FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7

Kendra stepped out of the shower in her apartment, soaking wet but feeling better for the moment. She raised her towel and began to dry off, tossing her shaggy dark hair all over the place in the process of drying it. She could have used the hot air blow-dryers in the shower but preferred the 'old fashioned' way of using a towel like she had done when she grew up. The tension of the day had left her body a bundle of nerves but this helped her relax. The warmth of the small room was equally comforting to her. When she finished with her hair she lowered the towel and looked at the mirror. She had to reach over with the towel and wipe all the condensation from it to get a look.

The face that looked back at her was both familiar and alien to her at once. She was an attractive woman. She knew that well enough as she had been hit on and proposed to all her life, yet her career always came first. Kendra had pushed aside so many in her path to success, to get the job she wanted. She knew she missed the right one years ago. Ryan was such a good and kind man. Caring, open, honest, attractive, and not afraid to show he was vulnerable too. It didn't hurt that he was really wealthy, taking early advantage of the insane possibilities to make a staggering fortune from contact with the many aliens and new culture they were part of. All that didn't matter to her though. She was so focused on getting out into space and leaving earth and her bad past behind that she couldn't see the beauty that still remained on the planet and the life she could have lived there in happiness. For the first time in years she missed Ryan and wished she had said yes to his offer back then, instead of leaving him.

She gripped the sides of the sink before her and shook her head side to side, laughing to herself. The irony of it all, that she ran from the supposed ugliness of earth to be the one to see the most horrifying thing the galaxy could conjure up to show her. She sighed and looked at herself again. Age lines had begun to form at the corners of her eyes. They were sunken in a little more. The areas under her eyes had darkened over the past cycle, a little puffiness to them, a sign of how bad her sleep was. She even noticed a strand or two of gray hair running through all the black. She knew she should pluck them but it didn't really matter. Vanity was not one of her flaws at all.

Her eyes stopped and lingered on the scar on her left cheek. Her hand rose up and two of her fingers gently traced along the length of it. It was a thin scar, but clearly visible, a dark line against the lighter brown of her skin. Her mind started to drift there, to the memory of how it came to be there but the chime of her doorbell echoed through her dimly lit apartment. She was startled by the sound. Guests were not a common thing for her to have.

Kendra strode out of the bathroom naked, scooped up her white bathrobe that was lying upon her bed, and strode to the front door of her apartment. She pushed a button on the small panel on the door and activated a speaker. “Hello?" she called through it.

“Kendra Forrest?" It was a woman's voice, though a little distorted by the crappy, old speaker. The voice was unfamiliar to Kendra.

“Yes. Who is it? I'm not expecting any guests."

“It's… I'm Wei. Wei Sheng," was the reply.

Kendra felt like a physical blow struck her. Her hand slipped off the speaker and she stared at the door in stunned silence. Her heart hammered in her chest and felt like it was gripped in a vice at the same time. A sudden flash of seeing Adam clutching Hakurr tight in his arms, Adam the same size as his friend and not in cold mech armor, filled her mind. The chime went off again snapping Kendra back to reality. She pressed the button. “S-Sorry, sorry. Let me open the door for you," she hastily replied. Kendra fumbled with the controls and opened the lock.

The door opened, pushed by the human woman who stepped inside, and then hauled back and punched Kendra hard as she could in her face. Kendra narrowly turned her head with the blow but even that glancing hit sent her into the wall at her side with a heavy thud. She stumbled back, pain filling her head and braced herself against the wall, crouching, to stop from falling over. Her vision was a little blurry for a few moments but gradually focused on Wei, who stood before her, both fists clenched. The woman's face was contorted into one of sheer anger and grief. Her teeth were gritted and ground together tightly.

“Get up! Get the hell up!" shouted Wei. “Get up so I can beat the shit out of you!" Tears started to leak from the corners of her eyes.

“G-Give me a second… then you can go right ahead," she said slowly. Kendra pulled herself back up to her feet, bathrobe half open. She regained her balance. Wei hit really, really hard. It was no surprise though. She trained just like her big brother. Kendra turned and faced the young woman, preparing herself for a beating.

“Do you know how hard it was to find you?!" shouted Wei. Her hands were still clenched into fists, anger making her more than impressively big body tremble.

“I can imagine."

“You're completely off the grid, like some kind of a ghost! Were you hiding from me?!"

