Date Point: 13y2m2w1d AV
Folctha, Cimbrean, The Far Reaches
Daar
“Does she have implants?”
Regaari could be relied upon to know those things, and he shook his head. “No she doesn’t, Cousin. Just a prosthetic eye. A good one.”
Daar relaxed slightly, although something in the smell of this meeting was making him nervous. He could feel that it wasn’t going to go well. “Well…that gives us options, then,” He said. “Wish me luck.”
Being summoned by the Mother-Supreme—who had travelled unannounced all the way from Gao specifically to summon him, no less—was more than just a big deal. Clans hung in the balance on moments like this, and even the old contract between Stoneback and the Females had its limits.
If he hadn’t known that already, he would have had to be as dense as a lead souffle not to get the hint from the cold appraisal on Yulna’s face when she turned around as he entered the room.
There was a time for pride, and there was a time for caution. This was one of the latter, but never without dignity. Not ever.
And this was not a time for beating about the bush.
“You’ve come a long way, Mother-Supreme. What troubles you?”
“You.”
Yulna flicked an ear and strolled around the large table that the humans had provided for them. Her claws made a soft sound as she trailed them across the varnished wood, and she approached to only just out of arm’s reach before stopping.
“…I must get your scent properly, Daar,” she told him.
There was no good reaction to that. Yulna was demanding to smell him close enough to tell if he was lying. She was questioning his integrity and by extension that of Clan Stoneback, and she knew it. That was…unheard-of, and it was a grievous insult—If a male had made such a demand, Daar would already be ripping out his throat.
Stonebacks never lied. But…Yulna was the Mother-Supreme. For her he would make an allowance, if for no other reason than to see where the chase led.
“…Very well. I will remember this in the spirit it was requested.” He put his arms behind his back and knelt, holding himself vulnerable for her examination. “Now…what troubles you?”
To her credit, Yulna had never been one to prevaricate. “You have left us in the dark, Daar. You’re keeping secrets from us. More so than usual. You and Whitecrest, you’re conspiring.”
“Yes.”
“Why? We expect the Whitecrests to be opaque, but Stoneback? What have the Females done that you won’t trust us or come to us for guidance?”
Ah.
That was…disappointing on a number of levels, but the biggest had to be the presumption inherent in such a statement. That would require addressing but not now; the Clan always came first, so Daar clamped down on his growing anger and kept a neutral tone.
“We keep our own counsel, Mother-Supreme, as is our right and duty. But my trust wasn’t the issue. Nor was intent. We are keeping a very grave secret for very grave reasons, and it is one you must never discuss with anyone, in any capacity, ever. Even admitting to this secret comes too close to violating an oath.” He paused, and emphasized his words to convey the gravity of the situation. “I trust you will consider that, and the position you have put me in.”
“…How grave?”
“Mother-Supreme, it is so grave that I am not willing to risk it no matter what you may threaten.”
“The Humans are involved?”
“It is so grave I can give you not the barest hint of what the secret might be, Mother-Supreme. I refuse to answer.” He paused, and sighed. “If I could, I would have told you long ago.”
“Do you know who could tell me?”
“I cannot say.”
“If you did, would you speak to them on my behalf, at least?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Daar paused, and considered. He could speak many shades of truth and keep his integrity, but Daar took his oaths very seriously. Stonebacks never lied, not even in part.
The moment of very hard truths had come to them. He could only hope she was strong enough to hear them. Daar clamped down on his roiling feelings, looked her dead in the eye, and spoke with as neutral and formal a tone as he could manage.
“In part that could betray the secret. But now I would question the wisdom of sharing such a thing with you, Mother-Supreme.”
“…You mean you question my wisdom.”
“Yes.”
Yulna sniffed at him, then slowly and thoughtfully she duck-nodded and backed away. Her ears didn’t wilt by so much as a hair, but the sense of…loss, perhaps, was palpable. Even her scent was saddened.
“…Perhaps, then, once whatever this danger is has passed, our successors will be able to rebuild the old contract,” she said. “I…regret that it will need rebuilding.”
Daar sighed again, rose to his paws and left her presence as a Stoneback should, properly on all fours. “The Contract remains, it is what we are. You used to know that, Yulna.” He stopped at the door and looked back. “…Keep Myun close to you.”
“…Thank you, Champion Daar.”
He nodded, and left.
Date Point: 13y2m2w1d AV
Folctha, Cimbrean, The Far Reaches
Agent Melissa
For once, Melissa was speechless. That went for everybody in the room, in fact.
