Fragment 0658



Roy found deep space fascinating but he decided that he liked the surface of a planet better and seeing a sky and an horizon was just more his thing. So he got up and went inside and this suite and said to Partner who was right behind him as he looked on his PDD. “Still almost an hour till dinner,let's make the most of this suite. I don't think we will ever travel in this style again.” Partner agreed with a sneezing snort and pushed his head into Roy's back. He took a dip into the swimming pool, He placed his Bio Seal suit into the Auto Dresser and said. “System refresh and clean this garment.” Then he checked out the Hygiene automatics in the bath room and stopped halfway through the program. He didn't like his privates washed by robotic hands, no matter how soft and life like they were and rather did that himself. That the machine gave him a skin deep forcefield shave was quite pleasurable, not that he had more than a few soft stubbles here and there. Finally he felt as clean and scrubbed as a new born, he dressed carefully and as he went into the Master bed room he found Partner lying there on its bag with its front legs folded to his massive chest and his big hind legs sticking up, in the now huge bed as it had adjusted to Partner;s size. He laughed. “Seems you know your way around Luxury Suites better than me. Partner blinked at him and sneezed, then closed its eyes. "I don't think you are a Fury Hound or an Imperial Hound, no Mr. Partner you are a lazy piece of Sleepy Hound.” Roy rubbed Partner's belly with both hands and Partner closed the red glowing eyes and snorted deeply satisifed. Roy straightened and said. “Well I think it might be just as well. You can stay and sleep. I go for dinner with that lady. Just don't eat any of the furniture. I can't afford paying even for the pillows.” Partner send emotions and images to assure Roy it would behave. It was now a few minutes before eight and the door announced Cara. So he went to meet her at the door and stopped in his tracks as he saw her. Cara had her long straight hair now up in a loose knot behind her back, only a few strains had escaped and dangled charmingly from the sides of her head. Instead of her velvet suit, a midnight blue shoulder free dress with fine silver seams that matched her hair. Something shiny and black encased her legs and her feet were in pointed and heeled pumps. She wore long gloves and held a small silvery purse. “Wow you sure look nice Ma'am." She smiled demurly and said. "I am glad you think so." He still wore his green and brown spotted Bio seal suit and all terrain boots. "Do you think I need to get into something like that too?" "If you like of course. I bet you have great legs! They have nice boutiques at the main concourse and I bet your auto dresser has some nice things programmed." "Great legs?" "Well if you want to wear a mini dress everyone will see your legs and I think they might look nice" Roy blushed. "Oh! No I meant if I should perhaps put a fancy suit on. I did wear one not so long ago. Thinking about that dinner made him also think about his parents again. She felt his sudden pain and just touched his hand. He swallowed hard and said. “I better get changed you might not want to be seen with a Backwater planet hick, like me.” He asked her in and used the Auto Dresser and asked it to put him into a Tux. The machine took a minute longer until it was able to accommodate his wishes. “Don't touch the gun and keep the boots.” He felt much more presentable and she gave him an approving nod. “Yes that is better, you do clan up nicely.” “I doubt I have been cleaner in my life, that bath room had an interesting feature.” A girlish smile reached her eyes and made them sparkle. “Yes I can imagine that the Full Body Hand wash option is something one needs to get used to.” She added. “I never did and don't use it.” He agreed. “Somethings are not meant to be automated.” They went to the elevators and she asked." How do you feel?" "I am not sure I feel anything at all, kind of numb perhaps. I don't even know what I am supposed to feel.” "In time you will find your balance. I am certain." Passengers of many different species mingled in the spaceous lobby. No one really paid any attention to the giant view port and deep space. Carla leaned closer to him and said. “Most of them have seen Deep Space many times before and most of the passengers have travelled before.” “I guess I am the only Backwater Hick on this luxury ship.” She offered her arm and nodded towards other couples and Roy did as they did. Then she said, “You are not the only Backwater Hick. There are 12,000 passengers in the D,E and F Decks who most likely don't come up here. Most of them travel for the first time, but I think that it is simply very difficult to raise a sense of wonder in modern Union Citizens.” “Those passeners below are locked up?” “No Eric of course not, but they have restaurants and amusements that are more affordable on their deck levels. They can freely move all around the ship.”

