarled back at him, the smile never leaving her face.

She slashed at him a few more times then parried Herik when he attacked her back. Neither of them connected yet. She made a quick feint which caught Herik off guard. He barely hopped back in time as the blade slashed at his stomach; it sliced across his jacket and inner shirt at once, leaving the attire damaged. Herik chose to press the offense and not give her a chance to do that again. He swung out at her a few more times including a few attempts to disarm her. One blow caught her across the face and she stumbled and spat out blood. The asishi lunged again and Herik went to capture her knife hand only to see her flip it into the air a moment before he gripped her hand. She snatched it out of the air in her other hand and cut down across the lupari's shoulder with the blade, slicing his clothes and him. Blood stained his jacket immediately.

Herik snarled in pain, let out a cry of near rage, and pressed the attack harder. Now the asishi began to give ground. Another of his blows got through her defense, then a third and a fourth. A knife thrust came at him but it was slower now, injury began to take its toll on his enemy. Herik grabbed her arm, twisted it, and dislocated her elbow. She nearly roared in pain as she dropped the knife. Instead of falling down she shoved up against him and grabbed his wounded shoulder, then went to tear out his throat with her fangs. Both fell to the ground again as Herik cried out, "SHIT!"

He barely held her back, one hand on her throat. She snarled and drooled on him, a wild look in her eyes, as her jaws snapped inches from his neck. "Stop! Don't make me..." he cried out, but the asishi brought her good hand up and began to push his head back exposing his throat further. She opened her jaws wide. Herik turned his head to the side, saw the pistol on the floor that he noticed was there just before they fell, reached out and grabbed it, then swung it up and pressed it against the side of her head. The loud crack of the weapon went off and the asishi's body lurched to the left and fell off Herik.

Herik laid there panting for almost a minute. He shook his head slowly and cursed under his breath for what this ralai Em'hrar was making him do. He finally got up to his paws and winced in pain from the bite on his forearm. His medical kit was going to see some more use again. Herik kept the pistol in hand, his peacekeeper model. He moved to the final door, the original destination. The lupari raised his pistol and shot the lock apart in two blasts. He pushed the door open and burst into the room.

He swept his gaze about and instantly it fell upon a falashai. An unarmed falashai stood at the side of a table in the room. He held a comm unit in his hand up to his big ear, a look of panic on his face as he stared at Herik. Atop the table were four small mesh wire cages, the kind one kept small animals inside for transport. Within each cage Herik saw a tiny human, stripped naked with no more than a strip of ragged cloth to act as a blanket, and huddled back into the corner of it. The air about them was of abject terror mixed with hopelessness. Amy was not among them. Herik slowly lowered his pistol as he gazed upon the poor humans. He had never in all his life felt such revulsion and anger sweep over him at once. His hands began to tremble and a low menacing growl crept up from deep inside. The lupari turned to face the falashai again.

Herik stalked towards him. The falashai back up and said in a fearful voice, "P-please. Don't hurt me. I didn't do anything to the little things. I swear. I just feed them and keep them healthy for..."

Herik punched the falashai across the face with all his might as he snarled, "They're PEOPLE not things!"

The falashai collapsed to the floor, three of his teeth skittering across it. He groaned in pain and laid still. Herik was about to reach down and drag the falashai back to his paws when he heard a voice calling out from the communicator that was dropped. He reached over and picked it up, holding it to his ear.

An unfamiliar voice spoke on the other side. It was male and had the familiar rolling cadence in UTO basic that meant it was a ralai speaking. "Vavencik, are you still there? What is happening?"

Herik spoke slowly, his voice laced with menace. "I'm what's happening. Are you Em'hrar Nashurr?"

There was a pause then the ralai answered him. "Yes. You must be that peacekeeper Gaddol told me about. The one he almost killed a few hours earlier."

"Where is she?"

"Of whom are you speaking?"

"Amy. Where is Amy? She's not with the humans here. Where is she?"

A soft chuckle rose from the other side of the line. "Ah, the little yellow haired female you must mean. She is with me. I had Gaddol transfer her to me as soon as news reached us of your insipid crusade to save her."

"If you harm one hair on her..."

"Please. No idle threats over a comm unit. We are all above such banalities. You want her, come and get her. I am at my estate on the eastern edge of the city. Look it up. You have access to Center files, I'm sure you can have it in moments."

"You wait for me you bastard. If you run I'll track you down across this entire galaxy."

"I have no intention of running mister peacekeeper. I've never had someone come after me like this before. It is an entirely new experience for me, one that I intend to revel in before the end. In fact, you are welcome."

"What? Welcome for what?" Herik snarled.

"Welcome for what I have given you in return; an entirely new experience in life. You were merely going through the motions before this most likely. Now... look how alive you are."

Before Herik could answer the comm connection ended. He snarled in rage and threw the device at the nearby wall, smashing it to bits on contact. The lupari calmed himself and moved back to the humans in the cages. He lowered his head before them and spoke in a near whisper. "Easy now, I'm not here to hurt any of you. I'm a peacekeeper, Sergeant Rathan Herik, and I'm here to help you all get home safely."

