Chapter 20:

Gregory was walking back to the lift entrance because Mihajlovich pinged him that he picked up the "Ambassador" from the cargo bay. Aleks sent him to brief the officers on the upper decks on the situation. The day was turning out to be full of surprises.

The day started like any other, doing nothing—literally flying around the checkpoints to see if there were any developments. There were not, of course, but the Admiralty had to keep them busy. It's no secret they didn't want the deadheads near Terrans. It's funny; they send you out to commit xenocide and then look at you as monsters. But whatever, not that home would feel like home—the ship, that was home. His brother Aleks, that was home. Not Terra, not for a long time. He was depressed himself but became good at hiding it. He missed the old Aleks, the Aleks that could pretend to be happy, just like he did. He was coming to terms with the fact that those days were gone and annoyed by having to follow Adams's orders. At least messing with him was easy.

He thought he would lose his insanity, so when the report came from the patrol ship that there were three Xeno vessels at the edge of the border and an entire fleet of cruisers behind them, he thought the day might become interesting. He never thought he would see Aleks in that damned command chair again, but this was the day. The way he took command from Adams almost made him yell out in joy. Putting Adams in his place was a sight. He didn't hate the man; he just had a constant stick up his ass. That and the fact that he was given command of the fleet—his fleet, Aleks's goddamn fleet. He may have felt a bit of resentment, but making him uncomfortable was still enjoyable. But not as enjoyable as getting the order from his High Admiral to assemble the command staff into the war room and tell them that they were going into Xeno space, to an unmapped location, into an unknown situation, under full combat readiness.

He didn't really know if Aleks's intuition was sending them on the right path or if Aleks just did it to go crazy on the galaxy or if they had just committed treason. But at the end of the day, did he even care?

Shit, he did. He did still care about Terra. Everything they did was for Terra. Wherever they were going, it was for Terra. Aleks never lost sight of that. He should remove all doubt from his mind. He wasn't doubting Aleks; he was doubting himself. And in this fleet, there was no room for doubt.

Gregory removed the thoughts from his mind as he reached the lift entrance and leaned against the wall, waiting for his admiral.

In the lift, the party of four, the Ambassador broke the silence, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Admiral, would you tell me, what was that creature you were holding?" the Ambassador asked.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Mihajlovich turned back to look at him. "It's a cat. It's a little cuddly predator from our home. We've had a close relationship with them for almost ten thousand years. We call them house cats. They are stealth hunters in nature, mostly like to hunt smaller prey on their own. They are carnivores, they love to eat, hunt, sleep, and cuddle. They also have very sharp senses; it must have smelled you,must have thought you were food."

The Ambassador was taken aback by this. Keeping small predators around for ten thousand years...

"Why? Why do you need them?" the Ambassador asked.

Mihajlovic raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The ambassador looked down at his feet, seeing the hair of the animal on his trousers. "What is the purpose of having predators?"

"Oh, we keep them as pets, you know, animal companions. They are selfish little creatures but can be very loving and affectionate. We have a lot of them on the ship, among other pets. Most Terrans like animals, so we domesticated some of them a very long time ago, like the cats," Mihajlovic explained.

The ambassador was a little shocked by these revelations. The Strunin were omnivores just like Terrans, but they derived from scavengers. Eventually, they kept animals as food on farms, but they never saw them as companions. Then he found himself wondering.

"Are all these pets, as you call them, small predators?" the Ambassador inquired.

Mihajlovic shook his head. "Not all are predators, but some are a lot larger. We domesticated animals we call dogs to assist us with hunting in the early stages of our civilizations. They have many sizes. We have a saying that a dog is a man's best friend. They are not sentient, but they are very smart and loyal. We use some breeds or variants of dogs in warfare; we call them service animals. They help us during ground invasions."

The two Strunin and the Yoranian woman were stunned at this. These Terrans seemingly became friends with non sentient predators and integrated them into their clans. They even take them to war. It was fascinating and frightening at the same time. And since this Admiral is speaking so openly about it, it seems he even has a sense of pride because of it. What was Terran history like? He said it was more than ten thousand years ago, and they are used in war. How many times did Terrans fight among themselves? It was a question he dared not ask.

"Here we are," said the Terran as the lift doors slid open, the huge Terran ape waiting for them leaning against a wall next to the exit.

"Well, welcome to the command deck, Ambassador," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. The xenos did not seem to understand. He saluted the High Admiral.

"Seven minutes from expecting slipspace, Sir," Mihajlovich nodded as they started making their way to the bridge.