Star Kitten (33 page)

Felina actually gasped
with widened eyes and excited surprise. She’d of course long since
given up on any illusions that she may someday become a leader’s or
a nobleman’s mate. That dream had faded right along with her very
depressing “release” from Empath Academy years ago.
Too opinionated
, they
said.
Too strong-willed
, they argued.
Not obedient
enough
, they accused her of.
Not demure enough
, they
complained. Oh but now… to become mated to the leader of an entire
planet…?

“Oh Keech, how wonderful…
and who is this Pumalar?” asked Felina joyfully. Kscheeech chuckled
happily, slapping his thick thigh with one claw, “Oh no my dear.
It’s-sss not a Pumalar. It’s-sss a Human. Solomon Mwanga… he’s from
Earth. And he was once President of a country there.” Felina shrunk
back on her little stool she’d been sitting on. Her body heaved out
a long happy sigh of relief and pleasured realization that indeed;
after all these years, her dreams of having a wealthy
powerful
Human
for a mate… was finally to be coming true.

“Keech, that sounds
fantastic! What does he look like… tell me about him would you?”
begged Felina like an excited teenager. Rex just rolled his eyes
and gave out another “
ptah”.
Rex said “Sweetie, it’s just a Pirate leader on a
pirate planet who commands a pirate fleet of pirate space ships who
conduct pirate raids on space stations and remote space colonies
for food and female slaves… no offense intended toward our present
host of course.” Rex gave a half-hearted apologetic smile toward
Kscheeech who just snickered right back at the comically
belligerent gay man with, “No offens-ssse taken, my Earth
friend.”

But then Kscheeech added
wisely, “However, I believe my lovely guest here is quite pleased
with the idea.” And he was right. Felina sat riveted, as Kscheeech
leaned forward and said to the two of them, “Let’s-sss go get on
board the
Chengshi
; and I’ll tell you all about S-sssolomon. He’s black, you
know?” Felina shrieked back excitedly, “Like a panther?” Kscheeech
laughed, “Sort of. You see, humans from his part of the planet
Earth have fur on their heads and genitals that is black like a
panther’s… but their skin is brown and shiny. He’s about your
height… and very handsome.”

Felina purred and patted her chest with her
paw for a moment, then stroked her fur saying, “I’m so excited
Keech. Thank you!” She leaned forward and hugged the short
lizard-like humanoid, embracing him so hard it nearly choked the
breath out of the little creature. He didn’t mind a bit, just
gasped for breath as she squished his lizard beak between her
breasts. She laughed and chuckled. Kscheeech did too. If he could
have purred just like a cat, he would have done that as well!

Soon they all three got up
to go get on board the
Chengshi
. It was about time to load
the last of the supplies anyway; and get the crew to their
stations. The prisoners had all been secured. The crew was ready
for their Captain to give the order to disembark. Yet soon everyone
was amazed to see this rather odd looking threesome scurrying
onboard, with Kscheeech their Captain… and a very tall gorgeous
Pumalar chattering back and forth in Galactic about life on New
Australia.

Despite the tension of the moment, with
everyone wanting to beat a hasty exit, here was their Captain so
calmly and happily telling her all about hydroponic farms, the
Tribal confederation, glacier water under the planet surface, the
Slartigifijians, the mineral deposits, and the solar power plant
that supplied the planet with electricity. He was almost downright
giddy. This was a side of their Captain they’d never seen
before!

Rex just tagged along behind and continued
to roll his eyes with arms crossed and an obstinate look on his
face. He sneered right back at the surprised and glaring crew,
stubbornly rejecting the whole idea of going home with these
degenerate scalawags.

Christ, they’d been captured by pirates and
were being taken back to a pirate planet as prisoners. His
restaurant was destroyed. Hundreds had died. And here was Felina…
all excited like a playful kitten who’d discovered a ball of twine,
talking about traveling across deep space to an unknown planet to
live with the supreme leader of an entire pirate planet, no less.
“Fucking Empaths… I swear,” Muttered Rex to himself. “And this ugly
little gecko had better find my friends when we get there, or I
swear…!” he said out loud.

Kscheeech just chuckled
and corrected Rex politely with, “We’re called Zorgs-sss actually.
And yes-sss, I promised you I’d find your friends-sss if they’re
onboard the
Warthog
. Don’t worry Rex.”

The
Varanus
was the first of the ships
to “high-tail it” toward home. Seeing no Star Fleet presence yet,
the
Varanus
Captain chose a direct route home and headed toward New
Australia at full power, careening through deep space and hoping to
dock back at the main terminal in just over two weeks.

Its cargo was made up of
the surviving troops from the Smilodon Brigade—including General
Bengal himself. Plus it carried about a hundred female Pumalar
prisoners. The General had also been wounded in the battle (in
several places) so he spent the whole journey recovering from
surgery. The medics on board the
Varanus
tried their best with Bengal
to try and dig out the projectiles from his body before any
infection might start. Bengal was a general and a very important
leader back on New Australia after all; Chieftain of the Smilodon
Tribe too. And now on top of all that he was a legitimate hero
because of his defensive stand back on Star Pussy against the SP
Police counterattacks. Somehow they needed to save him.

Informed of this, the
hundred or so Pumalar Empaths captured during the raid and sent
with the
Varanus
to be nurses to the wounded, took extra special care of
Bengal and also the several hundred other terribly wounded troops.
They were like healing angels right from the start; soothing and
comforting the wounded with dedicated care. It really made a
difference for a lot of them being able to recover. But not all
were going to make it; that was for sure. Several died on the
flight; and had to be removed to a make-shift morgue set up in part
of the cargo bay of the ship. Almost all of the dead were Pumalars,
so by tradition they were to be given a hero’s military funeral
when they returned; cremated together in an ancient ceremony
honoring them for a noble death in combat.

