FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

The image of two tall beings stood frozen on the display screen. They were large enough to make the human standing at the very far edge of the view appear to be a child playing dress up as a space man. They also stood on two legs like a human, but the similarities seemingly ended right there because they also had fur covering their bodies and a long flexible tail behind either of them. They were cats, massive cats that stood upright and Yu Wei wanted them.

"Look at them," the man spoke in Mandarin. He grinned, a wicked toothy slit in the pudge of his face. His beady eyes transitioned from between the two beings. "They are like us. But they are not us. They walk on two legs, but have a tail." He prattled on and on, much to the indifference of the recipient of the prattling, his Chief of Staff, Mei Xing.

The woman stood across the desk from her boss at a relaxed at ease. She listened to every word, but kept a passive face. After working for Mr. Wei for the better part of two decades, she had grown accustomed to his long dialogues about everything that he found exciting.

"They remind me of a pair of tigers at the New Kingdom Zoo in Greater Beijing," he said with the excitement of a child a sixth of his age. He frowned when he realized that they only reminded him of them because they were cats and nothing else. He continued on regardless. "The tigers were clones of course. The fierce cats of Asia had gone extinct before man truly reached the stars. A tragedy that befell most native species of Earth which led to zoos being filled with less and less quality clones and scientific creations that looked like the real animal, but were not." The man chuckled and wiped a bit of spit from his mouth with a handkerchief he always carried in his breast pocket.

"Yes, sir," Mei finally spoke and only did so because Mr. Wei had looked at her expectantly. The short response had been enough to satisfy the man.

"Now I own the zoo along with a hundred others across a hundred worlds and they are all filled with cheap knock offs. Made in China as they would say," he said with a frown and slammed his meaty fists against his table, causing the display to shudder and begin to play the recording again. Mr. Wei stopped and watched it.

He had seen it a hundred times before and felt the same emotions each time. He cried when Jeng and Temin were reunited. He grew furious when it showed the crew member of the rescue shuttle aimed his weapon at the incredible creatures. He would never grow tired.

The video froze on the last frame, when the shuttle was taking off again with all humans and the pod pod onboard. The camera was on the surface of the ship, so Mr. Wei could still see the fascinating creatures. They gazed up at the camera and Mr. Wei could swear that he saw sadness in their faces. It was heart wrenching.

Temin had describe them very little. The pilot had in fact shared very little about his time stranded on the planet, Ptane. He said that it was a harsh ordeal that affected him emotionally and would prefer to not think about. He had refused all requests by Mr. Wei for an interview and as much as that annoyed him, he respected the wishes to be left alone. What was shared was that the creatures were slow and dumb, but were friendly and curious which allowed Temin to befriend them. They were his pets and were a major part as to why he had remained sane through the ordeal as well as safe since the cats had kept most predators away.

"I must have a pair," Mr. Wei finally spoke. "Business is slow as of late in my zoos and I need something to draw the crowds back in. These would be the perfect addition."

"Sir." Mei said. "The coordinates to Ptane are not publicly available under the Second Earth Preservation Act which was put in place to protect the eco systems of potentially earth-like planets. They don't want people like us ruining it."

"People like us?" Mr. Wei shook his head from side to side. "If people were more like us, like me, the Preservation Act wouldn't be necessary. I don't want all of them, I just want two or so. Enough to get the masses back into my zoo."

"The coordinates are still under lock and key," Mei reminded her boss.

"Is there a travel ban to the system?" Mr. Wei asked.

"No, sir," Mei replied, shifting weight from one foot to the other. "The Interstellar Free Travel Clause stops the banning of travel to uninhabited space."

"So," Mr. Wei drummed his fat fingers against his desk. "You let me worry about the coordinates and you just get a team together to get these cats for me."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Mei asked. "When something like this is withheld, it's usually under a pretty tight lock and key."

Mr. Wei grinned. "Don't you worry. Now go on and get you people and do know that I don't want you going out there to kill these marvelous specimens. They are to be unharmed and unspoiled."

Mei bowed and then turned to leave the room.

"I'll let you know when I have gotten the coordinates," Mr. Wei yelled after before she was gone.

