Chapter 3: Wolf and the Cat Pursued

Veenalara Thersin was spending her fourth tasin this hakin at the Temple in the neighborhood she was living in. It had been six tasin since she had arrived on the planet Elishen with Eric Wolf. In that short amount of time, however, she was the happiest she had been in her entire adult life. She had never even had a full hakin to do what she wanted since she had been eleven cyankas old and her powers had begun to manifest. Now she was spending several tasin doing the one thing she had so desperately wished, but had never been allowed, to do. She was serving as a regular priestess, maintaining the Temple, praying with those who needed comforting and giving advice to those who came seeking it. These were the normal day-to-day activities of a Priestess of the Temple.

She was currently helping another priestess clean the statue of the Goddess of Dizyn located in the main courtyard of the Temple. It was a large statue, about six meters tall, and Alara had climbed up it to clean the top. This was where she was when she heard a voice call up to her.

"Don't fall from up there. It would be bad if you broke something your first hakin on the planet." a familiar voice said.

She looked down and saw Eric looking up at her. "Do not worry yourself over so trivial a thing. I would have to fall from higher than this to risk an injury."

As if to prove her point, she proceeded to leap from the statue. She landed with the grace of the felines her race resembled. She needed to touch only the fingertips of one hand to the ground to ensure her balance as she crouched to absorb the impact. She looked up and saw that she had landed directly in front of Eric, just as she had intended.

"Nice landing." Eric said. "I give it nine out of ten."

"Only nine?" Alara asked as she stood.

Eric nodded. "Yes, you touched your fingers to the ground."

She smiled and nodded in agreement with the analysis. She wrapped her arms around Eric and hugged him tightly.

"What brings you to the Temple today?" she asked.

"My ship is fixed and ready to go." Eric told her. "I need to get going to make up for the time I missed."

Alara released her hold on him and stepped back. She looked up at him with an unhappy expression. "I do not want you to go, Eric. I will be lonely."

Eric chuckled and said, "I must go if I wish to make any money. Besides, I never said you could not go with me."

Alara smiled brightly at him and nodded. "Then I must let the Sister Riazanlen know that I will be gone for... ?"

"We are going to Trellken and back so seven and a half tasin, round trip. We will also have to spend a couple of days there waiting for a scheduled cargo. So ten tasin all told." Eric said.

Alara nodded, turned and trotted off to find the Head Sister of the Temple. Because she was an associate Priestess of the Temple, meaning she did not reside at it but in the surrounding neighborhood, she was not expected to serve full time at the Temple. Such priestesses were allowed to come and go as they pleased and most even had jobs. Normally, associated priestesses worked about twenty vallin every hakin at the Temple.

As Eric waited he looked at the statue that Alara had been helping to clean. All the Temples had one, of course. The size varied from life size to some which were ten or twelve meters high, or so he had heard. This one was about average he supposed, but it was a beautiful piece of sculpture carved from a blue veined marble. They were all similar, a humanoid figure with large wings outspread. It looked for all the world like an angel from earth mythology. In fact, Eric had always thought the facial features were more human than Dizyntk.

Alara walked back to where Eric was and took his hand. "I am ready to go."

"Are you sure, Alara?" Eric asked. "I mean, I do want you to come with me but I thought you were looking forward to working in a Temple."

"I am." she replied. "But we have been lovers for only a short time now. It would be odd if I did not want to come with you if I was able."

She leapt up and Eric caught her so that her face was even with his. She kissed him lightly on the lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Besides that, I want to come with you." she said softly. "Now that I am getting used to snuggling with someone again, I am not sure that I wish to try and sleep without you."

Eric gently lowered her to the ground. "Well then, Alara, let's get going. I have to take off in three hours."

"Enough time for me to stop by the apartment and get some things?" she asked.

"Of course. I made sure there was enough time for you to do so." he replied.

Alara smiled and took his hand. "Why are we still standing here then?"

