Star Kitten (34 page)

Meanwhile, his friendship
with Felina continued to grow.

She would just get up each
morning in his private quarters (he had a bed of soft pillows set
up for her to sleep in his room each night comfortably and safe
from the rest of the crew). Then, she’d tag right along with him to
work each day, learning the operation of the ship and meeting the
crew. She’d even get assigned to different crewmen by Kscheeech
during the day to show her their own function onboard. In this way
she got to know many of the Nausties personally. They loved it and
she really enjoyed herself as well. After every duty shift, she'd
go sit with Kscheeech and review with him all she'd
learned.

They became really close
friends just like she had done with Rex; but it was more like a
relationship between an Uncle and his beautiful niece; or an old
college professor tutoring a bright enthusiastic student who showed
great potential. He was deeply, deeply in love with her; truly he
was. But he made no advances. Never once. Never at all, actually.
He just couldn’t.

She was just so perfect;
so lovely, so smart, and so easy to teach. It was just a pleasure
being around a wonderful and beautiful being like Felina and
watching her absorb information. And Felina Toyger made every day
he experienced with her so joyful and fulfilling. She listened
intently and patiently to him; and did the same with everyone he
assigned her to. Felina never judged or evaluated information.
Crewmembers told her everything… about the ship, their private
lives, their pasts, and even of the deepest feelings and yearnings
within their hearts. Her presence seemed to just improve the morale
of the crew more and more every day.

Kscheeech took lots of
time to make sure Felina knew EVERYTHING about New Australia too,
leaving out little in the way of details. Even really graphic
details about life there: what they went through to survive and
eventually gain their independence: the ramp, the battle, the
takeover of the main terminal, the depravity of the arena, the
execution of Warden Ggggaaah, the degeneration into civil war
between the different rival gangs, just about everything. He told
her far more than when they were back on Star Pussy waiting to load
up onto the
Chengshi
. And why shouldn’t he? It was time she knew it all. She was
going to be Solomon's "wife", as he referred to it. In human
culture, the wife of a great leader is almost always the very
backbone of a man’s career path… and no one in the universe knows
him better than her.

“
Wife
?” That word was strange to
Felina, so she finally asked about it. She'd heard it in Earther
terminology—especially in Earth movies that she'd seen back on
planet Pumalar. She’d certainly heard the term many times on Star
Pussy when "married couples" from Earth would come to see her
looking to
spice up
their "marriage" as they called it. "Just what is a wife,
Keech?" she asked him one day when he told her of his plans for her
to "marry" Solomon Mwonga, Chieftain of the Schpleeftkorkii Tribe
and Terminal Chief for the New Australia port.

Kscheeech sat back in his
command chair with Felina curled up next to him on some nice
pillows he'd had brought up to the bridge for her to sit on while
he worked.
He sighed deeply, measuring his words carefully—since this
was going to be difficult for Felina to understand. He replied,
"You s-sssee Felina... Earthers-sss have an ancient tradition of
mating a man and female together; not only for the purpose of
procreating the species-sss; but also for the purpose of creating a
permanent relationship... a commitment to each other for the rest
of their lives-sss. Separated only by their deaths-sss, to be
specific." Felina thought about it a moment then said, "Yes... I
guess I understand that... but why the ceremony and the titles? I
mean, don't we all do that, on all the other planets... all other
species I mean?"

This was a very good
point. So Kscheeech explained it thus: "Not exactly to that extent,
my Dear. See, a Pumalar can mate with as many females-sss as he can
financially s-sssupport... s-sssame thing with Porkonjii. They can
mate with and support entire harems if they can well afford to do
so. And males from both species mate or couple with partners-sss
just as often as they can find a female who’s in heat. And
Zorgs-sss? Well, we're even more, um…
prolific
shall we s-sssay…. Aren't
we now?" Felina laughed. Oh yes, Kscheeech was absolutely right
about that. Zorgolongians mated freely, aggressively, and
promiscuously ... even more so even than the rodent-like
Schpleeftii. It gave them both quite a chuckle thinking about
it.

