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Message-ID: <57847asstr$1215007802@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:00:06 -0500
From: "Elf M. Sternberg" <elf@pendorwright.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Journal Entry 142 / 00918  Reunion, Part 2 (0)
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Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:10:02 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

Reunion, Part 2
Attendes 0918
Nickolai awoke to a soft chiming sound repeating in his ear informing
him that dawn had arisen an hour ago. Groaning, he rolled over and
touched the 'snooze' button on the radio transmitter case, regretting
the day he had ever had his Wearman installed with an alarmclock option.
Rolling back over, he landed in a faceful of fur which made him sputter
and roll back again. "Pfui?" "Huh?" Jofuran said, picking up her head
and looking over her shoulder. "It wasn't a dream." She turned in bed to
face him, pulling him close and kissing his cheek. He slid closer to
her, pressing his thigh between her legs and kissing her nose. "Good
morning," she said.

"Hi," he said shyly. "I'm not sure it isn't a dream still. I can't
believe I'm here." His hand stroked her fur, caressing the soft sides of
her body. The grey fur ruffled under his touch. His emotions all roiled
to the surface, feeling surprised at the qualities about her that held
him to her. It wasn't just that she looked inhuman, but that she
possessed qualities few humans would have considered "attractive," such
as her wide hips or small breasts or small eyes. But for some reason, he
couldn't help but think of her as beautiful. And from his reading on
personal grooming and appearance standards, Furry was very beautiful...
for a Markal.

"Nickolai?"

"Just thinking, Furry. I'm still surprised at how beautiful I think you
are."

"I can tell," she giggled, and Nickolai felt her hands stroking between
his thighs, caressing his morning erection. "Or are you going to tell me
again that this is just because you have to pee?"

"Well, I do have to go," Nickolai admitted. "But I could always give you
some attention before I go."

Jofuran pretended to be shocked. "Some attention?" she said. "You better
give me more than just 'some,' buster."

He rolled on top of her and she parted her thighs slightly. "Is this the
kind of attention you want?"

Jofuran opened her legs further and her slid down the open V between
them, his cock sliding up against her cunt. "That's it," she said.
"Undivided and unconditional." He pressed his cock to her opening and
slid in easily.

"You're wet."

"I was dreaming about you."

He smiled and pressed down until he was buried between her grey-furred
lips to the hilt entirely. She held his cock within her and he leaned
over to kiss her. "I'm glad. I dreamed about you." His hips moved even
though he didn't think about them, his cock withdrawing and reentering
her gently. She closed her eyes as a small smile traced its way across
her muzzle, a sigh escaping her. He leaned over and kissed the tip of
her nose again, and without opening her eyes she opened her muzzle and
they kissed, tongues intertwining as they made love. He moaned as he
slowly pumped his shaft within her; he could feel her tightening and
loosing her muscles, gripping and massaging him as they made love. There
was nothing else to be needed from either of them.

Furry moaned, "I want you to come inside me, Nickolai." He began
stroking her a little faster, looking down between their bodies to see
his cock disappearing into her.

"You definitely have my attention," he breathed to her as he felt his
climax gaining strength within him. "And I love you, Furry." He stroked
her cunt a little faster; for some reason, he didn't want to be forceful
this morning. He wanted to be able to look down at her every second of
their lovemaking. He wanted to watch her face, her ears and her whiskers
as her head rolled back and forth slowly. His orgasm grew more apparent
as it tickled the base of his cock and the base of his brain, and he
kept his eyes opened and watched her a whimper escaped him and his
orgasm wiped away any thought at all but that he loved her.

            *            *            *

Garth awoke to gritty eyes and bright sunlight streaming in from
overhead. He wondered if Pendorians thought of natural-setting image
technology as chic, or did they really enjoy waking up to having an
unlicensed and uncontrolled fusion source blazing overhead twenty-four
hours a day? Thirty hours, Garth reminded himself. Thirty long hours.

It suddenly occurred to him that in Pendor's case the sun might not be
entirely uncontrolled. After all, didn't they have a huge, potentially
electromagnetic coil wrapped all the way around the star? They could do
anything they wanted with that, including tame that star if they so
felt.

Garth felt oddly displaced; it was hard to imagine being here, even
though "here" was only 6.38 light years from Earth. He smiled to himself
as he crawled out of bed. "Only." Hah; if he had a telescope he could go
back in time and look at what he was like back when he was just twelve.
"Can you dim that?" he asked, pointing up at the ceiling. The AI didn't
answer, and nothing happened. Remembering dimly that sometime before bed
he had asked the AI last night for "a little privacy," he hit the
"service restore" button it had indicated and repeated his request. The
skylight dimmed appreciably, and Garth flopped back down into bed.

But sleep wouldn't come and his back, already complaining about his
sleeping in yet another different bed from his own, finally forced him
to stand up and stagger into the bathroom. His reflection in the mirror
was an unhappy one; his fur went in every direction, and he had
apparently bent his ear in the night and it wouldn't stay up this
morning. He sighed and stepped into the shower.

Liquid soap was a standard for furries in all of explored space, and he
was happy to find a bottle waiting for him. It wasn't until after he was
soaking wet, though, when he remembered that his furbrush and his
toothbrush were still in his carrybag. Struggling again to remember the
AI's name, he finally said "Lex, can you bring my bag to me?"

"Which one?"

"The little red one I was carrying around."

"This one?" Lex asked. "I left it outside the shower door."

Garth opened the magnetically-sealed door and looked down. "Yeah, that
one. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Garth was beginning to like this, having an AI at his
beck and call. It certainly beat getting out of the warm shower and
tracking water everywhere. He soaped himself up, starting at his
shoulders and working his way down his body. As he washed himself, his
cock slowly slid out of its sheath and became erect. He smiled, looking
down at it. Most guys awoke with an erection, but his always came
several minutes after waking up, which seemed to defeat the theory that
such erections were caused by needing to urinate.

The soap felt silky on his hands as he reached down and closed around
his cock. He leaned back against the shower wall and closed his eyes.
Stroking his cock slowly, He felt the skin of his sheath peel around and
away from the head. He sighed; he had always enjoyed masturbating first
thing in the morning. His hand curled around the head of his cock
rapidly, sliding the soap along the length. He had started doing this a
long time ago as a means of cleaning under his sheath, and when puberty
hit it just seemed to take him longer to clean himself.

