The Neko's Tail - 15. Oyhaf

A beep roused Artemis from his bed. Grumbling, he stood up and threw on his shirt. Examining his drawer of chips, the tiger sighed. To use a translator or not to use a translator?

Shrugging, the tiger left the room without the chip. It wouldn’t really help him anyways.

Passing into the cockpit, he began the process of slowing the ship to just below lightspeed, before heading to the bathroom to relieve himself.

Returning to the cockpit, the tiger scanned the ship. Elias was hiding in the med bay; it had become his safe haven while Hawke roamed the ship. Speaking of the human, she appeared to be eating in the kitchen.

The tiger headed to the med bay, interrupting Elias’ reading.

“Hey, we’ve reached Oyhaf. I’m about to power up the portal,” the tiger said.

Elias nodded his understanding, closing his eyes briefly. Artemis wondered if he could find the neko a pair of glasses in the station. He’d look into it; reading was a favourite pastime of his, and if it caused the neko pain, Elias would never learn to enjoy it as he did.

Returning to the cockpit again, Artemis poked his head into the kitchen, warning Hawke of their impending jump. She responded without her usual snark. The past week had been hard on all of them, and they just wanted to get her off the ship.

Warming up the portal drive, Artemis took a deep breath. No matter how many times he did it safely, portal jumps always made him nervous. He had done his research on the Oyhaf system. There were no asteroids, it was a binary system, with two habitable planets orbiting the second star. Several planets lacking atmospheres orbited the first star, with a ringed gas giant stuck in the middle of them. The odds of them hitting something on the other side of the jump were virtually nonexistent, but still, as the ship heated around them, powering the drive, Artemis felt the chill hand of fear on his back.

Taking a deep breath, the tiger reached forward and hit the button to launch the portal. A second later, they were through, and he scanned his instruments for any threat to his ship.

Finding none, Artemis relaxed. Bringing up the galaxy map, the tiger zoomed in on the system, locating Oyhaf Station, on Oyhaf B 2, a planet known as Ius to the canine inhabitants. Setting the computer to fly them there, Artemis began reading up on the planet the base was on.

Elias stared at the inky void, watching the stars spin around the ship. Artemis didn’t usually open the cockpit viewport this high above a planet, but this time he made an exception. It was Elias’ first alien planet, after all.

But there was nothing to see, except stars rotating, making Elias dizzy. The neko sat, his stomach rumbling ominously.

“You might need to close your eyes,” Artemis said. “I was a little early opening the port.”

Elias did as he was told, and after a minute the spinning stopped. The neko let out a sigh of relief, followed by a burp as his stomach caught up with him, and Artemis chuckled.

“Feeling better?”

Elias nodded, then realized Artemis probably couldn’t see him.

“Yes,” he said quietly.

“Good,” Artemis replied with a satisfied voice. “Once I find the planet, we should be landing in twenty minutes.”

A minute passed before Artemis said, “Got you!”

Elias opened his eyes and gasped. A large white swirling orb floated in front of the ship.

“We’re going to stay planetside for at least two days,” Artemis said. “There are a few things you and I need to talk about. Can you find Hawke and tell her… Nevermind. She’ll figure it out.”

The ship turned again, levelling out over the planet, and Artemis flew them around the globe until he found the station. Dipping toward the planet, he pointed toward a seat.

“Sit. This may get a little bumpy,” he said.

They cut through the atmosphere, shaking slightly in a windstorm above the surface of the planet. Artemis sent a docking request to the station when they were eight miles away, and was approved. Manoeuvering the ship carefully, he lightly touched down and allowed the ship to settle before shutting it down.

Hawke stepped into the cockpit, glancing between the two cats.

“Captain Artemis, I will take my leave of you now. Thank you for your hospitality,” she said stiffly.

“It was my pleasure,” Artemis smiled tightly.

Elias stared at them strangely. Clearly they were both lying. He guessed the social customs dictated it.

The human walked out of the cockpit and Artemis turned back to Elias.

