by L. Fergus
Kita put aside her animalistic urges and concentrated on getting through this without having to carve her way out. What I’ll do for a pretty face. “You know my language?” Kita demanded.
“Yes. Enough to talk,” said the girl bunny.
“Alright, I want my friends, my ship, and I want free.”
“Your friends be cared for. The ship be wrecked. I sorry, they won’t let a Valkyrie be free.”
“Do I look Norse to you?” Not sure why that’s hysterical, or what armored winged women from Sweden have to do with me. “I’m an Angel, not a Valkyrie. I’m not here to take anyone to the afterlife, but I’ll send you all there if I have to.”
The lead male bunny said something to the female, but she replied with a sound that Kita interpreted as “shut up.” She and this cottontail might get along just fine. The male relented a bit and spoke more gently to her for a few moments.
“My father wishes to know where you from if you not be Valkyrie or be human.”
“I don’t know. Something happened to me, and the humans held me in a prison for a long time. I just escaped. The humans with me helped me escape. I want to see them.”
The female conversed with her father briefly.
“My father wishes to bind you, for protection.”
Kita cut off the dog’s head. Using her foot, she thrust the body off Dawn. It skidded to a stop in front of the father. “Tell him, if he can get them on me, I’ll wear them.”
The two bunnies spoke back forth.
“If this doesn’t come to a quick resolution, I’ll find them on my own.”
The pair ignored her.
Annoyed, Kita phased behind the entire group. The dogs turned and fired, but Kita had her heat shield up and absorbed the rounds. She burst into flame and expanded her shield until it filled the entire area. She walked forward, pushing the entire group down the dead end passage. A dog tripped and fell. Kita didn’t stop, and her shield burned the creature to ash.
When she had the group pinned against the far wall, she stopped. “Where are my friends? I won’t ask again.” To make her point, she moved her bubble forward, singeing the fur and quills of the closest dogs and bunnies.
“They be safe,” the female bunny pleaded. “I pledge to you.”
Kita backed off a step. “Come here,” she ordered, pointing at her feet.
The female took a step forward, but her father grabbed her and held her fast.
“You won’t get burned, I promise,” Kita told her.
The two bunnies had another discussion, and the female made another harsh sound. The father let her go. The female walked up to the shield, cautiously. She closed her eyes and put her hand out. Her hand penetrated without any damage. Kita saw the relief in the father. The female opened her eyes and walked the rest of the way in.
“That be amazing,” she said when she stood where Kita had pointed. “Where did you get such technology?”
“I don’t know. Most of my mind is locked. Bits and pieces come to me over time. My body remembers how to use it, even if I don’t. So, what’s your name?”
“It be translating to Female Flower Who Opens Often.”
Kita bit her tongue. “Let’s not call you that, something shorter. How about Cotton?”
“What be cotton?”
“It’s a plant on Earth that produces a white fibrous puff that looks like your tail.”
“Me tail?” said Cotton, looking behind her.
Kita got her first look at the fluffy thing the size of a melon on her butt. I think I’m in love. Kita sighed. “Wow.”
“Something wrong?” said Cotton.
Kita smiled shyly. “Ah, no. It’s just, I’ve never seen one before.”
“It be not a bad tail. I try to keep it fluffed,” said Cotton with what sounded like a laugh. “And your wings be truly magnificent. I be seen creatures with feathers before, but not like yours.”
Kita shrugged and smiled. She opened her left wing a bit to show off some of the longer flight feathers. “I spend time every day preening. It’s incredible how quickly they become tattered, even without fighting.”
“So, what be your name?” said Cotton.
“Kita.”
“Can you tell me why you be outside human space?”
Kita folded her arms. “Long story short, running from the humans. Who are you to them?” She nodded to the other bunnies waiting anxiously. “They seem to listen to you.”
“Of course they do.” Cotton wiggled her nose, and it turned red. “I’m sorry. I be a…ah…an emissary to the summit and a…what be daughter to ruling matriarch?”
