Book One - Chapter Three

Friends Are a Great Thing to Have

 

With Friends Like These

 

Thomas welcomed consciousness back with much reluctance. It welcomed him with the buzz of his alarm, well two alarms, his and M’Sara’s. He sat up and crawled slowly to his ladder to climb down. His alarm reset as soon as he had sat up. He looked over to her while he was still on the ladder and she rubbed her face with the back of her paw hand, then licked it, like a feline would. With a grin on his face now, he hopped down to the floor and walked into the refresher room. With the door closed behind him he entered the shower after he removed his clothes.

He had turned off the water jet after he had got himself wet, that was when he heard the door open just as he started to get some soap on himself. M’Sara called to him, “Wait for me, I will help you conserve water.” She typed in her code into the shower water ration pad by the shower door.

The opaque shower door slid open and Thomas turned to see a disrobed M’Sara step inside to join him. He blinked while he still held the soap dispenser to his chest, his brain was slow in the morning before he had some coffee. “Wait, what are you doing?”

M’Sara looked at her brush while her ears twitched slightly up and to the sides. Her tail swayed back and forth as she answered, “We are going to conserve water so we can shower more. This will help us both. I’m glad I thought of that last night. I trust you enough to not worry about you doing anything weird.”

He did his best to ignore her with a shrug. If she wanted to help him, why should he stop her. He would like to be as clean as he could. With that in mind he agreed, “Alright, we will try this as an experiment. This is really pushing my boundaries though.” He moved to the back of the stall, it was not really designed for multiple occupants, but it was the width of the room so they were able to share it without too much difficulty because of her small size.

M’Sara entered the stall without another word with her brush in one hand and adjusted the nozzle so it pointed as far down as it could with her other hand. She had to stretch as far as she could to reach it, and she was just able to. She did not worry about a foot slip; the shower floor was coated with a self-cleaning non slip surface. She used just enough water to wet herself down before she turned it off again then turned to face Thomas, as water dropped to the shower floor. With her hand out palm up beside him she told him, “You give soap now.”

*****

Thomas waited by the door as M’Sara found her clothes that she wanted to wear for class while she was still in her underwear shorts, she did not use a bra, she did not even own one as far as he knew. She was in disarray because they unpacked her clothes last night and she did not know where he had placed each item. By the time she found what she wanted, half her street clothes were on the floor, she quickly put them on as he watched with a smirk. Today she chose her tri-blue T-Shirt from Terra with Raptor Rainbow Dash on it.

M’Sara quickly walked past Thomas, her other clothes left in a pile, neither of them had time to spare. As she walked by, she commented, “You did not need to wait for me.”

When Thomas followed M’Sara out the door, he answered, “No, but I wanted to walk with you. I enjoy your company that much at least.”

They walked down the hall and M’Sara glanced out the port to the Mars surface before she informed Thomas when he caught up to her, “We are not going to the same class.”

“That is correct, but all the classrooms are in the same section of this complex. We can walk together that far at least. It is nice to walk with someone, instead of walking alone, don’t you think.”

“Yes, I agree, we can watch each other’s back at least that far.”

 

Let’s Do This

 

Thomas was almost to the cafeteria where he was to meet M’Sara when he ran into his friend Mateja. She almost ran him right over as she left the adjoined hall. She helped him off the floor with what he knew was a smirk, one of her ears was partly to the side. He could not help but be sarcastic as he told her, “Thank you so much for your help, I felt like I was too far from the floor today.”

With a huff Mateja let go of his hand and as soon as he fell back to the floor again, she sat on his waist with her feet at either side of his head. “How is this? Do you Feel better now?”

Thomas chuckled and looked to either side of the hallway from his view on the floor that was not blocked by her feet, and noticed that people just walked around them, as they ignored them both. Did the general population know us that well already? This kind of thing used to cause a fuss, he thought to himself. He looked back up at Mateja, she wore her old “Kill all humans” Bender V-neck shirt today that his father had got her. Katzen had digitigrade feet so they usually wore shorts or short pants that ended at their knees and they only wore shoes when they had too since their fur covered feet had tough yet soft pads that allowed them to walk barefoot most places, and do so very quietly as their claws were retractable. He gave her fur covered calf a playful pat and admitted, “I am feeling better, thank you. Glad to see you are in high spirits today. I’ve not seen you be this playful since the last final.”

Mateja stood up and stepped back to give him a hand up, for real this time. After he stood and brushed off his clothes she said to him with mischievousness in her voice, “I’m happy because you have a mate now. I’m sure by now you have forgotten all about that human female that stalked you back in your hometown before we left your parents’ home together. Though I did have fun chasing her off on all four’s sans clothing, it sure did freak her out too. She thought I was some wild animal, a leopard I think she said. Despite my coloration and markings only being a little similar to a mix of Clouded and a Amur leopard”

Thomas stopped in mid brush and gave Mateja a sideways look before he informed her, “I had forgotten all about that awful ‘person’ until now, thank you. One more thing, M’Sara is not my mate. We are just friends; we barely even know each other. Oh, wait you are just teasing me, and I fell for it. I fell for it again. So, tell me, why were you in such a hurry?”

Mateja grabbed his arm with hers around it when she started off towards the cafeteria, and Thomas was pulled along with her, she was much stronger than him after all so he stumbled to catch up. It was not that he was weak, it was that she was stronger than most humans just as most of her species were. After a few steps she answered, “Oh, I was not in a hurry, I just wanted to run into you. I am hungry though, let’s grab a bite to eat, I’m hungry for some meat. Thick Juicy meat.” She ended her sentence with a slurp.

With a sigh Thomas allowed her to drag him along with her, after a moment he informed her, “M’Sara has planned to meet me here, I hope you did not intend to have me for lunch.” He was used to her double entendre puns that rhyme, so he tried to roll along with her, but he usually failed at it.

Mateja did not slow, she did chuckle in her way however and he knew that when he saw her ears as they dipped to the sides a bit when he looked over at her.

Thomas spotted M’Sara right away in the far back with M’Lar beside her on the left side of the room after Mateja and him entered the cafeteria together. It was his turn to take Mateja by the wrist and she let him lead her to the table M’Sara was seated at. She followed along silently and they passed by two empty tables to get there. When he sat opposite M’Sara at the table, he came to the realization that he had two friends he could count on with him on Mars now. He did not know M’Lar at all, except that she was M’Sara’s friend. In the middle of the table there was sliced roasted turkey soaked in gravy. Alongside that was one bowl of broccoli covered in melted cheese covered with a transparent lid, he assumed it was for him, though he had not even told M’Sara he liked that. It looked like they had just gotten the food, it was still steaming hot, and they had yet to dish themselves any.

Thomas and Mateja took their seats, Thomas sat in front of M’Sara, and Mateja in front of M’Lar on the rectangular cafeteria table for four. They were normal Earth-like bench seats as both humans and Katzen could sit on them in relative comfort.

M’Sara started her introductions after they took their seats, “Thomas, Mateja, I want you to meet my good friend M’Lar. She is from the same colony as I am, we grew up together. M’Lar, you met Thomas briefly already.” M’Sara nodded to Mateja, “This is Mateja, a close friend of Thomas’, they go back several years. I did not know she was going to join us though I welcome her just the same.”

Thomas looked at M’Lar again and noticed she was only a few centimeters taller than M’Sara, that was when Mateja with a look of mischief, he could tell because she had one ear pointed off to the side a bit, decided to say, “M’Sara, how was your first night with Thomas? Does he still snore?”

Thomas turned to face Mateja quickly, and gave her a look that would make a laser gun blush. At the same time M’Lar turned to M’Sara to ask, “What is she talking about?”

Mateja did not let M’Sara answer as she answered quickly, “Oh she did not tell you? Thomas and M’Sara are living together in the same dorm room now.”

At this point M’Sara looked flustered, her ears down on the sides of her head in embarrassment as she only got out, “I… We…”

That was when Thomas decided to kick Mateja under the table, or at least he made an attempt but failed as she moved her leg out of the way at the last moment. He was frustrated enough that he firmly told Mateja, “This is why I don’t take you anywhere.” He turned to face M’Sara and added, “You will have to excuse her, she loves to cause trouble. This is likely why she has so few friends. Even though for some reason I love her like a sister. I must be crazy.”

M’Lar looked from Thomas to M’Sara and back to Mateja before she asked, “You and Thomas are old friends, Okay that I get, you say M’Sara and Thomas share a dorm room? How, why and when did this happen? I just arrived here a short time before you, so we have not had time to talk before you got here.”

All cool and collected Mateja suggested, “How about we eat first, I’m sure Thomas is more than happy to explain it but I’m starved.”

After Thomas had placed his fork gently down on the table, and wiped his face with the napkin, M’Lar made sure he did not forget that he had been volunteered to explain the situation as she caught his eye and asked, “Well, let’s hear it, explain why you and my best friend are cohabitating, and it better be good.”

He carefully folded his napkin, and attempted to not look like he wanted to stall, but he knew he likely had failed. He gazed at M’Sara for a few seconds and she gazed back with her ears off to the sides before he looked at M’Lar again and he noticed her ears had folded down flat on her head. So, he cleared his throat and started, “Well after we traded blows, we learned much from each other, things one cannot learn from words alone. We discussed our situations and decided that if she moved in with me it would suit us both. You see, I had my room to myself and she shared her room with a roommate that distracted her from her studies. Since we are in the same program, we can help each other out.”

