Chapter 11- Promises to Keep

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fearis fearof the unknown. - H. P. Lovecraft

Hunter had been allowed access to a computer to send off his email to Wu. He was sitting at the desk in a small office, staring at nothing, when he heard someone walk into the room behind him. "Judy," he said. "I'm still not sure about this."

"They're going to be okay," said a soft voice behind him. Surprised, he turned around to see Khabat, leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed. She had a concerned look on her face.

"Amna," he said. "Where are Nick and Judy?"

"Being briefed on their schedule when they reach AlphaCen," she said, still studying him. "You really care for them, don't you?"

He shrugged. "They're good kids. I don't want to see them get hurt."

She shook her head. "It's more than that. You were ready to take on the entire embassy by yourself. You know we have the usual contingent of star marines, don't you?"

He smiled wolfishly. "Yeah. They're not as tough as they seem."

She rolled her eyes. "There's the Hunter arrogance I remembered. Seriously, though, the last time I saw you act like that was when we had that little stand-off with those dope peddlers. You know, the ones that had me tied to a chair."

He nodded, remembering. "Though it turned out you didn't need my help. By the time the SWAT team got there, you'd beaten most of them half to death with the remains of that chair."

"Never tie a ranger to a shoddily constructed wooden chair," said Khabat. "It's not on the Evil Overlord list, but it should be. Hey, if it helps, the distraction from your SWAT team made it a whole lot easier."

"You didn't come find me just to reminisce," said Hunter. "What do you want, Amna?"

She sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Zach, what the hell happened? You swore an oath to the Human Stars government. Now you're a wanted terrorist?"

"Because I killed a man that needed killing," said Hunter levelly.

"And a bunch of soldiers that were just following orders."

"They had a choice on what orders to follow," said Hunter. "I'm not happy that they got in my way, but-" he shrugged.

Khabat shook her head. "They didn't have a choice, and you know it."

"Neither did I," said Hunter quietly.

"You're supposed to be on our side, Hunter."

He stood up. "Amna, I'm a cop. I'm on the side of the people who need help."

"People, Hunter. Not aliens. Yeah, these mammals are cute and I don't blame you for feeling protective of them, but they aren't human." Khabat paced across the room, looking worried. "We screwed things up, Hunter, but we're trying to fix it. But if we can't- if the mammals become our enemies- then whose side will you be on?"

"I-" he hesitated. "The Terrans won't fight us. They'd lose almost immediately."

She stopped her pacing, looked at him appraisingly. "What if they had help?"

"Help? From who?"

"The Drex."

Hunter snorted. "The Drex? Those nutjobs? They'd murder the Terrans just for fun. Not likely." He paused as he studied her face. "You didn't just use them as a random example, did you?" he said slowly.

"Their delegation landed about four hours ago," she said.

"What?"

"They bored a wormhole through to Terra. Must have been working on it ever since we rediscovered Terra," she said. "They say they come in peace."

"The Drex?" Hunter stared at her, astonished. "Do they even know what that means?"

Khabat shrugged helplessly. "Don't look at me. I'm still trying to process it myself."

"But-" Hunter paused. "You don't think the Terrans will actually side with them?"

"I don't know," said Khabat. "But frankly, we haven't exactly proven our bona fides with the Terrans."

"To say the least. I mean, the absolute least."

"And the Drex can be very charming."

"Yeah, right up until they kill you," growled Hunter. He paused and looked at her. "So what do you want from me?"

Khabat reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here," she said, handing it to Hunter.

He took it, giving her a puzzled glance before reading. He looked up. "A full pardon." His voice was flat.

"For all crimes committed against the Human Stars," she confirmed.

"So if I agree to help, then I get a pardon?" said Hunter in a dangerous tone.

"No," said Khabat. "That's unconditional. The pardon was already signed by the Chief Justice."

"But-"

"Good faith, Zach. You had your reasons for doing what you did." She leaned against the desk, back to it. His eyes, almost unwillingly, traced her curves. It had been a long time since he'd been around humans. It had been a long time since he had been around human women. "We're hoping that you realize we have our reasons, too."

Hunter carefully folded the pardon and put it in his shirt pocket. "What do you want from me, Amna? No," he corrected himself, "what do you want from me, Ranger Khabat?"