“A princess?” said Kita. She frowned and sighed, and looked down at the floor.
“Something be wrong?”
Kita looked up. “No, ah, nothing. Just…” she shrugged. “It’s stupid. Ah, about my friends…”
“My research be showing that when something is said to be stupid with such body language it not be to that person.”
Kita raised a suspicious eyebrow. “How do you know about human behavior?”
“Before I be emissary, I study xenosociology specializing in humans.”
“So, you’re the ones abducting humans?” Kita asked, half kidding.
“Oh no, never. We study the signals humans radiate into space. My advanced study period be on what humans call Reality. I cataloged thousands and thousands of episodes to study interactions and reactions.”
Kita made a silent ‘oh’ with her lips. “I’m sure it must have been fascinating.”
“It very much was. Humans are motivated by so many things.” She reached out and touched Kita’s hand. “So, tell me, what be stupid?”
A black tendril of fog rose from the bunny’s hand and went into Kita’s nose.
In her mind appeared the woman with the tail. The shadow turned real. It wasn’t a human woman, but a humanized war cat. Her human name had been Darla Chang. In her cat form, she was known by her war cat name, Snowy. She was a brilliant scientist, a masterful warrior, a powerful leader, and protective mother. She’d been a friend, foe, lover, and partner. The partnership hadn’t lasted long, but the two remained very close until the end. They had a daughter together, and she had raised a second daughter Snowy had with Kita’s brother, Jeffrey, as her own. The children remained shadow figures, as did many of the memories. Snowy was her best friend and Kita remembered everything about the cat, except what had happened to her.
Kita let out a scream that echoed through the ship and then collapsed.
An explosion set off alarms. Rabbit flew around the corner, and behind her came the rest of the crew. Hawke, the young Marine, and Lacy scooped up weapons lying on the deck. They inspected the weapons. Hawke raised his rifle, and it fired. After getting instructions on how to fire the weapon, Lacy and the Marine hustled back to the intersection to stand guard. Hawke hurried after Rabbit. The rest of the crew stayed between the two groups.
“Step away from the Angel, bucktooth,” Rabbit snarled, “or I’m going to start collecting ears for trophies.” She landed, opening her missile bays and formed her cannon as a warning, and pushed the bunnies back. With Hawke covering her, she retracted a gauntlet and knelt next to Kita.
“How is she?” said Hawke.
“She’s alive and breathing,” said Rabbit. “What’d you do?” She demanded of the bunnies while waving her cannon in their faces.
“I not be doing anything. I touched her, then a black smoke went into her nose. She screamed. Afterward, she fell to the floor,” said the small bunny.
“Oh, hell,” Rabbit growled as her helmet retracted. She touched Kita’s hair and stroked it a few times.
“What do we do?” demanded Hawke.
“Give her time. A piece of her memory came back. If she had this big a reaction, it must have been a big piece.”
“We can’t keep them penned up for long. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“I know, but we need all the guns we can get. See if Auggy and Case c
an carry her.”
“Do you know how to get us out?”
“No clue, but I think we can lock this group in a cell at that station over at the corner.”
“Screw that. Just fire a couple of missiles at them and be done with them. They look like a bunch of Fiji tourists dressed up like furries. And we’ll be doing the dogs a favor, ugly mothers.”
“I’m not going to kill them unless they make me,” said Rabbit.
“If she needs medical help we have it,” said the small bunny.
“Shut up, bunny, or I’ll put a bullet between those big eyes of yours!” Hawke yelled.
Behind the small bunny, the big bunnies began to stir.
“Easy, before I have one of the biggest lucky rabbit’s foot ever,” he snarled at them.
Kita woke up with a shriek and sat up panting, dripping with sweat.
“Kita, you ok?” said Rabbit.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Kita as she slumped against her.
“Easy, big girl,” Rabbit whispered. “Take it slow.” Rabbit stroked Kita’s braided hair and kissed the side of her head gently. “We’ve got you.”
“Ok. I think I can stand.”
Rabbit helped Kita to her feet.
