A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 56

***Still moving stuff around but picking up speed now, we return to where Jerrthi has begun a rather late career as a news reporter on Merren.

Thanks to the Xer unit that she's been embedded into, she's finding a few things to help her get over the depression of losing her mate to the soulless machinery of the Merren government.

A couple of those things are 1) the adventures that her old journalism school chum Ronkahh just seems to fall into and of course, 2) there's the commander of the Xer unit himself. 0_o

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Jerrthi found that in spite of everything, she was having a great time with Xhan. He could manage the dual roles of being the unit's commanding officer - which was a little like being a father figure -- while still being able to enjoy himself and not sound like a father figure.

There were things going on that she doubted that he could allow, and yet he passed it all off with a little comment every time. Jerrthi hadn't known where to look as she stood next to him while they spoke for a little while with his counsel, who had loosened up considerably, now that she was taking a break from the attentions of two large Xer gunners, one of which was there with her and nibbling on her neck as they conversed while Jerrthi tried not to stare as his large pawed hands roamed over her very freely.

The female Xer didn't even flinch as she laughed and chatted. When she noticed Jerrthi looking at her, she smiled warmly and said, "They're the forty-third. They're famous for this, though there are so few of them here. Even so, it is not something to be missed."

She noticed a little blood in the fur over her shoulder and she smiled back, "You didn't say anything to me about a proposal."

Her hand came up to hold his head against hers, "Don't tempt me like that. I might just accept."

Xhan introduced her to Troxi, one the unit's electronic countermeasures wizards, and the two found a lot of common ground instantly before Jerrthi looked around a few minutes later and found Xhan standing near the bar, trying to order a drink each for them while doing his best to ignore the way that Ronkahh and TWO Xer females were carrying on back on top of the bar now.

It amazed Jerrthi so much, that she had to spin around and look back to see that Troxi was gone then, only maybe a minute after they'd been chatting. She spun back and looked at the bar again.

Troxi was one of the girls dancing with Ronkahh, her gently striped and light gray fur making her look quite attractive as she danced with a big happy smile, bending down low now and then to blow kisses to the throngs of males and females who were there partying. Whenever she did that, she seemed to hold still for a few seconds while several pawed hands reached to stroke her bottom from the other side of the bar.

Their dancing went far past being only suggestive and more than once as Jerrthi watched, Ronkahh ground her way down along the front of one of them, but she didn't come back up for more than a minute while the Xer girl held Ronkahh's head against her furry crotch to the cheers of everyone and it was plain what was going on.

Jerrthi didn't know anyone here well enough to even notice it when a single coal-black female came to a decision and stood up to walk a little closer to the center of things. But Jerrthi did see it when the girl bent over a table and began to watch Troxi dance. Her slender hips moved and swayed along with what she was watching and it was only seconds before she was being enjoyed from behind by a male.

Jerthi couldn't believe what she was watching.

But the second one of Ronkahh's dancing partners saw it and she jumped down and waded through the others to move up and stand second in the line then. Before Xhan could return with their drinks, the male had finished very quickly and the female stepped up.

Troxi stood behind the first female and ground her hips into her a little as she spoke, all while holding the dark female down with a hand placed in the center of her upper back. As Jerrthi stared, the standing one slipped her hand between the other one's thighs and began to manipulate her. The result was instant -- the recipient beginning to moan and buck back far more than she had earlier. Jerrthi looked at the expression on the other small female's face as she held her head just a little off the tabletop and faced Jerrthi with her eyes closed in momentary pleasure.

Jerrthi was struck by the beauty of them both, but she noted the short spiky mane on the one who stood bent over. Just then, the female opened her eyes and Jerrthi saw that one was the normal golden tone which was predominant among the Xer, but it was the other one which caught her eye now, since it was a bright blue.

The moment passed as Xhan returned a few minutes later with their drinks. Jerrthi thanked him and nodded at the goings-on with a smile, "They play very hard, your people. Does this have to do with the risk of death finding them at any time?"