The two of them walked together out of the Temple entrance and out onto the sidewalk. It was only a ten minute walk to Eric's apartment and another thirty minutes by rail to the spaceport. They had plenty of time.

Star Courier Twelve was just entering orbit above Elishen. Its name reflected that it was a courier vessel, the twelfth obviously, belonging to the Star Order of the Temple of the Goddess. It bore the crest of the Order emblazoned on both sides of the hull. Although there was no way of telling from looking at it, the ship was currently under the command of a priestess from a different Order than that which owned the vessel.

Head Sister Tylavari Therazanik stood on the small bridge of the ship. She looked at the view screen as it displayed the planet Elishen below them. She was thinking about how they could go about finding their quarry. There were ten spaceports on the planet that a ship could land at. This did not even take into account the possibility of the ship merely landing in a field somewhere on the planet. Most small starships, the one they were on included, were capable of this. Right now, however, she was waiting as her assistant was trying to narrow down their search.

Sister Linatora was in contact with the orbital control station circling Elishen. This space station's job was to coordinate the comings and goings of starships, and non-FTL spaceships, between the surface and orbit around the planet. She had previously contacted the system control station that monitored all ships coming into and leaving the star system. This latter station had been of only limited help. There had been no ships entering the system from the same trajectory as their vessel in the past hakin. This was not surprising as a ship could, if the pilot chose, circle around a system long before coming into sensor range and enter from another heading.

They had been able to determine that the ship they were looking for was probably a courier type vessel, given the power output of its engines in relation to the ship's size. This had only narrowed their search somewhat. Elishen was a main world after all and had a lot of courier vessel traffic. She did learn that, as a rule, courier vessels only used four of the planet's spaceports. They tended to avoid the larger ones due to the traffic. Courier vessels depended on speed and tried to avoid any delays, even involving take off and landing. They also did not like to use the smaller ports as they were too remote from the larger population centers that were the source of most courier ship business. This left the moderate sized spaceports of which there were four on the planet.

Linatora was now checking whether or not any courier vessels had landed at any of the ports that were not normally used by them. She was using the authority of the Orders' judiciary powers to make the inquiries. She was also lying somewhat in saying that they were investigating possible smuggling on behalf of the Star Order. While the sister was uncomfortable with this deception, it was something that Head Sister Silvarinea had suggested. She had provided an investigation permit bearing her authorization to back up the ruse. This permit appeared on the screen whenever Linatora was contacting any government agency so that they knew it was an official investigation. This and the fact that the ship she was on was an official vessel of the Star Order ensured that everyone she had contacted was very forthcoming with the information she was looking for.

It did not take long for the response to come. No courier vessels had used any but the four aforementioned spaceports in the past hakin. She then asked about any ships that had been late. This was a hunch on Linatora's part. She had suspected that the vessel had not landed on TK-334-1 to look for the Faylantkrana but had found her by accident. This left in question the reason the ship had landed on the planet. She suspected it was to effect repairs on a malfunctioning system. She smiled as her hunch paid dividends. The station operator she was talking to came back after checking what she had asked.

"There was a courier vessel that had been reported missing when it did not show up on schedule." the control operator said. "It finally showed up a hakin late about three or four tasin ago. Star drive malfunction, if I remember correctly. I went to check if we still had the report with the ship's registration number on file but I guess we erased it after they showed up safely. Apologies, Sister."

"No need, operator. Do you perhaps recall what port they were using?" Linatora asked.

The operator closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He opened them and nodded. "Carendak."

Eric and Alara walked across the tarmac to the Lupus Rising. Alara had changed into the simple clothing that most Dizyntk wore. It made for easier movement and she needed that right now. Eric was walking ahead of her so that she could not see the laughter in his eyes. It was unnecessary on his part though. She could practically read his mind even walking five paces behind him.

"I still do not see what is so funny about this, Eric Wolf." she said.

