The door opened, and the first sunlight in weeks beamed onto them. Katt's heart was beating in her chest, as was Blake's. Soon, they found themselves standing before an astonished crowd of human military personnel. A young African American Ensign jogged up to them. He glanced nervously at Katt, and swallowed hard.

"Captain O'Brien, your transport!" He said finally, snapping a crisp salute. Blake nodded and returned the gesture. The Ensign led them to a dark green Humvee at the back of the mob. He opened the door and motioned for them to enter. Blake climbed in first, followed by the Ensign. Katt's eyes darted around nervously before she entered too. The Ensign sat across from them, next to a Caucasian Admiral. At the sight of the man, Blake sat rigid and snapped a salute.

"Admiral Whiten!" he said.

"At ease, son." Whiten said. He looked at Katt, and raised an eyebrow. "And just who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Kathrin Monroe, sir." Katt squeaked nervously. She seemed to be on edge, gripping the seat with her claws. Blake noticed this out of the corner of his eye.

"Interesting… And I assume you are Cornerian, yes?" Whiten asked. Both Blake and Katt's eyes lit up in surprise.

"You… you know about us?" Katt asked. Whiten nodded. "But… how?"

"About fifty years ago we sent a long range recon drone into your galaxy. We were pretty shocked when we found a planet full of walking, talking animals!" Whiten said. Katt's eye twitched at the term animal.

"But sir," Blake said. "How come our species are unaware of each other, then?"

"Because we no reason to become involved in the doings of another race. You see, we were still thinking about how our first contact was going to go down. They could respond violently, or peacefully. We couldn't take the risk of an inter-galactic war, so we just stayed out of the way, but kept in mind that they were out there." Whiten explained. "And as for why we didn't ever tell anybody, how would you react if you were told that aliens exist?"

Blake nodded. "I understand."

"Good, now Captain, why don't you tell me why we had to save you from an army of fighters?" Whiten asked, placing a recording system in between them. Blake cleared his throat and began to speak.

"My patrol and I had just docked with Hermosa, right on schedule, when we passed the same lone gas giant that we always passed. My second in command, Corporal Taylor, asked if we could venture past the gas giant and explore beyond…"

Thirty minutes later, the three of them were gathered in the Admiral's study.

"…And that's about when Bravo Patrol showed up." Blake finished. The Admiral looked at him with a blank face. With a shaky hand, he reached up and slowly took of his glasses.

"Your team, you say that they're dead?" he asked in a solemn voice.

"Yes sir."

"And I recall you saying something about an engagement with Cornerian forces? And being captured? AND escaping with a hostage?"

"Ye-"Blake started to say, but was cut off as Whiten slammed his fist on the desk.

"GOD DAMN IT! DO YOU REALIZE, THAT BY YOUR ACTIONS, THE CORNERIANS VIEW US AS HOSTILE?"

"Ye-"

"Don't bother answering." Admiral Whiten snapped. "You came this close to starting a war! And now you have TWO WHOLE ARMIES after your ass!"

"SIR," Blake said loudly, causing Whiten to go silent. "I was doing what was necessary to protect my team. The Cornerians fired first-"

"DO NOT FUCK WITH ME, O'BRIEN! I know perfectly well how it all happened. Your stubbornness caused you to return fire in a harmless situation, which lit the spark in the powder keg!" Admiral Whiten shouted, standing up from his seat. "Damn boy, you just cannot take a hit, can you?"

Blake growled in his throat. He couldn't say anymore, lest he be court marshaled. Luckily, Katt came to his rescue.

"Sir, with all due respect, our race reacted pretty outlandish when Blake let off that little pot shot. Have you ever heard the phrase, an eye for an eye? That's what happened. Fox clipped Blake's ship, Blake did the same. Fox ordered his team to engage, and Blake was forced to do the same. It was a truly unavoidable situation." She explained. Whiten glared at her.

"And what is your deal? Why are you here?" he asked irritably.

"I am Katt Monroe, the hostage Blake took."

"And why the hell are you so eager to help him?"

"Because my people think that I helped him escape. The humans are my only chance at clearing my name, so I'm tagging along." She replied, crossing her arms.

"So they're after you too?"

"Yes." Katt said. Admiral Whiten sighed and rubbed his temples.

"So, if we help you, we risk being accused of harboring fugitives? WELL ISN'T THAT JUST DANDY!" he shouted. Katt stood perfectly un- fazed by the outburst.

"No, you just have to explain the truth to my people, and peace will be achieved."

