This was written in 1992 and added to off and on. It started out as a Beauty & the Beast origin story with the premise of where did Vincent's people come from? My idea was space faring aliens that crash landed on Earth in the distant past (700 years ago) on what would be the island of Manhatten in the future. Cut off from their people, and hiding out from their enemies,the Atanzi would have to adapt to the primitive conditions they found on Earth or die, plus survive their encounters with the local natives. These are all my original characters and concepts and the only thing related to B&B is the concept of super intelligent lionine humanoids. Eventually, I will get around to really finishing this story. I have started the second book ATANZI: Settlement but have not finished it. That is part four. I got sort of side tracked by life and other projects, but I enjoy writing and creating new worlds and characters, and there's definitelymore to the Atanzi sage if I can get a chance to get back into it.
                                                                                        Vickey
        
         THIS IS AN ADULT story with a R-rating.

        Let me know what you think. You can email me at: BrdOFire@aol.com or brickle-macky@geocities,com

Part I----ATANZI: Beginnings by Vickey A. Brickle-Macky

* 1 *

             "Asenti! I've got three Rumnulska Daggerships--closing in! . . . Coming in fast from sector one!" warned the young Atanzi officer. The slightly slanted eyes in his leonine face were narrowed to slits of bright gold as he looked up angrily from his sensor screen to question his commander sitting behind him for further orders.
             "They're attacking us?" asked the Atanzi Asenti commander of the Alliance science ship T'swaquill as he leaned forward in disbelief from in his center seat to verify the readouts. He leaned back just as quickly shaking his heavy maned head. This was to be a peaceful mapping mission. Go out do some surveys, take samples then go back to base. What did the lizards think they were trying to pull.? What did they want to do, start a war, he wondered? His ship was no match for any of theirs and they knew that too.
             "That does appear to be their intent, sir!" the navigator replied watching the blips on screen move rapidly closer, shocked as his commander was by the actions of the three ships closing in on them.
             "But why? We're on our side of the zone-- there is no reason for this attack--none!" growled the Asenti in anger. He cursed under his breath at the rapidly closing images of the Rumnulska ships on the wide view screen, frustrated that there was nowhere to run to. They were between him and Alliance space, cutting off any hope of retreat. They had him surrounded and out gunned.
             "Damn! I wanted no problems from them this trip," he growled as he looked around at his bridge crew and saw the naked fear on their young leonine faces. For some this was their first trip out into deep space. He only hoped this wouldn't be their last as well.
             After evaluating the situation, he turned back to the navigator, "Acknowledged! Go to battle stations! Level Red Alert! And notify Command of the situation and tell them we need reinforcements--NOW!" the Asenti ordered, frustrated that the lizards had pushed him into this situation.
             Unconsciously, his split upper lip was curled back in a snarl revealing his prominent fangs. They gleamed whitely in the red gloom of the emergency lights which made the bridge appear to be drenched in blood. Somehow that now seemed appropriate for the situation they were facing.
             His clawed hands tightly gripped the armrests of his chair, clenching and unclenching nervously. His black silky uniform seemed stuck to him as the temperature on the bridge rose making his high forehead bead with sweat. He leaned forward in his chair quickly scanning the readouts racing across the screen. He frowned over what he saw displayed there.
             "Get those shields up and turn us hard right! Evasive action if you want us to keep our hides intact, Tanz F'zasst!" he warned, watching one of the Daggerships break away from the pack and begin to close in on their tail.
             He turned sharply around in his chair to question his communications officer, "Have Command or the Rumnulskan ships acknowledged our signals?"
             "No, Asenti! The Rumnulskan ships are disrupting our signals--and those damn LIZARDS--They refuse to answer us!"
             "They're firing their weapons, Asenti!" reported the weapons officer, "Should we retaliate?"
             "Negative! They have the advantage. I want an evasive course laid in to get us back to Alliance space whenever we get an opening through their grid," the Asenti ordered, swearing under his breath. Meanwhile he tried to maintain a semblance of calm, at least for his crew's sake as he tried to think of a way out of the ship's predicament.
             The enemy's blasts on his tail section were causing their shields to collapse in several sections. It would not be long before they were all down. They would not be able to keep running and evading like this for much longer. Fleeing to safe space was no longer an option, he realized.
             "Have they given any indication what their demands are, Tanz S'enalk?"
             "They want unconditional surrender, sir," The communications officer replied solemnly as he turned and faced the Asenti. His eyes were dark with the anger the rest of his hairless leonine face did not betray.
             The Asenti knew his ship could neither out run them or out gun them. "Reply that we will surrender if they agree not to harm this vessel or its crew," he replied flatly, reining in his emotions. He did not want to surrender--but he had no choice.
             To the bridge personnel of the Atanzi Alliance science ship, the T'swaquill, on a survey mission along the edge of the Rumnulska Border, their Asenti's decision to surrender his ship was startling. They would have rather been blown away into space dust than to be surrendered into Rumnulskan hands. Rumors had made them keenly aware of what the lizard beings did to their captured ships and prisoners--especially Atanzi prisoners. Why was their Asenti doing this to them, they wondered?
             "Asenti?" the communications officer queried, shock and disbelief written upon his face that his commander would give in. That was the last thing he had ever expected the silver maned commander to do.
             "You heard my order, execute it! There is no other alternative!" he snapped back angrily trying to cut off his officer's righteous protest.
             "But Asenti--the mission!" the officer tried to protest, fear creeping into his voice.
             "Tanz S'enalk, you question me too much!" the Asenti's voice rose dangerously. Even though he didn't have to give his communications officer an explanation he did so they all would know why he was doing this thing. He faced his crew with torment ridden eyes to explain. "If we can remain alive we can seek escape or be rescued and complete our mission. Our deaths will serve no useful purpose. But alive--we can learn why the Rumnulska want to risk breaking the treaty by attacking an Alliance vessel on this side of the border," he said decidedly, quelling all arguments.
             Tanz S'enalk lowered his dark maned head in submission, "Understood, Asenti." Then through his headset came the enemy's terse but gloating reply. He passed it on, commenting,
"Our message is being received. The Rumnulska are replying that they accept our terms. An official transmission from their ship is now coming up on the screen."
             On the viewer appeared the Rumnulska commander of the squadron. His greenish-gold, faintly scaled skin gleamed in his bridge's blood red lights. Humanoid features jarred with reptilian on his wide face. His large golden slit eyes were lit with triumph. He smiled evilly. Purposely, he displayed a mouth full of double row, razor sharp teeth over which his long red tongue flicked nervously. His bright red sleeveless tunic was decorated with tufts of various species' scalp hair, small bones and other less appetizing decorations. It made clear how barbaric and savage he was. Across his smooth forehead he wore the golden headband of command with three diamonds inset in a row that marked him as a horturstraski, no small commander after just honor and glory, but one of their high ranking officers.
            His older Atanzi counterpart wore the loose black tunic and pants, and knee high boots of the Alliance. His silver shot dark shaggy mane was confined by a black headband of rank like his Rumnulska counterpart, except his displayed four blood rubies.
             The Atanzi were leonine appearing humanoids. They were generally tall, well built, muscular, and smooth skinned. The males did have heavier hair on their lower faces, chests, forearms, legs and private parts, though both sexes had a dusting of fine fur across the bridge of their feline shaped split tipped noses race. Both sexes had split lips and sharp fangs in an otherwise normal humanoid mouth as well as sharp non retractable claws on their hands. They had evolved from savage hunters living in packs to being one of the main keepers of the peace in a sector of space that extended in a large pie shaped wedge from the center to the rim of the galaxy. The Atanzi had been space explorers for over a thousand years, as well as scientists, thinkers, inventors, diplomats, artists, and writers helping other races achieve stability and peace.
         The Rumnulska, unfortunately, were one of their failures. They were upshots, destroyers of the peace that held the fifty member races of the Alliance together. The savage, lizard-like Rumnulska had been in space for less than two hundred years, courtesy of the same Atanzi technology and help which they were now decrying as evil and seemingly spurning. Their ultimate goal was absolute control of the Alliance and the defeat and overthrow of the Atanzi. They had started wars and rebellions in every sector and then had blamed it on the Atanzi offering convincing evidence to back it up. No one was sure who to believe anymore.
             The two captains assessed and evaluated the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the other across their viewing screens. The Asenti had become cool and steely calm as he watched his counterpart surrounded by his all male crew savagely smile at him. The Rumnulska was secure in the knowledge that he now had his prey firmly in his grasp. That made him gloat more.
             "Greetings to the Asenti of the Atanzi science ship, T'swaquill, from Horturstraski Hss'ranhi of the Imperial Daggership, Terror's Blood," the commander said with pompous formality. "You were wise not to resist the power of our ship. It was a very wise thing for you to do Atanzi-szzt. You are now prisoners of the Empire. Since you have violated Rumnulska space, you are to be taken in for questioning for your crimes. Prepare to accept a boarding party, Commander Hss'ranhi out."
             The view screen blanked out and on the bridge of the T'swaquill eyebrows rose in astonishment at the arrogance in the Rumnulska Commander's words--that lasted for only a microsecond and seething rage set in.
             "Tanz S'enalk, did you get all that message?" asked the Asenti, keeping his own anger in check, his voice steady and calm while his brow furrowed in thought.
             "Affirmative, Asenti," the officer answered, looking expectantly at his Asenti for further orders.
             "Then send it and the ship's log in a message buoy and eject it as they transfer over."
             His communications officer solemnly nodded, understanding his intentions.
             Seeing that he was understood, the Asenti continued to let his bridge crew know his plans. "If the Alliance does look for us, at least we will have left a record--providing that the
Rumnulska do not discover that such a record exists before we leave this area."
             "Their boarding party is transferring over now and the buoy is on its way," the communications officer informed him.
             "Good. Now let's see what they really want from us," the Asenti replied. Then he turned from his crew to face the heavily armed Rumnulska soldiers now entering at a run to secure the bridge for themselves.

