The Neko's Tail - 23. Test Flight

The tiger stood before General Aro, heart pounding loudly in his chest.

“You lost five Faro and a tanker in transit. To Dalmar pirates. And you have no idea why Dalmar pirates would be working to deny their planet water.”

“General, I believe they were paid to attack us. Someone wants the Faro and the Dalmar to go to war again.”

“Well they won’t be attacking anyone ever again,” the Xanar said. “Thanks to your burst, we were able to pinpoint their location and destroy the ship in under ten minutes.”

Artemis frowned. With the pirates dead, there was no way to tell who had sent them.

“There is a military vessel waiting to take you back to your ship. Thank you for your assistance Captain.”

Artemis nodded and left the room. A Dalmar stopped the tiger just outside the building.

“Captain Artemis?” she asked, throwing a salute that revealed the orange bracer of a lieutenant.

“That’s me,” Artemis said, returning the salute.

“I’m Lieutenant Asara. I’m your ride to Oyhaf B3. If you’re ready to leave, we can get off this rock.”

“It’s not that bad of a planet. I’ve been on worse.”

The Dalmar snorted.

“Forgive me for saying so, Captain, but that is a horrible criteria for not a bad planet. I was born here and every chance I get, I go off-planet.”

Artemis chuckled.

“You sound like me. Why did you join Military?”

“Tradition. Dalmar are warriors. At the time I just wanted to join the Fleets. I didn’t think about the IEFL.”

Asara smiled as she pointed to a ship.

“Still, I get to fly this beauty, so I don’t mind.”

The ship was smaller than Artemis’ old vessel; a sleek ship made for dogfighting. He had no doubt it could perform just as well in the atmosphere as it could in the vacuum of space. It was not a design he had seen before, and Artemis guessed it was a Dalmar ship, not Alliance.

“Your people really seem to know their ships,” he said.

Asara shrugged.

“We really weren’t that far behind the Alliance in tech. But the Faro had more ships than we did, and all the tech in the world wasn’t going to save us. Their pilots weren’t as good as ours though,” she chuckled.

“I found them to be a little abrasive myself,” Artemis said, thinking back to the comms officer. “Though that may have been my fault.”

Asara hit the side of the ship and a ladder descended from the hull. She made her way up the ladder and into a cockpit, followed closely by Artemis.

They sat in the twin seats of the ship, and the Dalmar fired up the engines.

“Do you mind if I take a nap?” Artemis yawned.

“Go ahead,” Asara smiled, angling the ship in the sky. “We’ll be at our destination in five hours.”

Elias sat in bed, studying his tablet. His eyes still hurt when he read, but when he was watching the sign language pictures, his eyes didn’t hurt as much.

He couldn’t sleep. Reinard was in his own room, and Elias knew if he fell asleep he would have nightmares. It wasn’t the first time he had gone without sleep, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

The pictures helped him stay awake. The neko was excited to show Artemis what he had learned. It was strange; the tiger had kidnapped him, but he was also the first person to really care about Elias, Reinard being the second.

The neko moved his hands, practising the gestures that said what he wanted to say. Hello Artemis. I missed you.

Because he did. Elias wasn’t scared of the tiger; not any more. But he still didn’t like talking. He had been silent for so long speaking felt weird. The neko did it because no one could understand him otherwise. But he still preferred to be silent.

Light streamed through his window, shining down on the neko. Elias stretched, setting the tablet aside. He wanted to soak up the sunlight as much as he could. Eventually, he would be back on a ship, with no sun to curl up in, and little warmth.

A chime sounded through the house and the neko ignored it. He had heard the sound often enough. Most likely Neistar had a friend over. Curling up, Elias sighed as he felt the warmth of the sun on his body.

The ringing of the communicator startled the neko, and he stared at the device, uncertain of what to do. It was loud, and Elias folded his ears, trying to block out the sound. After a minute, the ringing stopped, and Elias let out a sigh of relief.

A knock came at the door, and the neko grumbled quietly, standing up. He had been so warm and comfortable…

Opening the door, he found Reinard on the other side, the fox looking like he had just gotten out of bed.

“Artemis is back,” Reinard yawned. “I’m not sure why he didn’t just come upstairs, but Eigal says he needs to talk with both of us.”

Elias frowned but followed Reinard downstairs. They found Artemis waiting by the door with a cup in his hands.