This is when Thomas stopped and M’Sara took over without any signal from Thomas, “As you know M’Lar my dear friend, I was not getting along with who I had been assigned to share a room with, and so we decided that we would like to share his room. That it would be a benefit to us both. In order to move into another dorm, I would have needed to find someone who wanted to switch, or have me move in with them if they were alone. The former option was a long shot.”

Thomas watched M’Lar and noticed the look on her face change as she turned to face M’Sara when she took over for him, though he could not read it, if he had to guess he would have said it was confusion mixed with surprise.

M’Lar leaned over to M’Sara as she laid her hand on hers, and quietly said, “What is going on? Do you realize you just took over for him as if it were the most normal thing to do?”

M’Sara turned to face her and blinked a few times, “Oh, did I?” She paused a few seconds to collect her thoughts before she continued, “Well I wanted you to know that it was not his idea, or to think he was in any way taking advantage of me. I’ve grown fond of him in this very short time as well. I trust him.”

M’Lar leaned back from her, her mouth agape before she blurted out, “What, but you are not a human! Why would he even want to share a room with you? How could you grow fond of him?”

M’Sara calmly patted M’Lar’s hand that was still on top of hers as she whispered, “Neither is his mother, so what?”

M’Lar regained her composure a little before her eyes turned to Thomas, giving him a sideways glance before she looked back at M’Sara when she exclaimed, “No way... Is he ‘that’ Thom...”

M’Sara clapped her hand over M’Lar’s muzzle before she gently removed it when she went quiet. M’Sara then quietly said, “Quiet. He does not want anyone else to know, we need to keep this just between the four of us for what should be obvious reasons.”

M’Lar just nodded before she turned to look at Thomas again before she let her plate take her attention as she poked the pool of gravy with her spork like utensil as she attempted to absorb it all in.

Mateja leaned over the table to add in a rare instance of seriousness in a whisper that Thomas almost could not hear, “You know Thomas has been through some very rough times, we met when we were in our first year in middle school and cohabitated down on Earth since, as his parents took me in. We became very close friends, some say like siblings, even though he is only human. In fact, he is the only friend I have on Mars. I hope M’Sara will become one too, she is already on her way there.” She said before one ear turned to the side, the equivalent of a smirk she continued, “I’m so very happy for him, that he found M’Sara. I think she is very good for him. She will keep him in line, I’m sure of it.”

Thomas cleared his throat before he added, “Well now that was probably more than she wanted to know about me. The main point is, M’Sara and I are not only in the same field, but we are both specializing in warp physics. We both want the same thing, to maintain an interstellar ship. It is better for us both if we team up, take the bull by the horns, as it were, together. I think she feels as strongly as I do about learning as much as I can in this place.”

Mateja leaned over close to M’Lar with her muzzle cupped with one hand as she pretended for it to be private, but he heard her anyway and softly said with a wink, “He may even show her some new delights.”

At that point Thomas punched her in the shoulder and she just sat back while she made that strange sound, she claimed was a laugh before she turned to him with her tongue stuck out. He could only sigh and roll his eyes before he placed his palm on his face and slid it down and back to the table top.

M’Sara looked embarrassed with her ears folded down and turned to the sides, but she quickly regained her composure and cleared her throat with her hand in a fist on the front of her muzzle before she suggested, “Why don’t we all go to the Six-O-Two club, end this rotation with a bang? It’s late twentieth century rock music day, some good Terran music I found out about soon after I arrived on Mars.”

M’Lar started to gather the now empty plates and glasses onto the tray while she said, “I’ll clean up the table, and meet you there.”

Thomas grinned and added, “Music my father grew up with, some of my favorite tunes. I’m surprised you like it too M’Sara. I’m in.”

Mateja nodded before she said, “Thomas often listened to classic 1980s and 1990s Rock of that era while we lived together, and it grew on me too. None of us have early classes right, so why not? I would enjoy the company.”

M’Lar made a short sound similar to Mateja’s laugh before she informed them, “None of my classes start before mid-rotation. Sure, I’ll join in. See what this music that has M’Sara all excited about is.”

At that M’Sara and Thomas stood, followed by Mateja and they left M’Lar there to clean up after them. As each of them stood, the bench seats lowered into the floor to self-clean as M’Lar had pushed the button under the edge of the table for that.

 

Was that the Two Step

 

Thomas followed M’Sara to the Six-O-Two club, the common social and entertainment area. He stepped ahead and swiped his ID card over the card reader and it beeped, he waited for M’Sara and Mateja to do the same then opened the door for them. It was one of the few manually operated common doors in the colony mainly because it had a security door.

Inside was a large room for a colony on Mars, about a hundred square meters. It was made that large so future growth would not overwhelm it. The room was the shape of a hexagon and on the right side from the door was the dance floor, on the left were tall round tables that had two stools each. On the walls from top to bottom were flat display screens and on them an animated ocean beach with palm trees and white sand. There were no windows on any of the walls so that the illusion would not be ruined by the barren landscape of Mars.

As they entered Thomas followed them, he noticed that only a few other people were on the floor dancing, but the night was still young.

Mateja padded over to the mid back side table, and moved it next to another one, she moved the stools after she moved the table. Thomas and M’Sara stood nearby and watched until she was done. When she was done, they took their seats, Thomas and M’Sara shared one table. Though M’Sara needed to climb up her stool as it was almost as tall as she was.

M’Sara stood on her stool so she could touch the small screen in the center of the table, and ordered the Katzen equivalent of an alcoholic drink, it was almost like malt liquor but not really that much. It was made from some kind of Katzen grain. Thomas ordered a dark beer, and Mateja used the screen at her table to order a drink as well.

Every student had an entertainment allowance, and Thomas had yet to even use his until now, so he had what was more than a small amount saved up.

M’Sara looked up at him with her ears half folded after he had ordered and mentioned just loud enough to be heard over the music, “This is the first time I’ve used my entertainment allowance. I have quite a bit saved up.”

Thomas just grinned and patted her hand softly as he too had to speak loudly with their heads close to each other over the music, “How about we hit the dance floor after we finish our drinks?”

Mateja interjected before M’Sara could answer, “I’ll keep M’Lar company, I may join you too, who knows maybe we both will”

M’Sara took a second after Mateja was done before she answered, “Alright, but I don’t know anything about Terran dancing.”

Thomas chuckled, “Well for casual dancing, you just move your legs and arms about to the rhythm using a few patterns while you face each other. It should be easy enough for you, watch those that are out there dancing now. You could teach me some Katzen dancing too, if you like.”

M’Sara looked out at the dance floor and watched the dancers for a minute before she turned to look at the table with her ears down when she answered, “I’ve never danced before actually, so I don’t really know how. From what I know of it, I think I would rather learn yours; it looks easier.”

Mateja did that sound when she laughed before she added, “Casual Terran dancing is fun, I think you’ll like it.”

Just then a little more than a meter-high hex shaped robot with a flat top with a raised rim, arrived with their drinks. It had blue LED lights that blinked at each top corner and when it stopped beside their tables. It started to beep, a very high-pitched beep, that repeated once a second, like a Casio digital wrist watch from the eighties.

Each in turn reached down to retrieve their drink, all in clear chilled acrylic mugs. With the last one removed it beeped no more and returned from whence it came.

Thomas took a sip of his, he had not had a drink since a month before he left Earth. He said in a surprised voice, “This is surprisingly good, considering.” So, he took another sip.

M’Sara nodded, “There is a complex here just for hydroponics, and people from Terra were brought to make food and drinks for you humans. That includes recreational drinks, that may be why it tastes so good.”

Thomas looked sidelong at M’Sara, “I knew that.”

M’Sara in turn just “humphed” as she turned her head away from him, she had made a human-like sound, and took another drink of her beverage.

Thomas grinned and followed suit with his own.

It was then that M’Lar found them and sat opposite Mateja. She looked around at them and said, “Well, the party started without me, just as I expected. Don’t worry, I’ll order a drink for myself.” By the time she entered her order she had already completed her speech.

Mateja looked at M’Lar with her ears perked up while she gestured to M’Sara and Thomas to tell her, “Don’t worry I’ll keep you company while these two love birds set the dance floor on fire.”

M’Lar blinked and looked up at Mateja with her eyes wide open. Her ears moved until they were erect to exclaim, “What birds? And why would they set it on fire?!”, she looked back and forth at M’Sara and Mateja as she waited for an answer.

M’Sara just ignored her and drank the rest of her drink with a few gulps while she attempted to not look anywhere in particular.

Mateja made that laugh sound again when she noticed M’Sara’s reaction.

Thomas in the meantime had covered his face with his hands while he shook his head behind his now empty glass that he still held.

M’Lar noticed their reactions and just stared at Mateja and asked, “What?”

That in turn caused Mateja to laugh even harder, she really enjoyed what she was so good at. Oh, how M’Lar will be fun to mess with in the future. “We are going to be great friends, you and me M’Lar.”

Thomas shook his head before he stood up. He walked around the table behind M’Sara. As he got behind her, she lifted her arms up without a word, he gently picked her up, and lowered her to the floor where she now stood. As he did that, he informed them, “We will head over to do a dance or two now, please enjoy yourselves in our absence.”