“Are you ready to set foot where no neko has been before?” he asked.

The cat shivered in anticipation. This was a whole different world. What would it be like? What sort of creatures would he see here?

Taking a deep breath, Elias nodded. He was ready.

Artemis took a cautious step off the ship, testing the planet’s gravity. It was a little lighter than he was used to, but that shouldn’t bother Elias too much. A bigger problem was the heat. The planet was closer to the sun than Elias’ planet, but it was no hotter than the ship during a jump. The neko should be able to deal with the heat, as long as they kept water nearby.

Hawke was already passing into the station, a black building starkly set against the light grey of the planet’s sky. The tiger breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully they would never have to deal with her again. The next breath he drew in was light, a different air than he was used to.

“Helium,” he said to Elias, his voice rising an octave. “It’s breathable, so don’t worry about that.”

Elias stared at the tiger. A second later, a laugh escaped the neko, light and clear. It stunned Artemis; he couldn’t remember hearing the neko laugh before. Immediately he resolved to hear the sound as often as he could.

“Oh, you think my voice is funny? You try it then,” he challenged the neko.

Elias frowned.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised, his voice squeaking in the air.

Artemis laughed at the change in the neko’s voice.

“Relax, I’m playing with you,” he said. “Come on, let’s get inside. Maybe later we can explore the planet a bit.”

The two passed into the station, where a bipedal brindle dog stood to the side of a hallway.

“Captain Artemis?” the dog asked.

She was a Dalmar, if Artemis was remembering correctly. The worlds of this system had two dominant species, the Dalmar and the Faro, a species of shapeshifting foxes that made their home on Oyhaf B 3. When the two species had discovered each other, they were unable to find common ground and had fought bitterly, nearly wiping out both species. The Alliance of Systems, the government that controlled the Interstellar Fleets, had intervened five years ago, saving both species as it brokered a peace that saw both planets entering the Alliance. There was still some hostility between the planets, but at this point it was all political.

“I am Captain Artemis.”

The tiger pulled his mind from the history lesson in his head as he listened to the Dalmar.

“In payment for bringing Commander Hawke safely to Oyhaf, you have been granted five hundred credits by the IMFL, to be paid upon receiving your back pay from the IEFL. In addition, your refills here at Oyhaf will be paid for by the Fleets, instead of coming from your pay. Is there anything you need?”

“Fuel and water would be appreciated.”

The Dalmar face soured.

“Unfortunately we cannot assist you with water at this time. Our planet has little water of its own, and the tanker vessel that was scheduled to bring water from Athalea never arrived.”

“I am sorry to hear of your troubles. If you have the fuel to spare, that is all I need, at least to get off-planet,” Artemis said.

“Of course Captain. We will have your ship refueled within three hours. May I inquire as to how long you will be staying planetside?”

“For no less than two days. It is my companion’s first time on another planet, and I want him to experience all the planet has to offer,” Artemis replied.

“Oh, then might I suggest the Aroo Canyons? Going there is something every Dalmar does at least once in their life. It echoes very nicely for when you just have to howl.”

“We’ll definitely look into it. Thank you,” Artemis smiled, before taking his leave.

They stood at a counter, Elias barely able to see over the marble top. A dog person sat behind the counter, a fake smile plastered to her face.

Artemis glanced at the neko.

“So what do you think? One bed or two?” he asked.

Elias gazed back at the tiger, thinking. He didn’t have nightmares when he slept with Artemis. But the tiger hadn’t said if his sex heat was over yet. Sleeping in the same bed as him could be dangerous.

Silently Elias held up two fingers.

“We’ll take a room with two beds,” Artemis said smoothly, smiling at the dog.

“Of course Captain. That will be a hundred credits a night, for two nights.”

Artemis paid for the room, then led Elias through the building until he found the room they had been given. Inside the room, they found a five-gallon container of a brown drink between their beds. A viewing screen hung on the wall opposite of the bed, and a walled-off section of the room contained a toilet, but no shower.

“This is… nice…” Artemis said diplomatically.