Bugging foreign dignitaries was a standard move in the Great Game. Russian premiers, Arab kings, African presidents, they’d all had somebody listening in on them. Adding the Mother-Supreme and a Champion to that long list was absolutely business as usual.
Allies spied on allies; It kept alliances strong. It helped lubricate the wheels of diplomacy to know which were the touchy subjects, and it strengthened the united front to know where a partner’s strength was showing cracks.
Seeing a gigantic catastrophe of a crack rip open right in front of them was a new one, though.
The US Ambassador to Cimbrean, Arnold P. Rockefeller, was fidgeting thoughtfully with a pen and scowling. “…What does this mean?”
Melissa really didn’t envy him. She didn’t envy the army of analysts who’d be descending on that conversation to sift it down for every last datum, either. She certainly didn’t envy herself right now.
“I think,” she said carefully, “That the Hierarchy just scored itself a victory.”
Date Point: 13y2m2w1d AV
Folctha, Cimbrean, The Far Reaches
Regaari
Daar was not as impulsive as his critics liked to believe. There was an iron will under his boisterous hide, married to a shrewd actor and an astute political mind.
But even he had his limits. Whatever had transpired during his meeting with the Mother Supreme had put Daar in the darkest mood Regaari had ever seen on him. He’d been silent all the way back to the base, and only once they were safely behind the privacy of its fences and buildings did he unwind.
He surged around to the driver’s side of the Whitecrest runabout van and clawed Regaari out of the way to hup up behind the wheel.
“Daar?”
The Champion slammed the door and rolled down the window. “Imma be gone for a bit. Do we need any naxas meat?”
“…no?”
“Well, we’re gettin’ some anyway. I’ll call you later.”
The tyres squeeled, and Regaari backed out of the cloud of dust thus raised as the Champion did a sharp one-eighty and headed back out of the gates.
There was a shocked sound from Thurrsto, who’d wisely got the hell away from Daar the instant he smelled trouble. “Is…is everything all right?”
Regaari sniffed at the air. His nose wasn’t nearly as good as Daar’s—almost nobody matched him—but there was absolutely no mistaking the rage billowing on the wind, mingling with the scent of airborne dirt and slightly toasted rubber. It was strong enough to sting the nostrils, even though its source was gone.
“I don’t think so, Brother. But…for the moment, we keep this to ourselves. As a SOR matter.”
Thurrsto shifted uncomfortably. “We don’t keep secrets from our Fathers, Regaari.”
“Yes we do. Our entire purpose here is only one such secret.”
Thurrsto duck-nodded, understanding. “You think they’re related.”
Regaari gave him a complicated look. “Brother, I truly hope not….We’d better find Rebar.”
Date Point: 13y2m2w1d AV
Folctha, Cimbrean, The Far Reaches
Xiù Chang
Yulna was keening. Not the happy keen of a Mother reuniting with a long-lost Sister, either: this was the sound Gaoians made when they were completely trapped by anguish.
It should have been a happy reunion. Instead, ’Sister Shoo’ was doing what she did best—standing where nobody else stood, across the strange gap between species and in the halls of Gaoian power where she absolutely had no right to be. It was on her word after all that Gao had committed to the Dominion Security Council all those years ago.
That made two Mother-Supremes now who’d turned to her for guidance.
“These are awful times, Shoo.”
What could anyone say to that? Xiù’s only option was to snuggle deeper into Yulna’s neck fur and try not to squeeze too hard.
“You’re going to have to explain this Old Contract to me,” she prompted, gently.
“The Females…” Yulna’s keening softened and she pulled back a bit to have room to think and speak. “You know the history? Of Tiritya and the harems?”
“I didn’t really understand it all at the time,” Xiù confessed. “I was still learning Gaori. The Females were…” She frowned, thinking. “…I can’t remember the word for *’slaves.’*”
“Yes. Slaves. And the Clan of Females only exists because of Stoneback. So we have the Old Contract: They protect and provide, and we reward them.”
“With cubs?”
“More than cubs. With trust.” Yulna growled at herself. “And now a Mother-Supreme has doubted them. Doubted their Champion. He no longer trusts me and he’s right not to.”
Not honestly having the faintest idea what the right or wrong thing to say might be, Xiù elected to go with the first question that sprang to mind.
“Well…did you have a reason to?”