With that discarded to hang in the air, M’Sara followed him with her ears up and forward as he led her to the dance floor.

M’Lar and Mateja watched them leave, it was odd, almost like they could read each other with little or no words. Mateja had seen that before, it was that way with Thomas’ parents.

He stopped to wait for her and she turned to face him and held her arms out and up so he could reach them, paw hands open.

Thomas smiled down at M’Sara, and took her paw hands in his, he held them gently, the fur that covered them soft to the touch like that of a house cat. Her pads that were on her palms below each knuckle joint, and on the tips of her fingers, were soft like pillows and nice and warm too. It felt both odd, and pleasant at the same time. The top of her head was level with the bottom of his chest as she watched him and imitated his dance moves, even as amateurish as they were. She looked up at him with that same look as before, her ears up and forward, a look of confidence, with a bit of nervousness. It would be nice if she was taller to dance with, but she was full grown, so this is as tall as she would ever get. Her species did not normally get much taller anyway.

Over the audio system a new song had just started. It was by Duran Duran, a song called: A Matter of Feeling. He knew it well, one of his mother’s favorites, his father’s fault, he was sure. It was one of their romantic songs, he wondered if Mateja had a paw in that? As Mateja knew about how his mother felt about it as well. His father had after all played it for his mother often while Mateja had lived with them more than once.

M’Sara waited for him to start, so he swayed from left to right as he moved his weight on each foot in turn. She still held hands with him, and his smile widened as he looked down at her. He could see her tail as it swayed to the rhythm, slowly it curled from left to right in the opposite direction of her hip movement.

By the time the song was half over she had moved her hands around his waist and had moved closer to him as they slowed down together.

When M’Sara had switched positions he moved his arms as well, to drape them behind her, his hands rested softly on her back. He could feel her purr as her cheek rumbled softly against his belly. It felt a little odd at first but the more he got used to it the more he enjoyed it. They remained like that as they slowly swayed from left to right in a slow dance.

As soon as the song ended, they separated. Thomas smiled down at her, and M’Sara looked up at him with her eyes half shut, her ears still faced forward, but now they were a bit more relaxed.

She slowly took his hand into her hand and softly rubbed it on the side of her muzzle and along her cheek. After she was done, she let go of his hand and told him softly, “I’ve marked you as mine. If anyone would dare to touch you, I will rip their eyes out via their mouth.”

He kept his smile on his face as he looked down at her and made a mental note to ask what she meant by that later.

Suddenly Thomas felt himself be turned around violently to face a stranger, it was a large Togartz who told him loudly, “What is the meaning of this, why are you fraternizing with a Luchs human? How dare you corrupt this poor Luchs!”

He was the same Togartz that had watched him in the lab just the other day.

In the next moment Thomas saw that the Togartz pulled back for a punch, but his fist was caught by another. He looked down at that arm to his left that had just saved him from that blow to see it belonged to Mateja.

In one smooth move she used both hands, and her leg beside his foot between his feet to block them and she twisted his hand around and spread it open while she pressed her thumbs to the back of his hand with it bent down and locked. He roared in pain and surprise while he fell to his knees. His eyes were wide when he saw another Togartz had protected his intended target. He was about five centimeters taller than Mateja, but she did not let that bother her. She used a move they had learned in their martial arts class they took together way back, it brought back some painful but good memories.

M’Sara was still behind Thomas and she was not happy, or relaxed anymore. M’Sara looked around the room to see if the Togartz had worked alone.

Mateja gave him a few seconds to realize his situation before she informed him in a flat tone, “Kind sir, if you ever bother my friend again, even talk to him without his permission, you will find yourself on the next shuttle to your place of origin. If you so much as touch either of them, you will find yourself at work in the mines in a penal colony. Do I make myself clear?”

He looked defiant as he answered, “You take this Terran’s side? What authority do you have to order me around?”

Mateja’s ears lowered with a low growl when she answered, “The house of T’Vork does.”

The Togartz on his knees huffed and his eyes grew wide before he lowered his head. It was a few seconds before his ears drooped and his tail went slack, “I understand, I am sorry, I did not know. If I offended you in any way, please tell this lowly being how I may make amends.”

Mateja let go of his hand before she took a small step back, “First, give me your full name, then apologize to my friend Thomas, and his mate M’Sara for intruding on them. Follow my previous orders as well and I will overlook your transgression this one time, but it will not be forgotten.”

Still on his knees he rubbed his hand, sore from the strained tendons, he huffed again and looked at Mateja before he said in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the music, “My name is B’Larrin S’Vatz.”, He looked over to Thomas and M’Sara and looked very unhappy then after about ten seconds finally said, “I am sorry for disturbing you, please forgive me. I will not bother you again.”

Mateja also informed him, “Your entertainment credits will not be available any longer and you will not be allowed into the Six-O-Two club for three months. Use that time to think about how you could better yourself.”

Everyone else who had been on the dance floor and a few others had stopped to watch, so they had a small crowd of five others, that did not include M’Lar who was behind Mateja now, around them.

With that he nodded with his ears down and turned to the sides. He looked totally defeated as he soon stood and turned to leave. Those around them parted to let him through and he strode out through the door.

Thomas watched him leave until the doors closed behind him.

When the door was finally closed, Mateja turned and gave Thomas and M’Sara a hug. Thomas smiled and hugged them both. M’Sara joined in on the group hug after a few seconds. Mateja released them, to put a hand on each of their shoulders and with a concerned look on her face told them, “See friends in security do come in handy. Don’t worry you two, I’m not going to leave this to sit and fester. I’m going to monitor him, and see if he worked alone and if it was just a one-off thing, or if it goes deeper. It gives me a really bad vibe, what he said sounded rehearsed, and scripted.”

Thomas nodded then added, “Not just that, that is the same guy who watched us work in the lab the other day.”

Mateja patted them both on the back before she took a step back to turn to M’Lar who now stood beside M’Sara. The other people dispersed now that the excitement was over. Mateja informed M’Sara, “I’m sorry to cut the night short, but I need to go report this to security right away, and get the investigation open and started.” She turned back to M’Sara and Thomas, “Take care you two, I’ll be in touch.”

Thomas gave M’Sara a side hug as he nodded and with a smile and answered, “We will keep an eye on each other’s back. Thank you for everything.”

With that Mateja turned and left with a quick stride out the doorway.

Without a word M’Sara grabbed Thomas’ hand and pulled him with her, as she passed M’Lar she took her hand paw too and they both followed her back to their table.

When Thomas took his seat, M’Sara let go of his hand. He turned his head to look at her and noticed she had M’Lar’s hand paw again. She looked into his eyes and softly told him, “I’m not leaving your side unless I need to. I am so glad we live together already. That makes that part easy.”

M’Lar gripped M’Sara’s hand paw tighter to get her attention. When she had it, she sounded concerned when she asked her, “We have been friends a long time, we lived together in our colony world, we came here together. We both shared a dream to sail the stars together.

You never gave me any indication in all those years that you would drop all that for a male, let alone a human male. What happened to those dreams?”

M’Sara squeezed M’Lar’s hand in return as she answered, “I still have that dream. To sail the stars is priority one, that has not changed. You are still my dear friend who I know shares that dream. I’ve only added to it, incorporated another person into it who wants to share that dream with me as well. I have grown close to him in this short amount of time, it is kind of scary, but overall, I feel good about it.”

This is where Thomas took over her explanation, “As she is a part of mine. I have the same dream. When I consider it has only been a couple days it kind of blows my mind. Put your feet in my shoes, if you can. A human and a Katzen have become friends in less than a week. That is one reason we wanted to go out and spend time together in public. To see how well it would work. I think we complement each other nicely; don't you think?”

M’Lar looked at Thomas with her eyes slightly wider for a moment, “That has to be the oddest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said softly before she answered, “I suppose you do; I have a feeling it will take some time for me to adjust. What is important to me is M’Sara, and by extension you too it would seem. As long as she is happy, all is good.”

M’Sara laid her other hand paw softly on M’Lar’s hand paw before she suggested, “How about we have some more drinks, I feel a bit stressed from that encounter.”

Before she was half done Thomas had already started the order for them. He looked over to M’Lar and asked, “What would you like?”

M’Lar’s ears twitched before she answered, “I’ll have whatever M’Sara is having. One more thing M’Sara, this music is… Interesting.”

He finished the order, and gave M’Sara a soft pat on the arm, “We should do our best to have an enjoyable evening, in spite of the interruption. I would like to get to know your friend a little better anyway.”

In turn M’Sara reached over to him and pulled his head over and he did not resist so she could rub her cheek on his before she let it go. She turned to M’Lar and started, “I want to also thank you for being so patient with me. As you can see for yourself, it is just as I told you earlier, that everything I thought I knew about him was false. In fact, it was just about the complete opposite of what I was told.”

She nodded as she looked from Thomas to M’Sara before she said with surprise, “You have no idea how surprised I am about this situation. I am still working on absorbing it all.”

It was at that time when the robot server showed up with their drinks.

 

The Perfect Start

 

Thomas woke before his alarm sounded; he had been having a dream of the incident at the Six-O-Two club. That was about twenty rotations ago. It was like they had become even closer to each other after that incident. They had not left each other's side except for classes they did not share since.

