Star Kitten (14 page)

(The miniaturized screen next to Tabby’s
face now switched to showing a grainy picture of Warden Ggggaaah,
in place of the previous picture of planet Rijel 12. Meanwhile,
Tabby Calico read the Warden’s formal statement)

“ ‘Though we are deeply saddened by the loss
of life and senseless violence by what has turned out to be a mere
handful of incorrigible individuals, we look forward to suppressing
this uprising and returning to normal operations as soon as
possible. Our deepest and most heart-felt condolences go out to the
families and relatives of those lost in the tragedy thus far. We
will strive to end this isolated affair soon, and resume business
as usual. Sincerely, Warden Ggggaaah, New Australia Planetary
Prison, Rijel 12.’ ”

Felina Toyger reached futilely for the
button on remote control to turn off the news, but couldn't seem to
find it. Her green, cat-like eyes were blurry, and her head was
pounding from the alcohol bender she'd endured the night before.
Way too many mugs of Catnip Ale, it seemed! The sudden cold reality
of the "morning after" was most definitely an unwelcome sensation,
right now. She most assuredly didn't want to listen to the damn
news, either. That would only make it worse. After all, she didn't
NEED to be awakened this early in the morning. Not any more
anyway….

As of yesterday, her training as a highly
sought-after female Empath had all but come to an end. The elders
at the Academy where she had been studying to become a Pumalar
Empath for the past two years, had unfortunately determined she
should be released from the program. And though it was certainly
not anything that she DID, to get thrown out of the program, it was
certainly due in part to what she did NOT do quite well enough
(which was to keep her bold opinions to herself). You see, Pumalar
Empaths were highly prized throughout the galaxy for just three
very important things: social adaptability with their mated male,
sexual intuitiveness during love-making, and instinctive deference
to their mated male's point of view.

Still the news droned on, as Felina
continued to groan and slap with her clawed, catlike hands at her
nightstand trying to find her mute button. Meanwhile, News Anchor
Tabby Calico rattled on, "Recently of course, as our viewers might
recall, New Australia Prison has been the center of ongoing bitter
controversy, as family advocates have been protesting for years
demanding that the prison provide them information on loved ones
and relatives sentenced to minimum sentences there. Loved ones
convicted of crimes who leave for Rijel 12, they contend, are most
commonly never heard from again.”

The miniaturized screen next to Tabby’s face
now disappeared, and the camera view zoomed in slowly on the News
Anchor’s face once more. Her facial expression became even more
serious and concerned as she continued, “Warden Ggggaaah and the
Interplanetary Authority have been, in the view of many beings in
the galaxy, quite less than forthcoming about the true fates of
prisoners sent there... and many accuse the Galactic governments of
a cover-up. Interplanetary Authority officials continue to deny
these claims, pointing out that...”

(The screen switched to a blue background
with typed Galactic words in quotation marks around it which Tabby
read off dispassionately). "'Prisoners completing their sentences
at New Australia Planetary Prison are free to return to their homes
or go anywhere they like within the galaxy. Where they choose to
go—or whether they choose to re-contact family or relatives—is
solely up to the released convict’s discretion.'"

While the screen continued to show this
quote, Tabby Calico continued her commentary, "This quote was taken
from an official inter-space communication released to the media;
but in the opinion of many prison reform advocates, such as Ginger
Burmese of the Gata Freedom Party...."

(The camera view now suddenly cut to a
sound-bite from a recorded interview with a rather plump dark brown
Pumalar female, who was suddenly now speaking on camera) "It hints
at an effort by Inter-planetary officials to disguise the real ugly
truth... that in reality, prisoners who are sent to Rijel 12 are
never meant to come back. That is unjust. It's slavery, and that's
against the whole nature of our Pumalar culture. We want answers…
and we want justice!" (A crowd of Pumalar protesters standing
behind her in the video cheered her words, as the sound-bite
suddenly faded, then cut short and the scene immediately switched
back to the broadcast anchor Tabby Calico).