He chuckled softly, his other hand reaching down to grasp his sac,
tugging it downwards, pulling the sheath down further and stretching his
foreskin a little more. His imagination brought him images of Kiza
kneeling before him, sucking his cock with wild, uncontrolled abandon,
and of him with his mouth shoved deep between her legs. He imagined
fucking Kiza in any one of a dozen positions, each flashing before his
eyes like a high-speed slide show. He imagined her underneath him,
kneeling with her ass in the air, his cock slamming in and out of her
cunt. His hand stroked faster in the hot water, and as the soap wore off
from the friction, he started grabbing his foreskin and tugging it up
over the head of his cock and then back down. He stroked harder, knowing
he was close to coming, and finally he gasped softly as his semen shot
out of him. He opened his eyes finally, breathing deeply in the
steam-filled space. He looked down at the little puddles of come on the
floor, and grabbed the showerhead to spray it down the drain.

"What the?" he said as the showerhead came free of the wall, no pipe or
hose attaching it to any source of water, and it continued to spray
water everywhere. "Oh," he said, finding the small dial at the back.
Everything he knew about Pendor was becoming useful to him, but seeing
that book learning put into practice was still an experience. He turned
it down and rinsed the floor of the shower clean, then finished washing
himself off, taking extra care of his teeth. Actually, having the
showerhead portable like this was pretty useful. He wondered if he could
spray someone outside the shower stall, or was it programmed to not
allow that? It was certainly possible to program it that way, and if
that was the case it was probably possible to turn that feature on and
off.

He put the showerhead back on its mounting. "If you like," the AI's
comforting voice suggested, "instead of towels we have full-body
blowdriers installed in the showers."

"You mean, like a furmatic?" Garth had had a chance to use a furmatic
once, in a hotel during a trip to Moscow. The experience had been sheer
heaven.

"Exactly," Lex responded. The air began to whirl around Garth's body,
and he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and propped himself up on
the walls of the shower as the warm air swirled and spun about him. He
felt the heat penetrate his fur and his fell, and with one hand he
rubbed himself to let the air get deep under his pelt to where the water
would sometimes hide. The air died down a little, and he took another
breath, and then it came back up to speed.

After two minutes, he was much drier and felt much better. He sighed and
looked around. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Garth dressed simply, a white denim skirt and
oversized cotton pullover accentuating his brown fur. The sleeves on the
pullover were cut to de-emphasize the length of his arms, which some
Terrans found Katckinkind's most unappealing feature. Not that he cared,
really.

He walked out into the hallway, and approached the door to the
Shigokai's house. It opened for him, and he strode in. Kiza was already
there, sitting at the dining table with a plate in front of her. "Hi!"
she said, waving.

Garth waved back, feeling a little ashamed because of the fantasies he
had enjoyed just minutes ago, and he hoped his guilt didn't show on his
face because he did want to get to know her better as a person. "Hello
there," he replied, trying to sound casual. He hoped it succeeded.

"Want breakfast? I'm just having some fruit. It's honeydew."

"Sure," Garth replied. "How?"

"In the kitchen. Feel free to serve yourself."

"Why not have the AI do it?" Garth asked.

"Because that's rude. It's a demonstration of laziness. You can do it,
and I bet Lex would do it for you, but it's rude if you do."

"Oh," Garth said. Nickolai had confirmed many of the tourbook warnings
about Pendor's weird customs, especially when it came to AIs. He guessed
that this was just one of them. He walked into the kitchen, found some
oranges and the melon Kiza had sliced into, and made himself breakfast.
"Kiza, do you want a refill on your OJ?"

She came hopping into the kitchen with a smile and handed him her glass.
"Would you?" She hopped out again.

Garth blinked; he wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but he wasn't
going to ask. A few minutes later he returned to the table with his meal
and began eating. Kiza had already finished most of her meal, and so
watched him intently as he ate. He looked across the table at her once
in a while, and she giggled and looked away when he did. Her actions
left him feeling a little uncomfortable, but not much. "Kiza?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Look, um, I'm sure our roommates are going to be busy all day, and I've
been separated from my tour group. I don't know what your schedule looks
like, but if you have some time, maybe you could, well, show me around?"

She nearly squealed with delight. "Of course! I'm sorry, I didn't think
about you being separated from your group. I'd love to show you around!
Where do you want to go?"

Garth suddenly blinked. Where did he want to go? What were his usual
stops when he was in other cities on Earth? He paused for a moment and
realized that he generally hit tourist traps and shopping centers,
neither of which were in much abundance here on Pendor. "I'm not sure.
Where can you suggest?"

Kiza shrugged. "I'm not sure either. I don't know many places; this is
the first time I've ever been here. There's the university where I go to
school, and there's my town. I guess I could show you that."

The door to the bedroom opened, and Nickolai and Furry stepped out,
happy and partly abashed smiles on their faces. "G'morning," Furry said,
bouncing into the kitchen. Nickolai sighed and sat down at the table
next to Garth. "How you doin'?" he asked.

"Good question," Garth said. "I was just about to ask Kiza what there
was to do around here for the next month."

"Nickolai?" Lexander's voice interrupted their conversation. "I have
three messages waiting for you."

"Messages?" Nickolai asked. "From who?"

"From Molly Shardik, Skii Narrone, and Ken Shardik."

Garth blinked and looked at Nickolai, wondering. "You weren't kidding,
were you? You really do know Ken Shardik."

"Sort of," Nickolai agreed. "Molly first."

"Hello!" the voice came from a screen that appeared at the edge of the
table. "Welcome home, Nickolai! I'm going to be home for the next month,
so if you call, I'll definitely get your message." Molly's Vulpin smile
grinned out of the screen. "Look, um, things haven't really changed for
me, but I would still like to get together with you two and your
friends."

Garth's eyes looked surprised. "You know her?"

"Yeah," Nickolai said, smiling. "She's a nice girl. I showed her to you
in the photographs, remember?"

"It's been a while since I saw those photographs, and you didn't say how
well you knew her."

