Honor Harrington: Trudy Grows Up

Another short one my muse feels should be told. I couldn't resist the sequel - my muse felt Trudy deserved the break.

Stephanie's home

A few days after Stan's death

Lionheart's head abruptly came up from his position lazing in the sun. "What is it, Lionheart?" Stephanie asked, putting down her copy of the Yawata Crossing Times - only for her question to be answered as the doorbell rang. She rose to answer it.

"Hi, Steph," Trudy smiled.

"Hello," Steph replied warmly. How did Lionheart know?

Trudy was still on crutches and her injuries were still healing, but already she looked better. "Is Lionheart home?"

Steph chuckled. "Well, he's here, I don't know if he counts this house as 'home'."

The older girl chuckled in her turn and attempted to swat her good-naturedly. "Oh, you!" Lionheart padded to the door and bleeked in greeting. "Hey, Lionheart. Got some celery for you, fresh from Mom's greenhouse." She leaned against the house to free a hand, and took out a sprig of celery from her fanny pack. He accepted it graciously and began devouring it.

"They're not herbivores, are they?" Trudy remarked amusedly.

"No," Steph shook her head. "Oh, they do eat some vegetables, but they're mainly carnivores." She giggled. "One reason Dr. Hobbard is so eager to figure out how to talk with them is to find out why they're so mad keen on celery!"

"It couldn't be just because they like the taste?" Trudy teased.

"Well, it could be," Steph admitted with a sigh. "There's so much we don't know about them yet." Then she smiled, apologetic. "Hey, come in, take a load off. I'm sure crutches are no fun, especially in 1.35g."

"That," Trudy said with feeling, "is God's honest truth, Steph." They made their way into the living room. Mom was watching from the kitchen; she smiled at the welcome sight of her daughter socialising at long last.

"Here," Steph offered, holding out a hand, "I can -"

But Trudy shook her head. "Please don't, Steph. I appreciate it, but honestly, I can get around myself."

Steph realised this was a matter of pride for Trudy to assert her independence, and so she refrained from helping - while still holding out her hand in case Trudy needed it or changed her mind. She wanted to be helpful but unobtrusive. Clearly it worked; Trudy smiled as she sat down.

Also sitting, Steph noted, "You're not using counter-grav now?"

"Contra-indicated, the doctors told me," Trudy affirmed. "It does make things easier, but I might develop scoliosis in the new bones." She chuckled. "Plus I want to keep my strength up so I can thrash you at hang-gliding!"

Laughing, Steph shot back, "You wish!"

Smiling, Marjorie offered lemon tea; Trudy smiled in return and accepted. Knowing her daughter as she did, when she offered sandwiches as well she made sure Steph got extra helpings.

Trudy nibbled a corner of her sandwich and said, "I figured something out. You eat a lot, but you never put on weight. You're a genie, aren't you?"

"Well done," Steph said quietly. "Um, I'd appreciate you keeping that under wraps."

"Prejudice," Trudy nodded, and sighed. "You'd think we'd left all that behind when we left Old Earth. You know, I read in a history book once that people used to discriminate against folks just because their colour was different. Crazy. Dunno what they'd make of King Roger," she smiled. "At one time he would've been called a 'nigger', whatever the hell that meant. No way would he be a king. Nowadays people accept skin colour, but hold your genetic ancestry against you.

"Which is stupid," she added, "because the one thing people can't help about themselves is how they were born! It makes as much sense, i.e. none! But still..." She sighed. "So I promise I won't tell anyone, Steph."

"Thanks, Trudy."

Trudy sighed again. "I guess Stan's death woke me up. I was a real bitch, wasn't I? Threatening to spank you, cutting you up in hang-gliding..." She looked woebegone and said sincerely, "Steph, I'm really sorry. I'd like to think I've grown up a little." She snorted. "It was long overdue."

But Steph was magnanimous. "I guess I've grown up a bit, too. There was a time I hardly ever talked to kids around my own age. I was convinced they were all zorks."

"Most of them were," Trudy quipped.

Steph chuckled, then she sobered. "Maybe we both learned things, huh?"

"And we're better people for it," Trudy agreed.

They shared a toast with their teacups (unaware that Marjorie and Richard were smiling fondly from the kitchen; Richard had just arrived in the Vet Van, fresh from tricky but successful surgery on a pet dog).

"Can we be friends?" Trudy asked.

As Lionheart bleeked, Steph answered warmly, "Of course we can." She chuckled ruefully. "Who would've thought it when we first met?"