"No," he replied, looking a little confused, "They are letting out the tension of the hearing. They were afraid that I would lose this command and they might get a new commander then who might not allow them this as I do. We have not been together that long and we work really well as a team.

It surprised them until they found out who I am. I have an uncle who commanded the entire forty-third brigade at one time where I hold only this one small unit. But I am beginning just as my uncle did. I remember all of his lessons to me and I wouldn't change a thing."

He looked at her seriously then, "If I must ask it of them, I know that for this enjoyment, they would give me more than their blood. I know it must sound strange to a Merren civilian, but that is the way of it."

He smiled then, "Your friend Ronkahh seems to have fallen right in with them."

"Well of course," Jerrthi smiled, "She has always prided herself on being the very finest party slut there could ever be."

She looked up and said, "And I did not mean it to sound disparaging in any way. It's not something that I could ever do, but if you knew her and went to school with her, you'd know that she comes from a home where there was very little laughter and love. This is how she makes up for what was missing then. I can even admire her for it in a way."

The music changed then to something slow and very old-fashioned and Xhan asked Jerrthi if she wanted to dance with him. She nodded and found herself almost swept off her feet in his arms.

"Where did you learn to dance to music like this?" she asked him a little dreamily from where her head rested on his shoulder.

He smiled, "My mother used to have a dancing school. Do you like it?"

"Mm-hmm," she sighed as they glided and twirled.

"How did you learn to dance this way, Jerrthi?" he asked and she smiled.

"I took dancing lessons once upon a time."

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A little later, they walked for a while outside for a breath of air, looking at the stars.

"Do you suppose that we can see the light from the sun of the system where Bronn is from here?" she asked.

He shook his head, "It is too far from here and the sun there is a small and unimportant one. To be seen as a star in our sky, it would have to be many times larger than it is. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, "It was only a thought."

It had been only a thought, she told herself. She was a little glad to hear his reply as what it had been. The way that she was beginning to feel, it came as a small relief to her to think that if she couldn't see where Bronn was, then he wouldn't be able to see her as well.

As they walked back, there head quiet groaning coming from some low bushes and as they passed by, they couldn't help but see.

"Psst, hey, Jerrthi, they told me that we have to be here the day after tomorrow for some tests."

Jerrthi rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "How did you get from in there to out here, Ronkahh? We've only been out here a few minutes."

"Ya gotta know the flow," her friend said, "and if you follow that, you'll always be where the best part of the party is, and I've got the best nose for that."

"Ronk-ahh? "a voice whined a little plaintively as they watched a striped gray and very feminine Xer tail rise up to float across Ronkahh's face for a moment, "C'mon and put your nose back in my party."

"I, uh,... I gotta go," Ronkahh smiled a little sheepishly.

"We understand," Xhan chuckled as he took Jerrthi's arm to lead her back, "Hello Troxi."

"Good evening, Section Officer," the striped Xer said politely before she giggled a little and reached for Ronkahh's horns again.

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Arrax lifted his bowed head and looked at the goddess who stood before him, "I understand and it will be done."

Her soft smile didn't waver as she stepped forward and laid her hand on his shoulder, "Our thanks, valued servant. The time of our need draws near."

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Tirran looked up from his display when he heard the clawed footfalls coming up the rear ramp, so he turned and smiled at Arrax, "Just about there."

"Good," the large male nodded, "Any issues?"

Tirran smirked a little, "Uhhh no. Hustle off to somewhere that's barely on my charts, pick up some unidentified folks, haul ass off to another speck on a map display and pick up a lot of weight to fly against the headwind that I'll find at any flight level where there's even atmosphere on this mudball and come back.

I have no idea who I'm supposed to pick up in either location and I hope nobody has to pee, since this bird doesn't have the facilities for more than like six. Everything else was ripped out for the type conversion.

What could go wrong?"

Arrax listened and gave it the required amount of consideration.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for you then. Let's go," he grinned as he sat in the second-pilot's seat and began to strap in.

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"You may act in my place as you see fit," Dakhete told Yasmin in a serious tone, "I do not know what might come, so I give you one-half of the army. You may use it all, but if I have need where I go, I may take the other half, so give thought to this before committing the whole force."