Now alone, Mr. Wei had to figure out how he was going to get the coordinates. He actually had no idea how, but he was confident and that had been enough in the past. It would have to be enough now.

The thought of trying to contact Temin again crossed his mind, but was quickly discarded. The man had been adamant on every occasion about not talking to the media anymore. He just wanted to get on with his life, fly his podpod and be with his loving partner, Jeng. It was admirable and touching. Temin and Jeng were out of the question, but others had access to the coordinates as well.

Maybe Premier Tauzin. Why bother dealing with all the underlings when you could go straight to the top. Mr. Wei knew the Premier Tauzin personally, in fact, the Premier owed Mr. Wei for some generous campaign donations. It was perfect.

"Yes? Hello." Premier Tauzin was younger for her prestigious position at only thirty. She had won almost ninety percent of the popular vote, riding on a wave of popularity after she had dumped most of her campaign funds into finding Temin. It had been a gamble, one that had paid off very well. That also left her in the debt of a lot of people that had given her the money. At the time, it was not popular among her supporters to use the campaign funds the way she did.

"Premier Tauzin," Mr. Wei said. "It's good to see you are doing well." He made note of her expensive western suit and the fact that she was sitting in an office on Earth, where real estate cost more per square foot than gold did per ounce a hundred years ago.

"Ahh, Mr. Wei," Premier replied without much enthusiasm. She knew the day would come that he would come to collect the debt. She only hoped that it would be for something illegal and traceable. "What can I do for you?"

Mr. Wei's smile widened. He liked getting straight to the point, even if he still enjoyed beating around the proverbial bush for a few minutes as well. "I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Premier Tauzin rested her elbows on the top of her desk and laced her fingers together. "My office is, of course, happy to help a citizen, but there are limits to what we can do." She hoped that the actual message was sent. I won't help you break the law.

"I understand completely," Mr. Wei nodded and then said, "you don't have to worry about having to doing too much." Another message that Tauzin understood. You'll do what I want, no matter the legality.

Tauzin sighed and leaned back into her chair. She thought about refusing to help at all, but that would be suicide. If she cut him off, he'd tell the other contributors and they would ruin her financially, publicly, in every way possible. "Let's hear it."

Mr. Wei wiggles with excitement. It was going to be so much easier than he thought. The crowds would number in the millions to see the cat people in the zoo. He would then get more and more, just enough to fill his zoos. He would corner the market and revenue would soar.

Of course there would be those that say that he obtained the location of the planet illegal, which he did, but the law was on his side. He could easily claim that he had simply deduced the location himself. There was no ban on traveling to Ptane, he did nothing wrong.

Plus, he could coax Temin into sharing more of his time on the planet. He could even hire Temin to act as a sort of expert since he was the only human alive to have interacted with the cat people. He would want to see his old pets, that would be leverage enough. Oh, there were exciting times ahead for everyone.

Mr. Wei realized that he was still talking to Premier Tauzin and quickly straightened himself. He cleared his throat. "I need the exact coordinates of Ptane. The planet Temin was stranded on."

Tauzin's face gained several creases. "Those coordinates have been blacklisted. I can't give them to you."

"But of course you can," Mr. Wei insisted. "It's only a matter of time before one of the many made-at-home adventurers finds it anyways and when they do, they'll ruin the planet. It's happened before. You remember the Second Earth incident, don't you?"

"Who doesn't know about that horrible case of mismanagement and political corruption," Tauzin grumbled. It had been a bad a case of incompetence and greed that led to an Earth like world with a wide and diverse eco system to be completely destroyed in under a decade due to exploitation of corporations that were covered by paid off government officials. The irony did not go unnoticed by Premier Tauzin.

"That won't happen in this case." Mr. Wei clasped he hands together. They made a wet slapping sound. "I promise. All I want is to collect a few specimens and that is it. No one else will know how I got the coordinates."

It was a promise that couldn't be kept. Anything could happen and expose the truth. Tauzin's power came from the goodwill of the people. There were still a lot of powerful political enemies out there that would take the first opportunity to take this and turn everyone against her. It seemed that there was danger in every decision. She weighed her options and sighed, pressing the palms of her hands against the side of her face.