Elias shrugged, staring at the blank viewing screen. If he could figure out where the remote for it was, maybe he could look at the moving portraits.

“This is probably supposed to take the place of water. Most likely some kind of…”

Elias tuned out the tiger, searching for the magical device. He finally spotted it, a thin rectangle with over a dozen buttons on it, all written in a strange script. He couldn’t recognise any of the letters.

Pressing a red button, the neko jumped as the viewing screen turned on loudly. Artemis flinched, then laughed, watching the dogs on the screen.

“You found the remote then,” he said.

His ears flattened to protect his hearing, Elias tried to turn the volume down. Instead, the volume increased.

“Here,” Artemis said, taking the remote.

The tiger scanned the symbols, hitting a button. The volume went up again, and Artemis pushed the button below it. Finally the volume of the dogs dropped, and the cats sighed.

“So…” Artemis said, sitting on a bed. “I have something I need to ask you, and I need you to think about it.”

Elias studied the tiger warily. This didn’t sound good.

“The aliens who took care of you in Port Grathur mentioned that you could make a good addition to the Alliance Fleets. However, in order to be considered for the Fleets, you will need to be tested. The test can be rather… intense. It is entirely up to you about whether or not to take it. There’s a chance that you might test into a different fleet than mine, and be sent to a different ship. It’s something to think about.”

“If I take the test, will I have a job?” Elias asked.

“If you pass. You’ll have a job and you’ll need to go to school to learn how to do your job. But your schooling will be paid for by the fleet you test into, and you will receive money from them every month. If you fail the test, you’ll still go to school, but I’ll pay for it, and you can pay me back later,” Artemis added.

Elias frowned. The tiger had spent too much money on him already. He didn’t want to be any further in debt to him.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

“Are you certain? It might be a little scary.”

Elias nodded firmly, and Artemis let out a breath.

“Okay. I’ll do some asking around. There should be a place to take the test on the planet. I just need to find out where.”

The tiger picked up a cup.

“Now, do you want to see what kind of liquid they want us to drink?”

Artemis sniffed the liquid, getting a slight alcohol smell from it. A small grin appeared on his face. This could be fun…

Taking a sip, he confirmed it was alcoholic.

“It’s some kind of beer,” he said. “Do you want to try some?”

Elias accepted the drink, giving it his usual wary stare. Taking a drink, the neko grimaced as he swallowed.

“I don’t think there’s anything else to drink here,” Artemis said. “Try not to drink too much. We shouldn’t be here too long.”

Elias took a gulp of the beer, gagging at the taste. Setting the cup aside, he lay back on the bed, watching the viewing screen, trying to make sense of the speech of the dogs.

“It tastes like the soap,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

“The drink tastes like the soap from the shower.”

As usual, Elias’ voice startled the tiger. He tried not to laugh at the squeakiness; his own voice was high pitched from the heliox atmosphere.

“I don’t think we can really drink anything else unless we go back to the ship, and that water is starting to taste stale.”

Artemis’ dick twitched at the memory of Elias tasting him. Sighing quietly, the tiger settled into the second bed, watching some kind of Dalmar cartoon featuring a sneaky Dalmar apparently trying to hide from a group of Faro criminals.

Propaganda aimed at kids. How original…

Slowly he began picking up words from the viewing screen, his translator chip beginning to understand the language.

The bed shifted, and the tiger looked over, startled. Elias had climbed into his bed. The neko’s arm wrapped around the tiger as Elias settled into a reclined position, and he went back to watching the cartoon.

“I should give you alcohol more often,” Artemis teased.

The neko remained silent, his fingers running over Artemis’ chest. Artemis shifted, turning over in bed so Elias’ hand was resting on his back. His tail was waving in the air, the traitorous appendage.

“You’re happy,” Elias whispered. “You like me touching you.”

“Didn’t I tell you I did?” Artemis asked.

Elias shrugged, his hand massaging the tiger’s back. Artemis closed his eyes, purring as the hand lured him to sleep.