Ree sighed happily as she buried her face in the fur of Jaho’s chest.

“I feel little bad,” she sighed.

“Why you feel bad?” Jaho asked looking down at her with concern.

“Because I know that lots of bad stuff happening,” she said looking up at him. “But today the bestest day of my life!”

“I know how you feel,” Jaho said with a little chuckle. “It’s my happy day too,” he said as he booped her nose with his.

Ree let out a little giggle and held him tighter.

“Um, Ree?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s stuff… about me… you need know-”

“Don’t care,” Ree said cutting him off. “Don’t care.”

“But you really need know-”

“You didn’t claim a stupid, Jaho,” Ree said looking up at him with earnest eyes. “You can read, not a little bit, you can really read. You pretend you can’t but you can. You can do numbers too, not just one and one or two and two. You can really do numbers. Like when that stupid Fed broke that… water thing?”

“Fire sprinkler. He broke sprinkler and set off all other ones,” Jaho replied.

“See,” Ree said, “You know that too. But when we worked all those extra hours, you knew exactly how much we were gonna get paid. You pretended you didn’t but you did. You special to me and I watch you lots. You were doing numbers on your little book and you ask everybody what they got paid. That wasn’t one and one ‘cause they pay more?”

“Time and a half for first ten hours and then double time after that,” Jaho replied.

“See? You know that too. How you know that?”

“Because it written in contract,” Jaho replied and then chuckled. “Yeah. I see what you talk about.”

“To know all that you work like Aat in field for how long?” Ree asked, “Whole life?”

“Yeah,” Jaho replied, “whole life.”

“An you know about Terran guns and those more tars and those tubes,” Ree continued. “I know what you are. An I don’t care. I wish were just Jaho.”

“I am just Jaho,” he replied giving her a hug. “We are just Jaho and Ree.”

“I like that. Just Jaho and Ree,” she said wrapping her tail around his and looked at him with a twinkle in her eye, “You know what else I like?” she asked as she nibbled at his neck.

“Me stupid,” Jaho smiled as he nibbled her back. “You need show me...”

***

Later, as they cuddled, Jaho nudged Ree.

“Again?” she asked hazily.

“Not again,” Jaho replied. “We need get going.”

“Why?” Ree asked. “I like here.”

“We need find food and water.”

“I’m not hungry… or thirsty...” Ree said nuzzling him.

“If we wait until we are thirsty it too late,” Jaho replied. “Unless you want drink ditch water.”

“Me do it at home,” she replied with a laugh.

“Home clean. You no want ditch water here trust me. ‘Specially after all mortars and shooting.”

“You know these things,” Ree sighed resignedly. “Me want stay here forever.”

“We need leave before truck come anyway,” Jaho laughed.

With that he started putting his jumpsuit on. Once Ree was dressed he carefully opened the door.

“Jaho look!” Ree said pointing at the pile of goods sitting beside their dumpster. “Donuts!” she exclaimed happily as she started to climb out.

Jaho quickly grabbed her and pulled her back inside.

They crept up on me and I didn’t even know! Jaho thought in alarm as he drew a concealed knife, the blade made of pure imperial green jade.

“Keep low, Ree” Jaho hissed. “It could be trap!”

“You no stupid so don’t be stupid,” Ree laughed. “They got right up on us an’ we already in trap! If they wanted hurt us then they hurt us so they no want hurt us.”

She does have a point there.

“When you so smart?” he asked.

“I always smart,” she grinned.

Jaho peeked out of the dumpster. The coast looked clear so he cautiously crept out. He pressed himself against the ground between two of the recycling dumpsters and looked all around.

They have to be here somewhere

He pressed his ear to the ground. No sound and his whiskers didn’t pick up any vibration but then again his ears and whiskers did him no favors when they walked up either. He had no idea that humans (presumably) could be so good. They were Aat good.

He spared a thought for the nice people at Federation Command. He desperately hoped that they were ok, but against people that could do this? They were in trouble!

He swiveled his head back and forth and darted forwards and back.

There! He saw the briefest of flashes from a rooftop. Reflection where one shouldn’t be. Passive optics! Humans use glass lenses like we do except theirs are way nicer. He recalled admiring one of their “spotting scopes with range finder” at a store. Now that his cover was blown he was definitely going to buy one! He had earned enough to cover it. (He remembered exactly how much it cost.)

He looked closer. He could just barely make out the slightest bulge on the roofline.

Sniper! They were Aat good. If he didn’t know exactly what to look for and knew that they had to be there he would have never seen them…

Until it was too late, which it already was. Ree was right. If they wanted to hurt him he wouldn’t have made it a foot out of their rather sticky shelter.