Kscheeech went on, "You
s-sssee Humans just took this a step further than all of us-sss, by
creating a ceremony which recognizes the lifelong union of two
people... and they respect it back on Earth ... they believe in it…
this institution of marriage. It's ingrained in the very culture of
their s-ssspecies." Then he smiled broadly, and added, “It’s-sss
quite beautiful actually… this-sss partnership between two people:
lifelong true love and intimacy.”

That’s basically all he
needed to say; and Felina now totally understood. He had learned to
just make a simple statement of explanation; and Felina would
almost always be able to grasp it quickly. He’d just pause and let
it sink in with her. She’d look deeply into his eyes for a few
moments… inevitably repeat back the very essence of what he’d just
taught her. And yet… she’d do so in such a way that conveyed his
own thoughts and beliefs
even
better
than he could have expressed them
himself.

It wasn’t because of some
immense wisdom or anything like that. She could simply detect the
inner feelings
behind
all the words a person or being spoke.

“I see, Keech,” said
Felina with a bright warm smile. “It’s a symbolic combining of two
people into one, is what you’re describing: one person completing
the other person... both emotionally and spiritually.” She clutched
her hands together with fingers interlocking, to represent this
concept. She added, “They’re partners for the rest of their lives;
supporting each other and caring for each other… and yet this union
is also recognized by the society around them... officially and
legally. Man… and …
wife
.” She emphasized the words by
unclasping and re-clasping her hands; signifying two parts making a
whole.

How could he have said it
any better? This was exactly correct and even echoed back to the
exact words of the earliest writings of human culture, including
even the Torah, the Holy Bible, and the Koran. Kscheeech had
learned of these writings several years before on New Australia
when he encountered an all “Muslim” gang called the “Inshallah”
(which means basically “
If God Wills
It
” in Arabic). For many years they’d been
a very pious and deeply religious gang that accepted black men from
Africa, Europe, or the Americas. Their abstinence from promiscuous
sexuality had been quite remarkable… even after human females were
being captured and actively traded among tribes. Other tribes just
couldn’t understand it! But in their view, God had punished them
all severely for their crimes back on Earth. This, according to
their beliefs, was why they’d been sent to Rijel 12 to die.
Taunting almighty God any further with sinful behavior—warned the
Inshallah Tribe—could in all likelihood mean terrible retribution
some day for everyone on New Australia.

Kscheeech always wondered
if in fact the prophetic Inshallahs might have been right all
along. Maybe some Nausties should have paid more heed to
them!

Felina just smiled and
looked up at the gigantic wall video monitor displaying views of
space in front of them. Kscheeech said nothing more… he just let
her dream of her new life ahead on New Australia; and the man she
was about to meet.

• • •

After seeing the rest of
the fleet bugging out, and having just intercepted inter-space
communications indicating Star Fleet was indeed on the way, the
Naustie pirate fleet's flag ship the
Anarchy
took off on—what was
intended to be—a wild goose chase. Only in this case, The
Anarchy
was the actual
“goose” being “chased”.

The rest of the fleet
loyally waited in the distance for the ships docking on Star Pussy
to finally disembark and head home. They'd been listening to local
electronic communications traffic also (from and between Star Pussy
Police units) and determined that most Police were withdrawing or
retreating. This was how they knew whether the attack had been
successful. Though joyful at the early indications of victory,
they'd stayed put in case Star Fleet showed up (that was their
duty). However once the remainder of the fleet saw the
Varanus
departing the
station and heading toward New Australia... all bets were off! They
scattered in practically every direction possible.

But not the
Anarchy
. No, Admiral
Snout's crew had been monitoring inter-space communications coming
from many light years away the entire time; and as the hours
passed, it became clearer and clearer that an entire Interplanetary
Authority
squadron
was coming their way; speeding toward Star Pussy apparently
in great haste! This was really bad news indeed, and really the
last thing they needed right now.

