Page 71 of I Married A Catman

It had been one of the perks provided by the charitable organizations for which I worked over the years. Unfortunately, as comfortable as it was, I often chose not to use it simply because some of the primitive tribes with which I worked frowned at me for not emulating their rougher lifestyles.

The next day, we started building—or rather destroying and cleaning the things that had to go or could present a hazard for the first half of the day. A little after lunch, the motion detector went off, informing us of four males approaching. Seconds later, Gaelec received a message from his brother reassuring him that he was the one who breached the perimeter with three companions.

My heart soared, not only that Kazaer agreed to join us—at least for now—but that he apparently succeeded in convincing a few of the other males camping with him outside the Nevian Village to also tag along.

As soon as they arrived, I immediately recognized the others from the feast. They had been among those who caught my attention by their impressive performance. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that Moriak wanted to get rid of them before they became an issue for him.

After quick formal introductions, Gaelec went over his vision for our village with them. Over the past week since we’d started getting this whole thing in motion, he had only given Kazaer a high-level description of what he intended to do on the rare occasions he went to visit him in the camp. Between his work during the day, and our scouting and plotting in the evening, there hadn’t been much time for socializing, especially with these young males being forced to stay a fair distance away from the village in their makeshift camp.

Things were awkward at first. Considering the extent of the work that awaited us, they visibly questioned if that entire project actually had a leg to stand on. A part of me wished Gaelec would tell them about the amazing promise both Kayog and the UPO had given us, but the other was grateful he didn’t. Although we had no reason to believe they might renege on any of it, it was better not to get the newcomers’ hopes up only for them to be crushed if things fell through. But I also realized that my husband was testing their commitment to this project for its own merits, and not for easy access to the high-end technology that could arrive soon.

My gut told me that what would happen tomorrow or in the following days with that Levendoc mission would seriously impact these young males’ desire to stay or leave. I felt horrible for wanting that mission to be over and to utterly fail so that my husband could be vindicated. Because that also meant the naïve candidates who chose to believe Moriak would be the ones paying the steep price.

Still, with these extra hands—who also happened to be quite strong—we got an insane amount of work done in record time. My mate being a natural leader, and a charismatic one at that, had no problem getting them to follow his instructions. His visible knowledge in a variety of fields further earned their respect.

But we had no illusions about them sticking around for long. They were young and healthy males who would soon want to seek out females to partner with. For now, I was just grateful for the help, and to know that their presence here meant they would be spared whatever awaited the others.

Like Gaelec and I did, they patched up one of the less damaged cabins which the four of them shared that night.

The next morning, four more males joined us, all of them older. I recognized Danel, the supervisor at the fishing plant. I didn’t know the other three, except from seeing them in passing in the village.

He gave Gaelec a manly embrace that took me by surprise. I had not expected them to act with an almost brotherly familiarity. But as I observed the interaction between them, it dawned on me that this had been an instinctive reaction fueled by relief from Danel.

“I hope you still have room for us,” Danel said with a slightly nervous laugh.

By human standards, at forty-two, he was still a young male. But for a Nazhral, he was deemed past his prime. It was all the more infuriating that they had a lifespan of a hundred and forty years, although males usually lasted less than half that due to the difficult lives they led.

“Of course, my friend,” Gaelec said warmly. “There’s plenty of room for people of goodwill and not afraid to get their hands dirty.”

“That’s definitely us,” he replied, waving at his other companions. “As you can guess, we were asked to join that ridiculous mission that seems to be a secret to no one. The four of us refused, so we were given an ultimatum. Either we participated or we would get kicked out. I’ll let you guess which choice we made.”

Gaelec chuckled. “Moriak must be livid to yet again have his authority challenged.”

“That’s quite the understatement, my friend,” Danel said with a chuckle, before sobering. “Truth be told, if not for you, we probably would have caved in. We had no other option. Even with our skills, no Pride would want us when they can have younger males. Between roaming aimlessly until death claims us or taking our chances with a mission that would ensure our position in the Pride for a while longer, one seemed less terrible than the other.”

“Getting caught during that mission—and that is a guarantee—would have landed you in a far worse situation than becoming a nomad. But I’m glad you’re here. We can use your skills. As you can see, we are in a prime fishing location. You can help us set up the perfect fish plant taking into account all the things you wish you could have changed or improved back in Nevian.”

“That sounds like a plan!” he replied enthusiastically.

Like Gaelec did, each of the males came with their tools and some equipment. They quickly got to work, a lot of it coming down to gathering the basic construction material needed to start building in earnest. Throughout the day, we checked for any news about the mission, but it was complete radio silence.

The next morning, we were all having breakfast gathered around a bonfire on the beach when the sound of thunderclap resonated above us followed by the opening of a giant portal in the sky. I nearly peed myself in fright. Our collective panic turned into awe when an Enforcer transport ship came right out of the giant black vortex and landed a short distance away on a large, unencumbered section of the beach.

Standing on wobbly legs, my heart still trying to beat its way out of my chest, I couldn’t decide whether to keep gaping at the portal or shift my attention to the human man descendingfrom the vessel. That was quickly sorted out for me as the portal vanished with a woosh.

“By the Gods! What is that?” Danel asked, seeming as unsure as the others if they should go into a defensive stance.

“It’s the PMA and the UPO!” Kazaer replied, his voice bubbling with excitement. “They kept their promise!”

“What promise?” Danel asked.

“You’ll see,” Gaelec replied, a triumphant grin stretching his lips.

He marched towards the human with determined steps that went a long way to appeasing our companions, who were still somewhat frazzled by what we’d just witnessed. I was freaked out, too. But over the years, I’d grown to accept that all kinds of insane technology existed out there, some of which defied anything we could imagine. Nevertheless, it disturbed me that they should possess the ability to basically teleport a ship—and probably even an entire fleet—to a specific location on a whim. If they decided to perform a raid on us, we would never see them coming in time and let alone have any means to defend against it.

“Hello, Gaelec. I’m Tedrick Wilson, a senior officer with the Enforcers,” the man said in a polite and friendly voice as he stopped a meter in front of us.

“Greetings, Tedrick,” Gaelec replied in a similar fashion.

---