“What was it?” said Rabbit.
“You remember when I told you about the woman with the tail?”
“Yeah.”
“I know who she is. She was one of my oldest friends.”
“I’m dying to know more, but we need to get out of here,” Rabbit said, motioning with her head toward the group of bunnies.
“I don’t think they’re going to hurt us,” said Kita, rubbing the sweat from her forehead. “Are you ok, Cotton?” She offered her hand.
Cotton ignored it and helped herself to her feet. “Captain Draffno will want to be speaking to you,” she said coldly and walked away.
“What’s the matter with her?” said Rabbit as her helmet closed.
“Cotton,” Kita called, “they were doing what I expected of them. They’re my friends, and they came to save me. I’m sure yours would do the same.”
“Who needs friends when you be princess?” said Cotton.
“Because I know it’s lonely at the top. It’s fun for about an hour, but the rest of the time it sucks. These people care about the princess, not the Cotton part.”
Cotton ignored her and kept walking. A bunny pushed Kita from behind.
“They could have killed you. I could have killed you. The blade, the bullet, the pulse, doesn’t care who or what you are. You die just the same. Even I have died. And you don’t want to die alone, trust me.”
The bunny shoved Kita again. Enraged, she grabbed the creature by its hand, and threw it down the hallway, missing Cotton by inches.
“No one touches or orders me to do anything unless they’re my friend!” Kita yelled.
At the corner, a dozen dogs knocked down Cotton. A pair set up a weapon in front of her aimed right down the white corridor. A dog wearing a dark blue combat suit stood behind them.
“Valkyrie, halt, kneel, and submit. I am Captain Draffno, and you will obey my orders. You will have one chance to comply,” he said through an electronic device.
Kita snarled at them. Cotton lay next to the weapon. Her crew and Rabbit were between her and it. Behind her, Cotton’s guards were getting up the courage to push past her.
Kita raised her arm. “I. Obey. No. One.” She opened her hand, and a gray sphere appeared around the weapon’s crew and the captain. With an angry roar, she clenched her fist, and the gray sphere collapsed into nothing, taking the three dogs and weapon with it.
Throwing open her arms, she flexed her hands. In her left hand, she pulled the heat from the fallen rock pile into a long burning ribbon. In her right hand, water from the air and bodies condensed to formed barriers around her friends and Cotton. The ribbon of fire shot forward around Cotton into the dogs’ formation.
As the dogs yelled and tried to escape the fire, Kita phased into the middle of the inferno.
“Time to die, doggies,” Kita cooed as she burst into flames. Dusk and Dawn cut through the flame as the dogs tried to escape. Kita danced and flipped through the chaos taking each dog down. After each dog had died, her glee and laughter became more maniacal.
Kita grabbed the last dog by his helmet and slashed the creature’s throat. She hurled the body aside. Her enemies vanquished, she stretched her wings wide, letting the fire drip from them, while the ribbons of flame and water swirled around her. Slowly, her laughter died away.
“Kita?” Rabbit called in a worried voice.
Kita looked over her shoulder and smiled wickedly.
“Are you ok?” the girl asked with a frown.
Kita closed her wings and turned, but her smile remained. With a flourish, she put her swords away. With a wave of her hands, the ribbons of fire and water exploded. The flames engulfing her died away. She turned around to find Rabbit standing with Cotton behind her.
Rabbit’s helmet collapsed. “What the bloody hell was that?” she demanded, her smile countered her tone. “But, seriously, that smile has got to go.”
Kita’s smile softened as her eyes met Rabbit’s. “No lecture?”
“I be giving you lecture,” said Cotton angrily.
Kita locked eyes with her over Rabbit. “Shove it, Princess. It was luck you were in front of them instead of with them. So, go fluff your tail. I’m only interested in talking to one Rabbit. Come on,” she yelled to the others, “let’s go see what we’ve earned by becoming masters of the ship.”
“You’re not ship masters,” Cotton challenged. “This ship belong to Diamock’s navy.”
“Tell them they’re free to stop me.”