Tabby appeared to be moving her eyes from a
video monitor off-screen, back to the live camera, making direct
eye contact now with the viewer. She added with a professional but
serious tone, "We will be keeping you informed of developments on
Rijel 12 throughout the day. Stay tuned to Interplanetary News
Network for regular updates...."

Felina rolled over onto her back and sat up,
rubbing her eyes with the palms of her large cat-like, yet still
very humanoid-looking paws. Frustrated, she then slapped the
mattress on both sides of her hips, exclaiming "I don't care!"
Frankly, Felina Toyger had most definitely endured a bellyful—and
then some—of learning current events and studying the news. It was
required of her so that she’d be able to carry on conversations
with any potential mate. Empaths were spayed by having their uterus
removed, then trained to learn and study Galactic affairs as well
as other cultures and customs so that they could be paired with
almost any species of male; and always be able to carry on an
intellectual conversation. It wasn't enough for them to simply be
attractive, submissive, and agreeable. They also needed to be smart
enough to converse with members of sophisticated society... and not
be an embarrassment to their paired male.

That, unfortunately, was Felina's downfall.
She learned history, Galactic affairs, politics, and the social
nuances of other planetary cultures quite well, but in
conversations she all too often held very strong opinions, which
she expressed very clearly and loudly… one too many times. It did
no good for her instructors to caution her or admonish her with
warnings like, “Yes, Felina. But whether it’s fair or not, what
matters is what our Mate thinks. That’s what you’re learning here.”
That shit just didn’t fly with Felina.

Meanwhile on the wall video monitor, the
network cut to a commercial for some new resort hotel being opened
up on a former Earth space station located between Pumalar and
Zorgolong. This space station had once been an intergalactic
science and research institute, but had eventually been abandoned
and closed after a mysterious outbreak of disease wiped out several
hundred of the research scientists living and working there. Loud,
upbeat, catchy dance club music suddenly blared from Felina’s Wall
Video Monitor. It throbbed in Felina’s head, reminding her of the
send-off party she’d attended with all her friends the night before
at a local night club. Felina held her head and moaned
pathetically. “Where’s the bloody mute button, dammit!?” she
whined, her eyes still too cloudy to focus and look for the remote
controller for her Video Monitor unit.

The new resort was to be
called "
Star Pussy
", the sultry male human voice said in heavily Earth-accented
Galactic. And it was going to be an intergalactic pleasure palace
opening up to the public for
adults
only
. The human narrator said in a sexy
voice, “Leave the kittens at home. Climb on board. And take a
little trip… to the new nation of fascination and eeee-rotic
sensation. Escape tonight… to STAR PUSSY. Your fantasy
awaits….”

Felina had mastered almost every aspect of
her training, and even excelled, compared to other females in the
program. Felina was quite fit and strong, very athletic, curvy, and
stunningly beautiful. Tiger-striped and perfectly proportioned, she
stood about 6 feet tall—which was typical for most grown female
Pumalars. In terms of sexual acuity, exoticness, and erotic
sensitivity, she scored some of the highest marks anyone had seen
in many, many years at her local Academy. And this was one of the
most important attributes for becoming an Empath in the first
place. That's mostly what made them desirable as gifts to foreign
dignitaries, celebrities, honored nobles, or as rewards for bravery
in military service.

The Empath program had begun for Felina when
she was only 16, but her original discovery as a Pumalar capable of
becoming empathic? That came when she was only about 12. Early on,
Felina demonstrated abilities to see what others were thinking and
feeling; and could react properly to their desires or needs quite
quickly, just like most any full grown female Pumalar could. But
her hometown Pride's elders felt she had the basic talents which
could be developed much further, given proper training in an Empath
Academy. Empath training was actually a very ancient Pumalar
tradition.

The video commercial
continued, gradually switching from thumping club music to soft
sexy jazz music playing. Suddenly the screen was showing rather
provocative imagery of attractive young female Pumalars… plus
female Zorgolongians, Porkonjii, Schpleeftii, and even some
half-naked female Humans posing in tantalizing scenes with each
other. All smiling or casting alluring glances, these assorted
females from five different species gave beckoning gestures,
mischievous winks, welcoming nods, or just puckered their lips
lustfully. The Zorgolongs flicked their tongues. The Schpleeftii
wriggled their little rodent-like snouts. Then the human narrator
continued in a more salesman-like voice, "… overnight packages,
starting at only sixty-five Galactic dollars. There's really, truly
something for just about everyone at
Star
Pussy
…
no matter
what you desire
…."