 * 2 *

             Golden sunlight pounded hotly down upon the heavy jungle foliage outside the tall windows of Command Staff Headquarters on the home planet Atanza. It filtered warmly through the shades of an upper level room to fall on the back of the lone flame-haired Atanzi male who sat in a black silky robe before a commcon screen in the large, almost empty room.
             Admi Asenti Ky'tulendu ha'fynna Trinox, commander of the heavy dutri-cruiser, L'wassen, the Sky Prowler, grimly read over the reports on Rumnulska atrocities. They were growing. So were attacks on Alliance vessels in all sectors. No one appeared to be immune from them. However, it did appear by the stats he was looking at that most of the attacks were against Atanzi vessels and crews. Those seemed to be more frequent and more vicious.
             The Rumnulska had over the last hundred years developed a particular dislike towards their Atanzi benefactors. They knew the Atanzi would not retaliate, and would keep the peace even to the cost of their own lives. But many of the younger officers were overthrowing this in-bred reluctance to fight and were demanding heavier weapons to defend themselves. He was one of them.
             The Alliance had not seen how they were being used until after the Rumnulska had gained the ability to escape the confines of their own planetary cluster. So far they had not violated the terms of their treaty with the Alliance, but it had been close, very close. These reptilian barbarians were pushing his people to react in violent ways and revert back to their bestial natures.
             He thought the Rumnulska to be almost as bad as the simian humanoid races they had started to encounter among the edge worlds of the galactic spiral. His people had found these humanoids to be somewhat violent and aggressive, but they did seem to have the potential to be peaceful and productive members of the Alliance with training and education after they were brought into the Alliance.
             Ky'tulendu prayed that the crew of the T'swaquill was safe. His young cousin, K'tull, was serving on it as a navigator trainee. He didn't wish to have to bring bad news home to his family. They had lost too many members of it in recent years.
             In four hours, he would depart the home world with a crew of four hundred and forty-four. Of those numbers three-quarters of the crew was Atanzi while the rest were composed of scientific representatives from the member worlds of the Alliance. Most were specialists in many fields on board to carry on experiments and collect data essential to the primary exploratory mission of the ship.
             Command had ordered his ship to investigate the disappearance of the L'okkca based science ship the T'swaquill. The ship had been due to arrive at the planet Korzanna two weeks ago to deliver supplies to the colonists there before the ship continued on its deep space mapping mission. The last known position of the missing vessel had put it near the Rumnulskan border. No transmissions had been received from that area in almost three weeks now.
             He had a feeling this mission was not going to go as Command wanted it to. He kept having premonitions that he would never see this green jungle planet again. His dream time for the last few weeks had been filled with strange landscapes and even stranger people with visions of himself growing older among them. He had not had dreams like these before, nor seen any landscapes that he recognized, but the dreams were persistent and vivid.
             Their vividness promoted him to take new precautions and make unusual preparations for this voyage. Ky'tulendu had ordered extra supplies and non-standard equipment put on board. Much of it in the way of survival gear, non-powered hand tools, medical equipment, and raw materials. On his orders, he had had the ship's library computers uploaded with ancient survival and living manuals.
            He believed in following his hunches and inner promptings. They had kept his crew and ship safe many a time. He had also armed them more heavily than usual, despite the treaty and without Command's knowledge. He believed in being prepared for the worse, peace be damned.
             His alarm on his clock went off, reminding him that it was time to check in for final boarding. He turned off the commcon, and sighed as he got up from his desk. He was depressed about the reports and about leaving the home world. His time here always seemed too short in some ways and too long in others.
            He had spent more time in space than on a planet since he had gotten his commission. Most of his personal belongings were still on board his ship. Only those things that didn't really matter were left here in this suite of rooms that Command had left reserved for him. This planet like so many others was just a stopping over point. He had no true home. No place he really belonged, nor anyone to make him want to stay put somewhere.
             Ky'tulendu had devoted his life to serving the Alliance as many in his family had. He had no close ties to anyone, nor did he want any, at least that's what he kept telling himself. He hadn't had too many females in his life, and none of them could keep his interest for very long or win a place in his heart. He had begun to surmise that either he was immune to them, or the right one just hadn't come along. Grudgingly, he had to admit that there really wasn't any room in his life for anyone. His career and his ship came first and always would as long as he was able to stay in the service, and that was going to be a long time.
             He quit his mental meandering. It was only making him more depressed. Undressing, he threw his heavy black robe on the bed. He lazily stretched before the full length mirror on the bathroom door and looked critically at himself wondering where the years had gone. In the shiny reflection Ky'tulendu saw a mature, but still young male looking back at him with few scars to show for some of the fights he had gotten into. Too hot a temper at times, he chided himself.
             He was tall, almost six foot four with a heavily muscled body that was sparsely covered with short, silky reddish gold hair except on his chest and forearms. His face was long with a squared chin, high cheekbones, and deep set slanted blue eyes, under high arched reddish-gold eyebrows. His feline muzzle was not as pronounced as most. His facial fur was just a faint dusting on his chin, and on the bridge of his wide nose. A handsome face framed by a long mane of red gold hair that swept back from his high forehead. His hair was one of his vanities, so he wore it longer than fleet standards allowed.
              He took his shower and dressed in his black, high necked work uniform, with its knee high boots, and a red leather weapons belt with clip on stunner and communicator. His insignias of rank were arrayed in a circle on the upper right side of his tunic. He tied the black ranking band with its three circles of red denoting his captaincy behind his head and adjusted it so it went across his high forehead and kept his hair in place.
             After he was dressed he packed his few remaining personal items, and tided up. With his bags packed he was finished and it was time to go. Ky'tulendu picked up his bags and took one long look around checking to see if he had forgotten anything and left. The automatic controls in the room shut the lights off in the now empty room and the only thing that remained was silence.
                