“When you're a dirty little uncomfortable secret, people who stand to lose something from that secret being revealed are pretty keen on keeping you hidden."

She seemed to ignore what Kendra said and stepped up to her, shoving the taller woman back. Kendra worked out but Wei clearly was stronger than her still and pushed her over. She fell hard to the floor on her ass and let out a grunt of pain. Wei stood over her and shouted down, “Why didn't you call me? My family? Why didn't you contact us?"

“I couldn't… I wasn…"

“You bitch! I had to hear from some company asshole that my brother died out in the ass end of space. I was left with a million questions and not one damn answer! We never even got his body back! All I knew was you and that giant mouse lived and neither of you ever called me once. Not once!" she shouted.

Wei reached down and gripped the collar of the bathrobe firmly with both hands. She yanked Kendra to her feet and slammed her back against the wall. One of her arms reared back and her hand was raised in an open palm facing at Kendra. The tips of her fingers were curled down slightly, prepared to hit the woman. Kendra closed her eyes.

“Do it. Please… hit me."

Wei trembled at her words and stared at Kendra. She heard the woman's voice break and waver.

“Please… just hit me. I deserve it. I couldn't save him out there. I couldn't save any one."

Wei's hand slowly lowered as she heard the pain fill Kendra's voice. This wasn't the woman she once knew. The Kendra she knew was strong, forceful, afraid of no one, and took no crap from anybody. She didn't beg and certainly wouldn't fold when someone threatened her. She'd seen her fight a man twice her body mass once easily, with no hesitation. She let go of the bathrobe and stood there before Kendra, the anger ebbing out of her and being replaced with sorrow and confusion.

“What the hell happened to you?" whispered Wei.

“I died out there on that planet along with the rest of my… my family, but was too scared to lay down with them."

Kendra slumped forward and Wei caught her in her arms, holding her up and hugging her. The taller woman's arms wrapped around Wei and squeezed tight as she could, confusing Wei even more. She looked about a moment and caught sight of the couch in the little living room in the dingy apartment. Wei easily supported Kendra, moved her to it, and sat her down on the couch. She pulled the bathrobe over her fully, closing it once more. Wei stood there awkwardly for a few moments, shuffling from foot to foot, not sure what to do or say since Kendra wasn't speaking. She spotted the kitchen to her right and pointed in that direction.

“I'm um, I'm going to put up some tea. I hope you have tea. Coffee will do too. So, ah, I'll be right back. You just calm down or something," mumbled Wei. She moved to the kitchen and paused at the door to call back, “I'm sorry I hit you too. You, despite what you said, probably didn't deserve that. Sorry…" She ducked into the kitchen and started to brew up a pot of tea. Kendra sat in the room alone, in silence, with thoughts that did not comfort her at all.

* * * *

Wei Sheng sat beside Kendra on the couch. She clutched a cup of tea in her hands, sipping at it a little at a time. It was weak, a cheap mass made variety of tea and worth nothing to her in her opinion. Right now though, it was good enough to help calm her. She glanced at Kendra now and then, giving her time to decide when she wanted to speak or not. Well, she wasn't going to let not speaking be an option. She traveled for almost a quarter cycle trying to find her. She wasn't leaving here without an explanation at the very least.

Kendra made a slurping sound as she sipped at her tea for the first time. Her eyes lingered on Wei now, finally able to look at her. She was a healthy woman, strong and fit with a more than generous figure. She wore a black leather vest, her bare arms visible and sporting muscle. Large elbow pads were worn by her and sturdy black riding gloves covered her hands. Big studs were at the knuckles along the gloves. Tight black and grey riding pants covered her legs and hugged them firmly, additional padding and protection at her knees and along the thighs. Heavy boots that went up to her mid-shins completed her look. Kendra always considered her to be a tomboy and she certainly was dressed the part today.

When Wei looked back to Kendra the two of them made eye contact.

“I want to apologize…"

“I'm sorry I did…"

Both started at the same time then stopped when they babbled together. Kendra motioned for Wei to continue. Wei nodded and spoke first.

“I want to apologize for blaming you for everything that happened. I built up this whole narrative in my head about how my brother died and what had to happen to keep anyone from telling my family and I anything at all. I started to blame you. Figured you had to be responsible in some way for it. I mean, what else could keep you from calling us if you weren't somehow guilty? You were family to us, we had no secrets. Shit, I actually thought you and Imacha died out there too for the first quarter until a friend of mine who was in the intel department swore he heard news that you were still alive, here, on this world. So when my time was up for my marine service I postponed my reenlistment and set out to find you and get some answers. All I could think about was finding you, beating the story out of you, blaming you for our loss and pain, then spitting on you and leaving forever. I sure didn't expect… this." She gestured at Kendra with one hand.

