- Disaster Trip

About two weeks went by after that day. I had kept my promise to Xlilith and made a habit of stopping in twice a day, even if it was for a donut or something just so I could see how she was settling in. As I had figured, Maggie, the big heart her and her husband was, set Xlilith up in her own cozy apartment upstairs of the diner and helped provide her with better cloths; Though anything would be an improvement over the rags that she had on when we've met. Xlilith was quickly enrolled in a week long language course so she could understand and speak Sol Common better. Maggie even gave Xlilith a job as a waitress to help her seeing that her husband wasn't improving and she wasn't spending as much time at the diner. On one of our day's off, I had even taken her out for a drive, having just purchase a vehicle specifically built for the planet's climate.

Sadly though, a week before Christmas, we got a call and had to immediately leave for another settlement that just had their snow fencing fail. Some reason, my team was considered one of the best on the planet and was also one of the closets; I think it was more because everyone else had holiday plans and was off planet. What sucked was the settlement was a two day ride by monorail. So two days out and two days back, if we were lucky, we'd be back before Christmas Eve at this point.

My main crew that I worked with everyday consisted of 12 members, including myself, of the mix human and alien population. When I called them into a meeting, I told them what was going on and that we needed to get going asap. I however, didn't think we needed the whole crew so I narrowed it down to only needing six members. However I think I surprised them when I ask for volunteers. To my surprise, all 11 volunteered.

Asquen, the rabbit like Almedha who I considered my second in command and best friend, stood up. “If its as bad as it being made to sound, then we are going to need all hands on deck." I looked at everyone and they all nodded in agreement. By the end of fifteen minutes, everyone was getting their gear ready and packed to travel. Some of us who had families and to make other arrangements for things called to let them know that we were going to be gone for the better part of the week. Myself, I left a message for Maggie and Xlilith, letting them know what was going on and that I might be out of touch for a while. An hour later the dozen of us was on the rail heading towards the distressed settlement.

The trip itself was boring. Not necessarily because of lack of facilities on the train, but because of the one side being lined with a snow wall while the other side had a view of any drifting snow that flew over head and darkness beyond what illumination the speeding train gave off. 42 hours of nothing to see until we got within eye sight of the city we were speeding to.

I supposed this would be a good time as any to explain some of Severa's uniqueness.

As you may have figured out from before, Severa has 14 months instead of the dozen with earth, but on the same token the months are shorter too, only about 25 to 28 days per month, based on the Caushae calendar. The planet itself is normally quite temperate and large grassy plains and a few hills and mountains. I think I've even heard that there was a desert region in the southern hemisphere like what's in the Northern America. But what causes the harsh winters and the near sudden drops in temperatures is that Severa is an earth size moon to a gas giant and for almost half a year, Severa's sun is hidden by the stellar body.

It was some 42 odd hours before we crested a hill and the settlement came into sight and aside from a collective gasp from the riders, you could hear a pin dropped. Everyone could make out the lights of the city, and there was a swath of snow that cut off a section. Just by what we could see, the giant snow fence didn't just fail, an entire segment had collapsed leaving close to an eighth of the city burred in what I would guess was 5 to 10 meters of snow. Search and rescue had a two day head start to try and find those in need, leaving my team as well as others who were also called in to find out why the fencing failed and repair the damage.

As soon as the train stopped everyone had their gear on and eager to get to work. We joined at least three other teams as we went strait for the collapsed fencing. Long story short, a group of local creatures, called Togark, had apparently made a nest in one of the fencing structures. These nomadic creatures were like a shaggy white hybrids of a gorilla and a bear with a large black beak that dominates their heads. I don't think they actually have eyes, but they do hunt by sensing body heat in the cold. They're such a pain in the fact that they will occasionally attack the fencing as well as the lesser insulated power conduits thinking that they've found pray causing a nasty mess.

Their beak and claws are strong enough to rip through quite a few metals like tin foil. In this case, they had attacked the support structure of the fencing because the secondary function of the structure was to heat up the collecting snow and ice and melt it to prevent too much buildup as well as collect additional water to supply the settlements. In doing so, they had collapsed 3 of the protective structures resulting in the mess that we had arrived to.

