In the bedroom of Apartment 2, Row A-3, A block, Bogo began the first one arm pullup on the bar which his fiancé had installed after starting their weight loss plan.

One… two…

He held his breath on each pullup and released it with an angry huff. Before leaving, he'd received one last log from Administrator Hornbull. Without having the decency to explain why, the ambitious idiot was staying with Ewetani at the excavation for at least another two days. While a homicidal saboteur was on the loose. While the Vidarcrew was still stranded without their ship. While a colony of over two hundred mammals was still in operation and in need of someone to manage it.

Bogo naturally responded with a log demanding an immediate explanation. That was two hours ago, and he had yet to receive a response.

What the hell was that rhino thinking? There was a reason the colony had an assistant administrator. It was too large for just one mammal to manage. Bogo wouldn't be much help. He had the fort to take care of, and the new recruits were still coming up short in physical training. When Hornbull got back, he was going to get a strongly worded session on Priorities 101.

Bogo continued his pullups. Twenty-four… twenty-five… twenty-six… The burn of exertion was burning away his anger, as he'd hoped. His lover wouldn't want to share a couch with him in a bad mood.

Speaking of which, he heard a voice coming from down the hall.

"Hey, Mansa! You coming over?"

Bogo dropped down from the bar and shook his arms off. "Just about!"

Just in case, he administered himself a spurt of deodorant before making his way to the living room.

By all logic, he and Ben never should have even considered a relationship. Bogo was a marine grunt who took no shit and had a stick up his ass the length of a hanbo, and Ben was a white-collar worker who couldn't go ten minutes without trying to make friends. One was cynical, where the other was kind. One was hard, where the other was soft. And when one was stuck in a black cloud, the other looked for the silver lining. Bogo had first met him the day he was permanently transferred to Fort Meadowland; Ben had been the first colonist he'd ever spoken to. Bogo didn't believe in love at first sight. He still didn't. Even now he still couldn't explain how their cordial working relationship had evolved to what it was now.

All he knew was that they connected, just like that. Things developed each time they interacted, which wasn't often. Then one of them took a leap of faith, and then they were hanging out whenever they both had free time. Bogo often took Ben outdoors, showing him the beauty and harshness of nature, and Ben often took Bogo over to his place, reminding him of the benefits of a night watching movies on the couch.

It really was just like that. Two mammals who never should have gone any further than acquaintances were now only a few months away from getting married.

In the living room, Ben was at his desk, typing sickly green letters on a clunky computer.

"I didn't interrupt your workout, did I?"

"Almost reached one-thousand."

"Four years ago, I would have believed you." That got a chortle out of Bogo. "Dinner's on the counter. I've just got to finish this report."

"What's on the menu this time?'

"Your favorite. I hope."

Ben kept his big chocolate brown eyes on the black screen as he gave the direction. That was the first thing Bogo had found in common with him, his dedication to his job.

Bogo picked up the two metal bowls on the bench. Rhamusia salad, tonight. Roasted turquoise vegetables harvested from the Burrows, a grassy part of Rhamnusia where all indigenous plants deemed edible by the Rainforest Zone were sent to be planted and produced in agricultural holdings. Bogo didn't understand why the Company didn't just call them farms.

Bogo sat down on the couch with the two bowls in hoof and looked at the screen across the room. They were watching War of the Warrens tonight. A minute later Ben joined his side and took the bowl with the tuna in it. Bogo saw then what was on his shirt; big red words screaming GOOD VIBES ONLY. He pressed a button on the remote and started the movie.

Bogo watched him tuck into his salad, making sure there was tuna on his fork along with the vegetables each time. He'd seen the inside of the cheetah's bridge. It was a mixture of plants harvested from Rhamnusia and fish transported all the way from Earth and other rural colonies.

Out of curiosity, Bogo asked, "Why wouldn't you think this was my favorite? You know how I feel about roast veg."

"You always seemed to prefer veg from Earth."

"I prefer veg that's green-green. This looks like a poison arrow frog sweated all over it."

"Cheek!"

The intro sequence of the movie ended. Maybe it was the suspense, but Bogo still had a gnawing feeling in his stomach that was slowing down his meal. "So, how was your day?"

"Huh?" Ben blinked and looked away from the movie.
"How was your day?"
"Actually pretty cool. A couple of engineers went missing while going out to fix a sensor. Don't freak…" He said quickly when Bogo's expression changed. "They were totally fine. They just went out of range looking for a missing piece. That's what the report was for."

"I knew that. I send some mammals out to find them."

Benjamin sighed and lightly smacked his forehead. "Silly me, 'course you did."

"What did Park say to that?"

"I wasn't there to see it, but she had a conniption. As soon as they finish repairs they'll be scrubbing air vents for the foreseeable future."

"Serves them right." Bogo ate another forkful. "Sorry. With everything else that's gone wrong, I was thinking you meant another couple of engineers. You haven't heard from Hornbull recently, have you?"

Ben paused with his fork in his mouth. "Uh, yeah. He's gone away for a couple of days, hasn't he?"

"With absolutely no notice whatsoever."

"I'm sure he has his reasons."
Bogo put down his bowl and fell back against the couch cushion with his arms tightly crossed, glaring at the movie. "He's kissing sweet fluffy ass, that's his reason."

"Wow."

"I'm not wrong."

"Kinda hyperboling though, aren't ya?"

"I'm still not wrong."

Ben looked closer at Bogo, ignoring the sound of the invading aliens blasting the hapless mammals on the screen. "Okay, what's up?"

"Ok, look…" Bogo sighed. "Too much has gone wrong lately, and I don't like it."

"You don't like that the Company only sent one rabbit."

"I don't like a lot of things the Company does."