“I…” Yulna went very still, almost to the point where she stopped breathing. Her ears twisted hypnotically as she processed what must have been a torrent of conflicting thoughts and emotions, before finally wilting down to the unhappy flat posture of total defeat. “…I hope that I did. No. I hope that I didn’t, I…. I don’t know. I would hate to think I could doubt him without cause…but I regret doubting him at all.”
She keened softly again, then some of that Yulna sharpness came back for a moment. “You’ll keep this between us? Promise me. The Sisters and Mothers can’t know this happened. Not even Ayma.”
“I…Just between us?”
“You can promise me that, can’t you?”
Slowly and reluctantly, Xiù shook her head. “It’s…a promise I made. To Allison and Julian. No secrets,” she said. “Not between us. But it’ll never get back to any other Gaoian, that I can promise you.”
Yulna curled up miserably. “So alien,” she moaned. “You’re my Sister, but you’re so alien. To commit for so long, to another female, to have no cubs…”
“Yulna, I’ll always be a little bit Gaoian I think,” Xiù told her. “But I’m not a Gaoian. Would you be telling me these things if I was?”
Yulna shook her head no and rested her chin on Xiù’s knee.
“…If it’s any consolation, our triad thing isn’t exactly normal among humans.”
For the first time, Yulna chittered and uncurled again. “Ah, Shoo…you wouldn’t be Shoo if you weren’t a little strange,” she said affectionately.
“I think I’m allowed to be strange,” Xiù retorted. “Do you have any idea how weird my life is? I feel like I’m just being…like I’m a fish with a hook in its mouth and I’m being dragged toward something. And every time I try and fight it or wriggle free it just hurts a lot and tires me out.”
“Would you escape if you could?”
“…No.”
“Neither would I.” Yulna sighed and stood up. “These are difficult times. I can see why so many are scared of your species. Things have become…unstable since you arrived.”
“Is that our fault?” Xiù asked.
“No. No, I don’t think it is. I think you just gave us the push we needed for a corrupt system to begin falling apart.” Yulna turned around and combed down the fur on her arm nervously. “But I think it is going to hurt you the most. Humans.”
“I hope it’s worth it in the end.”
Yulna shook herself out and walked over to the window. “…I can smell disaster on the wind, Shoo. Nothing less could have caused this, this…rift. And now I will have to lie to my Sisters and pretend nothing is wrong, and they will smell my lies.”
She turned and chittered bitterly. “I almost long for the days when I was just a Corti’s test subject, having my eye plucked out. At least they were simpler.”
“At least you know it’s coming,” Xiù told her.
“…There is that, yes.” Yulna sighed, returned across the room and threw herself onto the couch next to Xiù again. “…Yes. There is that. I think I know what I must do, now.”
“What?”
“…Do you know what the third most important planet is to the Clans of Gao, Sister?”
Xiù tilted her head. “After Gao and Gorai? …No, don’t tell me. It’s Cimbrean, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s Gorai. Cimbrean has an enclave of Females and is home to a male Clan. Politically alone, that makes it more important than Gorai. Then there are the Whitecrests and Daar’s relationship with the SOR, the trade, and the fact that the Gaoian diaspora here is double the population of the colony on Guen Ha.” Yulna indicated the window with her paw. “Cimbrean, a human colony, is of greater significance to Gao than either of our own colony worlds. Culturally, militarily, politically and economically.”
“So what must you do?” Xiù pressed.
“I must commit to it. If there is a disaster coming, it’s obvious that both our peoples are already swept up in it. I don’t need to know the details to know what I can do to give us both the best hope of coming through it. And if we make it to the far side, then any bridges we must burn on the way…”
“Were the price,” Xiù finished.
“…And that is why Mother-Supremes have confided in you, Sister.” Yulna sighed one last time, and seemed to regenerate her composure. “…Enough. I was looking forward to seeing you, not burdening you with my problems. I want to hear your stories. Tell me about your lovers. How did you meet?”
Xiù couldn’t help a small giggle, and she half-turned on the couch to get into storytelling mode. If Yulna needed a positive distraction, then a positive distraction she would have.
“Well, it started off with me brandishing a knife at them…” she began.
Date Point: 13y3m AV
Werecoba Heights, Columbus, Georgia, USA, Earth
Sergeant Daar (Tigger) of Clan SOR
Daar was used to having a clear idea of his daily life and what challenges he might face next, which meant the recent turmoil of the last long while had been…well, a little disorientating. Life as a Champion had been good to him and the long peace of the Gao had maybe lulled him into a feeling of false security, or something like that. It was hard to describe, but since learning of the Hierarchy those feelings were no longer a luxury he could or would afford himself.