She moved closer, so close he could smell the faint odor of her perfume. "All I want," she said softly, "is for you to remember who you are. And where your loyalties lie." She raised a hand, tracing a scar on his cheek. "And for you to take care of yourself, Zach. Those mammals in there aren't the only ones who care about you." He felt his heart begin to race.

With that, she left him.

Alone.

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"Shepherd! Here, Shepherd!"

Tavi trotted down the street, glancing into alleyways. So far, there was no sign of the tank.

Her radio crackled. "Forty-six delta, where are you? It's time for you to sign off."

She muttered a curse she'd heard from Hunter under her breath. "Clawhauser! I lost my partner."

"What?" said Clawhauser worriedly. "Okay, hang on, I'll send some units to- wait a minute. You had solo patrol today. What partner?"

"Shepherd!" There was silence. She sighed in exasperation. "The tank!"

"The tank is not your partner," said Clawhauser slowly. "It's a vehicle." There was a pause. "Wait, you lost a tank? How does that even happen?"

Tavi stopped, hesitating. Come to think of it, that did sound kind of bad- "Um, never mind," she said quickly. "I just forgot where I left him. Here he is!"

"Tavi," said Clawhauser suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" she squeaked. "See, here he is." She lowered her voice and spoke in a monotone. "Greetings, citizen. Please remain calm. Enacting protocol Alpha Gamma X-Ray One Five."

"Uh-huh," said Clawhauser suspiciously. "Fangmeyer is enroute to pick you up, Tavi."

"Oh, no need!" She kept looking around desperately, hoping to see Shepherd somewhere. "It's a nice night. I'll just walk."

"The station is five miles away-"

"It's a really nice night!"

"And why would you walk? You have a flying tank."

"Um...oh, gosh, Clawhauser, my radio seems to be running low on batteries. Have to talk to you later, and to reiterate, everything is fine and the tank is not lost at all." She turned off the radio, cutting off Clawhauser's voice.

She looked around the deserted streets. "I am in so much trouble," she muttered.

Then something occurred to her. "I have a flying tank," she said slowly, remembering Clawhauser's words. "A flying tank."

There was one direction she hadn't searched yet. Spotting a fire escape nearby, she scrambled up it.

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Nick and Judy stood outside the embassy. A wintry breeze ruffled their coats as they stood there, paws in their pockets to try and stay warm.

"You sure this is a good idea, Carrots?" asked Nick quietly.

She shrugged. "It's our best bet to work the Prometheus investigation from the other side, Nick. And with all that's going on- I have a feeling that the sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better it will be."

Judy's ears pricked up and she turned around. Nick followed her gaze and saw Hunter, looking pensive, walking out of the embassy. He joined them on the sidewalk, looking around. "Huh. I guess that cabbie really is mad at me. I told him to be here at seven."

"You were gone for a long time," said Judy.

He shrugged. "Had some things to think through." The human frowned as he looked across the street. "Looks like the embassy is getting new neighbors."

Sure enough, a series of vehicles were pulling up to the empty building across the from the embassy. Various mammals were moving furniture in from large box trucks.

"What sort of things?" asked Nick. Hunter looked at him. "You said you had to think through something?" Judy frowned at the slight undercurrent of suspicion in his tone, but Hunter didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Well, for one thing, the Drex."

"The Drex?" Nick and Judy looked at each other, confused. "One of the aliens you humans are always fighting? What do they have to do with anything?"

"They're here." But these words weren't addressed to Nick and Judy, but to himself. His gaze was fixed across the street. "Oh, those idiots," he breathed. "They're putting them right next to our embassy."

"What?" They turned to look across the street as well.

Three humans had just gotten out of a car. Each looked, if not identical, almost like siblings. All were muscular, with short trimmed hair that reminded Nick and Judy of the human military they had seen. "Who are they?"

Instead of answering, Hunter started to cross the street towards the new humans.

Nick and Judy hurried after him.

Hunter slowed his pace as he approached, rolling his shoulders slightly as if to loosen up. The three strange humans looked up from a document they were studying, and their eyes simultaneously narrowed as they saw Hunter.

"Well," said one. "It seems we have neighbors. Perhaps we should throw a housewarming party."

Hunter smiled at them. "It'll be Sirius A all over again, I'd bet."

