SECTIONS:

The Reformed Captain

Distress Call

Peace

New Beginnings

___The Reformed Captain___

I sat with Fellows a long time. She must have mulled over many thoughts. I started to feel drowsy with inactivity.

"My father had always talked about the pesky finches he'd met whenever he traveled...." she said slowly.

I blinked at her.

"I guess I never thought about it. People I knew had always agreed with him. 'Course everyone agreed with him about anything. He's a Senator in the Galactic Senate. He's a stubborn leopard who wants it all his way."

She was quiet a moment. That might explain some things.

"I went to train as a spacer Captain. Anything to get away from my father, right?" She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, itching a little cut on her chin. "I wanted to be nothing like him. I wanted to be my own leopard. Make my own path to the stars; make my name stand separate from him.

"I even bought this ship with my own money, not his. I invested wisely for years.... After spacer school, I thought I was all ready." She opened her eyes to look at me, still perched on the desk, waiting. "Every lecture they had about you finches... I..." she rubbed an ear absently. "I guess I used the time to catch up on work. I didn't think it made any difference. I knew your species as rats with wings - my father's view - and never thought otherwise." She sighed and leaned forward on her furry elbows. "Guess even when I thought for myself... I was still using my father's thoughts."

She stared at me curiously, "Is it true what the stag said in that first video? That finches help with all that?"

I nodded solemnly.

"What am I even saying? I'm spilling my thoughts to you as we speak!"

I nodded again.

"I do feel clearer about this though.... Guess I was really pig-headed there."

I nodded hard.

"So... I really made you... jump or whatever... into space?"

A nod.

"And your jumps are just like the FTL jumps... only tiny?"

I nodded, she seemed to work through things quickly at least.

"You... you could have died?" she whispered, leaning heavily onto her elbows.

I nodded again. I think she understood now. Any known complex creature experienced excruciating pain in the cold vacuum of space.

She looked at me a long time, completely silent. Quietly, she said, "Can things be worked out between us? Can there be peace here?"

I nodded vigorously. This was the important part. We both needed peace aboard ship. In the darkness of space, conflict endangered everyone. Finches require peace aboard ships with other species. Other finches were fair game, since were are a highly territorial species.

I chirped and jumped to a spot over the hatch, gesturing widely to the hatch.

She took the hint and I had her visit the members of her crew one-by-one. She spoke with all of them, even Jimmy who's eyes shone with renewed hero-worship to her.

She listened. She learned, this time on her own terms

Most helpful was Ruth in engineering, who grinned at me. She greeted me cheerfully, even though her face and paws were marked by little cuts.

"Hello, little leader," she chimed. I felt bad about her injuries and eyed them sadly. "These? They're nothing. I've been in a finch uprising before... much worse than this one. Even heard of the Windy Willow Leaf?"

My beak dropped open... pretty un-finchlike, but I was really shocked. She'd survived that?

Fellows shrugged. Looked like she'd skipped paying attention on a lot. As far as I knew, the incident on the Windy Willow Leaf was now brought up in every spacer school as a cautionary tale.

Ruth chuckled, "Well looks like he knows..." She started on the story of how the crew and finches had risen against each other. Finches can easily cut a jugular vein on any mammal, and the finches on the Windy Willow Leaf had largely slaughtered the crew. Only a few finches and Furs aboard the big ship had survived. Spacers are superstitious and no one wanted to board that ship. Not humans, Furs or even finches. The ship had been permanently retired.

I think her stoic way of taking our punishment had been a habit carried over from that time. Any finch would have been impressed, so she had probably been mostly left alone on that deadly jaunt.

Fellows gawked at me for a while after Ruth had story, glossing over most of the horrible stuff I'd heard. "Finches can be that dangerous?" the Captain asked.

Ruth nodded. "Oh, yes. They slaughtered all the rats and mice on ships, you know. Just be glad we don't have to deal with rodents aboard. I've heard they used to chew on all the wiring and poo everywhere!" She paused, rubbing her little nose, "Actually, I'm a rodent too... but those guys are nasty! In comparison, the finches are a godsend. Their claws and beaks are terribly weak, so they can't do things at all that way. They do everything with time-space stuff and their songs."

"Songs?"

"Yeah, they can communicate things through their songs. It's deeper than talking. If you haven't tried it, you should ask. Their leader will probably be glad to."

"Isn't he still mad at me?" Fellows asked.

"Nah," smiled Ruth, "finches usually aren't like us in holding grudges. Good thing too, huh?"