For a moment Herik was afraid. The experience they had all undergone was likely highly traumatic to the tiny race. They were prisoners of giants in their perspective, creatures so big and powerful that they were helpless before them. That experience could lead to hatred or a permanent sense of fear ever after. He saw one of the humans, a male in his mid-thirties with brown hair and eyes shuffle over to the bars of his cage. He held the cloth about him, trying to preserve some sense of modesty. Herik slid his head forward, his nose right before the cage. The man reached his hand out between the wire mesh and placed it atop Herik's nose.

"Thank you officer. Thank you."

Herik smiled, and for the first time this long, horrible night, felt like he had a chance of saving his Amy. If he could save these innocent humans, he could save her as well.

Chapter 7

Herik sat in his vehicle finishing up treatment on his wounds. He wrapped up his forearm, wincing slightly in pain. When it was done he rolled his bloody shirt sleeve back down and pulled his ragged jacket back on. He tossed the medical kit onto the back seat and rubbed his hands down his face. It was almost over. The night was almost over and he would be finished with this, one way or another. He had called Milaj and informed her of the warehouse and the thugs inside it. He told her about the humans left in there and assured those same humans that other peacekeepers were going to come and get them within a half hour at most. Herik confirmed the address of Em'hrar Nashurr's estate and prepared to make his way there. He cut communication with the viliti when she tried to talk him out of it, then to beg him to wait for backup. He couldn't do that. He had to make the ralai answer for all that he was responsible for. Tashk asked him to do that one thing before he died. Herik was not about to let that request go unfulfilled, even if he had to pay a harsh penalty in the eyes of the law afterwards.

He knew Milaj would take good care of those people he rescued. He wasn't worried about that at all. She was kind and caring and had more empathy than most of her kind. In fact, he thought she would have made a good lupari. She was just born into the wrong species. Herik lowered his head, smiled, and shook it side to side. He wished Reyet could have met her. His sister would have liked her so much, with her nervous habits and cute awkwardness. She would have pushed him into a relationship with her years ago. Reyet was never one who cared about species integrity. Her war cry was always that love only saw love, not race or social standing or sex. Love saw love. She even told him that not being able to have children was inconsequential. There were plenty of children in need of adoption from all species. So what if he didn't have a lupari son. His sister would have convinced him to wed a viliti and adopt two tordenchi and a jahkatian by the time she was through with him. Love saw love.

The lupari stared off into the distance, the direction he had to go. He had to leave now, before Milaj and other peacekeepers arrived at the warehouse. He wouldn't have too much time to deal with the ralai and save Amy before the law arrived. Milaj would give him what time she could, but the peacekeepers would follow him there eventually. He started his vehicle and drove off towards the city limits. It took him almost an hour to weave through the many streets of Darrintin. Buildings and lights and traffic signals and other vehicles all passed by in a blur. His mind raced with thoughts and his stomach slowly worked itself into a knot. Nothing could stop him now. Not when he was so close. He would get through whomever the ralai put in his way to rescue the one person in the world that mattered most to him.

Gaddol.

Herik gripped the vehicle's controls so tight his hands ached. He forced the thought from his mind. Even the neishor couldn't survive a cluster of plasma rounds slamming into his body. He refused to fear the bodyguard. He would get through him, had to get through him, to save her.

The drive took about three quarters of an hour. Herik saw that he was in a highly affluent outlaying district of the city. Here is where the super wealthy lived. Though the city on the whole maintained a good amount of foliage within its urban center, out here it sported a virtual forest of jarjerro trees and shrubberies and perfectly tended lawns and gardens. As he drove down the street leading towards Nashurr's estate he saw a private security vehicle drive up towards him. The wealthy employed their own local security in addition to calling the peacekeepers when needed. The advanced hovercraft pulled up at the side of his vehicle and two lupari looked out of it at Herik. One of them shone a light towards him. Herik grinned and held up his symbol. The two lupari nodded and proceeded to drive off.

Another few minutes later and Herik found the estate. A huge wall with a massive gate blocked entrance to the grounds. He saw no sign of any guards at the gate. Herik drove right up to it. He felt there was no sense in hiding. The ralai knew he was coming after all. As he reached it he saw an automated monitor unit focus on the vehicle, then a scanner light traced over it. From a speaker nearby Herik heard a voice call out for him to drive up the path to the manor and stop his vehicle before the front door. The gates opened automatically for him and Herik began to drive up the long and winding path. A thick canopy of trees bordered the path Herik drove slowly along. Far in the distance he saw the estate through the trees. It was a huge sprawling structure with three floors and likely near a hundred rooms in it. He pulled out his yutri and activated a module he had for it as he slowed down.

Another two minutes later and the vehicle rolled up to the front of the estate. Its windows were dark, set to almost ninety percent opacity. Five guards, all dressed in expensive grey suits and of various races, stood there on the wide front porch awaiting the lupari. Herik's vehicle pulled over and came to a full stop when one of the five stepped out onto the path and blocked the vehicle's forward progress. The ralai was bathed in the soft headlights of the vehicle.