"Well, you'll get to meet her later. Skii next."

"Hey, Nickolai," Skii blared out of the screen next. "I got your message
about the raincheck. Are you still serious? Dave knows where to find me,
so if you want to talk, I'm always willing. I'm serious about the offer
if you are. And... I'd love it if you brought Furry too."

"Shardik last, please."

"Welcome back to Pendor," Ken Shardik smiled out of the screen, as large
as life. "Don't be surprised that I've been looking forward to your
return to Pendor for some time now, because you mark the start of
something big, kiddo. While relationships between Pendorians and Terrans
have occurred before in history, you mark something really new, and I
think that you two have the strength to do it. I don't expect you to be
examples for the rest of the universe, just to be the first and then to
be yourselves.

"I want you two over my home sometime today, the earlier the better, so
we can go over old times. Today's cerenya, and you should know by now
that we have our outdoor picnics on those days, weather permitting.
Probably won't be any Dragons out today, but that shouldn't stop you
from showing up, right? Besides, Molly and Skii were really bouncing off
the walls to see you guys."

"Remember that first sight is easy, Nickolai, but love is tough. Take
care of yourselves. See you later today, right?"

Garth stared at the screen as it reduced to a point and then winked out.
"Wow. He's real."

"As real as it gets," Furry said, coming out of the kitchen. "That
didn't sound like a request; more like an order."

"When Shardik says he wants you to stop by for dinner, you eat," Garth
said. "You guys made it through there in one piece, right?"

Furry nodded, as did Nickolai. "I actually got bored there. It's a
house, and if you don't find ways to amuse yourself you sort of get
shuffled out in the whirlwind of children and grownups."

"Are we done eating?" Furry asked, starting to clean up plates. "We
could head over. Nickolai and I still need showers, but after that we
can just take a SDisk to the Castle." She grinned at Nickolai. "I wonder
if the lockout was ever revised."

"We'll find out. If it wasn't, well, we can always try all the other
ones, right?"

Furry nodded. "I'd like to see you end up on the one that takes your
clothes off."

"I don't know if that's possible," Nickolai said. "Remember, Dave said
he gets to choose where people go when using that SDisk."

"I remember," she said. "Still like to see it though." She leaned over
his chair and gave him a hug. "I love you, my brave Nickolai."

"And my brilliant Jofuran. I'm going to go jump into the shower. Would
you care to join me?"

She pulled him up out of the chair by his hand. "You're on! Excuse us!"
She hauled him out of Garth and Kiza's sight.

            *            *            *

Nickolai grinned at his friend, able to finally turn the tables.
"Nervous?"

"Yeah," Garth admitted. "You can't call me a liar for that one!"

Nickolai snapped his fingers and laughed. "No, guess I can't."

"You're worrying too much, Garth," Furry said. "There's nothing to it.
You just walk up to him and say 'Hi. I'm Garth, and you must be Ken
Shardik.'"

"Something like that, anyway," Nickolai said, patting him on the back
before pulling Furry close again for another hug. Garth found himself
envying the simple ease with which Nickolai touched and held her and her
total attention to him every time he did. Worse still, the flutter in
his gut just wouldn't give way to calm. She was right, wasn't she? There
wasn't anything to it all. It was just another roadtrip. He'd met
important people before, right? Ken Shardik was just another one of
those.

"Okay, everybody, onto the SDisk," Nickolai said. Kiza stepped first,
then Furry. Garth went third and Nickolai last. "Lex, I want to go the
Shardik Castle."

The world blinked. Garth was never going to get used to that.

And resolved itself into a beach. Garth looked down to find himself
standing on water. "Come on," Kiza said. "Before the circle disappears."
She ran for the beach; Garth recovered her wits enough to follow her.
"Made it!" she said.

"Made what?"

"Sometimes people program those things to fade on you," she said,
pointing to the SDisk that hovered, then vanished into the water. "It's
a nasty trick because you'll find yourself floating on the water one
second, swimming in it the next."

Garth nodded, then looked around. The shadow behind him first caught his
eye; it had been what he had been expecting when they had first arrived.
Shardik Castle hovered overhead without visible means of support, a
column of water falling from the center of the bottom face to the small
body of water underneath. Shardik Lagoon. Or, when on the Castle
Grounds, just "The Lagoon." The Castle itself looked made from segmented
rectangles of sandstone intermixed with dramatic pieces of some silvered
metal or glass. Here and there were the open porches of residencies, but
they didn't stand out quite like the general color of earthen yellow and
steel.

The lagoon itself was covered in pale yellow sand, similar in color to
that of the Castle. Where they stood was the largest patch, a wide
expanse of sand that ended in the stone walls of the crater in which
Shardik Castle sat. Garth knew that few of the plants and short, stubby
trees that lived in or lined the walls of the crater were native to
either Pendor or Terra; The popular news media seemed eternally
entranced by Aaden Shardik's "alien garden." Across the lagoon the walls
were bare and sheer and Garth could see a hollow of sand that
disappeared under the walls into a shallow natural cave. As his eyes
traced around the rim of the crater, he found the crack that led to the
ocean, providing an drain for the water that collected in the lagoon.

Nobody was immediately visible except his three friends and then a voice
overhead shouted "Nickolai!" Garth's head snapped to see who was
shouting and saw a Felinzi, the Pendorian "housecat" variant (and, Garth
thought sourly, far more "successful" at being both feline and humanoid
than Katckins would ever be) leap off the edge of the castle. Horrified
and convinced that the Felinzi was risking death, Garth was stunned when
he fell to the ground in a completely controlled fashion after falling
maybe 30 or 40 meters, rolled forward, and stood up. "Ta-dah!"

"Skii!" Nickolai said, running forward and grabbing the Felinzi about
the shoulders. "It's good to see you!"

"And you, Nickolai," Skii replied, grinning crazily. "How have you
been?"

"Oh, you know," Nickolai replied. "This and that. Good and bad. Now that
Furry and I are together again, I'm doing much better. That didn't look
like you had any gravitics help at all."

"Didn't," Skii replied. "Ever hear of the Shatha line of nanochine?"

"Yeah," Nickolai said. "Didn't your dad develop those?"