Cara turned quite a few heads as they entered a large room with many round tables. Each table was covered with white table cloth, set with fine, decked with fragile looking glasses glasses and decorated with Candles and flowers. Humans and non humanoids from all over the Union. Some of the Non Human Aliens he recognized easily like the Ult and Petharians, but many he had no names for and for the first time he wished he had paid more attention in school and did all the uploads required. She said in a quiet tone." No worries, you can upload all you need on Sares. We are the ones inventing that technology and have perfected it long before the humans on Terra discovered the use of fire.” He smirked at her and said. “Yes I think I have to do that. I feel totally ignorant and now I understand why there has to be school. Not that I really wanted to leave Green Hell, but I guess it will be there when I return." Again she gifted him with a charming warm smile and she said. "Yes it will be there and I do think you have matured much today." Roy looked around taking in all the new sights. "I never had that much happening in just one day.” He looked down and added. “Do you think it is wrong to have a fancy dinner with such a beautiful lady on the day I heard my parents died?” “There is no one but you who can decide that. If you think it is wrong then we can go and eat smething brought to our rooms. We can go a few decks below, there is a Swine and Dine and a McDonald's and you might enjoy them more than this set up. If you rather be alone then that is alright as well.” “No that wouldn't be nice to you and you are all dressed up and all that. “ He sighed. "Is there something wrong with me? I don't feel sad, just angry.” “There will be a time of grief I am sure, but everyone reacts differently to events like that. Feeling your emotions I don't think you and your parents had a very strong emotional connection and maybe it was severed many years ago. I can not tell you how to grief or what to feel. No one can, but I have a little piece of wisdom for you.. “Live your life day by day. No one except perhaps the Narth knows what will be tomorrow. We can't change the past, we can't see the future. So all that is left is live for today.” “That sounds like some real good advice. I could not even begin to guess what my future holds. One thing is certain I am not becoming a scientist!" She laughed and said. “No I think that is a fair prediction. Whatever life holds for you it, I doubt you end up in a laboratory.” She steered towards the central table, a few beings mostly humanoids already sat there. Roy pulled out a chair for her and waited till she sat and  only then sat down himself. She leaned over." One thing I must say your manners are impeccable. You are quite the gentleman despite your age.” He blushed and said. Uncle Roy insisted on these things all the time and he always said: gender equality is good and fine, but a woman is also a lady and a man is still a man.” He also insisted that it does not hurt to pay attention to your fellow beings with courtesy and respect." "Your Uncle Sam sounds to be quite a person!" Roy's eyes lit up. “ Oh yes he is. Uncle Sam is smart and strong and never ever lies. He was an active Marine and served with the Deadly Ghosts before he retired. I miss him already!" She raised an eye brow and deep respect showed in her face." He served with the Gray Ghosts?” Roy nodded. “Yes, he never talked much about it but that was his Unit. “You do know what that is right?" "I know the GalNet Info version, and I know what he told me." "I seen the picture on the bottle and now I can see his images in your mind. I am pretty sure your Uncle Sam is no other than Master Sergeant S. Brown. The highest decorated Marine in Union History. He is almost as legendary as the Eternal Warrior himself, but then Immortals don't count. Roy said. “You woudn't say that in his presence. He told me once how he fought the Petharians and how Stahl showed up to fight with them. I know Uncle Sam and he respects few and fears nothing but you should see him when he talks about this Admiral.” Cara placed a napkin in her lap and said. “The Marine First Recon Battalion, nicknamed the Gray Ghosts are one of the oldest and the most Elite Unit there is.” “You know a lot about the Military.” “Roy, I am in the Military. I am an Officer in the PSI Corps.” “Oh right, I forgot and then he blushed and hoped she didn't read his mind.” She gave him an impish smile but before she could say something a man in a black uniform who had joined the table only a few moments after Roy and Caral had, leand forward so he could better look at Carla. The man wore a black uniform had a pale blue skin color and coppery hair and he said. ”The Saresii are known for beauty but you are by far the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on." Cara lowered her lashes in a demurely fashion and said softy. “Thank you for the compliment and coming from a Thauran and a Union Fleet officer is especially appreciated, Commander Swybus.” Roy found that his staring was actually a bit rude. To him it appeared as if the man was undressing the woman with his mind. Cara added an afterthought and said. “No matter of visual inspection will result in the answer you seek, Commander, but yes I am a genetic woman.” Now the Thauran blushed and he turned into a shade of purple, with an embarassed cough he said to everyone and no one in particular. “One has to be careful with ones thoughts when a Saresii is on the table.” The four others on the table, with room for 12 laughed and returned to their conversations. Roy asked Cara."What was that about?" "On Sares there are two kinds of women to differentiate we call the one kind Genetic Women and the other kind Non genetic.” Roy almost scratched his head, but knew that this wasn't the place for such gestures and he wished he had paid more attention at school. She leaned even closer and explained. ”Our males dress and look just like females and judging by his behavior and question, he found me attractive but he wondered if I really was a woman or just looking like one." Roy's chin dropped. "What kind of