Lirya found herself realizing she had undersold just how awkward this short trip was going to be.

  When she and Mohki had boarded the luxury skip-liner, Tyllia’s mother, Icirit, had stuck them both within a small waiting room by the loading dock. This small room was normally used by officials of the trading vessels to sign paperwork, adorned with a simple round table, a few couches, and a small water cooler.

  Despite Icirit’s best attempts, Tyllia found a comforting solace in waiting with both Lirya and Mohki, the three sitting back on the couches that were still luxurious compared to most other ships. Crafted from false leather that had a light squeak to it when sat upon, Lirya happily wagged her tail from in between Mohki and Tyllia, the three playing a quick sparring match with their R.I.S. trading cards.

  Icirit refused to just be in the same room as Lirya, though Tyllia’s father, Kohan, quickly found them after realizing they weren’t in the normal hosting area.

  “What are you three doing down here?” Kohan asked, the door sliding all the way open with a soft hiss of hydraulics. “The crew made you all snacks and had no idea where to find you!”

  Tyllia shrugged, playing Maestra Dawn, the Pict Maiden to counter Lirya’s Owen Lewin, the Bostaff Brutalizer. “Mom stuck them down here, probably so Lirya wouldn’t get white fur on her ogenstaffew carpet.”

  “Your mother…” Kohan said with a sigh, though he typed rapidly on a wall-panel to alert his staff where the girls were. “She is a lovely woman when we are by ourselves, but she is a staunch believer in the social circles of our kind.”

  Mohki glowered down at the cards and their positions, realizing that her current hand was going to get murdered. “The term ‘venomous’ comes to mind, Mr. Rhidi.”

  Kohan chuckled, then settled down in a seat across from the three female Kafya. “Yes, well, as you well know we anili aren’t privy to choosing our mates. As the Humans say, we make hay when the sun shines.”

  “I had a few husbands lined up for me back home.” Mohki said as she was forced to play Star Teeth, the Lilly, knowing that the child was not going to last more than a single round. “I didn’t really like any of them, half of them had fake piercings and one always winced when he looked at me.”

  Lirya perked up her ears, sorting her cards in her hand as she prepared to play Well Preserved Snoballs, Snack of Mystery. “Why would he wince when he looked at you? That doesn’t seem very nice.”

  “Who knows.” Mohki grumbled, watching as Tyllia rolled a D10 and swiftly eradicated the health points of the card she played. “Apparently I don’t ‘smile pretty’, and another always got pissy when I wouldn’t simper at him. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know why I wear these anymore, looks like I came off the cover of a cringe metal album.”

  Mohki set her cards face down onto her lap and twisted off her studded bracelets, tossing them down onto the table top. She rubbed at her wrists with a grimace, then picked her cards back up.

  Kohan laughed politely. “Not being covered in spikes and studs doesn’t fit very well into the doteful aspects of a wahdah wife, I take it? From what I understand it’s why a lot of brown furs are joining the Human military, freedom to express themselves how they wish.”

  “Large number of them, yeah.” Mohki agreed, pulling a card from her deck and rolling her eyes. “I enjoy working on my own terms, why the warehouse fits me well enough. The sounds of cargo moving around and the hum of cranes is soothing, and my ears help me hear whatever is called out above the noise, keeps people safer.”

  Tyllia grinned to herself, the rainbow shimmer of her fresh card dazzling in her eyes. “Are you sure it’s not due to all the Human men who want to pet your fur?”

  “That doesn’t hurt either.” Mohki said with a rather different grin, one that made Lirya and Kohan chuckle while Tyllia snorted. “Though to be fair I mostly keep to myself and try to keep my head out of drama, makes for a happier life.”

  “I fear for your sister in that regard, Tyllia.” Kohan mused as staff quickly stepped in, setting down trays of dessert cubes and concentrated meal bars. When Kohan saw this, his brows furrowed inward. “What is this?”

  A female, yellow furred Kafya bowed her head, the annoyance fresh and clear on her face as she spoke to him in Kafya-Hi. “I am sorry, Master Kohan, but your wife-”

  “For fuck’s sakes.” Kohan growled. “We have proper food on board! We have had a full store ever since we left the last Human station around Korvas!”

  “She is blockading the kitchens, Master Kohan.” She responded, still half bent at the waist. “She insists this is all… she needs.”

  Lirya’s face fell as she realized they were talking about her, and she let her eyes droop to her cards, her tail ceasing to wag.

