Author's Notes: This is the last of my prewritten chapters for this story, chapter 11 is underway, and will be posted as soon as it's completed, as will the chapters of my other stories.
I would like to think each and every last one of you who have left a review for me and others to read. I do send a PM to each signed review, and even try to find those who leave Anon reviews, so I can PM them as well. That doesn't always work, but I thank you none the less. I must say a review is a very inspiring thing.
Jennifer's eyes just about bulged out of their sockets when she saw the rather macabre dishes that the food was about to be put into. The somewhat large bowls were obviously made from the domed section of large skulls, and the cups were the ends of an animal's horn that had been wedged into a vertebra to provide a base for them. She looked askance at the dishes for a moment before she took another look around the cave. There were some not so subtle signs that this cave had been occupied for some time. The black layer of soot in the fireplace was a good indicator, which meant that it was entirely possible that these two aliens had ended up here the same way she had. It was a sobering thought, because she could see that some of the equipment that the larger female had been wearing was very high tech. If these two could become stranded with no way home, what chance did that give her of somehow getting back to Earth?
Jennifer shook her head sadly as R'ka placed the bowl in front of her, and wondered just how well she would have done while trying to survive for the rest of her life on a strange world, with nothing but the gear she had on her. She nearly shuddered at the daunting prospect, because she knew that she would never have achieved anything like the cave she was currently in. A slight noise to her left, made Jennifer look over as the shorter male came out of the… well; bathroom. She supposed there really wasn't another term to use in regard to a room that only had a tub.
Kwei-kv'var-de released a huge sigh of contentment as he sat down next to the ooman female, and looked over to his left at his host. "R'ka-thwei, you have my most sincere thanks for allowing me to use your bath. A steaming hot soak was something that I would have thought I'd have to give up until I returned home. Had I not experienced it for myself, I'd have believed you to be lying about possessing such a thing. Even at home with my own clan; I've never had the luxury of sitting in hot water that went all the way to my lower jaw! Truly, you have worked wonders in turning this cave into a home that is well worth living in!" He told her honestly.
"I have had a lot of time to make this cave livable, and I can sincerely wish that I had never been forced to find it. I even wish that I had never chosen to take my Chiva." R'ka-thwei replied almost despondently as she recalled the reason for being where she was.
"Why would you wish such things?" Kwei-kv'var-de asked in startled surprise.
"Because if I had been home instead of taking my Chiva, then I might have helped my Bearer kill the bad blood who murdered her…" R'ka-thwei began.
"Or you might have been killed along side her." Kwei-kv'var-de told her firmly.
"If I had been killed with my Bearer, then I would not have been forced to live on this honorless planet for as long as I have! I would not be constantly hunted by the clan who had me exiled here, and I would not have to face being made into a worthless and mindless pauk slave where I wouldn't even be able to think of resisting them!" R'ka-thwei said angrily.
"How long have you been here?" He asked quietly.
"It took me four years to cross the continent to reach this coast, so that I could be down wind of everything except the sea. I found this cave about half a year ago, and I have been working to make it into the best home I can, ever since." R'ka-thwei answered plainly.
"Then you should be near your first breeding season. Once that happens, they will no longer be able to force you into being their slave…"
"My first breeding season is still more than five years away! I had thought that crossing an entire continent would put me out of their search area, but I was wrong!" She interrupted angrily.
Kwei-kv'var-de felt his mandibles droop in horrified shock. This female in front of him was apparently much younger than he'd thought, then he realized something. "You knew that they'd be looking for you!"
"Of course I did! They even boasted of it as I was being led to the ship! I wasn't even given the four days head start that the Council of Arbitrators decreed I was to have. My home, my Bearer, and even the trophies from my Chiva have all been taken from me! I was forced to watch as my trophies were destroyed by their Clan's Matriarch. Now I am exiled to this planet where no one has any honor!" R'ka-thwei said bitterly as she took the meat from the fire.