 

 

They[4]  had gotten a perfect four points on their lab project they had worked on together. Dr. Tyson was impressed with their creativity, and how they worked together as a team. Ironic because of how it all started, and how it worked out.

Mateja had kept an eye on them and that Togartz. She had been unable to make any connections to the incident, and she suspected he had just let out some built up stress. She however would not let it go just yet. She was not convinced that there was not more to it.

Even though M’Sara woke him and removed the covers from them, she still laid beside him. With no covers on him he got a little chilled. That is until she laid over him with her chest on his. He looked at her when she nuzzled him again on the neck and asked, “Why did you wake me if you don’t want me out of bed?”

When she tilted her head slightly as she looked at him while she ran her finger pads along the side of his arm, her other arm held her up and she had her leg draped over his thighs. With her eyes half closed and her ears half laid on the side of her head she let out a purr before she answered, “I want to have some fun to start the day before we get out of bed. We have time, as it is our free day. After that we will get cleaned up with a nice, long, hot shower.”

*****

Thomas rubbed his hair dry with a towel, and while he did that M’Sara decided that she would help so she dried off his lower body with another towel. He enjoyed the attention and he smiled as she rubbed him down. When she made it to his feet, she was on all fours like a cat. He was done with his hair so he looked down at her with his towel in hand and asked, “You know, we really should inform my parents of my current situation. I think they would like to hear from me, it has been over a month since I wrote them. I bet they would also like that I’ve been living with you as well. We should take some photos after we get dressed. What do you say?”

M’Sara patted his feet a few more times with the towel before she stood, took his towel out of his hand, turned and threw them in the wall hamper. She was already dried off, as he had helped get her fur dry first. By help he had dried her off while she stood still for him. Even so, she had not put anything on as of yet. After she turned to face him, she answered, “Yes, I would like that. I would feel included in your family that way too. Thank you.”

He smiled even wider at her as she stood in front of him and looked up at him. As he looked over her well muscled; her large leg and foot muscles, yet slim form, only looked large in comparison to the rest of her. It was as if he wanted to memorize every piece of fur on her. Before he got lost in her eyes he asked her, “What about your family?”

She hummed, then said, “Yes, I will send photos to my aunt and uncle too, and write them. They may not be so happy about it, but I would like to let them know anyway. I will tell them to forward it to my parents, if they can.”

They had decided to dress in school uniforms, they were light slate gray jumpsuits with short legs that had white, blue and purple stripes along the sides. They were identical unisex outfits, except there sizes. They agreed it would show unity as to their dedication to the school, and that was what they wanted. He took four photos using the built-in camera with a timer in his terminal monitor. One with them standing side by side with them holding each other around each other's backs. One with her sitting on his lap with her turned towards the camera with her arm up around his neck, and one of each of them standing alone. Along with the photos he wrote a letter that explained what had happened to him up to this point. He even included his incident with M’Sara, how they met, their date, and the recent one with the Togartz, and she helped him with a few details, he also let them know that she had helped him write the letter. He also included her personal contact info along with a short letter from her that she wrote on her terminal as he wrote another one just about himself as well. They were united together as they remained individuals. When all that was done, the emails were sent.

 

The Day Started So Well

 

They sat together at a table for four, M’Sara and Thomas side by side on the bench seat. It looked like they had eaten enough for four when Mateja sat across from Thomas and laid her tray of food in front of her. Thomas and M’Sara shared what looked like lasagna with extra meat, and they had wolfed down most of it pretty well by themselves. Mateja chuckled before she asked them, “Did you two have a busy morning? That meal is more than enough for the three of us. Did you two do your workout already?”

M’Sara looked up at Mateja when she had started to talk, and when she was done, she looked away, her ears out to the sides, with a look of embarrassment.

Thomas looked up and said with a grin, “Workout, yeah, you could say that. We just got done writing our parents before we came here and after we got cleaned up. It was about our escapades and our current situations, and we also included photos. Yes, we chose to eat lasagna for breakfast. That was because we were starving after our long and hard workout. Yeah, that is exactly what happened.”

Mateja gave an abrupt laugh at his answer, then leaned in to say with a grin in her eyes as she attempted to impersonate a London accent in English, “Right, say no more, say no more.” She switched back to a normal voice to say, “I wondered why you guys were still at work on your breakfast at this late time. I just got out of my morning class, and I was about to have an early lunch.”

Thomas chuckled and pushed her playfully back to her side of the table and said, “Why did I show you Monty Python’s Flying Circus while you lived with us. Show her some good culture I thought. My father recommended it of course. Oh, I should show it to M’Sara when I get a chance. That way she will understand your reference.” He paused for a second then continued, “Why don’t you join us Mateja?”

With a grin, she answered, “Oh I would love to see some MPFC again.” She grinned as he just stared at her before she continued, “Of course I’ll eat with you guys, I’ve been so busy I’ve had little social time of late. It has been nothing but work, work, and more work.”

As Mateja talked, she helped herself to some of their food.

*****

The three of them strolled down the hall from the cafeteria and when they arrived at the next intersection Mateja stopped, turned and gave M’Sara a hug that surprised them both, next she took Thomas into her embrace while she still held onto M’Sara. Mateja announced to them while she kept them prisoner, “I have to go back to security, I need to check on my contacts there for more information. I’ll check with you two later, I have no plans on the next rotation, why don’t we hang out then?” When she was done, she let go then took a step back.

Thomas answered for them both with a chuckle, “You have become clingy in your old age. Also, sure, why don’t you bring a date this time?”

In answer Mateja made a bark kind of laugh before she replied, “Yeah sure, we will see.” She then turned with a wave before she strolled down the hall.

They stood in the intersection and watched her leave, not many others were around so they did not feel the need to move right away.

After she was out of sight Thomas turned to M’Sara and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, to turn her to face him before he suggested, “How about we go back to our room and relax for a few hours, play some video games before we go to the gym to actually work out? Our time slot is not until five, right?”

She smiled up at him and nodded, and without a word led him to their room. When they made it to the hall outside their room she said with a voice of challenge, “Why don’t you show me this Python show first, then I’ll kick your ass in Mortal Kombat XV.”

*****

M’Sara and Thomas were on their way to the gym, it was located on the far side of the colony from the residential area on the other side of the medical center. M’Sara had kicked his ass in Mortal Kombat XV, twice. They turned the last corner and Thomas made a comment, “I noticed that you really have improved your game. I assume you have been practicing?”

In answer she bounced up then playfully punched him lightly on the shoulder without even one missed stride before she answered, “Of course, not like I ever played the game before I met you. Nice of them to make a smaller game controller for me though.”

He chuckled, then added, “That controller is for children, but yeah it works well for you I’ve noticed.”

Just as they reached the door to the gym it opened before they could open it, and the same Togartz from before stood on the other side and blocked their entry. They had been too distracted to notice they had been followed but found out when everything went dark as they stood there in surprise. Bags were put over their heads before they could react.

Thomas started to panic when the cloth bag went over his head, though not for long, as he started to lose consciousness, the bag was drugged, was his last thought before all went dark.

 

Oh No, Not Again

 

Thomas woke up slowly. At first, he thought his cat wanted into his room, and it cried outside the door. He was in his room he had lived in when he had lived with his parents. Soon he realized that was not the case as he slowly remembered that he had left his parents years ago and then a second later what had just happened to them rushed back. He opened his eyes and all he could see was darkness. The sound he heard was M’Sara somewhere near him. He could smell her cinnamon like scent over the smell of metal. He tried to move, and he was held fast in a chair, he could not even move his arms, or legs. He also felt a chill, it was not very warm, about twenty he guessed.

He called out, “M’Sara, is that you? Wake up, please. I need your help.”

He heard her moan softly again and he heard her stir off to his right. He turned his head in that direction and called out again, “M’Sara, please wake up.”

M’Sara felt the world return to her, it was slow, she was on some kind of hard surface, and it was cold. She rolled over onto her back, and slowly felt around while she opened her eyes. She could almost see someone off to her left, and she heard Thomas call for her. She waited until the room no longer spun before she even attempted to sit up. She turned her head towards the faint shape of Thomas. She could barely make him out, there must be very little light in the room. Finally, she called him, “I’m here. I’m unhurt, I think. What happened?”

He sighed with relief and softly with a troubled voice answered, “I don’t know what happened, I seem to be secured to a chair. I’m unable to move my arms or legs. The last thing I remember is that the Togartz from before had blocked our way into the gym.”

M’Sara rolled over so she could get on all fours then padded softly towards Thomas, she still felt a bit dizzy so she did not stand up yet. She used his legs to crawl up and put her head in his lap. When she was high enough, she grabbed his waist before she softly said, “I seem to be unbound, I’m so glad you are here. I don’t know what I would have done if someone took you from me. I would never have thought that a Katzen would go so far as to kidnap someone either. I don’t know what they used on me, but I don’t feel well. So, what is the plan? I can’t seem to form a coherent thought yet.”

Thomas let out a soft sigh then with an almost whisper he said with some concern, “As soon as you can, if you could find a way to release me from this contraption, they have me in, that would be great.”

Just then from a source somewhere on the wall behind him they heard, “I see you are conscious. Don’t bother feeling upset at being held against your will, as it is all your fault that you are here. You have no one to blame but yourself. Get comfortable, you may be here for a long time.”

