Chapter3 Meet the Parents

Mat sighed heavily, standing to stretch his stiff back and legs. He had been up all night working on his "guest". Though he was no doctor he had a good hand at stitching and first aid. The female looked like a freight train had hit her. Mat was amazed that she was still breathing. A deep set of slashes ran up her left ribcage and ended just under the curve of her breast, there were several deep puncture wounds to her stomach and he was certain her right arm was broken. He tackled the slash first as it was the most serious...and the most uncomfortable since he had to handle her naked chest to get to it. The punctures and arm were fairly simple to handle with some bandages and a homemade splint. The hard part had been getting her cleaned up. Once he had gotten over the initial shock of it all he had really looked at her. She was not a small girl! At roughly six foot five and around two ninety it was a very interesting rescue attempt. He tried several times to move her on his own but his injured knee wouldn't let him. After only moving her a few feet he was forced to rethink his approach. In the end, much to his embarrassment, he had limped back to the cabin and retrieved the ATV he used for heavier jobs. Dragging the huge creature behind the machine was mortifying. You didn't drag a wounded person by their arms through the brush! But it had worked and he had managed to get her inside, where the weight of her had broken his couch.

Looking at the busted piece of furniture he couldn't help but start laughing.

"Hey Mat what happened to your couch?" he mimed

"Well see what had happened was…"

He broke down into a fit of laughter.

"I need a shower and a cup of coffee" he informed the unconscious alien.


For the first time in her very long life Gahn'tha-cte felt a pang of fear. The forest in which she stood was massive. With its mountains and valleys that formed a seemingly endless labyrinth, it was a bit overwhelming.

She had been on the blue planet for three full cycles. The clan ship had received the distress signal from her offspring's mei-jadhi nearly twelve of the planets cycles ago. When the huge female had learned of her daughter's disappearance because of the bad bloods, she flew into a rage destroying the sitting room of her and her mate's quarters. With a feeling of guilt settling in her stomach she had also nearly beat her mate to death. Having pups had not been easy for Gahn'tha-cte; her body did not accept pregnancy well so all of her children were precious to her. Of all nine of them Kjuhte was the most cherished. She was the only female of all of them. The fact that she was still alive was no small miracle. She had been born tiny and was still quite small as a pup. The clan matriarch had feared her deformed and was on the verge of removing her to become an eta. When it came time for her chiva no one expected her to even comeback alive!

They were all humiliated when SHE walked form the drop ship with the skull of a queen!

It was true; the tiny female had not only killed a kiande amedha brood queen she had assisted the arbitrators in containing the infestation when it suddenly breached the borders of the hunting grounds. Going so far as to save the Elder arbitrator who , much to Gahn-tha's surprise and swelling pride, was also her life mate and Kjuhte's sire. She trilled at the memory of the look of pride on the big male's face when he limped off the hunt ship behind his only daughter. She had had to remind him several times of were the little female's strength had come from and kept his ego in check.

Now on the still very foreign planet her child was lost! Her hunt sister had informed them that they had been separated and that their power packs were low when they had been attacked. Kjuhte's weak location signal had faded the previous day and now the young huntress was alone in the rapidly chilling wilderness with no power supply and no way to signal for help.

I will find you my pup!

The huntress cloaked herself and slipped into the shadows of the forest.


"Damn Mister Matthew that's a lot of meat you got there."

Mat grinned at the elderly store owner. "Well I ran a little low last year. Don't want a repeat this winter." And I sure as hell don't want to be on the menu when ole' girl wakes up! Though that information he kept to himself. Mat found himself in an unusually good mood. It was coming up on nearly two and a half weeks since his encounter with the aliens. The female was still unconscious on his living room floor, but had been showing signs of recovery. The smaller cuts and bruises had pretty much healed and the swelling in her arm was down considerably. He still had to keep an eye on its placement when she shifted in her sleep. The nasty gash on her torso had been really the cause of most of his worry. Her tough skin made stitching hard to do and the thin line broke easily under the strain of her bulk. He constantly had to check it to prevent more bleeding.

Two weeks later he was amazed at how fast her body healed itself. Today he was in Cold Water buying everything that he thought he would need for the coming winter. He went first to the small hardware store and bought everything he would need to get his water system wrapped up and picked some lumber for a repair he needed to make on the roof. Next was the sports shop to stock up on some ammo and cleaning oil for his firearms. Now he found himself in the small general store buying up almost all of the meat and vegetables in the place.

"Ohh I love it when he talks like that" The owner's daughter interrupted.

Kayla was a pretty thing though mat wasn't really interested and she was enamored with his southern accent.

With a small wink at the owner Mat laid it on thick.

