Triumph's Ashes (The Cassidy Chronicles Volume 5)

by Adam Gaffen

Hungry.

  Maybe they could take down a big one. Possibly. If they were hungrier, or if there were more of them, they might even try it.

  But these two were different.

  They were noisy.

  They were in their domain.

  They were small.

  Silently, they followed through the trees.

  “HEY, LISA.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Tag!” Mikki took off as fast as she could through the trees.

  “I never said Time In!” Lisa yelled in protest, but she started running as well. It wouldn’t do to let her sister think she could get away with an illegal tag.

  “HI, AUDREY.”

  “Ms. Cassidy.”

  “Where are the girls?”

  “Over in the field, playing tag.” She waved in the general direction.

  “No, they’re not.”

  Vanek whirled. “They were there just a minute ago!”

  Cass held up a hand to quell the incipient panic in Vanek’s voice. A little help and they could handle this easily enough.

  Jolly.

  The AI, in the synchronously-orbiting habitat, responded instantly. Commander, how can I help you?

  Locate Mikki and Lisa Cassidy. Both girls had basic implants, but they didn’t do much beyond manufacture nanobots and send out a biometric identifier. The identifier allowed them access to various parts of Enterprise and Njord, and it was this signal Jolly would look for.

  There was an infinitesimal pause before he answered. Mikki and Lisa are two point two kilometers distant on a heading of one one seven.

  Thank you.

  Cass turned, saw the woods, and started trotting. She didn’t yell; if they were so far away, yelling wouldn’t do any good. At least she had a fix on their locations.

  “Come on!” she said, though Vanek was already following.

  “I don’t understand! How did they vanish?”

  To Vanek’s surprise, Cass laughed.

  “They’re our kids, me and Kendra; what do you expect? Angels? No, we got smart and clever, lucky us.”

  “Definitely lucky you,” Vanek said.

  “MIKKI, WHICH WAY BACK?”

  They’d been running into the woods for five minutes now and the sunlight was definitely going, the overhead coverage growing heavier.

  “That way. I think.”

  “Maybe we should turn around. I don’t see the camp.”

  “Chicken!”

  “Am not!”

  “Then come on!”

  THE STUPID, NOISY CREATURES were moving further and further away from the others.

  Soon it would be time to pounce.

  Soon it would be time to feed.

  JOLLY, AM I STILL ON course?

  Yes, Commander. One point two kilometers. If you angle to one seven five you may be able to cut them off.

  Cass changed direction. The trees were starting to close in, and she wished she had time to examine them. Even her limited botanical knowledge was screaming something at her, but she shoved it to the back of her mind for now.

  “MIKKI, WE’RE LOST.”

  “Nuh-uh. It’s this way.”

  “We just went that way!”

  Mikki’s resolve wavered. She’d been thinking the tree in front of her looked familiar.

  “Maybe,” she admitted. “Let’s try this way.”

  She turned and started towards what she hoped was a different part of the forest, but Lisa’s hand pulled her to a stop.

  “What?”

  “I hear something.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. In the trees.”

  Two pairs of green eyes peered upwards into the unfamiliar leaves without seeing anything in particular.

  “There! Did you hear it?”

  “No?” But her tone belied her uncertainty. Was there something?

  “Mikki, what is it?”

  Now the sound was clear, the rustling of leaves, the scraping of something, feet maybe, or claws, against the branches.

  “What do we do?”

  “Remember what Aunt Mikki taught us: if you can’t see your enemy –”

  “—Get away from it!” Lisa completed.

  “This way!” Mikki started running, Lisa a pace behind. As chance would have it, they were now headed almost directly away from the landing area, and their mother.

  THE PACK SPED THROUGH the trees. Nothing on the ground could outpace them, certainly not these clumsy-looking things.

  Soon.

  COMMANDER, THE CHILDREN’S speed and direction have changed. Alter to zero two zero.

  Cass broke into a run, difficult as it was in the 1.3g.