* 3 *

             The Atanzi cruiser, L'wassen, left the edges of Alliance space following the original flight plan of the missing ship, the T'swaquill. Ky'tulendu hoped that by using his ship as bait they could lure the Rumnulska out of hiding.
             While they waited they charted this still unknown sector of space, looking for a planetary system that had been overlooked in previous mappings. Their long range scanners did pickup some energy and magnetic disturbances within the confines of Rumnulska space, but the readings were indefinite and not worth investigating so they continued on.
             The ship maintained a green alert as they kept on the lookout for Rumnulskan Daggerships to appear. For four long months the ship wandered and leisurely mapped the sector, hoping that its prolonged presence would draw attention to it. At the end of the time Command Control wanted it to scrap the mission, but the L'wassen insisted that it wanted to see the mission through. Command reluctantly agreed on one condition. If nothing had happened by the end of another month then the mission was to be aborted, and the ship reassigned. The Alliance High Council would have to accept that Command had done everything it could at this time and declare the missing Atanzi crew as dead. Ky'tulendu did not want that, or to give up the mission.
             They were nearing the end of the final month when they detected the remains of a ship in orbit around a habitable planetoid in the T-5s sector near the Rumnulskan boarder. The sensors on the science officer's board were the first to pick the ID signals. The blonde haired Atanzi squinted at the readings, disbelief and then relief washed over her kitten like face. The ship been found before the deadline.
             "Sensors picking up a light cruiser. It's ID echoes match that of the T'swaquill." Tanz D'jinse, the science officer reported with satisfaction as she looked up from her monitors.
             "Positive ID?" the Asenti asked hopefully, swinging around in his seat to face the young officer.
             "Yes, sir. There's no doubt. But lifesupport and all systems are shut down. The orbit is in a crucial decay. I estimate that the ship will hit the atmosphere in six hours unless power can be restored. Further, there are no life signs on the ship, nor do I register any bodies on board."
             Ky'tulendu considered the possibilities. There were few. "Any life signs on the planet?" he asked wondering what had happened to the crew.
             "Negative, sir. I register only low evolutionary forms, scale four types or lower, nothing higher," she replied frustrated, knowing the Asenti was too.
             He nodded sympathetically as he sat back in his chair, stroking his chin as he pondered what could have happened to the crew.
             "Tanz, continue to maintain wide field scans of the area. Has the ship's record buoy been recovered yet?" he asked.
             "No, not yet. But from the condition of the ship it appears that the ship was brought here and abandoned, possibly with tractor beams. The crew were probably taken off before that happened, and transported else where."
             The Asenti decided to send a team over to gather data directly from the ship's logs. There might be clues in the automatic recorders and memory banks as to where and possibly why the crew of the T'swaquill had been taken.
             He turned to his first officer, Sen Commd Vokolin, an older Tranril female. Her long white stripped tail was wrapped around her waist twitching nervously while her golden cats' eyes regarded him seriously as she awaited his order.
            "Vokolin, I want a team assembled to go over to the ship in ten minutes. In particular I want a data revival specialist to tap into the automatics pulling both interior and exterior scans as well as event records. I will be going over myself to retrieve command logs and make an assessment as to the deposition of the ship. You're in charge." Ky'tulendu ordered getting up to let her take over the center chair.
             "Understood, sirss. I will have a team awaiting you in the transport three ready room," she acknowledged as she took the seat and settled in more cat than human fashion while getting comfortable.
             The Asenti left the bridge and walked to the nearby transporter station. There were six of the stations on board put near strategic locations: the bridge, medical, engineering, science labs, ships supplies, and the military corps areas. The stations could transport up to ten persons at a time, or up to several tons of cargo.
             Four officers awaited him in the room, Tanz Commd T'krissn, communications, Tanz W'rett, data specialties, MS B'tunku, medical, and Srt T'menton, security. They had all donned self-contained environmental suits which covered them from head to foot, and field packs. They stood ready waiting for him to don his. Which he rapidly did.
             "Ready Asenti?" B'tunku asked, picking up her medkit from the floor of the chamber. Only her silver colored eyes could be seen through the helmet of her suit as she watched him make final adjustments on his.
             "I believe so. Take your places," he told them and they arranged themselves on the transporter platform, then he nodded to the waiting technician. "Transport!" They were bathed in rainbow lights and when it stopped they were on the bridge of the T'swaquill.
             The bridge was empty, and most on board systems were shut down either from the bridge or from engineering--but by whom? The crew or their captors? The doctor ran her scanner and reported that no life forms remained on board. At least the ship was not littered with dead bodies, always a possibility due to the limitations of the ship's sensors in sensing for live versus dead life forms.
             "T'krisan, W'rett, begin data removal from memory banks. I want everything uploaded from the sensors and logs--all departments. I'm going to the commander's quarters to retrieve his logs and Command orders. Doctor, you check the medical logs. And T'menton run checks on the transporters, stores, and personnel." Asenti Ky'tulendu ordered, assigning them their tasks.
             They were basically stripping the ship of its data banks. They had to. They couldn't leave a prize like this with all its information on the Alliance and Command to be picked up by the Rumnulska or any other race.
             That the Rumnulska hadn't done so already was remarkable. And why had they not destroyed the ship or taken it with them to salvage out the weapons and parts? Normally, after a ship was stripped of its data and usable parts, the standing orders by the Rumnulska as well as by Command were for the ship to be destroyed. Why had this not been done?
             These were questions that Ky'tulendu wanted answers to. He just hoped he wouldn't get the ones that were going through his suspicious mind. He warned them all to be on the lookout for booby-traps and traps. It was all too clean and normal appearing for his taste. What were the lizards up to, he wondered, what indeed?
             The layout of the ship was similar to his own, though his was larger and carried a larger crew. He had no problem finding the commander's quarters. The personal code he had memorized opened the door easily and he stepped into the spartan cabin. There were few personal mementos, either the Asenti had not had any or he had time to leave with some, but somehow that didn't seem right either.
             He keyed into the computer console and began the job of retrieving the former Asenti's personal logs. As they came on screen, he locked them away in his recorder, paying scan attention to their contents until he could view them in private. He could have retrieved them from the bridge, but there was too much that was classified Command business and none of the personnel that had beamed over had the Command status for viewing the files he now locked away.
             He slowed his retrieval down to scan more closely the last entries into the system. The most recent ones gave him a clearer picture of what had happened in space and on board in selected areas, but he wouldn't know the full picture until all the data was in.
             The Rumnulska attack on the ship and the choice the Asenti in charge had had to make between capture or destruction was one that every Command officer had to struggle with if the situation arose. And this Asenti had valued life over death for his crew. Ky'tulendu doubted whether he could have made the same choices himself.
             Wherever the Rumnulska had taken the crew of the T'swaquill it was not to the planet below. Most likely they had been forced to go into their Empire--but for what purpose? If they had wanted information they could have gotten it from the ship. If they wanted the crew dead--they had had the chance. No, the crew had been taken for a definite reason. One he was not sure that he was going to like the answers to.
             Unfortunately, the Asenti of the abandoned cruiser had not been informed where his people were being were being taken to. With luck the automatic sensors should have recorded the Rumnulska ships' departure, so that they would be able to determine their possible trajectory.
             It was even possible that they might be able to negotiate or free the captives if they knew where they were, but he was not going to attempt a rescue without armed backup, unless directly ordered by Command. He had no desire to share the T'swaquill's fate. A fool, he was not.
             When his recorder had drained the files of their data he shut both machines off. Then he sat back in the Asenti's chair and thought over what he had viewed.
             The best he could determine was that it had all been a routine mapping and exploring mission until the Rumnulska had showed up. This was not going to set well with the Council. Diplomatic ties were already strained and this might well be the incident that pushed some members to declare war on the Rumnulskan Empire--he didn't want to think in those terms--but given what he had read in the Command dispatches war might be closer than he thought.
             He left the cabin deep in thought and almost ran over the doctor as she stepped out of one of the crew cabins.
             "Asenti, you startled me," she said leaning against the door way as she stood gasping for breath from fright.
             He offered her his hand, which she took gratefully. "I did not mean to scare you. I was not aware that you were down here," he apologized.
             "There was some last minute data I had to retrieve that the main medcom computers couldn't pull. So I had to come down here and do it manually from the science officer's cabin," she said explaining her presence on this level.
             "Important?" he queried, too preoccupied to detect any falseness in her statement.
             "Yes, it could be. The report had to do with a planetary survey they did in the T-9-L section."
             "T-9-L? Isn't that rather far inside Rumnulskan territory for one of our ships to be?"
             "Yes, sir, it was. Seems that they ran into a magnetic storm that fouled their sensors and the navigational computers. The storm blew them off course with its gravitational fields and they ended up in a small class Y star system. While they were there they did a survey," he could tell she was hesitating.
             "Go on," he demanded.
             "It's inhabited, or at least two of its ten planets are. On both planets there are humanoid, possibly simian types. Planet four seems to be more evolved culturally and intellectually than planet three. However, it's in the midst of a planet wide drought due to a shifting of its orbit and shrinkage of its polar caps. However, planet three is a very lush planet similar to the homeworld, but smaller with a wider range of animal life and climatic zones."
             "Do you think the Rumnulska are aware of this system?" he asked, his curiosity aroused.
             "It doesn't appear that way. The T'swaquill detected no evidence that the Rumnulska had visited this system, or that they were aware of its existence. As soon as the ship had completed its primary survey it left and headed back for Alliance territory. They encountered no patrol in that sector so it is safe to assume that their visit was not noticed," the doctor replied.
             "Then if their intrusion across the border wasn't noticed then something else must have sparked the attack on this ship. When you get back on board add that system's coordinates into our navigational log, and add the file to life sciences for later retrieval. Have you finished here?" he asked.
             "Yes, sir. That was the last. All data uploaded to the L'wassen."
             "Good, I'm going to check on the others, you can join me or beam back to the ship," he offered, heading for the lifts.
             "I'll join you if you don't mind. It's kind of eerie seeing nothing but empty corridors when you're used to people," she added falling in step with him.
             His only comment was a brief nod of his helmet as they lifted up to the main bridge. It appeared that the techs were finishing up their jobs as he came on deck. They had a number of recorder data cartilages at their feet. The separate cartridges held information from the different systems so they could be entered in his ship's computers to read.
             "Everyone finished here?" the Asenti asked, walking to the center seat out of habit.
             "All finished, sir. We'll be able to track the Rumnulska Daggerships that took the crew. The flag ship left a clear trail." Srt T'menton from security replied positively.
             "Oh?" Ky'tulendu inquired curiously, encouraging him to go on.
             "Seems the Asenti here marked her with a stanz receiver without the Daggership's commander knowing it when the ship left. The on-board tracking has been monitoring her and we've got the codes to switch the tracking for our ship."
             "Good, very good." Ky'tulendu said pleased. "If we're through here with our mission, we'll go back."
             The group assembled and the Asenti spoke the transport orders into his communicator. "Five to transfer back."
             The transporter took them and they were back in the bridge transporter station. The group stripped off their suits and put them back in storage then straightened their uniforms.
             "W'rett and T'krisen, I want the analysis of the T'swaquill's data in thirty units," Ky'tulendu ordered when they their data cartridges to the waiting techs while he kept his to look at in his office.
             The two Tanzs acknowledged their Asenti's orders and went off to their stations.
             The doctor hung back a little waiting for the captain after security had left following the techs. "Asenti, a word with you in private?" she asked.
             Ky'tulendu had had little interaction with the new ship's doctor who seemed to be a fairly competent worker even though this was her first ship's assignment. B'tunku was silver haired, he noted as he really looked at her for the first time, with matching large silver eyes. She was tall and graceful with a beautiful triangular shaped face. Her eyes revealed
immense strength along with a great sadness and wisdom in their mirror depths.
             "If you wish--my briefing room or your office?" he inquired politely, trying to keep this as official as he could.
             "Your briefing room is closer than my office and it won't take too long." she said. Her soft voice did not reveal anything, but she was looking far too serious for his liking. She made him nervous. He did not like to be nervous.

* 4 *

             B'tunku walked in front of him, and he couldn't help but notice how well her silky white uniform clung to the curves of her body. That wasn't something he normally paid attention to. He reminded himself of his own rule that romance in the command ranks only led to trouble and that was something he didn't need this trip. He mentally chastised himself to view her only as a fellow officer--what a waste--but necessary for stability aboard his ship.
              She did have his curiosity aroused. "Can you give me a clue as to what it is you wish to discuss?" he asked, letting her go into his briefing room first.
             The doctor got down to business the minute they were inside the quiet, comfortable, private room. Although she stood at ease she was tense and nervous. She really didn't want to do this, but it was something that she must. He hoped he wasn't making her more nervous, but her voice was calm as she began.
             "I don't mean to be mysterious, Asenti, so I'll get to the point. It involves the nature of our current situation with the Rumnulska. My father was a diplomat assigned to Rumnul, so I grew up with a good understanding of the Rumnulska."
             "So what is your question?" he asked not sure where she was going with this.
             She looked at him seriously, and tried to phrase her question carefully. "How are you going to report this incident to Command and the Council?"
             He was taken by surprise on that. "Excuse me?" he sputtered then his eyes narrowed with anger. "Doesn't that fall under the heading of a command decision?" he asked in a deadly voice.
             She hung her head for a moment knowing that she had overstepped her bounds. She tried again to make clear what she wanted him to know.
             "Yes, sir, it does. However, if you report this incident truthfully at this point it will cause an upheaval in the council that will put us on the verge, if not push us into actual war with the Rumnulska. Which is precisely what they want--an excuse to make war on the Atanzi, break up the Alliance, so that their Empire can come in to pick up the pieces."
             Her assessment of the problem was right on the mark. He had been struggling with what to say to Command ever since he had left the Asenti's cabin. Personally, he was holding out on not saying anything until he had a better grasp of what had happened to the T'swaquill, but regulations and duty required him to report something soon.
             He looked at her from under lowered brows, "You see the problem very clearly, Doctor. It is a delicate dilemma, where one must struggle between conscience and duty and if one does what duty dictates then one has to live with the consequences of the ripple effect that their report will cause."
             She nodded, encouraging him to go on. He continued, "I keep asking myself if I do report as I must--will I be the cause of more, or less lives lost if this report encourages the Council to declare war? Can I live with the knowledge that my words might send hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of billions of beings to their deaths?" he asked rhetorically.
             Moving away from her he sat down heavily in his chair at his desk. He motioned her to do the same. "Frankly, I don't want that on my conscience," he admitted to her waiting for her to make the next move.
             She remained standing, her hands clasped behind her as she kept her military pose, and kept her distance. However, her expression had softened, and he could tell she agreed with his reasoning.
             "That is the difficulty, you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. But the truth of the matter is that the Rumnulska have been planning this for years. They want an excuse to invade the Alliance and take over selected planets," she told him.
             "You know this for a fact?" he asked unnerved by her certainty.
             "Yes, my family and I lived on their home planet for many years. My father was privy to certain state secrets, and had gained access to their overall war plans. He died sending that information on to the council. I'm sure the Rumnulska have modified their original designs, but I doubt if they have called it off," she explained with an odd, bitter sharp edge to her words.
             Her silver eyes held a haunted look as if she were seeing something beyond the limits of the room. Then it was gone and she eyed him intently waiting for his response.
             He nodded agreeing with her. "No, I doubt if they have either. This incident seems to be too well planned to provoke a response from us. I don't think this will be the last of similar incidents all along this border if war is their final goal."
             "Which it is. Economically, socially, and politically they want this--need--have to do this. If it weren't us they would find someone else to start a war with. Their survival as a race depends upon their declaring war against the Alliance and expanding into our territories. So what will you do?" the Doctor asked, regarding him somberly.
             "Delay my report to Command as long as I can, unless I get information that necessitates my reporting earlier," Ky'tulendu replied, stroking his chin as he studied her reactions.
             "I do not want to go down in history as the Asenti who started a war between the Alliance and the Empire because he did not have all the facts. Nor do I want to see all the innocents who know nothing, but peace get slaughtered by these animals. There must be a way for this never to begin."
             "It's too late. I don't believe that the events that have been put into play can be stopped but I admire your caution and your conscience," she said upping her estimation of him.
             He nodded. "Thank you. I do try to see the wider view when so much is at stake. Peace has always been a fragile thing. I have devoted my whole life to preserving it, but peace is forged by two parties that agree and are willing to make compromises for the benefit of both. It's a shame that the Rumnulska can not see what they are going to be giving up. All they had to do was ask, and whatever problem they had could have been dealt with and solutions found."
             "That is the problem--the Rumnulska do not think as we, or any other member of the Alliance do. We are weaklings in their eyes because we value peace and goodwill. They only admire brute force and seeing how cunning they can be. We have lost the savage mind set that they still possess. If you want more insight to the Rumnulska you might look at my father's report in the Command Archives. It's file #256745 Lry'yrenn. Then you will know the depths to which these beings are capable of sinking to," she suggested.
             He raised his eyebrow at the name and looked at her sharply. "Your father was Ambass Lry'renn of Gosslunn?" he asked incredulously. "I remember his murder almost caused a breakdown of diplomatic relations between the Rumnulskan Empire and the Alliance."
             "Yes, I was there. I was eight when we were ambushed on the way to the shuttle. They started shooting and my father covered me with his body, so that I might live. I got the report smuggled out underneath my clothes. . . . Yes, I know the Rumnulska--very well," she said grimly, looking away to sights only she could see.
             Whenever she talked about it all she could see was the blood--everywhere. There was a flash of her father's face strong and proud in the search lights as the beams caught him before the soldiers took him down with their lasers and their bullets. Feeling herself hit the rough surface of the concrete hard. His dead body falling on top of her--feeling like she couldn't breath from the weight of him and the from the fear.
             She had not been frightened of death, or of dying, but of being alone. That thunderbolt realization that all life and love were gone now --forever had shaken her to her very core and that state of existence for her was more terrible than any death she might have imagined.
             With a supreme act of will, she made the images go away and forced herself to come back to the present and become aware of the intense scrutiny that the Atanzi officer was giving her. Had he seen her barriers drop, seen her naked fears, read what needs she kept carefully hidden deep beneath the surface of her mind? She wondered how much he had seen displayed upon her naked soul? B'tunku vowed she would not be so careless again.
             He sensed her uneasiness and understood its cause because he bore similar pains and fears of being alone or of allowing another to get close. "I'm sorry to bring up old memories," he apologized respectfully. His words seemed to calm down the trapped animal look he saw in her wary eyes.
             "I will read the file. In this current situation we need to know all that we can. Doctor, would you be adverse to my asking your help if we have further confrontations with the Empire forces?"
             She shifted nervously as she considered it. "Only as an advisor from behind the scenes. I have too many enemies in the Empire that know who I am, and fear what I may know. If it were known I was on board here you could become a target," she warned him.
             "I see," he said not liking the idea of his ship being a target. "But you were a child then. What you know could not possibly hurt them now?" he questioned.
             "I saw their long range plans. I know who controls who, and I can identify individuals that threaten their Empire from within . . , and from without. . . ."
             "Does Command know this?" he asked wondering if he had taken a time bomb on his ship.
             "Only on the upper levels. I asked for this assignment to get away from my past. I even changed my name and my looks so I would no longer have my past threatening me. At least as MS B'tunku I no longer have to look over my shoulder with every step I take," she said, hoping he would keep her secret.
             "Doctor, I will not let what has been said between us leave this room, I promise. In the meantime, we both have duties we need to attend to," he added, judging that the reports from the T'swaquill should be finished by now.
             Hearing the dismissal in his voice she rose from her chair and bowed respectfully to him. "Thank you, Asenti, for your time."
             "Anytime, Doctor," he told her, not rising from his desk as he watched her leave, then the door hissed shut behind her.
             She had given him a lot to think about. She was indeed a hidden asset. One he might well need. He stared at the closed door for many long minutes until the insistent beep-beep of his
commcon brought his attention back to the reports he needed to look over. Squaring his shoulders he flipped on the comm switch and answered the signal.

