We arrived at our little house on the prairie at dusk; our large friend was still with us. Why she chose to be with us I had no idea; but there she was and showing no signs of wanting to leave. The house had a small enclosure in the back that the Tersine could use to exit at will. There was a fence on either side of the building that I decided was to help discourage Sasha from going toward town; but I didn’t think that would stop her if she chose to go that way. I talked with Capt. Pierce about it and he told me that everyone had been told about the cat and there were extra security people specifically to keep an eye on her just for safety. I think that relieved me a little though I’d hate to see Sasha shot by a panicky guard.
The next morning we awoke with the enormous Sasha sprawled along side of our bed. I was relieved to see that she’d stayed in the house all night though I still couldn’t understand her friendly behavior. Could it possibly be that she had a gene from thousands of years ago, that inclined her toward accepting us so unquestioningly? I wouldn’t have believed it was possible, but there she was; and house broken so it seemed. If there was one thing I was beginning to learn, it was that Mother Nature picks her own paths; and we’re just pawns in her game.
People stared as we walked into town with Sasha at our heels, as if we actually had some control over her. I think most people thought we really did have control; if they only knew! We went straight toward the Captain’s office but about fifty feet from our goal, we ran into Patrick Marshal; one of the leaders of the group who didn’t want the aliens moving to our new world even if it was made livable by their ancestors. He was accompanied by half a dozen of his followers.
“So this is what you sold out your own kind for, you pink lover,” he said pink as if it had a bad taste in his mouth, looking Meeza up and down. “Let’s have a good look at this foreigner,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to turn her to face his people. I was about to lay him out when Sasha raised herself up in that odd position that she could and took a step forward, bringing her face to face with Patrick. Sasha emitted a very, very low growl. Patrick took notice of her for the first time; I think he had an immediate accident, judging by the suddenly prevalent wet spot on his trousers. He looked absolutely terrified; as I was, but because I was afraid she’d eat him and then someone would shoot her.
Patrick took a very rapid step back from her and made no further attempt to lay a hand on Meeza again. “So you aliens stick together!” he spat in a rather screechy voice. “I should have expected that from someone who’s willing to give up all we’ve worked for,” he sounded bitter and afraid, at the same time. His posse were gazing at Sasha, clearly uncertain what to do.
“I think that you’re forgetting that it was her people who terraformed these planets in the first place,” I told Patrick calmly. “We’re the newcomers to town. We were lucky not to find this system completely dominated, solely because they didn’t have enough time to finish the job. There’s no room here for ungrateful people that have forgotten how to share their good fortune.” I could feel myself shaking with rage, but Meeza’s still calmness beside me kept me from grabbing Patrick by the throat, as I was tempted to do.
“The pinks would be rotting away on their ice world with those Dragons nipping away at their population if we hadn’t come along to rescue them. Why can’t they stay there and let us have this planet for our own?” He looked around to see how much support he had. It was clear that a few of the people on the street who had stopped to watch the altercation agreed with him; though more seemed embarrassed by this display of ignorance. People seemed to be moving to stand more or less behind the side they believed in. We outnumbered the anti-alien group by more than four- to-one in a matter of seconds; even some of Patrick’s original posse had quietly changed sides. It made me sort of proud of my people for their display of logic and compassion.
Patrick could see that he was outnumbered. He chose to move off; but spit on the ground at my feet before making a hasty exit with his following.
Meeza, who had held herself proudly tall and still during the encounter, suddenly let out her breath and turned to me, looking stricken.
“You don’t want to pay any attention to the ignorance of people like him.” I told her reassuringly, simultaneously impressed by her strength and anxious to make her feel better. “If not for you, he’d have found something else to make a fuss about.”
I gave her a half smile even though I’d rather have gone after Patrick and kicked the living ----- out of him.
The crowd was breaking up though half a dozen people stopped long enough to apologize to Meeza for Patrick’s behavior, and several to let me know that they were behind me to the end.
We entered the Captain’s office a few minutes later. “I was pleased the way you handled that little confrontation with those trouble makers,” he said as we entered. “I was about to come out when I saw and heard what was going on; I really felt that it was better that I stay out of it since you so clearly had the backing of the majority.” He looked at Sasha—who had come right in with us— for the first time close up. “Such a magnificent creature,” he observed. “I am amazed how she stood up for you out there. There’s no logic to it but I can see that for some unknown reason she’s a natural friend to people and that’s a really good thing. Now we have to find out if all or at least most of them are that way as well.” The Captain looked bemused for a moment. “She almost looked like a centaur the way she raised herself up like that; never seen anything like it.” He shook his head.
“Yes; Sasha is quite amazing,” I agreed.
“She’s lovely,” Meeza said warmly. The Captain smiled at her.
“But don’t you think it’s strange that this creature seems so natural with people, and yet we’re the first she’s ever seen?” He puzzled. “I can’t help but wonder if there’s a colony we’ve missed somewhere nearby; or that there may have been one until much more recently than three thousand years. What do you think?”
“We scoured the land in a thousand mile radius,” I said. “That doesn’t mean we didn’t miss something; but don’t you think that if there was a colony of some sort near here they’d have made themselves known to us?”