  An odd look came over Kohan’s face, and his eye twitched as he looked back towards his staff. “Go and fetch the pre-packaged snacks then, and make it quick so Icirit doesn’t catch on.”

  “I believe pop-tarts are popular, Master Kohan, I’ll fetch some of those as well.” She said, then snapped a pawed pair of fingers to set the other staff in motion.

  Mohki set down her next card, Gloria Stills, the Blade Maiden of Minnesota, then clicked her teeth. “We still know Kafya-Hi, Mr. Rhidi.”

  Kohan laughed, the cheer washing back over his face with practiced ease. “Oh I had no doubt, but this staff doesn’t know much English. The bridge and station staff know a fair amount though, and I make them take their lessons three times a week.”

  Lirya picked up one of the dessert cubes and gave it a little squish, a faint smile cracking her lips. “I haven’t seen one of these in a long, long time. I remember having to beg and collect scrap to even get a single one of these, while caracara sometimes got away with a larger parcel if she hid her face while ordering.”

  “I almost want to eat one just to remember how bad they are.” Mohki muttered, drawing a new card with a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck, something better than an A-rank.”

  Tyllia reached over with a free hand and took a cube as well, giving it a soft squeeze between her fingers. “How about we all eat one at once? Solidarity and all that?”

  “I find the same distaste in them as you do, really.” Kohan said, picking up his own cube. “Ever since I found that one delicatessen on Station Hasslehoff, my taste has dulled to these as well. Have any of you also been to the baskin robins?”

  Tyllia snorted into a giggle, while Lirya and Mohki both leaned their heads towards her.

  “I think they know her by name now.” Lirya said kindly, poking the yellow fur on the shoulder. “She’s spent more money there than most people do on dinner for a week.”

  “I like the banana splits, sue me.” Tyllia laughed out, playing her super rare: Machete Madison, the Whirling Bladesong.

  Kohan leaned forward, pinching Tyllia’s cheeks. “Just as I thought! You always did have more of a sugar-fang than your sister.”

  “She likes that savory stuff.” Tyllia agreed, though she shook her cheeks free of her father’s hands. “She always used to give me her dessert cubes, made mother furious.”

  Kohan sighed at the mention of his wife. “Yes, well, she always liked you two nice and thin for your outfits. You should hear her rail on and on about how many fashion shows you’ve been missing.”

  “A pity.” Tyllia snarked, watching Mohki furrow her brows and Lirya narrow her eyes at her Machete Madison card. “I did so much enjoy the standing around and catty conversations from a bunch of bitches.”

  Kohan laughed good naturedly, though Mohki and Lirya were talking from the corner of their mouths, behind the fans of their cards. “I see you have been studying English just as hard as I have been. It is such a curious language! Did you know the word ‘fuck’ can be used as both a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, and as an interjection?”

  “It is quite fucking versatile, Mr. Rhidi.” Mohki said under her breath, forced to play a card after Lirya placed a buffer card to keep her own safe.

  Lirya nodded, hoping her Undignified Assault card would be enough to keep Tyllia from taking too much off her health points. “A lot of Human words have their odd rules, while some have so many meanings purely by inflection.”

  The staff returned quickly, their arms loaded with enough junk food to satiate a party made up of first year college students. With bowls quickly filled and staff departed, Lirya, Mohki, Tyllia, and her father Kohan began to pick and chew at finger foods.

  As with many things that came with Humanity’s arrival to the stars, their food was always close behind; Chips were considered a coalition-wide delicacy, and the flavors were hotly debated.

  Sour cream and onion were championed amongst the Pwah, while the Lilgara were under the strong belief that barbeque reigned supreme above all. The Kojynn held the firm opinion that all flavors were trifling when compared to the original, salted flavor of potato crisps, while the Skalathir consumed enough salt and vinegar potato chips that Goldilocks had its own massive amount of fields to keep up demand.

  The Drafritti refused to participate in the forums and data-stream wide pissing contests, more to the fact they preferred popcorn over chips.

  The Kafya on the other hand, had their own particular favorite flavor and chose no others…

  “Cheddar and sour cream.” Kohan said with a grin as he held up a perfectly round potato chip, admiring it in the light. “I got a good portion of these for the crew as well, to keep up morale. I never knew such a flavor could exist until I first had a small snack-size portion of these at a party, smuggled in by a Pwah tailor.”

