After the Fall

  Good Intentions

  G L Drummond

  Copyright 2008, G L Drummond

  All Rights Reserved.

  Published by Katarr Kanticles Press at Smashwords.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. The uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Many thanks to Jo, Kate, Lisa and Damian. You guys are great!

  Cori:

  In 2078, I was 16 years old and the biggest concern on my mind was the next mod I might go for.

  Just one more reason to hate the damn Dracs, who invaded Earth that year.

  As the child of rich, overly permissive parents driven by a vague guilt that they were too caught up in their own lives to spend much time with me, I’d gone for three mods prior to the invasion. The first was my hair…I hated the mousy brown I’d been born with, and dyes were such a pain in the ass.

  A little tinkering, and hey, presto! My hair was silver white; a great standout in a crowd. The second and third mods were due to my fascination with vampires. I wanted fangs, I got them via implants. Nothing drastic, I didn’t want to lisp when I talked. The last was my eyes; from plain old, boring gray to a faintly reflective quicksilver.

  Science is great; don’t let anyone tell you different.

  I was considering an ear job when the invasion began, so that went in the ‘never gonna happen’ bin. A true shame; I’m positive I’d have looked devastating with pointy ears.

  In 2084, Earth surrendered to the Drac Empire after six hard years of fighting while they slowly killed the planet around us. Part of the deal was the Dracs taking a portion of the population as slaves, which I imagine wasn’t easy to swallow, but the alternative was them eating everyone, so those in power gave into the demand.

  I know it wasn’t easy to swallow, because I was one of the ones picked out to be a slave. At twenty-two, I stood more out in a crowd than I’d planned, back in my carefree days as a teen trying to shock people. At six foot even, I was built like an Amazon and couldn’t exactly fade into the crowd of women and girls rounded up for the Dracs to go through.

  Fortunately, the Dracs don’t find humans attractive. Unfortunately, we’d become the new status pet for the scaly bastards.

  My owner picked me out, stuck a collar and leash on me, and for seven long years, I had to trail around him everyfreakingwhere he went. He liked the fact I looked so unusual, and it added to his status to have me.

  The downside was I hated his scaly guts and did my damnedest to embarrass him at every opportunity. He took to carrying a mini force whip to sting me with whenever I pulled something, like dumping a plate of food on him, or whatever was handy.

  My crowning achievement was dying his damn tail neon pink.

  It was also the last straw. He began leaving me at home, which suited me just fine. Right up until he gave the order for me to be sold. I’d seen a lot of planets and aliens in my tenure as his slave, so panic was quick to set in. I had nightmares about what alien type would end up buying me, and the day I was put up on the block, it looked like my nightmares were going to come true as a Xenite put the first bid on me.

  Xenites are eight feet tall with blue skin, red eyes and yellow teeth. They’re known for their brutality towards females and each other. I was pretty sure everyone in a mile radius heard my gulp when he made his bid.

  I guess I should be sort of pleased others bid on me, but to tell the truth, I wasn’t paying attention to anything but the leer on the Xenite’s face. He was the scariest alien present, as far as I was concerned. Or so I thought, until a deep voice close by upped the bid a few credits and the Xenite went fading out of sight.

  What was scarier than a Xenite? Ruzerian? I looked around to see who’d made the last bid, but didn’t spot one of the white haired gorilla types. No one else bid, so I was sold to whoever it was. Hustled off the block, I found myself in a small holding pen to await the arrival of my new owner.

  God, what had bought me? I remember thinking, racking my brain for what would scare a Xenite off. The answer arrived about fifteen minutes later, and I had to resist the urge to laugh as I saw him.

  I’d never seen a six-five orange tabby cat before.

  “My name is Zeph,” he told me as the guard lowered the field across the doorway of the pen. “Come.”

  Curious, I grinned at him. “My name’s Cori, kitty.”

  Zeph:

  I’m not certain what fickle vagary caused my pause near the market area where slaves were bought and sold. Slavery’s a vile, barbaric practice my kind refuses to condone, believing it wrong to claim ownership of another being. Unfortunately, many other species do not believe the same way.

  Whatever it was, I found myself transfixed by the sight of a human female standing on the block. I’d seen humans before; my cousin Pral’s mate, and his friend Mrir’s sesslin. This one was nothing like those two. They were both smaller than Katarr females; this one was of a height to females of my own kind.

  Her hair, as they call the miniscule amounts of fur-like covering that adorns them, was as pure white as portions of my own were. And her eyes…I’d never seen eyes that seemed to change color with every movement.

  Realizing a Xenite and other unsavory beings were bidding on her, I moved through the crowd. My thoughts were to purchase her, and take her home to Katarr when I returned, where I would turn her over to Mrir’s sesslin for resettlement in one of the human colonies.

  As none would prefer to challenge a Katarr warrior, my bid was the last to be heard. She was taken away to wait while I completed the transaction.