Skii nodded. "You remember! Pulsive, Kolya. Yeah, he did."

"Aren't they dangerous?"

"Only when abused. And I can't visit Earth. Gee, like I'm missing
something." Skii gestured in the air, twirling one finger carelessly.
"Meanwhile, I'm completely reinforced. I can jump nearly ten meters
straight up! I can survive a fall from nearly any height as long as I'm
ready to land. I can lift my powered armor as easily as it can lift me!"
He grinned.

"But you have to eat more," Nickolai said.

"Only a little more if I don't use it, and a LOT more if I do. Speaking
of which, I'm hungry." He glanced at Nickolai. "Are you game?"

Nickolai laughed. "We ate less than two hours ago."

"So? No reason not to have more."

"Why don't we just watch you," Nickolai offered, shading his eyes. "And
we can head inside rather than baking under this sun."

"It's nice out, Nickolai! How could you say such cruel things about our
Pin?" Skii laughed. "Who are you friends, anyway?"

"Oh, pooh," Furry said. "You know damn well who I am, you boy-crazy
Felinzi!" She walked forward and hugged Skii. "It's good seeing you
again."

"You never left, lady," Skii said. "You could have always given me a
call."

"I had school. And you had trouble to raise."

"Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses."

"Are you still banned from driving?"

"Nope. Who's this?" Skii asked, surprising Garth by pointing at him.

"Garth, meet Skii Narrone. Skii, meet Garth, my roommate from Terra."

"Really?" Skii said. "Pulse. And this lovely fem?"

"Kiza, this is Skii. Watch him," Furry said. "He's a letch."

"And I'm good at it, too!" Skii laughed. "Come on, let's go inside." The
SDisk reappeared in the lagoon and Skii leapt upon it. Everyone followed
him and teleported.

Garth hoped that the constantly changing scenery would stop soon. Things
were progressing far too damned fast for him. He could barely remember
the name of the Felinzi he had just met. Now they found themselves in a
large, almost-square room with a hole in the center of both the ceiling
and the floor. "We opened up the grav-tubes a little," Skii was saying.
"It seems to be working. Nobody's gotten hurt yet, and the Centaurs and
Ssphynxes seem to be able to get around better."

The Felinzi disappeared through a pair of swinging doors to their right,
and everyone seemed to be following, so Garth did as well. Inside, Skii
disappeared behind a large metal table and rummaged about inside some
cabinets, returning with a round sandwich in his hand. "Corned beef.
Anyone want something?"

Nickolai shook his head. Furry, though, asked for a ham sandwich, which
Skii promptly tossed her. "How about you two?"

Garth admitted to himself that he was hungry despite breakfast but he
didn't know if it was polite to accept or refuse an offer of food on
Pendor. Furry was already halfway through hers. "What have you got?"

"Name it," Skii asked.

"Pastrami with sauerkraut."

"Not only do we have that," Skii laughed, disappearing into the cabinet
again, "But it's one of Ken's favorites." He tossed the requested
sandwich, wrapped in waxed paper, to Garth, who caught it easily. "Nice
catch."

"Thanks," Garth said, smiling up at Skii despite himself. Although he
knew already that much of Skii's talents were the results of nanotech
microsurgery, there was an openness to him that Garth found refreshing.
He tore open the paper and found exactly what he had asked for; the
sauerkraut was even sharp the way he liked it, although the pastrami
tasted strong and a little unusual. He commented on that to Skii.

"That's because it's real beef," Nickolai explained. "Not that
artificial stuff we get at school."

"You mean, grown from cows?"

"Depends," Skii said. "There are cattle ranchers around, mostly just to
keep the breed alive more than anything else, and to supply people who
want to go out and attend the slaughtering themselves. But that's rare;
few people have the strong stomachs it takes to do something like that.
Ken does, sometimes. He goes back and forth between being queasy and
being barbaric." Skii laughed. "Most beef is grown in tanks, though. It
allows us to control both the quality of the meat and to get a good
ratio of nutrients-to-meat. You be amazed what a good LSAP/nanotech
farming facility can achieve with sunlight and a pound of dirt. The
really strange thing is that most vegetable processes are still best
when grown the old-fashioned way. A few things can improve the process,
like nutrient delivery systems and stuff like that. But in the end it's
all optimized photosynthesis and when it comes to sunlight, we're still
looking for ways to improve that ugly green molecule."

"Sounds to me like you've got a hobby, maybe?" Jofuran asked.

"Me? A farmer?" Skii asked. "I doubt it. Come on, you guys know me. I'm
a rock-and-roll, starship-driving kinda guy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nickolai said. "We all know about your driving."

Skii smiled. "Okay, okay, enough. Let's go take you guys up to talk to
the folks."

"Sounds good," Nickolai said. "I know the way."

"Guess you do," Skii mentioned, his mouth full. "But I want to go with
you guys. So..." He led them out again and up the grav tube to the top
floor. "This is just a hallway that leads upstairs. There's nothing
really here. I can't figure out why they don't just fill this space in
and make the grav-tube go straight up to the center of the roof." Up a
ramp, around a switchback, and they walked out into blinding sunlight
once more.

"Is it always so bright?" Garth complained.

"Sun's always directly overhead," Furry pointed out. "What do you
expect? It's either cloudy, or it's bright. Even in winter. And believe
me, you can go blind much faster in winter."

"Blind?"

"Yeah, from all the glare. It'll drive your eyes craz--"

"Nickolai!" The voice made Garth's head snap up and look down the
metallic-grate walkway. "You made it!"

Nickolai smiled and walked into the bearhug of a man barely taller than
he was. Wearing a loose-fitting shirt of thick, off-white cloth that
fell about his waist and pants made of some dark, vaguely reflective
material, Ken Shardik held Nickolai out at arm's length and examined
him. "You've gotten taller."

"I certainly hope so, s... Ken."

Shardik roared with laughter. "You still haven't gotten used to that,
Nickolai. Come on, learn! So, who are these people you've brought with
you?"

"You don't remember me?" Furry sounded positively indignant.

"Of course I remember you, Jofuran. How could I forget the beautiful
smile that so wonderfully graced my household two years ago? Surely
you'll stay longer this time?"