“Yes; I suppose you’re right about that,” he agreed. “I just can’t imagine a huge creature like this, an obvious carnivore, being so docile; it just isn’t reasonable.” He made a gesture of wonderment. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s just a curiosity.”
We sat pondering Sasha for a moment. Meeza nudged me, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, yes! All of this aside,” I said, “Hero asked if we could have one of the ships take him to see if he can find some of his siblings and bring them here to live with him; and maybe a few of their purple trees. I promised him I’d talk with you about it, so there it is.”
The Captain looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think bringing his family here won’t be a problem, but the jury’s still out as to whether we should bring those trees here in any number. The lab has some of the seeds here but they haven’t released any into the environment yet. We’ll have to leave that in their hands, but I’ll talk with them about it; perhaps it won’t be a problem. There’s still so much we don’t know,” he said at last. “I want you—that is, after a couple of days off—to go back to a couple of the areas where you saw a number of these Tersine on your last trip about, and find out if you get the same reception from other Tersine as from this one. After all;, Sasha may be the exception to the rule.”
“I need to look at the maps and see where the closest ones were. If they’re close enough then I can get there by land, but I think they were too far away for that. I wanted to take Sasha with me; I thought it might help, but I’m not sure how she’ll take to flying.”
“I guess the only way you’ll know is by trial,” Captain Pierce said with a touch of humor. She doesn’t seem to have any problem with being indoors; but I wonder how she’ll be if you have to go away for a while. Will she be as good if you and Meeza are both g
one?”
Meeza and I looked at each other; we really had no idea. “She got along all her life without us, but it’s so hard to know why she took to us in the first place.” I told him the story of the first night we ran into her when taking shelter in the cave. “She’s never been without one or the other of us since that time, and frankly, she’s a tremendous asset when the going gets tough or if someone like Patrick threatens Meeza. I think she’d probably defend anybody from anyone who was acting in an aggressive fashion. She seems to be very much in tune with human emotional vibrations. When we first went into the cave Meeza stopped me from shooting Sasha, saying it was bad luck to shoot a Tersine in their mythology; as a matter of fact, she got that info from old Nippa. Perhaps he knows more about them. Her people have a constellation named after a mythical creature of the same kind but of giant proportions as she remembers it. Oddly; Earth’s sun is part of that constellation; I can’t help but wonder if somehow way back in time, we were actually from the same ancestry. I mean, we’re so much alike; even our genes are the same, barring some for coloring of eyes and hair, they’re the type of things that can change in a few generations of living in a different environment,” I said slipping into a bit of a tangent; and feeling suddenly a little foolish for having done so. As if I really knew anything about DNA.
To my surprise Capt. Pierce said, “I’ve been considering the very same things.” Then with a little shrug, “It would seem like quite a coincidence that this Tersine should be the constellation containing our system; or maybe it’s just the way things were meant to be. Now for another subject of current interest; The Astro I has finally responded to our messages, as you know; their journey should have come to an end about two years ago, so in three or four years we should hear whether they have found a habitable world and if they find the abundance of life that we’ve found here. We came expecting nothing but if they had been able to establish their colonies a little longer we would have found a civilization that might not have wanted us here. I’ve sent a message to let them know that we’ve found habitable worlds here just in case they aren’t as lucky as we have been. They’ll only be about, as we’ve figured it, three and a half light years from us. They’ll probably come here if they can’t find any suitable place of their own; hopefully they’ll find all they need. We’ll hear in our lifetimes, so I thought you should know because I trust you. Mayor Jordan is the only other person who knows the details of that communication we sent back to them. Please keep it to yourselves for the time being.”
I had no problem with keeping it to myself; nobody really needed to know for the time being. It certainly wasn’t going to affect anybody in the very near future. There’d be time to tell people if it became relevant. “I’ll carry it to my grave and I’m sure Meeza isn’t going to say anything about it; are you?” I said while looking at Meeza, and she nodded her assent. That settled, I agreed to try taking Sasha aboard the ship the next day and see how she reacted to a short flight; then we could go and get the answer to the question of the disposition of the other Tersine. I hoped that they wouldn’t be a problem; it would be a sin to have to destroy even one of these magnificent creatures even in self defense. Not, I recalled, that it would be that easy to do.
We took our leave of the Captain and as we were heading out the door of the building we ran quite literally into Nettie, who was just coming into the building. There was an awkward moment, but Nettie laughed. “Well, I knew I’d see you sooner or later,” she said. “There’s so much going on these days, can’t get a minute to myself.” She looked at Meeza, who looked as if she was going to faint. It was obvious to her who Nettie was. Nettie took Meeza’s hand and introduced herself warmly. “It’s nice to meet you at last. I’ve, of course heard all about you,” she said smiling.
“Hi Nettie, it’s good to see you,” I said, falling over my words. Then I realized she wasn’t alone; and the real realization hit me. “Hi Roger, how are you getting on? Ah, this is Meeza,” I said, remembering my manners and recovering my composure a little. I knew Nettie was seeing someone but this I hadn’t expected; though I suppose I should have.