  “Something’s wrong!” she called to Vanek.

  “Coming!”

  THE FIRST CREATURE dropped from the branch and onto Lisa’s back, grabbing hold with six sets of claws, trying to ride its prey to the ground. She shrieked, a wail of terror and pain that brought her sister skidding to a halt.

  The second creature, which had aimed to do the same to Mikki, instead fell onto the ground a meter in front of her, its timing thrown off by her stop. It lay on the forest floor, stunned, Mikki staring in shock.

  In the brief moment she had to look, she saw its long, sinuous body, designed to flow through the smallest gap in the branches; the narrow, pointed muzzle; the tails, half again as long as the body; and the teeth.

  Then others were falling from the trees, and there was no more time to look, no more time to think.

  Aunt Mikki’s training took over in Lisa. She threw herself at the ground, twisting in the air to land hard on her back, her attacker was crushed under her 23 kilograms, the claws spasming once before releasing.

  Two more had dropped, though, and were staring at her, while three were surrounding Mikki.

  The sudden silence seemed very loud, and all Lisa could think to do was hold still, hold still, hold still...

  Then a black-and-gray blur shot into the tableau and removed one of the creatures, grabbing it, slashing, crunching, and dropping its dead body in what seemed to be an instant and an eternity.

  Another figure, brown and white, dashed across and landed on the back of the animal behind Mikki, grabbing onto it even as it sprang to pounce. The spring went nowhere, the animal fell, and another crunch marked its passage from this world.

  Lisa recovered her wits and kicked out with a booted foot at her final assailant. It tumbled backwards, stunned. Its disorientation didn’t last long, as the black-and-gray blur was back. This one was dispatched as quickly as the first.

  The two remaining animals started backwards, picking through the undergrowth, with the two humans and their two unexpected saviors watching. With a final scurry they disappeared, and only the rustle of vegetation betrayed their now-hasty retreat.

  Mikki was the first to speak.

  “Thanks,” she said to the brown one as she knelt.

  “Yeah,” added Lisa, elbowing herself into a sitting position. The black one walked up to her, raised up on its rear legs, and looked into her eyes as if evaluating her condition. Then it reached out with a front paw and patted her cheek.

  Mikki and the brown were doing much the same, an eye-to-eye appraisal.

  “You’re cute.” The brown responded with a trilling coo.

  Eight ears pivoted, bodies going tense, then Lisa heard her mother’s yells.

  “It’s okay,” she said reassuringly, climbing to her feet. When the black scrambled up her side and wrapped itself around her shoulders it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  “Over here!” she shouted.

  Mikki stood too, the brown in her arms.

  “We’re here, Mom!” Mikki yelled. Their mother’s crashing was getting louder, though she’d stopped calling for them.

  “We’re okay!” Mikki thought to add. Maybe that would be enough to keep them out of trouble.

  Cass, panting, finally pushed past the last bit of undergrowth.

  “Oh, thank God,” she
wheezed, then froze.

  “Girls?” she said, shakily.

  “Hi Mom,” said Lisa, who had a different strategy to keep herself out of trouble. “Sorry we went into the woods. We didn’t mean to get lost.”

  Vanek tumbled in, saw the remains of the fight, and drew her pistol.

  “Whoa, Audrey.” Cass reached out to push Vanek’s arm down. “I don’t think there’s a threat.”

  “What? I mean, what are they?”

  Cass looked into four pairs of eyes: two green and utterly familiar, two blue and utterly alien, but none frightened.

  “I think,” she said, as calmly as she could manage. “Those are treecats, and I don’t think we have to worry about first contact protocols any longer.”

  Book 3:

  Storm Flags Flying

  CHAPTER ONE

  TFS Enterprise; Habitat Njord

  Stardate 12008.24

  “This is going to look great in my official report, you know. ‘First contact between humans and a non-Terrestrial intelligent species credited to Mikayla Cristina Cassidy, age 6, and Lisa Amanda Cassidy, age 5. First words of greeting: “Thanks” and “Yeah”, respectively.’ Wonder if the xenobiologists and the diplomats will give us the Nobel Prizes or lynch us?”