  Lirya happily chewed on her own chip, letting the husky flavor of cheddar cheese powder and the tang of sour cream flavoring lightly pinch at her cheeks. She swallowed, then reached out for another as she spoke. “You should see the station! First Horizon has so many vending machines loaded with chips, that it nearly started a turf war! Whole floors only have one kind of flavor, all to avoid causing a tussle and argument over what flavor is best.”

  “The Drafritti just eat popcorn.” Mohki chuckled, tossing a pair of chips into her mouth and chewing loudly. “They say chips are too loud.”

  Kohan nodded, trying to find another of the larger, more ‘perfect’ chips. “Drafritti have very sensitive ear drums, I can only imagine how loud a chip may sound in their mouth compared to popped corn kernels."

  “So, dad.” Tyllia asked, enjoying the struggle of Lirya and Mohki against her card. “What exactly is the plan here? I doubt mom came all the way here for a social visit.”

  Kohan’s eyes took a light strain at the corners, picking out the chip he was searching for from the bowl. “Well… I wanted it to be, and as a matter of fact I was hoping to be here last month, but your mother was rather angry that your sister had yet to come home, and news of her stay down on Earth… it may have spurned your mother on to come here herself.”

  “What do you mean?” Tyllia asked, cocking her brow as Lirya and Mohki’s tails were wagging with a new, fresh draw of their decks.

  “Were you aware your sister took up cause with the Humans?” Kohan asked her, placing the chip into his mouth with a single crunch of the jaws.

  Tyllia suddenly felt rather hot under her fur, and avoided his eyes as Lirya and Mohki played their cards; The Sacrosanct Flail and Gypsy Daisy.

  “Er…” Tyllia murmured, then her nerves went to shit as Lirya did over forty damage to her card. “What the hell?!”

  Lirya let out a victorious giggle. “The Sacrosanct Flail gains thirty more attack power when a Wretched Record type is on the field!”

  “And Gypsy Daisy gains twenty true damage when facing a Checkered Past type.” Mohki said with a happy growl to her voice, tapping just above Tyllia’s card. “Pow pow, you’re dead.”

  Tyllia narrowed her eyes at the two of them, then moved the card to her other dead cards that sat in the Forgiven pile.

  Kohan, lost as to what was going on, leaned forward an inch at the waist. “Well, if you don’t know, your sister has gone… well… rogue with a lot of other Kafya. They were issued summons to return back to the home worlds and they were not only ignored, they were rebuked by the UAA government, stating that she and the others were ‘theirs’. It seems your sister has been deemed Kuwai.”

  Lirya and Mohki looked up at the same time Tyllia did, the three of them blinking at Kohan.

  “They marked her as uncolored?” Mohki asked, though she didn’t look as surprised. “That’s mostly an issue for people on their radar, but what makes your sister so important?”

  Tyllia looked as lost as they did, turning to Mohki. “She was a special forces soldier during the war, but they held her back a lot, she was always raging about it. It’s not like she won a bunch of medals or anything.”

  “It’s because she has claimed the mantle of Kholihl, of all the female Kafya in the Human UAA Army.” Kohan said, though there was an odd tinge of pride to his voice. “She earned a special suit of armor, and distinguished herself in combat on a planet! But, they are labelling her as a rogue since she is not following orders from the Elder Councils anymore.”

  Tyllia wasn’t sure how to really take it, but it did explain one thing in particular.

  “That’s why mama is here.” Tyllia said under her voice, then looked up to her father. “She sees it as a stain.

  Kohan let out a weary sigh, leaning back in his seat. “To break it down to simple terms, yes, your mother is taking it personally. She has been getting stares during events, and some of her more important friends aren’t talking to her anymore.”

  “Which is making her feel like she has lost standing.” Tyllia said, leaning back in her seat as well and tossing her cards down onto the table. “If she loses standing, the family loses standing.”

  Kohan smiled. “Well, she believes it does. No matter what happens to us, we’ll have money, thanks to my creations and the iron-clad contracts that make sure the credits flow into my accounts. Your mother cares about her social credit more than she does the ones that pay for our lifestyle.”

  “The Elder Councils can still seize your accounts, though.” Lirya said, setting down her own cards. “That goes for any Kuwai or the accounts of their families. My parents lived under constant fear of it just because they kept me alive, and raised me. The only reason we were remotely safe was thanks to us being on a fringe planet.”

  Kohan nodded, a chip pinched in his fingers and held near his mouth. “Oh yes, very much true. Unless… other accounts were suddenly created in more benefiting pastures, thanks to a private contract.”