"Ok," she said. "I'll get the coordinates for you, but if this goes wrong."

"It won't. It won't." Mr. Wei shook his head and outstretched hands. He then gave a respectful bow. "I await your message and thank you."

Tauzin returned the bow out of tradition, not respect and cut the line.

Excellent. Most excellent. Everything was falling right into place and it wasn't even lunch time. Maybe a bowl of soup to celebrate or a little bit of sweet bread as well. He felt that he earned it.

An hour later, Mr. Wei, with sweet bread in hand, received an encoded message straight from the office of the Premier. Even digitally, the mail looked official with layers of encryption and official stamps. It took the better part of the hour for the computer to properly decrypt the message using the digital key he had from when Tauzin had still just been a primary candidate and they had used the same encryption to keep in contact without letting the press know.

Inside was a single string on numbers and letters.

Mr. Wei grinned and got on the line with Mei. "I have the coordinates."

"Already?" She answered back through the voice only link. "I'm impressed. I've already got a list of people for the job. I just need to write up the job order."

"How long will that take?"

A moments pause. "Everyone should be prepped and ready to go by tomorrow afternoon."

"I want everything ready by the morning."

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Wei hung up and swiveled his chair away from the desk towards the monitor where the two cat people were still frozen in frame. They looked at him and he looked at them.

He then remembered that he didn't know a single thing about how to care for them. He would need to get on that, or task someone with that before Mei had her team leave. It would be a shame to not have a proper habitat for them. He would also need to get someone to design a meal plan. What did they eat? How much room did they need. He had the most important part, the coordinates, but the job wasn't done yet. Better get at it.

--

Gredar stared up at the sky. There was a time when the stars were just small little blips of light to navigate by, useful in certain situations, but mostly just and after thought. Now he knew better. There was more out there, T'Meen was out there.

"Thought I'd find you here."

Gredar gave a quick glance over his shoulder to the elderly Martek who was slowly approaching in the dark. "Everyone knows that I come out here at night."

"That's bad technique," Martek said and stopped next to the younger Dainye. He leaned on him a bit to rest his tired legs. "The prey will know you are there and when if you come out at the same time and wait at the same place each night."

"I'm not out hunting," Gredar said and looked back up at the stars. He had noticed that occasionally a star would appear, streak across the sky and then burn out. He didn't know what it was, but there was a hope that it was T'Meen coming back to be with him. Each time that the star disappeared into nothingness, he felt a sting of disappointment in his heart.

"I know, kitling." Martek patted Gredar on the shoulder. "We all know why you come out here. Everyone is worried for you. You've neglected some many duties. You are always distracted."

Gredar's shoulders slumped down. "I can't stop thinking of him, Martek." He turned and looked at his elder. "No matter how much I try, he is always on my mind. So eslart."

"Very eslart," Martek agreed. "But he is gone, to the stars with his Jeng and his family. You are here with your family. Just as he had done what is right for them, you need to come back and do what is right for your family before your mother decides she needs to intervene herself and no one wants that."

Kadit had been very patient with Gredar, allowing him what amounted to a time of mourning, but she and the clan needed him and her patience was not infinite. The work load was building up and he had neglected his singing as well, which had annoyed even the ever patient Martek some. The Old coot had been bugging him at every opportunity. He wanted to continue singing T'meen's song and at first, Gredar thought that he would as well, but it was only another reminder.

"Let's return back to the clan," Martek nuzzled against Gredar's cheek. "Some work will take your mind off of T'meen."

"Yes," Gredar said, but not believable. "Perhaps some work will take my mind off of T'meen." He turned and followed Martek.

Kadit was there waiting at the main house. She had put the kitlings to sleep already and was sitting down, resting.

"Gredar." She got up and walked over to her son and began to look him over. "You look better."

Gredar was a little annoyed that she spoke as if he had been afflicted by some physical sickness. "I feel a little bit better,"he said with a flick of his tail.

Kadit noted the sign of annoyance, but chose not to speak on it. "I hope that you are ready to finally get back to your duties." She ran a paw down the side of his face and scratched his neck affectionately. "There is much that needs to be done."