  Cass groaned. There wasn’t much she could say, because Alley was right. None of the first contact protocols they’d started to work out included the daughters of the vessel’s XO being rescued by the sentients of an alien world. Of course, none of the protocols included tree-martens and a game of tag gone wrong, so allowances would have to be made. Besides which, the treecats had initiated the contact, though nobody could quite figure why.

  “Did you send a message back yet?”

  “Not yet, Captain. I’m still trying to decide how to write it up.”

  “Probably wise. It’s stumping me, and it’s not my daughters. How are they, anyway?”

  “Lisa has some pretty nasty cuts on her back and sides, but Dr. Desjier says she’ll be fine. Mikki wasn’t touched.”

  “I’ll be honest, XO. I’m not crazy about having two animals loose on my ship, especially ones with the abilities to shred enemies they’ve demonstrated.”

  “I agree, Captain, especially since they seem to have adopted my daughters. They won’t get more than about five meters away from either girl; I don’t know if it’s fright or protectiveness.”

  “Were we able to check them over? The treecats, I mean.”

  “Yes. The HMO did that since Dr. Desjier didn’t want to risk their claws.”

  Alley nodded her approval. “Clever.”

  “Didn’t seem to bother them, except...” Cass’s voice trailed off.

  “What?”

  “Well, they didn’t quite know how to react to the HMO. They watched him moving around, but didn’t seem particularly interested in what he was doing. Dr. Desjier, though, they were absolutely focused on.”

  “Smell? He is a hologram.”

  “Maybe. Or no telepathic sense; there isn’t anyone ‘home’, as it were.”

  “Ohh. But the point is, they’re clean?”

  “Yes, Captain. Clean bill of health, as near as we can make out, and no biological threats.”

  “Good. Are they male, female, neuter? Any ideas?”

  “The black one is male, the brown, female. I hate repeating myself, but at least as near as we can tell. Still trying to get a handle on their anatomy.”

  “Lovely. A breeding pair.”

  “Maybe siblings. We haven’t the slightest idea, Captain.”

  “You’re just full of good news. Where are they, anyways?”

  “In quarters.” Alley’s face showed her surprise, so Cass explained. “They won’t be separated from the girls, I didn’t want them wandering around the ship, and I thought to minimize their contact with other people. So, quarters.”

  “And the kittens?”

  “They’re fascinated by the treecats, and vice-versa. Oh, good news there.”

  “Don’t make me wait, Commander.”

  “The DNA is incompatible with Terran cats, so there won’t be any interbreeding.”

  “This day just keeps getting better and better. I hadn’t even considered interbreeding!” Alley sighed. “Do you want to send the message to Kendra, or are you going to chicken out and dump it on me as Captain?”

  “I’ll send it, after I figure out what the hell I’m going to say.”

  “GIRLS?”

  “In here, Mom!” called Mikki, then she giggled.

  Cass headed for the voice and the laughter.

  At least they stayed in quarters...

  “Hi Mom!” said Lisa, who was brushing the black treecat’s fur. The treecat was, well, luxuriating was probably the best word. He was splayed out on the deck, limbs flat, tail unfurled, and the purring buzz coming from him was clearly audible from the hatchway. The brown female was watching from Mikki’s lap, accepting the attention she was receiving but clearly waiting her turn. The kittens were nestled next to her and she was using her front paws, hands, to give them some attention. In all it was a scene of surprising contentment and suddenly Cass was loathe to disturb them.

  “Hi, sweetie,” she said. “He looks like he’s enjoying your brushing.”

  “He is! He really likes it when I do this!” And she ran the brush down the length of his spine, from skull to tail. Cass didn’t hear any change in the buzz, though.

  “How do you know?”