Fellows nodded and followed Ruth as she explained about how similar the finches' jumps and the FTL jumps were. How finches could help monitor the drives. She told about my help on the first day they'd arrived, and Fellows seemed intrigued by the idea of sharing an image with another through a song.

"So," said Ruth, bluntly waving a wrench, "finches are the best - and worst - thing to ever happen to space travel."

Fellows nodded her understanding.

Ruth started on repairs, nodding as I nodded to her. My flock wouldn't interfere this time.

The repairs were finished quickly, since the damage from us had been measured and light.

Fellows sat on the bridge, and the ship jumped to FTL. Fellows asked a few more questions from the others, then retired to her quarters. I found her there, late into the night, studying the ship's vid library. Anything she could find about finches.

I even directed her to a few more vids. Some of them were fairly technical, but she seemed to follow them very well. A good head on those shoulders.

"Can you show me your nubs?"

I nodded and stretched out my wings, fleshy nubs extended. She leaned in slowly and politely, examining the little retractable protrusions on my wing edges and beak edges.

It was pretty uncomfortable with the active FTL drive going. With them extended, the local region of space-time leaped into focus. I instantly had a better view of any finch making little jumps around the ship. Fellows came into greater focus. Nearby living beings... bloomed in our space-time focus.

Late into the night, she diligently studied. I stayed up a while, but then returned to the nest.

The whole ship seemed to sigh in relief as the crisis passed, and we sped on our way.

The next morning, everyone - Furs and finches - gathered cautiously in the mess and Kuren served hot food for all. I was the only finch at the Captain's table. The raccoon passenger and Kuril the otter sat there mutely.

"I still don't condone begging," growled Captain Fellows.

I shrugged and sat quietly.

A muted conversation arose from the three at my table, and the lower table was quickly winding up to its previous cheer. Every Fur and finch seemed wary and guarded, but the atmosphere in the ship was improving.

Kuril gave me a smile and passed me some food, which I graciously took. I showed no active begging or eye-drawing antics. I sat politely, and slowly the three relaxed. They stopped giving me guarded stares and began talking freely among themselves. This was moving closer to how things should be.

The raccoon passenger rubbed at his little cuts and threatened the Captain again about his timely arrival and delivery of goods. Captain Fellows deftly deflected him and drew his interest to another conversation. If that was a result of her upbringing around politicians, then I really was impressed. She soon had the black-masked passenger chuckling over some tales of the wilder reactions of the crew in the last few days.

I had no doubt that if nothing else went wrong in our jaunt, he should leave the ship at least satisfied, though not wholly pleased with his journey.

Second Officer Kuril smiled at me when the other two had left the mess. "That could have gone a lot worse...."

I nodded gravely.

"You know she's a Senator's daughter?"

I nodded. I knew now.

"She needed a steady hand for her first jaunt. Even though the good Senator doesn't care for her jaunting, he wanted to keep her safe, so he had me go along. I've known him since long ago."

I nodded in understanding. A safety net for any new flyer was important.

"She's got a good head on her shoulders.... But like her father, she has a terrible stubborn streak. He and I never really got along very well."

He stood and left then, smiling.

Kuren finished gathering dishes. "Here, little one, I set some aside for you, in case you're still hungry. I know they're still a bit stiff at your table." He set out a sampling of various foods they'd eaten. "Thanks for not letting things get too wild. Though I have to admit... that bit at the end with your song had my heart ringing."

I shrugged, then happily ate the food laid out.

Hopefully things would continue this way until our next station of port.

___Distress Call___

A continuation of peace? We could only hope. Though the gods of space and time would not be forever in our favor. Elements of chaos always arise.

We were over a week into our jaunt, quickly making up time by pushing the FTL engines. This was, of course, with my and Ruth's approval. Captain Patricia Fellows studied finches every spare moment she was not on watch on the Bridge, sleeping, or eating with everyone. Our jaunt had relaxed into familiarity with an underlying need to complete our journey without delay.

We exited into normal space every few hours to readjust course and to set off again. The chicks were fussy with every new entry, but settled quickly each time. Eigren continued to flirt shamelessly with Susan every chance he got, which confounded Dave.

Jimmy and the cat were nearly inseparable, and the little red finch started nesting for the night in the cat's headfur instead of the nest. Whatever was happening with those two, didn't seem harmful. Jimmy still helped out with caring for the chicks and other flock duties. His parents, Beck and Mike, seemed pleased with his rapid learning through constant interaction with the cat.