"If it pleases you," Furry replied.

"If it pleases you, you mean," Shardik said, pointing back at her. "I
would hardly keep you here if you were miserable. Come, come, you two.
Introduce your friends."

Nickolai reached back and with one hand grabbed Garth by the shoulder.
"Come here, you. You did this to me a year ago. Now it's my turn. Garth,
this is Ken Shardik. Ken, this is Garth El Baum, my roommate."

Shardik extended a hand. Garth reached out and shook it carefully,
trembling. "Garth," Shardik said in a voice that seemed to flow over his
nervous twitch and calm him, "You have nothing to worry about."

"Tell that to my nerves!" the Katckin replied, laughing.

"I tried," Shardik replied. "And who's this?" He indicated Kiza.

Furry answered for her. "Kiza Lessap, Ken Shardik. Ken, this is my
roommate, Kiza."

"Pleased to meet you," Ken said. He stood up and clapped his hands
together. "So, you are all going to stay for dinner?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Furry said. "Where is everybody?"

"'Everybody' is out at the moment. Um, I hate to tell you two this, but
Molly got called away unexpectedly. She won't be back for a while. Don't
know when. It's weird, too. We have days like this, when there's
absolutely nobody around. Right now I've got my political hat on, so I'm
going to be busy until around eleven with these papers I have to read.
So I'll apologize if I ask that y'all give me that time to myself today.
Meanwhile, feel free to have the run of the Castle. Garth, how would you
like to spend your vacation here?"

"Sir?"

"Seriously, Garth. Right now this Castle is almost empty. With ten
residences in place I've only got six families living here right now.
It's Shardik, Mahn, and Lewis... you know, the usual gang on the one
hand, and Carver, Traken, and Majors on the other. Four open doubles for
anyone who wants them. You up for it?"

"Uh... Yeah, I guess I would," Garth said, forcing a smile.

"You don't have to, you know," Shardik said. "It's not like nobody ever
said 'no' to me, and I won't be upset. I can understand how you could be
a little intimidated by the place, but I assure you I have no intention
of forcing you into anything you're not interested in."

"I'd like to stay, sir."

"Good!" Shardik said. "Stop calling me 'sir,' too, dammit. You're my
guest, not my prisoner. Skii, give them the room next to the guest
room."

"Dad, that's where P'maya and Termo are staying."

"So it is. How about the one next to that?"

"That one's empty. Has been for nearly twenty years, too, and you know
why..."

"Oh." Ken nodded. "Still, it's the one closest to the guest space. Tell
Dave to clean them both up and then show them to their guests. Look, I'm
really busy. Nickolai, Furry, you can show your friends where everything
is and I'll be down around twelve to start setting up for dinner.
There's nobody here so you may as well take advantage of that fact and
go swimming or something. Aaden will be back around ten, P'nyssa around
twelve. Skii, start set-up at twelve whether I'm here or not."

"Got it. Dave, don't let me forget."

"Have I ever let you forget?" a voice from nowhere replied dryly. "I
will remind you. Their rooms will take half an hour to prepare. In the
meantime, there are towels and such in the commons."

"Thanks," Skii said earnestly. "Come on, you four. Let's go." He led
them back into the castle.

            *            *            *

Several hours later, Garth rejoined Nickolai on the beach. He had been
swimming in the lagoon until the chill had reached through his fur and
proven unbearable. He marveled at Nickolai's ability to fit in. Sitting
naked under a tree that looked like nothing less than a blue- leafed
palm with his legs bent at the knees to prop up a PADD, Nickolai looked
calm and content.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," Nickolai replied, smiling up at his roommate. "Good
swim?"

"Yeah. Kinda strange, though. I'm used to having a lot of people hanging
around. Especially at ocean beaches."

"I know. I felt it too the first time I was here." Nickolai put his PADD
down and stretched his legs out. "Oof. I'm stiff."

"Interesting reading?" Garth asked, gesturing to the PADD.

"Oh, sure. I'm reading about some of the voluntary biographies of people
who have gone through the Great Hall."

Garth looked puzzled for a moment. "Any reason why?"

"Yeah." Nickolai smiled. "I'm going to walk it soon."

Garth nearly exploded. "WHAT?" He stared at Nickolai, unbelieving. "What
about all that talk about loving Furry as she is and as you are? What
about all that about finding someplace to live that didn't require that
you change?"

"Calm down, Garth." Nickolai gestured to the sand, and Garth took the
hint and sat down. "Nothing's going to change."

"You don't know that! You could come out as... as..."

"As Nickolai Dittrich, Human."

"What?"

"The rules have been changed," Nickolai stated, repeating the words as
Shardik had told them to him. "People going through the Hall don't
change."

"You're kidding. That means... "

"That means that you go into the Hall and come out the other side the
same shape as you went in. Now, you can choose to change, but if you do
the Hall determines what you come out as. Then the old rules apply."

"That's weird. Wait a sec. If you're going through the Hall and
nothing's going to change, why do it at all?"

"Because I didn't say that nothing was going to change. I will get some
of the Pendorian benefits, like the nanotech healing factor and the
language implants and stuff like that. And I'll be fertile."

"Fertile?"

"Yeah." Nickolai glanced across the sand to where Furry and Kiza were
sitting and talking to Skii. He was apparently telling them some
outrageous story replete with expansive hand gestures of swooping
vehicles and dramatic explosions. The fems were giggling. "Not that it
does me much good."

"Yeah," Garth agreed, looking in the same direction. He was so busy
looking back and forth between the fems and Nickolai that he failed to
notice the low, black shape creeping through the underbrush a few meters
away.

Nickolai did notice it. "Garth! Look out!"

"Wha--- IEEE!" Garth screamed as a huge, powerful feline creature leapt
out of the bushes and sailed at least five meters through the air to
land in front of him, snarling. The snarl died down, the head tilted to
the left slightly, and then the jaws parted open to erupt in what had to
have been laughter although it felt to Garth as if someone were pulling
a catgut bowstring across his feline ribs, his heart inside providing
the percussion counter- rhythm. "Shit!"

"Karin!" Skii's voice cut through his recovering terror, making the
six-legged black Pamthreat look up, laughter redoubled. "That was not
funny!"