Yasmin nodded, "I'd much rather go with you. I was a little upset when they changed their plans."

"Khyan cannot go," the queen reminded her young protégé, "He must remain to rule his kingdom. Why not pool everything between you and just stay with him?"

Yasmin smiled then," Thank you, Dhakete, she said as she bowed, "I owe you much."

The Kandake smirked, "You owe me nothing, gazelle, but only try to pretend better for me. Did you not think that I had the thought that it is what you would do anyway?"

She turned to go then, "This is not what I would have wanted in how it is to go. Sha-sha and I must journey alone with the others. Saddiq has the same cares as well as a people who need him as Khyan. Farewell."

Yasmin watched her friend as she walked off to an uncertain future before she turned and walked in the other direction.

As Dakhete walked, she saw Sha-sha waiting for her with several others. Together, they walked until they stood looking over a small plain. They spoke quietly among themselves until a large dark shape appeared over the horizon.

It settled down with a quiet rumbling whine and then a large ramp opened before them and they began to walk again. As they neared it, they saw a pair of creatures which bore a resemblance to Maahes and Anubis, as well as his wife Inpewt waiting at the bottom of the ramp. The creatures bowed low to them all -- especially to the gods as they walked aboard.

There was no one there to see it as the large craft rose up into the heavens, turning slowly before it slid almost soundlessly over the horizon once more.

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"What is it which is to come for us?" Makhad asked as he shuffled his feet a little in the dirt out of boredom.

"I don't know," Natasha squinted as she looked out over the land with the late afternoon sunlight in her eyes, "I have never seen anything like what was described to me."

She reached up to touch the side of his face with a smile, "but I see that there is something that your kind is not good at here. I am just as impatient to have this done as you, but if you look around us, you will see most of my kind standing still, and most of yours looking as though they cannot stand here for much longer. I thought that you were very patient watchers."

Before he could answer, Sheel came to them, with Khyan's sisters and their mates, "It is something that we can do, but to stand as though we wait on the kindness of others is hard for us."

Natasha put her arm around Sheel and kissed her in the polite manner as she smiled, "it's no easier for us. Most of us don't believe that there is anything coming at all and that it was all a rumor."

Twenty miles out from the pick-up point, Tirran stared at his display, set at a little magnification. What he saw out there made him want to step it up a lot more to zoom in better, but he knew that at this distance, the distorting effect of the mirages from the heat of the sun on the earth wouldn't help him at all, so he just flew on, slowing as he did.

In another minute, he had a clear view as he swung around to set down and drop the ramp.

"What in the nine hells are those?"

"Friends, "the goddess Inpewt said, "Large and powerful friends."

Tirran pressed a sensor on his panel, "Shaevre, please tell them that it would be a good idea to pee or whatever they do before they get aboard. I have no facilities for them here."

Shaevre acknowledged as the large creatures approached and she stepped forward.

Tirran sat back in his seat and looked over at the goddess Inpewt, "And I don't even want to think about it anymore."

He looked over at Arrax, "This won't work, if we have to carry them AND the ones that Rosa led anywhere. We'll be leaking piss out of every seam. It's just numbers and probability. Somebody always has to go any given moment."

Anubis looked on, "Does this servant always have these sorts of cares?"

"I was not aware of any," Arrax smiled, "But now I begin to think of it as a sudden obsession of his."

Tirran swiveled his seat away as he muttered quietly, "Fine. We'll just lift off and accelerate home; us them and a few tons of transonic pee."

Ninety minutes later, he watched as they all plodded off toward the portal doors leading into the mountain. He suddenly had the thought that at least a hundred of them needed to go by now, by the standards of his own off-the-cuff rules of probability and he wanted to bang his head against the control console for a moment.

But he felt the touch of the goddess on his shoulder and he looked up into her lovely eyes.

"Servant," she smiled, "You have done us a great kindness today and," she smirked at her husband, "I wish to thank you for it and tell you that what you think of is not your concern any longer."

Tirran looked at her blankly for a second and then he chuckled, "You're right. Thanks for telling me, but now I have to go."

