Chapter 7: Tawny

When BEM was finally invited to return, he appeared to be immensely proud and pleased with himself to see his daughter accepted and happy. The banter between Jade and her new family was easy and familiar. Even Sampson and Delilah, though they continued to avoid him, had clearly acknowledged that Jade was family.

BEM breathed in relief. There would be no pressure to bring the ugly, misshapen creature into his Nexus, and with luck, there would be something useful come of her.

During the meal of lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and a dessert of gelato, BEM broached the subject of refugees. “You asked, and there is an urgent need,” he began. “A populated planet was struck by an asteroid, killing most of the population. Approximately one hundred thousand females and children were saved from the catastrophe. They call themselves ‘The People’ and they need a place to live and recover.”

“Are they injured?” asked Melody, the ever-practical nurse.

“Only in spirit,” BEM replied, “but that is bad enough. They come from a nomadic, hunter background. In their culture, many women and children too young to hunt were isolated in large groups while the males hunted. This surviving group functioned as teachers and nurturers and was in their only city on the opposite side of the planet from the impact. It was hunting season, and no adult or adolescent males - and very few pre-adolescent males - were present to survive.”

“You know our guidelines,” Mishka asked, “how well do you think these survivors will fit? What kind of climate are they accustomed to - and don’t give me the science fiction crap about desert-planet or grassland-planet ... Any truly habitable planet will have a variety of climates. What’s it like, where they actually lived?”

BEM responded, “The People are individually brave and competitive, but they cooperate in relatively small groups. You might call them large families, clans, or tribes. Their resources were plentiful enough for their population size that there was no war as you humans practiced. This group resided in an area that is remarkably similar to the hill country surrounding you now. They made up The People’s primary center of advanced learning - excepting the males and many of the females that were away hunting.”

Then he added, “About the rescue - against all odds, another species’ colony transport was transiting their system when it detected the asteroid and its disastrous trajectory. This group was selected for rescue based on its size and distance from the projected impact. The colony ship is huge, but only had space left to crowd onboard a fraction of the population.”

BEM’s audience was in shock, and he paused before continuing. “When the evacuation shuttles landed unannounced, the refugees had only scant hours to decide to leave and gather a few items to take with them. I understand that most culturally significant items were abandoned in favor of computerized records, images, and music. The People are truly bereft. Given your expressed intent, we thought that settling them near you might be beneficial to both species.”

“You could be very right,” said Josella. “There is a lot of pain here, and surely there is similar pain for them. How do we set up an interview?”

“The colony ship is in the Sol system and will orbit soon. I suggest that you meet with their representatives at one of the houses at the crossroads. Their typical negotiating team is an adult male, an adult female, and a witness - often the sister, mother, or adult daughter of the female team member,” BEM offered. “We could have their team here in three days.”

“That would work for us,” offered Josella. “I suppose we should mirror their team with your daughter added as our adviser and your representative.”

“That would be a good idea,” said BEM. “Their oldest male is quite young, and it is likely he will be there. I suggest that you match that by having Mikey present.”

“Agreed,” Josella confirmed. “If you give us the final makeup of their team, we will match it.”

“I’ll leave you materials on The People, so that you can familiarize yourselves,” BEM told them. “I think that’s about all I have for you for this meeting. It’s good to see you again, and I’ll be back tomorrow to answer any questions.” He nodded to them all, and left, roaring off in his Miata.

The composition of The People’s team was, of necessity, unusual for them. The principal representative was a young mother; her young son - a kit or cub really - was the eldest surviving male. She was accompanied by her sister as secondary negotiator, and by her adolescent niece as aide and witness.

The human team consisted of Mishka, Josella, Matilda, and Mikey. Actually, the whole Nexus was linked in with avid attention - watching and advising.

When the refugee team entered, escorted by Jade, their leader made a short speech in awkward English, and introduced herself and the others. Clearly, she was making an effort to impress their potential hosts, so she gave their names in her own language, followed by names in English that they had selected as close in meaning. She called herself ‘Tawny’; her cub was ‘Pounce’; and her sister and niece were ‘Peace’ and ‘Imperial’. The humans took one look at the adolescent and mentally shortened her name to ‘Imp’.

Differences in vocal apparatus and facial features made speaking the others’ language difficult but not impossible. To prevent misunderstandings, a computer was used to translate in both directions - each individual had a remote interface suspended on a lanyard.

Oh, and differences there were. But the differences were beautiful. Tawny chose her name well, as her unclothed body was covered with short, copper-colored fur. She stood tall and erect with a lion-like tail coiled around her waist. She had no breasts as human women did; instead she had four dark nipples poking through her fur. Facial features paralleled those of humans, but her lips were thinner, her nose somewhat flatter, and she had pointed ears that followed the source of speech. Her chocolate brown eyes were mesmerizing and clearly adapted for low-light vision.

The parties sorted themselves into ‘partners’ with Jade left as ‘odd man out’. Mikey and Pounce became engrossed in one of Mikey’s ever-present iPad games, freeing Imp from monitoring duties and enabling her to listen to the adult negotiations and discussion. She and Matilda were quick to make friends, and sitting to the side, were soon sharing impressions and confidences.

As the end of the interview neared, Tawny dropped to her knees, raised her rear and coiled her tail on her back - tip flicking. She bowed her head, looked coyly over her shoulder, and exposed her neck to Mishka and his presumed mates. <She is submitting to you, > Jade told him, <and she expects you to mate with her. If an adult male of her species were here, he would expect to mate with your woman of choice to seal the agreement as equals. She feels that she has no choice but to submit, but it sure looks like she wishes it.>

Mishka approached the lovely creature and kneeled. He lightly nipped her neck. Then, against her expectation that he would push her down and mount her from the rear, Mishka rose and pulled her with him. He placed his hands on her shoulders and told her, “That bite was only a token, an acknowledgment of your desire to submit. From here on, my wives and I will only accept you as a partner in this endeavor to help your people. I would be happy to mate with you, but only face-to-face as equals.”

Tawny bowed her head and nodded. She watched Mikey play with her cub and Matilda sitting quietly, conversing with her sister’s adolescent daughter. Both pairs were clearly involved and comfortable. For the first time after the disaster, the young feline woman had hope. She nodded again, this time to her sister, and told Mishka, “It will be as you wish, and we, and especially I, will be the partner you want.”