"I know," Karin giggled, her voice sounding oddly hollow, "But I just
couldn't resist. The Pamthreat looked up at Garth. "I'm sorry. I just
saw new people sitting on the beach and had to sneak up on you. You
should have seen your face! I've never seen someone so terrified in a
long time!"

"Ken's warned you about that. If someone has a cardiac because of your
mischief he'll have your head, you know that."

"Aw, Skii. Besides, even if they have a cardiac they've always got
back-up."

"The two gentlemen here do not."

"Oh!" Karin's head picked up and she looked at Garth. "You're Terrans!
I'm so sorry. I didn't know! I could have killed you!"

"I think... I'll live," Garth said, looking at the Pamthreat. "Besides,
now that I think about it, it was kinda funny."

"Speak for yourself!" Nickolai said. "Even though I knew it was coming I
was still scared out of my wits!"

"Anyway," Garth said, "Hi."

"Hi," the Pamthreat replied quietly. "Karin Mahn."

"Garth El Baum." Garth held out his hand, not sure if Pamthreats shook
hands or what, but Karin approached it and nuzzled it with her large,
blunt head anyway. "Pleased to meet ya."

"Same here."

"Actually, Karin, you've showed up at a good time. Do you have a drone
under your command, or is it just hands today?"

"I can get one," Karin said. "What do you need?"

"Everything," Skii said. "Ken said to start set-up at twelve and it's
twelve-twenty now. I need the firepit opened up, the tables and baskets
dragged out, everything. I assume that Paul and Carroll are going to be
handling the food today since they're the ones on the schedule but I'm
still responsible for the physicals."

"Gotcha," Karin said. "Garth, would you and your friend there--"

"Nickolai," Nickolai said, smiling. "I was hoping to be introduced."

"Ooops. Sorry." Garth blushed.

"Nickolai-- like to help me move some tables?"

"Sure. I've done this before."

As they were setting out the baskets of picnic cloths and the drying
racks for used towels, people started assembling. Although he didn't
know all of them, Nickolai did his best to introduce those he did know
to Garth and Kiza. When he got to Aaden and P'nyssa, Garth felt
genuinely dwarfed by the huge Mephit and even by the smaller Tindal
standing next to him. The skunk's short, smiling muzzle and penetrating
stare made him aware of just how much history stood before him. "Garth,
this is P'nyssa Traken," Nickolai said, indicating the female Tindal.
About the same height as he (he measured 173 cms), she had indigo-blue
fur except for the whites rings about her eyes.

"How do you do?" she asked, holding out one of her tentacles that
Tindals called "tens" and were in approximately the same place humans
kept their arms. He took the fingerless mitten in hand and shook gently.
"Come on, Garth, you can shake hands more securely than that, can't
you?" she asked, smiling. He shook harder, watching the shake ripple up
her arm. He had the distinct feeling she did that deliberately. "Pleased
to meet you."

"Uh... I'm please to meet you as well."

"And I'm Aaden, but you knew that." The enormous Mephit reached out a
hand and Garth took it, shaking just as firmly. Although he knew
intellectually that Aaden Satpulov was only one centimeter taller than
Ken Shardik and only twelve centimeters taller than himself, he felt
tiny compared to the physical and emotional mountain that Aaden seemed
to be.

"Since you're our guests for the evening, why don't you come sit with
us?" P'nyssa offered.

"You mean that?" Garth asked.

"Of course they mean it," Nickolai said.

"Nickolai, he asked me," P'nyssa chided him.

Nickolai seemed genuinely abashed. "Oh... Uh... I'm sorry?"

P'nyssa laughed. "You're trying to get into the feel of being a
Pendorian too hard, Nickolai. On the one hand, I do mean everything I
say, so if I invite you to eat with us, Garth, I mean it. On the other,
I like to take care of inquiries directed at me by myself. It took me a
century to break Ken of the habit of interrupting me."

Nickolai nodded, apologetic.

"Come on," P'nyssa said. "Grab your two friends and--" P'nyssa rolled
her eyes-- "Skii, I guess." She smiled. "He has too much energy, even
for his age. Meet us over there. You won't be alone; I imagine Ken and
Aaden will have their usual crowd of friends and followers."

"I'll get them," Garth offered.

"Would you? I want to ask P'nyssa something," Nickolai said.

"Sure thing." Garth trotted away across the sands in search of Furry and
Kiza in what had rapidly become a loose crowd of bodies.

"Now then, what did you want to ask me, Kolya?" P'nyssa said after they
watched Garth disappear between two Centaur and continued on their walk
down the sands towards Ken Shardik.

Nickolai felt a touch of reassurance at her calling him "Kolya." it was
a note of familiarity, and indicator that she wasn't still upset with
him. And while he tried to be equal-handed, it meant a lot to him that
P'nyssa Shardik liked him. "You said Ken and Aaden have 'followers.'
Don't you?"

Aaden chuckled quietly. "She does, but not here."

"I still haven't broken him of it," P'nyssa grumbled softly. "What he
means is that Ken and Aaden have hobbies and activities that encourage
amateur adherents. There are 'professional' sadomasochists, pilots,
botanists, writers, and the like, but many more aren't. So they tend to
prefer meeting in non-professional settings, like picnics and the like.
Medicine doesn't have that kind of leeway and so is rarely seen as a
'hobby.' And as for my other hobbies, they're generally quieter.
Sometimes I write a book review for something I read that I enjoyed and
sometimes I go to readercons and sometimes I submit articles on
interspecies adoption and mothering, but these aren't the sorts of
things that one has loud discussions about it." She laughed softly. "You
know, for such a distinctive family, we have such traditional roles
sometimes."

"Speak for yourself," Aaden chuckled. "The first time I sent an article
to Interspecies Parenting Digest I was terrified. My reputation was
about to be ruined!"

"Somehow, Aaden, I doubt anyone really thought you were losing your s/m
touch."

Aaden's reply was interrupted by Shardik shouting "Hi!"

"Hi yourself!" Aaden fell to his knees and gave Ken a hug, rolling
across the blanket.

"Careful! There's an open jar of mustard with no base on the blanket!"
Ken shouted.