We were able to rebuild the large fencing and went about inspecting the rest of the settlement's protective barricade. Sadly though, we discovered that someone wasn't doing their jobs right and there was signs of more than one nest. Several of the Lycans formed hunting parties and scouted the rest of the fencing structures as the rest of us began to inspect and repair the damages caused by the creatures. In the end, it took us a full three days to repair the damage caused by the Togark, but by some miracle, be it a Christmas one or not, the only loss of life was that of the Togark.

While my counterparts in this settlement wasn't quite as happy once I got done giving them the hell they deserved the people were grateful for us coming to their aid. The last day that we were there, the people of the settlement threw us a small feast in thanks for everyone that came. A few of the medical as well as the search and rescue parties opted to say a little longer to help clean up the city of the impressive amount of snow that had basically cut the city in half to make sure that no one was still buried alive in the buildings.

My team and I left on the 22 nd for the 44 hour trip home and while I was more than ready to catch up on the sleep that I had missed during the last three days, I couldn't help but to think about seeing Xlilith again. I sat by myself in the passenger car as I normally did when traveling. Instead of the usual meandering of reading some story or some basic doodle to pass the time, I found myself looking at various pictures of me and Xlilith I had taken during the two weeks before the trip.

“So, is that the mystery girlfriend that the rumors were talking about?" I nearly jumped out of my seat to the amusement of Asquen. Asquen for his part sat next to me looking at the pictures I had up on my holo-desplay of my data pad.

“Rumors?" I asked, a bit taken aback as the rabbit anthro shifted my data pad to get a better look. “What rumors? I haven't heard anything going around."

“Of course not," He said matter of factually. “They're about a certain boss man that seem to of found himself a girlfriend. Though someone made the bet that it was a boyfriend."

My expression went mute as I gave Asquen 'The Look.' “A boyfriend? Really?..."

Asquen put his hands up like he was surrendering. “Hey, I'm just telling you that was what was thrown in the pool." I groaned as I face palmed myself. “Hey, tell you what I'll give you half of what he bet."

I looked back at Asquen from under my hand. “Equal share of the winnings and I won't report the under the table gambling."

I could see the nervous tick in the rabbits face as he considered his options. “Okay..." He said in a low voice. Changing the subject he pointed at the picture I was on. “So... Who is she and how did you two meet?"

“Xlilith." I said, my focus returned to the picture.“And you could say that we had..." I wave my hand as I thought of what to say. “Bumped into each other on the street." Apparently there was something about the way I talked as Asquen had a stupid smile on his face. “What?"

He shook his head. “Nothing." He changed the subject. “So, her name is Xlilith?" I nodded as he swiped through some of the pictures I had. “Damn... If my mate seen me now, I think she's skin me alive."

“Really." I said matter of factually. “I didn't know you were married."

Asquen shrugged, “Kind of similar in concept, but not the same. She's my mate and we love each other. Even if other Caushae would frown upon our pairing." He gave a sigh as he pulled out his own data pad and brought up a picture of his family to show me. Asquen stood there with his arm draped around a tan and silver haired Caushe that barely stood up to his shoulders and gathered around the bottom were 3 little Almedha children of different colors.

“Heh, three kids, someone was busy."

Asquen gave a polite laugh as he put the small pad away. “If only. The kids are adopted from just after your Alliance came and conquered the planet and over threw the Governor." He gave another sigh. “ Almedha and Caushae physiologically line up, but I think that our species aren't compatible together. And if we are, the odds of me knocking her up are probably astronomical." Smiling, he added. “Though its not from a lack of trying."

“Uh-huh..."

Things went silent as we sat there as the train sped through the darkness. I half expected Asquen to leave but he stayed in the seat. My thoughts drifted back to Xlilith as I stared out the window into the darkness. I've only known her for two weeks, yet, despite the time we've spent together, I knew so little of her and where she came from. I spent enough time that now that it was brought up, I realize that I do like her, perhaps more. But, there was something that was also nagging on me too that I didn't have the heart to ask her.