I shouldn’t let them know I see them. They might decide to keep their location a secret the easy way.

***

“One of our little furry freaks just fucking made me!” a quiet feminine voice whispered into an old-style radio handset. “You were right, they’re Aats… or its one really freaky Aat and something else...”

“And here I was thinking you were good,” an ancient voice snickered in response. “So how many times have they done it?”

“I have better things to do than watch low-rez furry porn, sir...”

***

Inside their dumpster Ree and Jaho went through the boxes.

“Blankets!” Ree said happily as she opened a box. “We make proper nest!”

Jaho surveyed the haul. Blankets, food (both preserved rations and snacks), plenty of water, a tablet… those all made sense.

But why were there ponchos in there?

He pulled out a waterproof pouch and squealed when he opened it despite himself. Inside was a paper map and a compass! He had no idea that humans used them!

It was beyond nice too! It was super nice, the nicest compass he ever saw!

He turned on the tablet. When he did an old human’s face appeared.

Hello. I’m Captain Perkins with the Forsaken. Most of the items should make sense but you are probably wondering about the garments. Your clothing, while not a Federation uniform looks entirely too similar to one for your safety and contains a marker strip that can be picked up on a scanner. Ditch them. We’ve had a couple of… unfortunate incidents… involving fleeing contract labor. Don’t worry. No Aats were killed but a couple picked up some shrapnel and one caught a needle before we knew they weren’t Feds. We patched them up, got them to a medical unit, and they will be just fine. Everyone should know about you guys by now, but yeah, ditch the outfits.

The tablet has full connectivity. We recommend Sunshine Radio for the latest information.

Oh, in case you are wondering, your friends at the Federation Command Post are fine. The Colonel had the good sense to surrender. We are in the process of rounding them up and they will be treated as per the Geneva Convention. That’s good by the way. They won’t be harmed unless they decide to be stupid.

There is an email address preloaded in the tablet. That goes to our ombudsman’s office. You need to get in touch for some reason you can send an email there. If you can’t read or write you can send a voice communication. Just say my name and it will get to me.

We’ve given you enough supplies so you can stay put for a few days. Do that. You are in one of our patrol zones and perfectly safe. The Forsaken troops won’t harm you but we are having a problem with some of the unaffiliated. Between us and the SDF we should have the entire city secure in a few days so kick back, relax, and… keep enjoying each other’s company.

The message ended.

“These Forsaken people are so nice!” Ree exclaimed happily as she opened a box of donuts.

Jaho didn’t see a reason to correct her.

***

The Prime Minister of the Federation slumped in his chair holding his face in his hands.

Standing in front of him were an assembly of Generals and Admirals.

“...How?” he asked helplessly. “How could this be happening?”

“Prime Minister,” one of the generals said urgently, “you need to evacuate. Now.”

“I won’t!” the Prime Minister snapped. “If I run, Jessica Morgan wins two victories today! It will get out! The Prime Minister flees? It will be a political disaster! I might as well step down!”

You might as well step down anyway, the general thought to himself.

“I urge you to reconsider,” the general said wiping stress ooze from his optical pits. “Current intel shows that the local human population-”

“Crush them!” the Prime Minister shouted. “Pull them from their homes and drag them down the fucking street!”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“That is extremely inadvisable,” Admiral Koo stated. “Details are extremely scant but Colonel Xx’vkk managed to get a message out that stated that the porkies used Terran style nuclear weapons. If they have them here...”

“How did they get nukes?!?” the Prime Minister squeaked.

“Well they are humans and fusion explosive technology is something that significantly predates the Sol Wars,” Admiral Koo replied. “It is entirely possible that they could manufacture them, however, it is much more likely that they were purchased on the black market. After all, the Z’uush obtained them in significant numbers and we can only assume that the human criminal syndicates have even better connections.”

“That is before we even consider their conventional offensive capacity,” a general said. “Reports from human enclaves show them inflicting heavy casualties on our troops and local system defense forces. In fact the losses have been near total in several-”

“That’s impossible!” the prime minister shouted. “There is NO WAY an unarmed rabble could-”

“They have obtained massive numbers of Terran AK’s and top of the line ammunition,” the general replied. “In many cases almost the entire population was armed. They also have heavy weapons and are capable of improvising a type of explosive device that is capable of destroying a grav-tank. Mixed in with the Terran arms are a disturbing amount of very high power gauss and particle beam weapons and a device that generates a sustained stream of plasma that at close range is capable-”

“HOW!” the prime minister screamed.