"Well, one thing I've learned," Trudy said firmly, "is that there's more to being attractive than big tits. Oh, it helps, yes, but there is more to it." Then she teased, "How else can your popularity be explained?"

Steph burst out laughing, though not without a sense of vaguely envious irony - she still hadn't developed a bosom yet, and it was likely she would always be small-breasted (not that that would stop her having six children!). "Says the girl with impressive tracts of land!"

They laughed together. It was about the first time Stephanie felt Trudy was really laughing with her and not at her.

Chuckling now, Trudy said ruefully, "Believe it or not, Steph, being buxom isn't all it's cracked up to be. I get terrible jogger's nipple."

"Ouch," Steph winced in sympathy. "Maybe a sports bra would help."

"As opposed to Sadie's Secret," Trudy nodded wryly, referring to a lingerie range produced in Landing. The bras tended to be sexy and not cheap...if not entirely adequate for someone like Trudy.

For once, Lionheart chose to grace Trudy's chair rather than Steph's. She stroked his sleek fur, and her face softened. "He's really beautiful. Hey, is it true that you don't see a treecat in the wild if he doesn't want you to?"

Steph nodded. "They're really good at hiding. I mean, we were here for fully fifty T-years before anyone even found out about them, and only by sheer chance at that."

"Yeah, they're well camouflaged," Trudy agreed but went on quietly, "But that's not all, is it?"

"Sorry?"

"I figured this out, too," Trudy said softly, "they're not just clever animals...they're clever, aren't they? I mean, intelligent."

The younger girl was paralysed with shock. Even though at one time she'd thought disparagingly that Trudy's tits were bigger than her brain before she'd gotten a clue, she would never have thought Trudy could be so shrewd. "Um...Trudy, it's really important that you keep that under wraps, too. Remember the -"

"- the Amphors," Trudy nodded. "Yeah. The Barstool colonists made a terrible mistake. We don't want that to happen here. But I'm right, aren't I? They might be as smart as we are?"

Hesitantly Steph said very quietly, "I honestly don't know, Trudy. But...it may be true. If they are intelligent, they think differently from us. Even Dr. Hobbard isn't sure."

"And you haven't told her." It wasn't a question.

"I can't tell her," Steph winced, pained. "Not yet. Not until legislation is put in place to protect them. Until then, a small group of us feel it's best if most people think of them as kids who need our protection. Later, I hope, it'll be proven. But until it is -"

"- it's better to keep people in the dark," Trudy nodded. "Makes sense to me. So I absolutely swear, Steph, no-one will hear it from me." She looked serious. "They really did kill a hexapuma, didn't they?"

"Tore it apart," Steph confirmed. "But we don't want people thinking they're dangerous."

"Even though, potentially, they are."

"Well, yeah."

Trudy looked wry. "I'd better convince Dad they're not worth the trouble. He's convinced he can find them and hunt them down."

Steph clutched Trudy's hand. "Trudy, you have to stop him. I think they're -" She stopped herself.

"They're what?"

"Able to see him coming and hide," Steph improvised.

But Trudy proved she was far more perspicacious than Steph had thought. "That wasn't what you were going to say, Steph." Then, very quietly, she went on, "They're telepaths, aren't they?"

Steph couldn't help her gasp of horror. "How -?"

"I guessed," Trudy shrugged. "Hiding for fifty T-years with not a single trace of their presence? No way could they do that without a communications network and a shared language. And if it were a conventional network, we would have detected it - and it's all over the planet. But as far as we can tell they're barely out of the Stone Age tech-wise. Plus Lionheart always seems to know where you are. I've noticed the same thing with Fisher and Scott McDallan, or Valiant and Jessica. So I'm guessing telepathy."

Almost frantic, Steph pleaded, "Don't tell anyone! In the right - or wrong - circles, that knowledge would be worth a fortune, and certain people - the Mesans being the worst example - would stop at nothing to get their hands on treecats! We - my friends and I - are trying to keep them safe! But if people knew this -!"

Her fears, however, were groundless. Trudy smiled gently. "Again, total secrecy, Steph. But...telepaths. Wow."

"We don't know for sure. I can only guess. But from what Scott told me, it seems likely." A phrase an SCA member had once used popped up in her head: In for a penny. She had no idea what a 'penny' was, but she'd deduced the meaning from context, i.e. Trudy already knew enough to endanger the treecats if she blabbed, so she took the risk of telling Trudy about the Stray.

Trudy exhaled. "Wow again. Yeah, it does sound as if they used telepathy, or something like it, to tell Scott what had happened and ask for his help. But...playing Devil's Advocate for a moment, Steph, isn't this exactly what Dr. Hobbard needs to know? Wouldn't it confirm their intelligence?"