* 5 *

              Ky'tulendu flipped the switch on the commcon and Tanz W'rett's image appeared on the screen. The tall, thin, brown maned officer was on the bridge at his station. He looked grim, very grim.
             "Asenti, the reports are ready. I've scanned them, but there are a few you better see for yourself," he advised in a tight voice.
             "The boarding party records?"
             "Yes, sir. I would advise that the crew be denied access to the reports," he suggested tactfully.
             "Is it that bad?" Ky'tulendu asked. A cold chill went up his spine in anticipation, or dread of what the report might possibly contain--unfortunately he had to view it no matter how bad or disturbing it might be.
             "Yes sir," he replied truthfully. Unconsciously, his lip curled back in distaste showing his prominent fangs even as he strove to keep his demeanor calm. He took a large breath and went on with his report like a good officer.
             "You will be pleased to know that the stanz receiver is still functioning. Seems the ship is heading towards the Lebber cluster. There is a heavy elements mining facility there. The Rumnulska will probably put the bulk of the crew of the T'swaquill to work there. However, they will probably ship the techs and specs to other worlds in that sector," the data specialist relayed.
             "Thank you, Tanz W'rett, good work. I will look over the reports and inform the senior staff we will have a briefing in my office in two units letts," Ky'tulendu replied. "Go give yourself a break. You need it." he added, seeing the young Atanzi acknowledge command gratefully.
             "Very good, sir. Tanz W'rett out," and his image blanked off the screen only to be replaced by the first of the reports.
             Ky'tulendu got up for a moment and went over and got himself a hot cup of klass, and then settled himself in to read the reports and watch the visuals from the selected areas.
             Everything about the T'swaquill's mission had been routine up until they had been swept off course by the magnetic storm and thrust into Rumnulska space. Even their finding and mapping of a lone yellow star system had been routine.
             They had done orbital scans of the planets, sent in some probes, and avoided contact with the natives on both planets. The third planet was at a more primitive level of development. No industrialization, just towns and trading in the more urbanized areas, farming and hunting in the rural ones. There was no centralized planetary culture or organization. Just many separate groups that who would occasionally cooperate and work together.
             Mainly the peoples of this planet seemed to constantly fight one another because of differences in their religion, politics, skin color, or over the occupation of certain
territories or lands. He just shook his head over the considerable amount of intolerance these peoples had against their fellows.
             When he had time he would like to study these reports more closely. Primitive worlds like this always interested him. Command regulations basically forbid him from interfering in such developing societies, but there was much that could be learned by just observation.
             Planet four was higher on the evolutionary scale. In many ways its dominant, planetary-wide culture seemed as old, ancient, and dying as was its world. It was losing its water and its vegetation to drought and evaporation because of decomposition of its ozone layer. None of the measures its people tried seemed to help. Here was a world they could intervene in and help if they could get Command's approval once the T'swaquill's mission was completed.
             The T'swaquill's report from the scanners showed that they had been attacked without provocation as they were about the cross back over the Rumnulska borders. Three Daggerships in formation had appeared out of nowhere and started firing on them without warning. They had suffered some secondary hull damage near the engines and bridge sections from the repeated attacks. The smaller ship had not retaliated for fear of more severe reprisals. Then the commander of the squadron had ordered a halt, requesting their surrender when he saw that they were not going to fight. The Asenti had little choice but to comply.
              He had sent a message buoy off as the Talon soldiers were transporting over but he feared one of the Daggerships had detected it. Ky'tulendu agreed because his ship had not found any traces of the buoy on the way here.
             The crew had been forced at laser point to transport over to the Rumnulskan ships. He watched the visuals of the crew's capture grimly, trying to control his rising temper over the rough treatment, and violence that was being shown the Atanzi females in particular by the burly leering Rumnulskan guards. One female was actually raped before his unbelieving eyes.
             The Atanzi waiting for transport could do nothing but watch because of the guns trained on them. Their faces were as tormented as he knew his must be. He felt the helpless fury rise in him while a very young female was slowly tortured and the rough scaled Rumnulska soldiers rubbed themselves across her bleeding body and exposed themselves to the watchers.
             One young male officer tried to stop the Rumnulska, but he was literally cut in half as he leaped across the space that separated him from the guard. As the young officer lay dying the Rumnulska did vile things to the Atanzi's private parts while they laughed and smeared the dead male's blood over the young female's screaming face.
             It was with great horror that he recognized his cousin as the object of the lizard's abominations. He couldn't quite make it to the necessary room as he began to gag and throw up as he ran across the room.
             He barely made it into the room. Ky'tulendu's claws scraped across the metal surface of the toilet bowl rim as he gripped it to keep from collapsing on the floor. He was white and shaking when he quit his dry heaving and he sank heavily to the floor no longer able to stand on legs suddenly unable to support his weight.
             His commcon was beeping incessantly, but he ignored it. All he wanted right now was to be left alone--to get his grief raked mind under control as well as his body. He was not succeeding at all as the tears gushed down his face. He, Ky'tulendu, the iron willed-Atanzi that never cried-- now blubbered like a child upon his own bathroom floor.
             "Asenti? Asenti, are you all right? Answer me--please!" B'tunku's raised voice could be plainly heard through the closed door. She banged loudly with her fist when she didn't get any immediate response from him.
             He growled low in his throat--animal-like--out of reaction to being disturbed, but then he caught himself. It would not do for anyone to see him this way. Fighting his emotional pain, he pulled himself together enough to answer her, so she would stop that pounding. He could hear security out there as well. No one needed to see him in this shape--bad for morale, he thought and then laughed disgustedly to himself.
             "Yes--I'm fine," he managed to say at last. "Go away! I do not require assistance, Doctor," he added with more authority than he thought he could muster.
             "Asenti, as chief medical officer I order you to let me in. If you don't--I will have security let me in!" she demanded, standing her ground, and looking back at the two questioning security guards waiting behind her.
             It was a losing battle and he knew it. "Give me a moment, and send security away," he ordered. Raising himself up on shaky legs, he stood and straightened his uniform. Then he went to the sink and he dashed cold water over his face, ignoring the haggard face in the mirror that looked back with pain filled eyes. After drying his face off he opened the door.
             "They're gone," B'tunku assured him.
             He appreciated that she had sent security away--there was going to be enough gossip as it was over his collapse.
             "Tanz W'rett was concerned when he couldn't reach you on the commcon. Vokolin tried next then sent for security. When they heard you throwing up they called me," she said explaining her presence in his office.
             "I'm sorry you were called for nothing, Doctor. As you can see I am perfectly all right," he lied.
             She shot him a disgusted look. "That's a tzzt, Asenti! You look like hell and if the door frame wasn't holding you up you'd be on the floor. Get over in that chair and sit down. You're too damn big to carry," she ordered him, but she hung on to one of his arms to support and guide him to his chair where he collapsed on it.
             He looked up at her with pain, mixed with an acute case of embarrassment and anger at his own weakness and helplessness. "You can go now," he ordered.
             "No--not until you tell me what happened! And not until I'm sure you're going to be all right. Right now you're sick and I'm not leaving," she said planting herself stubbornly in front of his chair.
             He growled warningly in his throat, then depression took over and he sighed disgustedly, and sunk deeper into the chair, looking up at her with red rimmed blue eyes. "You have a hell of a bedside manner, Doctor," he commented wearily.
             "I've been told that, but you're evading my question, Asenti. Why did you get sick?" she asked again.
             There was no way to get out of telling her, so he gave in and began to relay the horrors he had seen. "I saw my young cousin die--it was horrible! I reacted. I've seen death . . . many times. . . but the way he died. . . ," Ky'tulendu appalled voice trailed off as he saw the scene flash across his mind's eye.
             "How did he die?" she asked gently, squatting down by his chair resting a hand on his.
             "My cousin was on the T'swaquill. They cut him in half with a laser when he tried to stop them from raping one of the female officers. Then those-- . . . THEY . . . RAPED . . . HIM!" he sputtered, choking back the words as well as the tears, burying his head in his hands as the enormity of the terrible act hit home.
     "Why did they do that, Doctor? --Why?" he asked repeatedly, not understanding how supposedly intelligent beings could do that to one another. His voice was muffled as he kept his face buried, the hot tears falling heavily upon the red carpeted floor.
             "I don't know," she replied truthfully, not sure what she could say to ease the pain.
             His head snapped up at her unusable answer and he directed his anger at her for failing him. "Why don't you know? You're supposed to be the Rumnulska expert, or so you say!" he snarled and she flinched back.
             "I want answers--I want to know WHY that boy died! There has to be a reason!" he shouted. His powerful right hand snaked out and grabbed her arm and held it like a vise. He drew her closer so that she could feel his full pain and fury.
             Her silver eyes grew wide with fright in fear she answered him crying out, "They don't reason-- they just KILL!!"
             "NO!" he protested, his claws digging painfully into her arm. "There has to be a real reason!" he demanded of her.
             She struggled trying to get away, she was getting very frightened of him, but she could not fight against his strength. "Asenti, LET ME GO!" she yelled, begging him to release her.
             "NO! Not until you tell me why--give me reasons--Please . . . ," he now begged her, desperately seeking some kind of solace. Realizing what he was doing he relaxed the iron grip on her arm calming down. He knew full well nothing she could say would right the situation, but he could not let her go until she answered him.
             In desperation she tried telling him, "They don't justify what they do--they just kill because they enjoy killing for killing's sake--they want to make others suffer--they enjoy it!"
             "No beings do that--only animals!"
             "They are not like us--they do not care--even for the welfare of their own. They have no true feelings or compassion. We and every other being in this galaxy mean nothing to them! I've told you all I can--please Asenti--release me," B'tunku begged him again, coming close to tears.
             She had to reason with him, get him to hear her. "Asenti--Ky'tulendu--anger will not help you! I am not your enemy--the Rumnulska are! Hurting me will not bring back your cousin. Listen to me--please--you must let me go!" she demanded, trying to remain calm. Anger and fear only seemed to increase her danger.