All three stiffened. "We hadn't forgotten," said one, slightly taller than the rest, in a soft, dangerous tone. He cocked his head. "I think I recognize you from our briefing. Officer Hunter, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," said Hunter. Judy saw him draw one leg back slightly, blading his body. His hands were both above his waist.

Ready for a fight.

"Hunter," she said. "Who are these people?"

"I am Marcus Octavius," said the strange human, looking down at Judy. He smiled charmingly. "And yet another celebrity. Judy Hopps, is it not? My congratulations on your award."

Hunter stepped forward, between Judy and Octavius. "Leave them alone. Deal with me."

Octavius's eyes flicked over Hunter, noting his stance. "We're not here for a fight, Mr. Hunter. It is good for you that we are not." He took a pace forward, ignoring Hunter's sudden tenseness at his movment. "I was at Sirius A," he said quietly. "And also at Luyten."

"My father was killed at Luyten," said Hunter, just as quietly. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

"I am aggrieved to say that it may have been me that killed him, Mr. Hunter. But now is not the time for aggression." His eyes flicked to Judy and Nick. "These poor creatures have been exposed to enough human aggression in their history, haven't they?"

"Hunter," said Judy again, more urgently. "Who are these humans?"

Hunter shook his head. "They aren't humans," he said. "They're Drex."

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It was on the fourth rooftop she checked that Tavi found Shepherd.

The tank was parked on one corner of the building- though not completely resting his weight on the structure. She could hear the soft whirring of his engine, still providing a slight amount of lift.

"Shepherd," she said with relief. "What do you think you're doing, wandering off like this? Bad tank!"

The tank rose slightly and swiveled to face her.

The roof was poorly lit, with the only real light coming from the moon high above in the cold sky. It glinted on the black armor, slanted across the ports which had once held automatic weapons. The noise of the engines took on a menacing tone to her ears.

For the first time since that day on the roof of the ZPD headquarters building, she realized that what she was seeing was a weapon of war. A device built for one purpose.

Destruction.

She took a cautious step forward. "Shepherd?"

The tank swiveled an optical sensor. "Commander," he said, finally. "My apologies."

Tavi let out a sigh of relief. "What are you doing up here?"

The optical sensor swiveled again, this time to face the stars that were coming out. She looked up.

There was too much light pollution to seem most of the stars, but she could see the brightest ones. "What are you looking at?" she asked, curiously.

"The stars," said the tank.

"The stars?" She looked around again. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Beautiful," said the tank, contemplatively. "I do not understand."

Oh, boy. How was she going to explain the concept of beauty to a tank? "They're, um, pleasing to look at."

"Why?" asked Shepherd.

She gave up and sat down beside him. "Because," she said quietly. "Just because."

For a long time they looked at the stars, Shepherd's optical sensor swivelling around, studying them. "If you don't find them pretty," asked Tavi, "why are you looking at them?"

"This star pattern is inconsistent with any in my memory banks," said Shepherd. "Except one. Terra."

"Yes," said Tavi, surprised. "I thought you knew. That's where we are."

The tank was silent. "I had assumed this was an aberration," said Shepherd, finally. "That you were mistaken in your identification. Terra is the ancient human homeworld."

"No, we weren't mistaken. This is it."

"Why then, are your kind here?" The sensor swivelled to look at her. "Where are the humans?"

"The humans?" She hesitated. "It's a long story."

"I see," said Shepherd. The tank suddenly rose and turned to face her fully. "Commander, I request an immediate briefing on the history of this planet."

Tavi looked at him, surprised. "You want to know about Terran history?"

"It may affect my mission here."

"Okay," said Tavi slowly. "Where do I start..."

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"Of course we're human," said Octavius, affronted. He looked back at Judy. "Just a superior sub-species."

"What do you mean superior?" demanded Hunter.

"I mean better, stronger, faster," said the Drex, unperturbed. "Free from the fear that seems to drive you to commit such atrocities, all in the name of mere survival."

"Yeah? And what's your excuse?"

The Drex rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Judy. "We are a genetically engineered subspecies of humanity. Our creator called us Homo dominus rex." He sniffed disdainfully. "Hence the appellation of these inferior humans, who call us 'Drex'. Homo d. rex, you see."

"Frankenstein's monsters," said Hunter contemptuously.

