A lot of spaceships were coming in today. We had already inspected eight of them, and they were cleared to land. There were at least five more to be checked. Normally, there are only two or three ships to check on an average day. Everyone and their dog must have arrived today.

I glanced at the captain who was talking with Tran as we walked through his cargo ship. I didn’t know the name for his race, but he had thin brown fur and vaguely catlike facial features. Two other crew members accompanied us; one had dark brown fur and the other one had pale grey fur.

I wrinkled my nose. That grey one really needs better hygiene practices. At this point, I’m not even sure that a bath would help him. I shook my head to dismiss the smelly grey crew member. Tran and Vick walked nearby while four other Kymari followed behind us in case we came across something.

We passed through a room, and I raised my head to sniff the air more carefully. With a rumble, I stood up. All eyes looked at me as I scented the air. I growled and lashed my tail lightly at the faint scent. We kept walking, and the smell got stronger.

I murmured to Taureen, “Crawler.”

It was only polite to let him know what we were tracking. We were walking through another corridor when I turned around on Taureen’s shoulder to glide down to the floor in front of a closed door. I sniffed at the crack under the door and scratched at it.

“Tasha, to fist.”

I left the door and returned to Taureen, who put me back on his shoulder. Tran opened the door; it was a corridor with cabinets on one side and a door on the far side. We walked down the corridor towards the door at the end.

Tran paused in front of the door as he said, “The sign says that the next room is half gravity.”

He glanced back at us, knowing that I wasn’t allowed in such a room.

Taureen replied, “I will wait here.”

I always wondered what it would be like to fly with low gravity, but it was highly doubtful that I would ever get that chance, even if I asked Taureen. There were just too many rules and precautions when it came to my safety, especially when we left the city to inspect cargo ships.

The captain commented, “It’s a large cargo bay; there are no other exits from it, unless you count the exterior bay door itself.”

The two feline crew members lead the way into the next room as Tran, Vick, and the four Kymari guards followed them. The captain remained with us in the corridor.

The new air from the next room met my nose; I took a deeper breath and blinked as I shifted my weight slightly. That doesn’t make any sense. If the crawler was in the other room, the smell would have been stronger, but it’s actually fainter.

“The air from that room had a weaker scent than what is in here,” I informed Taureen. “The scent is still extremely weak, though. It might be coming from an air vent or something.”

I spread my wings and glided back along the way we came in, taking care to fly front of various air vents. It did seem stronger in one part of the room. I circled back and landed on the floor, sniffing at the bottom of one of the cabinet doors.

Taureen’s heavy footsteps walked up behind me, and he opened the cabinet door. I hissed as I stepped back in confusion. The cabinet held a cylinder-shaped tank full of yellowish fluid with a crawler inside. Despite being completely submerged, the crawler didn’t seem to care as it wiggled around while suspended in the liquid.

I squeaked in surprise as Taureen swiftly grabbed me, spinning to the side as fuzzy yellow energy blast hit the ground where I had been standing. My heartbeat picked up at the close call and I quickly spun my head around as I searched for the source. The captain had an energy weapon pointed at us, not hesitating as he fired several blasts in quick succession.

Taureen tried to dodge but barely dodged them, handicapped with me in his arms. The captain pinned his ears back as his mouth open in a silent snarl, aiming the energy blaster at us again. Taureen turned so that he shielded me from the blasts. “Run!” He threw me into the air before he gave a short cry of pain and collapsed on the ground.

I managed to get my wings working and quickly looked down to see Taureen fall face first on the ground as a yellow electric shimmer faded from where it had struck his back.

“Taureen!” He didn’t move. My mindvoice bounced back, and I knew he hadn’t heard me. He took the blast that had been meant for me...

I was almost frozen in shock as I hovered near the ceiling. The captain took several steps forward and aimed the weapon at Taureen’s head. My vision gained a red tint as pure unfiltered rage swamped my mind.

With an enraged battle scream, I dove at the captain. He looked up at the noise just in time to get a face full of searing flame. With a scream, he dropped to his knees, awkwardly scrambling backwards.

I flipped upside down to correct my flightpath, banking sharply as I flew right behind his neck. I fully extended the claws on both of my front hands and swiftly lashed out at the side of his neck, leaving deep lacerations as my momentum took me past him.

I did a wingover to send my flame down onto the captain again. My sharp claws had caused a lot of damage, and he was bleeding heavily. The sound of the far door opening distracted me from my attack, and I sharply altered my course, landing on Taureen’s back. I mantled my wings protectively over him while snarling at the door.

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Taureen hadn’t moved yet, but I could feel him breathing beneath me. He still lived.

The two crew members paused as they saw the scene. Suddenly, they reached for their weapons as they spun to face the two Kymari beside them. Tran and Vick were faster and struck the two crew members before they aimed their weapons. They slumped down, unconscious.

Turning their attention towards me, Tran and Vick carefully walked closer. My sight was still tinted in red, and I flared my wings as I screeched a warning. My ear tufts were pinned flat, and I kept up a constant stream of growls that warned them to keep their distance.

Tran knelt down to pick up and examine the weapon that the captain had used. He sighed in relief. “It only has a four stun rating. Taureen should regain consciousness shortly.”

Vick observed me from where he stood. “Good, because I don’t want to go anywhere near Tasha at the moment.”

Tran punched something into his wrist comm. “I alerted the guards. They are on their way.”

Mere seconds later, the four Kymari guards ran through the open door. I mantled my wings once more over Taureen while snarling at their approach. My wings may not have hidden much, but the message should have been quite clear. Two of the newly arrived guards went to bind the wounds on the captain’s neck before they hauled him away.