  It must be understood that while I could see the attraction of this new species’ females, I hadn’t felt anything stir beyond familial ties or friendship to the two human females I’d become familiar with. Perhaps that was due to the fact both were sesslins of other warriors; more likely it was because of my determination to speak with Tisa very soon about becoming my mate.

  As I gave her my name and waited for her to be released from the holding pen, I received a slight shock as she bared her teeth in a smile to reveal delicate fangs. The opportunity to see her more closely revealed her eyes to be a shining silver in color.

  I was suddenly unsure she was a human, after all.

  A sniff as she paused in front of me assured me she was human. The awareness that time was slipping by put any questions I had about her appearance on hold for the time being. I was on a mission of utmost importance.

  Pral had discovered the rumor about a Terran herb, which rendered Katarrs helpless, to be true. His own sesslin had attracted his attention with the use of it; I do not pretend to understand his choice in taking her as mate after such an act.

  The herb, which was the genus of many species of flowering plants known as catnip or catmint on Earth, contained an organic compound called Nepetalactone, which caused a very embarrassing response in our species.

  Wrapping my tail around the human’s wrist, I pulled her along with me as I began walking. We were attempting to discover all sources of the herb and end the threat. The Dracs were also searching; they’d never been joyous over having to treat with us, instead of subjugating us as they had so very many other species. In addition to that, there had been several disappearances over the past two months of space faring Katarrs, both male and female.

  Whether those disappearances were engineered by Dracs or other agencies were also one of the things I was attempting to discover; I had a meeting with someone who’d been rumored to have a supply of the herb.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, matching my strides effortlessly to pace through the crowd beside me. “And what kind of slave do you expect me to be?”

  “A former one,” I replied. “I will see to it that you are returned to your own kind, Cori.”

  I steadied her as she tripped while staring at my face. “You’re freeing me? But you just paid over four thousand credits for me!”

  “That is of no matter,” I assured her. “I know others of your race, and will take you to meet with them as soon as my business here is concluded. They will help you decide which of the colonies you prefer to settle in.”

  Cori:

  I couldn’t believe my ears. Mr. Tabby had just paid a small fortune for me, and was planning on freeing me?

  Maybe it was a trick? Looking at his face, I didn’t find anything present but what looked to be sincerity. After a second, I started grinning; I’d dreamed about a knight in shining armor coming to rescue me from the dragon’s evil clutches from time to time.

  Just to amuse myself, you know.

  The fact my knight turned out to be a giant, two-legged cat wearing leather assured me the universe hadn’t lost its sense of humor, not one little bit. Ol’ Cori couldn’t get lucky enough to have a devastatingly handsome specimen of the gender male who was also homo sapiens; nope, she got a talking tabby cat that looked to have been fed steroids fr

om birth.

  “Well, thanks, Zeph,” I thought to say to him. He blinked gold green eyes at me, nodded and continued walking, his heavy tail wrapped twice around my wrist.

  “That didn’t exactly answer my question, though,” I pointed out after a few more steps. “Where are we going right now?”

  “We go to that shop.” Zeph nodded at a seedy looking storefront, and I glanced back at him in time to see him checking the draw of the blaster pistol in the holster on his right hip.

  “Uh, is this like a dangerous thing? Because I gotta tell you, I’m not much on the fighting side of life.” My admission made him stop walking, his triangular ears relaxing slightly.

  After a minute, he told me, “I’m not certain, Cori. However, leaving you out in the crowd alone isn’t an option at this time. The Xenite who bid on you is following us.”

  “Oh. Okay, I’m in. What do I need to do?” I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder as a shudder cranked its way up from the base of my spine.

  “Just stay close, so that I may protect you if needed” was the answer. I nodded – what else was I going to do, right? – and followed him inside.

  “Welcome, honored warrior!” croaked the disgusting Stylmite who apparently owned the shop. Think a much smaller version of Jabba the Hutt, only with four legs, two arms and bumpy, toadlike green skin, and there you go – Stylmite.

  They smell bad, too.

  “You have the item I’m interested in?” Zeph asked him, letting go of my wrist. The Stylmite’s wide mouth stretched wider; I had to resist the urge to gag at the odor that leaked from it.

  “Of course, of course! This way, it’s valuable, as I’m sure you know.” He led us to the back of the shop, into a small hallway and stopped in front of a sealed doorway. “All my more valuable commodities are kept in here. I only have a small supply, but I’m sure it will meet your needs, honored one.”

  The squishy jerk had the balls to leer at me, obviously thinking I was Zeph’s plaything. I bared my fangs at him in response. Regardless of species, I’d learned a leer is a leer, is a leer. Some aliens do them better than others; Stylmites do them exceptionally well.

  Zeph glanced sideways at me. His tail slid around my waist as the Stylmite began keying in an entry code, and push – pulled me behind him, placing me against the wall opposite in the narrow space. I eyed it as he let go and the tip rose in front of my face to twitch a clear order to stay put.

  Zeph:

  Unobtrusively drawing in a deep breath, I held it as the Stylmite tapped the final key. The race was well known for its treachery, and the door sliding open added yet another example of it. It was filled with bricks of dried herbs; I rapidly swung and rendered the smaller alien unconscious before leaping to the head of the hallway.