idiot is that? He could not tell? That guy must be blind. A guy in a dress looks ridiculous and you look totally awesome." Her eyes sparkled with hardly contained amusement. "You would be surprised, In most cases not even we Saresii can distinguish who is and who isn't. Our males look in every way like women and most of them are real beauties." "Why would they want to do that? I mean dress up like that? Do they have their..uhm removed?" Cara put her gloved hands to her lips and giggled then she said. "Some have, some don't. Saresii have not procreated in the old fashioned biological way for a almost a million years. These things were not really needed anyway.” Roy's ear turned red as his thoughts turned to subjects he of course knew about but did not want to think about with a beautiful older woman who happened to be a mind reader next to him. “Not needed, well...” She obviously had a fabulous time and said. “It was only after we became Union Members and became friends with the Terrans and Sarans did we re-discovered the fun in sex.” Roy wasn't sure if he should find this conversation fascinating or embarasing. She however carried on saying. “Of course most of our children are born in external wombs. the Genetic codes of a pair is combined by medical experts in a clinic." She thanked the water who placed glasses of water before everyone and then continued to explain. "About one million standard years ago, Sares was much like Terra, males dominated the world in politics, work and most aspects of society. We then got dragged into a war by others and eventually lost that war. Many thousand colonies were destroyed and many billion Saresii died. Many of the men were gone and would not return as they perished fighting in that war. A female Saresii named Deepa Lydaa led a revolt killed her own father and her second in command  Colira Demase became the first Saresii woman to become  leader of all that is Saresii. Deepa placed herself into an exile and left Sares on a quest to both find redemption and a new way to defeat the Dark Ones. Colira wasn't a good leader and she blamed male aggression and the male superiority complex with the mess. Her hysterica and fanatic male hate  became a way of life. Simply to survive and escape the killings some men dressed up like women and later continued to do so to be able to obtain work and employment and government benefits. It all somehow evolved and now almost all of our men look and dress like women and behaved like females. We never went back and after many centuries it became our culture. Our men were still needed for the important genetic pool. An all female race in terms of genetics is doomed as the genetics of both genders are necessary for genetic diversity and health. So we doing this for a million years now. To us it is perfectly normal of course. After we joined the Union about 500 years ago, especially the Terrans and the Pan Sarans found this fact amusing, but even most of them have either forgotten or accepted the fact of our gender issue.” Roy had remained silent and listened throughout her explanation and then he shrugged. “I must admit the idea is about as alien to me as that Garbini over there but I see nothing really wrong with it." The other guests still paid little attention to them, but the bearded Commander said looking at Roy. "You certainly don't look like a Saresii and I noticed your huge gun, are you a body guard?" "No Sir, I am a Greenie!" "I see." He had clearly never heard of a Greenie and made a bland face. Cara smiled at him. "He is a Native from Green Hell and he is one of those famous teenagers who walk like that through the jungles of Green Hell like you would stroll down the beaches of Para Para.” The man gasped. “I thought this report I read about Teenagers surviving unprotected was a news hoax. I have seen the most hair raising stories of that gahstly planet. If you ask me it is a waste of time. I drop a Spore bomb and that Hell Hole is clean overnight and can be put to good use.” A double chinned woman next to Cara chimed in as if she was asked and said. “It must be a horrible place to live.” Roy clenched his fist and was about to tell that arrogant bastard a few choice words of his, but Cara placed her gloved hand on his arm and said quietly. “Don't let his ignorance upset you, I deal with him in a little while. He isn't what he claims to be.” Roy wanted to tell her that he wanted to fight his own battles but the had enough excitement for one day and let it be. A melodic gong interrupted Roy's thoughts and five men two women and a reptilian Alien in silver Uniforms approached the table and everyone was standing up. The Reptilian had three black stripes on his silvery sleeves and wore a silver shield cap. He took that cap off, put it under his left am and gave the guests present a stiff nod. Everyone got up and Roy followed suit. The Lizard looked big and dangerous despite the somewhat gaudy uniform. “Welcome Guests and Travelers aboard the Silver Swan, my Ship. I am Captain Zuyyyzzzuz and yes I am aware I am a Shiss but don't be even though my throat is Yellow, I am a Union Citizen and so are several generations of my family. We are the good kind of Shiss.” Some of the guests actually laughed at that. Roy had no idea why this was funny. From what he knew Shiss were enemies of the Union. The Shiss had an elongated skull, yellow eyes and fine scaled greenish skin. He was the tallest being in the room and he had four arms and he spoke with a distinctive hissing lisp. “He held up his upper arms. Some of you might think there is only one kind of good Shiss and that is a dead Shiss. Some of you might know of the Purple Throats that are Union Members for quite some time but there is a small community of Yellow Throats who rather live free and often scrutinized than in a rigid caste system where true liberites and freedom are virtually unknown.” Roy had the impression the Captain was giving this speech quite often as it almost sounded as if he was reading a script. The Captain continued. “Since no one here could pronounce my name, and I mean no one. After fifty year living among humans even I have trouble with