“I look like shit, huh?"

“You look like shit."

“I always loved how honest you were. You'd make a good tordenchi."

“Better than Imacha. I swear he comes closer to lying than any tordenchi I've ever seen," said Wei. “It must be the… you know… in his head." She waved her hand in circles at the side of her head.

“Imacha's brilliant, not nuts, though the two often go hand in hand. He's a huge help to me recently Wei. I was at the end of my rope to be honest. Thought a lot of dark thoughts, still do, but Imacha entered my life again about a tenday ago and he… he honesty saved me," said Kendra.

“You mean you were out of contact with him for an entire cycle too?" Wei asked the surprise clearly evident across her face.

“Yeah. An entire cycle."

“What the hell happened to you Kendra?"

Kendra set the cup of tea on her coffee table before her. She stayed leaning forward, her hair hanging over her eyes. She didn't look at Wei right now. Her hands were clenched together tight. “I… I'm not supposed to tell… anyone. Ever."

Wei set down her drink and pulled off her gloves. She reached over and gripped Kendra's hand tight as she could. It made Kendra's fingers ache a little but she accepted it. It helped her at least feel a little more alive and that someone else honestly still cared about her. “Not even me? I have a right to know Kendra. Adam was my brother. He was my big brother and he meant the world to me. Please, I need to know. I need closure and the real story. Not just whatever stupid shit I make up in my head."

“You… you really don't want to hear this."

“The hell I don't. If it's gonna get you in trouble for telling me then I'll keep it a secret, just between us. I swear it. Please Kendra. I need to know how my brother died and who to blame for this, if there is anyone to blame."

Not us. Kendra shivered a little and held on to Wei's hand. “You… you have to promise me you won't tell anyone. Not your family. Your friends. Your husband if you get married. Your kids. No one. Ever."

Wei smirked. “One of those is easy. I'm not into guys. But seriously, I swear Kendra. I'll take it to the grave with me."

“Because this… this is important. This secret can fuck up everything. I mean everything Wei. The entire Union."

Wei felt a chill run down her spine for a moment at those words. “I need to know."

Kendra took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She steeled herself best as she could and spoke in as slow and calm manner as possible. Every word was a struggle to get out. Every detail she told Wei fought to drag up those memories again and make her relive them, to drown in them, to sink into the horror she was trapped inside for one day of her life. A single day that now defined her. Not us. She spared Wei no details. She wanted her to understand what was on that planet and what it did. How it was cruel and alien and evil and wanted nothing more than the end their lives. Not us. All because they were not the same as them and never could be. She told her how Neji died then how Hakurr died. When she reached Adam's end she made sure to let her know that if it wasn't for him and his sacrifice neither she nor Imacha would be alive right now either. All of them would have died on that planet if he didn't choose the path he did. She also didn't spare the detail that one of the last things she did was lie to Adam about Neji still being alive. Finally, she came to the part where she met… it. Not us. She struggled to describe it to her even though she had memorized every detail of the annelid down to the tiniest degree; even though she had worked with its corpse for ten days straight. She lacked the words to stress how utterly alien it was and how deeply it terrified her.

“I saw evil Wei. Face to face. Spoke to it. It's real and it is waiting for us out there in the dark of the abyssal reach, at the edge of our galaxy. It's waiting for an excuse to come to us and wipe us all out. I tried to tell the Security Council Wei, tried to let them know that it's waiting and wants to end us all. But fuck me, they won't listen. They want to wait a while and try and speak with them again, hoping that they can negotiate with those things. They don't understand what I saw, what I heard when it spoke to me. They didn't see what I did. They didn't live through that and have to relive it every night in their dreams, over and over. If they did, maybe they'd take another fucking minute to rethink how stupid it is to want to meet them again," she said. She leaned over and hugged Wei, the other woman holding her in return. “I agreed with Imacha. We can't. We can't open talks with them. After learning more about the dead one we brought back and figuring out some of their mindset just from its biology alone… they don't want to speak to us. Not anyone that isn't them."

