From: elf@chinook.halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.sex.stories
Subject: Journal Entry 165/0918  [ Reunion, Part 13 ]
Date: 3 Feb 1995 16:07:59 GMT
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.
Lines: 263
Message-ID: <3gtkcv$2mv@news1.halcyon.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: chinook.halcyon.com

Cerim 20, 0918

	Garth stepped out of the shower and examined himself in the 
mirror.  "I still don't look any different."

	"Do you feel different?" Kiza asked from outside the doorway.  
"I mean, do you think you're supposed to look or feel any different?"

	"Shouldn't I?" Garth asked.  "My skull's been replaced with 
ceramics and nanotech is swimming through my bloodstream.  I'm a 
Pendorian now, not a Samanite.  I feel so... so normal."

	"But you're still you," she said, edging past him to climb into 
the shower.  "Nothing's changed about who you are, Garth."  She 
closed the door and started the water flowing.  From behind the glass 
door she said, "By the way, I called Nickolai and Furry.  They said 
they'd be here to pick us up."

	Garth combed himself down until he was satisfied his fur was at 
least ruly.  Then he walked back to the bedroom he and Kiza had 
shared last night, and the night before.  He felt strange, as if he 
were giving a lie to Kiza's telling her parents she was an Entalie', 
a homosexual.  But stranger things had happened than a lesbian who 
liked men for a little while, he supposed.  He remembered Furry 
telling him that Kiza would want to be rid of him the moment he 
started knowing "too much" about her.  He wondered if two weeks, even 
two intense weeks like they had had together, was time enough for 
that to happen.  Still, he had gotten to know her very well, and his 
Katckin form had become very comfortable next to her Mustelid one.  
He supposed it was possible they were reaching that critical stage 
where they did know "too much" and she began to feel uncomfortable.

	He zipped the bag shut and finished dressing.  As he was pulling 
on the new boots she had acquired for him to go climbing in weeks 
ago, he thought about how much this trip had and had not changed him.  
He wondered if the challenges left for him on Terra still held any 
attraction for him at all.  He hoped so; he felt too young for the 
kind of anomie that takes Terran Lords and Ladies in their final 
years.  He snorted as he thought about that, the pretentiousness with 
which the first-generation Saman Terrans called themselves "Lords and 
Ladies."  Drug addicts and fools were more like it. 

	Kiza walked in naked and he looked up from where he sat on the 
bed and smiled.  "Better dress fast," he said.  "I've got to get 
moving.  And Nickolai would know that, too."

	She stood up in front of him and smiled.  "If the AIs have 
anything to say about it.  I think I'm going to miss you," she said.  

	He reached up and touched her belly softly, stroking downwards 
until his hand passed over her furred mound.  "I'll miss you too."

	"You mean it?"

	"I mean it."  He stood up slowly and pulled her close.  "Now 
come on, let's go."

	She nodded.  A sound from outside distracted both of them, 
followed by a loud honk.  "Come on!" Nickolai's voice rose from 
downstairs.  "We've got less than an hour until the gangs are 
pulled!"

	"See?" Garth said.

	Kiza let him go and dressed quickly, tossing on a dress and a 
comfortable pair of slippers.  They both ran down the stairs where 
Nickolai and Furry waited for them.  "I got us a vehicle so you 
didn't have to muck about with the horses," Furry said.  "It's not 
very quiet, but it's fast.  Skii's driving."

	"Great," Garth said.  With a fatalistic air he said, "Let's go 
meet our doom."

	"He got us here in one piece," Nickolai pointed out.

	"That's half the battle."  Garth grinned.  "Come on."  They 
tossed his bags into the rearmost compartment.  The six-fan 
hovercraft had six seats as well, in three rows of two.  Garth and 
Kiza took the rearmost, Furry sat in the center and Nickolai and Skii 
sat up front.  Garth found it odd that his roommate had changed so 
much since their arrival here on Pendor.  He seemed one of them.  He 
felt different to Garth; interacting with Nickolai felt similar, but 
not the same.  And somewhat he felt as if he were talking to Ken 
Shardik or Skii or some other Pendorian male.

	He sighed.  "Kiza, I didn't get to say goodbye to your family."

	"I'll tell them you thought of them."  She kissed his cheek 
warmly,  her fur brushing up against his whiskers.

	Skii looked busy for a moment, and the craft took off, flying 
over the open fields of grain.  The rows rippled by underneath them, 
the roar of air and the buzz of rotors loud in Garth's ears.  Every 
once in a while a >crack< would echo through the hovercraft, and once 
Skii said "Wow, they grow grasshoppers big out here."

	He seemed to dive for the SDisk.  The ground loomed close as the 
hovercraft banked suddenly, laying it's bottom flat to the surface of 
the SDisk and vanishing.  Garth's stomach threatened revolution as 
the hovercraft's momentum seemed to reverse, heading up instead of 
down, and he realized with chagrin that he was gripping the armrest 
so hard his claws were extending and the tips were growing cold.  
"Whahoo!" Skii shouted from the front as he righted the hovercraft 
again.

	Garth finally looked out the window.  They were flying over 
water, and up ahead of them Shardik Castle grew larger and closer.  
Skii flew the hovercraft over the mountain range and confidently slid 
into the Castle's parking garage.  "Wow," he said.