  “He told me.” Lisa was matter-of-fact about her pronouncement.

  “Told you?”

  “Well, not words, Mom, he doesn’t talk.” Lisa’s voice was as scornful as only a young child could be. “But he told me.”

  “She likes it too,” added Mikki. “She’s already had a turn.”

  “Uh-huh. How did she tell you?”

  “The same way he told Lisa.” Mikki’s unspoken, “Duh”, was perfectly clear, proving she too was an expert in scorn.

  “And how is that?”

  “Up here,” she said, and she tapped her head.

  “She talks to you?”

  “No,” Mikki said, clearly working on the concept she wanted to get across. “Not talks like we talk. More like she sends me pictures and feelings.”

  “Yeah, like when I’m brushing he shows me the brush and a happy feeling,” Lisa added without missing a stroke.

  “Oh,” is all Cass said.

  “She thinks the kittens are funny, too.” Mikki smiled at the memory of the treecat’s emotions.

  “Does she have a name?”

  “Yes, but not a word name like we have. It’s more like a, I don’t know, a feeling and a place and picture all jumbled together. That’s the best I can say, Mom,” Mikki ended.

  “Okay, don’t worry. What do you call her, then?”

  “She likes it when I call her Honey, I can tell. She feels fuzzy-happy.”

  “And he likes me calling him Orion, you know after that cartoon Mama shows us, and he’s never seen anything like it but he thinks it’s funny, since Honey chased him.”

  I’m not talking the sex lives of treecats with my daughter!

  “Honey and Orion. And how long are they planning to visit?”

  “Oh, they’re not visiting, Mom; they’re staying.”

  “Mikki, Honey and Orion are intelligent, they’re people, just like us but with different shapes. We can’t take them away from their homes.”

  Both girls were shaking their heads, and Cass would have sworn the treecats were too. That was impossible, right? She was anthropomorphizing. Had to be. They hadn’t been around humans long enough to pick up on body language, right?

  Right?

  “No, Mom, we’re not taking them. They’d already decided, that is, it’s sorta confusing.”

  “Take your time, Mikki.”

  While Mikki was thinking, Lisa spoke. “I think what she wants to say is they were going to come with us, but hadn’t figured out how. Then they saved us and then it was done, and now t
hey’re here.”

  “I’ve been teaching Honey about ohana,” Mikki said.

  “Oh, wait a minute, they’re not part of our ohana,” Cass said, panic just below the surface.

  “Yes they are!” insisted Mikki. “They saved us, they chose us, and they’ve decided they’re coming with us!”

  “They can’t wait to meet Mama!” Lisa chimed in.

  The treecats, which had been following the conversation back and forth with considerable and demonstrable interest, now returned to their prior cat-like attitudes, as if the twin pronouncements settled the issue.

  “YOU’RE SURE THIS IS what you want to send?”

  “I’ll append it after the more technical report, of course, but yes, Captain.”

  Alley handed the padd back to Cass.

  “She might be my Admiral, but she’s your wife.”

  “ADMIRAL.”

  Kendra gratefully turned away from her terminal at Diana’s voice. Of course she had accepted Autumn’s invitation to make the public announcement of the merger of Free Luna with the Terran Federation; she was frankly astounded it had stayed more-or-less under wraps for as long as it had.

  What she hadn’t bargained on was the immense quantity of paperwork involved for what should have been a quick appearance. Hell, Luna was only fifteen minutes away in her Direwolf! Just because it was, technically, enemy territory shouldn’t have made life any more complicated.

  Right?

  Maybe she should have thought through the addition of actual nation-states to the Federation?

  Ah, well.

  “Yes, Diana.”

  “We have received a status report from the colonization project on Freyr.”

  Kendra checked the time.

  “It’s a bit early, isn’t it? Don’t their daily reports usually come in around dinner?”

  “Yes, Admiral. This one is also unusual in that it is directed to you, eyes only, until you release it.”

  “Curiouser and curiouser.”