  * 6 *

                                                        
             It was as if a switch had been thrown. Sanity returned to his eyes and he relaxed--then realized what he had been doing. Instantly--he let go of her, ashamed and embarrassed at his behavior. He lowered his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry, Doctor. . . I apologize. I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked, worried that he had.
             She shook her head no as she rubbed her now bruised left arm. "I'll be all right. I've had worse happen to me."
             "I don't know why I acted like that. . . I never have before," he continued to apologize, confused by his violent behavior and his rough treatment of her.
             "The Rumnulska are great emotional button pushers. . . . They enjoy making others hurt. I know, I watched them as I was growing up. It's all a game to them. Their sickness knows no bounds. My father was taking me away from Rumnul before they could hurt me further when they killed him."
             "The Rumnulska hurt you?" he asked, forgetting his own pain.
             ". . . in many ways. They killed both of my parents. . . and . . . ," she was finding it difficult to talk.
             "And what?" he asked curious and concerned now. "What did they do? Can you tell me?" he pressed gently.
             She sighed deeply, and moved a ways away from him, struggling with the old memories flooding up, and began to pace back and forth feeling as helpless and trapped as she had then.
"It's hard. . . ," she finally managed to choke out.
             "I didn't mean to cause you distress."
             "It shouldn't still hurt but it does."
             "If you don't want to talk. . ."
             "I feel I must if you are to understand. . . to know why they killed your cousin."
             "I want to."
             "They are so different from us," she began. "They are truly animals whom we should have never have given our technology to--or our TRUST. The reason I was leaving Rumnul, the reason my father was killed was ME. That my father knew their long range plans was secondary."
             "Why so?"
             "He had been smuggling out their war plans over the years and they knew that, or at least some of their inner circle nobles knew, but that wasn't the thing that angered them. Even though he had made enemies by some of his remarks, stepped on some royal toes and caused several changes of internal policy. I was the real cause. It was when I caused one of the royal families to lose face and that family decided to seek revenge."
             "Weren't you just a child?"
             "Yes, and I was friends with the Overlord's son and daughter. One day I was playing with them and the older son of one of the inner circle families came by and started teasing them. He caused the Overlord's son to fall and break his leg. I told the Overlord how it happened. His children were too afraid of the older child to tell. The Overlord was enraged and had the child killed. He was that family's only male heir. They then declared blood feud against my family and set out to destroy me and my family in any way they could."
             He watched her pacing become more tense and nervous. Her pale face was becoming paler the more she talked about it. He debated whether he should let her go on, but she seemed to need for him to know so he asked, "What did they do?"
             She took a deep breath and in a jagged voice replied, ". . . they kidnapped my mother and I. . . then a group of them raped us both--together. They tortured her, burned her. . . flesh, beat her until she passed out. . . . She never woke up. They left her dead body with me for days in a cold--airless, dark pit of a room. . . I went mad. My father paid their ransom and they made him promise not to tell what had happened and to leave the planet. Then they returned me. I was nothing more than a walking shell that screamed whenever anyone touched me."
             "But you said you were eight when your father was killed--they raped an eight year old?" he asked incredulously.
             She struggled, "I was female, an Atanzi, and I had caused the death of one of their sons. My age mattered little to them or how I might feel. They kept me alive. . . made me watch my mother . . . die. My death would have ruined their revenge. You have no idea how much they hate us. . . we are just vermin to them. . . objects to be exterminated. They plan to take over the galaxy and put what survivors there are into slavery," she said slowly, painfully willing herself not to feel or see the past.
             He had growing respect for this young Atanzi, to have gone through so much and not be overwhelmed by it. "I'm sorry that they did that to you and sorry you had to bring it up," he said, feeling her pain.
             "That's okay, I told you so that you couldn't understand the horrible depths of depravity and violence these creatures are willing to sink to and the pain that they enjoy inflicting on others. Your cousin's case and mine are not unique--and I fear it is only the beginning of much worse to come."
             "You think so?"
             "I know so," she said firmly, looking him straight in the eye. "What has happened are not isolated incidents, there have been many others over the years--which have been kept quiet to preserve the balance of peace and power between us and them."
             "Why hasn't Command or the Council told our peoples what the Rumnulska have been doing? I find it odd that nothing has been said, or done to defend our rights," Ky'tulendu asked confused.
             "Politics, the fear of going to war--the desire to preserve the peace has always been the Alliance's overriding concern. We are not used to fighting. Most of our peoples deplore acts of violence towards another being, but these monsters have been pushing it--demanding that we either fight or just let them take over. In secret, Command and the Council have been making war plans based on the information that my father sent them. Your ship is part of that effort," she said.
             "My ship? What do you know of my ship and what Command has planned? Who are you really, Doctor? A ship's doctor does not have such knowledge, despite your background because it would be many years old and your knowledge is very current," he demanded, suspicious of her now.
             "Check with Kass Malk Y'gressn, he will give you a full report. I can only say that I am here to observe what the Rumnulska are currently doing and to inform Command of my findings."
             "Then you're not a doctor?" he asked.
             "No, I am that, plus I have other skills as well. I am an expert in many fields," she said modestly, glad that she could end her ruse.
             He continued to question her closer. "And your true rank?" he asked, looking her over closely, studying her with all his senses to determine if she was telling him the truth and she was.
             "I think it is time for full honesty here, B'tunku if that really is your name."
             "It is, now. My rank is that of Asenti Malk," she said quietly letting that register on him, "Yes, Ky'tulendu, I outrank you. I am also an independent agent with full powers given to me by both the Council and Command to act in any way I may need including taking over command of your ship should a situation arise where that was necessary," she informed him, watching the shock on his face and feeling ashamed of her confessions to him now.
             "Are you. . . going to take my ship?" he asked, not knowing what to think now.
             "No, Ky'tulendu. Not unless I have to. I am going to suggest that we not try to retrieve the crew of the T'swaquill. They are lost. We are one lone ship against their Daggerships.
This ship for all its advanced design can not take on all the firepower that would be amassed against us should we try to go after their transport ships."
             "I agree with that. Before I saw the tapes, I did think retrieval might be possible--but not now. I know when the odds are against me. For the record, do I now call you Doctor, Asenti Malk, or B'tunku?" he asked, trying to get used to her change in status.
             "Doctor will be fine. I would prefer that we keep this between the two of us and Command. Unless things change drastically I will continue to take my orders from you as if nothing has happened."
             He disagreed. "Much has changed, Doctor. I no longer view the universe in quite the same way as I did. If it were not for the repercussions it would cause I would go on a blood hunt to revenge my cousin. Even that is an odd thought because I dislike violence. I am finding myself pushed and pulled in directions I do not wish to take but must," he told her shifting in his seat to be more comfortable.
             "What pushes and pulls on your mind, Asenti?" she asked standing nearby with his arms crossed as she listened.
             "The dilemma of what to tell Command. It looks as if events are forcing me to be the one who does start the war between the Empire and the Alliance. For war it will be--these acts against our peoples have gone unrevenged for far too long," he said. "And would war be so bad if that is what it will take to keep these monsters out of civilized space?" he asked.
             She shook her head. "No, because that is what is needed. Unfortunately, our people have not known war or conflict for many millennia. It will be hard for us to give up such peace."
             "Yes, I dread what will come and how our peoples must change, or if some of them can change to meet this threat," he sighed and looked down studying his hands in his lap. Large hands, dusted with strawberry colored hair where his black uniform sleeves did not cover. Long, powerful fingers that were topped with deadly claws that had never been used in the ways his ancestors had used them, nor had his long canine teeth. Reminders of what savage beasts his people had been before the CHANGE.
             "It's ironic, Doctor, we were once as savage or more so than the Rumnulska, killing with our bare hands and teeth. The CHANGE came and we no longer fought one another and we became the peacemakers of the Alliance. Now these upstarts come and will force us to return to those savage ways. They make my blood boil and stir things long buried inside. All my reason and compassion seems to flee, and I hate them for doing this because I do not want to be a savage killing machine or see our people have to use brute force and violence to solve problems."
             "Sometimes brute force is the only logic that can be used," she said bitterly, looking his way with sad eyes to match his own, knowing how hard this was for him.
             It was all on his shoulders if he reported it to Command--war would be a certainty not a maybe. If he kept silent how many more atrocities would be perpetrated on Alliance citizens without fear of reprisals as was the case now? Which was the lesser evil? Which way would save the most lives? And what was Command prepared to do--if anything when forced to confront this issue head on as he would have to now? Too many questions and not enough answers.
             His silence was unnerving her. She had to know what he was thinking. "Asenti, before I asked you to delay your report but now it is clear that you must report this," she told him.
             He made a half-smile that came out more as a grimace. "I wish I didn't have to."
             "I understand that--but you must."
             "I do not want to be the one who starts this war," he said quietly.
             "It is your destiny," she insisted and looked him boldly, telling him that he must do this, had to do this. . . . There was no way out for either of them.
             He met her gaze for a moment, then looked away, ashamed as well as frightened by what was being thrust on him. He felt trapped, and caged. This was something that happened in the text books--not in real life. if it was his destiny then he'd better start making it work for him.
             "All right, Doctor, I'll contact Command after I go through the rest of the reports. There may be information as to where and why they've done this. I am not going to act until I do."
             "Very good, Asenti, I can't ask for more."
             "No, you can't, unless you pull rank on me and I don't think you want to do that?"
             "No, I don't, not unless I have to," she replied stiffly. "I'll leave now and be getting back to work seeing that you are recovered."
             "I am. We will talk later, Doctor, after I have tidied this up, understood?"
             "Understood, Sir!" she replied, her expression unreadable.
             "Dismissed," he told her and she turned on her heels and hurriedly left his office, the door hissing quietly behind her.
             After she left he got up getting himself a fresh cup of klass from the wall dispenser and sat down again to slowly drink it while he pondered over their talk and sorted things out.
             There were still the rest of the reports to go through. After he evaluated them he would notify Command of the situation and also contact Kass Malk Y'gressn to verify MS B'tunku's identity as well as his orders in regards to her now that her secret was out. Command better have a good explanation for all of this. It made him wonder what else they were keeping secret from him.
             This mission was looking more and more dangerous and he didn't like the role he was being thrust into. He could only pray that he was making the right decisions, too much was now on his shoulders. It was not confronting to know that war or peace depended on him, and him alone. It frankly scared the hell out of him.