“Somehow they managed to obtain and distribute both arms and very skilled military personnel with a speed that staggers the imagination,” Admiral Koo stated. “It’s a logistical masterpiece!” he exclaimed with a touch of admiration in his voice.

“Masterpiece?!?! Masterpiece?!?! More like master fuck up! How did you not detect this?!?! Why didn’t you stop it?!?”

“Prime minister,” the admiral said in a condescending tone. “Are you aware of exactly how much shipping goes into and out of a system on a regular basis? Are you also aware that the groups at the head of this war are behind a great deal of the smuggling of black market goods, especially drugs, across the Federation? They have been eluding us for years. They are masters of it.”

“This isn’t a war!” the prime minister shouted. “This is just a bunch of criminal scum that-”

“With all due respect, sir,” the admiral replied turning a ugly shade of dark green, “We just lost over half a million men in a single day. Even the Terrans didn’t do that. This isn’t a mob or a rabble. This isn’t civil unrest. This isn’t even an insurrection. Prime Minister, this is war. We declared a war that we were completely unprepared for on a real army and a real fleet. We lost five battleships today! Four in one engagement! That’s a fifth of our entire capital ship fleet. They wiped them out and didn’t even break a sweat… sir. The entire Retribution battle group didn’t take out four battleships at once, ever.”

“That is clearly due to incompetence!” the prime minister shouted.

“No, sir,” the admiral hissed turning nearly black. “That is clearly due to backing a species that we knew was dangerous as the void itself into a corner. You want to blame someone, blame the monsters that tried to make them extinct!”

The admiral drew himself to his full height.

“And while you are at it, blame the moron who decided to order a fucking military parade into hostile space without giving sufficient time to generate a proper plan of action or gather any real intelligence, sir,” he said as he gave the Vulxeen Admiral of the Navy a disdainful glance.

The Vulxeen glared at Admiral Koo but Admiral Koo paid him no heed and once again turned to face the prime minister.

“Blame the people who forgot that Jessica Morgan used to be General Jessica Morgan. Blame the person who, even when the ‘Devil of Sol’ called with tears in her eyes begging them to negotiate, chose to attack rather than have a single shred of ‘human’ decency. Yeah,” the admiral literally spat as he saw the shocked and horrified expression on the prime minister’s face, “We know about that. Blame the creature that clearly wanted a massacre, that clearly wanted to continue the progrom that his depraved buddies intentionally designed,” the admiral snarled stepping forward. “but don’t you DARE blame my men.”

“How dare you!” the prime minister spluttered.

“And while I’m on the subject,” the admiral said with a sneer, “You want to know the real reason why the generals over here don’t want to send forces into porkie town? They don’t want to lose, because if they do there will be nothing to stop the porkies from sacking the entire city! They have their forces staged in defensive positions around the government district and are praying that the porkies don’t get bored waiting for us because if they have half the weapons and troops we think they do in there we can’t stop them if they do.”

The generals shifted uncomfortably as they looked at each other and stared daggers at the admiral.

“Is… Is this true?” the prime minister asked the generals in horror.

It only took one look at them to tell him the answer.

“Prime Minister,” one of the generals said calmly. “I urge you to reconsider evacuation. We can say it’s because of the nuclear threat… We can keep it covert. Nobody has to know you left the capital...”

“The fucking Xx will know,” the prime minister replied grimly. “So will the Kalent...”

The prime minister took a deep breath.

“No. I will remain here,” the prime minister said. “The whole Federation is going to be shaken when word of this gets out. I flee the capital and it is a public relations nightmare of historic proportions and I don’t just mean my career this time. I can’t leave.”

The prime minister closed his eyes and sighed.

“Evacuate the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense ,” he said, “We need to ensure a smooth transition if something…”

He let out a ragged breath.

“If something happens to me,” he said grimly. “Now go and do… whatever it is that you need to do. I’m… I’m not… Just… Just go,” he said in a tired, defeated voice.

The prime minister was soon alone in his office. He buried his head in his hands and slowly rocked back and forth.

***

As the mob of generals and admirals exited the building the Admiral of the Navy turned to confront Admiral Koo.

“You are relieved of command effective immediately,” the Vulxeen snarled.

“Great,” the other admiral smiled. “I was hoping you would do that.”

“What?”

“I’m returning home,” the admiral said turning a triumphant shade of purple. “If you think I’m supporting the sick joke that the Federation has become you are as stupid as they say you are behind your back. My people's SDF is a lot more worthwhile than trying to keep you and your toadies from drowning in your own spit.”