Kuren made sure to set aside extra food for any hungry finches after meals. Of course, we preferred the interactions available over meals over a lonely feed afterwards. Captain Fellows even began slipping me bits of food occasionally when she thought no one was looking.

She was accepting finches well now and would talk with me hours into the night. I sang to her, cautiously, a few nights after our peace was made. She'd gotten instructions from the vids and pointers from Ruth. It had not been as easy to form a link between us, but our understanding of each other grew in leaps and bounds after that.

I had found us remarkably similar. We were both fairly new to positions of responsibility, and we each sought to make our own path in the stars, leaving previous patterns others had left us.

Things looked to be going remarkably well.

But nothing can last.

We were a few more days from port when a slip-space distress signal had Kuril calling the Captain to the bridge.

As was also my duty, I arrived there with her, jumping quickly to look out the viewport.

"They're about an hour away by FTL," reported Kuril. "We're by far the closest ship and they're requesting evacuation due to a drive leak."

I flicked my wings, feeling unsettled. A drive leak was dangerous. Finches and crew would need immediate evacuation. It was also a favorite ploy of space pirates, I'd heard.

I sang a few notes of song to Kuril and Fellows, showing them each a pirate hat. Skull and crossbones included.

"Where did you see that?" asked Kuril.

I pointed a claw at a vid screen.

Kuril twitched his cut whiskers and chuckled. "An educated little bug, are you?"

I shrugged, but my tail was flicking in birdy laughter.

Fellows said, "Regardless, we need to respond. If it really is a leak, we need to divert course immediately."

I nodded, looking out with my nubs. Space-time seemed unsettled, as if it reflected my uneasy heart.

We jumped to aid the distressed ship. Later, we approached a larger ship on conventional engines.

"What do you see, Glen?" asked Fellows. She'd told me that our "pronounceable" names were fine.

I extended my nubs and "peered" out. I turned and shrugged.

"Does it look like a drive leak?" asked Kuril.

I nodded, eying the ship. It was older, but well-maintained. A drive leak, in theory, could happen on any ship. Especially one where the finches weren't vigilant. Not all flocks were as careful or as dedicated as mine.

"Look like pirates to you?" asked Fellows, pointedly.

I shrugged and bobbed my head uncertainly.

When Fellows looked a little lost, Kuril filled in, "You're saying be cautious?"

I nodded.

Captain Fellows smiled a thanks at Kuril. Then she showed her teeth. "Whatever awaits, we must be prepared!" She keyed the ship's comms, "Kuren, Eigren to the Bridge. Listen up we're responding to a distress signal. Refugees may be boarding... or we may have encountered pirates. Everyone be quick on your toes. Passenger to remain in quarters."

Fellows unlocked the little weapons locker on the Bridge. The firearms stored there were basically modified laser-cutters. Laser pistols and laser rifles were expensive and reserved for military forces. Ballistic weapons coud have devastating effects on a ship's hull.

Kuril shrugged off the weapons as Kuren and Eigren arrived. The aging otter sprouted a multitude of knives from... somewhere.

Fellows passed weapons to the two foxes. "Use them only if you have to, got it?"

They both nodded, tension written all over their ears and whiskers.

Fellows gripped a cutter herself, readied. The four of them waited in the Bridge while Kuril maneuvered the ship closer. He gave emergency maneuvering control to Ruth down in engineering in case we had to make a hasty exit.

I jumped away, having my own responsibilities as flock leader. I whistled for any available finch to meet me at the Starboard port. We were waiting there before the ships attached.

Kuren and Eigren were the first Furs there, standing guard as the ships connected with a -thunk-.

An orange and green finch jumped over into our ship and I whistled a warning. I showed her the strength in my song and she quickly jumped back onto her own ship.

At least we finches wouldn't have to worry about an invasion. My flock relaxed and spread out along the starboard side of the ship, watching for any stow-aways. Until we knew what was going on and negotiated with their leader, no new finches were to board.

I stayed by the attached starboard port. Fellows' successful jaunt was mine. This needed to end well.

There was a hesitant knock on our hatch and Fellows gestured for Kuren to open it, readying her cutter weapon. With an unhappy frown, he did.

"Oh, thank the stars, you came!" bubbled a large, white tiger, tumbling into our corridor.

"You came in good time. It's good that you were so close." It was another human, a female I decided. "I'm Captain Meagan Parten of the Wandering Whisper. Thanks for coming to our aid...." She raised a hand, "Now, hand over your weapons, I'm taking this ship."