"What if it isn't?"

"Tough."

"Why you little!" Whiten growled, but sighed and calmed down. "Get out. Ensign Jackson will escort you to your quarters."

"Yes sir." Blake said. The Ensign from earlier came back in and led them to a small room with two bunks set up and a nightstand. "Home sweet home."

Katt tossed her duffel down on the bottom bunk. "That went better than expected…"

"I know. Thanks for backing me up there."

"Don't mention it. This makes us even."

"I don't see how saving your life compares to helping me in an argument," Blake chuckled. "But if you say so…" he immediately had to duck as a pillow went soaring over his head.

"Oh shut up." Katt growled with a grin on her face. Her stomach growled. "Oh, we kind of missed breakfast this morning." She said sheepishly.

Blake laughed. "Come on then. I don't suppose you've ever tried fettuccini?"

"I'm afraid I haven't…" Katt muttered. Blake gestured to the door and they both stepped out. As they walked, people gave them (mostly Katt) looks of shock. A private carrying some documents accidently ran into a pillar at one point because his eyes were fixed on Katt. "Why are all these people starring at us?"

"Do you see any other five foot tall, walking cats?" Blake whispered.

"Point taken." Katt replied. "So where are we going?"

"The mess hall."

"Ah…" Katt muttered. They rounded a corner into a large, but mostly empty room lines with tables. It looked like a grade school cafeteria, only with mostly gray colors. Katt smelt something delicious cooking. To be fair, it was army food, so it probably wasn't good. But she was hungry.

"This way." Blake muttered, walking to one of the serving lines. Katt hesitated and followed, bracing herself for a lot of unwanted attention. Luckily there were only about four other people in the room. She and Blake walked through the narrow door way and into a small kitchen. Blake whistled to a muscular Caucasian stirring the contents of a large pot. The man wore standard camouflage fatigues, and had his hair cut short. At the whistle, the man turned around slowly, and his eyes went wide.

"Blake O'Brien? Where the FUCK you been you bastard?" the man called, hopping over the counter and giving him a crushing bear hug.

"How're you Blansky?" Blake asked, letting go of the massive man.

"Pretty good. But last time I heard of you, you got your ass blown out of the sky!" Blansky laughed. Blake laughed.

"Trust me; if I told you the truth you wouldn't believe me."

Blansky eyed Katt curiously. "I'm sure I wouldn't… Now anyways, how about some grub?"

"Have you improved your cooking skills since Ra?"

"Fuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuu, O'Brien. Fuck you."

"Same old Blansky…"

…Katt loved this stuff, whatever it was. Blake had called it: chicken noodle soup, and it was AMAZING! Already she was on her second bowl. Blake finished telling Blansky about his adventure, and the latter shot her a strange look.

"I knew she couldn't have been from around here? You say that there's a whole planet of them we didn't even know about?"

"Yes. We were shocked ourselves…" Blake muttered, starring at the ground. Blansky's eyes widened.

"NO! You don't mean… Dmitri?" he asked in an urgent tone. Blake looked at him with a solemn expression. Blansky broke down. "Aw fuck, I loved that guy!"

"I know…" Blake said. Katt glared at him. "Anyways, this is Katt."

Blansky looked up. "CAT huh? How original."

"As in KATHRINE, thank you." Katt said irritably. Blansky chuckled.

"She's kinda got a temper."

"Two weeks stuck together in a prowler can tell you that." Blake muttered.

"NO WAY!"

"Yep."

"HOLY SHIT! DID YOU TWO-"

"NO!" Blake and Katt shouted at the same time, causing everyone else in the mess hall to look over in there direction. They both blushed deeply and glared at Blansky.

"Are you sure? A man, and a woman, in a prowler… alone…"

"Shut up." They said again. Blansky only laughed.

"I'm just messing! You two are getting pretty defensive!" he said, making their blushes grow deeper. "It's been nice seeing you, O'Brien, but I have work to do!"

When Blansky left, Katt leaned over. "Is he always like this?" she whispered.

"Yep."

"Huh…" Katt mumbled. She thought over what Blansky had said. Now she was curious herself. What if she WAS in a relationship with Blake? What would that be like? She mentally sighed.

'Stupid girl, you must be getting desperate to consider dating an alien. But it's been so long…' she thought. She came to the conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, she would consider it. But for now, they needed to get out of this mess first…

Read and review! Do you think I should've made the humans a little more surprised? IDK this is the first time I've really done a non-violent first meeting… review and get free HUGZ! (^w^)