"Whoa," Aaden agreed, stopping short just in time. "How was your day?"

"Hairy." Ken proceeded to complain to Aaden, P'nyssa, and anyone else
who would listen about how uncompromising the new interstellar
conglomeration of four worlds that called itself jokingly "The Empire"
was and how he could never get in touch with their ambassadors. "They're
such prima donnas! I thought we were bad!"

Aaden laughed and tousled Ken's hair. "We are bad. They're just worse."

"Yeah, yeah. So, Nickolai, are you ready to walk the Hall?"

"I think so. Tomorrow I want to do it."

"You're sure?"

"I can't think of a single reason not to." He glanced around and found
Furry standing next to him. He reached out a hand and took hers in his.
"And I have all the reason in three worlds to."

"Good man!" Ken said. "That's the power of love for you. Makes men into
fools and fools into men. Don't ask which category you fall into,
Nickolai, because either way you won't like the answer. Trust me on this
one."

Nickolai laughed. "Yes, sir."

"So, Garth, tell me while we have a quiet moment. What do you think of
Pendor?"

"It's very... hospitable."

"By Horus, I hope so!" Ken laughed. "But what else? Tell me, are you
bored yet?"

"Bored?" Garth felt surprised by the question. "How could I possibly be
bored?"

"It's very possible," Ken replied. "You've been sitting on a beach
relatively alone all day. Eventually you must get bored."

"Sir, after an entire year of grinding at textbooks and doing biocybe
lessons and physical exercise, I can think of nothing more pleasant than
lying on a deserted beach and absorbing sunlight."

Ken laughed. "Good lad! What else have you noticed?"

"Well, I'd like a chance to look around, honestly. See what I can see. I
need a tour guide for that, and Kiza's offered."

"I'll do it," Skii said.

"Skii... " Ken growled softly.

"No, really. I mean it. If I'm not his type I understand completely and
I'll keep my hands off. But I like the Terrans you find, Father. They're
really con and I appreciate having them around."

"Garth?"

"What do you mean, 'If you're not my type?'" Garth asked.

"Just that. I happen to like mels and I'm not ashamed of admitting to
being a little predatory." Skii grinned.

"Oh. Well, I don't know. It's been a long time since I thought about
that. I don't know."

"Hey, no pressure," Skii asserted, waving his hands as if to push away
the suggestion. "I just wanted to point two things out, Garth. I'd like
to be your tour guide because I happen to like Terrans, and I'd like to
get to know you better because I think you're good-looking."

"Me?" Garth asked, surprised.

"Yeah, you," Skii replied. "You find that surprising?"

"A little," Garth said.

"Well, it's true. In fact, let's take a survey. Okay, there are..." Skii
paused to count his way around the several blankets closest to him.
"Fifteen people around here." He stood up. "Okay, how many people here
think Garth here is handsome?" A small forest of arms and tentacles went
up.

"Hey!" a voice Garth remembered from earlier that day rang out. "I don't
have a hand to raise!"

"Then we'll count you as a 'yes' vote," Skii told Karin. "Anyway, Garth,
there you have it. You're good looking."

"It's still hard to believe."

"Believe it," Aaden said over Skii's disagreement. "On Pendor, 'beauty'
is a real issue. Too many people start out with the assumption that
because they're Pendorians they're automatically beautiful people. But
beauty is different to us here, in this Lagoon, at least I like to think
so. It comes from inside. I know, that's a funny, touchy-feely kind of
thing to hear me saying. But it's true. You have a youthful kind of
handsomeness to you, Garth, that you shouldn't underestimate just
because you're a Katckin."

"But I'm so gangly," Garth protested, turning to Skii. "Look at you.
Your head and face are so much more feline-looking than mine, but your
arms are at least in proportion to your body compared to most of the
Humanoid races in the galaxy."

Skii thought for a moment. "Differences in design and the skills of the
designer. Look at Karin. She's not humanoid-looking at all. But she
manages."

"I do better than manage, you mangy..."

"Okay, okay, enough!" Ken's hand came down between Skii and the
Pamthreat. "If I must break up this fight one more time between you two!
Skii, you're nineteen years old, and that's old enough to stop needling
your sister. Karin, you too."

"I'm only thirteen."

"And old enough to stop picking fights with your brother. Now then,
let's get food since I see that it's ready."

A half-hour later and around a mouthful of something that had been
referred to as 'beefalo,' Garth turned to Ken and asked "Is there a
reason why I shouldn't walk through the Great Hall?"

Ken nearly choked on his sandwich. But then he stopped, thought, turned
to Garth and said "As a changeling or as yourself?"

"As myself," Garth replied.

"You were talking about how you didn't like your Katckin body just a
short while ago."

"I think that was different," Garth replied. "I... I don't know if I
believe all of you that I'm handsome, but that's different from not
liking my body. I'm used to my body. I don't know if I would adjust to
having it changed. The idea that I could go through the Great Hall and
get all the benefits and none of the disadvantages is powerful
incentive."

"It is indeed," Ken agreed. "You know, there is no disadvantage to it if
you go through at all. You could retain your Terran registration, your
Right of Replacement, everything. There is nothing about you after the
Hallwalk that's obvious to observers. Nothing at all. A close physical
might find some things."

"What about that... the heart implant?"

"You can get that during or after the Hallwalk. The difference is that
after the Hallwalk it's surgery. During the Hallwalk, well, you're sorta
trusting the magic of the Great Hall, aren't you? And don't ask me what
that is. It's a secret." Ken smiled.

"What about my fertility?"

"What about it?" Ken asked. "Who's gonna notice? You certainly can't get
any femKatckins on Terra pregnant; they're all sterile, remember? And if
you're really worried about pregnancy, there's always the tiny
contraceptive implants. We perfected those centuries ago."

"What are they?"

"Furry, you explain. My sandwich is getting cold."

Furry accepted Shardik's offer. "They're tiny valves about six
millimeters on a side. They get placed over... what are those things
called in males?"

"The vas deferens," P'nyssa supplied.

"Them. Anyway, they block off sperm flow from the testicles to the
penis. In females they block off the fallopian tubes."

"How do you get them open?" Garth asked.