The white tiger sprang up next to her, wielding a knife. "That's right, muffins! You're our captives now."

So it really was pirates.... Of all the times to happen! I chirped my displeasure.

However, there were only two of the pirates aboard and four of our Furs.

"How do you expect to do that?" Fellows growled, pointing her cutter at the human pirate. The cutters' range was very limited, but the corridors aboard were also narrow. She could easily shoot the woman.

Kuril tensed, looking at the raccoon, who had come into the corridor to investigate.

And Kuril crumpled to the deck from a blow to his round head...

...and Eigren stood over him, pulling back the butt-end of his cutter.

"What?!" yowled Captain Fellows. "What treachery is this?"

What a dramatic line. Sometimes, I wanted to burn every vid with that terrible line.

Kuren shrugged sympathetically as he quickly and easily twisted Fellows' cutter from her grasp.

The raccoon gasped in alarm and fled to his quarters. Looked like he'd had no involvement.

The white tiger grinned widely, "We had these two join up with your crew. We were interested in your cargo...."

"But now we really want... you," grinned the black-haired woman. "Captain Patricia Fellows. Or should I say Patricia Anne Fellows Masterson, daughter of Regional Senator Masterson?"

"You, little Missy, are quite a catch, aren't you?" grinned the white pirate tiger.

I heard a gasp from down the corridor and saw our young cat duck back into the crew's quarters.

I screeched my displeasure and the woman looked up. "Well, you should be happy. My two spies had told me you've had some problems with your new Captain. We'll remove her from the ship and Eigren here can take her place."

The white tiger dragged a struggling Fellows into their ship.

Pirates! How dare they! Destroy the sanctity of my ship!

Eigren looked pleased. Fellows was being taken into the other ship while an unhappy Kuren bound the unconscious otter.

I whistled shortly in displeasure. I was starting to like Fellows. We'd had a rough start, but she'd been diligent and resourceful. Our talks had showed me there was much we had in common. No.

Not here!

I screeched a terrible song, directed at the two foxes, filled with heart-ache and loss. I flew at their faces and jumped before their eyes.

Kuren quickly ran into the other ship, eyes streaming with tears. Eigren fought me off briefly, but I filled my song with pain and anguish. When he fled towards the other ship, I followed.

Fellows was on that ship.

Whatever our problems had been, she was my Captain!

I wafted on air into the other ship, shrieking my terrible song. I reached the tiger and he dropped the Captain's arms and fled deeper into the ship.

I quickly cut her bindings, then raised my song in a defensive warning. "Don't come near me!" was my plain call.

Fellows shivered, I couldn't completely shield her from its effects.

Someone had closed the hatch between ships and we were pulling away.

My song shrieked angrily and I saw-

-out a heavily-glassed port a green and purple fluff jump into space and... still. Frozen.

I froze in shock. Recalling those instances I'd had in open space. Those terrifying, horrible moments....

"Jules!!!! Nooooo!" wailed Kuren.

"This way! Come on!" Someone was calling me from a distance. Who? I was frozen too, staring into space at a stiff collection of colors.

Then a paw seized me, pinning my wings to my body, carrying me away.

It was Fellows, she had me in a firm grip. I struggled instinctively. I couldn't jump away like this! If my wings were pinned I couldn't jump. My beak could stretch to make a space-time rift, but there was no way I could fit a leopard through it!

"Hold still!" she growled. "I see an emergency pod!"

My shock and fear overwhelmed me.... Frozen. Dead. Me. I did that....

Fellows clambered into the cramped pod as the larger ship pulled away from the Fleeting Minnow.

"Gotta hurry! Damn! The hatch is jammed. Stupid... corner-cutting... Pirates!!"

Kuren appeared outside our little escape pod, his fox eyes streaming with tears. "This is all wrong.... All wrong.... I'm sorry! Hurry home!" and he heaved the stiff escape hatch closed.

Fellows probably gaped in shock, but my focus was on a still, frozen body, peacefully drifting away....

The pod jolted as it detached from the pirate ship. We shot a little ways out, but the crummy little engines blew, and we drifted without power.

Frozen.

Dead.

"Hey!" snapped an angry leopard in my face.

I jumped with a cheep of surprise, immediately trying to struggle free.

"You okay? You seem..." the leopard shrugged.

Fellows. Captain Fellows was here, sharing this tiny pod with me. Out a little viewport, I saw the pirate ship jump away. The Fleeting Minnow lay a ways off and we were drifting...away!

