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"WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BAKEY!" The yell startled Gahn awake and for a moment he couldn't figure out where he was until he saw Roger's muzzle only a few inches away from his with a devious smile painted across it.

"What was that for, Roger?" he said sourly as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

She laughed, "I've been trying to wake you for nearly twenty minutes now. We've been asleep for hours." She fell back into her seat in the cab of the truck.

His eyes widened, "Hours!? I need to get back to my duties. I didn't mean to doze off, it just happened!"

"That is one of the many things that smoking weed does, Gahn," she yawned and stretched in the small space that the smell of the marijuana still lingered in. "I feel a lot better, kinda hungry though. Can you take me somewhere to get some food?"

"I should really take you back to the medical room. Gyth is probably going to be angry at me enough as it is."

Roger sighed and nodded, "I suppose you're right, but I'm sick of ration cubes. They're worse than everything else that's happened to me."

"In a couple days the whole ship will be eating them, a lot of the crew are not going to be happy."

"But there's still real food? I'm thinking sandwich, no, a steak with salt and pepper and mashed potatoes."

"We aren't going to the galley."

She gave Gahn a pleading look, "Fine, we'll go back to the medical room, but you have to bring me something real to eat. I haven't had anything but those awful cubes since we last ate in this hanger before..." A depressed look crossed Roger's face, "before I nearly got you all enslaved and lost my humanity."

"I'll bring you something," he put a reassuring paw on her shoulder and she smiled weakly at him.

"Let's go." She opened the door on her side of the truck and stepped out.

He got out of his side and walked around to the cat who stood there with a firm grip on the door frame. Gahn offered his arm to her for balance and Roger took it with one paw while using the other to close the door. She then took an unsteady step and the two began leaving the hanger.

"I still think walking like this is weird," she said.

"It's not weird, humans walk weird," he replied as they went through the door and started walking through the ship.

"You try growing up with feet and switching to paws then."

"That's what bothers you most about what's happened to you?"

"I'm trying not to think about the rest, one thing at a time, Gahn."

They didn't speak for awhile after that on their walk through the corridors. Occasionally Roger would stumble, Gahn would catch the newly-minted serval, and they would continue.

"So, have you thought about what you're going to do once we reach Wrulov?" Gahn asked as they turned down the hall leading to the medical room.

Roger shook her head, "I don't know. What's this Roo-loff like, anyways?"

"Wrulov," he corrected, "is the capital world of the Rukot Conglomeration. It's located in a solar system that is almost exactly in the middle of the space under Rukot control. The main colony is located in a series of large domes but there is a constant effort working towards the end goal of terraforming the planet."

"Terraforming?"

"It was picked not just for its location, but also because it lies within the habitable zone of its star and has characteristics that almost exactly match Earth's. Such a thing is extremely rare, it's the only known planet in the galaxy that is like this and the pride of all Rukot. One day Wrulov will be a jewel amongst the stars much like Earth was." Hope filled his words, but he knew it would be a long time, at least a few generations, before it happened.

"But the galaxy is full of planets, even in my time we knew that. Are there no others like Earth? There were several we thought could be close."

"No, a few planets within human space have been terraformed but they are nothing like what your home was."

Gahn stopped by the door to the medical room and looked down at Roger who appeared lost in thought. "We're here," he said to her.

He thought Roger hadn't heard him for a moment and was about to repeat himself when she asked, "Gahn, do you know where the rest of my things are? There's a device that looks like the one I was playing music on and another larger one that is thin and opens in half. They were both in a bag inside the cab of the truck when I arrived here."

"I think I know what you're talking about, I'm not sure where the items are but I will look for them," he replied as he opened the door.

"Thanks," she smiled up at him.

The pair entered the medical room and they saw Gyth in a chair with her head down on one of the desks. Deciding not to disturb the sleeping lioness, the two carefully crept across the room. Gahn helped Roger up into the bed and she laid down on it with a soft yawn.

"Thanks Gahn," she whispered.