“I’ll personally see to it you never get a commission again! You won’t even be able to captain a fucking freighter!”

“Then I’ll enlist.”

Admiral Koo ripped off his insignia, flipped it into the Admiral of the Navy’s chest, and walked off.

***

Karashel and Caw were sitting at her favorite lunch spot.

“This is a nice spot,” Caw said as he opened an insulated flask and poured himself a cup of Xx tea, “You seem better today. Finally got some sleep?”

“Reluctantly,” Karashel smiled as she popped a grain encapsulated pickle into her mouth and started working it over with her radula. “Twentieth-century Earth history is so fascinating!”

“It must be convenient for your voice box to be separate from your digestive tract like that,” Caw said with an amused flick of his crest. “So, do you see the horror that ‘by any means necessary’ produces?”

“Well, to a certain extent.”

“To a certain extent?!?”

“Yes,” Karashel said reaching for another ‘rice ball’, “millions did indeed die and in a most unpleasant fashion but after the admittedly horrific short-term adjustment period billions thrived. The conditions that birthed those movements needed to be changed and later, after the dust settled-”

“That isn’t the point!”

“Just an observation,” Karashel said calmly. “By the twenty second century even Communist China gave way to much improved-”

“After their third world war! Over two billion dead!”

“Yes, and that is certainly unfortunate, but in the years that followed, how many benefited from their sacrifice? World War Three fundamentally changed Earth’s entire culture for the better!”

“At the cost of over two billion innocent lives!”

“And how many lives were saved afterwards? That was the last major war until the Sol Wars a thousand years later. A thousand years of peace and prosperity, Caw. Their golden age started right then, born from the fires of that horrible conflict.”

Caw looked at Karashel in horror. This wasn’t the point that he hoped to make at all. Images of what happened last time the Xx tried to “help” flashed across his mind. He desperately hoped he wasn’t repeating history.

“But what about the Arrazeen?” he asked.

“The Arrazeen?”

“You wouldn’t have heard of them because they aren’t here anymore,” Caw replied. “If twentieth century Earth wasn’t enough to put you off of your lunch then they most certainly will. Look them up.”

“I will!” Karashel said brightly.

“And returning to Earth,” Caw replied. “Violent upheaval wasn’t the only way significant progress was made. What about Ghandi and Martin Luther King? They achieved change every bit as significant without wrecking havoc.”

“True,” Karashel replied. “And to be honest, they and others like them are far better examples to follow when instigating meaningful social change. I was just making an observation, that’s all.”

“A chilling one!”

“But if I’m going to truly study this I need to be able to look at it objectively, right? For example you can’t look at Nazi Germany in a vacuum. You have to look at the conditions both in Europe and in Germany itself before, during, and after the Second World War to get the full picture. I mean World War Two effectively brought an end to European colonialism arguably one of the big evils of the age and that wouldn’t have happened without the Nazis.”

European colonialism? Caw thought to himself. He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. He looked at Karashel with both horror and awe this time. Exactly how fast can a Baleel learn when it wants to?

“Exactly how many hours have you spent-”

“All of them!” Karashel exclaimed as she stuffed her face. “I’m either studying or sleeping!”

Caw smiled. Her enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge was so endearing! He was probably worrying over nothing. She did say that Martin Luther King and Ghandi’s methods were the best after all. Also, to be honest, some of her observations made a disturbing amount of sense. It showed that she was actively learning and looking at the material objectively and reasonably, and any reasonable, objective sophont would definitely come to the proper conclusions in the end.

She was a good person. That was obvious. She just needed a little guidance.

“We have a word for what you are experiencing, ‘Xvakk’Keen’, knowledge mania,” he smiled. “The inrush of information can be like a drug for us and can be every bit as dangerous. Take care to moderate both your hours and your thoughts... Otherwise you will wind up like a certain Xx who had to be dragged kicking and screaming out of a library by mental health professionals and spent the next month babbling to the nice people in the recovery gardens about how it’s possible to open a hyperspace portal with just your mind.”

“Seriously?” Karashel laughed.

“Oh yeah,” Caw laughed. “I had graphs and everything!”

They both laughed for a little while.

“So no coup attempts!” he laughed poking her.

“Got it, professor!” she giggled.

It won’t be an attempt...

Karashel flinched at the intrusive thought. She was being silly again. I mean both the Kalent and the Xx have tried and failed. What could she do?