Thomas turned his head and looked towards the voice, and he felt M’Sara do the same as she was still in his lap. He could only see darkness of course. The voice sounded as if it was a human male, it even had just a bit of a Southern accent and he spoke in English instead of Common.

With a soft sigh M’Sara slid back down and sat on the cold floor on her haunches. She felt around the arm rests while she commented, “That sounded like it was Terran English and I did not understand any of it. I’m as worried as you are, and I can just barely see, I imagine you are in complete darkness. We are in a room that is not very large and all but us and this chair. Not enough light in here to see very well. There is a very small amount emitting from under the door behind you.”

Thomas looked around and behind himself and sighed, “I can’t even see you; it looks pitch black in here to me. I can barely see a very faint glow in a strip, that must be the door.”

She patted his leg and softly said, “Worry not, I’ll get you free, then we can plan our escape. Good thing we are engineers. They have no idea who they are messing with. They have a world of pain on the way.”

She had moved around his chair so she could examine it for what seemed like hours. He heard a click just before she whispered, “I have it. I found the wire hub, the chair seems to be operated remotely, but I should be able to hack it.”

Thomas could hear M’Sara as she worked on it, he sure hoped she figured it out soon, the chair he was in was cold, and felt like it was made of flat sheet metal. He wondered why they left her free, and grinned, their first and last mistake.

There was a spark, it lit the room like lightning. She gasped, and softly said, “Oh, what have we here. I think I’ve made progress. Yes, yes I do.”

It was not long after that M’Sara heard voices on the other side of the door.

Thomas thought he may have heard a very muffled voice, but he would bet a dollar that M’Sara could hear it well enough.

“Why did you bring a Katzen with him? You were supposed to just bring him? What good is it if we bring our allies into this?”

“She was with him, I followed them for days, they never separated. I even had one of our boys attempt to separate them. I thought it would be better to bring her to keep her quiet.”

“You incompetent oaf. Why can I never find good help? Now I have to go do some damage control. Do you know who she is?”

“A student sir. A Luchs.”

“Great help. At least it is not a Togartz you brought with him. You should be able to handle a little Luchs. As soon as I’m gone, make sure they are drugged again. Keep them drugged as I don’t want them to gain consciousness again until after I get back.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’ll be back after I’ve cleaned up your mess. Don’t fail me again or you will need to learn how to breath vacuum.”

“Yes sir.”

It grew quiet again. So now she knows why there is just one chair. What did they have planned for him? Why was he targeted?

After a few more minutes, he had no idea how much time passed for sure it was his best guess when there were more sparks, and this time they were followed by louder clicks. He felt the clamps on his wrists and ankles loosen when they released.

He lifted his arms and massaged his wrists before he stood. Just then he was grabbed around the neck, in surprise he yelped. M’Sara hugged him tight. He let his arm go that she had ducked under, and reached down to pat her on the back softly as he whispered, “Alright, let’s get out of here, then we can celebrate.”

She let him go and took half a step back before she answered in kind, “Right, I have a plan. We wait on either side of the doorway; you will be behind the door when it is opened. We will take whoever comes through the door by force and quickly. If he is alone, we combine our attack, if not, you take whoever is left. Watch for what drug he used to. I’ll go for that first, but if I miss, you grab it. We should assume there will be light as soon as the door is opened, be ready.”

“Understood.”

Without another word she took his hand and led him to the right side of the door. With a hand on his waist, she positioned him on the wall and left him there. She padded to the other side of the door and waited.

It was not too much later when the door made a clunk noise as it was unlocked. They got ready and when the door opened, they flattened themselves against the wall, Thomas was behind the door as she had planned. When the Togartz padded into the room and noticed that no one was in the chair that was now lit from beyond the doorway. As soon as he suddenly stopped in tracks is when they acted.

M’Sara leaped onto his back, her arms were wrapped around his head and she scratched at his eyes in the hope that it would panic him.

Thomas at the same time went for a roundhouse to the back of his knees, and he collapsed in utter surprise.

M’Sara did not sit idle while he fell to the floor, she used his head as leverage and twisted then bent over so she could wrap her legs around his neck and used her body to cover his face. She then bent over backwards and reached out so she could grab the cloth in his hand, and with a smooth motion was able to stuff it in his mouth under her chest now that she had sat back up, as his mouth was still open in surprise.

Thomas got around in front of him and put his knee into his solar plexus just under her rear as she did her stunt. The poor guy never had a chance, after a moment he collapsed to the ground. He was out like a light. He laid there face up on the floor with his legs under him.

They did not wait to see if he was alone, M’Sara got off him and ran on all fours into the hall.

Thomas applied more liquid onto the cloth from the bottle that he had grabbed from the Togartz, and held it over his muzzle to make sure he would stay out for at least a few hours. When he was done, he pocketed the cloth and the now closed bottle. He went out the door at a jog to catch up with her.

M’Sara strolled back down the hall towards him and shook her head while she informed him, “We are alone, I’ll lock the Togartz in that room, wait for me in the room ahead.”

They passed each other as they headed opposite directions and as they did, they gave each other a fist bump. He had taught her that.

She nodded with a smile as he did the same before, she trotted to the door to the room they had just escaped from.

Thomas walked into the only room at the end of the hall. As he Looked around, he could see it was a mostly empty room with one console. There was one window, and it looked dark. He walked towards it and looked out; he could make out the surface of mars. From there he could see that the door beside him was connected to a small room that had a door on the other side that led to a ramp that led to the surface of mars.

He looked around the room again for another door. There on the side wall was a small door. He walked over to it and opened it; it was a closet full of supplies by the looks of it. There was nothing in it but shelves with boxes on them. The ones he could read said rations, and on the other shelf he spotted some water. The room had another small door at the end. He walked to that and found the toilet and sink. That was the end of that route.

He turned around to head out and Thomas found that M’Sara stood behind him.

M’Sara didn't sound happy when she said, “We have a little problem.”

Thomas chuckled, but not in a happy way, before he agreed, “You could say that.”

She took his hand and led him back out, “I need to relieve myself, wait out here.”

Without another word he walked over to the console that had what looked to be a terminal that worked on it. He sat down and activated it, he followed that with some typed commands. He needed to see what it was connected to and see what information he could find as to their current situation.

After what must have been several minutes M’Sara padded up beside him, “I looked in the storage room, no EVA suites. Just food and supplies. No EVA suites anywhere to be found in this place of ill repute.”

He read some more information he had found before he informed her, “It would seem we are in a future area of the colony. According to this, they put this area together inside of it. There is only vacuum on the other side of these walls. We are not far from the colony; however, it would seem we have no way to get there. I could use an idea about now.”

M’Sara put her arm around his shoulder and drew closer to him, with him in the seat their heads were about the same level. She hummed for a few seconds before she suggested, “They must have some kind of communications system, right?”

Thomas exclaimed, “Of course!”, he dug around the system some more, his fingers flew around the keyboard as he typed. After a few more minutes he found it, “Here we go. A wireless satellite feed into the colony network. But we would need one of our tablets for the encryption key. They removed their key it would seem as it is missing. A very good precaution that is. Now to see if we can hack our way in the hard way.”

She patted his shoulder and wandered off, “I’ll see if I can find our stuff.”

M’Sara pulled boxes off the shelves and opened each as she did, and finally found their stuff in one labeled, “Supplies” just like some of the others, like they had used an old box to store them. She did not stop until every box was opened and she still did not find even one EVA suite.

She dragged the box that contained their belongings behind her and back out to the main room where Thomas waited. She left the box beside him before she informed him, “I found our stuff, if we could connect one of our PCDs into the terminal we could easily establish a full connection with the use of its encryption key and get our location from the GPS. We can use that to let others know where we are.”

Thomas nodded with a smile, “Now that is a good idea. Clever girl.”

M’Sara smiled back, “I knew I could count on you.”

Thomas got down off the chair and on his knees before he removed the panel under the terminal. He then grabbed the box with their stuff in it, and took out his PCD. He would have to jerry rig a connector for its com port so he could retrieve the encryption key. There are no connection ports he could use on this terminal. It looked like they were all removed. A PCD was basically a specialized handheld computer, like smartphones of the 2020s only much more powerful. They were made so that they can communicate with other CAW members. Also, the battery does not run out in less than a day either, in fact it would last at least ten cycles with continuous use.

M’Sara sat on her haunches, like a cat, beside him so she could give him a hand. When she got her head beside his she gave it a nuzzle before she softly said, “We will make it out of this. We have friends, and you have me. This should be no problem for you. We helped design them, but even so what is used on Mars are Terran standards.”

Thomas had already started to remove the panels from the boxes that covered the electronics that ran the terminal. All the bolts used finger grip heads to keep it together. Just like a well-built home computer case would. He found the one for the bus from the circuit board the SoC was on, on the third one he removed, the panels were all unlabeled of course. He pointed at the panels along the wall while he said, “See if you can find me some wires.”

She left his side with a nod to do just that. He took off the back cover from his PCD and used it to strip the insulation from the points that he planned to connect the three wires to. After he was done with that, he sat it down and turned to check on her progress. She had padded half way from where she got them towards him already with wires in hand by the time, he had looked to find her.

Thomas smiled up at M’Sara as he said, “Right, this is the hard part. I need you with your very dexterous and small hands, to hold the wires to their contact points on both the PCD and the terminal board. This is while I use the PCD to hack into the system.”