Wei held Kendra, more than a little stunned at all she heard. She stayed still, hugged her, and tried to process it all. She was having a hard time. She knew what Adam would say in a time like this. He used humor to deflect most pain or fear he felt. He'd joke about how embarrassed he would be to admit that a worm killed him or something like that, but funny. Wei wasn't the funny one in her opinion. His death, and now hearing about what killed him, buried a good amount of that humor along with him.

Wait. Wei gently pushed Kendra back from her, breaking the hug. A few tears ran down her face to hear all this but something else filled her mind right now. She locked gazes with the broken woman she once considered stronger than any she had met before. “Did you just say… you brought back its body? As in, its corpse is intact, able to be seen?"

Kendra was in so much of a haze from describing the events again that she had not realized she even said that. She thought about trying to make up an excuse but crushed that idea rapidly. Not to Wei she wouldn't. She was still family… she hoped. “Yes. It is. We brought it home with us. Imacha and I study it along with a very small and secretive research team. I was brought into it because the head of the team considers my first hand interaction with it to be highly important. I know that makes me more of a matter of study than one of the actual researchers, but it has been helping me. Seeing it and coming to grips with it plus being with Imacha again… it's slowly helping."

“With all you know? You're not a head researcher?" asked Wei in surprise.

“I'm not at their level Wei. Not at all. You don't know Imacha well. He makes me feel like an idiot around him at times when he speaks, not that he tries to; he's just that smart. But I learn and help as I can. For the first time in a cycle I don't feel helpless any more. Facing it and my fears is the best way forward."

Wei let go of Kendra and stood up. She walked away from the couch and stood there for about a minute, clearly running everything through her head. Kendra was patient and let her work it out herself. Wei frowned a few times as she thought. She was trying to come to grips with what sounded almost impossible to believe in. She moved back to the table, picked up her tea, and took a swig of it.

“I want to see it," she said.

“Wait… what? You can't see it!" called out Kendra.

“Why not? It killed my brother. I feel I have every right to see it. To know what I should hate. Who to blame. This monster made me hate you and it wasn't your fault at all. You didn't want to not tell me, you were forced not to. This thing has ruined the lives of five families and that's just from the crew of the Capher. Then there is the entire crew of the Lothia. None of their families will ever know what happened and that's not right. So I want to see it, so at least one family gets some closure. Besides, if everything you told me is absolutely true and… to be honest, I have no choice but to think you're not lying… then you're going to need more help on your side Kendra. I know I'm not Adam, but we accepted you as family the times you came over. I kinda looked at you as a big sister. Let me see it and let me help you."

Kendra sank back on the couch and stared up at Wei. She shook her head slowly and couldn't help but smirk. “You know, you're a lot like your brother Wei. You're always supportive and got a person's back."

“I know. I'm amazing," she said and crossed her arms under her bosom. “So, we go now or tomorrow?"

“Tomorrow. It's late tonight. I need sleep. Plus it's the weekend tomorrow. Skeleton crew at the labs but we can go in. I can't promise you that you will see it, but I do promise to speak with the director and Imacha. Maybe, just maybe, I might be able to get you a chance to see pictures of it or something." She sighed. “I'm gonna be in so much damn trouble."

Wei nodded. “Yeah, you probably are. Sorry about that. So, can I ask another favor?"

Kendra tossed her arms up into the air. “What now? I told you, I don't have my pilot licenses back yet, that hasn't gone through. So I can't fly you anywhere. I'm not rich, as you can obviously see. What do you need now?"

“A place to crash. You might not be rich but all I got is a duffel bag outside your door in the hallway, the clothes I'm wearing, and a cred card that's looking mighty low in the balance. Could I sleep here… please?" Kendra swore Wei's big dark eyes looked like they belonged to a begging kitten, not a human.

“Fine fine. That I can do. You can crash on the couch. Just no more punching, all right?"

“Cool. No more punching. You got it," she said. Wei turned and began to head over to get her bag. She stopped, smiled back at Kendra, and said, “I missed you, so damn much. Don't you ever hide from your family again like that, okay?"

“Okay Wei… and… thank you."

“Ahfmahjii reh naji litat," she replied in viliti.

“Don't show off and make me regret letting you in now. Speak English when my translator isn't on me."

“Doffu haji mi'ee! Ha ha!"

Kendra was sure she was going to regret this, at least a little bit.