	"Wow is right," Nickolai agreed.  "Are you sure you had a backup 
every second?"

	"Every second," Skii replied.  "And I never felt it kick in 
once.  See, I told you!  I'm the greatest pilot on the planet."

	"I think your father would disagree."  Ken's voice echoed 
through the vehicle hanger bay.  "You're driving is impressive, Skii, 
but you're to reserve it for displays and self-satisfaction.  I've 
warned you about driving crazy, Dave or not."

	"Ken..."

	"Don't get started with me, Skii.  I'm not in the mood for it."  
He looked over at Garth.  "So, my friend, you're leaving."

	"Yeah," Garth said, looking down at his watch.  "In about forty 
minutes."

	"Terran," Ken added.  "Okay, well.  I hope you have a long and 
happy life, Garth.  Take care of yourself.  It's a different world 
from the one you left."

	Garth looked up at Ken.  "That's really it, isn't it?  I don't 
feel different; it's the universe that's changed."

	"That's part of it.  The political reality is different too, you 
know.  Whether people start flocking to the Hall or not is up to 
them."  He turned and began walking out.  "Coming?"

	As they began following him to the SDisk, he noticed Furry 
limping.   "What happened to you?"

	"I broke my ankle yesterday," she said.  "It's already healing, 
and the support for it is more than enough.  It just hurts a little."

	"I hope you're okay."

	"Oh, sure," she said.  "I'll be up an about in less than a 
week."

	They SDisked to Parma station.  Ken led them out into a large 
thoroughfare off of which several starship loading terminals jutted 
away from the station and into space.  "It's not much of a send-off, 
I'm afraid."  Only about a dozen humans, most of them ambassadorial 
staff from the Terran embassy if Garth read their badges correctly, 
stood there.  "They've been shifting military and civilian personnel 
back and forth," he said.  "So you're going with a civilian support 
group for their military staffing.  I know some of them.  Gerry!"

	"Vatare' Shardik?" a voice echoed from the other end of the 
empty bay.

	As the party drew closer, Ken waved.  "It's me.  How're you 
today?"

	"Annoyed," the human admitted.  Wearing a grey cloak that fell 
from his shoulders nearly to the floor, his face reflected the 
emotion he described.  "It's back and forth, back and forth.  What 
can I do for you?"

	"Will you be back?"

	"When the situation stablizes, I sure hope so."  He looked 
around.  "I like it here."

	"I won't ask the obvious question."

	"I won't answer it anyway."

	"I didn't think so.  Gerald Stalling, this is Garth El Baum.  
He's a tourist who seems to have lost his way home."  Ken pointed at 
Garth, motioning him to come forward.  "Garth, this is Gerald 
Stalling, an acquaintance of mine."

	"Garth," Stalling said, reaching down with one hand from within 
his cloak.

	"Sir."

	"Gerry will do," Stalling said, smiling.  "What's the scoop?"

	"No scoop, Gerry," Ken said softly.  "He's going home with 
y'all, and he's going home to stay.  He's a Terran, and he likes it 
that way."

	"This isn't a mission critical transfer, is it?"

	"You could say that," Ken said with a grin.  

	"Should I ask about him?" Gerry said, indicating Nickolai.

	"He can introduce himself, if he likes.  Nickolai?"

	Nickolai walked up and held out his hand.  He smiled; he was 
almost exactly the same height as Stalling.  "How do you do?  P. H. 
Nickolai Dittrich."

	"I... see."  Gerry smiled.  A chime sounded overhead, followed 
by a voice.  "The Lamp is now ready for boarding.  Destination, 
Terra.  Please embark now."

	"Well," Gerry said.  "See you in a few, Ken."

	"Say hello to the rest of the crew when you see them, huh?"  
Gerry nodded.  Ken looked over at Garth and hold out his hand.  "Take 
care of yourself, Garth."

	"I will.  Before I go, though..."  He turned and walked over to 
Kiza, giving her a hug.  Then Skii, and then Nickolai.  "Take care of 
yourself, big guy."

	"I will, Garth.  You take care of yourself as well."

	"I'll do my damndest," Garth replied.  "I've always succeeded in 
the end, haven't I?"

	"Somehow," Nickolai said.

	"Hey!" Furry said, pouting slightly.  "Don't I get a hug too?"

	Garth smiled and gave her a friendly hug.  "You take care of my 
roommate.  He's your responsibility now.  Make sure he picks his 
underwear up off the floor."

	"I will," Furry smiled. 

	"Bye, all!" Garth said.  He grabbed his bags and ran for the 
airlock.  

	"Bye, Garth!" he heard Nickolai shout.  As the doors closed 
behind him, locking out his best friend, Garth reflected that now he 
felt different.  He dropped his bags in the room an orderly directed 
him towards, then found his way to an observation port.  On his way, 
he felt the soft jerk that indicated the ship had freed its mooring.  
Out the window, he saw the great bulk of Parma station and the Ring 
of Pendor falling away behind them.

	Somehow, he knew that now Nickolai felt different, too.
 
--
"Reunion, Part 13"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al. 
are copyright (c) 1989-1994 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.  Distribute freely 
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elf@halcyon.com          Another victim of involuntary performance art. 
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