“She is as beautiful as I’d heard; no wonder you lost your heart to her,” Nettie laughed, although I thought for the briefest second I saw a little sadness in her face. “You don’t have to be embarrassed by it; it’s all quite understandable.” She took Roger’s hand and smiled at me. “Eric, you and I will always be great friends; but we now know we were meant to love others. Let’s please not let this unexpected turn of events get in the way of our friendship.”
I knew she was right and very glad that she was as happy as I was. I let out a sigh of relief. “It was a bit of a shock when I met Meeza.” I confessed. “How could anybody have anticipated the way things were to go?”
“And if you hadn’t met Meeza, I could never have told Nettie how I felt,” Roger said with a hint of a blush. I tried to see in him the unpleasant boy who had tormented me, but Roger seemed a different man; stronger and more decent. I was sure Nettie’s influence had helped in that transformation. I knew Nettie had helped him when he was grieving his father, and the mistakes he had made, but more than that, I think Roger had finally come out from his father’s shadow. He scratched his head embarrassedly, after making such a confession. “All in all, I’d say things have gone the way nature intended.” He grinned.
I smiled and reached out to shake his hand. I was actually glad to see them together; it proved that the universe and the human heart were both unpredictable, and it eased my guilt.
“It’s good to see you both,” I said sincerely. “I’ve had little time to come to terms with all that’s happened.” I felt a nudge against my back, and was startled when a giant, purple-black cat face pushed itself under my arm to poke out the front toward Roger and Nettie.
Meeza laughed, a bright sound that made me relieved to see she was not entirely overwhelmed by the strangely awkward situation, although I could still see that she was holding back. “This is Sasha,” she introduced.
I added, “Sasha’s a Tersine. There’s a long story there though this isn’t probably the time and place for it; but you undoubtedly heard about her from Capt. Pierce. She’s turned out to be the gentlest creature I’ve ever seen, although I doubt Pat Marshal would agree,” I said with a chuckle.
“What’s he done now?” Roger growled.
I was surprised, but of course we wouldn’t have been Patrick’s first targets. “He confronted us in the street and tried to intimidate us by grabbing Meeza, and Sasha scared him so bad he wet his pants. I mean, literally.”
Roger’s face was dark. “He’s been trying to stir up anti Reeshian sentiments among the populous ever since Ian and Mogi were here.”
Nettie turned to Meeza, “Ian’s your brother, isn’t he?”.
“Yes,” she said. “He’s my older brother.” After a pause she reached and took Nettie’s hand again. Nettie looked startled, but Meeza was addressing her so sincerely that she didn’t pull away. “You must believe that I was so surprised when Ian came back and I met his traveling companion; I didn’t mean to cause trouble for anyone. The way things were after I met Eric, it was all very confusing. And though I am so very happy, you must know I am sorry if I caused you any pain.”
Nettie looked at Meeza carefully, then smiled. “It was a bit of a shock at first, but everything has turned out for the best in the end. I’m so glad to see Eric happy, and am delighted to meet you as well,” Nettie said, as only she could. She could put anyone at ease. “I hope we will be friends.”
I could see the tension go out if Meeza; I was so relieved to see that happen. I really owed Nettie big time. Now we could enjoy our time together without any nagging guilt.
“Well, I’ve got an appointment with the Captain on behalf of Dad,” said Nettie. “We’ll see you both later, I’m sure; still just a small colony you know.” With that she rushed in the door to the office and Roger followed with a wave of his hand.
“Later,”
he said for good bye.
“She still loves you, you know.” Meeza said when they were gone.
“I still love her, too.” I told her. “But it’s not the same as my love for you.” I put my arm around her waist to show her.
“I know; but it’s still a little sad,” she said. “I still wouldn’t have let you go,” she said with an affectionate smile; the kind that she knew I had to feel.
I gave her a squeeze and we headed out for another day of rest. I intended to head for the ship to see how Sasha would take to it, but not until I went to visit my family.
There was a commotion near the village center, the small park in the middle. It was Patrick Marshal and company, and they were having a confrontation with Blurg and a couple of his people, apparently trying to make up for their failure with us. That couldn’t have a good ending. We headed for the scene of the trouble.
By the time we arrived Blurg had drawn his obsidian blade and Patrick’s pathetic life was moments away from a very sudden end; that would cause more trouble than our shaky little colony could handle. I stepped between them.
“What’s the problem now?” I directed mostly at Pat. Can’t you put things to rest for five minutes and let everyone live in peace?”
“I might have known that you’d come to defend these animals from being put in their proper place!” He raged at me. “These beasts have no business being right in the heart of our community. He won’t even yield the right of way to the superior species, and I won’t put up with it in my own village.”
“Blurg and his people are as sentient as you and I, Pat!” I spat at him. “Maybe more than you, in fact. You’re so busy looking for ways to get rid of the alien peoples that you won’t take the time to find that it’s true. You’ve no business judging other races, and the fact that they don’t look like your idea of model citizens is as far as your small mind can grasp. If anyone is showing signs of inferiority; I have to say that it is you.” That comment did far less to defuse the situation than I had intended.
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