“Say Asquen," I didn't turn to look at my friend.

“Hmm?"

“What is 'Kruut'ir'?" When Asquen didn't respond I had thought he had left, but when I turned to look at him, he had a stunned expression on his face.

“Where did you hear that?"

I thought quickly as I didn't want to have any one associated with it if it was an insult label like I figured it might be. “Err, it was something I heard while I was in town shopping before our trip." I could see him relax some but the nervous tick of his was still present. “I'm just wondering what it means."

Asquen leaned back with a sigh as he gave my request some thought. “There's no direct transition for it in Sol Common, or any human language to my knowledge." He went silent for a bit as I sat and waited for a few moments before he started again. “The closest thing that I can come up with is that its a bad title, like 'Bad Blood' or 'Cursed Bloodline'. Perhaps even 'Family Member of the Despised."

“Are you talking something like 'The Sins of the Father' or something stupid like that? Where the kids have to pay for the mistakes of their parents?"

Asquen gave a curt nod. “Family lineage is a bit more important to the Caushae, especially among nobles. It is also believed that children will inherent their parent's traits." The rabbit looked me in the eye before he continued. “My mate could also of been considered one, as she chose me as a mate. But both of us were of a low status anyway, her a villein and me a slave. If the truth came out though, we might still be labeled one since we stole away here."

“Lucky that us humans invaded huh?"

“Indeed," he said with a smile for the first time since the topic was brought up. “Though thinking about it, there's maybe only one or two that might have that label."

“Oh? Who?"

“One or two of the governor's children that disappeared as you humans invaded."

“How so?" I ask, very curios now to find out a possible connection to Xlilith's past that she has kept hidden from me.

“The governor who was in charge of this system was not a kind individual. From what I heard, he would keep more than half of the crops that wasn't sent to one of the other worlds, leaving most of the populace half starved and buried once the storms settled for the growing season. He didn't care what happen to his villeins as long as they made the quota during the growing season."

“Sounds like a real taskmaster." and nothing like the Xlilith I know. The Xlilith I knew for the last two weeks did her best to live up to my and Maggie's expectations, going out of her way on occasions to help some of the regulars from the diner or even the tenants of the building.

“He was. When the humans invaded, much of the people storm the manor and... Well... There was more blood on the population's hands than the human TAFT solders."

“Damn..."

“Rumors were that at least one of the children, if not two had escaped in the carnage." Silence settled between us again for a while before Asquen spoke up again. “So, what is Xlilith like?"

I gave a longing sigh before I answered. “Xlilith, is close to an angel as far as I'm concerned. She's a sweet and caring person that's willing to help out a stranger."

“Almost sounds too good to be true."

“Oh, I'm sugar coating it, can't you tell?" I say earning a laugh from the Almedha. “Yeah, she has her faults, but so does everybody."

“Speak for yourself Cal."

“Bull. But seriously, most of her neighbors do like her and she does help Maggie around the diner when she's not working." Asquen gave me a funny look. “The Pavilion's Kitchen, Maggie and her husband Clark runs the building, I thought I told you about it before."

“Maybe you did in passing."

“Heh. Tell you what, maybe after the holidays sometime I'll have you meet me there and introduce you to Xlilith and Maggie."

Asquen smiled and nodded. “Something to look forward to then." He stood up and got ready to leave. “Just one thing,"

“Hmm?"

“Just keep in mind, not everyone is what they seem to be. You humans are proof of that." And with that, Asquen left me to my thoughts.

For the remainder of the trip, I was left mostly to myself. Mostly because I'd be filling out reports and other paperwork for the company. A tedious task in my opinion, bit its still my job even if I'd rather just be one of the guys. Occasionally, my thoughts drifted to my conversation with Asquen and what we talked about. Could Xlilith be a daughter of someone so horrible that they'd let their own people get buried alive in the snow? Of what little I knew of her, it might be likely, but yet, she's nothing like that governor before.

Besides, how can I fault someone for actions that they never did.