I chirped, finally focusing. I needed to get back! I nodded to Fellows, looking at her in the eyes.

She sighed in relief and released me. I fluttered over to the port and watched the slowly shrinking Fleeting Minnow.

Now What?

___Peace___

The Fleeting Minnow was getting smaller and smaller. I cheeped frantically at Fellows, flapping my wings urgently.

"I know, I know," Captain Fellows sighed, "but we can't even maneuver to them. This pod has lost power. We don't even have that much air left...."

I pecked at the thick glass. Wasn't there something we could do?

"I got us into this.... If I hadn't become your Captain, you would have gotten a capable Captain who would know if his crew was passing information to pirates." She sagged against the hull of the little vessel. "My very existence is a risk.... I used my mother's name 'Fellows' because I didn't want to ride my father's shirt-tails."

Ugh. Wallowing in self-contemplation until the air ran out wasn't an option! I jumped close and pecked Fellows between the eyes.

She reflexively jumped and swung her paw to her head. There was barely enough room for her to try, the pod was so small. Of course I was already away, glaring at her.

"What?" she growled unhappily.

I sang a few notes, showing her that famous statue of "The Thinker".

She gaped, then shook herself, "Right... of course." She paused in thought.

I hated to rush her....

"We're too tiny and far away to detect on instruments without power.... Options... options...."

I could see her frantically wracking her furry brain. The little chamber was feeling a little chill.

"Ah!" she cried and I almost jumped into space in shock. She grinned at me, "Want to try something experimental? Might be dangerous."

I nodded vigorously. If it got us back I would do anything.

"There's a theory that your songs also cross into space-time. That's possibly how you connect through them. Can you tell when we make a slip-space transmission?"

I thought about it. Maybe? I wasn't sure, but sometimes I thought I felt a brush.... I shrugged, best answer I could give her.

"Try to think about the sound to reach the Fleeting Minnow. Try to give anyone who's listening these numbers. It was our last heading before the power failed!"

She began listing numbers, and I concentrated, trying to recall every time I'd even thought I'd felt the comms. Maybe add that to the sense in space-time I felt of the ship.... It was a horrible shot in the dark. Vague sensations that were more likely a result of my imagination reaching for anything.

I called up my strongest, clearest song. Closing my eyes, I made it simple, weaving numbered chirps into the song. Seven chirps for seven... three chirps for three.

I poured everything of my song, all of me, all I'd ever felt of the ship itself. I strained forward... reaching.

Nothing.

I panted a few minutes and tried again, dredging everything I had in the corners of my being. I kept it up in a long, long song. Everything else faded away. There was just the song. And more song. Desperate... reaching. Anything.

And then I collapsed, exhausted and panting. My tail flicked back and forth, trying to fill my air-sacs faster. I couldn't open my eyes, I was so exhausted.

I felt myself gently lifted up. Taken away.

Was this the end of me? There was nothing more I could do in this life, then.

But I kept panting, and I realized that I was cradled in a soft paw.

A warm paw... breathing warm air.... Someone calling.

"Glen.... Glen!"

I opened my eyes and saw Fellows grinning at me.

I peeped weakly in confusion.

"Glen! You're okay!" cheered Jimmy.

I was back on the Fleeting Minnow. We were... in the mess? Somehow, we'd made it? How?

Captain... my Captain Patricia Fellows carefully stroked a clawed finger over my panting side. "Your call reached the ship!" There were tears in her eyes. "You called for them to get us!"

"You're one remarkable finch," congratulated Kuril.

If I could skip the remarkable part and just take a quiet life somewhere, I would.

"That must really have been a helluva big song for a little guy!" exclaimed Ruth. Somehow, she'd left her engines when it wasn't mealtime.

My song was strong. It is a respected thing among finches.

But, I never wanted to try that again.... I had almost died from the effort. Fellows was correct in calling it dangerous.

Fellows held me, carefully as I recovered. She cradled my shaking body for hours as she went around checking the ship.

This was a biiig change in her. Days ago, she probably would have happily crushed me.

The young little cat dogged worshipfully her heels, with an enthusiastic Jimmy on his shoulder.

She even waited until I had better recovered before jumping the ship into FTL space again. Considerate leopard. Truly resourceful....

I fell into an exhausted sleep.

And when I awoke, I felt stronger and more refreshed than I had in a long time.