"Our creator was derisively nicknamed Frankenstein," explained Octavius. "It comes from an ancient text." He looked back at Hunter. "The humans have no end of names for things they don't understand and thus fear."

Nick looked from one to the other, his eyes narrowing. "Hunter, I don't understand. These humans don't feel fear?"

"They. Are. Not. Human," said Hunter, biting off each word. His fists were clenched. "They were designed- in a lab- by a scientist who thought he could create a more perfect creation. He decided that fear was what led to the excesses of humanity. So he created something that had no concept of fear. That is physically incapable of it." He smiled bitterly. "And he called it Homo dominus rex. Domini means lord. Rex means king. You do the math."

"What Mr. Hunter isn't telling you is that he was completely successful," said Octavius in a measured voice. "That he did create a superior species. Both physically- I daresay any one of us could take on three of Mr. Hunter in a fight- and mentally. Without fear, we do not have the handicap of humanity, to mistrust anyone that we find." He shrugged. "Certainly, we have to fight. Against the Karathi, the Larrat, and yes, the humans. But we fight only to defend ourselves."

Hunter snorted derisively. "Tell that to the O'Neill colonists at Sirius A."

"It was not we that started that war," said Octavius.

"I don't have to stand here and listen to this," said Hunter angrily. "I just came over to tell you to watch yourselves. You try any of your 'superior race' crap here, and you'll have to answer to me."

Octavius looked bored. "You're trying to intimidate me, Hunter?"

"Nope. I know that can't be done. I do know, however, that you are very good at counting the potential costs of your actions. Very logical, very 'enlightened' of you." Hunter met his eyes. "I just want to let you know the cost will be too high here."

"You're just one man, Hunter."

"One cop, Octavius. There's a lot of more of us right behind me." Hunter turned and stalked away.

Nick and Judy watched him go. Judy frowned at Octavius. "Why are you here?"

The Drex was still watching Hunter, a slight frown on his face. "We are here seeking what every being in this galaxy wants, Ms. Hopps." He smiled down at her. "Peace."

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Nick hurried to catch up to Hunter. "Zach, what the hell was that all about?"

The human looked down at him. "I thought it was fairly obvious. I was letting the new crooks on the block know I was watching them."

Judy, behind Nick, frowned. "Are you sure they're planning something?"

"They're Drex," said Hunter. "They're vicious, amoral bastards. They don't have to be up to something. It's just their nature." He didn't notice how Nick flinched.

Judy, however, did. "Hunter-"

The human turned to face her. "Judy, they were created in a lab. They had an important emotion- yes, one we tend to think of as negative, but extremely important to our psyche- removed from them. They're not natural. They're monsters."

Nick crossed his arms, glaring up at Hunter. "Do you even hear yourself?"

Hunter frowned. "What?"

"Designed in a lab? Modified from their natural state?" Nick bared his teeth slightly. "Remind you of anyone else you know?"

"I-what?" said Hunter, confused.

"Us, Hunter! Mammals!" Nick pointed to himself. "You know, the Fellowship mammals, they went on and on about how we were created by humans, how that makes us subservient. Because we're unnatural."

"Nick," said Hunter, suddenly looking worried. "I didn't mean-"

"Yes, you did, Hunter. You know, I believe you about the Drex, I really do. There's something off about them. But that doesn't mean they weren't right about one thing." Nick pointed at him. "You're afraid of what you don't understand."

"Mammals aren't?"

"Sure," said Nick. "And while it may have escaped your attention, what with your vastly superior technology and wormholes and spaceships, there is one way that we're better than you."

Hunter frowned.

"We've made peace with one another," said Judy, who realized what Nick was getting at. "Predators and prey. All living together."

Nick smiled at her. "Not that we're perfect, of course," he said. Judy grimaced, remembering the Night Howler case and how she'd reacted to Nick after the press conference. The fox looked back at Hunter. "But we've managed to make it work, by and large. And maybe, just maybe, you can look past the Drex's nature-" he almost spat the word, "-and see what they can become. Maybe you have something to learn from us."

There was a long silence, the fox glaring up at the human. Hunter looked back at him, then abruptly smiled. "Thanks, Nick. I can be a bit full of myself at times. Don't know if you noticed."