“Hey, sorry I took so long,” the tiger said. “Something came up and long story short, it would probably be best if I got out of the system for a while.”

“But you’re a hero to the system,” Reinard objected.

“Not to some.”

Artemis sipped at his drink as Ceirel and Neistar came down the stairs.

“Welcome back Captain,” Ceirel smiled.

“Thank you. Unfortunately, I can’t stay long. Our ship is almost ready; they just need to install a fuel scoop and then we can take it for a test flight.”

Ceirel’s smile turned into a frown.

“Oh…”

His arm wrapped around Reinard almost protectively.

“I want to invite both of you on the test flight with us. You have done so much for us, and I am very grateful,” Artemis said.

“We would be honoured Captain,” Neistar smiled.

They stood before the new ship, the large ramp down and ready to receive them. Artemis turned to Reinard, a bag on his shoulder and a stern look on his face.

“You need to decide if you want to go with us now,” he said. “We need to put our fingerprints onto the lock so we can get into the ship independently.”

Reinard looked at his Mara, the older Faro’s eyes filled with worry.

“I do want to go,” he said.

“It’s going to be long and boring most of the time. You won’t be back for maybe years.”

“I understand,” Reinard said.

Nodding, Artemis touched the side of the ship. He placed a finger on a pad, and the pad beeped, flashing blue.

“Elias put your finger on the pad.”

Elias did as he was told, rewarded with another beep.

“Reinard?”

The Faro approached the ship, looking back at his clan. He took a deep breath, and pressed the pad, registering his fingerprint.

“I love you Mara. I really do. But I need to do this,” he said, looking back at Ceirel.

“I understand. You can always come home whenever you want, and we’ll be here for you.”

Artemis smiled at them.

“Are you ready to see our new home?” he asked.

Reinard followed the tiger and the neko up the ramp, It was definitely a larger ship than before, and more streamlined. There was a wide space just beyond the ramp, and Artemis beamed.

“They added a vehicle bay! We can land on unoxygenated planets now!”

He frowned slightly.

“Well, not yet. We have to get a car for that first,” he continued.

Pointing toward a ladder, he said, “Up should be the cargo holds, down is fuel, food, and water. We have a larger fuel tank to balance out the extra cabin space on the other side of the ship. We’re topped off on food and water, but we only have a quarter tank of fuel, so we’re going to do a refuelling today.”

Reinard heard a grumble escape Elias.

“Relax kitten, we have a large scoop. It should only take thirty minutes to refuel.”

Artemis rubbed the neko’s head, stepping toward the main part of the ship. There was a long hall with a rather nice carpet running the length of the floor. The tiger frowned at the floor but made no comment. Reinard didn’t see what the problem was. A carpet would be nice to have.

Three doors sat on either side of the hall, and Reinard peeked into one on the right. The room was rather small with a bed taking up most of the space, but he remembered it could move up and down.

“Do you get the master bedroom?” he asked.

Artemis laughed.

“There is no master cabin; they’re all the same. We can sort them out tonight.”

The tiger entered a room on the left.

“Elias, Reinard, you should check this out.”

They had a recreation room. Artemis’ mind struggled to wrap around that. For five years, he had been flying through the stars with precious little to do, but now he had a way to entertain himself while travelling.

This would make the whole experience easier for the three explorers.

There was a viewing screen with a pay box in the left corner of the room, a window beside the screen looking out on the landing pad. Artemis hadn’t ordered a fourth window, and he knew the Dalmar had thrown that in as an extra.

It surprised him, but then, he had helped the Dalmar. Maybe that’s why it had been added?

A loveseat was placed in front of the viewing screen, a table with two chairs behind it. Examining the table, Artemis found it was a holographic gaming table.

The tiger heard a yelp and spun around. Elias was on the floor next to a rectangular patch of floor that looked different from the rest of the room. A screen was set up on the wall, showing a forest of trees.

“What happened?” Artemis asked, hurrying to help the neko to his feet.

“The floor moved…”

Artemis frowned, placing a foot on the rectangle. The floor slid as he moved his foot, and he laughed.

“It’s for you to walk on. See?” he said, taking a step on the floor.

The ground moved under him, keeping pace as the tiger walked in place.

“It will help you stay strong in space.”