it, so you all may call me Captain Zuyzz like my crew and my wife does.” Again this statement produced a few laughters. "As it is tradition aboard the Silver Swan and all Gray Lines Luxury Liners, all guests are treated to a little refreshment every time we leave a Destination on our cruise behind, s enjoy this dinner and thank you for chosing Silver Lines and I personally wish you a pleasant journey.” Roy wondered what the F Deck passengers got. Cara leaned over. "A free Soda and a Burger." The Captain sat down and so did everyone else. Waiters brought soup right away. The waiter said to Roy. "Cream of Trolom Soup, with fresh Troloms." Roy watched the others and then started to eat, mimicking Cara's moves. the soup wasn't bad at all it actually and smelled even a little like a Jungle plant he knew. It was white and had little brown pieces in it, that tasted meaty but had the texture of noodles. Cara explained. "Troloms come from across the Bridge from M31 and are little Fungus worms. the ThreeOz raise them in farms and Troloms became a hit as many species including humans and Saresii like them." Roy fished one of the brown things out of the soup. “Worms you said?” She nodded. “Don't worry they are cooked. You humans eat Snails, worms, insects and live Oysters for ages.” “They might, I never have.” “Do you like the taste?” He looked at the thing and spooned it in. “Yes, they are good. I just liked them better before I knew they were worms.” “They are symbionts and part mushroom and grow stationary like plants.” He started spooning the soup now with more gusto. “Mushrooms, I can live with that.” He paused once more and asked. “If they come from across the Bridge they must be real expensive!" She nodded. "Hundred grams go for seventy Unions and there are at least 100 grams in each bowl." The corpulent woman sitting next to the Cara who had made that uninvited negative comment about Green Hell was busily chatting with a thinner woman with shrill make up and a towering blue hair doo; the she raised her chubby hands and called one of the waiters. “Do get me more soup, good man. It's not everyday I eat real Troloms.” Again Cara commented. "This you should not do when at a fine dinner. It is frowned on and considered bad manners." Roy seeing the other guests faces said. “Judging by the faces of the others, I can tell.” Cara said. "That fat woman and her friend won the Cruise trip in a Contest. She does not know it yet, but she won't sit here the next dinner and be back down in B Deck.” "It must be amazing to be able to read everyone's thoughts.!" "Once we are on Sares we can raise your Heidelberg Psi Index somewhat and I am sure with you it will be especially easy as you have your mother's genes." The waiters removed the Soup and a new course was served. Deep plates with strange  black oval  things where placed before each guest in a perfectly choreographed ceremony where all guests got their food at the same time. The waiter who served Roy was a Spindlar as it was evident by his telescopic arms also placed a basket with white bread next to his plate. He said. “Mussels from Neo Napoli in an Italian sauce of Terran raised tomatoes, real Italian wine and herbs from from Baltico." Cara took a silvery tool that looked like scissors but were made to clamp these mussles and she scooped a little piece of orange looking stuff out of the black shell using a small fork. Again Roy did it the same way. Some guests and even the Captain however used their hands, using the clamp shells like pinchers to scoop the meat or whatever it was out of the other shells. Cara gracefully dabbed her mouth and took a sip from the wine she had been served. "It is perfectly alright to eat them also with your hands. I prefer the tools as it is less messy and I do wear gloves." Roy used the tool like she did. "I sure love the look of those gloves on you, makes you look real elegant.” "Well thank you. Now I am especially glad I chose to wear them." He remembered Melissa wearing similar ones at the Prom. So he repeated what she had said. "A must with a shoulder free dress. Melissa a friend of mine would say." Cara actually giggled. "She is quite right!" The Captain had made small talk with others and now turned his attention to Cara. "It is always a special honor to have you as a passenger aboard, Colonel, how is the President?” "I have always been fond of Gray Lines attention to the little details, that make all the difference and the President is fine as far as I know. He had pressing business so he did take the Spaceborne One." The Captain was pleased and said "Your compliments honors my ship, the crew and our company ." The Captain now looked at Roy." I assume you are the Gentleman staying in our Executive Suite. Are you traveling on business?" Roy was totally unprepared as he was busy with his mussels. Especially the sauce and the fresh bread was delicious and he was disappointed that he could not order seconds. "No Sir I am going to Sares." A waiter said to Roy." We seem to have counted wrong and we have one plate Mussels left over, would you care for more?" He glanced to Cara and she managed to say yes with just a wink. As he ate the second portion she said leaning closer. " If they offer it is quite alright." "That I call luck. I was just thinking about a second plate." She said even quieter. "I know and I suggested it to the waiter. He was very receptive to my mental suggestion as he had indeed one left over. I just helped him to steer him to you." He almost dropped his tool and whispered back:"You can make others do what you want?" "I am not very good at it, there are Saresii who can do that much better, it is of course against the law. I am sure you know the Kermac have built their huge empire on an ability like this. “If I do it I can only suggest what is there already." "Still those Psionics sure are helpful." After the mussels the waiter came with another soup, It was perfectly clear and only a little yellow fruit on the side. Cara warned him just as he reached for a spoon. “That is no a soup. It is to clean your fingers after eating the mussles. The lemon is there to give it scent and cleaning