As always. Thought Gredar, but spoke differently. "I'm ready to contribute again."

Kadit smiled approvingly. "Good." She turned and returned to her chair which was by the fire place and sat down. "I know that Karwa has been searching for a hunting partner. Several have stepped up, but he has created one excuse or another not to go with them." She gave a quick, but insightful glance over at Gredar. "I do believe that he intends to go hunting with you."

"It does not surprise me, mother," Gredar said with a short shake of his head.

"It will be good for you to go with him," Kadit said and rubbed her clan medallion habitually.

"Have you been talking to Martek," Gredar asked and looked over at the other daiyne who had entered with Gredar, but had remained uncharacteristically silent. He purses his lips and glanced away. "You two sound a lot alike."

"A few words here and there," Kadit admitted. "Now go and find Karwa and tell him you will go out and hunt with him tomorrow."

"Yes, mother." Gredar rubbed his check against Katid's, smelling her familiar scent as he did so while leaving a little of his own.

Gredar left and Martek was about to as well when Kadit stopped him.

"A word."

Martek's ears and tail dropped cautiously. "About what?" He turned from the exit of the room.

"Don't give me that look," Kadit chastised the other." Everyone assumes I only scold and command.

"Isn't that what you are doing now?"

Kadit glared at Martek and then rolled her eyes. "I need to talk to you about T'meen."

The mention of T'meen perked Martek interest. "Don't you think Gredar should have stayed for this. T'meen concerns him more than the rest of us combined."

"I don't want to talk about T'meen specifically, but his people," Kadit clarified. "They've been here before and have cause great harm."

"Have we not discussed this matter already?" Martek asked. His tail nervously twitches behind him. To him, the matter had been closed already. T'meen was proof that all of his people aren't wasa.

"I know. I know," the clan leader shook her paw to settle down Martek. "Still, it is my responsibility to look after the clan and there is a chance that despite T'meen's efforts and promises, more of his kind will find us and I fear what will happen if they are not like T'meen."

The clan leader was distressed more than Martek had seen in a while. She had been thinking about this for a long time and was still thinking about it, having come to no conclusion.

Martek had thought about it a little before, going back over his histories about when T'meen's people had last been there. The amount of daiyne that had died, the destruction, it all justified Kadit's worries.

"We can't defend ourselves against them," Kadit said. "They are too powerful. T'meen alone could have killed all of us if he wanted to."

"But he didn't," Martek pointed out.

"Yes," Kadit agreed. "He saved my life and many other lives instead of taking them and for that, I will always be grateful. However, we are not discussing if T'meen would attack us."

Martek gave a pause for thought and came to a disturbing, but honest conclusion. He didn't like it, but he couldn't think of anything better. "If it comes to it, just as our ancestors had, we will need to prepare for war."

Kadit didn't show surprise.

So, she had come to the same conclusion as well.

"I've already sent messengers to the other clans. Most will be back in two Moon sweeps. Let's hope that it will not come to war," Kadit said with sadness in her heart.

"Should we tell Gredar what we intend to do?" Martek asked.

Kadit looked at Martek and then to the door that Gredar had walked through. "I was going to, but I had wanted to discuss it with you first. It will upset Gredar."

"I will tell him," Martek offered. "I think that if it comes from me, he will be more lenient in his actions."

"I do agree," Kadit sighed. "My children, how they have grown to be so much like me."

Martek chuckled. "How is Jilen doing?"

"She is doing good," Kadit said. "She keeps herself busy with her patients and her kits. She misses T'meen, but will not admit it."

"He left a bigger impact on us during his short time here than any other individual in the past hundred cycles," Martek commented. "We all miss him in one way or another."

"Yes," Kadit stopped drawing circles around her medallion and then yawned. "It is time I get some sleep. You go and find Gredar, tell him what we have discussed and then tell me what happens in the morning."

Martek bid goodnight and quickly left Kadit's home to go find Gredar which was not hard.

Gredar had been walking slowly, dragging his feel as he did so. He passed several others who he normally would have greeted with a lick or a check rub, but instead ignored them and they gave him room.