She only used his full name when she was annoyed with him. That had not taken him long to figure out. He looked back at her and at the large container she was lugging along on a hover cart.

"I still don't know how you plan on getting that contraption aboard, much less where you plan on setting it up." he said.

"Let me worry about that, human." she said crossly.

Eric looked forward again and nodded. She called him human when she was particularly annoyed, or when she was pretending to be. By the tone of her voice, Eric decided that she was not pretending.

The box contained a supposedly portable, self contained shower. It had a seventy-five liter tank and could continually filter the water it used. It also had a heating element. It weighed close to forty kilos all told even before adding the water. Eric had no idea where she could possibly set it up.

"I hate those chemical showers. They don't leave me feeling clean and I hate, hate, HATE the way they make me smell." she complained.

Eric simply continued nodding in agreement. He actually did agree with her on this point. Chemical showers only kept you from smelling rank. They did nothing to make you feel particularly clean and they did leave an odd odor on you. Not unpleasant, per say, but not a smell you would call good either. This was, of course, to his human nose. He knew that Dizyntk had a much more acute sense of smell than humans. That being said, it was a Dizyntk chemical shower. One would wonder why they were not able, apparently, to make a chemical that was more pleasant in its aroma. Perhaps such a thing was just not possible, Eric thought. It was one of the great unanswered questions.

"Don't take too long about getting it aboard." Eric said. "And wait until we get going before you try to set it up."

"Why?" Alara asked.

They reached the ship and Eric turned to look at her. "Because you have to learn the pre-flight check."

"I do?" she asked. This was the first she had heard of it.

Eric nodded and motioned with his thumb back at the ship "Yes. It is the first step in my teaching you how to fly this thing."

Alara's eyes widened. "Me? You want to teach me to fly a starship?"

Eric nodded again. "Yes I do. It benefits us in that, once you are trained and licensed, you will count as crew. Extra crew means that the ship is considered to be better staffed and I can charge more money, meaning you get paid. You being a Dizyntk also means that, once you are licensed, I will have Dizyntk making up half the crew of the ship."

Alara looked confused by this last statement. "Why is that important?"

"Because the Imperium has stated that any commercial ships operating into or out of any Dizyntk worlds, other than Elishen, Trellken or the new human worlds, must have at least half their crew made up of Dizyntk." Eric explained.

Alara smiled at this. "I am going to be a pilot."

Eric growled a little and crossed his arms. "Not if you don't get aboard the ship before I decide to leave you here."

Alara laughed at this and much to Eric's surprise dragged the shower up the stairs quickly. Eric suspected that she was doing so more with her powers than her muscles but decided to say nothing.

"Should we not just shut down the spaceport?" Linatora asked as she and Sister Tylavari exited their vessel.

Tylavari shook her head. "On what pretext? I do not want to frighten the Faylantkrana if I can avoid it. More importantly, Sister Silvarinea specifically told us to prevent any widespread knowledge of the Faylantkrana from getting out."

Linatora closed her eyes and nodded slightly. She knew that this was the best thing, but wondered how they planned on finding the ship in question before it left, if it had not left already. It was a courier vessel after all and one would assume that it had runs to make. The spaceport here at Carendak was the most popular one with Elishen's commercial courier vessels. Eighty-three of them, half the planetary total, made the port their home.

"Where do you suggest that we try first, Head Sister?" Linatora asked.

"The nearest Temple, Linatora. If she was actually trained as a priestess, she may have gone there." Tylavari answered.

"As you say, Sister." Linatora agreed.

They had discussed this during the trip from Kalantk. According to the information given them by Sister Silvarinea, there were basically two types of Faylantkrana. The most common were those that were trained mainly as fighters, with only cursory training as priestesses so that the Orders could call them such. They made up about ninety percent of the Faylantkrana and were the ones responsible for most of the atrocities attributed to their kind in the unexpurgated history files.