Nick snorted. "If you were any more full of yourself, Hunter, you'd have exploded."

"Now there's an image."

"Yeah, I really don't want Hunter goo all over me."

Hunter winced and Judy laughed. Nick's ears quivered in embarrassment as he realized what he said.

"And yet another mental image I didn't need," said Judy. She nudged Nick. "Come on, we've got to go pack."

"You guys are leaving already?" said Hunter.

"Well, not right away," said Nick. "But little miss 'Be Prepared' wants everything packed right away."

"I wasn't the cub scout," she reminded Nick.

"Cub scout?" said Hunter with sudden interest. "Nick?"

Nick clamped his paw over Judy's mouth before she could say anything. "No, no. Blatant lies. Inside joke."

Hunter grinned. "I had one sell me some cookies at my old place one time."

"That's the girl scouts, Hunter."

"Oh, don't tell me they let you into the boy scouts."

Nick glared at him. "You know what? Maybe I should hang out with the Drex. They couldn't be half as bad as you are."

"Yeah, well, I try." He sighed. "I need to get back to the Academy."

A cab pulled up to the curb. A window rolled down. "Oh, no," said the sheep inside with disgust. "It's you again."

Hunter frowned at him. "I told you to pick me up here. You knew it was going to be me."

The sheep paused. "No, I thought-"

"Nope," said Hunter. "No, you actually like driving me around."

"That's crazy," said the sheep. Hunter smiled and crossed his arms.

"Well, there's nothing keeping you here. I can call another cab."

The cabbie hesitated, then shrugged. "Well, I'm here anyway. Might as well take your fare."

Judy watched the conversation with a raised eyebrow. "Friend of yours?"

"More like an old enemy," said Hunter. "Sometimes, that's as close to a friend as you get."

"Suddenly, how you treat me makes so much more sense," said Nick.

Hunter grinned and tousled the fur on top of his head, ignoring the fox's protests. "I better get going." He started to turn, then stopped. He looked back at them, then looked carefully down the darkened street, both ways.

Nick and Judy looked around, too. "What's up?" asked Judy.

"Just seeing if anyone was around," said Hunter. "Because if anyone sees this, I'll never live it down."

"Sees what-" she was cut off by Hunter grabbing her- and Nick- in a hug.

She saw Nick's face, his eyes wide with surprise. "You guys be careful, okay?" said Hunter, his voice muffled by their fur. "First Landing can be dangerous at the best of times."

Carefully, and a bit confused, Nick patted him on the shoulder. "We'll be fine, Zach. If you made it over there, we sure can."

He pulled back, still kneeling, his hands resting on their shoulders. He looked them both in the eyes. "I mean it, fox. You're family."

Nick nodded slowly, a bit overwhelmed by his friend's sudden emotion. "I'll be careful. I promise."

"Fair enough." He looked at Judy. "And you- try not to overthrow the government while you're there, huh?"

"I promise nothing," she said, a twinkle in her eye. She reached forward and hugged him again. "Except that I'll be back. I don't want to miss your graduation from the academy."

Hunter grimaced. "Now that's just cruel." He stood up. With a final glance back at them, he got in the cab.

Author's Note:

O'Neill Colonies- Think of a giant, hollow metal cylinder that you spin on its long axis to get gravity, floating in space. It's a sort of space habitat. In case you're curious, the humans build them by hollowing out metallic asteroids, filling the interior with water, and then melting them so the water vaporizes and causes the whole thing to swell up like a balloon. A bit of judicious spinning and boom- instant O'Neill colony, just add habitat and population. This probably won't come up, but I like the concept, so there you go.

Drex- This is awful Latin, so bear with me. I came up with the name Drex before I came up with the concept I had for them, so I had to come up with a clever reason for what's kind of a silly name (I didn't anticipate actually using them). Homo D. Rex was what I thought up (remember, humans are homo sapiens sapiens); then I had to come up with a reasonable basis for the name. If someone else thinks of something better, please let me know and I might change it.

The ending was maybe a bit sappy, but that's deliberate. Hunter is feeling a bit alone and anxious right now. He's not looking forward to his two friends going light-years away.

Finally, the chapter title is a reference, of course, to "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. The ending-

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep"

I claim no credit for originality for using this- it's a very well-known piece. But it fits the situation quite well, I think.