He stood up and walked away as the others prepared to disembark. Walking to door of the nearest 'air-potty', he cursed and laid his head against the wall as the indicator blinked at him that the holding tank was at full capacity.

Tirran ground his teeth together and cursed.

"Not my problem anymore, huh?" he groaned, "And just where am I supposed to dispose of eleven hundred liters of dirty urine?"

He walked to the flight console and looked at the monitors, switching views to look all around him. There was a slope to the land that led away from the portal and Tirran began to smile.

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Jerrthi and Ronkahh walked out of the training center feeling a little disconnected from reality after the cursory physical examinations and all of the emergency training videos which they'd had to absorb. As well, it felt downright weird to be wearing the Merren flight suits in the bright sunshine and carrying the helmets they had been handed.

Ronkahh was fuming quietly at the treatment which her friend had received as well. She was from one of the most common species which occurred in the make-up of the Merren diaspora whereas Jerrthi was from one of the smallest of the minority groups. To her mind, it meant that her friend ought to receive, if not some sort of special consideration for her slightly different body type, then at least a measure of respect since she was a little rare.

So it fried her tail a little to hear the way that Jerrthi had been addressed and treated. The staff had made noises to her about returning her gear when their stint with the Xer was completed. When Jerrthi had asked if they wanted hers as well, the female had almost sneered and said, "Well the helmet was a custom job, made to fit your head and horns. I doubt we'd ever have a use for it. We've never had a member from the Grottoids before. You can keep the flight suit as well. We don't really want to see it back."

Ronkahh's reaction had been instant.

"What did you call her?"

"Excuse me?" the low-ranking female asked, nervous suddenly.

Ronkahh's eyes glittered a little, "You heard me. What the fuck did you just call my colleague here? You called her a Grottoid. That's what I heard you say."

"I ... um, I said no such thing," the female Merren said, beginning to backpedal.

"It's alright, Ronkahh," Jerrthi said quietly, not wanting to make a scene.

"No it's fucking not," Ronkahh said as she held up her helmet which she'd been attaching the small camera onto, "This was running while I was screwing around trying to find the best place to mount it. I always keep a cam running if I can."

She leaned closer to the staff member, "If I find your remark on here when I sit down to edit everything, I'll lodge a formal complaint against you. It won't be a Grotto Dweller's complaint, either. It'll be from somebody just as mainstream as you. I've done it before and I'll see that you cook for it, so learn to watch your mouth."

Outside, Jerrthi had tried to calm Ronkahh down, and had been a little successful. "It just grates me, that's all. Sorry if I embarrassed you."

"I don't think you know what you just said," Jerrthi smiled, "It's me, remember? All those stupid things that you and I did while we were out recording all of the nutty assignments that they'd given us back at school? I'm still used to you, Ronkahh."

They stopped as they saw a large male Xer in a flightsuit walking toward them, a bright and garishly adorned Xer helmet on his hip under one muscled arm. He was on the far side of a group of about seven Merren pilot trainees who stood in a long gaggle and carelessly blocked the walkway between two yellow lines which were there to keep pedestrians orderly.

He stood head and shoulders above them all and Jerrthi could just see that bright helmet through the crowd.

It became clear in a moment that the Merren were being rude, but the Xer didn't seem to mind. He walked up to them and stopped, wishing them all a pleasant morning.

Not one of them even looked over.

So he said, "Excuse me, please," in a loud barking growl, but it was still very polite. Jerrthi could have sworn that three of them jumped, and the rest moved aside hurriedly. They glared at him, but he only smiled at the two females which he was there to guide back as he passed through them.

"Whoa," Ronkahh said under her breath, "Look at that one. I didn't see him at the party the other night."

"Yeah, you did," Jerrthi smirked, "You jumped off the bar into his arms naked several times, once to talk to me when you first saw me. I heard you ask him to, uh, embed you."

"I, ... oh fuck, I did?"

"Uh-huh," Jerrthi smiled, "I don't know if he did, though. All the other times I saw you, you were under tables or crawling around on your hands and knees.