She nodded and sat down on her rear with her knees and feet apart enough for the tablet to fit between them beside the open panel, “Use my toes, they are large enough to hold the tablet steady, you can use it like that and I’ll connect the wires with my hands. Just think of my cute toes as a tablet stand.”

He chuckled to himself as he sat in front of her, to face her with his legs crossed, and rested the tablet between her toes, they were more than large enough despite her small size. Her toes were about twice the size of a human’s would be at her size. This must be because they needed to support her weight without the ankle.

She clamped her very feline toes to hold it tight, the side edges fit nicely between her digit and metacarpal pads. It was held very steady indeed. He was free to use his hands so he could use the PCD tablet. She had already stripped the other wires with her teeth and twisted the strands together on each end. After she spat out the striped insulation, with each hand she held the three wires to the contact points. Her arms held out to each side of her with one on the tablet, and one on the innards of the console and made sure the same colors were at the correct points on the back side of the tablet where the data port connected to the board. It also helped that her hands were as small as they were, he doubted a human could pull this off.

He nodded to signal her that they had a connection, and typed on the onscreen keyboard. He entered in data as fast as he could while he was careful not to jar it. He did not know how much time they had before the those who left would return. He set up the software connection to the key, and that got him through to the colony system. With a huge smile on his face, he typed out a message to Mateja. “We have hacked our way into the com system with my PCD as they have no wireless here, I’ll send you our exact GPS coordinates after this message. Let us know when you are on the way. We have one assailant locked in the room we had been held captive in. No one else is here now, at least one left this location before now, whereabouts unknown. We suspect he is a human from Earth too. We did not see him, but we heard him talk. The only way in or out this place is open to vacuum. They must have brought their own airlock and or EVA suites. We don’t have access to even one EVA suite. M’Sara is holding wires with her bare hands to the back of my PCD tablet to keep this connection open so a prompt reply would be appreciated. I owe you.” He followed that with a command to send the coordinates from the GPS. With a warm look and smile at M’Sara he said, “Message sent. Now we wait for a reply, I asked her to make it fast.”

After what seemed like hours but had only been a few minutes, his PCD chirped. He had to look away from her as he got lost in M’Sara’s eyes before he looked down at the display. It was the expected message from Mateja, it read, “Message Received. We were already on your trail; your disappearance was noticed long ago. Hold tight we are on our way with an ETA of about one thirtieth of a rotation. We will come prepared. Over and out.”

Thomas looked up at M’Sara and smiled even wider, and happily said, “They will be here in about an hour, you can let it go now.”

She let the wires drop as well as her arms to her sides, and spread her feet apart, and sat that way as she said, “I’m glad she got back when she did, I don’t know how much longer I could have held those wires on, my fingers had gotten so tired, even in the low gravity.”

With a nod he picked up the PCD along with the back cover and put it back together. After that he put his stuff into his bag, then helped her put her stuff into her bag. It looked like they just took all their stuff and put it into this box, even their bags, he had found all their belongings, that included their ID cards.

 

Just Another Day at the Races

 

It was Thomas’ turn to watch for the rescue vehicle. It had been almost two hours when he noticed a Mars Surface Transport with the passenger compartment that included an airlock attached to the rear. They had four sets of wire mesh wheels with four large controlled universal joints on hydraulic connectors between the center of the two main parts that enabled it to bend and turn so it could navigate the rough terrain of Mars. The front of the vehicle contained the engine with the driver and navigator over that. The rear of the vehicle had the last two sets of wheels and over that was a place for multiple types of attachments that could be mounted on it. He jumped in excitement before he turned to tell M’Sara the good news, by that time she was already half way up off the floor. She ran over to stand next to him by the time he told her, “I think they are here.”

They walked to stand in front of the door that led to the Mars surface, and he watched through the port. After a thump when the maglock activated that was followed by a hiss, he let her know, “I can see Mateja with a couple of humans.” They took a step back and waited for the door to open.

When the airlock gave the door the signal that it was pressurized, they opened it. Out sprung Mateja and she tackled Thomas to the ground. Thomas blinked a few times before she came back into focus. That was when she informed him, “We are here to rescue you. Get into the airlock, then we can leave this place.”

She got off of him and walked back into the airlock, and they followed. Thomas dusted himself off while he grumbled about how she will never change. As they entered, the two humans walked past them into the room they had just left.

When Thomas got inside, he thought he saw a light out of the side port, when he looked out onto the Mars surface, he saw another MST with the same setup as the one they were currently in, and it was half way turned around beside them before he looked away. It looked like they would be ready to dock after they got on their way. With a shrug he sat in the seat beside M’Sara, Mateja had sat down opposite them. He strapped himself in as they had already done. The door to the compartment had just shut before he heard the air vacuum activate with a hum to remove the air from the airlock.

Before long the airlock detached from the door of the room they had just left with a thump as the mag seal released and then it hummed again when the motor retracted the airlock to where it would be secure during transport above them. With that done they slowly started to get on their way.

Thomas turned his head to the back and watched through the port at the build site as it slowly retreated behind them. It was mostly a skeleton structurally of what it would become, except the area they had been held in not all that long ago. He could see that ground was cleared off a large area some ways to the side that would be connected to it from the rest of the colony. He assumed the main complex when it was done. It was separated by almost a kilometer from the main colony, no doubt because in the plans it would be the main port that had a place for ships to land. It was for a future part of the colony when it would be more than just a school. It would also be a place for trade for all members of the Coalition of Aligned Worlds. This was because it would be easier to trade and store goods and supplies on a barren world with both low gravity and very little atmosphere. That meant that they did not have to worry about what would happen to any local ecology because there was none. Not to mention that it was close to a member homeworld and did not have thousands of satellites or debris scattered in orbit yet. There were also plans for an interstellar spaceship construction facility that would be in synchronous orbit above the school as well. It would be years before there was any sign of that space station as it was years in the future before they would even start to work on it. Even so he did not know why no one was working on the new section now.

Mateja sighed before she leaned forward against her harness and started, “Time to get down to business. I need any information you may have been able to gather. We have very little to go on, finding out who was behind this and why is top priority now that you are safe. We don’t think we will learn much from what was left behind either.”

Thomas gently laid his hand on M’Sara’s thigh before he explained, “It is thanks to M’Sara that we got free at all. She overheard the person in charge yell at his lackey that I was the only one that was supposed to be kidnapped. M’Sara had not been restrained as I was. He was really upset that they brought a Katzen with me. They did not know who she was from what she could tell from that interaction.”

M’Sara laid her hand on his just before she continued for him, “The person in charge was Terran and sounded like he was from Terra recently too, he sounded like he recently learned CAW Common. We never met anyone on the base like that either. The first time he spoke, it was in Terran English.” She lifted her hand up when she was done.

He gave her leg a gentle squeeze and continued, “The Togartz did not sound like he had much interaction with humans either. His accent was very heavy like a recent learner of CAW Common as well. That operation was either run by amateurs, or they wanted us to think that.”

Mateja gave Thomas a look before she blinked and looked back and forth at the two before her gaze rested again on Thomas. “I would leave any speculation up to the professionals. You know, the way you two do that has even started to weird me out. I’ve known Thomas and his family for about eight years, and it seems like every day you two are more and more like two halves of one, kind of like how I remember his parents but much more so. I thought I was used to that kind of thing too. Anyway, you two will need to come in to security for a debriefing and so that you guys are able to listen to some recordings of male Terrans that have arrived recently. Just show up as soon as you are cleaned up, have eaten and got some rest.”

In unison they both saluted sarcastically to Mateja as they said with a flat voice, “Yes mam.”

Mateja huffed before she placed her paw over her face with a sigh, she said, “You have even started to act like him, M’Sara. This is more serious than I could have ever imagined.”

M’Sara stuck out her tongue before she replied, “We must release our stress from when we were held captive, better be with humor than us explode, no?”

Mateja in turn just glared at M’Sara while she hissed out, “Yesss.”

For the rest of the ride back Thomas and M’Sara held hands as they silently looked at each other. The only thing Mateja did on the rest of the ride back was that she used her PCD to take notes. Just as they slowed to make the turn to dock with the Colony Mateja looked up and grumbled, “I’m starting to feel like a third wheel here.”

M’Sara chuckled and gave Thomas’s hand a squeeze before she told Mateja, “Don’t worry, you two can still hang out together, I’ll make sure of it.”

Mateja humphed, “I feel a bit jealous, that you have someone so close. You are so lucky M’Sara.”

M’Sara gave the Katzen equivalent of a smile to Mateja, her ears up and forward, whiskers out, eyes half closed before she said, “You are right, I have you and Thomas as good friends. I feel very lucky. At the same time, I know luck had nothing to do with it.”

Mateja slowly changed from tense to relaxed and returned the smile, then replied, “I just can’t stay mad at you. I feel lucky to have you as a friend too, thank you. One more thing, your size difference, how do you deal with that? He is almost twice as tall as you, and you are mostly legs.”