Typically a Star Fleet Squadron would
consist of a Battleship, two Fighter Carriers; and a few
Destroyers. Maybe some Cruisers, supply ships, etc., would be
included as well. And the Naustie pirate fleet? Well, they had
nothing like that. Made up solely of converted freighters and
captured space cruisers; their small ships would certainly be no
match for Star Fleet. A Star Fleet Squadron might include up to ten
warships sometimes. Seven typically; with the Battleship being the
mobile central headquarters of the fleet; commanded typically by a
Fleet Admiral.

Battleships were basically
too big to be defeated by anything else in space; and they were
built the size of a small city. On top of that, several Destroyers
escorted a Battleship along its flanks, to fend off any attempts to
attack it. But this was hardly necessary because even
without
escorts, a
battleship could fend off most anything in space besides maybe a
large asteroid.

A Squadron also typically included Fighter
Carriers which could launch a hundred or so short range fighters to
be used in attacking any enemy fleet. They could even be used in
devastating an enemy planet's surface installations and defensive
positions, enabling Destroyers and Cruisers to land and deploy
assault troops. Star Fleet fighter pilots were basically the elite
of the elite; and matchless in close fighter combat. In surface
battles, they were quite deadly in bringing the battle right up
close and personal to the enemy, capable also of tactical bombing
vital enemy industries and resources.

Snout knew exactly what
was going to happen if he didn't take action. That Squadron had
likely been assembled for one purpose and one purpose only... to
track down
this
pirate fleet all the way to its base; and eliminate all its
ships. But how was a force this large assembled and outfitted for
combat so quickly? How could they have been ready so fast and
deployed in less than two days? Could Star Fleet really have been
tracking the whole fleet through deep space and detected their
Ship2ship communications? If so,
how
, wondered Snout?

Reality was, unbeknownst
to Admiral Snout, intercepted Ship2ship communications exchanges
between the
Chengshi
prior to docking with the
Anarchy
and being raided two days
before; had raised suspicion back at Star Fleet. First of all,
transponder readings for the two craft didn't make sense. The ship
hailing the
Chengshi
didn't come up on Interplanetary Authority registry anymore,
and IPA officials on Pumalar later denied any claims of a major
family patriarch passing away on their planet. Ironically, despite
all Naustie efforts to scramble their messages and plan their
attack so carefully, Star Fleet already knew something was amiss;
and began mustering this squadron days before. Now it all started
to make sense to him. The Interplanetary Authority had been waiting
for this attack all along. The Nausties had finally taken one
chance too many.

Hell, Star fleet probably had no intention
of saving Star Pussy. Never crossed their minds, Snout would have
wagered. And why would they anyway? They wouldn't give two shits
about a galactic floating brothel, no matter how many distress
calls they sent during the attack. If anything, the doomed former
space station was—to Star Fleet—a decoy to draw the pirate fleet
into a trap; a mere lure to identify where the pirates were heading
afterward just so that Star Fleet could eventually hunt them down
to their base.

The Nausties' avoidance of using Inter-space
communication channels and maintaining radio silence in
Ship-to-ship communications meant that Star Fleet's task was all
the more complicated trying to find them in the past. But the
command center of a Star Fleet Battleship was in actuality a truly
diabolical operation; as Snout well knew. Banks of computers with a
hundred assorted crewmembers monitoring and deducing information,
meant they could triangulate the origin of most any electronic
communication within space... even Intercom announcements sent
inside an enemy craft (if within range). A Battleship could track a
fleeing enemy for hundreds of thousands of miles through space.
Once a Battleship's tracking devices found an enemy ship; they
could follow it throughout the universe for months (even infinitely
if they wished to). They merely needed to set the ship's computers
to pursue it; and just wait patiently until their prey tried to
land somewhere; or ran out of food on board.