The tiger stepped fluidly off the treadmill and smiled at Elias.

“You should try it.”

Elias shook his head emphatically. Artemis shrugged, and left the room, exploring the rest of the ship.

He found the bathroom, small but functional. The room next to it was the kitchen, also small, but with another feature he didn’t expect. A dishwasher.

“This will definitely help with the cleanup,” he smiled, looking inside the machine.

Exiting the kitchen, Artemis found a piece of paper stuck to the closed door of the cockpit.

“Captain Artemis. This ship contains a voice-activated AI to help with the day to day activities of the ship. It is advised that you allow the AI to be acclimated to one voice at a time.”

“Okay, that is seriously cool.”

He had not expected the Dalmar to go to these lengths for a ship.

Turning around, Artemis returned to the rec centre.

“Hey, I’m going to be in the cockpit for a few minutes. Please do not disturb me,” he requested.

Reinard and Neistar acknowledged him, not looking up from the game they were playing. Elias was missing already, and Artemis assumed he had retreated to one of the cabins. Ceirel looked up from where he sat watching Reinard and Neistar.

“We’ll be here,” he smiled thinly.

Elias touched the pole in the cabin, his finger feeling the cold kiss of metal. It was solid somehow, firm, and the neko pushed against it tentatively, testing its give. There was none.

He scampered up the pole, crawling onto the bed. Curling into the corner of the den, the neko smiled, his teeth glistening in the darkness. This would be perfect for him. Once he got a blanket.

Elias felt safe now, but he couldn’t stay here. They would be looking for him soon, and he didn’t want to worry Artemis or Reinard.

The neko dropped to the ground and left the room silently, returning to the gaming room. As he entered, Neistar growled, standing up from the table.

“How did you do that?!”

Reinard smirked, the table clearing itself at the touch of a button.

“I lived with a warlike people for ten years. I picked up a few things in that time,” he said.

Elias crossed the room, sitting on the loveseat. The ship felt crowded, and he didn’t like it. But there wasn’t much he could do about that.

Artemis stepped into the room, his eyes finding Elias quickly.

“Hey kitten, can you come to the cockpit with me? I need you to do something for me.”

Elias stood up, his tail flicking nervously. He still didn’t know much about how a ship worked, but if Artemis needed his help, maybe the tiger would explain things to him.

He followed Artemis through the cockpit door, taking his first look of the room. There was a large circular table in the centre of the room, and a chair with a stick in front of it.

“This is going be a little strange,” Artemis warned. “The ship comes with something that can help us do things, but it needs to hear your voice before you can tell it what to do. When I tell you to, I need you to tell the ship your name, okay?”

Elias nodded hesitantly.

“Oh, and we need to remove your chip for this,” Artemis added.

The neko pulled out his translator, handing it to Artemis.

“Computer, record new voice signature,” Artemis said.

A masculine voice spoke, and Elias jumped.

“Recording.”

Artemis nudged the neko, and Elias opened his mouth.

“I’m Elias.”

There was a beep, and the voice said, “Welcome aboard Elias.”

Artemis smiled at him.

“There we go. Now we just need to get Reinard.”

The fox left the cockpit, his stomach a bundle of nerves. They were about to take off, his first flight in his new home.

His Mara was upset at his decision, but Reinared knew he would be. Reinard had been home for only a month after a ten-year separation. It was going to be hard no matter when he left. And he had to leave. He was having way too many nightmares in his clan home; memories of being hunted, of being beaten.

Poking his head into the game room, he found Ceirel and Neistar engaged in conversation on the couch.

“We’re about to take off. Artemis wants everyone in the cockpit for the flight out of the atmosphere.”

The Faro stood, following Reinard out of the room.

“Reinard, are you going to be okay travelling with these two?” Neistar asked as they walked.

“Artemis saved me from probable death. I don’t believe he would do that only to put me in danger again,” Reinard said. “I trust both of them.”

They fell silent as they entered the cockpit.

“I need you two to sit in the chairs and strap yourselves in,” Artemis said, sitting in the pilot’s seat. “It’s nothing more than a precaution. Better safe than sorry.”

Reinard’s clan did as they were told, taking the two available seats and leaving Elias and Reinard nowhere to sit.

“Elias, go ahead and hit the engines,” Artemis said.

The neko pressed a button and the ship roared to life.