Chapter 8

“Morning," called out Wei to Kendra. She was doing push-ups in the middle of the living room floor, the coffee table shoved to the side. Kendra stopped before the kitchen to just stare at Wei and take in the spectacle of her doing that, at 6:00am in the morning. The young woman wore next to nothing, had no apparent shame, and seemed to have endless endurance. Meanwhile, Kendra was exhausted as usual from bad dreams keeping her up most of the night.

“Morning," mumbled Kendra back as she entered the kitchen and started to prepare some coffee. She called out to Wei, “Make sure you're all ready to go by 0800 hours. Imacha shows up then to take me to the lab.

“Good. That means I get to see it."

“No, that means we have to try to convince Imacha first that letting you see the annelid is a good idea."

Wei smoothly hopped up to her feet. She padded into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge, arms crossed under her bosom. A slight scowl was on her face. “Hold on. I thought you could just get me in there then we talk to this director guy and I get to see the worm alien."

Kendra glanced at her, a look of disbelief across her face. “Seriously? Get you into the ACBS, not hard. Almost anyone can get into the main lobby. Get you to the work labs and inner facilities on the upper floors? Even that's not too hard. I have enough clearance for any non-priority facility lab in the upper floors. But the annelid is kept in the sub-levels of the facility. Those are high-security regions. No one is allowed into those areas without proper security passes or permission by higher end staff with accompaniment by at least the assistant director of the study group. For our case, that means Imacha. They're not going to let anyone just walk into that lab Wei, especially not on my say so."

“So we convince Imacha."

“She says as if it is a walk in the park. You know how he is. He's difficult to get along with on a good day at times. This… he's going to be, as he'd say, perturbed."

“But it's me Kendra. I consider Imacha family too. My brother trusted him and loved him in his own way, so he's family. I hope he considers me close enough to be that to him. Just let me speak to him and…"

“And he'd boot you back to earth after giving you a long verbal beating," said Kendra, finishing Wei's statement for her. “Listen, let me try to do the talking with him first. If I can convince him to let you come to the lab and we can all speak to Dr. Tahk, then maybe we have a better chance to get you in. I already have an angle on how to approach this as a benefit to the lab."

“A benefit? Are we trying to get me in to see the thing that killed my brother or are we trying to sell this doctor a set of encyclopedias?" she asked with a smirk.

“You are just like your brother sometimes, I swear."

“Thank you. Really."

Kendra nodded slightly. “I'm trying to sell you to the doctor. You're Adam's sister. In your own way you're connected to this entire… thing… story… whatever the hell it is we're all mired in now. All of it revolves around this vile alien race and you're part of it too. Dr. Tahk is fascinated by it all so he might be willing to speak with you on the matter. Just to hear your reaction to everything and what you think when you see it for the first time. In fact, I'm banking on it."

“So why don't we just message the doc first and stop the song and dance routine?"

“Because Imacha's family too. I'd rather speak to him first and try and get him on our side before going over his head. That would be kind of betraying him. I won't do that. I owe him everything Wei. He saved my life."

“That's good enough reason for me," said Wei.

The coffee maker beeped and both women soon had cups. They went to their separate rooms and began to get dressed as they had their liquid breakfasts. Wei grunted and struggled to tug her top on, the shirt a bit tight for her on purpose so it showed off everything. She watched the holo-projector and saw a cute looking kiori babble on and on about the storm they were in the middle of. Boring. She hopped up and down next, pouring herself into her form fitting but flexible pants. As she sat there pulling one big boot on and securing it with its many clasps and latches, she heard a new report, a repeat of an obviously earlier breaking news bit that she had slept through.

Her jaw dropped open.

“Kennnndraaaa! You might wanna get in here and see this shit! You're not gonna believe it," she cried out.

A few minutes later both women sat there, stunned looks upon their faces. The images before them showed a salvage hauler, a Class 2 light cargo barge, crashed into the mountains some hundred or so kilometers outside the city limits to the east. It was identified as the Pargaro and had become an instant enigma. The ship barreled past orbital security, ignored all orders to halt its descent despite an automated distress transmission coming from it, and made a clear rough landing planet side. No signs of damage to the ship's engines or hull were detected all. The mystery only deepened as the report said the entire crew was missing, all eleven of them unaccounted for. The ship had no AI and could not have made as safe a landing as it did on its own. Authorities had begun to spread out to see if they could locate any survivors of the crew in the surroundings wilds or in the city itself. Images flashed across the screen of the crew. They were all different species, the captain of the ship being an older lupari with decades of experience in space salvage work.

