The baby growing in her womb shared the badblood's DNA. The woman got to her feet, backing away from him as her eyes frantically searched around the room. He could not kill her, as the child was part yautja. He could not leave her though, a she was still an ooman and she knew of his kind. Keta-ki was not an arbitrator, and so he could not decide the female fate.

He would have to bring her before an arbitrator or elder for questioning and judgement. She lunged at the wall to grab a decorative metal candle holder from its hook. She was not going to go quietly. He made a delighted clicking noise, ready for a pursuit and takedown, ready for a hunt. He turned off device and she pointed the candle holder at him as though it was a sword.

He puffed his chest up some as he walked towards her, trying to intimidate her with his size and strength. She was several feet shorter than him, wielding a candle holder, and dressed in nothing but a long red shirt and underwear. She should have been terrified. She'd seen his kind before though, and held her ground. As Keta-ki grabbed for her, she slipped away.

He had to be careful not harm her. Keta-ki stalked towards her, shoving furniture out of his way. As she steadily backed away, he had her cornered. She bent her knees as he closed the gap between them. His claws reached down towards her.

She was not done fighting just yet though. The girl sprang up and jammed the metal candle holder into his throat. It hardly fazed him. She tried to escape to the side but in his anger he grabbed her and hauled her above his head as she thrashed. He threw her down onto the couch and she tumbled into the floor, taking a couch cushion with her.

Keta-ki quickly descended on her, pinning down her arms. Her lips quivered as she began to cry. He had a pair of restraints on his belt and he locked them around her wrists-they were almost too big for her, but still worked. Trying his best to be gentle, he grabbed her forearm and hauled her upright. She squirmed some, but then lowered her head.

He yanked her forward, and peered outside. No one seemed to have heard their struggle, but he re-engaged his closing device and pulled her out of the house. She drug her feet, but he hauled her up the mountainside, all the way to his ship. Tears were still leaking from her eyes as he tapped his wrist controls and had the door open. She began to talk again in a language that was already foreign to him, and with her sobbing, there was no way for him even to distinguish the words.

Once in the ship, he grabbed a metal triangle from his belt and tossed it to the floor. The object disappeared in the fog but he could see the four red dots spread apart. He shoved the girl into the center of the red dots perimeter, and a laser cage rose up around her, trapping her inside. She pouted, pressing her hands to the transparent red walls a to try and escape. He knew very well that she would not be going anywhere, so he was free to sit back down in his throne.

Keta-ki brought up the hologram controls, and the ship purred to life. It smoothly rose away from the green mountains and then stars began to zip in front of the screen in a rushed blur. The screen went completely black as he pushed the ship at greater speeds. He set the course for the yautja home planet, then his thoughts returned to the ooman female. He silently leaned to one side in his chair then peered behind him at the cage.

She looked miserable. The ooman was sitting on the floor with one palm holding her face as the other hand stiffly held her shirt down over her crotch area. He suddenly rose from his chair and stomped out of the room, remembering something. In with his other gear was an emergency translator. It knew every language the yautjas had translated, every dialect, and kept up with new words and sayings.

It was a terribly expensive and delicate piece of equipment that had to be placed near the spinal cord or the brain to be used. He hoped that it would not be wasted if he put it on her. Keta-ki went to the medical bay and grabbed the injection gun, then headed back. She hardly lifted her head as he circled the cage. He could reach into the cage while it was still activated.

Deciding that it would be a waste of breath to try and explain his actions, Keta-ki thrust his hand past the wall of red and seized her by her hair. He held her to the ground and pressed the needle of the injector to the base of her skull. She started to scream as he pulled the trigger. The pain should have been brief, but even after he let her go, she continued to sob and shake. He put the injection gun away then came back to stand in front of the cage.

"How did you meet the badblood? How long ago did you last see him?" It wasn't his job to interrogate her, but he was curious, "How long have you known him?"

She slowly lifted her head but she wouldn't meet his eyes, "He will kill you. If you hurt me, he will find you and kill you."

"Who?"

"My mate. He said that there were badblood yautjas after him that would hunt me like an animal, that would take my child away. He will save me, and he will kill you!"

He tilted his head at her, wondering just how many untruths she'd been feed by the badblood, "Your mate has lied to you. He is the badblood. He was banished from the home planet for theft. However, he was involved in a political assassination and that is why I was sent after him."

"No. Your the liar! My mate left the yautja society because it was corrupted."

"He killed an important yautja, as well as his mate, leaving their young child orphaned."

"He wouldn't do that! You're the one that kidnapped me. You're the badblood. I've done nothing wrong!"

"It is illegal for him to have an ooman mate on earth." He said matter-of-factly.

"Who are you to say who he can and can't be mates with? He loves me."

Keta-ki let out a low growl, but decided not to press the issue. He left her alone for a few minutes to put away the weapons and get out of the armor. After that, he contacted his employer and the clan leader to set up a meeting to discuss everything. It wasn't a very long journey, so he didn't bother to offer her food or water. If she had to use the bathroom at all, she never asked, and so he didn't take her.

The ship landed on the roof of the clan house, and then was lowered down to the basement. As soon as he disabled the cage, the girl took off running. There was no where for her to go however, and Keta-ki was much more agile than she was. He grabbed her arm, trying not to dig his claws into her soft skin, and drug her from the ship. Everyone stared as he pulled her through the halls to the conference room.

As he thrust open the doors, Keta-ki was not surprised to see that there was an elder in the room. He didn't dare look the elder in the eyes, but he observed the branded mark on his forehead and the runes carved into his very tusks. The air seemed thinner when in the presence of any elder. Keta-ki quickly thrust his hand over the oomans mouth, and made her bow with him. Any disrespect from her might just get them both killed-and though speaking in a foreign tongue to an elder was a mistake, she could now disrespect him in his own language and that was worse.

Keta-ki waited to stand up straight until the elder spoke, "Why do you bring prey before me?"

"Elder, I was trailing the badblood Uri when I came across her on Earth. She is only a few weeks pregnant, but she carries the badblood's child."

The room filled with snarls and growls from the other yautjas, but the elder was silent.

Keta-ki continued, "The badblood was already gone. He left nothing of yautja origin, no weapons or technology-only her. I found no evidence of further crimes."

The elder spoke again, "The ooman must be dealt with."

The clan leader stepped forward, offering his opinion, "We can use her to lure the badblood back."

A different yautja disagreed, "If he did not take her along or stay to protect his unborn child, then he doesn't care for her. Using her as a lure won't work."

"She is of no use to us then." The elder said calmly.

Keta-ki's employer, an honored arbitrator, spoke up next, "Cut the child from her belly. It can be artificially incubated, and we can dispose of the soft meat female."