* 7 *
  

             Back in her office in the medical section of the ship, B'tunku sat in front of her commcon going over the routine work of the day. But her mind wasn't on her work. She was still upset by what had transpired between her and Ky'tulendu. Her cover was blown and she had let him get too close to her personally. That was not like her.
             She still could not understand how she could have lost her calm, let down her barriers even that much to let him see into her past. Maybe it was because she was attracted to him. He stirred something in her on many levels. Ky'tulendu was very handsome, very charming, and her equal in many ways but deep inside she knew instinctively that there was no possibility of a link between them. Any relationship they might have would be as friends. If it even went to the physical it would be without any real personal involvement.
             Bonding and linking with another was too much a part of being an Atanzi to be denied. Realistically, she had to reject Ky'tulendu as a bond mate. If it hadn't been for the dreams for the last couple of months she might not have.
     A t night she dreamed of a not quite handsome face framed with long black silken hair, and dark serious eyes against copper colored skin. She wasn't sure, but she didn't think her dream male was even an Atanzi. He resembled the males of the simian type races more than anything else. That had bothered her at first, but not now.
             Wherever he was there were brilliant blue skies where birds flew and white fluffy clouds danced across the skies behind him. She saw huge ancient trees along with lush non-tropical greenery surrounding him as he moved almost naked through this dream world. In her dreams she had seen strange animals and birds and equally strange animal skin clad people resembling him leading simple unhurried lives in a primitive village.
             Nothing was too clear, like a picture seen through thick gauze. The images and scenes she saw were just flashes and impressions of objects and people. But when he spoke her name, or looked her way . . . fire raced through her soul. Was he just imagination, or was he real? She wasn't sure anymore.
              She knew he was called Roaring-Wings. A name as strange to her ears as his face was to her eyes. A face that sometimes was covered by a savage animal's face. In her inner soul she felt that somehow, somewhere they would meet, and soon. Secretly she longed for it to be soon to end the hunger and loneliness she knew and hated.
             She snorted in disgust at herself for not getting her job done and made a concentrated effort to plunge into her work. She had just begun to enter in the day's lab reports when the Red Alert alarms went off. She jumped a foot , startled at the sudden sound. Over the intercom she could hear the bridge announcing that the ship was under attack and to go to quarters.
             The Rumnulska had found them. She didn't know whether it was the same group or a different one. Had Ky'tulendu sent off his report to Command or had time to? Did Command know what was happening on the border. She was afraid no one did know. Unless they sent off a distress signal now, they would only be another missing ship and Command still wouldn't know what was happening out here. She could step in but she wouldn't. Let him handle this. In the meantime, she had to get her medical area ready to receive the wounded that were to come.