The pair stared at each other, both having confused looks on their faces.

“That is some messed up shit," said Wei. “Can you believe that? A whole ship crashing on the planet like that, narrowly missing the city. This one's going down in the planetary record books for sure."

Kendra nodded slowly, agreeing with Wei. “Yeah, the books." She was silent for a little as the news continued to come in, more images of the crashed ship appearing. “Where the hell could the entire crew have gone? The ship can't just land itself. Someone had to bring her down like that. She made a crash landing, not a nose dive into the mountainside. That would have woke the entire city up and tossed ship debris easily onto some of the city itself from the explosion."

Wei shrugged. “I dunno. I'm no detective, let them figure it out. All I can say is weirder shit's probably happened out there in space."

A grim look crossed Kendra's face as she stared at Wei.

“Ah, yeah…" Wei brought her hand up and scratched at the back of her shoulder length black hair. “Weirder shit for sure."

Kendra reached over and pet Wei's shoulder firmly then shook it a little. “You know Wei, to be honest, you're handling the information that a hostile alien race killed your brother and his friends pretty damn well," said Kendra.

Wei reached up and draped her hand over Kendra's hand, squeezing gently. “I'm an exo- marine, first class ever trained out of earth. First of an entire new breed of soldier. We roll with the punches well. Semper fi."

“Don't give me that bullshit."

Wei sighed and said, “Fine. Truth is, the worst death I imagined for my brother was that he was lost somewhere out in space, in a suit, in the void, all alone tumbling in the dark. No one with him but his fear and final thoughts, gasping for air when it ran out. That's the worst possible death there is in space to me." She squeezed Kendra's hand tighter. “So when you told me he went out fighting against the fucking monsters that killed Hakurr and Neji, probably took some of them with him, it made me so… so proud. I never knew he could be so brave. That he couldn't have died a better death in the circumstances you were in. I wish he didn't die at all, so fucking bad that it hurts to even say it, but since he had to die… that was a good one. I always wanted to make my big brother proud of me, but now, shit, I don't know if I can ever match that. Heh. I love him so much Kendra. Miss him so bad."

Kendra pulled Wei into a tight hug. Wei kept her composure as best she could, shedding only a single tear, though Kendra was afraid the woman was going to crush her rib cage during the embrace. When they split apart Kendra put her hand on Wei's cheek, wiping the tear away with a finger.

“He was always proud of you Wei. He thought you were the strong one you know. Not just physically, but in other ways too. He told me he was amazed at you becoming an exo-marine. I honestly couldn't believe it either. The only person in his family that he ever gushed about was you… his tough as nails little sister. He expected amazing things from you. You don't have anything to worry about Wei. He's proud of you, wherever he is now."

Wei gave Kendra's hand one last squeeze and stood up. “Thanks again. So, when's not-so-Mighty Mouse showing up? Should we wait outside for him?"

“Yeah. He'll be here any minute. He's seriously punctual, never late, and usually early. Grab an umbrella or rain coat. You'll need it. Storm's hitting hard out there today." Kendra rose as well and began to head into her bedroom.

“About that, you have an umbrella I can borrow or something? As you can see I've kinda been living a bit rough on the last legs of my trip to get to you. Umbrella isn't on my list of essentials. You wouldn't believe the crap they put me through in EM training," said Wei.

“Oh? Then you don't need one. Got it."

“Hey hey hey! I said it's not essential, not that I don't want it. Get one… please?" She gave Kendra that kitten-eyes look again.

Kendra laughed as she went into the room. “I'll see what I can find for you, you big sissy," she called out to her.

* * * *

Imacha walked along, his steps quick and precise as usual. He was a fast walker, no time to wait or dally about. His mind was working even faster than his legs though. The morning news was highly disconcerting to him. A ship crashing not far off from the city got him worried and he wasn't quite sure why. Yes, it was in some ways troubling that a ship was able to crash planet side like that, but the circumstances around it… no crew aboard yet it seemed to crash land as it someone piloted it down, no AI on board to accomplish this feat… Imacha had grown much more suspicious of events in the Union ever since the incident. Anything that seemed out of the ordinary, or what he considered ordinary, caused him to turn a very speculative eye on it. He even wondered about the Subjugation murders that were revealed not too long ago. What if it wasn't just a ra'lai that had committed them? What if something else was behind the ra'lai? Inside the ra'lai? Imacha shook his head to clear those thoughts away, his very large ears wobbling about.