"Turn off the engine," commanded the ralai as he peered sharply at the darkly tinted window.

The engine shut down and the vehicle went silent. Herik's voice called out to the gathered guards through the vehicle's external speakers, "Quite a little welcoming party for me. I thought Nashurr wanted to..."

His voice was drowned out by the sharp staccato firing of plasma pistols. All five of the guards drew them from behind their backs and released shot after shot of blue energy at the vehicle. The blasts tore through the door and windows. Holes were seared, the edges of them glowing from the heat. Glass exploded from the opposite sides of the blasts as they burst out the back and far side of the vehicle. Fire began to fill the interior of the vehicle as the fabric of the seats was ignited by the plasma. They continued firing for over a dozen seconds. When it stopped the silence was almost deafening. Smoke poured out from the ruins of the vehicle.

One of the guards stepped over to the front passenger door and carefully yanked it open. The entire door fell off its hinges and some fire danced out along the inner roof of it. The male asishi saw no sight of the lupari that was supposed to be inside.

"Hey, there's no one..." His voice was cut off as the asishi stood back up and looked back at his companions. A sharp crack was heard and the plasma shot slammed into the head of the speaker. The impact sent the body sprawling to the ground. The four other guards began to look for the blast's origin point when a second shot was heard and the ralai at the front of the vehicle was shot through the chest. He too fell to the ground. The other three began to dash for cover. A third shot dropped a second ralai, hitting him in the back, but the remaining two guards took cover behind columns that held up the roof to the porch. The fourth blast slammed into a column one second after a guard slipped behind it; the plasma shattered some brick and stone off the side of it.

The remaining guards saw that the last blast came from far across the lawn and back to the start of the tree line. Herik was crouched down just inside the tree line, virtually invisible to the guards, using the darkness for cover. His pistol was in his hands, but he had hooked on both a stock extension for the weapon to steady his aim, as well as an advanced targeting scope atop it, converting it into a more accurate long range weapon. The modular nature of the peacekeeper sidearm gave it an edge in versatility against the more common energy pistols that found their ways onto the city streets.

Herik lowered his weapon and swiftly displaced to a new hiding spot a few body lengths from his previous position. Shots rang out from the two guards as they leaned out from their cover, firing roughly where Herik used to be. The lupari raised his weapon again, took quick aim, and shot one of the two remaining guards in the head. He barely let out a cry before he fell to the ground dead. The last guard tossed his pistol to the ground and raised his hands behind his head.

"Wait! Wait! Don't shoot! I give up," he cried out. The falashai stepped out into view and dropped to his knees.

Herik carefully stepped out of his cover and trotted the distance over to the guard. His eyes and ears scanned for any sign of threat as he moved. When he made it safely to the guard the lupari shoved him to the ground on his front. He bent down and used strip binders on his wrists and around his ankles to keep him in place. Herik lowered his head down at the falashai's ears and growled softly at him.

"How many more are inside?" he asked.

"S-six," he stammered as a reply.

"Is Nashurr here? Is Gaddol with him?"

"Yes, both of them are here. The other four are three more guards and a servant for the ralai."

"Good," said Herik. He butted the falashai on the back of the head with the weapon. The guard fell still with a groan. The lupari took off the stock and scope now and hooked them on a utility belt he had put on before he drove out to the estate. Herik gave a final sad look towards his vehicle. He raised his yutri and shut down the remote drone function. He had heard of other officers using it in conjunction with their patrol vehicle as a distraction before, but it was highly uncommon. Herik however, considered himself to be in a highly uncommon situation. All he cared about is that he trusted his intuition and evacuated the car before he was in sight.

Herik walked over to the front door of the estate. He cautiously opened it up and slipped inside. The lupari found himself standing in a large entrance hall filled with all the trappings one would expect of the ludicrously wealthy. A massive archaic light hung from the ceiling, multiple paintings of various nature scenes adorned the walls, and small statuary was placed tastefully in the room. Four doors allowed egress from the room, not including the one he had entered through. The most dominant feature of the room however, was a huge staircase that led upwards, covered in a violet carpet. An enormous stained glass window dominated the landing at the top of the steps, images of female ralai dancing about a circle of flame depicted on it.

Before Herik could choose which way he wanted to proceed through the estate a well-dressed ralai stepped into view. He had tawny fur and a full mane of brown hair which was nicely matched by his cream colored suit. He stood at the top of the stairs and beckoned for Herik to come with him.

"Master Nashurr is awaiting you sir. If you would please accompany me, I shall lead you to him," said the ralai, obviously the personal servant of Nashurr.

"How can I trust a word you say?" snarled Herik. "You still have other guards in here."

"Yes sir. Quite correct, but Master Nashurr was highly impressed by your little display outside. He wants to meet you with no more bloodshed involved. So, if you will follow me please."

