Chapter 5

Hoot, as the Representative of the Crew of Human Earth, had the use of a Proto land craft, and Proto spacecraft. Hoot and Penay-ah continued to meet the other representatives of the Alliance, establishing solid friendships, and discovering the diversity of the galaxy.

The Colonel decided to return to Human Earth. The Alliance had proven trustworthy, the Tarc destroyed, and the Crew of Human Earth accepted as full members of the Alliance. The Alliance sent the latest technology on power generation, a form of anti-matter that is safe, clean, and easily renewable with the Colonel.

Weapons and tactics long unused collected from the archives of the Alliance, along with the details of technology from defeated enemies provided to ensure that every imaginable event was covered. The Colonel was to assume the mantel of Protector of the Alliance.

One unusual event occurred as the Colonel was preparing to depart. Hoot and Penay-ah were there to see the Colonel off and had just left the craft when there was a minor shudder of the earth under their feet.

Chakore thinking that Hoot and Penay-ah were returning to Human Earth and his losing her was eminent anyway, had decided that he would destroy the ship. If he couldn't have her, nobody would.

Chakore was attempting to attach the destructive package to the craft when Mendow and the thousands of Nondeaka that had maintained a watch under his feet, opened the ground dropping him along with the package hundreds of feet into the earth, which immediately closed entombing him forever. None of the others in the area even knew anything had happened, and the Colonel departed without incident.

Hoot and Penay-ah had a litter of pups, three males--N.R., D.R., and J.R., and three females P.R., A.R., and K.R., had inherited the same powers that Hoot originally brought to the mating. Penay-ah had received additional mental powers from Hoot and contributed to the mix.

Thankfully, keeping up with six active pups wasn't as difficult as it might have been if the parents were mundane. Since the parents in this case could easily maintain control, it was not a problem.

All of the pups were very smart and very energetic but two seemed to have something extra. Of course, they were more likely to get into difficulty since they were continually pushing the boundaries.

One named Patti (P.R.) and invariably her partner in crime was Noaha (N.R.), if you found one into something, just look closely, and the other would be somewhere near.

By the age of one and the apple of their Grandparents eyes (seven in Human years), they had built matching sea skimmers out of scrap parts, and then added flight capability. On any given day, you could observe them going flat out somewhere.

Nearly all of the Alliance members tolerated their exuberant behavior and those that did not were only jealous because age, protocol, position, or tradition prevented them from joining the fun.

Knowledge was unrestricted in the Alliance and all members were encouraged to continue to learn. Therefore it was no real surprise when Patti and Noaha, taking a bit of knowledge from one discipline, a bit of technology from another, and a little ingenuity, developed a cloaking device, for their personal craft.

Although they could bend light around their bodies, it was a stretch to incorporate their personal craft into the process, and became a strain after a short time.

This resulted in great fun for the pups and chaos for all of the other members of the Alliance. It was unnerving to feel something pass near by at just under Mach 1 with your clothing and hair settling in disarray after the gale force wind.

Finally, Hoot and Penay-ah had to step in and corral the two miscreants; informing them that they would need to perform their antics far away from other members but at the same time, they had to praise them for their inventiveness.

The innovation quickly dispersed into the fleet, which the two pups followed quickly with a shield. This allowed the craft crewed by the other Alliance members to have some of the benefits of those crewed by the Crew of Human Earth.

Hoot became aware of the impending arrival of the energy wave at the periphery of the galaxy containing the Alliance when the house proto, Alicia, received a transmission from the Group Mind.

Contacting the other representatives of the Alliance and alerting them to the crisis was the next move. In short, order, with all of the representatives alerted, a discussion ensued.

All agreed that the Group Mind and the Crew of Human Earth had acted correctly to try the only action that seemed to stand a chance of success.

They would meet the threat as far away from the galaxy as possible.

Protection became a priority of the Alliance and preparations began to shield every piece of technology that might remotely be affected using the new shielding technology invented by the pups.

All structures had to be moved deep under ground to avoid the violent storms that might strike with the potential arrival of the Wave, and water/sewer lines rerouted accordingly. The Nondeaka were priceless in this endeavor and set to with a will.

A few of the counsel members were not convinced of the danger, decrying the waste of recourses, and generally being a pain it the butt for everyone else by causing dissention.

Hoot decided that the only way to solve the problem was personally to transport these blockheads to an area that the Wave had already passed and let them see the devastation first hand.

After checking with the Colonel via Alicia, it was determined that a ship in Fold should be immune to the effects of the Wave, especially with the addition of the Pup Shield as it was now called.

The representatives were prepared to leave within a week; some of the naysayers had actually to be shamed into going in one form or another. It seemed that not only their aggression had atrophied but their courage as well.

Hoot didn't consider him self particularly aggressive but he wasn't a coward either and could react to a situation with the correct response whether it be fight or flight, but he didn't tuck tail, and run at the first intimation of trouble.

The proto of Hoot's spacecraft, Joda, had ascertained that indeed a craft in Fold would not be affected by the Wave, and with the addition of the Pup Shield, the Craft should be fairly, invulnerable.

WRONG! However, that is another story: See How Hoot It Is-Chapter 61.

That was good enough for Hoot and he requested that Joda set course for a system just inside the Wave but far enough inside that any effects of the Wave would have passed.