The second type was those that had full training as priestesses in addition to their training in the use of their powers. They were more powerful than the regular Faylantkrana and arguably more dangerous. They were used as a check on the others of their kind and were not usually used to fight anything but other Faylantkrana. The exceptions to that rule had always resulted in horrific casualties though. Even when fighting one of their own, it was not wise for anybody else to be near the area.

Tylavari was praying that this Veenalara was one of the latter. Although they were much more powerful, they seemed to be more stable as well. This she attributed to their actually being properly trained as priestesses. If this was the case, then she would have gone to a Temple.

As they made their way to the terminal building, Linatora noticed a human male and a dizyntk female making their way out to the landing/launching cradles. They appeared to be together and having an animated discussion although they were too far away for her to make out what they were saying. This caused a smile to come to Linatora's lips. She knew that there was a small community of humans here on Elishen, the oldest one on a Dizyntk world. That they were integrating well with her race was a good thing as far as she was concerned.

It took a full day for the Lupus to reach a point in space far enough Elishen's sun for the star drive to propel the ship past the speed of light. During this time Alara had managed, much to Eric's amazement, to get the shower put together. It just fit inside the existing chemical shower. After Alara used her powers to bulge an interior wall by a couple of inches that is. This took her about half the day. The other half she spent sitting next to Eric on the bridge as he began explaining how the controls on the ship worked.

A full day into the interstellar portion of the trip, Eric was satisfied that the star drive was functioning properly. He hooked up the simulation program to the piloting system and began Alara's training. It would take three or four trips before she would be ready to take her test for an assistant pilot's license, if she had any skill. Eric told her as much and she took to the new training with enthusiasm.

As they finished their second day of training, after Eric double checked the auto-pilot, they took a shower and settled into bed.

"Is the shower not much better than the chemical one?" Alara asked as she snuggled up next to Eric in bed.

Eric shook his head and chuckled. It was the third time since they had left Elishen that she had asked the question. "Yes, it is much better. You were quite clever to have brought it."

She snuggled up to him even closer and wrapped an arm around him. She was pleased that he agreed with her.

Eric looked at the large bulge in the wall between the bedroom and the shower. "Of course I never would have thought of damaging the ship to make it fit."

He laughed as he heard her growl. He almost stopped laughing when he felt her claws extend on the hand that was on his shoulder. He slowly stroked his hand up the length of her tail. At the same time he licked and nibbled on one of her ears. This caused her to make a low whining sound and retract her claws as well.

"Eric..." she said breathlessly.

"Behave yourself, my little dizyntk, and I will make you feel good." he whispered in her ear as his hands roamed slowly over her body.

Alara growled a little at this but her heart wasn't in it. A small part of her disliked it when Eric called her "my little dizyntk", as he had started doing the past couple of nights. It reminded her of being referred to as a possession by some members of her House. On the other claw, Eric only ever did it while being affectionate to her and touching her as he was doing now. That meant there was a growing part of her that was beginning to accept this from him as he apparently meant it, as a term of affection.

Eric let a hand trail down Alara's torso to her pussy. He stroked his fingers softly through the fur covering it. He kissed and nipped at her neck as he did this.

Alara's hips rose slightly to encourage her lover to keep going. She ran the fingers of both hands through his hair and tilted her head back as he kissed her throat.

Eric slipped a finger inside her. It entered easily as she was quite wet by this time. Alara gasped and pulled his face tightly against her when he did this. He slowly stroked the finger in and out of her. Her hips began rocking faster and her tail stroked up and down Eric's back. She released her grip and Eric kissed her as he continued to play with her. They continued this for a few minutes until Eric removed his hand from her crotch. This caused Alara to growl slightly in annoyance.

Eric rolled onto his back and brought Alara on top of him. He put his hands on her hips and raised her up. Alara smiled as she knew what her lover wanted. She gently took his hard cock in her hand and lined it up with her opening. Eric brought her slowly back down and both of them moaned at the sensation. Alara began riding slowly up and down on the hard cock inside of her. Eric stroked his hands up the sides of her body and gently squeezed her breasts.