"That is where you are wrong, R'ka-thwei." Kwei-kv'var-de began quietly. "Whether you realize it or not; whether you believe it or not; you still have honor, I too hold honor in high esteem, and I believe that even this ooman female follows the path of honor. If she did not, then she would have done nothing to interfere with what those bad bloods had been about to do. It is well known that we normal Yautja possess more than twice times the physical strength of an ooman, while your kind has much the same advantage over us. She fought and killed no less than four Black Yautja males, and even with injuries that would have killed her, she struggled against the Dark Hunter himself to free you and restore your honor. Had she been among her own kind, she would never have awakened after she used her weapon to effect your release, and from her behavior earlier, I think she knows it. Even so, she did not allow that to stop her." He told the larger female sincerely.
"How can you say that I retain any honor? It was stripped from me!" R'ka-thwei retorted bitterly.
"Wrongfully stripped from you! I don't know what laws your people have, but among us, you might have been forced to repay the cost of the transport if the bad blood responsible for the death of your Bearer could not be found, but you would not have been exiled here! That is something that would never have happened among the Yautja. By our laws, neither that clan nor that Arbitrator would be seen as having any honor. Those who have no honor can not take honor from another. Then there is the fact that I am here; in your home, as a guest instead of as a prisoner. I know from the history that I have been taught, that our people are enemies. Yet you have treated me with honor, and with courtesy. Therefore, I say that your honor is intact." He said sincerely.
R'ka-thwei wasn't exactly sure how to respond to such information. She bought herself time to think of a reply, by serving the meat she'd prepared, and passing around a skin of water for them to drink. "I can understand why you say the ooman female still has her honor, because after what she has done for me, I will never believe otherwise."
"I don't know exactly how the ooman came to be on this world, but I think she might have been brought here to be hunted. Even so, I can honestly thank Lilka that she is here." Kwei-kv'var-de said before he held up his right hand to stave off any interruption from his host. "I say that because while you were unconscious, they told me that they would make me watch what they planned to do to you. That female has restored our freedom, she has preserved your body, and your mind, and she has spared me the disgrace of watching you become a mindless infertile slave. Both of us owe this ooman much, and I can only hope that we will be able to communicate with her."
"Do you think she might be well enough to travel by morning? If she is, then we could go to your ship, and see if that translation program is in your computer." R'ka-thwei asked eagerly. "She seems to know about some things that I would also like to know, and I wish to be able to thank her properly for sparing me the fate that was intended for me."
"She should be healed by then, but given that she's as small as a youngling, I doubt that she'll be able to keep up with me, and I would have trouble keeping up with any pace that you would find comfortable…" Kwei-kv'var-de began seriously.
"Youngling? She's still as small as a suckling pup; at least to me anyway! Even standing, she barely reaches past my knee, and if she's as physically weak as you say, then there is no way that she could keep up with either one of us." R'ka-thwei interjected quickly.
"Agreed. Do you think that she might tolerate being carried by one of us?"
"I'm not sure. She didn't appear to be very pleased with that earlier. " R'ka-thwei said seriously as she picked up a piece of meat from her bowl.
"That's true. I wonder if she'll allow it in the morning, because we may need to move quickly if any more of those worthless insects are about." He replied quickly.
"We'll have to wait to find out the answers to both of those questions tomorrow. For now, I just want to eat while the meat is hot. I wasn't given anything during my imprisonment, and I am starving." R'ka-thwei said before she bit into the chunk of meat she held.
Jennifer had stayed silent while watching the two aliens. She was almost sure that they were talking, but she didn't have the slightest hope of deciphering their language. She hadn't started eating, because neither of the aliens had started either, and she knew that, on Earth anyway, it was only polite to wait for one's host before beginning. When she saw R'ka take a bite, she picked up the dripping chunk of meat with her fingers and took a tentative bite to see what the stuff tasted like.
Instantly, Jennifer's eyes shot wide at the intensely rich and wonderful flavor that filled her mouth while the meat nearly fell apart in her hands. She hadn't the slightest clue what kind of meat it was, but the incredibly tender, and unbelievably juicy meat was actually better than anything she could remember eating. She leaned over the bowl, as the juices from the chunk of meat began running down her hands and arms. This was even messier than biting into an orange that had only been peeled! In less than a minute, she knew beyond any doubt that there was no neat way of eating this stuff, but as incredibly tasty as it was, she also didn't care. It didn't matter that there was no gravy, potatoes, or anything else to go with it, because what ever this meat was… it was good!