"I need to return to my duties, it is early and there is much work I need to do before Captain Rels wakes up." He turned to leave and began walking to the exit.

"Don't forget the food, or my laptop and phone!" he heard Roger whisper as loud as she dared when he went through the door.

Gyth stirred as the serval pulled the blanket up over herself. She hadn't let Gahn see how exhausted she was and the effort it'd taken to get back here from the hanger soon had her dozing off again as she heard the doctor get up.

====================================

<<Landing Control, this is the freighter Teshar, ident 4-4-8-K-L-9, requesting permission to land,>> Captain Rels said into the short-range comms console and waited for the response. A light brown and otherwise barren-looking planet hung in the viewport. There were several dozen dome-like structures dotting the surface, spidering out across nearly a quarter of the planet's surface from a large cluster situated on a large plateau. This was Wrulov, seat of the Council of Conglomeration, and home to almost twenty million Rukot of various races.

<<Hello Teshar, ident confirmed, you may proceed with landing on pad 63. Welcome back, Heoni, we received word from Valkter that you never arrived. What happened?>> came the familiar voice of Urdrog, one of the chief flight controllers. He was a boar that Captain Rels had known for a long time and they were good friends.

<<It is a long story, Urd. We are carrying 115 freed slaves and will need assistance on the pad.>>

<<Freed slaves!? You better tell me all about it once you get down here, Heoni. Change to pad 24, it's closer to the medical centre.>>

Captain Rels looked over at Marrin at the pilot console and he nodded, setting a course for one of the domes in the central cluster.

She spoke again into the comms console, <<I will if you are buying the drinks, Urd. There is more, please contact Councillor Rels and tell her I wish to meet with after we land.>>

<<Your mother? Heoni, you must have been on quite the adventure to want to talk to her,>> came the boar's reply. It was well known that Heoni Rels and her mother, Councillor Kudri Rels were not exactly on the best of terms. It had been her mother's wish for Heoni to follow in her footsteps and take a position working for the Council of Conglomeration after the war, but she had no desire to enter politics. When she'd decided to fly the freighter she'd captured at the end of the war instead, Kudri had refused to speak to her for almost two decades. Even now it was still a touchy topic between the two does and they usually only spoke when one needed something from the other.

<<Just do it, Urd. I have important information for the Council,>> the deer sighed and rubbed her forehead. She dreaded having to talk to her mother, but the council needed to know about what the humans were doing to their Rukot slaves.

<<I can't wait to hear all about it, see you planetside, Heoni. Landing Control out.>>

<<Are you going to tell the Council about Roger?>> her first officer asked.

Captain Rels shook her head, <<They already know, at least about a human appearing on the ship. I reported Roger's arrival when it occured but not what has happened since.>>

<<Captain, they will need to know about how the humans get spies into the Conglomeration,>> Fenthik stated from his seat at the weapons console which was currently dark.

<<I was going to just say the human died when we were captured and hand over the vials.>>

<<It is not fair, but she is the only example of a human turned into a Rukot that anyone knows about for certain. They would wonder why you don't hand over her belongings for study if you tell them she is dead.>>

Captain Rels looked at the bear, her face full of indecision, <<She has been through so much, must we put her through more? Gyth reports that Roger accepts what has happened to her, but Kouhm and Nak think that her mental state is a lot more fragile than it appears.>>

Marrin shifted in his seat, <<Landing control has taken over, Captain. Also, you should let Roger make the decision for herself, maybe she does not wish to stay on the Teshar.>>

====================================

"Roger, you have been in there for over an hour. Hurry up, the ship will be landing at any moment," Gyth's voice came from outside of the shower.

"I'm soaking wet! How do I dry off again?" the serval replied.

"Press the red button by the door and shake yourself off."

Roger pressed the button and within moments the air around her in the small chamber started blowing strongly from all directions and the cat did her best to shake the water from her fur. "Thousands of years and showers are still how people get clean," she complained. Still, it had been nice to finally wash after over two weeks, she'd been pretty sure the funky smell in the medical room was her.