power." He saw the amused faces of the other guests and heard the giggles as they all watched  the fat lady spooning it. The Union Fleet Commander on Roy's side leaned forward and said looking at Cara. “President, Space Borne One, did I hear that right? You don't claim to know the President of the United Stars?” The Captain answered for her. “She didn't claim anything Commander, she travelled with the President aboard this ship.” The Thauran Commander mumbled something like an apollogy. Cara said coldly. “Commander Swybus, I see you wear the Silver Elephant ribbon. I didn't know they still issue that.” He looked down on his own ribbon display and said. “I got that defeating a boarding party of Nul.” She kept smiling. “Ah and I thought you got it for telling tall lies.” He inflated his cheeks and said angry. “You calling me a liar?” “I have a good mind calling Fleet MP and telling them there is a Commander who doesn't know that the Elephant Medal was an inofficial decoration from ast Y'All invasion and has not been issued by Admiral McElligott for Civilian Freighter captains assisting the Fleet. I might also tell them that this Commander is not Psi Shielded and purchased the Uniform and the Medals at GalNet.” Just then Roy felt Danger. Stronger and more intense than ever, he bolted up interrupted that scene and said. “Captain, the ship is terrible danger. Call for help immideatley.” The Shiss managed to look very angry. "Nonsense, young man. The Ship is in capable hands, we have the finest and best safety measures and we are on safe well established routes, deep in Union space!" The feeling in Roy became even more intense and he did not know what to do or how to react this time. No one could say or do anything as sharp jolt suddenly shook the entire ship. The Captain doused himself with wine. Waiters lost their balance plates and food flew everywhere. There was an instant panic of screaming guests, the fat woman screaming the loudest, especially after the lights flickered and went out for a moment. The huge view port on the far side of the dining hall showed the reason. A big ugly and quite dangerous looking ship was out there and close enough so it could be seen. The lights came back on, the Captain was already halfway across the Dining hall towards the Elevators closely followed by two of his officers. Cara still sat at the table, dabbed tomato sauce of her dress with her napkin and said. “You are quite right, Roy. We are in danger, out there that is a Pirate Ship and there are two more close by if I can sense things right.” A business man shook his fist towards the ship. “Pirates, here on a major traffic route deep in Union Space how dare they?” The woman with the tall hair doo pointed her finger in an accusing way at the Thauran. “You are an Officer of the fleet! Do Something!” He raised both hands. “I am not an Officer, I am an actor. I am doing research for my next role.” Over loud speakers a voice came on and said. “Passengers of the Silver Swan, we are forced to inform you that we are under attack by a fleet of six large Pirate vessels. They demand our surrender. As we are are not armed we must comply. Our shieds are not meant to deflect weapon fire. There are too many and we can not outrun them.”

our shields are good but not good enough and we cannot outrun them. Therefore we must comply for the sake of your safety." The fat lady screamed at the Commander."Where is your fleet? Why can't we even safely travel? You get all that money in taxes. I demand that you do something!" The Commander was worried Roy could tell. Perhaps more than the others and he said." I am certain the Navy is informed and is already responding." Cara said to Roy ." This is the most brazen attack of pirates in decades. The Commander fears he will be abducted." Roy said." I doubt the pirates go for all this risk if they did not have a good plan and a reason for attacking this ship." "Your feelings are quite correct. The Wurgus delegation over there is that reason!" She pointed at a group of Aliens sitting all by themselves on a table. They were especially ugly. Their bodies were somewhat humanoid but their heads looked a lot like fresh butchered and plucked chicken. Again the PA came on and a rough voice said." If everyone cooperates this will be over soon. We want your valuables, a few pretty women and hundred decent strong men. Now stay where you are, we will come to you!" It didn't take long the door flew open and eight men and a robot came in. Some humanoid, some aliens. All heavy armed with Blaster rifles. The biggest of them roared." I am Captain Okkhmer the Gruesome, I think we hit the jackpot here are all the rich and fancy dressed. I am going to have some fun with that Saresii beauty over there. if she is a girl that is. Otherwise I simply kill him. "The rest of you all do what I say and some of you will be able to return home. Some of you..." One of his Pirates had aimed at the Wurgus, but never came to fire. Roy had thrown a Steak knife with deadly accuracy over a distance of more than 12 meters. Hitting the man into the right eye. His blaster shot hissed above the Wurgus into the ceiling Simultaneously he had his TKU drawn. Roy pressed the trigger. This was no blaster with energy beams. The TKU fired a bolt of superheated matter, and it had despite the compensators still an enormous kick. The bolt hit the Robot with the force of 20 tons kinetic energy per square centimeter and with over a million degrees. the robots entire torso was almost instantly pulverized in a spray of molten metal, showering two Pirates. Roy as incredible fast, he had vaporized the second man and a bolt of his weapon severed the shooting arm of the third clean off. Tables and curtains started burning. The automatic fire depression system came on and green beams siphoned the energy from the fires. To his complete suprise Partner appeared out of thin air next to Roy and already running in full speed. Roy was fast but Partner was even faster and tore into the rest and his claws turned two into gory pulp. One managed to activate a force field but it flickered and collapsed after only two wipes of Partners claws. Roy