Especially not in light of Yulna. Now more than ever, he needed a clear mind, and right now his mind was trying to drag him in too many different directions all at once. Anger, yes. Betrayal. Sadness. Even guilt and doubt.
Feelings he could never permit himself to indulge. A Champion must embody the essence of his Clan, and the emotional core of Stoneback was optimism: That there was no problem that could not be worked through, no obstacle that could not be built over, and no foe that could not be fought.
He’d retreated to Earth, and had so far declined to leave even after two weeks. His Clan needed him at his best: Better to not be there at all than to be there at his worst.
On Earth, his problems were simple, controllable. Mostly they revolved around carefu l hygiene and the perceptiveness it required, and around his studies. Things he could control, that weren’t subject to the fickle whims of other people.
And of course, there were no Gaoians present who might guess what was eating at him so much. Not even Ayma and Regaari had remained on Earth for so long or roamed so freely as Daar could.
Of course, Regaari was no doubt taking advantage of Daar’s absence and that wasn’t something he took lightly for a lot of important reasons: Cousins of a Champion gained a lot of prestige by the association and that was a power that a smart ‘Back like Daar wouldn’t trust with just anyone.
Regaari, though, was worth it. He didn’t abuse the power—at least not too much—and that put him in a good place for Daar to feed the occasional tidbit of information to Whitecrest. He’d fed their Clan a lot of information over the years, all part of a campaign to lubricate their relations and build trust. Clans were alway mistrustful of what they didn’t understand, but Daar understood Whitecrest pretty well…probably better than Genshi would have been comfortable with. Regardless, both Daar and his predecessor Thurl had felt that, given first contact and the sudden exposure to the galactic stage, it would be essential for Gao’s best security and intelligence Clan to have a deeper understanding of what Stoneback’s purpose actually was.
Now that he knew about the Hierarchy and all that entailed, Daar had to admire Thurl’s prescience. It was too bad about the brain injury; when Daar Challenged and claimed the Championship, he had so utterly defeated Thurl that the former Champion had needed immediate medical care after the fight and had never again been quite right in the head. He had been a good Champion too, one admired and respected by everyone—including Daar. But compared to his young, gangly and still-growing challenger, Thurl had been smaller, weaker, slower, and stood absolutely no chance. Less intelligent, too, if Daar was honest. It hadn’t been his most difficult fight.
That was a Champion’s fate, though, or at least it was for the Champion of Stoneback. One day Daar would probably get too old and weak or weak-minded for the job, and a younger, more vigorous ‘Back would knock him down from the office, and if he survived that Challenge Daar would go into retirement. But that wasn’t likely to happen any time soon. He was in the peak of his prime, stronger and keener than he had ever been before, and he was showing no signs of slowing down or growing soft anytime soon.
Let them try. They’d either wind up broken like Thurl, or else Stoneback would have a Champion who outshone even Daar. Either way, the Clan won.
Daar wondered if Regaari would ever Challenge Genshi for the Championship. These days he was impressive for a silverfur, a far cry from those years together back in the crèche when he begged some personal training off Daar in exchange for math tutoring. Regaari had been determined to join Whitecrest and had eventually made it in on sheer force of willpower and education, despite being slightly underweight. Nowadays he was one of their larger and stronger males, thanks to the humans. Not as big as Thurrsto or Genshi but still impressively fit, and his brain had only improved with age.
Over the last year or so, Regaari had spoken often and at length about the Human concept of ‘meditation,’ after spending time consulting with the Starminds. Daar had listened, but never put it into practice himself. He was purebred Stoneback, something about sitting motionless just didn’t work for him. He needed to move.
That was something he had in common with humans. Moving and thinking were so intertwined for them that they did it reflexively; they’d pace a room, flail their hands, gesture wildly…
Just like Daar was doing now. There was an awful lot of responsibility resting heavily on his broad shoulders, and the load was becoming increasingly harder to handle. If a final straw could break the ‘Back’s back, then Yulna had slung on a whole bale.
“What’chu thinkin’ about, sergeant Daar?”
The question cut right through Daar’s brooding and reminded him that he was supposed to be restoring himself to a positive mood. It had been asked by Technical Sergeant Wilde, Daar’s shadow, guide and medic and thus his other bestest human friend who seemed to have a knack for spotting a dark mood descending.