"It might," Steph admitted, amazed at Trudy's newfound powers of deduction, "but I don't think it's worth the risk. Not just yet." She chuckled. "Unless a member of the royal family forms a bond like mine, of course."

She wasn't to know it, but in 1568 PD King Roger's daughter Elizabeth would do just that, later resulting in exactly the kind of protective legislation she was hoping for, viz. the Ninth Amendment. Whether or not this was/would be a deliberate move on the treecats' part would be unclear (though unknown to her, the treecats had in fact identified the royal family as being two-leg elders, and a receptive male had bonded with Elizabeth as a safeguard, feeling correctly that this would serve to protect them).

"Not a word, then," Trudy resolved, "and I'll do my best about Dad."

Steph smiled. "I don't think you'll need to, Trudy. If they are telepathic as I suspect, they'll sense him coming and make themselves scarce."

Trudy grinned. "Bet you're not used to me showing my smarts, are you?"

"Well, they weren't exactly obvious," Steph returned lamely.

Both laughed.

Unknown to both, Climbs Quickly was pleased at their camaraderie. It is good that Death Fang's Bane is spreading her wings to embrace others of her age. This new friendship, I think, will be good for her.

For Steph's part, Trudy was proving Mom right about people having hidden depths. There was more to Trudy Franchitti, Steph saw now, than generous curves. I should give her more credit. I will, I promise.

"This bond or whatever with Lionheart," Trudy went on, "how does it work? Can anyone form a bond like that?"

Steph sighed. "To both questions, the honest answer is: I haven't the faintest idea. It does seem to be the same with Jessica and Valiant, or Scott and Fisher, but I really don't know. When Lionheart's eyes met mine, I...it was exciting, thrilling, but not...sexual. I didn't get wet or anything," she blushed. "But...I didn't want it to end. I don't think Lionheart did, either. And you're right - he always knows where I am. And I always know where he is. Plus somehow he knew you were at the door."

"Before I rang the doorbell?" Steph nodded. "Seems confirmed, then: he sensed me." She sipped her tea. "We've only seen males so far. Do you know if the females can bond, too?"

"It's possible," Steph nodded, "but the females stay at home with the 'kittens."

"Old-fashioned viewpoint," Trudy observed.

"Maybe, but it works for them," Steph replied.

"Fair enough," Trudy conceded. She hesitated. "Steph, the main reason I'm asking is...could I bond with one, do you think? How do they choose?"

Regretfully Steph shook her head. "I really have no idea, Trudy. I hope you will. But...if you do, you'll join the Treecat Conspiracy. It consists of everyone else who's bonded with a treecat. Its purpose is to protect them until proper legislation is in place. We all feel they need to be protected."

"I agree," Trudy stated.

"Then I hope you do bond," Steph said, and smiled. "It'd be helpful to have a Franchitti on board. But," now she looked serious, "the best advice I can give you is: Don't try to make it happen. I think it works best if it's spontaneous. I think. I'm not sure the treecat has any control over it - either you bond, or you don't. So just hang around treecats whenever you get the chance and hope for the best."

"Okay," Trudy nodded, "thanks, Steph." She meant it.

"You're welcome," Steph smiled, hugging her, and she too was sincere.

And Climbs Quickly was greatly pleased.

A year later

And then the Great Treecat Conspiracy gained a new and prominent member. Trudy had come to visit often while she was recovering (at least partly to tease Steph), and in fact she'd branched out from Wild And Free to join the Rangers (her father disapproved, but Trudy didn't care). Chief Shelton had told her about another treecat clan (though the two-legs didn't know it yet, this was Fire Runs Fast Clan) and she'd taken an aircar to land near their territory.

"Not in it?" Steph asked.

Trudy shook her head. "I wanted to make sure they knew I was friendly, so I walked on foot. They had plenty of warning."

"Didn't that cost?" Steph asked, concerned. Despite the doctors' best efforts, Trudy's right femur was about a centimetre shorter than her left, throwing off her balance enough for her to graciously concede Steph's superior hang-gliding skills. Though she didn't let this stop her, it did cause her a small degree of pain, but she nobly/stubbornly managed without a CG unit.

"Worth it," she told Steph easily. "Next thing I knew, suddenly there were dozens of treecats coming out to meet me." Her face and voice softened. "I saw some females...and their 'kittens." Now she smiled. "They let me play with them. Aw, treekittens are even more cute!"

Steph chuckled fondly. "Did you bond with any 'cats?" She knew Trudy was hoping to do that.