The other two walked up beside Tran and Vick. One inquired, “Why are we leaving him like that?”

Tran gave him an ironic look. “Because Tasha is guarding him, and he was just stunned. He should wake shortly.”

The Kymari shook his head. “We should check to make sure he didn’t sustain a more severe injury.”

Vick snorted. “Easier said than done. Tasha’s claws are sharp, and she can breathe fire.”

Ignoring their advice, the Kymari slowly started walking towards me. I was snarling so viciously that my wings were actually vibrating from the force of it.

Tran called out in a cool voice, “She is a bond animal, and you are a fool if you approach her with her handler out cold.”

The Kymari continued approaching. “I don’t plan on touching her. I just want to ensure that he doesn’t have any other injuries.”

Unable to control myself, my snarls increased in volume and pitch as heat built in the back of my throat with my fury. It was hard to keep my claws from extending, but they would pierce Taureen’s skin if they did. The Kymari knelt down nearby and reached out to put his hand on Taureen’s other shoulder.

I lunged forward in a lightning swift move and slashed at his arm with one hand. In the same instant, I twisted my head to spit a fireball at his chest. He sprang back with a cry of surprise and pain, but he wasn’t fast enough to get out of my range.

I hadn’t pulled my slash, and my fully extended claws had left four lacerations on his arm that went right to the bone. The fireball was burning itself out against his heavy chest armor, but he undoubtedly felt the intense heat through his armor and against his face.

I keened a warning that rang with my fury. Tran and Vick looked surprised but didn’t approach any closer. The injured Kymari swiftly backed up to where they had remained. His companion was already pulling out the first aid kit; he had obviously expected that I wouldn’t let a stranger near Taureen while I was like this.

The Kymari’s arm was almost bound up when I felt Taureen stir slightly below me. I glanced down as I dropped my snarls. I hopped onto the floor beside his head and nuzzled him while humming encouragement.

“Come on, wake up before I send someone else to the hospital.”

He took a deep breath before he shifted his arms. He rolled to the side and propped himself up on an elbow as he shook his head and tried to focus on the room. He blinked at the wounded Kymari before transferring his gaze to Tran, who was cautiously approaching.

Taureen looked a bit dazed, likely still trying to gather his thoughts as he asked, “What exactly happened?”

Tran glanced at me. “I’m not entirely sure what happened, but when we came in, the captain was down with severe burns and deep scratches to his neck. You were out cold, and Tasha was perched on your back threatening the world for all she was worth.”

Taureen stiffly moved into a sitting position on the floor as he recovered. He spotted the large pool of blood off to the side and glanced at me. “Are you responsible for that?”

I snorted before jumping up to his shoulder pad. “Maybe, maybe not. It’s the captain’s blood, although I’m not sure why he leaves it laying around like that.”

Taureen shook his head and rubbed his forehead as if trying to rub away a headache. He paused at the sight of the Kymari’s heavily-bandaged arm. “What happened to your arm?”

The injured Kymari ruefully transferred his gaze to me. “I wasn’t aware of how sharp your friend’s claws were.”

Taureen transferred his gaze to me. “Now why did you go attack him like that? Surely you knew that he wasn’t the bad guy.”

I rustled my wings to settle them while letting him feel my disapproval of that Kymari. “He is so incompetent that I’m sure that he would be unable to pour water out of a boot with instructions printed on the heel.”

Taureen chuckled while shaking his head, getting a few odd looks from the two Kymari guards. Vick and Tran were used to it and didn’t seem to find anything amiss with how he often spoke to me.

Tran slowly approached. “If you can keep Tasha under control, I can give you a hand and help you to your feet.”

Taureen stroked my back. “Calm down.”

I muttered but tolerated Tran’s approach. Tran held out his hand, and Taureen took it as Tran pulled him to his feet in one smooth motion. I dug my claws into the shoulder pad to avoid falling off.

Tran clapped him on his other shoulder. “It’s good to see you back on your feet. You are going to have to come up with a backup plan for when you are injured and can’t control Tasha. The captain is lucky to survive her assault, and a medical person is waiting at the docks to patch up Deran’s arm. Luckily, her flame hit his chest armor; if it had struck his face, he could very well be as blind as that captain is now.”

Taureen blinked in confusion as he examined the rather large puddle of blood on the floor. “What exactly did she do?”

Tran glanced at the captain’s blood stain as he said, “She managed to flame his face. He has severe burns and will never see again. The fire will leave so much scarring that his fur won’t grow back on his face. She also managed to claw his neck and hit several big blood vessels. He is suffering from severe blood loss and is in the recovery bay while the medics are trying to control the bleeding. Two guards are watching him in case he tries anything else.”

Taureen looked surprised before taking a second look at Deran’s scorched armor. “Why did she attack Deran?”

Tran snorted. “The fool tried to touch you while she was snarling for all she was worth.”

The injured guard gritted his teeth and looked away, now aware of how big of a mistake he had made. He had been injured by an animal the size of his foot – it wasn’t something he really wanted others to know.

Taureen didn’t look impressed as he eyed Deran up. “Take my advice; never come between a bond animal and their handler.”

The guard nodded stiffly at the rebuke. Taureen turned to check on the crawler, which was still squirming around in the yellow liquid in the cabinet.

“I’m surprised that she managed to scent it while it was in there,” Taureen said. “Why does he have a crawler in a cryo tank?”

Tran frowned. “That is one of the many things the captain will be answering once he is awake. There is a team on their way to take it, and we can leave as soon as they arrive. They should be here shortly.”

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before a dozen Kymari showed up, allowing us to finally leave.