He paid little attention to what few folk walking about were doing, so it wasn't much of a shock that he bumped into someone as he moved along at his brisk pace, pushed to the side by the larger figure. He stumbled a few steps, turned and scowled up at the female asishi.

“Excuse you," he grumbled at her.

The asishi held a gamp over her head yet was still soaking wet under it, even her head. It was why Imacha favored his hooded poncho. It kept his hands free as well. The asishi halted and turned her head to look down at Imacha, not clearly seeing him under his big hood. She stared at him with a blank expression, devoid of emotion.

“Yes, you. Quite rude of you to…" His voice faded as a bad feeling crept up and down his spine for a moment while looking at her. The asishi began to turn to face him when laughter rang out nearby. A small crowd of folk rounded a corner and walked along towards them, likely some group of friends returning from a late night party from the looks of them. Imacha stared at the group for a little and felt a sudden sense of relief at not being alone on the street. He turned back to the asishi to find… she was no longer there. He looked about, head whipping side to side, but the female was gone. Imacha felt that bad feeling in him fade away as the crowd of folk passed him by. He shook his head and resumed walking to Kendra's place, though at a quicker pace than before.

“Ridiculous Imacha. Ship falls out of the sky and you're all worried. The probability of there being a completely logical and rational reason behind that mystery is likely quite high. I'm just jittery because…" He stopped talking to himself. He had no answer and didn't want to seem like a crazy person rambling to themself in the streets. Kendra needed to see him calm. That was all that mattered.

A few minutes later Imacha stepped off the public transport vehicle and crossed the last bit of distance to his friend's home. He saw the human scale apartment complex ahead and the fencing around it to mark a no-pass zone for the large aliens such as him. It was a logical safety precaution and he agreed with it completely, regardless of any annoyance it might cause. He cast his gaze about, looking to the usual spot he picked her up at to see here there and someone else standing by her. It was another human wearing a poncho like him, though it was black in color unlike Imacha's grey one and Kendra's navy blue. He tromped over close as he could to them.

“Good morning Kendra. Acquaintance of yours?" he asked sharply, immediately curious who she would associate with since she had seemed to push everyone away from her prior to his reentrance in her life.

“Yours too Imacha," said Kendra with one of the brightest smiles he had seen from her yet.

Wei pulled the hood back a little to reveal her face. “Hi Imacha. You look good." She raised a hand and waved at him.

The momentary look of surprise on his face was enough to satisfy both the women. Imacha cleared his throat and composed himself immediately. He crouched down to have his head closer to them. “As do you Wei. It's been some time. I must admit to being quite surprised to see you here on Anatalay. Do you have business here?" he asked curtly.

Wei scowled up at him. “That's it? Do I have business here? No, 'Gee Wei, it's been two cycles, I'm so happy to see you again, give me a hug!' or 'Oh my Wei, you look gorgeous, I always wanted a cross species romance like Adam had, I was so jealous of him!' Man you're duller than I remember Imacha," she rambled at him.

Imacha stared at her, blinked a few times, almost looking confused. Kendra covered her mouth to hide a slight chuckle. The tordenchi looked away from them for a few moments then looked back. He reached his hand and arm down cautiously. Wei stepped right up to him and wrapped her arms around the pink hand, hugging it tight. Imacha stared at her then relaxed and sighed.

“I… I did miss you too Wei. My thoughts struck upon you several times over the cycle, wondering how your family and you were doing in coping with… you know. I didn't realize though that you might entertain similar desires as your brother had with Neji. I have no such inclinations. I do not apologize for my lack of interest, it is simply not appealing to me on a general level, not you specifically," he said quickly, struggling to make the words sound more tactful than usual for him.

Kendra couldn't stop it anymore and let out a short laugh. Wei stumbled away from his hand, laughing as well. She doubled over and hugged her own stomach until the laughs faded. Wei looked back up at him and said, “Oh my God you haven't changed at all you goofy mouse."

“I'm not a mouse," he snapped.

“Sure, whatever you say. I was joking Imacha. Remember? Jokes? We went over that a long while ago. Adam and I telling you jokes and trying to make you laugh. Don't you remember?"

“I… do remember that. I laughed at the end when Adam got frustrated that I wouldn't laugh at his jokes, turned to go inside your home, and accidentally walked into the doorframe and knocked himself to the ground. It was rather amusing."