"Magnets," P'nyssa replied, picking up the medical part of the thread.
"We have a small electromagnet. It's about the size of a writing pen."
She pulled one out of a pocket on the jumpsuit she wore. "It's a little
thicker, but about the same length. There's a little switch labeled
'open' or 'closed' and a small light. You run the round end over the
skin until the light comes to full brightness. It's just a simple
magnetometer. Then you put the switch in the direction you want the
valves to be. The thing gives off a small hum and the valves get
changed."

"That easy?" Garth asked. "I'm surprised we don't have anything like
them on Earth."

"You do," P'nyssa replied. "Your species haven't needed them for the
past four centuries because Saman Transfer has made you all sterile. But
even on Pendor they're called 'Dutch Valves' because they were invented
in Holland."

"Wow."

"Nothing surprising about that," P'nyssa said. "Most of the truly
important things on Pendor were discovered on Earth."

"Like?"

"Like consciousness," Ken said. "Like symbolic language. Like
mathematics. Like theatre. Romance. Everything around you here, Garth,
is a combination of ideas, all of which existed on Terra for years
before Pendor existed."

"But doesn't it matter that someone with the tools to make it happen
did?"

"Of course. But I think people give too much credit to some artists and
not enough to others. Anyway, all this philosophy makes me hungry. I'm
gonna get some cake." He stood up and left abruptly.

Aaden leaned over and in a conspiratorial whisper told Garth and
Nickolai, "He does that when he realizes he talking about himself
nowadays. I figure it'll last a year or so."

"Guilt?" Nickolai asked.

"I think he just hates being the topic of conversation. He knows he is
every day everywhere in the galaxy." Aaden sat back up. "So, Garth, are
you going to walk the Hall?"

"I'm thinking about it," the Katckin replied. "I'm not sure what to do
with the idea yet."

"Well, I'm sure you can make up your mind in the month you're here. So,
who's going to be your tourguide?"

"What are my choices?"

"Well, both Kiza and Skii have agreed to it."

"Why can't I have both of them?"

"That," Ken Shardik interjected, returning from the dessert table, "Has
to be the most Pendorian thing I think I've heard come out of anybody's
mouth since the Terrans got here. Polite, selfish, self- indulgent and
utterly harmless. Well, Skii, would you be willing to have both Kiza and
Garth as company for a month? Kiza, would you be willing to live at
Shardik Castle for a month with Garth and Skii?"

"I'd like to very much!" Kiza replied.

"I don't think I'd have a problem with it," Skii continued.

"Nor would I," Garth finished. "It's a deal then."

"And Nickolai... would you and Jofuran be willing to spend a while here
while Nickolai gets his head on straight?"

"I think I'd like that." Nickolai kissed Jofuran's head. "What about
you?"

"I don't have a problem with it," Furry said. "I'm on a break right
now."

"Then it's settled. Good! The house was getting empty and full of
fuddy-duddies anyway."

"You're the only fuddy-duddy we have, Ken," Aaden said sweetly.

"You're just jealous."

            *            *            *

"I have my own place," Skii was saying, "over there."

"Skii?" Garth asked. "Ken acted really strangely when he suggested mine
and Kiza's bedroom be in here. For one thing, he was making one serious
assumption. Kiza and I aren't sleeping together."

"Oh. Oh! Damn, what do I do with that? Dave!"

"I was already aware of the situation thanks to Lexander. There are two
smaller beds in the bedroom."

"I guess that'll be okay. But it was more than that. What was all that
about twenty years ago..."

Skii laid his hand on the bridge of his snout and rubbed downwards,
deforming his small whiskers slightly as he did so. "You're probably
running into this on Terra a lot nowadays, but... we've always been
immortal. Unaging and hard to kill, anyway. The most common form of
death on Pendor is suicide." He took a deep breath. "P'lissane,
P'nyssa's first daughter, committed suicide in here." The door opened as
Skii led the way inside.

"I know it's just supposed to be another room," Skii said, "But it was
the second death ever in Shardik Castle, and it really made a lot of
people weird. I don't know. I don't really want to think about it."

"That was the year before you were born, right?"

"Right," Skii agreed. "In a way, I'm glad I didn't know P'lissane. It
must have been very hard on people."

"They just found her in here, right?"

"Right. Sitting at the table. All the furniture's been changed, the rug
and ceiling tiles, even. The entire room was changed to avoid reminding
people about her. But even with all that..."

Garth nodded. "Look, um, I guess this is goodnight?"

"Looks that way." Skii held out his hand and Garth shook it. "Nice to
meet you, and I'm glad we'll have more time together."

"Me too. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Kiza?"

She held out her hand and he shook that as well. "Thank you, Skii."

"You're welcome. See you guys later." He waved and walked out.

After the door had closed behind Skii's retreating back, Garth sighed.
"Well, he certainly seemed to change a lot when he was talking about
P'lissane."

"It's hard on people, Garth. We try not to admit that we know people who
are going to die, especially by their own hand. I'm not in a very happy
spirit right this minute either, after that. I'm just going to head to
bed."

"That sounds like a good idea."

She nodded and disappeared down a hole like Alice's Rabbit, and Garth
remembered that bedrooms in Shardik Castle were on the floor below the
living quarters. He walked over to the hole, steeled himself, and
stepped over it. He fell slowly, landing calmly on the floor of the
bedroom. Kiza walked out of the bathroom and crawled into one of the two
beds.

Looking at his bed, set into an almost-blackened wooden frame, he
wondered what a bed for two people was like if a bed for one was this
large.

He made use of the bathroom. Tiled in bright white and illuminated with
indirect lighting, it was a masterpiece of comfortable design. Stepping
out into the bedroom, he realized Kiza was already dead asleep. With a
smile he stripped off his clothing and crawled under the apparently
hand-quilted comforter. He fell asleep just as quickly.

----------------------
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik 
and Related Tales.

The entire archive of stories can be found at:
http://www.pendorwright.com/journals

Copyright 1993 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.
Distributed under the Creative Commons License BY-ND-NC/1.0
Some Rights Reserved. 

Elf's latest stories are available in paperback!  Buy 
the genderbending novel _Sterlings_, available
now from http://stores.lulu.com/elfsternberg

--

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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