  As Kohan tossed the chip into his mouth with a sly smile, Tyllia tilted her head to the side an inch, confused.

  “But, you have to have all your money made from the Kafya military in Kafyan accounts, you told me as much.” Tyllia said, remembering her father grumbling about the contracts even from a young age. “They tax you at a higher rate and want that money for themselves.”

  Kohan nodded, swallowing the chewed chip before flicking his fingers. “Also true, but that is why I made a few projects for the Humans under the table.”

  There was a silence in the room that made the carpet sound loud under the scrunching of nervous toes.

  “But, but dad!” Tyllia hissed out, lurching forward and placing her hands on the table, leaning towards her father. “That’s illegal! That’s grounds for being a Kuwai yourself!”

  Kohan shrugged with a still smugly smiling face. “My eldest daughter is wearing their armor, that is all that matters to me. I saw the designs and made a few… educated improvements to their agility, which means my eldest daughter is less likely to fall into a parking garage again…”

  “She fell into a parking garage?” Lirya asked, though Tyllia flailed a hand at her in a shushing motion.

  “But what about all your money?!” Tyllia gasped out. “The ships you own? The buildings? The factories!”

  Kohan steepled his hands, resting his elbows on the arms of his seat. “Oh I’ll lose them all, and they will seize the accounts along with my stocks, but that means very little to me compared to the lives of my children. Do you honestly think I sent you here to study fashion?”

  Tyllia froze, while Lirya and Mohki leaned in a little further as the story evolved right in front of her eyes.

  “It made a good cover, I dare say.” Kohan said, tapping the tips of his padded fingers together in a rolling wave. “Your mother certainly bought it, which made things easier. Do you think the Elder Councils would have allowed one of my daughters to go astray, and then not meddle in the affairs of the other?”

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Tyllia, still in a mild state of shock, shook her head back and forth, mouth slightly parted. “But… but how… you couldn’t have-”

  “Couldn’t have guessed what your sister was up to? Please.” Kohan replied with a kind chuckle. “I was the one who raised her and had to always be the one to secretly dust off her muddy paws when she was playing outside, or hide the ruined clothing so your mother wouldn’t find out. Who do you think had the pull to get her into a special forces unit? You think she got in there herself, as a yellow fur?”

  Silence answered him, and Tyllia slowly slid backwards until she was once again sitting on the couch.

  “As soon as I saw Namaria’s face when she got back from the war, I knew that she was going to make a run for it the first chance she got.” Kohan said wistfully. “She never liked the galas or the grand displays, and she wanted into a combat unit for a reason. I studied the Humans during the war, consuming their culture like fine wine, and I knew that once she got into their hands… she was never going to come back.”

  Tyllia sat there, dumfounded, her voice a silent quaver. “So… so, why are you here?”

  “For one,” Kohan began, leaning forward to grab a packet of strawberry pop-tarts, “I am meeting with a few more business contacts in the UAA Army, who will be meeting me down at Fort Benning.”

  Lirya glanced towards Tyllia. “Is your wife going with you to the meetings?”

  “Nope.” Kohan quipped, popping a piece of the breakfast confection into his mouth with a light wag of the tail. “She’ll be on her own, or with Tyllia, of course.”

  “Why?!” Tyllia cried out, grabbing the sides of her head with clawed hands. “She’ll go right for Namaria!”

  Kohan gave her a sly look, rubbing the tips of his fingers together to clear them of crumbs. “Oh, I know.”

  “That seems… ill advised, Mr. Rhidi.” Mohki said. “She is going to cause a huge scene down there.”

  “That is my hope.” Kohan said with a grin. “And, Tyllia, you are not to stop her.”

  Tyllia pulled at her cheek fur, distress plain across her face and eyes. “Why?!”

  “Because I need your mother to do what she does best.” Kohan said, though there was an edge to his voice. “To make sure what I want to happen, happens. My children are far safer here on Earth, and so my Icirit will be as well.”

  Lirya, seeing her moment, raised her pawed hand, and spoke only after Kohan nodded to her. “Mr. Rhidi… how rich are you?”

  Kohan barked out a laugh, tossing another piece of pop-tart into his mouth and chewing before speaking. “Well, when I left Kafya Mintulcurr, my personal accounts were floating at around… ten point seven billion credits. Total assets were in excess of eight hundred billion, if you include my ships.”