The ralai turned and began to walk along the right of the landing at the top of the stairs. Herik swore to himself under his breath then followed the servant. He took the steps two at a time until he was behind the ralai. Herik kept his pistol in hand the entire time as he followed the servant. He was led through an almost labyrinthine series of hallways, past myriad doors and open archways that led into many rooms, each one more opulent than the last. Herik never saw any sign of the remaining guards on his way to the meeting room.

He went down another set of stairs and found himself entering a long hall with a high ceiling. It was filled with a vast assortment of plants from several worlds. The lighting in here was subdued and the walls and ceiling were constructed of a sturdy transparent plastic. It was a highly stylized greenhouse of some manner, a kind of structure Herik had never before seen. His gaze traced over all of it as quickly as he could until it fell upon the far end of the hall. There he saw a raised platform with a few steps that led up to it. Atop it was a lavish chair carved from black wood with purple cushioning. A rich black wood table was at the side of it. A few small platters of food were on the table, a bottle and glass filled with red liquid, and a gilded ornate cage which held Amy in it. Sitting in the chair was the ralai he came to see.

Em'hrar had deep black fur, so dark it had an almost purple sheen to it as the subdued light fell upon him from above. His eyes were lilac and almost seemed to have a slight glow to them in the dim environment. The ralai wore an archaic style of robe, gold in color, with no sleeves upon it. A sash of black and gold held it closed at the waist. Em'hrar smiled as Herik looked upon him, his white teeth and fangs so bright against his dark fur and visage.

"Welcome Sergeant Rathan Herik, to my humble home," said the ralai as he lifted his hands up and casually swept them about, gesturing to the room in its entirety. His voice was low and rich in tone, often rolling the pronunciation of some words as most ralai had a tendency to do when speaking UTO basic. "I'm so delighted you could come meet me face to face. You look a little ragged but that is to be expected. I didn't make it all that easy for you to get this far, though it was by sheer happenstance, I assure you."

Amy heard Herik's name and pulled herself up off the bottom of the cage immediately. She was dressed in her regular clothes, unlike the other human captives Herik had seen. She rushed up to the side of the cage and gripped the golden wires. "Herik!" she shouted. "Herik, thank God! Get me out of here!"

Herik felt a lump in his throat just seeing her and hearing her voice. He fought back tears. She was still alive. He nodded and said in a low voice, "I will Amy. This is almost all over."

A soft chuckle escaped the ralai. He looked down at Amy and said, "Do be silent little thing. We are speaking, your Herik and I. This is a conversation between two whom are alive, not a half dead little creature that cannot see the truth of things."

"Let her go Em'hrar," snarled Herik. He began to walk towards the ralai across the great length of the greenhouse. "Your demented trade and crimes has come to an end. This Subjugation crap you followed has driven you mad and I'm going to put you down like a sick novuk."

The ralai never once looked disturbed as Herik approached. "Mad? No good lupari, I am far from mad. I have discovered the truth. Subjugation has led me to my purpose in life and allowed me to understand exactly who and what I am. Unlike an insane person, who cannot stop himself from performing whatever things he does, I can stop this any time I wish. I choose to do this. I enjoy this as much as I enjoy listening to a perfectly composed orchestral piece or eating a raw seasoned steak. I chose to do this until this very outcome would arise."

Herik frowned. "Are you telling me you wanted to be discovered?"

"Of course. I've been taking lives for twenty years now, first with others of similar size and varying species; lupari, asishi, tordenchi, ashar, arkatian, and more. I've savored the experience of all of them dying before me. The pleasure of following the ancient practice of eating the hearts of the fallen, like ralai warriors did thousands of years ago, is exquisite. Then when humans arrived, this tiny, primitive species, I knew I had to savor that experience as well. The hearts were too small of course so I had to... improvise... but the general result was the same. But oh, the taking of a life so fragile and helpless, they became my favored race. However, after the years passed and no one discovered my actions, I began to grow dissatisfied. It had become too easy. Society in the UTO has banished the idea of monsters, relegated them to mere myth. Most are too civilized to even believe someone sane could do what I have been doing, especially with how I contribute to society. So, I let things become a little more obvious. I sped up the capturing of humans, indulged in the act more frequently, left a trail."

The ralai pointed to Herik. "The outcome of this is you. I knew someone would discover me. It was inevitable. I wanted to experience what it was like to be hunted. You came upon the answers swiftly and precisely. You fought your way through the fire and the pain and have reached your end, here, with me. Now, there are only two outcomes that will rise from this encounter. Either you shall die and I shall be hunted by others, staying one step before the law as I travel the worlds to find a safe haven, or you shall end me. Both outcomes are acceptable to me. I've lived long enough within the confines of our sanitized civilization, savored all that it can offer me. It bores me now. There are only two things left to subject myself to that has any meaning anymore; the fear and rush of being hunted... or death. After all, death is the final great adventure, is it not?"

Herik found he had stopped walking as he heard the ralai speak. He was utterly stunned by the alien's revelation. For the first time he truly looked upon a ralai and thought of it as an alien. How Em'hrar could have come to be what he was now was the work of a thought process that Herik might never be able to comprehend in his entire life.