"Look, Hopps seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and Minerva's doing most the work. I think they know what they're doing."

"Minerva's a machine. Machines make mistakes. And one little rabbit's going to be the target of every carnivore on Rhamnusia. The Company's not taking this situation seriously."

"Or maybe they're assuming that the Colonial Marines will protect her."

"We're not baby-sitters!"

"Hey, I just don't want you to write her off because she's a bunny."

"They're writing me off as an alarmist! I just…" He stopped himself and sighed. This what he'd tried to avoid. "It's not just Hopps."

"… Well?" Ben asked with subtle impatience.

"I don't want anyone else getting killed."

"Nu-uh, we're still on Hopps. What else is going on? Is it this mysterious excavation the Company's doing? The Vidar? Something you're not telling me?"

Bogo sighed. He was not doing this. He was not going to let this damage what they had. He grabbed the remote and paused the film. "Fine. There is a possibility that the object that hit the Vidar has landed somewhere on this planet."

"For real?"

"I'm going to send a team to look for it first thing in the morning. It's very likely just a meteorite, and the science division will want to study it. They could discover a new material, we don't know."

"You haven't told Hornbull yet, have you?"

"I wanted to keep this under wraps until we learn more."

"Want me to tell him? It might convince him to come back early from the butt-kissing."

"I would love that. But you know what, he doesn't have to come back right away. I think the murder's just got me wound up. I promised you when I accepted this promotion, I'm not putting my life on the line anymore."

With the remote he resumed the film. Ben kept his attention on Bogo. "Don't you miss the action?"

"Why would you think that?"

"You go to the shooting range every other day. When you don't, you spar with the recruits."

Bogo paused. "Yes, fine, I miss it. But I wouldn't give this up for the world. It's not worth it. I'm lucky I got out before PTSD came along and ruined everything."

"It wouldn't have ruined everything."

"Tell that to the Franks."

"Okay, fine, but murder aside this doesn't seem that major. We've bumped up security since the last one-"

"It's too coincidental." The moment Bogo blurted it out, the feeling in his stomach eased just a little. "The Vidar, the excavation, the murder, all of it. I keep thinking that something major is about to happen."

He saw the look on Ben's face and felt terrible. Why couldn't he have lied to him just this once? "Forget it. The Company's right, I'm making a big deal out of nothing."
Ben looked at the paused movie. Bogo couldn't tell if he was convinced. "Maybe this movie wasn't a good idea. Let's put on something else."

"Crazy as it sounds, I'm up for a comedy." Bogo wasn't really, but anything to make them both feel better.

Ben brightened. "How about… cringe comedy?"

Bogo nodded. Then he saw the naughty glint in his betrothed's eyes. "Which one?"

"Guess."

"Friday the 13th?"

"Howard the Duck."

Bogo grimaced. "No."

Ben grinned. "You agreed to cringe comedy."

"Not to that abomination!"

"I'll skip past the condom scene this time, I promise."

"Skip the entire film and I'll make dinner tomorrow."

"It's just one scene."

"Second warning, Ben."

"They didn't even do anything!"

"Final warning."

"It'll be over before you know-"

Bogo grabbed him just as he was getting up, but the combination of standing up and lurching forward threw off his balance. The next thing he knew he was fully on the couch, Ben between him and the cushions. A second passed, and then Ben started to laugh. Bogo chortled along with him. Overreacting like that, he really must be highly strung. Perhaps they were right, and he was looking for trouble when there wasn't any. Aside of course from the saboteur.

Ben reached up and touched Bogo's face. "Feel better now?"

Matter of fact, being up close and personal was making Bogo tingle in all the right places. "Getting there."

Ben's face flushed but he held himself together long enough to say one more thing. "Just promise me you won't go looking for trouble."

"On my honour."

The planet Rhamnusia glowed acid green in the darkness of the bridge, a flawless holographic imitation which pointed out the location of Dhi'haka and the Earth Colony in blood red blots. The dark yellow eyes of the Hunter were focused on Dhi'haka in particular, the source of the signal which had called him away from Homeworld so urgently.

The alarm, silent and unnoticed by the inhabitants of Rhamnusia, had blared like a dying animal as the Hunter sat in the great black throne, making preparations with the other members of his hunting party for an excursion. Their prey would have been the Vy'drach, great winged beasts which soared over the vast deserts to the west of the First City. The Hunter hadn't claimed such a trophy since he was a newly blooded youngster, his first kill after completing the ancient rite of slaying a Serpent. Many years had passed since then. Now here he was, an Elite, one rank below the leader of his clan, forced to abandon the hunt to investigate the cause of the alarm.

He was not angry at this development, for his obligation to duty was itself a great honor. Dhi'haka was a place forbidden to all but a select few, and the Hunter was one of them. It was his sworn duty to watch over Dhi'haka, and the colony which so far remained unaware of its existence. The Hunter slid a black claw down the arm of the metallic throne in which it sat, summoning the robotic arm which rose up from behind the chair upon which it sat and presented a red holographic screen. He called up the report from the last orbital survey conducted on the planet several years ago. No breaches reported. Pollution from the colony was so minimal that damage to the ecosystem was almost non-existent. The Earth creatures had learned from their mistakes on their home planet, it seemed.

The Hunter's mandibles clicked. He made a mental checklist of the weaponry he had brought for this impromptu mission. Then he pressed several buttons on the other arm of the chair, sending a quick update back to Homeworld. It would reach Rhamnusia by nightfall and observe from orbit to examine the situation from a safe distance. If he deemed it safe enough, he would go planet-side the next night to investigate further.

And if his suspicions were correct, and the colonists had somehow discovered the location of Dhi'haka, then their transgression would be repaid in blood.