Kita, Rabbit, Cotton, and a young Diamock ensign, press-ganged into helping before he could kill himself, stepped onto the bridge. The entire bridge stood armed, and the new commanding officer stood in the center.
“Stop, Valkyrie,” the Diamock commander ordered.
Cotton translated for Kita. She folded her arms. “Go ahead, try and shoot me.”
“Take another step, and we will blow the ship.”
Kita raised an eyebrow. “That’s an extreme length for not a sure thing.”
“We will die before we’d let our ship fall into enemy hands.”
Kita raised her hand. “I understand perfectly, but let’s back up. You locked us in cells. I was attacked by a pile of rocks. I was in civil, diplomatic talks with the girl bunny before your former boss threatened her and us. I understand locking up the humans. I’m getting the feeling there’s some tension there. However, these are my friends, so they should get a pass. But, why me? I’m not human, I’m not a Valkyrie. I’m an Angel. What did I do to you?”
The commander ignored Kita and talked to Cotton.
Kita let them talk and waited patiently for them to finish. She pulled out her makeup kit and checked her face. Next, she pulled out her a file and repaired a chip in her nail. Rabbit chuckled, getting the message. Cotton and the Diamocks didn’t.
“Ok, time’s up!” Kita yelled. “We’re on my schedule, not yours. This is really a simple question.” She pulled a star from her pad and heated it in her hand. Holding it between her finger and thumb, she spun it playfully. “Either we work together, or I take the ship, and my crew can stoke the engines with your corpses. I kind of prefer the first choice, but I’ll take either. I promise you that if there’s dying to be done, it will be doggies and bunnies, not humans.”
Cotton looked at her, furious. “We are not done yet. We will talk to you when we’re ready. Until then, you will wait.”
Kita’s eyes narrowed as she stepped up to Cotton. “You weren’t the only one raised as a princess, cottontail. I was raised nobility and royalty, so don’t think you’re going to out-attitude me. You’re not the one in charge, Princess. So, if you want to talk, do it in my language.”
“No question, that’s her,” a long unheard voice with some static said. “The Valkyri
es are the least of your worries now.”
Kita spun around, smacking Cotton with her wings. On a screen in front of her was a familiar face. “Snowy?”
“How are you, kitten?” Snowy asked with a smile.
Kita wiped tears away with a hand. “Where are you?”
“I’m on the Diamock homeworld. The only cat in a world full of dogs.”
Kita laughed. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. I spent a few years living in the mountains with the cats before the Diamocks picked me up. It was a pleasant vacation watching the humans clean up their mess. I’ve since leveraged my way into a lab and a nice spot in the Scientific Society helping them upgrade their technology. It looks like war is coming and the Diamocks are going to need all the help they can get. What’s happened to you?”
Kita shrugged. “I don’t know. I woke up in a city as my prison. I escaped, fighting Galina and Sheppard on the way. I burned a space station and stole a ship. I woke up aboard this tub. I don’t remember anything before, well, nothing specific. I had to put together who I was.”
“I know, Tina stopped by and told me.”
Kita frowned. “Then you can’t tell me.”
“I’m sorry, kitten. She did say if you came here, I could give you all the details.”
“How far are you from here?”
“About a hundred and fifty light-years.”
Kita’s tears changed. An incredible loneliness hit her.
“Kita, I know it seems bad, but it’s not. You know yourself. I’m here if you need me. Tina told me about Jess. She sounds like she’s perfect. Don’t count out the Verisom princess. She’s more than a cotton ball. There are more friends out there. You just need to follow the breadcrumbs.”
Kita’s tears turned to rage as she slammed her fist down on a rail. “How can I follow a trail I can’t see? Why were my memories taken? What did I do? How come no one will tell me?”
“Kita!” Snowy snapped, causing Kita to relent. Snowy took a breath. “It wasn’t because of what you did. You did what was asked of you. You sacrificed everything you cared about—me, your children, friends, your home, to save everything, and I mean everything. I don’t know the where or how, but I do know the why.