Death in combat was the greatest of all
fates to befall a Pumalar warrior; and meant almost sure admittance
into the Great Hall of Warriors in the afterlife. It was the
foundation of this warrior culture to believe that way; because for
every Pumalar male kitten growing up on Pumalar, the warrior ideal
of dying gloriously in combat was what drove millions of males
every year to seek military service. Glory in battle was only
fleeting, after all. But to die in battle? That meant eternal honor
in the after-life.

All Pumalars grew up
believing that the brave who’d been slain in combat would get to
pass on in the afterlife to
Fukuoka
, which was the Pumalar name
for heaven. No matter what their sins in life might have been—if
they died in battle—their souls would be permitted entry. Best of
all, they’d be allowed to join their ancestors in the Great Hall of
Warriors. Then they could spend the rest of eternity drinking ale
made from sacred catnip; drinking and singing and feasting, all the
while awaiting the rest of their breed to come join
them.

What’s more… for the very
bravest of warriors there was the additional possibility of
reincarnation
; or at
least the Pumalar equivalent thereof. This was because the
descendants of brave Pumalar heroes made regular supplication and
prayers to their ancestors whom they deeply worshipped. When called
upon for intervention on behalf of a descendant, it was said that
an ancestor’s soul might actually enter the body of the descendant
who’d summoned him; and live within them until a task or quest was
completed.

Such beliefs only encouraged and enforced an
ancient warrior code of bravery and resilience in battle that was
unsurpassed among other species!

• • •

The
Chengshi
was the last of the three
ships to take off. And it left right after the
Warthog
disembarked the Human
Environ docking station....

Felina and Rex were
identified by the crew and troops on board as being clearly off
limits from physical advances of any kind; essentially because of
the very manner with which Kscheeech treated them. It was
practically like that of honored guests being welcomed by the
Captain of a luxury passenger ship. Basically all anyone could
surmise was that Kscheeech
wanted
them left alone and the crew and troops were to
respect this. That was plenty enough. He didn’t really need to say
anything.

Not that anyone could
possibly have minded of course. The ship had hundreds of Pumalar
female prisoners as well as a few Humans captured during the raid.
All were females; almost all of them were rather appealing, and the
Pumalar females? They were supposedly all Empaths too! Not only
were they quite easily manageable they were also very
accommodative
to all the
Nausties onboard. They adapted to any male who approached them; and
quite immediately they seemed to be quite comfortable with their
circumstances.

The other prisoners took
notice too! Frankly these gorgeous female cat-like creatures—they
all seemed to be having quite a lot of fun, royally enjoying
themselves with the crew and its complement of Pumalar marines.
Plenty to drink; and lots going on; the party began to look really
inviting! Nature soon just took its course. Gradually they decided
to just join right along with the festivities.

Hell, even the obstinate
and cynical Rex most certainly dove right in too! Now surrounded by
hundreds and hundreds of strapping Pumalar warriors—fresh from the
battle on Star Pussy—Rex was quite thrilled to dive in with the
partying and debauchery every night down in the cargo hold where
the prisoners and liquor were kept. And not only that: he found
plenty to do during the
daytime
as well; starting with the kitchen. The appalling
conditions of the mess hall immediately threw the rather eccentric
and effeminate man into a real hissy fit when he saw how food was
prepared and stored. The tables, counters, and even food prep
tables were downright filthy. Rex couldn’t even believe people
could eat there.

He marched right up to the
bridge of the ship and (respectfully) requested an audience with
the Captain. By now he’d grown to trust Kscheeech a little bit…
ever since the Captain had violated Naustie protocol and sent a
Ship-to-ship message to Warthog instructing them to find Rex’s
personal friends from Star Pussy. That impressed the capricious gay
man.

Ksceeech agreed to receive
him on the bridge; which was not surprising. Frankly, it was damn
good entertainment for his crewmen manning the command bridge
because the lisping balding man was a veritable laugh-riot to watch
whenever he was angry. After listening to a few minutes of Rex’s
tirade about the cleanliness and sanitation of the serving areas;
“
especially the lack of proper care and
handling of fish and meat
”, Kscheeech very
calmly said, “Then I’m putting you in charge. There’s no more
capable being onboard… Go fix it, my friend.” Rex of course
guffawed with surprise at first; but within a few moments he
recovered himself and glanced over to see Felina grinning lovingly.
Could he really do that? Just walk right back down there to that
disaster in the ship’s galley and take over? Well, heck yes he
could! He’d run one of the best damn restaurants on all of Star
Pussy for the past two years, hadn’t he? He sighed deeply and
smiled. “Sure… I mean… Yes Captain, thank you, I’ll get right on
it” said Rex bowing like a butler.

With that, Rex graciously
took over the job as Kitchen Manager of the
Chengshi
; and wow… did he ever put
that kitchen staff through hell! But they came through for him. Rex
whipped that operation into shape within less than a day; and by
the time of the next evening meal (about ten hours later); the
crew, prisoners, and Pumalar marines were eating delicious gourmet
food (served buffet style of course… with servers wearing clean
white aprons spooning out aromatic concoctions that both titillated
the senses and satisfied the bodies of everyone coming through the
serving line.

Kscheeech, by way of
comparison, spent his days running the ship from the command bridge
of
Chengshi
. His
task was to simply zigzag back and forth (“
swizzling”
as he called it) while he
cruised about a day behind the
Varanus
. This would enable him to
confuse any Star Fleet vessel that might be tracking him, because
at long range the
Chengshi
would appear to be changing course so often that
sensors would confuse whether it was even the same ship showing up
repeatedly in Star Fleet computers.