"They work, aren't you dry yet? Press the button again," the lioness' voice responded.

She pressed it again and the air stilled with a sudden downward rush, causing most of her fur to flatten back down. When she pulled open the door to the shower she was greeted by the sight of a rather impatient-looking Gyth.

"Can I have a towel, please?" Roger asked.

"Why would you need a towel? You need to get dressed, not worry about a little moisture," the doctor answered.

"A towel is just about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. I'm pretty sure all my problems are because I don't have one."

"What? How could a towel have prevented any part of what's happened?"

"Oh nevermind. You'd think the worst thing that's happened to me is being turned into a literal cat woman, but really, it's that no one understands my pop culture references," Roger sighed and wished that Gahn would locate her laptop, she had so much to teach the future with her movie and audiobook libraries but after several days he had not found it or her phone, saying he had little time to search for them. The young wolf said once the ship had landed he would have more time to look. At least for two days, until the whole ship switched to those horrible ration cubes, he'd shown up in the medical room late at night with what looked and tasted like roast chicken and they'd snuck out to the hanger to sit in the truck and eat while listening to music. She trusted that as long as her belongings weren't back on the ENS Retribution, Gahn would find them, the wolf had proved himself to be somewhat dependable.

Gyth just stared at her for a moment. The doctor shook her head and then said, "I've got some clothes for you." The lioness walked over to the bed in the small room that Roger assumed was her quarters and indicated a shirt and pants.

"What about underwear?" the serval asked.

"What is underwear?"

"Clothes you wear under your clothes. Like the light shorts I had on under my jeans when you pulled me out of the escape pod."

"They were seriously damaged by the plasma bolt. We have nothing similar to them."

"So, everyone goes commando in the future, good to know," Roger ignored Gyth's confused look and walked a little unsteadily over to the bed and picked up the pants. They looked pretty normal for pants, but they were made out of a material that was unknown to her. There was a hole on the backside with a strap above it, which she assumed was for her tail, but there were otherwise no other openings or adornments except for two pockets and belt loops.

"Put them on slowly to keep your fur from chafing," the doctor advised.

"Chafing, right," having fur was so weird and the stuff took ages to clean too. Roger sat on the bed and pulled them most of the way on before standing up to finish. They weren't exactly tight, but loose wasn't the word she'd use either. Under a few spots it felt like her fur was being pulled on and she rubbed a paw over them in an attempt to correct it. Then she reached down for the shirt.

"I couldn't find anything in your size so I got a male shirt instead. It'll be a little loose but your breasts are small enough that it shouldn't matter," Gyth said.

Roger looked down at the two gentle mounds on her chest with the barest hint of a nipple poking out from under the fur on each. As a guy she'd never really understood the whole cup-size thing but she assumed that her breasts were somewhere in the middle of the A range. Part of her was disappointed at their lack of size, and another was glad she didn't have huge melons. "Thank god for small miracles," she muttered and pulled on the shirt.

"So, what about shoes?" she asked the doctor while adjusting the garment.

"Only humans wear shoes all the time, Roger. Most of the time Rukot don't bother unless the conditions call for them." Gyth replied.

"Okay, well, how do I look then?" the serval turned around with her arms out.

"Like males will follow you around with lost looks on their faces," the doctor teased.

"That's not really the response I was hoping for. Can we go with something that says 'fuck off' instead?"

The lioness laughed, and Roger smiled, glad that the doctor seemed to be coming out of her constantly depressive mood.

====================================

An elderly doe in long grey robes stood on the floor of landing pad 24 surrounded by a small entourage of Rukot that were mostly deer like herself. Despite her aged appearance, Councillor Kudri Rels still maintained an air of strength and regality. She'd come here as soon as one of the flight controllers in charge of departures and landings had contacted her with a message from her daughter, asking to meet. Nearby were a group of about twenty medics and doctors that also stood waiting for the Teshar to land though Councillor Rels did not know why, and the sight made her worry about her wayward daughter that retired from a decorated military career to fly an old junk heap of a freighter.