"Gredar," someone else called out before Martek could. It was Karwa. The younger daiyne seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Being the hunter for the clan, Martek shouldn't had been surprised that he was the one to startle him.

Gredar turned towards the hunter and the two embraced. "Karwa," Gredar said, intertwining his tail with Karwa's. "I was just looking for you."

"Really?" Karwa said. "I've been looking for you as well. I've been meaning to go on a hunt. Nothing special, maybe get some jopa. Just enough to fill the clan's stocks up again. I need a partner."

"Kadit told me so," Gredar nodded. "She asked that I go with you."

"About time she got you doing something," he joked. "Was about to think she had let you go off like she let Martek. Doing nothing but minding his books."

"Books that hold more value than that knife T'meen left you with," Martek came up on the two.

Karwa's paw went to his side where he kept his precious keepsake. Gredar's eyes went to the gift Timen had given it Karwa when he realized that it was in too good of condition to bring back with him. Karwa treasured it above all of his possessions and guarded it religiously.

"This is worth more to me than your books," Karwa said defensively. "You seem to forget that others value things different."

"You seem to forget how to address an elder," Martek shot back and Karwa instantly looked ashamed.

"I apologize, Martek," Karwa looked down at the ground, his ears folded back. "I did not mean to offend."

Martek rested his paw on Karwa's shoulder, but looked at Gredar. "All is forgiven. T'meen brings both the best and the worst out of all of us." He removed his paw and said in a more cheery attitude, "but let's not be sad any longer."

"Agreed," Gredar said. His eyes were on the knife. More reminders. T'meen was everywhere, even though he was nowhere. It was going to be long and hard to adjust back to a life without him since he had left several moonsweeps ago. It still seemed like yesterday to Gredar.

"What brings you out here at this time?" Karwa asked. "I've known you to retire early."

"I actually need to speak with Gredar for a moment."

"Oh, ok." Karwa untwined his tail and turned to Gredar. "Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning," Gredar repeated back.

Karwa left the two and Martek waited until he was out of sight before speaking.

"Let's go for a walk."

The two left and went into the woods, following familiar trails and not straying from it.

"First you ask me to came back from the woods and now you take me back," Gredar nudged Martek. "I think age has had an affect on your mind."

Martek smiled and kept the pace. "Only a matter of time before you become like me."

"Eww," Gredar laughed. "Old yes. But not like you." Once he calmed back down, he asked, "why did you bring me out here."

"Kadit,'she is worried about the huu-man's returning," Martek said straight. "She fears that they will not be like T'meen when they do come back."

When. Gredar notes the word because it was true. They would return sometime, it was only a matter of time. Gredar knew it. Martek knew it. Kadit knew it. T'meen knew it as well.

"T'meen said he would stop them."

"He said he would try," Martek reminded Gredar. "He will try, but he cannot stop them all." He recalled a time he had talked to T'meen about the huu-man's. he said they were many and across the stars.

Too many for one person to stop.

Gredar took it all in. "Then we don't make the same mistakes as those in the past," Gredar said. "We know better now. If they come, we can have peace."

"And if they don't want peace?" Martek asked.

There was silence for a long while as Gredar weighed the options just as everyone else had. They were a good distance away from the village before he spoke.

"I understand now," Gredar said in a low voice. "We must be ready to defend ourselves."

Gredar took it better than Martek thought he would. "Yes. It is preferred that it doesn't come to that, but we must be ready if it does."

"How could we defend ourselves?" Gredar pondered. "They take to the skies in metal boxes. T'meen's weapon could kill with fire and instantly from afar. How do we defend ourselves from that?"

"Kadit is asking all the other clans to prepare as well," Martek explained. "Of it does come to war, many will die. I cannot say if we would be victorious or not."

"I will have to believe that if they do come back, they will be like T'meen."

As if his very words were a switch, a light enveloped the two from above.

--

"You idiots!" Mei yelled. "It was simple. So very simple." She stalked back and forth across the cabin of the shuttle. The mission was going so well. They had gotten to Ptane without and issues. They got to the location where the cat people had been seen when Timen had been rescued and waited.