  Mohki’s jaw slowly fell ajar as the number impacted her in the center of her brain’s processing centers, while Lirya was so poor that she couldn’t fathom the number.

  “You… you gave up that much money for your daughters?” Lirya asked, slowly becoming more and more starstruck by this odd, kind yellow fur.

  Kohan spoke without missing a beat. “Well of course, what use is money when compared to miracles made of flesh and blood shared with mine?”

  “You gave up hundreds of billions just to come here and make improvements to your daughter’s suit of armor?!” Mohki nearly yelled, realizing that she was sitting in front of a man who could likely purchase her entire clan.

  “Not just her suit.” Kohan replied, cracking open a can of cola. “I improved the entire line of Onslaught Battle Plate and some of the other armor pieces for their forces. For a tidy little fee, might I add. Turns out the Drafritti may be good with batteries, but I am still the best in the stars in terms of microactuators and zero-point motors.”

  Tyllia’s eyes were wide as she stared at her father, the final domino clattering to the ground within her mind. “Father… papa, you committed treason!”

  “Seems to run in the family, I suppose.” Kohan said with a shrug of shoulders, then took a sip of his cola while waggling his eyebrows at his daughter.

  —

  Rhidi wiped the mud from her face with a breathless laugh, flicking her fingers as she got up from the ground and tossed the football to one of the troopers from 1st Platoon.

  It had rained earlier in the day, and since they were all off on a Sunday, the Humans had decided that the Kafya should learn how to play “the greatest sport ever invented”.

  They had been learning how to pilot their new suits of armor, that while the same on the outside, had a whole mess of new motors and actuators in the internal constructions. The finer movements, along with the improved IB suits, made the suits nearly feel like a bulkier, chunkier second skin. Rhidi and the other Droppers had been fencing with branches for the hell of it, which turned out to be an excellent exercise in control.

  Due to feedback from their latest drop, they had also been issued new gleen-seaxes, far longer than the previous versions and with improved batteries.

  Rhidi didn’t mind them, and they oddly felt right with their longer length, like a proper sword.

  They had been at the game for nearly half an hour now, and Rhidi was getting rather good at reading where the “quarterback” was going to throw the ball. There was still an issue of the Lilgara using their tails to trip people, but a ruling on whether or not it was a foul was still undecided.

  Rhidi found herself mostly playing defense, as the thrill of the chase was only second to how satisfying it was to tackle someone into the mud.

  It wasn’t as fun when she got planted into the mud like a daisey, but that came with the territory of the sport.

  She waited for the sounds of the quarterback, her ears twitching and turning with the Lilgara’s calls, and then the ball was snapped into her hands by a brawny Dropper from 3rd Platoon.

  She reared her arm back with a hiss, and threw it right to Private Amross, a fair skinned male Human with the most awful blonde mustache Rhidi had ever had to bear witness to.

  “Outta the way, furball!” Private Amross bellowed, tucking the football into the crook of his arm as he leveled his shoulders at her.

  Rhidi growled and postured as well, running towards him with a grin. “You’re mine, mustache!”

  Rhidi ducked her shoulders as low as she could and caught Private Amross right in the hips, and to her pleased surprise the Human stopped in his steps.

  That feeling of pleased surprise evaporated as she felt the Human grip her by the back of her belt, and Rhidi felt her feet leave the ground.

  “Hey!” Rhidi howled as she was slapped over one of Amross’s muddy shoulders, the Human carting her along as he plowed down the field. “That’s a foul! Ref! Reeefff! This is a foul, I’m being fouled!”

  The ref, a plank of wood painted in black and white stripes and sporting a goofy smile, appeared neglectful in his duties, and the foul went unpunished.

  “I’m coming, Kholihl!” Quinnit screeched, her yellow fur just as muddy as Rhidi’s, and she side tackled Amross with all the weight and might she could muster.

  To the sudden panic of everyone, her head made contact with the football, and it popped out of Amross’s arms like it was scalded with a hot iron.

  “Ball!” Alias shouted, pushing muddy hair from his eyes as he pointed. “Get the ball! Rhidi get the fucking ball!”

  “Ball!” Rhidi yelled, then scrambled off of Amross’s shoulders like a skittering cat.

  Private Amross let out a spitting curse as Rhidi’s muddy boot caught him across the lips, and she splacked into the mud like a lizard falling from a branch.

  “Baaalll!” Quinnit screamed as she went flying through the air, tossed by Amross, and she hit the wet mud with a laughing roll.