Alara rode Eric for several minutes. She was lost in the sensations of him being inside her and of his hands roaming over her body. As her climax approached, she could again feel the mingling of their sensations. She could actually feel what she felt like from his point of view. She knew that it was her powers causing this but had no idea how it was happening. She also did not really care. All she knew was that it felt good.

Eric reached his limit slightly before Alara and pulled her down hard against him and released his seed inside her with a yell. This in turn triggered her own orgasm. She arched her back, tilted her head and howled at the top of her lungs. After she came off her high, she slumped down and lay in Eric's arms. The two of them breathed heavily for a couple of minutes. As they calmed down, Eric wrapped his arms gently around Alara. She slowly and lightly traced a claw up and down his shoulder while her head rested on his chest.

Eric kissed the tips of her ears. "I think that little trick of yours is pretty amazing."

Alara snickered at this compliment. "I told you that I am not doing it on purpose."

"I know." he replied as he stroked her hair. "That doesn't make it any less pleasurable."

She licked his chest, then up to his neck and finally kissed him on the lips.

"Does it make you want to keep me around?" she asked playfully. She could fully sense her lover's feelings.

"Maybe." he replied. "I will have to think about it."

Her eyes narrowed at this response. "Maybe!?"

Eric smiled at her and wrapped his hands around her upper arms. "Yes, maybe."

He quickly rolled them over so he was on top of her. He kissed her slowly and deeply. "I think I need another sample of it to make sure."

Alara could feel his cock, which had recovered its hardness, brushing against her pussy. She smiled up at him as she wrapped a hand around it.

"I suppose I can comply with that request." she said as she helped to line him up.

"I had a feeling you might." Eric said as he slowly pushed back inside her.

Tylavari and Linatora had had no luck at the Temple nearest the spaceport in Carendak. They had also struck out asking personnel at the spaceport. While several of them knew that a ship had arrived behind schedule, none of them recalled which one. Apparently, as many private couriers used older ships out of necessity due to the expense of buying starships, it was not too uncommon for one to be late every now and then due to mechanical difficulties. As long as the vessel showed up safely, most pilots and ground crew quickly forgot about it.

Linatora knew that her friend was worried. She understood why but also thought that the worry might be unfounded. Nothing had happened as yet, of this they were sure. If a Faylantkrana had used her powers in an urban center like Carendak, there would be no concealing it from the media. This assumed that the local authorities knew to conceal it. Thanks to the diligent efforts of the Orders down the cyankas they would have little idea of what they were dealing with. Thanks to this lack of activity, Linatora felt they were rushing needlessly. She agreed that the Faylantkrana was a possible danger but she felt they should be more circumspect in dealing with her.

Tora was currently holding Tyla's head to her chest. Her friend was still asleep and probably would be for a little while yet. Linatora had done her best last night to wear her friend out so that she would sleep soundly. The two of them had been lovers for two cyankas now. They both had wondered why they did not get bonded. Whenever the subject came up though, something would happen that demanded their attention in their Order. They had actually been talking about it the day this business with the Faylantkrana had intruded on them.

She softly stroked Tylavari's hair and fur for another half hour before she felt her begin to stir.

"Good morning, my love." Tora said. It was only at times like these that they were so informal with each other.

Tylavari looked sleepily at the clock and then up at Linatora. "I thought I told you we needed to get an early start."

Linatora batted her friend's ear. "And I told you that you needed to get a good rest."

Tyla almost argued the point but decided to let it drop. She had always been one to push herself too hard. In fact she had driven herself to exhaustion on several occasions but never since Linatora had become her friend. She knew that her lover was correct.

"You are right, my love." Tyla said as she nuzzled back into Tora's chest.