The sound of the large bay doors unlocking drew her attention upwards and she watched as the roof of the pad began to open, revealing her daughter's ship which hovered in place. The fresh-looking scortch marks and missing plates on the hull alarmed her but she did not show it outwardly, instead thinking, <<Oh Heoni, what mess have you gotten yourself into this time?>> as the large doors finished opening.

Six large landing struts folded out from the bottom of the freighter's hull and it lowered slowly down into the bay. The energy barrier across the opening shimmered as the ship passed through it and the doors immediately began closing as the Teshar finished passing through the opening. It descended through the remaining space and landed on the deck of the bay with a dull thunk as all six struts compressed in unison. There was no activity or sound until the bay doors closed with an equally dull thunk and the sound of the locking clamps engaging that followed.

A wide ramp began to extend and lower from under the doors of the freighter's main hanger as they opened. Councillor Rels saw several figures, one of which looked to be Heoni, standing at the opening, waiting for the ramp to reach the floor. The medical staff waiting nearby moved as a group over to where the ramp touched down and immediately began going up it to the ship.

<<They are in some of the crew quarters, this mouse will show you where,>> came the distant voice of her daughter and she watched as the medical team disappeared inside. It was this moment that the councillor decided to walk over, followed by her staff.

<<Heoni, I came as soon as I found out you were landing. Why did you miss your shipment to Valkter?>> the elder doe called up the ramp, but did not walk up it.

<<Not now, mother, we are unloading cargo that needs the utmost care,>> Captain Rels replied, looking down the ramp at Kudri.

<<You asked me to be here, Heoni.>>

<<I requested to meet with you, which I plan to do. We have much to discuss. My passengers need to disembark first,>> Captain Rels stepped aside as the medical team began escorting dozens of Rukot with blank stares down the ramp. They remained silent except for the occasional utterance of the English phrase of "Work is good!"

<<Passengers? I thought you had a human captive. Where are all of these passengers from?>>

<<We have no captive human anymore, instead we have one hundred and fifteen slaves freed from an invasion carrier!>>

Councillor Rels' eyes widened in and some of her staff uttered surprised oaths. <<Freed slaves? Invasion Carrier? Where? Heoni, explain yourself!>> An invasion carrier in Rukot space was a serious matter, the council needed to be informed and the defence fleets alerted.

<<It will have to wait, mother, like I said, we have much to talk about.>>

Soon the bay was filled with blank-faced Rukot who stood almost as motionless as statues, except for a mouse that followed the medical team around as they began examining the former slaves. The sight disturbed Councillor Rels, but she recognized them as victims of the latest human method of subjugation, remapping. The Council had been aware of the method and seen freed slaves like them a few times over the past fifteen years, but never this many. It looked like the slave complement of a large Imperial Navy ship, and she knew her daughter spoke the truth.

Heoni looked to her side at cat who held onto the arm of wolf and asked in English, "Are you sure about this? It is your choice alone. I do not know what will happen."

"I'm not sure about anything anymore, Captain," the cat replied in a female voice. "This seems like the right thing to do though, your people deserve to know."

The three started walking down the ramp and Councillor Rels studied the cat who was clearly using the wolf for balance. She walked with a strange gait and a slow pace, as if unused to having legs. It took them nearly two minutes to get to the bottom of the ramp where all three stood before the councillor.

"Roger, this is Councillor Kudri Rels, representative of Ument to the Council of Conglomeration and my mother," Heoni said to the cat, a serval who looked to be barely an adult and very thin. Kudri could only wonder why she had a human name because she did not share the blank face of the former slaves still being examined by the medical team.

The cat nodded, then smiled at Councillor Rels and extended a paw, "Nice to meet ya, Councillor Kudri Rels, my name is Roger Keene. I'm from Earth, and up until about a week and a half ago I was human."

Councillor Rels just stared at her in shock.