They were out to see the sights, get to know the town. It was a warm spring day, a number of flowers were in bloom and while Daar knew enough to stay the hell away from the pollinating insects and their stings, he had to admit that the sheer thrumming richness of life on Earth, even here in a built-up area, made it hard to stay in a bad mood.
Especially not when there was a bewitching smell of roasting meat rolling softly down the street to beguile the nose and make the stomach feel empty…
Daar sniffed at the air appreciatively. “I’m thinkin’ about food, now,” he replied.
Wilde chuckled, “Mhmm. Smells like a damn good B-B-Q they got goin’ on. Wanna check it out?”
Daar looked down at him and tilted his head quizzically. “Wouldn’t that be rude?”
“Nah, I live nearby and I’ve got a good pot of beans I can grab. So…you wanna go?”
“Yeah!”
Wilde chuckled again and jogged off towards home to fetch his beans, while Daar followed his nose towards the food. There was definitely pork, and chicken. There might have been beef too but there was a lot of that general note in the air right now, so he wasn’t quite sure just yet.
Only one way to find out.
The town had been warned that Daar would be out and about and not to freak out or anything, so the sight of a massive, bear-like sapient loping down the road on fourpaw and in a high visibility vest didn’t generate too much alarm, thank the Fathers. He even had the words “I don’t bite!” written across the back. It seemed to work pretty well.
The smell was making him drool, and as he licked at his chops to clean himself up he turned round a corner and found its source. There was a hand-scrawled sign staked into the earth that said “YARD SALE” and an arrow pointing up a narrow driveway to a small brick house. Two little American flags were on top of the sign, along with another bit that said “free BBQ for customers.”
Well. Daar checked his satchel, found his little stash of paper money the Americans used, and ambled up the driveway. What he found were two elderly humans, clearly a mated pair, neither of whom seemed like they were expecting a Stoneback to pad up their driveway on a fine Saturday evening. Even in his old age the male was a burly and impressive example of a human and moved like he was used to long, hard work. Good! He rose to put himself between Daar and the female, which he respected immensely: age hadn’t dimmed his instincts. Better!
But Daar just wanted to be friends, so he rose to his hind legs and yipped cheerily, “Hello!” The man eyed Daar warily, who kept a respectful distance. “I was gonna look at what ‘yer selling…”
Both of the older humans looked at each other, did that weird telepathic thing humans swore they didn’t have, and decided to wave him in. They both kept a wary distance though, which Daar really didn’t mind. Maybe it was a cultural thing but he was always nice to old people.
There was a lot to pick over. They had several tables laden with random housewares and odd appliances that seemed to be for various cooking tasks, as well as three racks of clothing on the hook. That kind of weird human thing always amused Daar and he sniffed at the racks curiously. And promptly sneezed. He could tell with a sniff the man had been a heavy smoker some years back and had been quite sick at some point, too.
He sniffed towards the man who no longer smelled of either of those things. “I’m glad you gave up smoking!”
“Had to, it was killing me.” He eyed the big gaoian warily, “You can still smell that?”
Daar duck-nodded vigorously. “Uh-huh. I can smell the cancer, too. Especially on this,” he picked out what looked like a uniform of some kind. “I think maybe ‘cuz you had to wear this a lot?”
“Ayup. Was the local fire chief. Look, no offense, mister…”
“Champion and Stud-Prime Daar, of Clan Stoneback!”
“…Mister Daar, right. Look, I don’t mean to be rude, seeing as I have an alien in my garage picking through my old junk, but firstly, being a cancer survivor is kinda personal—”
Daar keened an immediate apology. “I’m sorry. I was just happy you’re healthy now, I didn’t mean—”
“Oh, it’s okay dear.” The old woman walked over and laid a hand on Daar’s huge forearm, who tilted his ears in mild confusion and placed a paw atop hers. “I know you didn’t mean bad, don’t mind him.”
The old man grumbled in reply but pressed on. “Fine fine. But secondly, without meaning to be inhospitable, why are you here?”
“Oh, I’m here for the BBQ! But I don’t have food to share. My buddy Wilde’s got some beans but he ain’t here yet so I thought maybe I could buy something! I like collecting things…” Daar noticed a pile of equipment and zeroed in on it. “Like that maybe? What is it?”
He dropped unthinkingly to all fours, padded over and sniffed at the device. It had a pronounced scent of old rubber that had rotted out—a scent he’d learned from Sikes while he repaired his drones—but Daar could also smell something a little like high voltage electronics maybe. Far and away the strongest scent on the object was the male who had once owned it: The couple’s cub, from the smell of it.