“You really picked up a lot of information incredibly quickly,” Caw said in admiration as he pulled out his crystalline tablet. “You must have found have found some really good documents! What did you find-”

His tablet started making a pinging sound.

“Sorry, I have to take this call,” he said as he rose and took a few steps away.

“Matriarch!” he exclaimed in a jovial manner. “How’s the grub worm?… She doesn’t?” he laughed, “So what order does she want to join?… Academics! Excellent! What subject matter?… Oh don’t be like that! Theoretical physics is a fine endeavor… No it most certainly has not been ‘done to death’. There is so much yet to explore!… Well, a juvenile’s desire to rebel is as universal as the speed of light in a vacuum. My own son is still pursuing professional athletics for the Progenitor’s sake so be grateful that she is at least doing something worthwhile!… Oh?… I’m not entirely sure if we share the same sense of humor… A data file? I’m not overly eager to have a virus install bug porn into every single device I own again… No, that wasn’t funny! It attached to a report I submitted to the homeworld, you anus!… I actually sent a porn virus to-… It most certainly was not ‘hot’… (snicker) Well, ok, maybe it was a little funny. Did I ever tell you how many resources we devoted in order to prove that the Xx involved in those explorations of interspecies congress were in fact computer generated?… We had to! How else were we going to sleep at night? Oh, I have a message from the Xx homeworld for you, ‘We shall be repaying you in kind.’…”

Karashel tried very hard not to eavesdrop, or giggle. Who would dare do that to the Xx?

“Oh, actual official business? Alright, send the file… Got it. I’m reviewing it now...”

Caw pulled up images of the Federation fleet entering the Raylesh system. He grimaced and made an unpleasant sound.

“What?” Karashel asked without thinking.

“I’m watching footage of the Federation Fleet entering the Raylesh system,” Caw said with distaste. “The Federation certainly did not spare any expense. When they said overwhelming force they meant it. The humans are going to be crushed.”

“Figures,” Karashel muttered angrily. “How dare they try to survive without Federation approv-” She was cut off by a loud screech from Caw. He gripped his tablet so hard it was shaking.

A strange voice, the likes of which Karashel never heard before could clearly be heard saying, “Surprise!”

“What! What?” Karashel asked.

Caw made no reply. He just stood there stock still watching the tablet.

“Progenitors...” he gasped shuddering. “Do you know how many-… Oh by the ancient gardeners!… And Zaran?… I’ll watch it later… And what of the enclaves?…”

Caw shook his head sadly.

“Well, it was only to be expected that they would fight but the nightmarish extent of it all…”

“The humans fought?” Karashel asked with a mix of awe and horror. They would be massacred! She hoped that they will fight with courage. Of course they will. It will be like the Warsaw Ghetto all over again but they will fight! They will lose but the Feds will know that they were there!

She silently uttered a prayer for the humans.

“Yes, I will pass this along to the homeworld,” Caw said quietly. “Thank you for the intelligence. I can’t… I can’t speak freely here,” Caw said looking over at Karashel. “but we need to discuss this in detail… No the news hasn’t hit here yet… I hadn’t considered that. I will vacate the area immediately! I will contact you when I am at the embassy and could you please stop laughing. It’s distasteful and NONE of this is remotely humorous! I will speak to you later. Farewell.”

Caw turned to Karashel.

“We’re leaving, now! Come on!”

“What? Why?”

“The humans… they…” Caw paused to gather himself. “The humans have completely destroyed both main Federation expeditionary fleets.”

“What?!?”

“It was a massacre. All contact with ground forces on both Raylesh and Zaran have been lost. Every single human enclave where the Federation has tried to enter... There are massive casualties being inflicted in every single… Over half a million dead and the number is climbing by the second! We, we have to leave! We aren’t safe here!”

Karashel started to pack up her lunch.

“Leave it!” Caw screeched. “They have nukes! This place could be vaporized any second! The Xx embassy is designed to withstand a blast. We’ll go there!”

Karashel grabbed her lunchbox and they both started to run. Karashel quickly fell behind.

“Fuck it!” Caw screeched and pulled out his tablet.

Moments later his car decloaked right in front of them.

“Get in!” he yelled.

Karashel rushed to climb in. She tried to keep her expression even but inside she was grinning from ear to ear, and her very soul was singing.

...Now in darkness world stops turning,

Ashes where the bodies burning

No more War Pigs have the power,

Hand of God has struck the hour

Day of judgment, God is calling

On their knees the war pigs crawling,

Begging mercies for their sins

Satan, laughing, spreads her wings

Oh Lord yeah!

"Oh Lord yeah," she whispered.