But Trudy smiled enigmatically. "Not then, no." As Steph frowned, Trudy turned back to her aircar and called softly, "Lancelot?"

To Steph's surprise, a purring male treecat emerged. Unusually his eyes were blue. Steph was fascinated; she'd never seen that eye colour before on a treecat. Green, yes, that was common, brown less frequent. But his eyes were beautiful.

"This is Lancelot," Trudy said softly. "Lancelot, this is Stephanie Harrington and Lionheart."

The two treecats touched noses. Though neither girl knew it, Climbs Quickly recognised and greeted the newcomer; their clans knew each other well. Welcome, Fire In Darkness of Fire Runs Fast.

I greet you, Climbs Quickly of Bright Water. We of Fire Runs Fast have heard of Death Fang's Bane. A truly brave two-leg. And now, he preened, I have bonded with New Seeker. We have named her such because she has discovered a new, laudable curiosity about and affection for the animals of the jungle. He sounded wry. Including, alas, death fangs.

Like Climbs Quickly, Fire In Darkness had a powerful mind-voice for a male; he used this to give Climbs Quickly a précis.

Your meeting, then, Climbs Quickly observed with an amused flick of his tail, was very similar to mine!

They touched noses again, both laughing in their minds.

"What happened?" Steph asked, fascinated. She knelt to stroke Lancelot, who was huge by treecat standards. Dr. Hobbard had guessed that the number of rings on a 'cat's tail was a rough indicator of the 'cat's age, and so he appeared to be about the same age as Lionheart.

"I went back to my aircar, a little disappointed that I hadn't bonded - though," Trudy grinned, "playing with the 'kittens nearly made up for that, they were adorable. But the aircar chose that moment to die on me." She shrugged. "They do sometimes. I wasn't too worried...until I heard this really scary noise."

Stephanie's keen intuition aided her in guessing what the noise was. "Uh-oh."

"Yeah, it was a hexapuma," Trudy said grimly. "Steph, I know the hexapumas play an important role as apex predators...but they are terrifying close up. I swear, I wet myself."

"I don't blame you," Steph nodded ruefully. "You're right. They are terrifying." Then a thought occurred to her. "But what was a hexapuma doing so close to a treecat territory? Mostly they know better than that."

"So Ranger Jedrusinski told me later," Trudy nodded. "But even though it was huge, nearly adult-sized, it turned out to be a young hexapuma who hadn't learned better yet." She shivered. "God, Steph, I was so scared. In theory I was safe in the aircar, but I didn't know for sure that it couldn't get in...and I did know that if it did, I was dead. I called the Rangers on a distress frequency - Chief Shelton said they'd come straight away and in the meantime I should arm myself with the heaviest gun I had.

"Since these days I'm not totally stupid," she went on self-deprecatingly, "I had an 11-millimetre hand cannon with me, and I'm not a bad shot; Dad taught me on our range at home. But I could barely load it for trembling. Then I realised, to my horror, that I'd left a window open. But," now she smiled, "it turned out to be a good job that I did. Out of the blue a treecat jumped out of the trees and perched on the window sill - and I swear, Steph, he was snarling and, I think, actually daring the thing to attack."

"Did it?"

Trudy smiled. "Never got the chance. Suddenly there was this sound like ripping canvas, and then there were over a hundred treecats surrounding it - and they all, to a 'cat, had their claws out. Young as it was, it realised discretion was the better part of valour and ran off. It was captured later by the Rangers; they relocated it to a new, empty territory. So no harm done." She looked rueful. "Except to my new pants."

Steph couldn't help her giggle. "So when and how did you bond?"

"When I looked into his eyes for the first time," Trudy said simply. She looked fond as she stroked her partner's head. "Something wonderful happened, Steph. It was as if...as if I'd fallen into his eyes and I never, ever wanted to come out. I think we hugged for about ten minutes." She looked at Steph knowingly. "You know what I mean."

"There are no words," Steph agreed solemnly.

"I know if it had attacked he would've defended me. And now I know," Trudy looked fierce, "I would die for Lancelot if I had to!"

"You called him that," Steph correctly guessed, "because he was so brave. So selfless."

"It fit," Trudy agreed, and then a little of the old Trudy shone through as it sometimes did. "Besides, 'Lionheart' was already taken!"

Happy for her friend, Steph hugged Trudy. "You got what you wanted! Hexy, Trudy!" Then she grinned. "I bet your Dad wasn't happy!"

Trudy laughed. "Yeah, he can't hunt them now!"

Neither knew it, but Climbs Quickly and Fire In Darkness shared their humour.

THE END