…Son. Humans didn’t have ’cubs’ they had ’children,’ and Daar had learned the hard way that while most people found that slip-up endearing, a few were downright insulted.
“Your son was a strong boy!” That much was obvious, given the uniquely potent musk of an active human male. “He got a lot of exercise.”
“He’s a strong man, too. Christ, you’re just like a dog! Er, um…” the old man suddenly went all blushed and awkward like humans did when they managed to shove their paws down their throat. It was Daar’s most favoritest emote they had!
Humans weren’t immune from ‘faux pas’ either.
“Nah, it’s okay ‘cuz it’s kinda true. Also I hear I’m better with my words than a dog.”
He threw in his best pant-grin, which humans seemed to understand without any training. The man laughed and shook his head and that seemed like a good thing to Daar.
“Never thought I’d see the day… can you smell everything about us?”
“I can smell lots, yeah. He had a favorite cologne, too. Old Spice?”
“Yup. Used way too much.”
Daar chittered to himself. “One of the guys I work with uses way too much Axe. Every time I get a nose-full of that I sneeze for half an hour!”
They shared a laugh, or a chitter in Daar’s case, and he extended his paw to shake hands. “Anyway, what’s your name?”
“I’m Bill, this here’s Margaret. Daar, you said?”
“Yeah, nice to meet you both!” Handshaking was an art, Daar was learning, and Bill’s grip squeezed hard enough that a lesser gaoian might well have been left with a broken paw. It was funny how much strength old humans could retain. Daar squeezed right back, and was rewarded with an approving smile.
Margaret settled for a daintier, much more civilized squeeze. Daar could do civilized, too.
“Well!” Margaret seemed happy that everyone was friendly. “You look around, Daar, and I’ll fix you up a plate. Don’t go nowhere, y’hear?”
“Yes, Mother!”
“…Mother?”
“Sarry, it’s a gaoian thing. It’s a term of respect we use.”
“Oh, okay!” She smiled and bustled off into the house. “Be right back, dear.”
Daar, meanwhile, was fascinated by the pile. “Why did your son leave this behind?”
“Oh, Nick went hitchhiking across Europe way back when before he went off to college, never bothered to pick it up. I kept nagging at him and we’re at the age where we want to declutter.”
Daar duck-nodded. “So this is a music player?”
“Sorta. This is an amplifier, a tube amp too, very old design but I guess everyone wants it. The speakers, the record player, an eight-track deck…pretty nice system for its time, really.”
Daar was fascinated and made no effort to hide it. “I’ve read about this! Records have the music physically pressed into it, right?”
“Ayup. They’re a bit fussy but they do sound good. You interested?”
Deal-making time. “Absolutely. What are you asking?”
“Well…how ‘bout three hundred for all of it along with the recordings? I’ll even throw in some extra ribs on that plate Margaret’s fixin, but only if you haul all of it off today.”
“I’ll need to ask Wilde—hi! There he is. Wilde! Can I borrow your truck?”
Wilde had jogged up with a pot filled with something really tasty smelling, and he didn’t seem the least bit fazed by his errand, nor by Daar’s request. “Sure! What’d you get?”
“This!” Daar gestured to the pile.
“Huh, never figgered you for a music lover, Tigger.”
“Hey, I like music! Also I like old tech. Something about simpler machines, no computers…”
Bill grunted in agreement.
“So yeah! Three hundred, if Wilde will…”
“Sure thing, bro.”
Right on cue, Margaret returned with a plate of heavenly smelling food, and it was all Daar could do to get his cash, close the deal, and dig in without making a mess.
They ended up talking into the late evening, sharing stories about life and adventure, but eventually Daar’s alarm beeped; he had to return for decontamination.
“Are you sure you must go?”
“Yeah…it’d probably be fine but I really can’t take the risk. We can still email and stuff, right?”
Pleasantries exchanged, Daar bid the couple farewell, and he headed back to base with Wilde, where a decon field and possibly a hated bath awaited him. Oh well, it was worth it. Sometimes, Daar was finding, the pressure to Protect and Provide could be overwhelming. Yulna had driven that fact home in a deeply personal way.
With what he knew, and what he knew was coming, it was nice to step back, just for a moment, and remember why he was Champion, and why he was on the mission.
Daar had to Protect his people from the Hierarchy. And if he could, maybe he could help keep people like Bill and Margaret safe, too.
And he would. No matter what it took.