“Reinard, can you dial the radio to frequency 125?”

Reinard looked around the cockpit, finally locating what he assumed was the radio. He typed in a number and the device crackled.

Artemis rotated the control stick as he got a feel for the ship.

“Planet base, this is Captain Artemis of the IEFL requesting permission for liftoff.”

“Base to Captain Artemis, you are clear for takeoff. Have a safe journey.”

“Thank you.”

Turning to Elias and Reinard, the tiger said, “You two should hold the chairs, just in case.”

Reinard wrapped his fingers around Neistar’s seat, legs wobbling as the ship's engines increased in power. They rose into the sky, Artemis raising the ship’s nose into a shallow incline. He gradually increased the angle, giving his passengers plenty of time to get used to the steepness.

Gradually, the gravity of the planet lessened and Artemis turned on the ship’s gravity.

“Okay, you are now free to get up and walk around. Welcome to space,” the tiger smiled.

Reinard pulled Artemis to one of the cabins once they were flying at a steady speed. The tiger was a little wary being in the small space with the Faro, and with Reinard’s clan still on the ship. But he trusted Reinard wouldn’t start anything.

“Artemis, Elias told me about his previous situation,” the Faro said. “Did you have sex with him?”

Artemis frowned at Reinard.

“Why?” he asked.

“He said he didn’t like it. I want to know if you’re the kind of person that would put his own needs before that of his crew.”

“I wouldn’t. I have not touched Elias in that way since. And that situation, he kissed me. I took it a little too far, and I apologised for it.”

“He kissed you? Then he has feelings for you?”

Artemis nodded.

“He has feelings for both of us. I told him it was okay for him to like us both. But he might be too nervous to make the first move, given his past.”

The fox frowned at the tiger.

“Artemis, I can’t… I can’t be with you like that. I can’t have sex with you.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Artemis said quickly. “I don’t want you to think sleeping with me in any way is a requirement for being on this ship. It is not.”

“My people, we tie ourselves to one individual to share our lives with. And I think that’s going to be Elias.”

“But is it okay for him to be with both of us? Because if it isn’t, you need to tell him, and I promise I will not pursue him,” Artemis said.

“I don’t want him to feel like I own him,” Reinard replied. “If he wants to be with you, or if he chooses you over me, I will respect that.”

“There is one thing you need to know. My people go into heat at least once a year. I promise I won’t touch you, but if I tell you I need time alone, you need to listen, okay?”

“Of course,” Reinard said immediately.

“And if you ever need to talk to me, or need me in any way, don’t hesitate to ask. I promise I won’t take it further than you are comfortable with.”

“I’ll do that.”

Reinard left the room, leaving Artemis by himself. The tiger took a deep breath before he rejoined the rest of the ship.

“It’s so hot,” Neistar complained, sitting on the couch.

“It’s not that bad,” Reinard shrugged. “I’ve felt hotter in the summer.”

“If this is your life now Reiny, I don’t envy you. It seems pretty boring.”

Reinard didn’t think so. They had just flown to the sun. Who knew where Artemis would take him, what worlds he might see.

The fox turned on the viewing screen, but nothing came on the screen.

“We’ll have to download some stuff tonight,” Artemis said, standing next to him. “You can pick what we get.”

“Are you just staying the night?” Ceirel asked.

“Hopefully. We need to get a few more supplies when we get planetside, then we can go. We’re going to spend the night on the ship unless Reinard wants to stay at home one more night.”

Reinard shook his head.

“I’m staying on the ship. That way we’re not wasting time getting me from one place to another.”

“Fuel scooping complete.”

The Faro jumped at the voice.

“Relax, that’s just the ship,” Artemis said. “We’re going to pull away from the star now.”

The tiger left the room to take care of the ship.

Reinard spotted Elias hiding in the corner of the room and he called the neko over.

“Hey, do you want to play a game?”

The neko frowned at the fox, and Reinard quickly amended his words.

“A board game. You have those on your planet, right?”

Elias shrugged.

“Oh, then you have to try one,” Reinard grinned. “Hey Neistar, you want to help teach Elias Three Fox Dance?”

“Teach him yourself,” Neistar grumbled. “It’s too hot to think.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Reinard stuck his tongue out at his ardai as Elias sat across from him at the table.

“So we can’t play Three Fox Dance, but here’s another game we can try…”