Both R'ka-thwei and Kwei-kv'var-de were each somewhat surprised at the fact that the ooman female had waited until the host was able to join in the meal as custom demanded. R'ka was not surprised however, at the reactions of either the Yautja, or the ooman. She remembered all too clearly how she had behaved upon her first taste of Slime Beast, and her own reaction had been much the same. R'ka was noting the delighted sounds from both of her strange guests, when she saw that the ooman female was once again baring her teeth.
"I have no idea what this is; but it's incredible! I can only imagine how some mushrooms, peppers, onions, and gravy would go on this." Jennifer said with a wide smile as she gestured at the dripping meat in her hands.
R'ka still wasn't sure if the bared teeth were a challenge or not, and it took a concentrated effort of will to ignore the possible challenge from the female. She narrowed her eyes in frustration, because while bared teeth were definitely a challenge among the Great Yautja, the actions of this ooman female when those teeth were bared was anything but a challenge. She was sure that the female was commenting on the meat, and the quality of its preparation, but some of the ooman's actions were nothing short of confounding.
Jennifer leaned back against the wall of the cave and groaned at how miserably full she was. She hadn't meant to eat nearly as much as she had, and normally wouldn't have eaten half that much, but that strange meat had been just far too tasty and tempting to resist. It had been so good in fact, that she'd completely given up her usual self control and eaten no less than three servings of it. She'd actually devoured more food in this one meal than she would have done on Christmas day!
Jennifer was trying to let her food digest when her eyes fell on her uniform. She crawled over to it, and leaned against the cavern wall. The first item she examined turned out to be her combat boots which were in perfect, but dirty condition. Next she pulled her shirt out of the pile. She could see the long slice going down the left side, along with the bloodstains around the cut. Curious, because she knew that she hadn't been cut during the fight with the four aliens; she examined her left side. There she saw the scar left behind from having her ribs set. She knew that the uniform shirt was a lost cause, so she turned her attention to what else was in the pile.
Jennifer's stomach churned in a tight knot of dismay and apprehension as she looked at the weird netting that was part of the prototype Active Camouflage Unit, or Stealth System, since a proper name still hadn't been decided on. The slice down the left side of the torso meant that it was surely ruined. She knew from the basic info she'd been given on the system that the mesh was actually composed of dozens if not hundreds of microscopically fine wires. Thousands of hours of research, and countless millions of dollars had gone into the development of the wiring alone. The strange electromagnetic field that caused various forms of radiated energy to flow around the system rather than being reflected was created by those impossibly fine wires, and she knew that she didn't have a prayer of mending them. The power and control system of the ACU seemed to be in proper order, but the batteries only had a twenty percent charge left.
Setting the stealth system aside, she examined the rest of her gear. Her desert pattern fatigue pants of her uniform would have been fine except that the waistband had been severed in order to remove them. Her panties and bra had met the same fate as her pants, and were also unusable. Her belt, head wrap, weapon harness, grenades, combat survival knife, socks, MP-5, .44 Magnum, and even her ammunition were all in perfect order. Then she spotted the Air-soft pistol which she'd taken along as part of a bet with her team.
Jennifer recalled betting her men that she could tag each of them with that stupid little pistol before any of them ever knew she was there. It had been a fairly high dollar wager, and there was a lot of professional pride on the line as well as the cash.
Jennifer shook her head sadly as she thought about that bet. She'd been so sure that the new stealth system would let her pull it off, but she would never find out. She still had no idea what had happened to cause her to be on this alien planet, because she couldn't remember anything.
Suddenly, Jennifer stood up and began pulling on the stealth system. She just had to know if it was completely ruined, or if it could still somehow function. Once she had everything in place, she held her breath, muttered a silent prayer to whoever might be listening, and hit the activation stud.
Jennifer gasped at the crackle of energy that resembled nothing less than lightning, and for a moment she thought that it was actually going to work, but then, her brief hopes were destroyed when the system sputtered to a halt. She shut off the power, and removed the suit before dropping it in the pile with the rest of her useless clothing. Tears of frustration filled her brown eyes, and she dashed forward to the one place in the cave where she might have a bit of privacy.