Linatora stroked her friend's hair and said, "I have a suggestion, if you will be quiet and listen to it."

She was well aware that the best time to suggest something to her headstrong friend was at times like this; when she was happy and content in the morning after a night of sex.

"About the Faylantkrana?" Tyla asked as she looked up at Tora.

"What else?" Linatora asked.

Tylavari closed her eyes, sighed heavily and laid her head back onto Tora's breasts. "I will listen."

As much as Tylavari hated to admit it, she knew that her friend was smarter than she was. Linatora had been the first young priestess that she had been able to recruit into the Nebula Order some six cyankas previously. It was mostly her suggestions, given at moments like this, which had led to the slow but steady growth of the Order since then. Tyla was the fire and drive of her Order but Linatora was usually the brains. Tora was very reserved around others though and did not mind being the behind the scenes partner.

"Perhaps we should call the other Temples in the city, rather than trying to visit them all." Linatora suggested.

"And ask them what?" Tyla asked. She knew that asking about a new priestess in vague terms would seem strange to any Head Priestess.

"What reason would you give to a Head Priestess for being here without assignment? Especially if you were a new priestess in an area but did not want to reveal that you had been in stasis sleep for a hundred cyankas?" Linatora asked.

Tyla though about it for a minute. "That I was traveling?" she replied.

Tora smiled and nodded. "All priestesses know that there are some of us that have an urge to wander after our training is finished."

"But how does that help our search?" Tyla wondered.

"Simple, my love." Tora answered. "We call and inquire as to the presence of a member of our Order. There cannot be any but the one we are looking for that fits that description."

Tyla nodded slowly. "That makes sense. One cannot just purchase priestess robes and the only ones that she would have had access to were those at the Temple she was held in."

"Exactly." Tora said. "As to why we are looking for her; since we do not wish to arouse suspicion we will say we have been looking for her for three cyans."

Tylavari had to think for only a moment to realize what her friend was getting at. She smiled as she understood the cover story. "We have not been able to find her to inform her of the death of the previous head of the Order."

Linatora nodded and Tylavari hugged and kissed her. "I love you, my brilliant and gifted friend."

Tora wrapped her arms around Tyla and whispered, "Prove it."

Tyla looked a bit unsure. They needed to start their day. "But, we have to..."

Tora interrupted her with a kiss of her own. "Prove it." she said once more after the kiss was done.

Tyla smiled and shook her head in resignation. She supposed they had time enough for this pleasant distraction. She kissed her friend and began licking and nipping her way down Tora's lithe body. Tora had completely ravished her last night and she fully intended on repaying that favor now.

Later that morning Linatora and Tylavari began to call the various Temples in the city. With a population of about half a million, Carendak had over a hundred Temples. It was well into the list that they finally found what they were looking for. A young priestess had answered when Linatora had called.

"Nebula Order? Oh yes, that is the Order that Sister Veenalara belongs to. Why do you ask?" the Priestess said.

"I am of her Order and have been looking for her. We have had a hard time tracking her down since she has been traveling." Tora told her.

"I see. I do not think she is here, at least I have not seen her today. The Head Priestess is busy with a bonding ceremony right now, but I could ask her later where she is." the Priestess explained.

"That will not be necessary. My companion and I will come to your Temple and talk to the Head Priestess ourselves." Tora said.

"As you wish." was the reply. The Priestess then gave Linatora directions to the Temple.

A vallin later, the two of them walked through the entrance of the grounds of the Temple. They both noticed the large courtyard and the several dizyntk working on its upkeep. Tylavari walked briskly to the Temple itself and entered the main doors with Linatora following in her wake. She saw an older Priestess and headed for her.

"Pardon me, Sister. Are you the Head Priestess of this Temple?" Tylavari asked as she bowed her head slightly.

"That I am, Sister. I am Head Priestess Riazanlen. How may I help you?" she replied.

"My assistant called earlier inquiring after Sister Veenalara." Tyla explained.