* 8 *
     

             Ky'tulendu raced to the bridge. Tanz W'rett had called him moments after the scanners had picked up the three Rumnulska ships when they shimmered back into normal space. The sudden appearance of three ships out of nowhere had unnerved everyone. This was something new. A new weapon never before seen and one that could be very deadly one for the Alliance because it meant the Rumnulska could get within striking range of any target before they could be stopped. The Alliance had nothing like this or any means to counter it.
             He stepped out of the elevator when one of the ships fired across their bow. He snarled at the visuals on screen from the sensors. The ships were coming out of Empire territory crossing the border into Alliance space without provocation. They thought that they could take his ship and do what they had done to the crew of the T'swaquill. They were going to find out THAT was a very wrong assumption to make on their part.
             Keeping his eyes on the screen, he sat down in his chair, strapping himself in. He turned to the communication officer, Tanz Commd T'krisen, "Have the Rumnulska contacted us?"
             "No, sir. All I get to our hails is silence and static. The appeared out of nowhere and began firing. Long range scanners showed nothing in the area. We are at a loss to explain it." he reported worriedly.
             "Vokolin, do you have any explanation?" the Asenti asked.
             "None sir. Command intelligence has not reported any new weaponry like this. They are completely invisible to our scanners and sensors. They're visible only in normal space. Command must be informed of this," she told him, standing at her station.
             "I agree. T'krisen, did my report get sent off?"
             "Yes, Asenti, I had just completed transmission when the ships appeared. I sent it coded as you specified but the Rumnulska could have picked it up. Do you want me to inform Command of our situation?" he asked, nervously watching the screen displays beyond the Asenti's head. The L'wassen was evading the ships for now but it wouldn't be long before they were captured in a three way vise.
             "Do it!" he ordered "This group means to destroy us otherwise they would have contacted us to surrender. Request backup from Command, but inform them that I will be taking
evasive action and will be engaging the enemy. The war has started!" Ky'tulendu announced, and there was stunned silence on the bridge for many moments.
     " Yes, Asenti," the young officer replied, and turned back to his boards white faced and shaken by the events they were being forced into.
             "War, Asenti?" Vokolin asked in shock, her whitish face fur standing on end.
             "Yes, WAR! We, the Alliance, have no choice because the Rumnulska wish it and want us to go to WAR with them!" he told her angrily. "This is not what I want, only what I must do to preserve what we believe in!"
             "R'yjilln, are you continuing to hold fire?" Ky'tulendu asked his weapons officer, as he turned his way and cut off further discussion.
             "Yes, Asenti. The three Daggerships are just out of range of our phazers and particle weapons. All systems are primed and ready to go at your command," he answered, his dark eyes eager for the fight to come.
             "Good, wait until I give the signal then fire," he told him and the officer nodded in acknowledgment. "Tanz Commd N'isella, are we still running an evasive course back to Alliance space?" he asked.
             "Affirmative, we should be entering Alliance space in three units," she replied busy with her boards as she pushed a button on one to show their current position and projected trajectory. This was superimposed over the larger starmap for this sector which showed them in relation to their pursuers, and the known planetary systems within the Empire and Alliance territories along the border.
             Something clicked in Ky'tulendu's mind. "N'isella, did you get the navigational upload from the T'swaquill?"
             "Yes, sir," she replied puzzled, wanting clarification.
             "Punch in that info in relation to where we are," he ordered, and the new data appeared on the large starmap. He nodded approvingly to himself.
             "Set us a course through the magnetic clouds that the T'swaquill encountered. When we get through I want us to run like hell to that star system they discovered. There's no way we can reach any of our starbases in time or get back up from Command. Only if we run and hide do we even stand a chance of getting back alive. They may out gun us, but they can't outrun us," he told her and his bridge crew.
             The navigator was still puzzled, but she did as she was told. The ship began to pull away from the pursuing ships but in a direction they were not expecting-- back towards Rumnulskan territory and further out to uninhabited space.
             Ky'tulendu punched buttons on his voice commcon built into his chair. "Engineering?" he called.
             "Engineering, Tanz Commd R'kerszn, here," came the deep bass voice from the speaker.
             "I want full power once we clear the magnetic cloud fields. Are the engines up to it?" the Asenti asked.
             "Yes, Asenti," came the reply. "They'll be a little sluggish when we first come out, but the ship will power up quickly once we are free."
             "Good, standby for my orders, Ky'tulendu out."
             "N'isella, begin evasive course to the clouds, and go to level eight point five on my mark--NOW!" he ordered, and as the ship shot away, he watched in satisfaction as they left the Rumnulskan ships sitting far behind them. However, it didn't take the Daggerships long to recover. Almost immediately they were accelerating to catch up with the fleeing Atanzi ship.
             They got within firing range when the L'wassen entered the first layers of dust particles marking the borders of the magnetic cloud and began firing their weapons at his ship's retreating backside. Their shots were too close for comfort.
             "GIVE US MORE POWER, ENGINEERING!" Ky'tulendu ordered, punching the buttons on his commcon savagely as he watched the tactical displays on the big screen.
             "I can't do it, Asenti," the voice came back, "the magnetic fields of the clouds are disrupting the equipment and shorting out some of the secondary systems. We're going to have to take it down to level five so that the mains don't go critical on us!" R'kerszn replied.
             "Understood, do what you can, Ky'tulendu out," he said cutting off the line. Then sinking into his seat in frustration he cursed to himself.
             The Rumnulska were gaining, and he wished his ship had a longer weapons range. One of the Daggerships put on a burst of power and shortened the distance between them firing their weapons as they came on. The edge of their weapon found a target burning a deep furrow along their flank near sciences. The L'wassen jerked and shook, scattering and throwing all those that weren't strapped in hard to the carpeted deck.
             "Damage Report!" Ky'tulendu barked to engineering and to the sciences section, as the big screen displayed the damage it had received on its hull.
             Engineering came on line first, "Sir, the engines are undamaged, but we have a twenty-five percent drop in power due to the magnetic disruptions to the circuitry. The best we can give you is level six point seven-five and that only for a short burst," R'kerszn reported, apologizing that he could not coax the engines into more.
             "That will have to do. Do it now while they think they have us. Get us out of that Daggership's range!"
             "Yes, Asenti."
             "N'isella, go to level six point seven-five now and make us harder to hit!" he ordered.
             His hands were shaking, he noticed as he brushed a stray strand of his hair back that had escaped his headband. His hands were sweating too, he noticed as they slid across the slick black leather of his chair when he reached for the button to call sciences. He willed himself to remain calm. This was the real thing and not a stimulated battle. His stomach was tight and queasy, and he was hypersensitive to every sound and movement. He didn't like feeling this scared or unsure. He'd have to control his own fears or they all would be lost.
             "Sciences, report!" he ordered, trying not to let his voice betray him.
             They did not come online immediately. Finally, a young male voice came weakly through the speakers, "Tanz M'dokk, Terra Sciences Division Lab, here."
             "What's your status?"
             "Not good, Asenti. We still have hull integrity intact. But things are a mess down here. There is a fire in chemistry. Bio has lost several experiments and lab animals. For the moment, the seals are holding on their unit. Luckily, there are no serious injuries or deaths to personnel. Medical is sending help," the Tanz reported, and the Asenti could hear noises in the background.
             "Anything further, Tanz M'dokk?" Ky'tulendu asked.
             "Ship's stores were close by. I'm afraid that section is destroyed. They have a fire in there but security and maintenance are putting it out. The head of that division suffered a head injury getting his people out, so you'll have to talk to security to get a full report of the damage there."
             "Thank you, M'dokk, carry on. Ky'tulendu out," he said ending the conversation on his end.
             That was not good. They were a long way away from any support services or a starbase. Normally his ship carried enough concentrated stores and food for a year. He hoped the damage wasn't as bad as he feared it was. Even if they made planet fall it was not safe to assume that the flora and fauna were compatible to their biosystems. Not everyone on his ship could eat or ingest the same substances. He would just have to wait for Security's report.
             He kept a wary eye on the tactical displays. So far their burst of speed was keeping their ship ahead of the still pursuing Daggerships. Then they lost one of the ships off the screen. He sat up straight in alarm.
             "Y'grewn, where's that third Daggership?" he asked nervously.
             "She went off our sensors. Can't get a reading on her. She just vanished, sir," the systems operator relayed somewhat mystified.
             "N'isella can you plot a probable course for that Daggership given her past trajectory, where she might appear in front of us?" he asked her hurriedly.
             "Ahead of us, Asenti?" she asked surprised.
             "Yes, I think they're going to try and ambush us. It may be that the cloaking gives them an added advantage in speed that flying in normal space doesn't. It's best to assume the worse," he commented, studying the starmap. "How long until we break free of the cloud?"
             "Seven units, sir," she replied. "Here are the possible course routes for the Daggership, on screen, sir," she added, punching the data up in an eerie green color.
             There were three definite possibilities and four probables. None of which intercepted their path to the planetary system. A system that the Rumnulska might not even be aware of. So far, so good.
             "Thanks, N'isella, continue holding evasive course to system. When we come out of the cloud go to level ten."
             "But sir?" she protested. "The ship's not going to be able to take the stress."
             "It's going to have to if we want to shake those ships. Their ships are good but not that good. Speed is the only advantage we have. Level ten is an order!" Ky'tulendu insisted, sitting back, trying not see the worry in his navigator's eyes.
             "Yes, Asenti," she replied, and turned back to monitoring her displays.
             As they broke through the edge of the cloud, he could feel the engines power up and the ship began to accelerate. Normally one did not feel it but the speeds he was demanding from his engines were not normal. The entire ship began to shake and he heard the metal scream in protest.
             The speaker by his chair began to beep for his attention. "Ky'tulendu here," he answered.
             "Asenti! We're getting red line on the engines--we're going to have to slow it down or they'll blow. The systems are too weakened by going through the magnetic cloud to take it!" R'kerszn protested loudly, his nervous voice carrying to all on the bridge.
             "I hear you, engineering. Back it down to level eight but we need all the speed we have to get to that system ahead of the Daggerships."
             "You've got that, but if you try level ten it's going to blow, R'kerszn out," the head engineer warned still not satisfied.
             "N'isella drop to level eight and continue on course. Once we're in the system go to five and begin braking. Our objective will be planet four," the Asenti ordered and noticed Vokolin frowning at him.
             "What distresses you, Vokolin?" he asked.
             She turned from her console and stared at him. "Sir, of the two habitable planets only three offers us a greater chance of survival. Four has very limited food and water. While three offers everything."
             "That is true, Vokolin, but three is at a more primitive level of development. The humanoids that live there are barely past using sticks and stones. Four is more advanced and would be more receptive to our presence," he argued, and he saw her back down by lowering her eyes.
             "Very well, Asenti, it's your choice, but as First Officer I still strongly recommend planet three if we are forced to make planetfall," she said, still disagreeing with him.
             "Your recommendation is noted, however, where we go will also depend on our pursuers. We may not be given any choice in the matter," he commented grimly, as his eyes turned back to the main screen and its multiple displays.
             The Rumnulska were still following, though they were forced to slow too when they entered the confines of the star system and had to compensate for the gravitational drags exerted by the planets themselves.
             The third Daggership still had not appeared either before or after them on the sensors. He could only hope that it had been forced to return to its base and was no longer a threat to them. The ships kept their relative distances behind his ship.
             It was watching the Daggerships action's and their keeping to his ship's slowed pace instead of overtaking his ship that it dawned on Ky'tulendu that he was being forced into a trap.
             "Vokolin, scan behind planet four's moons. I think we just walked into it. Any Daggerships there?" he asked tensely, sitting on the edge of his seat as far as his seat belt would allow.
             "I can't scan through it, sir, our sensors bounce right off," she replied, comprehending.
             "N'isella, swing us around, and head us for planet three--it's a trap! Go level eight if you have to, but get us out here----NOW!" he shouted, ordering her to make the necessary changes as fast as she could.
             She did as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough as two, not one Daggership came streaking from behind planet four's twin moons right on their tail. Level six then eight kicked in giving them a quick burst of speed which they hoped would get them out of range of the Rumnulska weapons.
             "Asenti, two more Daggerships entering the system from the star side!" Vokolin warned.
             "HARD TO RIGHT!" Ky'tulendu ordered watching the tactical displays, he was dripping in sweat now and his claws dug deep furrows into his chair arms. "DIVE UNDER THEM, AROUND--JUST GET US OUT OF HERE!!" he ordered the panic stricken navigator.
             "Yes, Asenti--I'M TRYING!" she yelled back, "THE OTHER SHIPS ARE COMING UP FROM BEHIND!" she warned.
             "FIRING WEAPONS IN A WIDE PATTERN, SIR!" R'yjilln shouted frantically working his controls. "DIRECT HITS ON TWO OF THEM BUT THE OTHERS ARE STILL COMING! FIRING AGAIN!!--ONE SHIP DAMAGED AND THE OTHER ARE GETTING IN FIRING RANGE AGAIN!" he relayed.
             The screen showed what the cameras were seeing. One Daggership had exploded, while another looked dead in space, but the other four still were coming.
             "KEEP FIRING, MAKE THEM SCARED! MORE SPEED--ENGINEERING! N'isella, head for three's moon it might offer some cover!" he ordered in rapid fire to his bridge crew.
             Then he felt the deck sway and lurch. The overhead lights dimmed and flickered momentarily but then returned to normal.
             "DIRECT HIT IN ENGINEERING!" Vokolin exclaimed, checking her monitors. "ENGINEERING! ENGINEERING--DO YOU READ ME? THIS IS THE BRIDGE?" she called down and didn't get an immediate response.
             "Engineering. . . here. . . . We've lost the left engine. It's down. . . . We're lucky it didn't blow. The damage is bad! I've lost a third of my crew and another third are injured. The hull's breached, and we're going to have to shut lifesupport off on decks thirty to thirty-eight!"
             Ky'tulendu had not expected that. Without the left engine their speed was cut in half, and already it was beginning to tell as the Daggerships circled in for the kill. They were approaching planet three faster than he had hoped. Unfortunately, the moon was on its other side.
         He was going to take a chance that they wouldn't follow his ship through the atmosphere. The Daggerships weren't designed for planetary landings any more than his was. If the engineers were right his ship could survive the reentry if they made the correct approach, and if they could land in water. A lot of IF'S and not enough time to do it right, he grumbled to himself.
             "N'isella, we're going to attempt planetary entry. Shallow approach, then a spiral to slow us down. Find us a landing site in water next to a landmass. I want to be able to get to shore. Can we do this with the left engine out?" he asked, hoping she wouldn't tell him it was impossible.
             "Just barely, sir. We've lost a lot of maneuverability."
             "I know--do it anyway! We can't stay up here, we have to go down," he told her.
             She nodded, her fear very apparent as she bent to do her task. "Starting the landing approach now!" she warned him.
             He barely had time to tell the ship's crew that they were going to land on the planet before the lights went out, and he lost consciousness because of the explosion in the remaining main engine.