It had not been long before scanners had shown that two humanoid creatures, much taller than a human, were nearby. Sure enough it was the cat people. They had been wandering through the woods, seeming to have a conversation of sorts. It was odd, but other animals vocalized as well and Mei was not here to study them, she was here to capture them... alive.

"It reared on us," the man with a black eye and in handcuffs, pleaded. "It was going to attack."

"Attack wth what!" Mei yelled again. She rarely yelled. Normally she was calm and collected because that made jobs go easier when everyone was calm and collected, but the crack head that she had hired was just too trigger happy. It had happened in a blink of an eye.

They had turned on their lights to startle the creatures and the two had been stunned. They didn't flee immediately, instead they stood and watched, almost unafraid. Timen had described them and curious and friendly, which worked in Mei's favor. She let them come closer, even bringing the shuttle down closer to the ground until they were almost next to the ship, then she sprung the trap.

Hatches opened and three of her men had come out. Two had tranquilizer guns and one had a pulse rifle since the other wildlife was supposedly hostile and very dangerous.

The younger of the two, by the brighter coloration of its fur, was brought down quickly with a dart. It fell and was in good health. The other, though, much older in both appearance and how it moved, took a step, a single step towards them and the idiot with the pulse rifle had shot it. Killed it instantly. She had gone out and personally disarmed him before he killed one of them for breathing.

They had to take off after that. She bright both the live cat and the dead on onboard. The tranquilizer one was in a large cage in the back while the dead one was in the cold storage locker. Mr. Wei would be absolutely furious, more than furious, livid that they had killed one, but the body was still useful for scientific purposes.

They were now hovering several hundred meters above the surface, waiting on what to do next.

"We need two live ones," Mei reminded those that were not shackled. "Mr. Wei was very clear that he wanted two." She held up two fingers. She took deep breaths so that she would hit the moron any more.

"So we wait?" One of her other men, the one that had successfully tranquilized the cat person asked. He stood off to one side, away from Mei's potential wrath.

"We don't have a choice but to wait and hope that another one comes along," Mei replied and looked towards the back of the compartment where the door was that led to the specimens. "Keep the one we have sedated. I don't want any more trouble for the rest of the mission."

Everyone went back to their respective space, except the shackled man, who wasn't allowed to move anymore. Mei stayed in the main passenger compartment and began to worry.

Mr. Wei had entrusted her to bring back two live specimens and now they had a dead one. Worse yet, Mei recognized them, the two had been the ones present at Temin's rescue. She had seen the video enough times in Mr. Wei's office to know that they had those exact ones. She recognized them as soon as they were onboard and in the light.

Mei feared how Mr. Wei would react. She could lose her job and even worse, Mr. Wei would ensure that she wasn't ever hired for a higher position for the rest of her life. She had to get another one to replace the dead one. He wanted two and he would get two.

It was several slow hours when Mei was about to call it for the night and order that they return to orbit to conserve fuel when the pilot came up over the ship radio.

"Contact bearing zero-four-three. Heading right for us and scanners show that it's a cats."

"Just one?" Mei grabbed the transmitted piece and spoke into it.

"Affirmative," the pilot responded. "Same as before?"

"Just wait on my signal and turn on the main beams."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mei went over to one of the ship's consoles and brought up the images from outside of the ship in infrared. She watched the black and white image until she saw the third specimen come into view. This one was smaller than their live specimen, must be younger as well. It moved cautiously, as if it knew it was being watched.

Must being looking for its friends. Mei thought as her hand gripped tightly on the edge of the console.

The rest of the team would have heard the pilot and would be getting into position.

She watched as the specimen was almost directly in front of the ship which had dampening technology, allowing it to hover silently.

Just a little farther to the right. There!

"Lights," Mei ordered and switched the camera mode to normal.

The screen turned white as the main beams were activated and the cameras scrambled to adjust to the sudden increase in brightness.

The cat person jerked back in surprise, but like the other two, it did not flee, instead, it reached for its waist. Mei couldn't see what it was reaching for, but it disturbed her.

"Bring the ship down," Mei said into the radio. "Slowly and as soon as it's safe, open hatches."

She received confirmation from the pilot who then relayed the order to the others as well. She quickly got confirmation from them. Everyone was ready. No screw ups this time.