had reached the Pirate Captain and aimed the still hot muzzle inches before his eyes." You tell all your men aboard to drop their weapons and surrender. I make this demand only once. The I will shoot you and partner and I will hunt the rest ourselves! Okkhmer glanced over to beast who just cracked the last mans skull under his paws and came towards him . His Eyes bright red glowing, Energies sizzling between those short horns Partner had above his eyes. Okkhmer's hand pushed a button on his belt and a Force field came on." You almost had me!" Roy visibly dialed the TKU to max. "Let's see if your Force field withstands that!" A glistening beam cracked from Partners horn. the Pirates personal force field collapsed and his Shield belt sizzled, smoked and melted to a clump. Partner came closer opening his maw smeared with blood, pieces of flesh still hanging on his canines and Partner roared. the Pirate captain became pale. Roy grabbed him by the throat." You were saying?" "My ship will open fire!" "With you on board?" Roy saw a picture in his mind of partner attacking the Pirate ship! And Partner was gone! Only a popping sound as the air rushed into the sudden void. Roy saw before his inner eye as Partner appeared on the Pirate Ship bridge and went bezerk." I doubt your pirate ship will do anything. Go ahead hail it!" He actually did and everyone could hear the screams and blaster shots, then there was silence. "Who are you?" "I am an extremely pissed off Greenie. Pirates killed my parents, Pirates threaten my friend and disturb my dinner! Now do as I said or die!" Partner returned with an arm of someone still sticking out of his maw. Someone of the passengers pointed at a viewport. " Pirates your goose is cooked! the USS Devastator is here!" All the threats and all the gruesome brutal actions of Roy and Partner did not have the same effect at the pirate than that! His eyes widened in panic." Kill me now! Greenie! Kill me now!" Roy gave the Pirate a rough shake and squeezed a little harder. He found this throat squeeze technique quite effective and dropped the man who collapsed on the floor! One of the Wurgus wearing a long gown like garment in shimmering purples and silvers came over and his disturbingly ugly mouth opened and closed." You have saved our lives. You saved my life! That shot was aimed at me!" "It okay, Mr. Wurgus. I am sure you would have done the same." "No frankly not. At least not before. My decision has changed, there are Humans who do not dislike us and fight for us!" Cara came over." That was something, you and your Animal fight like a platoon of Marines!" "No, Ma'am. I would not dare to compare me with Marines. I did have a good teacher who was one though." Again the Wurgus spoke but this time to Cara." This your companion should have been with you as we had our talks. We will reconsider and I will vote for our membership with the Union." "Your Highness, as serious and tragic this situation was. I must say I am elated to hear you have changed your mind. However this young man is a civilian and not associated with me or my work." "You should be! We want you to be there! He saved my life and more important that of my beloved." He ignored Cara turning and added:" You are welcome on any Wurgus Ship at any time!" Only now he turned to Cara." We like him. He will be accepted and honored as Union Representative. I have said what needs to be said!" He handed me a little cube." This is for you and your animal! It is only a token but any Wurgus will know who you are with it." I waved:" Ah not necessary Mr. Wurgus. You seem a nice fellow and once you get to know you. You aren't half as ugly as I thought!" Cara gasped. Roy didn't notice and added." I bet my TKU you Wurgus think probably we humans are as ugly as sin!" The Wurgus was quiet, looked at Roy out eyes that looked almost like animated Onion bulbs. then a blubbering sound came out of the mouth and the Alien threw his head back and then padded Roy's shoulder." Human you are straight and honest. No false compliments. You say it as it is like a real Wurgus." The Pirate stirred, but Partner put a paw on his chest and the man quit stirring. The Wurgus said. "I am Patriarch Sensitu of the Morlga Wurgus. Your Highness is the proper address, but not to you! You call me Mr. Wurgus anytime. Do you think we should join your Union?" Roy shrugged." I don't know I am no Wurgus. I guess you got to answer that question yourself and what is good for your folks." "And what do you think?" "I heard you are mighty good with Suns but you don't have a planet because you saved everyone's asses you made your own Sun go Supernova to stop the first Y'All invasion. Normally we should join you and say thanks and then make sure we find the nicest planet and give it to you, that's what I would do." Again there was silence and then he said:" You have never talked to a Wurgus before?" "No Sir, I just left Green Hell. We don't have many Non Humanoids, but Ma Swenson always sais the Wurgus would be a mighty nice addition to the Union and so I actually paid attention in school when we talked about your kind." "Your Mother thinks highly of us?" "My real mothers is dead. She died in a Pirate attack very recently. Ma Swenson is a shop keeper on Green Hell and she reads and watches all the magazines they sell herself and knows everything about everyone." To Cara he said." We must talk. I am sure now that the mighty Devastator is here we will be as safe as can be. When everything is settled we shall finish our talks and our dinner." "A splendid idea Your Highness." It did not take long and Marines arrived along with them a tall man in a black immaculate uniform. He appeared very athletic. His black boots polished to a mirror finish, just like Uncle Sam did his every day. He wore dark glasses and had a distinctive scar on his left cheek just under the eye to the corner of the mouth. A strong jaw line and the white blonde hair trimmed to a short buzz-cut. He looked around the room, his marines spread out and then he saw Partner and stopped in his tracks. The fat lady came running."Oh my god! We are all safe! My hero!" She screamed and held up a little