On Earth, there are three Triads intending to integrate
not only the three peoples and stop the war that threatens to break loose and
slaughter Humans and devastate their world; but to stop the war that consumes
Kiiote economy and Yown’Hoo moral fiber. The Braiders accidentally created a
resonance wave that will destroy the Milky Way and the only way to stop it is
for the Yown’Hoo-Kiiote-Human Triads to build a physical wall. The merger of
Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls Society may produce the Membrane to
stop the wave.
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest
primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Kashayla; the smallest canine pack of
Kiiote – six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid herd of
Yown’Hoo – a prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and ranches
away from the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote in secret
for decades, allowing the two warring people to reproduce and grow far from their
home worlds.
“We had nearly fallen into stagnation when we
encountered the Kiiote.”
“And we into internecine war when we encountered the
Yown’Hoo.”
“Yown’Hoo and
Kiiote have been defending themselves for a thousand revolutions of our Sun.”
“Together, we
might do something none of us alone might have done…a destiny that included
Yown’Hoo, Kiiote, and Human.” (2/19/2015)
Retired never got to finish his sentence because a flash of
light followed by a thunderous roar made the truck swerve wildly. The autopilot
took over from me and Retired had the big gun in his hands again. The truck
stopped and ahead of us, the ground was glowing green. Otherwise, it was
totally silent now.
He said, “I think our enemies may have found us. We have to
get out of here.” Lieutenant Commander Patrick Bakhsh (ret), whom I’d started calling
Retired, yanked open the delivery truck’s door and dropped out.
“What are you doing?” I whispered. An instant later, it was
obvious.
The truck’s rear doors popped open and Retired said, “We
have to leave this behind and get to the farm. It’s the only way we’re gonna be
able to survive tonight. It’s about two miles down the road. Herd Mother, can
you make it?”
Dao-hi said, “Of course I can. We all can!” she snapped her
tentacle-arm for emphasis as the Herd leaped from the back.
“Qap, Xurf, any problem running the distance?”
“We will travel in low form, so no,” Qap, the female
replied, and set about organizing the Pack so that the pups were taken care of.
Dao-hi did the same.
‘Shay climbed into
the front of the cab with me, slugged me on the shoulder, then kissed me and
said, “We’ll be fine. We’ve been training for years. We can run the Pack and
Herd into the ground!”
Qap and Xurf snarled a challenged, and Dao-hi, along with
her smaller chosen males, Zei-go, Seg-go, Ali-go laughed in return.
Retired snorted and said, “Good. Let’s move out. Stay with
me – Herd Mother, do you cede temporary leadership to me?”
“Done, Master Human!”
“Pack Leaders?”
They Pack howled and Xurf cried, “Lead, Human!”
“‘Car, ‘Shay? Do as I say, not as I do?”
We chorused, “Sir, yes, Sir!”
“Move out!” He ran, low to the ground, through the green
glow of the shallow crater, then up the side and back on to the gravel road. “Single
file, move fast, eyes ahead!” His lope was easy for all of us to follow. The
Kiiote had all folded into “wolf” form and my best friend, the male Fax, ran
alongside me, his bristles – not ‘fur’ because the Kiiote weren’t even loosely
related to Earthly dogs – poked through my denims with shots of an adrenaline
analogue. The Herd took up the rear, Herd Mother last of all. They were running
with sheathed hooves. Underfoot, the road was frozen solid, though it’d been a
mild winter and there wasn’t as much snow as there usually was.
It was silent and still, so we heard the Human choppers in
the distance before we saw their searchlights sweeping the field. Ahead of us,
Retired surged into a sprint and he hissed, “Spread out. Straight forward. When
you get to the farm, head for the barn. Ignore the house.” Fax and me stayed
together as the rest of them broke apart, the Herd with nervous snuffs barely
heard.
The choppers homed on the truck and were shortly hovering
over it. I shot a look over my shoulder and stumbled. No one yelled at me, but
Fax’s spines dug into my leg as he held me up. The denim would be full of holes
by morning. I could already feel the cold air in spots alongside my right knee.
I didn’t need to be looking to know that the choppers blew up
our truck. The concussion was enough to knock me and Fax over, we tumbled over
the hard ground, then were back on our feet. I was pretty sure I was running in
the right direction – our truck was a pyre, flames shooting into the air – directly
behind us. The choppers – there were two of them – started flying in widening
circles, spotlights lancing down into the night like laser beams. Cursing all
around except from me. Never got into it. The spotlights diffusing from the ground,
lit our way with wildly leaping shadows. I had a stitch in my side, despite all
the track running I’d done at our home in the Cities. I’d also never run over
rough ground.
Or been scared for my life.
Why were Humans hunting us? Where was our Triad protection –
Retired couldn’t be the total resources of the Corporation! Shouldn’t there be
an army out here to protect us? The circle the choppers flew was only two
hundred meters behind us and when the light came close this time, all I could
see was Fax next to me, looking for all the world in that wild light, like a
big dog. Running away from a scary helicopter with his master. Who’d been out
hunting…raccoons on this cold winter night.
On close examination, Fax would obviously be a Kiiote. But
from a height, maybe we could pass for a kid and his dog. One of the choppers
was sweeping toward us, the noise deafening. I shouted to Fax, “Pretend you’re
a dog!” I spun around, rolling onto my back. Fax huddled under my head as the
chopper swept toward us. It stopped, the glaring spotlights washing out
everything around us. I raised my hands, acting as if I was a terrified country
boy – it wasn’t much of an act. The only part I was acting was ‘country’. I
screamed, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! I didn’t do nothin’! We was only out
huntin’ ‘coon! I didn’t see nothin’! Why’d you blow up that truck?”
I doubted they heard a word I screamed, but my act must have
convinced them I wasn’t who they were looking for – that and the fact that from
their height and mostly under me, Fax looked like a dog. And we were alone on a
dark, cold night, near a farmhouse. Either that or I didn’t look like I could
threaten a kitten, let alone a world government. The chopper moved away,
blowing debris, snow, and grit over us. We lay that way as the second chopper
passed over us, sweeping us with its lights. They did it two more times until
they were finally well beyond our place in the snow. I said, “I think we can
get up now.” The back of my head was fine as Fax had consciously laid down his
spines before the chopper reached us. Otherwise, I’d be bleeding from multiple
head wounds.
He growled, shook himself, then lifted the spines again,
saying, “Let’s never do that again.”
“Agreed. Next time we lay belly-to-belly,” I said, brushing
myself off. Suddenly realizing what I said, I stammered, “Not…you know…like…”
Belly-to-belly was how Kiiote exchanged DNA. Males and females had bare belly patches
about two hands wide and long, that when breeders were ready, became slick with
mucus. The female extruded tiny hooks which stimulated the male to release
sperm into his mucus layer. A bit of rubbing followed – from what I’d seen,
sometimes lots of rubbing followed – and the hooks pulled the male closer as
well as opened six slits on the female’s belly pad. There was an egg in each
slit, which the male sperm fertilized. If the mating was arranged, they’d
separate and act all very business-like. But if they liked each other...I
cleared my throat and whispered, “Not like that!”
Fax growled low in his throat and said, “What, you think I’m
ugly?”
The conversation stopped dead as the choppers swung over
what looked like an abandoned farm, then passed on. “That’s gotta be my uncle’s
farm,” I said, ignoring my blushing face and other…bodily…reactions. “But where
is everyone?”
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