  Bodies were running towards the tumbling football as Rhidi wrapped up the leathery, muddy thing in her hands.

  Her obvious securing of the ball didn’t stop everyone from flopping on top of her and trying to get the ball themselves, however.

  Saffi and Anfilid were the first to slide into her head first, cackling as they sprayed Rhidi with muddy water while trying to wrestle her for the football, but Rhidi was having none of it.

  “I have the ball! Mine!” Rhidi giggled out as she wiggled and shrimped away from the two female Kafya.

  Soon every female Kafya in the Platoon was laughing and giggling as they climbed onto Rhidi, all trying to get the football from her clenching arms.

  After a few seconds, Shasta came running in with the wooden ref, blowing his lips in a raspberry-ish rendition of a whistle.

  “Ref sssays Rhidi has the ball! Glitterpickles have posssession!” Shasta called out, doing another sputtering whistle and waving the ref back and forth.

  When the opposing team’s Kafya refused to move, he started lightly thwacking them on the back of the head with the ref, still blowing his best raspberry whistle.

  Rhidi popped up from the ground once they were all dispersed, nearly as brown as Anfilid with bright teeth as she cheered.

  “Yeah! Let’s go glitterpickles!” Rhidi screamed, her team cheering from where they had fallen, slipped, or stood trying to get their breath. “We shall route the femboy hooters from the field!”

  Though, there was one voice calling out above the rest, a voice so shrill, full of rage, and familiar, that it sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Namaria Eprical Rhidi!”

  Rhidi slowly turned, football in hand, and saw her mother, Icirit Rhidi, standing twenty yards away at the side of the muddy area where they were playing.

  Rhidi had not seen her mother in so long, that she stood there, dumbfounded, taking in the sight; She was wearing some kind of odd, olive drab dress, stylish boots that smacked of an ancient paratrooper design… but she had bags over them to keep the mud away.

  Behind her was a small staff of five yellow Kafya, all of whom were staring at Rhidi with wide eyes.

  “What are you, what in the?!” Icirit screeched, only recognizing Rhidi from her eyes and her voice.

  The lithe, sultry daughter that had gone off to war had changed… and in her opinion, not for the better

  “Your hair!” Icirit howled, her fists balled by her cheeks. “Your body! What in the fuck have you done to yourself?! Your figure! Your legs!”

  Saffi leaned in towards Quinnit, raising a muddy finger. “They always learn ‘fuck’ so easily, don’t you think?”

  “It is the everything word that fits every emotion.” Quinnit said nodding, then pointed her own muddy finger at Icirit. “I know her, that’s Icirit Rhidi, she’s a fashion icon.”

  “Explains the dress.” Anfilid murmured, then clapped her fingers together. “Oh, I love those boots!”

  “What are you doing?!” Icirit screeched, then pointed in front of her. “Namaria, come here, now!”

  Rhidi, having not heard her first name in a rather long time, shook her head and placed the football on her hip, cocking out her elbow with a bit of sass. “Hello, mom. How’s it going?”

  “Come here!” Icirit commanded, imperious despite the plastic booties adorning her shoes.

  “No.” Rhidi said pointedly, knowing that she couldn’t lose face or kowtow in front of the other female Kafya. “I’m quite happy in the mud, thanks.”

  “The mud!” Icirit hissed icily, her teeth bared. “When have I ever raised you to be in the mud? To look like… look like…”

  “An ogre, madam.” A staff member behind her said, nodding his head and helping Icirit find the words. “I believe it would fit here.”

  “An ogre!” Icirit roared indignantly. “Like an ogre! What have you done to yourself?! Look at your frame! Look at your arms! How are you going to fit into the dresses when you look like a male!”

  Anfilid hissed. “Ew, low blow.”

  “We don’t look like males.” Saffi said, affronted. “What’s wrong with how we look? My butt has never looked this good in my life…”

  “Get over here!” Icirit wailed, flailing her fists from her sides. “Get over here this instant!”

  “No.” Rhidi replied cooly, now spinning the ball in her palm.

  “Now!”

  “No thank you.”

  “Get over here!”

  “N’yope!”

  “Namaria!”

  “It’s Rhidi!” Rhidi barked, bringing her filthy boot back and kicking a thick wad of mud at her mother.

  The world seemed to pause as the large clod of mud sailed in a long arc through the air, and those who watched on would remark on Rhidi’s ballistic expertise with the same reverence as sharpshooters.