Amy summed up all of Herik's reeling thoughts as he heard her say, "You are one seriously fucked up son of a bitch."

The ralai grinned down at Amy. "A pity you and your kind cannot fathom the wonders that Subjugation offers. I have given your Herik a taste of it. In one night I have let him know loss, hope, fear, rage, confusion, and other emotions far more intensely than he has likely ever felt before in his life. Then I gave him the experience of this revelation, finding me, and the greatest revelation of all. He now knows how it feels to take a life. He has been subjected to that grand experience and once it is felt, it forever changes you. There is no greater act of both domination and compassion, as the taking of a life. Thus, I am helping your Herik learn this lesson. I have taught him the purest meaning of Subjugation. I have made him... whole."

Herik let out a strangled cry and raised the pistol. He aimed it at the ralai. Em'hrar turned and looked to Herik, a smile spread on his face. He held his arms out wide, as if beckoning him to fire. Herik heard Amy shouting at him not do it, to not give in to what the ralai was. He had to do it. He had to end this monster. His UTO, the society he believed in and loved, the one he dedicated his life to protecting, had no place for something like Em'hrar. Herik slid his finger to the trigger...

The overwhelming amount of scents in the greenhouse from the hundreds and hundreds of different plants and flowers had blocked out most all other distinct scents from the lupari. He heard the scrape of hoof on tiled floor too late. The massive form of Gaddol slammed into Herik from the side, having come from some hiding spot Herik had not noticed. He was too distracted by the insane ralai to have noticed. Herik was flung two body lengths to the side and slammed against a large rectangular planter filled with bushes and flowers. He bounced off the wood and sprawled onto the floor, his gun skittering off to the side and out of sight behind another row of planters. Before he could recover Gaddol strode over and gripped Herik by his throat and lifted him off the ground like a rag doll. The neishor held him suspended in the air with both his hands, slowly strangling the life out of him. Amy screamed off to the side, though Herik could not make out what she said.

"Oh yes, I apologize for this. If you want to kill me, you have to get through Gaddol first. He is a true follower of Subjugation like me. He came to see the truth almost a decade ago while in my service. He told me he found you worthy, the first one he has faced in a while that he failed to kill on his first attempt. So, he wants this and I cannot deny him subjecting himself to you. I shall bear witness to his act," said Em'hrar. The ralai took his seat once more and watched.

Herik's paws waved in the air almost four meters off the ground. He gasped and gagged and his hands pulled and dug at the neishor's grip. Gaddol was too strong. He could not pull his hands free of his throat. Herik slammed his fists down on the neishor's forearms and failed to budge him again. The lupari then brought his hands up and slammed them to either side of Gaddol's ears, palms opened wide, slapping them hard against the neishor's head. That elicited a grunt of pain from Gaddol as his eardrums were ruptured. The neishor dropped Herik and stumbled back several steps, shaking his head. Herik fell to the ground, gasping and coughing. He scrambled away from Gaddol and pulled himself up to his paws a few moments later. Herik shook his head to clear it and rubbed at his throat.

When the lupari had regained his bearings he turned towards the neishor and began to take a step towards him. Gaddol was also composed again. The burly neishor held a hand out towards Herik, motioning for him to stop for a moment. The lupari stood his ground. Gaddol pulled his well-tailored jacket off, folded it and put it to the side on the ground. He then unbuttoned the shirt he wore and took that off as well, dropping it atop his jacket. The neishor revealed a body so muscular that he had to have been a professional lifter of weights, or so Herik assumed. Gaddol rolled his shoulders forward, leaned over a little, then balled his hands into fists and held them at his waist before him. He flexed which made his muscles bulge out even more, flared his nostrils, and snorted at Herik.

Herik refused to show signs of intimidation and lunged at the neishor as the massive figure showed off. He was fast enough to punch Gaddol across his face, snapping the neishor's head to the side for a moment. Gaddol's head snapped right back, a look of anger in his eyes, as if insulted that Herik would dare strike him. The massive neishor swung out at the lupari. Herik did not even bother to try and parry his punches; the neishor was too strong for that. He backed up a few steps weaving and ducking to avoid them. Herik slid in close under the neishor's guard and delivered two fast knees to the brute's stomach. It felt like he struck a wood wall, there was barely any give to the neishor's body. Gaddol grabbed Herik by the back of his jacket and yanked on it. Herik twisted around and slipped out of it before the neishor got a good grip on him. Gaddol grunted in annoyance and tossed the empty jacket to the side.

The lupari released a small flurry of blows against his foe, Gaddol parrying them and even ducking under the last one as he dropped to the wide legged stance he displayed when he fought Herik hours earlier. This time his fist did not connect with Herik. The lupari spun around to the side and slammed a fist against Gaddol's head again. The neishor staggered two steps to the side from the blow and shook his head. As Herik closed to continue the assault, Gaddol let out a near roar of rage and shoved his body against Herik, forcing him backwards. The lupari was slammed against a column in the room, the impact making the plastic walls reverberate. Herik groaned in pain then barely ducked under Gaddol's punch in time. The column, composed of sturdy wood, cracked from the force of the blow.