book and a writing utensil." Please Admiral Stahl, please an autograph! Oh you are even more awesome in real!" He had a strong voice and said." I will be glad to do that later, Ma'am. Right now we have still a situation that requires my attention. I suggest you find a secure place. The most dangerous life form in the Universe is still lose and we need to try to contain it." She gasped and ran to the IST He walked straight to Cara." Hi gorgeous! There is a Fury Hound here, for the moment it seems docile but we must evacuate. There is nothing we can do to stop it when it goes bezerk again!" Cara said." I don't think Partner will be a problem. It is the pet of this Greenie here!" The Admiral now looked at Roy." I can see you are a Greenie, I saw the torch marks it had to be you and your TKU. That Fury Hound accepts you?" "Yes Sir!" He waved at Partner and he let the pinned Pirate go and trolled over and sat next to Roy feeling very proud of itself and hoped for a good word from Roy. Roy immediately petted his animal and said."You did good! Real good!" Raising his chest and head even someone who could not feel his thoughts knew Partner was very happy and proud. Cara said." The Fury Hound is the Psionic Twin of Roy. They are one soul and that Hound does whatever Roy wants. It can even teleport!" Stahl nodded."They all can!" He turned his head and out of the air a smaller version of Partner arrived. It was much smaller and dark gray not black. Roy became excited." You know about these?" "Only little, son. I got this from the Narth Supreme as a gift. It is not of Narth origin. Since you have yours under control we can wrap things up and then we talk." He turned to Cara and greeted the Wurgus." Your Highness!" The Wurgus said." You came but you would have been too late and there would be war between our people if it wasn't for this young human. He saves our lives and fought for us." "I am sorry, your Highness we were led on a wrong trail at first. It was a well planned attack. We are sure the Kermac are behind all this, they did not want the Wurgus to join the Union and they tried to assassinate the Klack delegates on Harper's Junction using a Wurgus agent they had turned and prepared and planned this attack as well. War between Wurgus, the Union and our new friends the Klack would have been good news for the GC." "We understand all this. We know the Kermac do not want us in the Union, the fact remains. We would be dead." "We did offer you a safe ride in the Devastator. It was you who insisted on this Cruise ship." "If we Wurgus become Union members we must be safe on all ships and all planets not just aboard the mightiest battle ship. It turns out we are not safe, but no one is truly safe anywhere, however there are Humans who think good of us. Like this Ma Swenson and this young man. He is no trained diplomat and called us ugly to our faces. We will now consider becoming members of the Union. We will be at Pluribus in 3 month after I talked to all other Patriarchs. I would like this Greenie to be there as well." "I cannot order him to be there. He is a Civilian but I will make all efforts." Roy said:"No worries Mr. Wurgus. If I can make it and afford the trip, I be there!" The Patriarch laughed in his blubbering way." I am certain transportation can be arranged." The Wurgus got up bowed to Cara." Now that the barriers are broken. I admit you are a skilled negotiator and you have my respect." She smiled."Still I was not good enough. You left with a definite no!" "Because you lied to us. You never spoke the entire truth. I know Diplomats do that, but it is not the Wurgus way. This Greenie is without falsehood at all, we too have hidden talents. We can't read minds but we always feel the truth." She bowed." I will take your advice and adjust my behavior." The Wurgus turned and left. Soon as the Wurgus delegation had left the Captain of the ship arrived and saluted before the Admiral." Sir you have no idea how glad I was when I saw your ship arrive. Will it be alright if I inform the Passengers?" "The Pirates have been in custody or are dead. You may resume your travels too, unless your ship is damaged. I can take your ship aboard. I got room in one of my hangars!" Roy could not believe what he just heard was the Devastator really big enough to take the entire Silver Swan? Cara nodded to him." He could find for 20 Ships like that." The Captain said." No need Sir, we were fired on but our shields took the brunt. We will safely reach Odenworld. The Silver Crane our sister ship will be there as well and take over the passengers so we can go into dock." The Captain pointed at me." He knew before the attack it would happen, he needs to be interrogated." Cara said coldly." Captain, this young man has a Psionic ability to sense danger. It was you who ignored it. He saved lives by fighting the pirates. How dare you accusing him? He travels by courtesy of the President of the United Stars himself." the Captain apologized and left. Roy looked for Partner and saw him check out the other animal. The other stood there clearly afraid, tail tugged in and head lowered. Stahl said: "I never seen Wölfchen afraid of anything, but I think you got the Emperors hound." Stahl pointed to a table and they all sat down. He waved and a still shocked waiter brought drinks. he leaned forward and said." I have been on Narth once, many years ago. The Narth are a very old and enigmatic species. They have been around long before the Celtest and the Dark ones clashed in our Galaxy. Two very advanced civilizations. Now while Celtest artifacts are rare they can be found, we know a little about them. We know their language and how they looked like. We know next to nothing about the others, not even their Name. They are just called the Dark ones because their ships were black, so the Saresii say who been around back then as well. I was invited to Narth to talk to the Narth Supreme about the Dark Ones. We wanted to know if they might be associated or responsible for the Y'All attacks. During our conversation this gray animal appears and the Narth Supreme tells me that this is a left over from the Dark Ones. He said it