  Trailing water droplets and flecks of grass, the mud appeared to be well kicked and well aimed, arriving on target with a laudable amount of force.

  The wet mud slapped onto Icirit’s face with an audible clap, and the staff standing behind her all took a step backwards, their eyes wide and lips drawn back into a grimace.

  There was an odd calm over the scene, Icirit’s own ears perked and eyes wide in surprise, but the growing, keening noise from her throat developed into an outraged screech.

  “My hair!” Icirit screamed, then came sprinting across the ground towards her daughter, who blinked as she tossed the football down into the mud with a wet splat.

  Rhidi had been through the training of the Humans, combat, and had to deal with all the other minefields that came with being Kholihl of every female Kafya on the base.

  She was certainly not going to turn hide and run from her mother, of all people.

  As Icirit collided with Rhidi, it became quite clear that a Kafya honed by Human training and fed food grown on Earth was a stark contrast to that of a normal Kafya. Despite Icirit putting all her anger and rage into her charge, Rhidi only stumbled back two steps, the two coming eye to eye with an equal wrinkle to their noses.

  Rhidi remembered all the small slaps her mother had given her as a child, the punishments for getting dirty, the constant snide remarks and putdowns as she was trying to put on the outfits her mother had for her. The boring trips to galas, the fashion shows….

  Then her mother gripped her by an ear, her long, painted fingernails digging deep into Rhidi’s flesh, and a memory sparkled to life in Rhidi’s mind. She wasn’t sure if it was only the pain in her bent ear, or the smell of the mud, but it came back to her like a movie that played in her mind with the speed of a single heartbeat.

  She had been little, maybe ten years old, and had managed to build a small mud castle with her pawed hands and a small cooking pot she had found in the kitchens. She had seen a small recording of young Pwah boys playing in the same fashion, and since her sister was still too young, she decided to try it out herself.

  The smell of the mud made wet with fresh rain had been exhilarating, as she was never able to get dirty and always had to be perfectly yellow in color. She managed to make three, short towers, adorning each with a small leaf-flag before her mother caught her. She had dragged Rhidi up through the house by her ear, fingernails digging in all the way… even when she had lost her footing.

  Rhidi snarled, her eyes flashing bright ivory as she reached down, ignoring the pain in her ear, and grabbed her mother by her pawed feet.

  Surprise was the first emotion that snapped across Icirit’s face, then her eyes filled with fear as she felt the immense strength of Rhidi’s grip. Her face twisted into terror when Rhidi ripped her off of her feet and spun, twisting in the air and wielding her like a mace.

  Rhidi, muscles bulging and face a mask of well-aged rage, whipped Icirit around once, whirled her upwards, then pulled her downwards, planting her into the mud with the same clap of landing in water flatly.

  Her mother lay face down in the mud like a bug caught on a windshield, arms splayed with legs bent at the knee, bootie covered shoes perked in the air.

  Icirit let out a ragged cough, the air having been forced out of her lungs as the wind was knocked from them, though the only evidence of the cough was a few muddy bubbles that gurgled near her face.

  With contempt crawling across her lips in a smile, Rhidi reached down and grabbed her mother by the back of her olive drab dress. Pulling her upwards, which was quite easy with how lithe her mother kept herself, Rhidi leaned down towards Icirit’s mud spattered face, her own just as muddy thanks to the football game.

  “Mud looks good on you, mother.” Rhidi hissed, then let go as her mother went to say something snarky.

  Icirit’s words were caught off by another, messy splat into the mud.

  The victory was cut short by the sudden blowing of whistles, and Rhidi looked over her shoulder to see the Military Police quickly running in from cars that had arrived rather promptly.

  “Hey!” Alias called out, having clearly been enjoying the show. “Who the fuck called the MP’s?!”

  —

  “The MP’s have arrived, dun dah nah daaah!!” Whirler called out, happily clapping her digital hands together. “My, they got there rather quickly!”

  Sparkle Otter rolled her eyes. “Well of course they did, who do you think had those patrols in the area?”

  Miss La chuffed out a laugh as she watched both the video feed and the two AI on the screen. “The definition from this security camera is quite good.”

  “You could even see her eyes bulge when they put the cuffs on her!” Whirler cried out with a gleeful giggle, slowly spinning on the spot.

  “Yes, she seemed rather confused when the MP’s pulled her out of the mud and arrested her.” Miss La mused. “Sparkle Otter, can you zoom in on Rhidi?”