Herik darted to the side of the neishor and struck him twice in his kidneys with all his might. Gaddol winced in pain and tried to elbow Herik in his face. The lupari avoided the attack and continued to take advantage of his more agile body as compared to the mass of muscle that Gaddol was. He landed three more unanswered blows upon Gaddol then dodged another two. Herik kicked low and slammed his paw against the neishor's shin. Gaddol let out a roar of pain and dropped to his knee. Herik grabbed the neishor behind his head and rammed his knee up into Gaddol's face. Blood splashed from the neishor's face and busted nose. The blow forced the neishor back up to his hooves and caused him to stumble backwards into the column. For a moment the two of them paused, both panting and catching their breath.

When Herik closed on Gaddol, leaping up to bring his fist down on him, the neishor was ready. He caught Herik in mid-air, hefted him over his head, and flung him to the side like a child. The lupari smashed into planters and pots, the ceramic and rigid plastic material shattering all about him. He gasped as he felt intense pain at his side; a large shard from one pot pierced him. Herik tried to stand up again but his paws scrambled for purchase on the floor. Pain clouded his senses for a moment. Gaddol stomped over to Herik and yanked him up with one hand. The neishor swung him around and slammed him against another column, still holding him with his hand. He smashed his fist into Herik's stomach three times in a row and Herik spit up blood. The lupari's entire world was flooded with pain now.

"This... was the only outcome," rumbled Gaddol. "You surely had... to know this... though you fought well... for a lupari."

Herik saw Gaddol rear back his massive arm, fist balled and prepared to smash him in his head. With his strength he could likely shatter his skull in a single hit. Time seemed to slow to a crawl to Herik. He heard Amy shouting, though he could not make out what she was saying. His eyes caught sight of her, so tiny and helpless in the gold cage, yet still a defiant look in her eyes. He saw the ralai at her side, a smug smile on his face. He was going to kill her. If he fell, Em'hrar was going to kill her and escape. Herik gripped the shard in his side and yanked it free as time returned to normal for him. He swung his hand up before Gaddol launched his fist. The bloody shard slid into the side of the neishor's thick neck and a spray of red spurted from the wound.

Gaddol gasped and his breath came out in a terrible wet gurgling sound. He released Herik for a moment and grabbed the spike. The neishor pulled it free and clamped his hand over the wound, blood pouring out between his fingers. His eyes went wild with rage and disbelief. Herik crawled along then ground after the neishor released him. He made his way between two planters. The neishor's hooves slammed down as the relentless juggernaut stood over Herik once again. He reached down for the lupari. Herik rolled onto his back and met Gaddol's gaze. Pistol in hand once again, Herik fired three times into the neishor's chest. The blasts pushed Gaddol back and caused him to drop onto his knees, three gaping scorch marks on his chest. Gaddol wheezed a few more times, his eyes rolled up into his head, and he toppled onto his front. Blood pooled around his head as the neishor died.

With great effort Herik got back up. He limped towards Em'hrar and Amy, his free hand pressed against his bloody wound at his side. The lupari raised his pistol and aimed at Em'hrar, his hand shaking a little. The ralai smiled at Herik and slowly clapped his hands together. He stood up and looked down at the injured lupari.

"Magnificent. I have seen Gaddol defeat opponents twice your age in experience, yet look at you. Look what determination has brought you. You wanted her to live more than anything else, so you did what you had to do. I admire that. Now, finish this," said Em'hrar. He lowered his hands and folded them behind his back. His long tail swayed slowly behind him.

As Herik prepared to fire Amy called out, "Please Herik. Don't. Don't give him what he wants. Let him suffer and rot in some cell or on a penal planet. You've taken enough lives already. You don't need this thing's blood on your hands as well. You're better than that. I know you are."

He looked down at Amy and hesitated. "Amy I... he... I promised my lieutenant to make him pay. To make him suffer for what he's done."

She gripped the wire of the cage and nodded. "He will Herik. He'll suffer. He will have to live out the rest of his miserable life in some dark hole somewhere with nothing to do except count the days as they go by. Don't stain yourself any more than you have to. He's unarmed Herik. If you kill him like this, you'll be charged with a crime."

"But all the people he's killed, so many senseless deaths. He deserves to die for what he's done," whispered Herik. His hand still wavered.

"He may, yes, but it's not up to us to mete out his punishment like that. We're peacekeepers Herik. Not executioners. Don't let him make you a monster too."

Herik slowly lowered his weapon as he stared at the ralai for over a minute. He finally nodded. "Em'hrar Nashurr, by the authority vested in me as a peacekeeper of Darrintin City, you are hereby detained for crimes against the laws of the UTO including, but not limited to, murder."

A look of disgust crossed the ralai's face. "You place such value in a pathetic little thing like a human? I gave you this night. I gave you an experience that will live with you forever," he growled.

Herik continued, "You are to lay face down on the ground with your hands behind your back. You shall be brought to a Center for processing at which time you will be allowed to contact a legal consular to represent you when you stand before a tribunal."