Thomas gave M’Sara’s hand a squeeze and held it firmly while he answered, “That is only a slight exaggeration, she is just over one point two meters tall, and I’m not even two. We have learned to deal with it though, mostly. Sure, she is the shortest adult Katzen on record, but we think it has something to do with the colony she grew up on. It has on average, shorter people on it than any other colony. She used to be really sensitive about it too, but she has become less so. I explained how awesome one is as small as she is, and how she should use it to her advantage. For instance, she can easily be a second pair of hands for me, reach things in small places I cannot, and that is just one example. In exchange I am her second pair of hands that reach what are high or distant places for her.”

At the end of Thomas’s speech M’Sara made grabby hands at Mateja with a grin in her eyes.

In reaction to what M’Sara did with her hands Mateja rolled her eyes.

Thomas let out a chuckle at their antics.

It was just a few seconds later that the MST started its preparations to dock with the Colony. When the maglock of the airlock engaged, they removed their harnesses, and stood to wait for the door to open to let them finally go home. Mateja stood behind them and patted them both on their shoulders, “You guys did great getting free on your own, I want to hear about that in detail when you make your way to the security office as well.”

When the process was done, they walked into the airlock together without another word. When Mateja made it out of her seat M’Sara took her hand, then brought her with her so M’Sara could take Thomas’s hand.

Thomas took Mateja’s other hand with a grin, they formed a kind of three-sided circle, “See you are not a third wheel. You are the third and fourth wheels.” Thomas ended that with a chuckle. Mateja in turn squeezed his hand with a lopsided grin until he yelped, “Ouch!”

 

Drinks For Everyone at The After Party

 

They walked out of the airlock and into the station while they still held hands with Mateja in the middle. M’Sara and Thomas had let go of each other so they could all walk together.

Just down the hall security officers that were both human and Katzen waited for them. They noticed that they watched the trio approach and when they got close enough, they spotted someone behind the security personnel, Mr. Wendell, the head of the school. Mateja let go of their hands and stepped forward so she could greet one of the security officers who stood in the middle, she talked to her in a low voice while Mateja showed her PCD to her.

Thomas and M’Sara patently stood together while they waited. Everyone else that was gathered just up ahead stood there and watched them.

Mateja turned back to the two who waited, took a step towards them with the Lehpparr security person she had just conversed with and announced, “This is sergeant K’Ehleyr Ritter Lursa, she is the officer in charge of this case, and wanted to meet both of you.”

Lursa greeted her with a nod. She stands about average height of just under one point six meters, “Please just call me Lursa, good to finally meet you two in person. Mateja has told me so much about you. We have something in common you know; my husband is a Terran.”

Thomas and M’Sara looked at each other before M’Sara turned back to face Lursa and started, “That is so…”

That was when Thomas, her hand still in his, took over, “Unusual.”

Lursa blinked and gave Mateja a look when she asked, “That was not a joke, was it?”

Mateja chuckled, “Yeah, they do that more and more every day. They had a conversation like that, back and forth on the way back. It still weirds me out. I’ve started to think that is why they do it. Just to get back at me for all the shit I make them put up with.”

M’Sara glared at Mateja and growled, with an undertone of humor, “You are aware we are still here, are you not?”

Mateja in reply stuck out her tongue.

Lursa gave Thomas a long look with her ears up and forward, her whiskers were pointed right at him, “I wish Sam and I had that kind of rapport. He even spent his later childhood here on Mars while they built the school.”

Thomas smiled warmly at Lursa as he told her, “Ah, he was a child of one of the work crews, and is he still on Mars?”

Lursa nodded.

Thomas looked at M’Sara and she watched him with her ears down a little and her eyes glowed with warmth, then he looked back to Lursa before he asked her, “We would love to meet him too, we should make it a double date.”

M’Sara nodded then looked down, her ears half turned to the side and down while her tail twitched with a little nervousness as she added, “We would indeed, the more people we know here the better. Maybe we will be able to become friends, I would like that. Until I met Thomas, I only had one friend, M’Lar the Luch I grew up with, and came to Mars with. She has been very busy though as she is in the medical program.”

Thomas added, “As I only had Mateja, I’m sure you can imagine what that was like.”

Lursa’s ears perked up as she listened to her. She gave them both a look before she asked, “Why don’t I meet you at your dorm rooms after you have rested, say in a tenth a rotation? Sam will be free by then; we can have an informal dinner at the cafeteria. Give you guys a chance to relax and eat before we head to security. How does that sound?”

M’Sara brought her hand in a fist up to her chin and tapped the end of her muzzle with her index finger; a very human gesture, while she thought for a few seconds before she suggested, “Make it point one five and you got yourself a date.”

Lursa took out her PCD and after a few touches and swipes on the screen announced, “I’ve informed Sam to meet us at the cafeteria. I’ll see you two later.” With that she turned on her heel and walked to rejoin the rest of the security personnel that waited for her. When she signaled to them, they all turned and walked down the hall.

Mateja gave M’Sara and Thomas a quick wave before she turned and followed Lursa. Her ears were upright, and her tail waved slowly behind her with her stride, Mateja looked so official in her security uniform too.

Thomas turned to M’Sara when they were alone and got down on his knees.

When M’Sara turned to face him, he opened his arms and she fell into them, she wrapped her arms around him, then moved her muzzle next to his ear and whispered, “I’m so glad we are back and safe. Now we should retire to our room, and take a quick nap. We did not get our workout, instead we got something much worse.” With that he let go and she stood up and started down the hall.

Thomas watched her leave, as her tail waved slowly behind her with her hips as she walked. After she got about four meters down the hall from him, he got up himself. He trotted to catch up, and when he did M’Sara turned her head to look at him with her hand raised and open, for him to take. So, he gently grasped her hand, and she gave it a gentle squeeze. They walked all the way back to their room like that, side by side, hand in hand.

*****

Thomas was dragged from consciousness; he kicked and screamed all the way back too, it was a hard fight, but ultimately futile. Their door beeped again. The weight and warmth of M’Sara did not help him wake up at all. It was the insistent beep from the bedside com that forced him awake. He looked down at her, head on his chest with one leg over both of his and it looked like she was still asleep. He hit the intercom button beside his bed, turned his head to the side and softly asked, “Who is it?”

After a short pause he heard, “Lursa here, are you two ready?”

Thomas did not bother to answer, instead he reached over and tapped the button that would open the door.

The door opened and revealed Lursa as she stood beside it by the intercom. She looked startled; her head was turned as she still looked at the doorway in surprise. She finally recovered and walked into the room, she was not in her uniform, she wore Terran jeans that the legs had been altered to fit with the legs only going down to above her knees and a dark red v-neck short sleeve knit shirt. As soon as she was past the doorway, he closed it behind her. Just inside past the refresher, she stopped and looked around. When she spotted Thomas, he was still in his bed. She put her hands on her hips and asked, “Where is M’Sara? I see that her bed is empty.”

Thomas pointed at the lump on his midsection and softly explained, “She is still asleep, the door chime did not wake her.”

With ears rotated so they were off to her sides of her head a bit, Lursa told him at the same soft volume he used, “Well Sam may already be there, we don’t want to make him wait, we need to wake her. I feel for her, but we need to get this ball to roll down the hill.”

At that point M’Sara stirred. Soon a kind of wildcat like noise escaped her lips as she poked her head out from the covers and yawned while she stretched her hands going out past his head, like a cat.

Thomas chuckled and playfully laid his hand on M’Sara’s rear, right beside her tail as he said, “Speak of the devil.”

M’Sara mumbled something in her native tongue before she said, “I thought I heard voices.” She spotted Lursa still on the other side of the room just inside the door and all she said was, “Oh.”

Lursa gave M’Sara a silent Katzen welcome as she raised and folded her ears while she looked at her.

M’Sara returned the gesture a little slower, as she was still not totally awake before she turned her head to face Thomas and asked, “What is she doing here?”

Thomas smiled and patted the top of her head softly, “She came to take us to our date, remember? I let her in.”

M’Sara still laid in the same spot, on top of Thomas, as she was when she was when she had fallen asleep and looked back at Lursa when she noted, “We are still in bed.”

Lursa chuckled, “Yes I noticed. If you two would be able to get ready, that would be great. I'll busy myself on your terminal while I wait.” She sat down at M’Sara’s terminal under the unused bed facing away from them, and started to type on it, to log in no doubt.

M’Sara in the meantime moved so she laid more so on Thomas and did her morning stretch again with a soft murr, her chest was now on his tummy, her legs laid beside his, and her arms were on either side of his neck.

Thomas chuckled, “That feels good and tickles at the same time. I hope I never get used to that even though you do that just every time you wake.”

Lursa did not even turn her head when she committed, “None of that now, we don’t have time. Good thing I came to get you two, or you would have left us to wait for the rest of this rotation.”

When M’Sara was finally done in one smooth motion she jetted out from the covers without hardly a brush of her fur on him and landed on all fours on the floor not far from Lursa. She had been very careful to not scratch Thomas on her swift exit. She wore only her fur as she stood a moment as she looked at Lursa in thought before she strolled over to her dresser beside the person that was still using her terminal and ruffled through her street clothes before she finally grabbed what she wanted to wear. The clothes they had worn earlier were dirty and in the hamper. She picked a black t-shirt with what looked like a black cartoon cat surrounded in white. With that she put on her slim fit, black, altered to fit jeans. With that done M’Sara watched as Thomas got dressed as if she was there to enjoy the show.