  “Sure thing.” Sparkle Otter replied, manipulating the camera until it focused on Rhidi standing with her hands on her muddy hips, talking to the gray Drafritti MP in front of her. “She seems more annoyed than angry.”

  Miss La shrugged. “I had an inkling that she would not exactly be happy to see her mother, and it seems I was correct. Did Kohan make it to the hangars ok?”

  “After the ship was received, they were assigned hangar fourteen.” Sparkle Otter said, pulling up an additional feed of the Kafyan ship. “He still has Lirya with him, which is something we didn’t expect.”

  “It is not unwelcomed, either.” Miss La said, tapping her chin. “I was a bit surprised when they had put in for time away, but I approved it in the hopes that Lirya may be able to meet Rhidi.”

  Whirler, still spinning, held up a finger. “Why do we keep calling Namaria ‘Rhidi’ again? That’s her last name, not her first name!”

  “Because that’s how it works in the UAA Army, Whirler.” Sparkle Otter said in an annoyed tone, ducking to avoid a digital foot as Whirler hit one of her favorite breakdance moves. “That and she prefers a name attached to her father than the one her mother gave her.”

  Whirler paused in a single handstand, her legs cocked to the side. “Namaria, the radiant yellow sun of grace!”

  Miss La grimaced. “Eugh, I’ve heard that name more times than I can count. Always some rich mama’s girl too.”

  “Is everything still going according to plan?” Sparkle Otter asked, turning to look at the lounging Skalathir.

  Miss La nodded. “More or less, though Lirya and her friend being here is a little hiccup. Radishow should arrive here in a few days and we can discuss our plans further.”

  “What about Rhidi’s mom?” Sparkle Otter asked, jabbing a digital thumb over her shoulder. “Everyone is saying that she attacked Rhidi, and her staff is oddly silent.”

  Miss La grinned. “She assaulted a member of the UAA Army on a military installation. I foresee a long stint in her ship under house arrest if she manages to avoid jail time.”

  “Good thing her husband is a turncoat working for the Humans now!” Whirler giggled, coming up onto her feet with a ‘hup!’ and planting her hands on her digital hips. “He has all kinds of pull with the government!”

  Sparkle Otter allowed herself a small, satisfied smile. “It is sweet, though. That man gave up hundreds of billions and the comfort of a rich life, all to help keep his daughter a little more safe.”

  “In terms of yellow furred Kafya, Kohan is a rarity.” Miss La intoned with a nod, remembering back to when she had gotten his email about Tyllia coming to the station for studies. She flicked her thick nail, then pulled her plush blankets up around her blue scaled neck. “A part of me wonders if he knew what was going to happen the entire time, and had made his own long term plans. At least in the terms of his daughter.”

  Sparkle Otter let out a wry laugh. “I mean, he seemed awfully agreeable to using his wife as bait and then using that as a reason to why they couldn’t leave the planet. I do wonder if he knew Rhidi was going to make a run for it after the war, though. He got her into that special forces unit, you know.”

  “I know.” Miss La said with a yawn, fluffing up her pillow as she watched Icirit struggle and screech in the arms of the MPs. “Kohan knows his wilder daughter better than any of us could, and his additions to all this are a welcomed surprise. I know the armored suits worn by the infantry are already being lauded as a huge improvement.”

  Sparkle Otter watched as Icirit was tossed into the back of a police cruiser, all while Rhidi gave her a mud-covered middle finger from within a small cluster of female Kafya. “I’ve alerted Rhidi’s command that her mother assaulted her during recreational activities with her unit, they’ll pull her in for questioning here in a few minutes. Anything else you want me to do, Miss La?”

  “No no, that’s more than enough for now.” Miss La said groggily, snuggling up on the couch and wrapping her arms around herself. “You two go and relax, we won’t be able to do much for a few months anyway as this all stews.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Sparkle Otter replied with a bow, then vanished from sight in the span of a blink.

  “Bye bye Miss La!” Whirler called out, waving her digital hands back and forth before snapping from sight as well.

  Miss La laid there on the cushions, turning off her data-slate and setting it down onto the side table beside the couch. She let out a content sigh as she closed her eyes and got comfortable, though her eyes cracked open, looking down at the data-slate.

  “Despite your machinations and successes… it’s still just you in here, isn’t it, old girl?” Miss La whispered to herself, then she sighed out, pressing a button on the data-slate and turning off all the lights in her room.