Em'hrar snarled, "I GAVE you this! I let you see who you really are! I bore witness to what you have become; let you understand your true self!"

"It is this peacekeeper's duty to inform you that any words and actions you undertake now and henceforth will be presented before the tribunal as evidence of your crimes and as a mark of your character."

"You won't take this final moment from me, nor shall I let you take it from yourself! I give you this one last thing!" he snarled. Em'hrar's hand came out from behind his back, a pistol in it. Herik raised his and pointed it at the ralai.

"Drop your weapon! Drop it!" Herik shouted.

"I give you absolution from punishment. Subject yourself to feeling what it is like to kill the thing you hate and let me discover the final answer. She will bear witness for you." Em'hrar aimed his pistol at Amy.

Herik fired his weapon without hesitation. The blast struck Em'hrar in his chest and slammed him back into his massive chair. The ralai slumped down, moaned in pain, and dropped the pistol to the ground. He raised his head slowly and stared at Herik, a slow smile spread across his face.

"Now... you understand... me..." The ralai's head dropped back down and his last breath escaped him.

Herik moved as quickly as he could to the table and the cage upon it. He put his pistol down and opened the cage up. The lupari slid his hand over to the side of it and watched as Amy pulled herself up and out of the cage and onto Herik's palm. A slight shiver of delight ran through Herik. He almost could not believe he was holding her in his hand again. Herik raised his hand up to his face to see her clearly. Her shaggy blonde hair was a bit of a mess but her smile was just like he always remembered. When Amy was right by his snout she leaned forward and hugged him then placed a kiss on his nose. Tears ran down her cheeks and Herik began to cry along with her.

"I thought I... that I'd never..." he stammered.

"Shh shh... it's okay. It's over now. You saved me and that's all that matters. We're together again, you and me against the world Herik."

"You and me against the world Amy," he whispered.

Herik smiled at her and just held her there. The sounds of sirens slowly came to his ears as vehicles approached the estate. As he glanced towards the clear walls of the greenhouse Herik noticed the first hints of light creeping over the trees. Dawn had finally come.

Epilogue

Herik sat at the usual table that he and Amy always took for their meetings in Union Hall. It was a lazy night after work and few people were there at this hour, as usual. They preferred it that way. Amy wore the black and gold uniform of a peacekeeper and looked quite fetching in it, for a human, thought the lupari. Both of them sipped on something the humans called a strawberry milkshake. To Herik, it was surprisingly good. Both of them exchanged glances and Amy pulled away from her drink and started laughing.

"What? What is it?" asked Herik a moment later. He immediately went on the defensive. He had to. With Amy, he always felt like he was the underdog in all situations.

"I see you like strawberry a lot," she said, still chuckling afterwards.

"How do you... oh, right. My tail," he grumbled. The lupari's tail swished rapidly side to side, brushing along the back of the seat he was on.

"I promise I won't let those under you know you're a sucker for strawberries, okay? I mean, imagine, big tough old lupari likes tiny red fruits. Aww, how cute it is. Who's the cute little wolf, huh?" she teased him.

Herik groaned and rolled his eyes. He leaned back in his seat and smiled. He too wore the peacekeeper uniform, though his now sported lieutenant markings. The lupari slid his hand over towards the little seat atop the table and he went to poke at Amy. She leaned to the side and playfully kicked at his fingers a few times. "Back off fluffy or I'm pulling out the stun stick. You know how much you don't like getting poked by that, even a tiny one."

Milaj called out as she approached, "Are you abusing Herik again?" The big viliti took a seat at Herik's side. She put down a tray filled with sweets and fruits on it then slid her hand over and squeezed Herik's hand. The two of them shared a quick kiss.

"Always," said Amy. "Someone has to keep him honest you know. Ever since his promotion he's gone totally insane; all snarls and growls and orders and everything. In fact, we were going to spend some time in a sim later on. My favorite one." Amy leered up at Herik. The lupari let out a light whimper and his ears folded back. "Would you like to join us in it Milaj? I think you'd get a real kick out of it. It's how I keep his ego in check."

"Ooh, I'd love to see that," said the viliti, an ear to ear smile on her face.

"Listen, th-that's totally not necessary you two. Besides, I don't have the time to spend playing in simulations like I used to. I have more responsibilities now," whined Herik.

Milaj playfully nudged Herik's side. "I know when someone is trying to make up an excuse and this is totally an excuse. I do most of your report filing as it is. You have plenty of free time."

Herik shut her up by giving Milaj another kiss. The viliti's ears wiggled at the affection while Amy smiled thoughtfully and nodded. The trio was interrupted when an unfamiliar voice was heard.

"Excuse me. Am I correct in identifying you as one Lieutenant Rathan Herik of Center 12?"