“Yeah, heh. You always did like physical humor more than jokes," said Wei. “Damn Imacha, it's good to see you again, especially after everything that happened. Hakurr, Neji, Adam… all the shit you and Kendra had to put up with and suffer though on that terrible planet." She grabbed his hand again and hugged tight.

Kendra tried to gesture to her to shut up and stop but it was too late. Imacha stared at Wei then glared at Kendra.

“You told her."

“Yeah. I did. Not gonna lie to you."

“We're not supposed to tell anyone. You do remember the definition of the word secret and all that it implies, yes?" he said in a snarky manner.

“Yes, I know what a secret it Imacha. I get that. I'm not stupid as you were fond of pointing out to Dr. Tahk often. I just… she deserved to know. It was her brother for God's sake Imacha. Her only brother. Her family was ripped apart by that and never even got a body back to bury. You know how messed up that is? She told me she had to hear the news from some guy in a suit who gave her the information like he was explaining the latest crop reports or a weather forecast. That's horrible. I don't know how you tordenchi venerate the dead but I'm sure you'd want to know what happened to a family member you loved dearly," she said, a hint of anger in her voice the entire time.

“I…" Imacha paused as he looked down at the two of them. He glanced between them both several times. “I know how I feel about it. Very much so. Because the majority of the only family I truly loved is back on that planet. We only brought home Neji." He faced Wei, his big ears drooping slightly. “I know I'm not good with expressing my emotions at times. It often comes out wrong but I don't mean it to. All I can say is I'm truly sorry for what happened to Adam and the others. I'm also sorry I wasn't allowed to contact you for the entire past cycle. It wasn't my choice."

“I forgive you Imacha. It's all right," said Wei. “So, can I go see the…"

“Shhh!" snapped Kendra as she glared at Wei.

“The… aaahhh… thingy?"

“Seriously? The thingy?" Kendra still frowned at Wei.

Imacha looked about as angry as Kendra. “Absolutely not. It's bad enough you know all this now. I am responsible for making sure you keep silent about it, permanently."

“That sounds almost like a threat," said Wei, smirking a little.

“It's not exactly one, at least not from me, but it is at the same time since the source backing that threat is the Union Security Council itself. Kendra and I would be in severe trouble if we let this out. The least of our problems would be us no longer having the job we are both working at. The most likely result is us being ferried off to who knows what outer colony world and dumped there with no way back to the core systems or hub worlds again. Left. To. Rot."

“But, I thought the Union is supposed to be a brighter, fuzzier place than…"

“It is Wei," said Kendra. “But… and this is a big but… they still have their secrets like any other government. To think they don't is just being naïve to the point of folly. This is dangerous stuff Wei. Dangerous enough that the government absolutely does not want the general public to know about this yet. Dangerous enough we really can't talk about it anymore out here because to discuss it further in non-secured areas is a risk." Kendra looked up to Imacha. “Soooo, with that said, I think the best thing to do is take Wei to see Dr. Tahk and explain the situation to him. He needs to know and we need to know how to proceed."

Imacha shook his head and sighed. “I really wish you had not done this Kendra, but I understand why you did. As you said, she is our friend and on some level she deserves to know, at least about what happened to her brother."

He stared at the two small humans for a while before lowering both his arms to the ground. “Come on, climb up. I'll carry you both to the transport and the ACBS. We will discuss matters with Dr. Tahk and he will determine if you are allowed to see… the thingy." Imacha rose, cradling a human in the crook of each of his arms, keeping them gently pressed up against his body as the rain poured down over all three of them.

“Didn't you fail…?" began Wei.

Imacha started to walk with the two of them, feeling a slight swell of pride to be carrying two humans now instead of just one. “Yes. Your point is?"

“Oh… nothing. Just, watch your step okay? No tripping and be careful how tight you hug us to you. Oh, and no sudden motions."

“Shut up. I know what I'm doing."

“Do you? Really? Reeeaaally? Ah, watch it, invisible dead turtle ahead of you, don't trip!"

“You're incorrigible," the tordenchi grumbled.

Kendra had a thin smile across her face and tried to relax. Despite the circumstances and situation, this felt a lot better than many days in her recent past. Imacha and now Wei. It was almost like some of her family was coming back together again. For the first time in a cycle she dared hope for a better future.