* 9 *

        "Direct hit on their engines, sir," the Rumnulska gunner reported to his commander. He was very pleased as he looked over the sensor readings on his display. "They're having to shut it down and we've breached their hull. They're also having to shut down life support in that section and are losing personnel."
        "I want that ship destroyed, Hvaz Gzzez, not crippled. It must not be allowed to land on that planet," the commander growled at him, watching the Atanzi ship trying to get away and evade them by going into the heavy atmosphere.
        The Atanzi ship was obviously crippled but not crippled enough. It could still move and maneuver. Whomever this Asenti Ky'tulendu was, he was good, very good, the pale green runlsa Commander thought. The Atanzi Commander definitely didn't want his ship captured and he knew what had happened to the other Atanzi ship. This ship must not be allowed to get back to Alliance space and report, assuming that they hadn't somehow managed to get a message burp off anyway. His ships had the drui-crusier trapped and there was no escape. Resistance was futile, but still the Atanzi ship tried to escape.
        The Rumnulska had not been aware of this small solar system until the Atanzi started its run towards it. Now they were and they were picking up intellect life forms readings from two of the four planets. Somehow the Atanzi knew about this system which puzzled the Commander. They could not detect any prior Atanzi presence here, so how did they know of this place so deep within the Empire, he wondered.
        The Commander had expected the Asenti of the ship to head for the fourth planet. It was more advanced with heavy industrialization and technology. It even had primitive space flight capabilities as evidenced by the communication satellites in orbit above the reddish colored planet.
        Though if the Atanzi knew they weren't going to be able to fly out of the system and had to survive somewhere, planet three was a better choice. That place was teeming with life of all kinds including intelligent siman-human types. That he could see on the sensor readout above the science station as their long range scanners analyzed the basic lifeform readings for future planetary teams.
        When they had entered the system the Atanzi had tried to go for planet four but the other Daggerships had stopped the Atanzi and now only planet three was left. As damaged as the cruiser in front of his was it wasn't going to make planet fall, not intact. Nor were they going to let the cats land intact.
        "Target their other engine, Hvaz Gzzaz, and destroy it. This time don't miss. I want them blown out of the sky. Is that clear?" the Commander asked coldly , his wide mouth set in an evil grin.
        "Yes, sir, very clear," the gunner cringed as he replied bending to his task. He knew too well if he failed this time the penalty was death, and then dishonor to his family.
        In his sights was the other engine. He fired but at the last second the ship ahead swerved and the beam went cleanly through the engine moorings and sheared the engine off rather than exploding it. The section flew off and fell in a fiery blaze through the atmosphere to explode above one of the vast bodies of water. The concussion from the blast knocked the Atanzi ship off its course and it tumbled end to end through the atmosphere. It glowed a bright red then white hot as it streaked downward. The gunner grinned to himself in satisfaction.
        "I believe it's destroyed, sir, " he reported, turning to his thoughtful commander sitting in his command chair.
        "Maybe," the commander commented, accepting that assessment until it could be verified. "Science station follow that ship down with the scanners. See if it lands intact or breaks up and if any life forms survive," he ordered watching the ship streak out of visual view.
        The science officer, though puzzled, did as he was commanded and tracked the ship. The ship hit the water off a large island and then bounced across and through the water's surface for several lssns distance with the water reducing its forward speed and cooling it down. What was left of the ship hit the land and started breaking up into pieces. The remains of the forward portions of the ship finally buried itself in the depths of a heavy forest. The science officer just shook his head in amazement. The cats had all the luck. There were lifeform readings both from within the ship and from without. Then his scanners also picked up strange mixed signals from one of native siman-human settlements.
        He was preparing to tell his Commander his findings when the Communication officer spoke up excitedly. "The Empire has declared war on the Alliance! We've been ordered to break off whatever we are doing and report back to base for further instructions and reassignment," he said excitedly.
        "War with the Alliance? No more hit and run and playing games? Excellent!" The Commander grinned showing all his sharp pointed teeth.
        "Commander, what about the Atanzi ship? You wanted to know. . . ." the science officer
tried to ask.
        "Forget it. If it survived the crash, there can't be that many survivors. They can't escape or even call for help. And with luck the natives will eat them for breakfast. Leave it. File a report," he told the stunned officer, who turned and did as he was told. "Jzzz Kotz, set us a course out of here and back to our nearest base. Yllx Irzz, inform the other ships of our new orders and have them follow us. Is that course laid in?" he asked his navigator.
        "Course laid in, sir."
        "On to the Empire and to victory," the Commander said proudly as he settled back in his chair and the blue-green planet began to recede into the distance as the Rumnulsa ships left the small solar system to begin their war against the Alliance.

              
* 10 *

             The cabin was bathed in blood, or so it seemed to Ky'tulendu when he tried to open his painfully swollen eyelids. It was only the red colored emergency lights, he dimly realized, but there were darker glistening patches of red could be seen that ran in ribbons down the walls and consoles of what remained of the bridge. The darker patches were real blood from his crew. His first impression had been correct after all.
             Then he saw the mangled bodies--the ones who had not been able to get into their harnesses' before the ship had hit the atmosphere. Mercifully there were few of them. It looked like they had been support techs that had panicked when the ship got hit. They had been young, and inexperienced, probably first time out in space. He hadn't known them personally, it was a pity they couldn't have made it.
             Searing pain shot through him as he turned his head slightly to survey the damage. He fervently wished that feeling had not come back to his body. He hurt all over. He could move his head, arms, and legs--but the pain was intense. He gritted his teeth and made himself sit up and check for survivors.
             His first officer was still out, strapped securely in her chair at her console. The communication officer, navigator, and systems support appeared to still be breathing. However, the weapons officer, Tanz Comd R'yjilln was dead, his head hung at an unnatural angle as he slumped in his chair.
             He wished someone would shut off that damnable emergency alarm system. Its persistent beep-beeping was maddening, but so far he was the only one conscious. The alarm indicated that the shields were down. That was no surprise.
             His last memory before he had blacked out was that the ship was beginning to enter the atmosphere of the planet after the Rumnulska had fired on his ship. They hadn't exploded, so the ship had been intact enough to crash land. He was sure that they had missed the ocean. There were no tell-tale water movements under his feet to indicate that they were floating. So by elimination they had managed to crash on land, probably inland on one of the large land masses he had seen on the screen.
             That anything, including themselves, was intact was a miracle. Though he seriously doubted that his ship was in one piece. More likely, pieces of it were strewn across the landscape. Then he thought about the engines ---Damn! He was going to have to get the survivors up and out of here as fast as possible before they blew. He was praying that they had jettisoned during reentry over the ocean and weren't still attached to the rest of the ship, but he wasn't going to make bets on that.
             Trying not to scream in pain he worked his harness off his bruised body. At least there didn't appear to be broken bones. He forced himself to stand. He was dizzy at first but he made himself walk to the ship's status console. He hung on to the edge fighting to stay conscious while he checked to see if there were any readouts.
             Most of the indicators were dead, either the backup system wasn't working or the connections had been broken or both. He couldn't tell if the engines were still attached or not. He tapped the indicator panels with his clawed finger--no response. Even life support was down. The air seemed to be getting rather foul because of the smallness of the enclosed space on the bridge. Ky'tulendu's nose was reacting to the death smells hanging in the air. He must have been out longer than he thought for it to have gotten so thick and hard to breathe.
             He tried the bridge doors no response. The manual override was useless. The doors were jammed shut. That left the two emergency escape hatches. The ship's designers had included them for unusual circumstances, of which this qualified. They were reached through the computer maintenance access hatches.
             One was located behind the science station and the other behind weapons. Weapons was nearer. He moved the body of the dead officer out of the way to find the manual switches which unlocked the access hatch. He reached under the console and felt for the hidden panel, slid it open and then felt the buttons click under his probing fingers.
             The access way door slid open revealing the bridge computer memory systems for this side of the cabin. In the center was a metal ladder leading upwards into darkness. The emergency lights were off in this area. He'd have to find the hatch by feel and open it the same way.
              He heard a couple of groans and muffled sounds behind him as he inspected the access way. He turned to see that Vokolin, D'jinse, and N'isella were waking. Vokolin's eyes glowed strangely in the red lighting as she saw him.
             "Asenti, do you require assistance?" she asked, trying to get up. Movement was as painful for her as it had been for him.
             "No, stay there, and help get the others. Get them awake and on their feet, if possible. I'm going to attempt to open the emergency hatch on the hull of the ship. The bridge doors are jammed and manual override doesn't want to work. See if someone can get the science station access opened too, in case this way is unusable," he ordered, and she nodded in acknowledgment.
             He turned back to the hatch and began the climb up the narrow ladder which was generally used for only routine computer maintenance. He made the long several desks climb solely by touch in the total darkness. Finally he found the inner airlock. Going by feel and memory he managed to initiate the unlocking sequence. The door hissed as he pushed it upward to bang against the metal walls of the airlock. Feeling the walls he found the next ladder and continued on.
             Another two deck's worth of climbing brought him to the outer airlock and it's more elaborate unlocking system. It took almost ten units to complete the unlocking process, but a slow hissing finally started coming from the seals then he could feel the pressurized air on his face as the two atmospheres tried to stabilize. The hissing stopped, and he turned the last crank to release the final lock. The hatch popped open, to his relief, making a loud clang against the metal surface that echoed eerily across the open spaces to the nearby trees and bounced back.
             Above his head he saw an intensely sunlit blue sky where across it small white clouds raced. His lungs gratefully took in huge mouthfuls of fresh breathable air. The temperature was pleasant and comfortable, and he could feel a slight breeze of warm air against his bare skin.
             Ky'tulendu blinked at the bright light and waited for his eyes to adjust before he climbed the final distance to the surface of the ship's hull. He was not sure what to expect as he cautiously raised his head to peer past the hatch door.
             The ship had landed in an ancient forest by the looks of some of the huge trees. At least they appeared to be trees, a little different from what he was familiar with, but similar enough to be called trees. Some of them were taller than some of the buildings in the Command complex. The greens, browns, and golds of the heavy vegetation were comforting to see. At least they had not come down in a desert area. There would be abundant raw materials for shelters and whatever else they would need.
              He then turned and looked behind him, and his eyes grew wide with shock. He was appalled at the damage and destruction he saw. He really didn't want to believe, but he had to.
     F or a good five lisns the ground and everything around it was torn up and scorched black. The massive trees were scorched, pushed aside and upended like some giant's toys on both sides of the deep furrow his ship had made in the earth. The only thing that had saved both the forest and the ship from the fire and heat of the re-entry had been a heavy rainstorm when the ship crashed. Around the perimeter of the ship, water lay in deep pools on the upturned ground.
             In the distance he could hear possible animal and bird sounds, and he found himself slapping at the swarms of flying, stinging insects that had suddenly discovered he was worth eating. Ignoring them as best he could, he climbed out of the hatch to stand on the hull of the ship to get a better view of the damage.
             The slightly warm breeze ruffled his thick red hair so that he had to tuck it back behind his ears to keep it out of his mouth and eyes. Already he was getting hot and sweaty under his black uniform, but that turned to cold sweat when he saw the damage.
             The engines had been sheared off--and so had the engineering section. His ship had been split in two. Most of the sections towards the bridge were still intact, but beyond the mid-section pieces were missing and crumbled as if a giant hand had squeezed and twisted. The entire back section was gone.
             Wires, rods, thick beams, pieces of multicolored plastics, and sections of superstructure jutted into the air and were jammed hard into the ground to be twisted and warped into shapes like strange demented sculptures.
             There were bodies as well as pieces of the ship thrown across the chewed up landscape, and not all of the bodies were intact. Around these forms and dripping out of holes in the ship on to the light tan to dark brownish ground was blood staining it a dark red, spreading out fan-shaped in slick puddles in many areas.
             Already the local scavengers were beginning to converge upon the scene as the death smells drew them in. Looking at just the carnage he could see from his position, he wondered how many of his crew had really survived, and how many more would not live beyond the next couple of days. He wanted to go down and see to them but he couldn't see ant immediate way to reach them, and there was his crew still trapped below. He couldn't be in two places at once. He made a decision, a hard one. Sadly, he could see no one moving in the wreckage. The only sounds coming from his ship were those of metal cooling, popping, snapping, and shifting under its broken weights. Beyond that only the birds and as yet unknown animal sounds could be heard in the forest surrounding the deep pit.
             His heart turned heavy with grief and worry over what he knew lay ahead for his people. Ky'tulendu re-entered the hatch after one last look around to look for any movement on the ground. Seeing none he started his return journey to his surviving bridge crew.

End Part 1/10