All three of them looked over at once to see two figures standing a little distance away from their table. The one that spoke was a ralai, a short slim female with night black fur so dark it had an almost purple sheen to it. Her eyes were a deep shade of violet. She wore odd clothes that looked like they may have been hand tailored. Her long black jacket was asymmetrical with a shoulder pad on one side and a large folded sleeve on the other. The left side of the jacket went down to her knees while the right reached her hip. She had a skirt and knee high leggings on that left her heels and toes free. Herik noticed she had a lot of silver necklaces too, many of them sporting numerous religious markings and symbols. One of them was a simple circle, the mark of Subjugation.

The second figure was a slightly taller viliti with immense, pierced ears and simply stunning looks. She wore a stylish white outfit that looked like it had severe trouble covering up her huge curves. It contrasted nicely to her mix of tawny fur with dark patches on it and her deep blue eyes. A small pin was on the left lapel of her attire. The pin had the terran letter and number N7 on it, with a small red wedge shape at the side of them. Herik felt a blush creep up in his ears when his eyes fell on this viliti. He never knew the species could get quite that big before. The lupari suddenly felt his paw get stomped on when Milaj noticed his expression. Herik struggled to not cry out in pain and managed to stammer out an answer to the ralai.

"Ah... yes. Yes, I'm Lieutenant Herik. Can I help you? You look... familiar," he said slowly as he stared at the ralai. A feeling of unease crept over him.

She nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir. My name is Mahr'rii Nashurr." She motioned to the viliti by her. "This is my close associate, Seiska Tiann. I'm Em'hrar's daughter. I believe it was you who stopped my father."

Amy, Milaj, and Herik all tensed up at her words. It had been two quarters and they were doing their best to put all that behind them. Herik slowly stood up and looked down at the duo before him. His hand slipped towards the holster at his side.

"What do you want?" he asked cautiously.

"I wanted to thank you. I wanted to let you know that you did a great service to the ralai people as a whole, not just for me, by putting an end to the terrible things he had done," she said. Her voice had the same rolling cadence to it that Em'hrar had.

"You helped bring closure to a terrible time in Mahr'rii's life," said the viliti. Her hand slid forward and squeezed tightly around the ralai's hand. The ralai squeezed back.

"I wanted to let you know that his belief, what my father did, was not what Subjugation was about. Because of his actions the ancient practice of Subjugation has come under much harsher scrutiny now. I follow it and have done so for years, but never once have I fallen to such terrible practices as he had. He warped it into something to use as an excuse for his sick urges. So, I'm sorry. So terribly sorry for what happened due to him. I've been spending the last quarter making amends for what he has done and now I'm here. I hope you can find it in your hearts to accept my apology, not to forgive my father, but to forgive Subjugation."

Herik's hand slid away from his sidearm and up to his head. He ran his hand along his fur a little then glanced back to Milaj. The viliti shrugged. He looked over to Amy. Amy simply nodded and smiled. "I guess so. I mean, you can't blame the philosophy for what he made of it. From what I know, your practice isn't cruel by nature, though there are things in it I disagree with. As long as you don't let it get to you like him, apology accepted," said Herik.

"Thank you so much. It has been a struggle and will continue to be so for me in the years to come to help undo all the damage my father has done, but I believe we can do it. The UTO is all about tolerance and acceptance. I want to show everyone that they can place that trust back with us as it was before. In both my belief and in my father's company, which is now mine."

Herik nodded and said, "I'm glad to hear the company is in better hands now. So, is the viliti here your version of Gaddol?"

Both Mahr'rii and Seiska stared up at Herik with confused expressions. Milaj and Amy both groaned and Milaj hid her face in her hands. Herik glanced about and mumbled a moment later, "Never mind."

The ralai shrugged the awkward moment off and gave a slight bow to Herik then to Milaj and Amy. "We'll be taking our leave and I thank you for listening to me and understanding how deeply sorry I am. It has been a pleasure. Seiska will leave you a card you can use to contact me if you ever need some manner of assistance in the future. If it is within my capacity to do so, you will have it. She will also leave you another card with a small showing of appreciation for your actions. Good evening to you all and lead fulfilling lives."

The ralai turned and moved off. Seiska quickly moved to the table, put two small data cards upon it then trotted off after the ralai with an almost unnatural amount of bounce to her body. Herik stared at the viliti as she left, his tail wagging behind him excitedly. When he turned around he saw Milaj glaring at him with such intensity it was a miracle he did not burst into flames. His ears went flat and his tail slid between his legs as he slipped back into the seat next to Milaj.

"I was only looking," he whimpered. "I didn't know your species... ow!" Milaj swatted him sharply on his snout.

Amy burst out laughing as she got up and walked over to the two data cards. She turned the first over to see it was a contact card for both an extranet address and six different direct comm call numbers when on different planets. The second card she flipped over was a credit account card. She left Herik some money. Amy had read that those humans who had been killed that had actual families, what few there were, were being compensated for their loss. It was obvious that this ralai was doing the compensating. She heard Milaj continue to gripe at Herik and the lupari continue to whimper as she activated the card to see what was given. Amy stared wide eyed as the total of ten million credits showed up on its data screen. A lopsided grin crossed her face as she looked to Herik and Milaj. She put her hands on her hips and nodded.

"Happily ever after indeed."