I had been set in a little box stuffed with fluff in the Captain's quarters. This was... was this her fur? I wasn't even sure what I thought of that....

It had been a rough jaunt. Hopefully it was nearing the end. As I thought over the events of the last days... my mind stuck repeatedly on that finch. The little green and purple finch jumping in panic into space and not stopping.... Of Kuren crying the name Jules.... Of the frozen, screeching cold I'd felt myself in space....

"What's on your mind?" asked Fellows sitting down next to the desk my little box was on.

I hesitated to make any gesture.

"Well? I tell you my troubles. Isn't it only fair?"

I shrugged.

She looked at me expectantly, steadily as only feline eyes can.

I sighed and connected our gaze. I began a soft song, that hurt my throat and nubs. It was slow and mournful, showing her the little fluff of finch jumping into space. Dying. My fault. My song had killed someone. Should I never sing again? I showed her again Kuren crying out in horror and his tears as he sealed us in the escape pod.

My song eased away. My strength still weakened.

She thought about what I'd shown her a long time.

"It's done though, isn't it? You did what you felt was needed to protect us, right?"

I shrugged. Had I betrayed my own species, going after Fellows? I couldn't feel remorseful about saving her... she had become important to the stability of the ship. Important to the safety of my family. Her behavior had proved to me she'd been worth fighting for.

"Look," she said, bending low to look at me. "It's painful and that finch will forever be in your memories, right?"

I nodded.

"Then the best thing to do is continue on. Make sure that never happens to another finch while you're around. Make sure other finches know about how horrible it is so they never force a finch out either."

I shrugged.

"You can't change anything now. All you can do is help everyone to a brighter future.... Unless you think jumping out into space yourself will solve anything?"

I shrugged. Some part of me wished it. As atonement.

"And what of the life you'd live? Any chicks you'll have, huh?! Don't think you can wallow in your self-misery. Don't you dare take the easy way out." She leaned over me and glared. "You'll dishonor Kuren's deed. He knew you needed to escape. Live on. If that is to be your punishment, so be it."

That said, she stalked out of the Captain's quarters she again shared with Kuril while the raccoon was aboard.

I was lost in my thoughts for a long time.... But I didn't jump into space.

___New Beginnings___

Captain Fellows looked relieved when I jumped onto the bridge later that evening. I realized she hadn't had confidence in her own words. Maybe she was struggling with her own guilt over the incident. Whatever the case, having us both on the bridge as we entered a new space-time jump kept the two of us going.

We would live on.

A few days later, at Jimmy's request, I showed him how to spell his own name.

Later that same day, the little tiger cat bounded up to the Captain. "Guess what? Guess!"

Fellows shrugged off Bridge protocol for the moment, "No idea. What is it?"

Jimmy made a belated entry to the bridge. The cat had apparently left him hanging somewhere.

The little cat giggled. "I told the red finch I didn't have a name, and today, he said I can have his!"

"Huh?" said a confused leopard. Kuril laughed behind a paw in the next seat.

"I'm Jimmy! J-I-M-M-Y!" he bounced up and down. "I'm Jimmy! I have a name!"

Jimmy - the finch - swept back and forth across the Bridge, making red streaks everywhere.

"You know about this?" Fellows asked me, still a little shocked.

I shrugged, then shook my head. I'd had no idea that's why Jimmy - the finch - had wanted to know about his name.

The two Jimmys left the Bridge, one saying, "If I'm Jimmy now, does that mean you need a new name?" And the other flicking his tail and chirping, "Either way! I don't care!"

Well....

They really were inseparable, so I could just collectively call them "Jimmy"... maybe.

Fellows was still chuckling to herself every few seconds as we arrived at Algeron's Reach Station... only four hours behind schedule.

Fellows called in her greeting and advised them of the area we'd seen the pirates... and that we'd lost two crew members to them... in a way.

Fellows paused before leaving the Captain's chair. "He was an orphan wandering around Executor Station when I found him.... He'd thought his name was Scat, as in 'scat cat'."

I shrugged. Now they were both "Jimmy".

We docked, and the passenger departed, paying us in full for a... memorable journey. Turned out the bookish raccoon was a well-known author. -And a political advisor. The chaos aboard had given him new inspiration, and he was overall pleased with our journey.

The newly successful in her own right Captain Fellows, along with Kuril and Ruth exited to the station, and I gave a warning shriek at the hatch to warn off any opportunists. This was our home.

The two Jimmys left together to explore the station. They'd be back. They all would. This was their home too.

END