R'ka-thwei had watched in silence as the female ooman examined her things, but when she saw the ooman try to activate the cloak, her mandibles went slack in surprise. 'The cloaking mesh should have been able to handle more damage than that.'
"Pauk!"
R'ka looked over at the male who'd muttered that single word. "What's wrong?"
"I don't think oomans are supposed to have anything like that." Kwei answered seriously.
"What do you mean, and why not? We've had cloaks for thousands of years." R'ka retorted.
"Yes, we have. But from what I've heard from the Elders, oomans can't even explore their own star system, and they don't have the technology to make a cloak. At least, they didn't have it six years ago when one of my Clan Elders went there to hunt. They don't even know how to make proper metals, how could they have made a cloak?" Kwei replied quickly.
"It doesn't matter if she's supposed to have it or not. I was the one who damaged it, and I can't replace it. I was able to make an acceptable set of clothing for her, after I damaged what she was wearing, but I don't have the knowledge or skills to fix damaged cloaking mesh." R'ka said sadly.
Kwei's mandibles flexed into a sly smile as he reached out and grabbed the female by her shoulder and gave it quick firm shake. "Perhaps you can't, but the repair equipment on my ship is still functional. We should be able to repair the mesh there, and if we can't, then since I see that you collected the awu'asa from the four bad bloods she killed, we can replace her cloaking mesh with one of theirs. It shouldn't be too much trouble to resize one of those suits to fit her, so all isn't lost yet my friend."
"You… you would help me pay such a debt? Why?" R'ka asked in confusion.
"Because I too owe the ooman; and I owe you as well. She nearly died to make it possible, but it was you who severed my bonds and set me free!" Kwei said sincerely. "Besides, she'll need a working cloak if she is to survive on this planet. Those bad bloods are only one of the dangers here." Kwei said firmly.
"After living on this world for more than four years, I know well the dangers of this place. It will not be easy to survive here."
"I'm sure that's true. But now, we have an advantage that others don't. There are now three of us, and though the ooman is small and frail, they are well known to be extremely cunning and very dangerous in spite of that. Then, there is your experience. You know this world, and its dangers better than any other. You have survived. It means that your skills in tracking, stealth, and silent hunting will be very useful, and that's in addition to your obvious size and strength. I myself have some advantage in combat experience, and I can supply whatever resources can be salvaged from my ship. If we can locate the ship those bad bloods arrived in, then we'll have a chance to leave this world once and for all." Kwei said emphatically.
R'ka looked at the male as apprehension flooded her mind. The ideas that suddenly occurred to her were ones that she didn't like at all. "And what will become of me then?" She asked in a soft but wary tone.
"Well, I don't know if the ooman can be returned to her planet or not, but if your mask works the same way ours does, then it will have recorded everything that has transpired, and therefore a case can be made for you to be inducted into my Clan. You are young enough that you could enter training and eventually take a second Chiva to formally join my Clan. I will tell you that I am no high ranking member. I am not the offspring of an Honored Elder or anything like that. I am merely a Blooded Warrior who was allowed the use of a Clan ship for this hunt, but I will argue your case to my Matriarch." Kwei replied honestly.
"What do you think the result would be?" She asked not even daring to hope for a positive outcome.
"I think they would see your honor, and allow you the chance to prove yourself. Show them the same honor that you have shown me and the ooman, and I don't see how they could refuse you."
"You have said it yourself; our races are enemies! Are you now saying that they would not dispose of me simply because of that?" R'ka demanded quickly.
"Only those with no honor do such things, R'ka-thwei. I know that we have been hunting oomans for many of their generations, but I also know that there have been some oomans who have been accepted among the Clans because of their honor and skill. Why should you be any different? You are not a member of a race that is hunted as game or challenge; you are Yautja, and I believe that is what they will consider as they look at you." Kwei told her.
R'ka was about to say something in response to that when she heard a strange sound from her bathing chamber. She noticed that Kwei had heard it too, and they both looked in that direction. "I'll see to her. Feel free to have more to eat, if you like."