The commercial even showed
a few scenes of muscular young human males, greased up with oil and
sitting naked around a steaming hot tub. Human male concubines were
the latest sexual craze on Pumalar, and this was quite ironic,
given that homosexuality among male Pumalars was nonexistent.
However, wealthy male Pumalars who occasionally desired something
new to experience sexually, would occasionally find companionship
with gay
human
males to be quite exciting and fulfilling. Private clubs even
existed on the planet Pumalar which catered to this growing fad.
Using the Earth term "Bath House", these facilities drew human
homosexual males
by the
thousands
every year to
planet Pumalar; and they flocked to the clubs day and night hoping
to meet a rich “fat cat” as gay men from Earth liked to call
them.

The Empath Program on Pumalar began
thousands of years ago actually, but originally started as more of
a community tradition. It developed over the galactic centuries
into something much bigger. On Pumalar, villages (or PRIDES as they
were called in ancient times), would occasionally make war on other
Prides; and to settle the disagreement in many cases, the warring
parties involved would make a peace offering by giving to the other
faction one of its more visually appealing and empathic females. As
the centuries passed, this tradition became more formalized, and as
Pumalar civilization advanced through stone age into bronze—iron
age into industrial—computer age into intergalactic space travel,
Empathic female Pumalars were being given to most any species as a
gift; or as an offering to induce or influence good diplomatic
/commercial relations.

Pumalar males were instinctively
confrontational by nature, competing viciously with each other for
everything, including power, or wealth, or even for control of
female harems. Even the most stubborn, unyielding human male was no
match for the intense personal resolve of the typical Pumalar male.
They considered lying or misrepresenting fact to be a humiliating
disgrace, and when it came to disagreements among males, violence
was most often the end result, even in modern times. Over the
centuries this even led to the ancient Pumalar tradition of
ritualistic dueling. Duels to settle matters of business,
territorial disputes, personal reproach, or even rivalry over a
desirable female, were quite common in olden times. Not only were
duels perfectly legal back then, but they were also quite socially
acceptable, for the noble classes. Peasants in olden times however,
were not allowed to duel.

Subsequently, Pumalar males were
historically vastly outnumbered by Pumalar females on the planet!
They just didn’t live a very long time, compared to females. And
the more successful a male Pumalar became in business or from
military conquest, the more “mates” he could afford to have in his
harem. In Pumalar society, sexual relationships were not
necessarily monogamous. A desirable female became mated with a
successful male Pumalar based on his ability to support her living
in his harem. Though it was also quite common for a lower class
male Pumalar warrior or laborer to mate with only one single female
Pumalar for life, it was also completely acceptable as well as
encouraged for a successful male to have many different females in
his harem.

That’s what attracted
homosexual human males to Pumalar in the first place. Not only were
Pumalar males incredibly virile, gigantic, gorgeous, and
legendarily tireless lovers, BUT… a wealthy Pumalar might simply
add a human male to his harem, right along with his female
concubines. For a gay human male, that could mean a life of sheer
luxury! And it could mean care-free comfort for just as long as the
male Pumalar found the human male to be
desirable
.

But dueling and constant
confrontation in ancient times also led to the tradition of owing
a
life debt
to
the relatives or family of the slain. Though there was no greater
honor in all of Pumalar culture than to die in personal combat, it
was also the solemn responsibility of the victor to compensate the
family or relatives of the male they killed in a duel, by at the
least paying and arranging for the slain Pumalar’s funeral and the
deceased’s elaborate cremation ceremony. However, the life debt one
paid to the relatives and family of the dead was predicated by the
victor’s position and wealth. Chieftains who were seeking an
armistice with rival faction leaders for instance, might simply
donate one or several females from their harem to the other leader
as a peace offering. And as centuries passed, this gesture became
common in business, politics, or even inter-galactic
relations.