"Well chere' you folks take care and keep yourselves warm" "I'll see ya in a few months"

With a deep chuckle form Keith and a long sigh from his daughter, Mat headed out to his jeep.

It seemed that it was going to be a decent winter he thought with a smile.

Suddenly he remembered something, turning back to the two.

"Hey Keith you still have that furniture catalog? I want to look into a new couch." Trying to hide the boyish smile on his face.


Everything hurt and she was hungry...very hungry. The first thoughts that came to Kjuhte as she drifted awake. But she was warm and felt relatively whole and alive...Alive!

I'm alive!

The rapid jerk turned out to be a terrible idea. Her head swam and vision blurred. With a heavy growl she lay back on the thick blankets that were her bed.

Where pauk-de am I?

Calming her first outburst she began to take stock of her environment. She was in an ooman shelter. Had she been captured? Was she to be experimented on? Her breathing became labored as a new wave of panic began to wash over her. It was a terrible dishonor to be caught by prey.

If yautja secrets and technology were to fall into the hands of oomans!

Shaking her head Kjuhte calmed her breathing and started to analyze here situation. Her belongings were piled up in a corner next to her pallet, her wounds were clean and mended, and she was covered up warmly next to a crackling fire. This couldn't be a prison or holding lab. Something about the place smelled too familiar. She knew this place somehow. The sound of an engine approaching outside suddenly broke her train of thought.

I'm about to find out what is going on.

The female hunter settled back into the coverings and began to relax her breathing, pretending to sleep.


Mat was particularly pleased with himself. The trip had actually been pleasant and was it nice to be around people for a few hours. After all of his errands were done and he had dropped off the letters to his mom and sister; he had even gone and had a chocolate milkshake at the diner. Socializing with some of the old timers and flirting a little with the waitress.

It all put him in a good mood. All of the rehab and moving away from the big cities seemed to be paying off.

I might still have a little human in me! He thought cheerfully as he finished putting away the last of the groceries.

Speaking of human….

He walked back into the living room to check on his patient. She had kicked off the quilts and lay sprawled in a tangled mess. A small smile quirked his lips as he went about repositioning her. Her skin at regained a lot of its coloring over the course of the past days, her body slowly replenishing the lost blood. It was dark almost black it had shine to it from a layer of sweat that had formed and his favorite part was the tiger strips of red that played down her spine wrapping around her ribs and ending at her belly. Her midsection was a lighter brown from her throat sweeping over her breasts and ending in the junction of her legs. Mat found himself admiring her features, respectfully avoiding her more private areas. Leaning over to wipe the light sheen of sweat off her face and chest he found himself talking to the prone creature.

"You know you're not that bad to look at."

"A little strange and your face is…. Well unique."

"But all and all you are sorta pretty"

In a wild and dangerous sort of way He thought.

Shaking his head wryly he finished cleaning her off and headed to the back of the house. He could do with a bit of a cleanup himself. "Hitting on an unconscious alien." He muttered as he left her to sleep.


Kjuhte's eyes popped open at the sound of running water. Staring at the ceiling she had to mull over the ooman's actions and his words. Though not easy to speak she was comfortable with several of the ooman dialects that were used, her favorite being from one of the oldest of the blue planet clans the Chinese, and she was well versed in this English.

This particular ooman was most interesting. She still didn't know what he looked like but something in his smell and the sound of his voice was terribly familiar. He had groomed her with a damp cloth and talked with himself the whole time. He was certainly strange.

But he does find me desirable! Recalling his words. I think it's time to meet this male.

Docile he may be but she was taking no chances. Rising to kneel near her things she strapped on one the bladed gauntlets keeping the undamaged arm free.

If he reacts poorly I will have to kill him…I might have to kill him anyway.

She didn't like that train of thought, he had been honorable in assisting the huntress and it didn't seem right to have to take his life. But still… she couldn't be sure. He knew much already. The yautja stood slowly and silently padded towards the sound of the ooman…..he had begun to sing! Something about the circle of life….this ooman just might really be insane!


Mat let his breath out with a loud whoosh, washing the soap from his face in the hot shower. The steam curling up and over the glass door filling the bathroom like a sauna and hazing his vision. Mat looked back over his day and his thoughts inevitably wondered back to the female creature lying on his living room floor. She hadn't woken up yet and that worried him a bit, perhaps there was some damage that he couldn't see?

I'll try waking her up tonight.

The soft whisper of metal against metal was the only warning he got that he wasn't alone in that bathroom….and his questions were going to be answered.

OH Shit!

In less than the time it took him to think the curse Mat found himself against the wall; a dark hand reaching through the fog to grip his throat.

"Oh Shit." He managed to gasp as he felt himself being lifted from his feet.