When Thomas was freed from M’Sara he slowly climbed down off the elevated bed and ducked under it to open his dresser drawer that contained his street clothes. He was still a bit sore from the ordeal of earlier today. He felt like he wanted to wear his Bass Hammer band t-shirt, so he wore that with some loose fit blue jeans. He walked over behind Lursa and asked in a snarky tone, “Watcha duin?”

In one smooth motion Lursa logged out with a key combo, and stood to turn to face him after she noted that M’Sara stood beside her as she got up before she answered, “I Just responded to a few messages. Nothing important. Ready? About time.”

Thomas did a mock small bow then swept his right arm across his chest, “Lead the way your majesty.”

As Lursa approached the door after she opened it, she turned to look at Thomas rolling her eyes, when she committed, “Mateja was not exaggerating about you, not even a little.”

*****

When they arrived at the table Sam was seated at, he stood up when Lursa greeted him, “I hope you have not waited long, these two were not ready when I arrived to get them and I had to drag them out of bed. This is Thomas and his mate M’Sara.” She gestured at Sam, “This is Sam, my husband.” He looked to be just a centimeter shorter than Thomas, about the same build but with red hair that was cut in a crew cut. He had a very average face too. He wore a knit, dark grey, v-neck short sleeve shirt and black slacks.

Thomas gave Sam a small wave before he told him, “Huh, you seem to be a little overdressed. Nice to meet you anyway Sam.”

Sam chuckled and sat back down in his chair while he gestured at the seats opposite, “Please, join us, won’t you?”

Lursa gave Sam a hug from behind and Sam returned it, before she sat beside him.

M’Sara padded over beside Sam and patted his elbow, “Nice to meet you too Sam.” After that she padded back over to take the seat opposite Sam as Thomas was already in the other seat.

Sam waited until everyone was situated before he looked at M’Sara and asked, “That is an interesting shirt you have on M’Sara, it looks like an Earth cartoon cat. I think it is a little ironic that you would wear it though, is it not?”

Thomas answered without a word or response of any kind from M’Sara as if she expected him to start, “Funny you should ask that, I got that for her about five rotations ago. The shirt is made of hemp, one of Earth’s contributions to CAW, and they love it as it grows just about anywhere. As you may know it is grown here on Mars too. The artwork is by a human on Earth. The artist earns CAW credits that they can spend on CAW goods and services. She also gets a head start on those that are not in on the action yet.”

Sam grinned at Thomas, “Do you always answer for her?”

Thomas also made no response when M’Sara did her best to imitate a human grin and answered with amusement in her voice, “No, but sometimes we answer for each other, it is this thing we do. It amuses us both as we watch the reactions of whoever we are talking to.”

As she answered all Thomas did was grin back at Sam.

Lursa committed, “You two make an odd, but a well fit pair, such as two jagged puzzle pieces. No doubt about it.”

Sam chuckled for a few seconds then with gusto said, “I’ll agree to that.”

By this time Lursa had her PCD out, and at that moment she looked up to announce, “I’ll take your order, and go get it, as I was the one whose idea this was.”

Thomas noticed Lursa had the same kind of accent M’Sara had. Unlike Mateja who spent almost a decade on Earth who could also speak English with a North Western US accent. As that is where she learned it as well as spent her adult life until they ventured to Mars.

M’Sara tapped her fingers on her chin before she started with her order, “I’ll have a hamburger with cheese and ketchup, and Thomas will have the same but with mustard on it as well.”

Sam started on his, “I’ll have…”

That was when Lursa put her fingertip pads over his lips to stop him so she could interrupt, “You get a surprise.” After she said that she took her hand back so she could complete the order.

As soon as Sam was able, he quickly said, “Yes, dear.”

Anyone nearby could hear Thomas chuckle to himself, as he did not even attempt to hide it.

As he did M’Sara turned to look at Thomas and after a few seconds she elbowed him as she said in a hushed voice, “Hey, I know that you find it amusing, as do I, but that is rude, stop it.”

After a few minutes Lursa’s PCD beeped and she used the lull to announce, “I’ll be right back, I’m off to pick up our order.” With that she got up, and padded to the pickup area in the back to wait for their orders.

By the time Lursa was gone Thomas had a grin on his face so large it looked like it would split when he asked, “She sure has you on a short leach Sam, why do you put up with that?”

Sam coughed into his hand before he answered, “It just so happens I like it that way.”

That was when M’Sara who sat on Thomas’ left side turned slightly to face him as she placed her open left hand on his leg and grabbed it. Then she used her right hand to motion for him to move his head closer to hers. When he bent down and over towards her, she put her muzzle against his ear and whispered very softly, just loud enough for Thomas to hear, “Stop it. I know what you mean to do, but this is too soon. Rope it in, would you? You are almost over the line. Remember we talked about this before? Mind yourself, these are people we hope to be friends with. Playful banter at this time is very inappropriate. I think that you may have learned a few too many wrong ideas from Mateja.”

Sam looked worried as he watched them.

Thomas did not even flinch when her whiskers tickled his cheek. When she was done, he leaned down and turned his head so his mouth faced the side of her head so that his mouth was next to her ear as she had turned her head to the side for a response. He whispered even softer back, “You are correct in your assessment. I got carried away. Too much stress still built up inside me, I think I used that to let some escape. Thank you, I appreciate that you showed me that my inappropriate behavior was over the edge. I’ll apologize to him at once. Love you.”

As soon as he was done with his response she let go of his leg and faced forward again just as Thomas sat up straight while he turned again to face Sam. She gave Sam a somewhat forced pleasant look, her ears forward and relaxed as she explained, “Sorry, just a little private discussion. Don’t mind us.”

That was when Thomas cleared his throat, “I’m sorry about that Sam, if you could excuse my behavior, I am not good with interacting with strangers, and I’m still stressed out about what happened to us today. We hope to become your friends. No hard feelings, eh?”

Sam waved his hand in the air between them as if to brush it away as he said, “No problem, no foul. I’ve already forgotten about it.”

Sam watched M’Sara’s expression actually become relaxed, her eyes opened to a more normal state as she put her right hand on the table out flat with her palm down when she asked him, “We would love to hear how you met Lursa, do tell us, please?”

Sam looked to his right, towards the food pickup area, to see that Lursa still waited for their order to be filled. She must have left him alone with them in the hope that they would get acquainted. It had only been a few minutes by now but it felt like it had been longer for him. He turned his head and looked back at M’Sara with a smile and shrug before he told her, “Not much to tell. I’m a computer tech, and we were still at work on the security computer systems. I met her there, she seemed nice, yet strong. She had just started to train then. We talked now and again, and I found out we shared some ideals, and a few interests. She asked me if she could court me after we went out to lunch together a few times. That took me by surprise, but I did not mind. I moved into the engineering field so we had a chance to get on a ship together. So now here we are. I didn't even know there were any other human Katzen couples until now.”

M’Sara started to say, “Yeah, Thomas has…” caught herself then continued, “I mean, I had to drag Thomas along too.”

Thomas patted her leg as if to say, “Good save.” He chuckled then with humor as he thought of how they got together before he said, “Yeah it was a pretty violent date, really. There were blows exchanged. I had bruises all over. She is much stronger than she looks. Not to mention very feisty. Just my type.” He ended that with a huge grin that grew on his face as soon as he started to talk.

M’Sara patted the table softly a few times before she added, “Yeah, it was actually a huge misunderstanding on my part. We have been a couple for just over a two dozen rotations now, about the same amount of time we have shared a room.”

Sam looked surprised by that news, and blurted out, “Only two dozen rotations?”

Thomas was about to comment when Lursa arrived with the food. She placed the two trays of food on the side of the table, then gave each of them their order of food, it was like she was their hostess. After that she gave everyone utensils and napkins before she finally sat herself down. Sam had already started to dig hungrily into his mushroom cheeseburger by that time. Lursa chuckled as she told him, “Don’t wait for me to even sit down before you start to eat, mate of mine.”

Thomas clapped his hands as he cheered, “Oh very well done, love that sarcasm.”

Lursa turned her head to face Thomas and winked with her ears turned to the sides and down about half way.

With that Thomas lifted his left arm and placed it over M’Sara’s shoulders, and she reached around his back at the same time. Neither of them had started to eat yet. They gave each other a warm, slow side hug. It was a ritual of theirs. Their own way for them to show their mutual gratitude that they were still alive and able to share another meal together that they had just started about ten rotations ago.

With that done they started to eat their meals.

Lursa paused after a few bites, and waited for M’Sara to get her food chewed when she asked, “M’Sara, I heard what I assume was the end of the story of how Sam and I met on my return to our table. I assume you learned what you wanted to know?”

M’Sara answered as soon as she swallowed the food in her mouth, “Correct on the first, and somewhat on the second.”

Lursa replied, “I see.” After a few seconds she started to eat again.

Sam took a short break from his food to ask Lursa, “Hey, did you know they have only been together for about two dozen rotations?”

Lursa put her plate back on the table and nodded as her ears rotated from forward to the sides and back, to give him a double affirmative.

Sam put his left hand on his hip and committed to himself, “Well isn’t that something.”

After Thomas completed his meal he explained, “Yeah, it was like I was swept up in a whirlwind. My life until I met her was very mundane. Then one day I think she hates me, the next I find out she did not. I had never been so confused in all my life. Flash forward to now and I’ve never felt so composed, that does not include the recent incident of course.”