  “Huh, catnip,” I heard my human companion remark as I released my held breath. “A whole lot of catnip. There’s like a ton of it!”

  Turning, I saw her disappear into the room. She continued speaking. “Hey, does this stuff work on you? Heh, wanna get high, Zephy?”

  The deadly aroma was beginning to wend its way down the hallway towards me. I retreated further. “Cori, come out of there.”

  She obeyed as I quickly moved to secure the front door. Once I was finished, I removed the breathing filter from the inside pocket of my vest and slipped it on. Cori watched my actions with interest, then bared her teeth in another smile. “It does work on you.”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” I admitted, drawing my blaster pistol and crossing the shop to the hallway once more. “Wait out here while I destroy it.”

  “Um, Zeph, I think…”

  “Please, Cori,” I requested, gently removing her from the hallway’s entrance. “Just wait out here.”

  “Okay, sure. I’ll wait out here. I can do that,” she muttered as I walked down the hallway. A quick check of the room assured me I wouldn’t be setting the entire market place on fire by destroying the catnip. Selecting those in front, I began firing.

  Cori:

  Crossing my arms, I leaned against the corner of the hallway wall and watched the ‘honored warrior’ work. The smoke curled out around his boots at first; after about a minute, it had reached his knees and was starting to work its way towards me, trailing runners over the unconscious Stylmite.

  Shrugging, I turned away and started browsing the wares on display. Looked to me like the Stylmite wouldn’t miss a few things, not after discovering his entire stash of catnip had been reduced to ashes. The whine of incessant laser blasts provided an irritating background beat, but I knew my priorities: Shopping first, worry about the nice giant tabby later.

  I found a gorgeous platinum bracelet hidden in a pile of spare parts; Stylmites aren’t very organized, I decided. I also found a nice little knife in a leather sheath; the leather appeared to be Drac skin, so I took it. More rooting around turned up a pair of boots, which I was happy to trade my flimsy sandals for once I discovered they fit me.

  Movement seen from the corner of my eye alerted me the time for shopping was over. I looked up from pulling on the boots to find him leaning against the wall, his big eyes watering.

  “So, Mr. Incendiary, did you ash the goods?” I asked, slipping the bracelet on. “Look what I found. Pretty, huh?”

  “We need to leave. Do you know where the spaceport’s located, Cori?” He sounded funny, his deep voice muffled by the mask he had on as he raked the back of one hand across his eyes.

  “I do, as a matter of fact.”

  “Can you read Trader?” was his next question, and I nodded to it. “My ship’s name is the Starseeker. If anything happens to separate us, make your way there and use this to enter it.” He held out a smart card key. Walking over, I took it and tucked it away inside my halter-top.

  “Gotcha.”

  The smoke had cleared thanks to some sort of air flow system kicking in, but Zeph kept the mask on. “We’ll leave through the back. Come, Cori.”

  “Sure thing, Zephy,” I agreed, falling in behind him.

  Zeph:

  The optical irritation from the smoke wasn’t fading as we traversed the darkened alley. Hearing footsteps enter it ahead of us, I motioned my companion into cover behind a stack of empty packing containers.

  A group of human males came into view, speaking in their native language, which I’d yet to take the time to learn. Cori’s hand grabbed my arm, fingers digging; a glance at her face showed it wide eyed and frightened. As soon as they’d passed our hiding place, she hissed at me. “Let’s go, before they come back, or we’re both Drac meat.”

  Her high agitation was very apparent, so I saved questions for later and accepted her order. Within seconds, we were again among the throng crowding the market place. Cori repositioned her grip to lace her fingers through mine before launching into a run.

  I forced her to a stop as she headed for another alleyway entrance. “Where…”

  “Short cut, kitty. Come on, move your ass!” Releasing her grip, she raced into the shroud of darkness before us. I followed quickly, my curiosity aroused by her panic. Just as I caught up with her, a large figure loomed before us.

  The Xenite.

  Cori gave vent to a pained gasp as the being grabbed her by an arm, pulling her to him. “I’ll take the pretty, Katarr.”

  “Release her,” I ordered, allowing my claws to spring out. A blaster shot at close quarters could injure the human.

  “Let go of me, you ugly…” Cori began thrashing in his grip, boot heels thudding against his shins. Distracted, he looked down at her and I chose that moment to strike. There was a thud as he tossed her aside and she struck the wall; the sound angered me. Hitting him high, I took him to the ground as he struck out. He landed one solid blow, tearing the mask from my face, before I sank my claws into his throat and ripped it out.

  Lunging away from his death throes, I located Cori. She was unconscious, a trickle of blood sliding down her temple. Lifting her, I moved quickly for the spaceport.

  Entering the Starseeker, I voice locked the access before carrying the human to my quarters and depositing her upon my bunk. Hastily retiring to the hygiene closet, I carefully searched myself for signs of succumbing to the effects Pral had described.

 

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