would take many Narth to contain it, as it was too dangerous to be let lose., but the Animal came over and sort of bonded with me and the Narth said, that this Animal accepted me as his master and it would be safer with me than him having hundreds of Narth containing the Animal day and night. Of course half of what a Narth says is so beyond anything any human could understand, but basically it somehow accepted me. There is another one out there that I know off and that is Shadow from Rex Schwartz. He found his drifting in space I believe and it bonded to him. Now the Narth also told me that these were called Fury Hounds and engineered life forms. If I understood it correctly they were made by or for the Dark Emperor, himself. The leader or ruler of the Dark Empire and he gave the smaller ones to very high Officers or Lords who pleased him as a token or something. However Narth told me that the Dark Emperor had a huge, all black Fury Hound always sitting next to him on the throne and it was the most ferocious and dangerous life from a Tec level 12 life form could come up with. The Narth Supreme said the Dark Emperor returned from where he came and that this was not this plane and left his Furry Hounds behind. Why he did that I don't know of course. From the size of your beast I think you got the Emperors hound. From what I have seen Wölfchen do, I think you have one hell of a dangerous and almost unstoppable war machine on your hands." Roy felt like the Admiral had on Narth. He didn't really understand it all, but whoever owned or made Partner wasn't there no more and Partner was no his. As always when he thought of Partner he got waves of affection an Partner strolled right up to Roy and sat down. Stahl petted it without any fear and Roy could feel that Partner liked the man right away." It likes you!" The Admiral pulled a plate with mussels before him." I love these!" The Admiral was gone and the Silver Swan once more on her way to the next stop. Roy was back in his suite, Cara sat next to him on his balcony and said." You did real good there with the Wurgus!" "Could you now tell me why this all is happening?" "Yes of course! Let me begin with the Wurgus. As you know they are a nomadic race. They no longer have a planet or a system and live aboard huge space ships. They are very gifted Solar Engineers and their Tech Level is generally believed to be TL 10. They are able to repair suns, alter suns and even make and ignite suns. They know how to make Quasars, fix unstable suns, change the radiation output and make them go Supernova. Making a Sun go Supernova is a terrifying weapon as you can instantly destroy an entire Solar system and everything in it. We know the Kermac our Enemies approached the Wurgus to develop a Solar Bomb. A device that the Kermac could use to turn any Sun in a Supernova. The Wurgus don't like the Kermac. Problem is they don't like us either especially due to the fact that the Ult are with us. The Wurgus claim that the Ult and the Kermac were the ones who let them on their own that led to the loss of their own world. A few month ago the Wurgus said they are accepting first talks but under greatest secrecy. They insisted on a remote, little known world to meet and talk. Desolate was chosen because it is a very little known small Mining world, but in reality it is a Navy Intelligence Base with excellent facilities and good security. "The President had to be there at these high level talks and I was there, for one I am member of the PSY Corps and at least one of us is there when the President is traveling and I am officially also the Saresii Delegate to Pluribus and speak there on behalf of my people. The Klack have only recently joined after decades of mistrust and almost war. They came there as well to advise the Wurgus about the challenges and benefits of a Union membership. "Now if the President travels openly on the Space borne One there is always press coverage and great public interest. To keep the meeting as secret as possible he traveled with a civilian ship. Roy asked. "Is he aboard now too?" "No after the Assassination attempt you stopped, he went back on a Military ship." "Now we knew the Enemy had gotten wind of this. The Kermac are great spies and schemers. If they managed to make the Klack angry, the Humans blaming the Wurgus for the death of their president and the Wurgus claim we could not protect their delegates, it could lead to war. Something the Kermac would love so they could pick a fight with the weakened winner and take dominion over the Galaxy. Their declared goal as you might know." She sighed." We did not know the Kermac would be so bold and cause a pirate attack so deep in Union space, but the Devi was never far, but to far as the Wurgus quite rightly said. You look so innocent and young but you fight with confidence and resolution. I never senses any doubts, fear or panic. I thank you for saving my life as well." Roy petted Partner and said." I was real pissed when he said those things to you!" She smiled ." I noticed and you sure showed them. I think it might be you being raised on Green Hell were everything is dangerous and deadly. In order to survive there, you had to be even more dangerous and deadly." "No not really. That's what non Greenies don't understand. Yes everything is dangerous but that doesn't mean everything kills everything constantly. It is more like a balance, if you don't disturb the balance and come part of it you survive. A Marine in a five ton destroyer suit is much deadlier than I am, but he has to blast and shoot everything because he disturbs it and that is his doom. Energy will go down, A mud grabber will pull you deep below, one false step and your gun hand is glued to a Tantalus Oak. That's what my parents and all the Off-worlders never understood." She pulled of her gloves while she was thinking." There is a deep truth in what you said." She got up and said." It is late and I think you experienced more in one day than anyone should, maybe you are able to find some rest. Tomorrow is hopefully less eventful and we can complete a dinner together."

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