Xia Phar had a good life for a human on Saer’kah. She didn’t wear a restriction band and the Saer’khi family that had raised her since the Migration treated her like one of their own. Others humans on Saer’kah though had no reason to love the Saer’khi . At least Xia had some semblance of freedom. So when the humans decide to rebel against the Saer’khi and she discovers the real reason for the presence of humans and other aliens on Saer’kah Xia decides to take action. Enlisting the help of her family and her friend Tarek she forms a plan to get everyone out of the alien barracks without arousing suspicion and get them off Saer’kah on one of the newly built colony ships. Sounds pretty easy right? Now Tarek’s crush on her is the least of her problems and leaving Saer’kah is just the beginning.     Twice Removed Chapter 12 Fun in the Sun By Amethyst

That night at dinner Sarah and her staff were serving portions of wingnut syrup for the first time along with our dinner of fish berries, nuts, and such. She had even managed to convert some of the sap to a workable form of sugar, and the new sweets raised spirits around the fires immensely. Amy couldn’t seem to sit still through dinner, but it wasn’t due to the sweets. Once she had had her fill of dinner my ward placed Violet on her shoulder and reveled in her new ability to walk around the camp fires and talk to others. The sight of Amy walking around on her own power seemed to have a similar effect on people as the sweets. She was a shining example of just how much we had been through and how we could get through it and become even stronger.

With Amy mobile again we now had two doctors and two first aid attendants and Amy’s new legs would allow her to run and jump well enough to not only get almost anywhere Krie and I could, but almost as fast once she got used to them. The day of Amy’s surgery had also heralded the completion of the temporary shelters and we would now be able to put more work into cultivating fields for planting and beginning construction on the water pipeline. With things going fairly well in camp and the mutineers working hard under the watchful eyes of Mandy and Captain White, I felt a lot more secure about sending out scouting parties to explore more of our new world.

That night I began to look through the skill sets of the other colonists with an eye for two well-rounded scout parties that would alternate scouting missions. I would only be sending out one party at a time and I wanted a medic and at least two fliers on each team in case of emergency. Having two Saer’khi per team would also allow us to communicate with an aerial scout even if comms were down for some reason. I also wanted a Murqui on each team for their hunting, tracking, and stealth abilities in the woods; a combat specialist in case things went south; and people specialized in the type of terrain we would be scouting.

Krie would be the team leader and medic for one group with Lirra as the forest scout, Tanna as aerial scout, Luiza for her combat experience, Nu-Arr, and Zheer. Nu-Arr was one of our seven Nezans and since Krie’s team would begin scouting the inland mountains I felt that he would be useful. The humanoid goats usually make their homes in the mountains and are excellent climbers. Zheer was a male Haran and the velociraptor-like people were effective in any terrain as they were great climbers, fierce combatants, and could use their wings for gliding even if they couldn’t fly.

I would lead the other team and act as it’s medic with Tarek as aerial scout and Matt as our combat specialist. Since we would be scouting along the coast I decided to have Pallu join us as an aquatic scout, her electro-location ability might also prove useful for detecting possible predators before they spotted us. Bixx would be our Haran and I wasn’t too worried about their safety since, like me and Matt, they had been part of the nanotech project. Bixx was the same age as me when they had gotten the nanites too, so we had a lot in common. When I had first interviewed Bixx that first day on the planet, I felt horrible that they would never grow into their proper gender, but the Haran said that they saw it as a blessing. Rather than being forced to conform to whatever gender fate imposed on them they could just be free to be themself. Growing up with gender issues like I had, it was something that I could relate to.

After a discussion with Lirra, I decided that a young woman named Rinnik would be the Murqui on our team; she was seventeen years old and the youngest of those that the Murqui considered adults. I chose her because Lirra thought that the girl could use a challenge and some time away from camp to put what she had learned into practice. Growing up on Saer’kah in the barracks she had never really gotten the chance to use the skills she had been taught by her parents. The past week we had been on planet had been a chance to use those skills with other Murqui present in the hunting parties, but she needed a chance to prove herself without over-protective elders watching over her shoulder. Like Pallu, she saw colonizing a new planet under the circumstances that we were as a big adventure.

Before bed Krie and I gathered our prospective team members in the forward area of the medical ship to explain what would be happening and to let them know what each of their roles would be. In addition to the medical supplies, core samplers, and other exploration gear the exploration teams would carry enough emergency rations to last several days in case of emergency and those of us with undamaged ship uniforms would be wearing them to function as environmental suits in harsh conditions. Both teams wanted first crack at exploration, but it was decided to send Krie’s team on the first day since they would be going inland and had a better chance at discovering other sources of food and supplies.

Krie’s team left at first light the next morning while I held down the fort and kept myself busy. During the morning I went to the edge of the forest with the crew that was preparing the land we had cleared of trees into a large plot of farmland for the colony. The idea was that while we would all have individual homes and property eventually, we would all continue to work together for the good of the colony. With communal farms, fishing, and harvesting of other resources, we would all have a share in what was produced so long as we all contributed to the colony. I was helping to remove a particularly stubborn stump from the ground when I got a ping from Krie.

*How are things at home Xia?* my sister asked.

*We’re making good progress prepping the land for planting. There have been a few minor injuries, but nothing too serious, so I’ve been letting Kyle and Amy handle them. They’re still too young to help with the really heavy work and I’m putting my strength to good use here. How’s the exploring going? You must have made some good distance, I can barely pick up your thoughts, even with my amplifier.* I was really having to focus to ’hear’ what she was sending.

*We’re at the base of the mountains southeast of the camp. We’re pretty much at the limit of telepathic range. Any contact from here on out will have to be by subspace comms. We found a large grove of wingnut trees and some patches of lemonberries, but not much else so far for potential food supplies.* The way her thoughts stressed the last few words made me smile.

I chuckled as I sent my thoughts back to her. *Let me guess, you found something that isn’t food supplies.*

A mental nod preceded her next words. *Tanna is doing some scouting ahead where the river turns at the mountains and she thinks that she may have spotted some sort of ruins, possibly a town. It’s overgrown with forest, but we’re headed that way now to check it out.*

*Damn! I knew inland would have the more interesting stuff, I should have made you flip for it,* I grumbled.

*Why would acrobatics help determine anything?* she sent back in confusion.

*Remember what I told you about humans using coin tosses to decide things when they want an element of chance involved? That’s what I meant,* I responded with a sigh. *Let me know if you find anything interesting. I doubt there will be anything useful after this long, but this could really help us learn more about whoever used to inhabit this planet.*

*Oh yes, that. We would have had no coins to toss though,* Krie teased. *I will contact you by subspace comms if we find anything.*

*Okay sis, just be careful, those ruins probably won’t be structurally sound,* I warned her before our contact faded.

I continued working with those clearing the fields until lunch and after eating with Amy, Tarek, and Sarah I had Amy and Kyle join me in visiting Rebecca Landry and the colony children. The sky was clear and the sun was shining and none of the colony youths had been able to leave the camp yet. Amy and Kyle had some trips to the edge of the forest but for the most part they too had been stuck in camp. As I approached with my two young companions and Kit on my heels the school teacher looked up at me and smiled. “Look kids, its Commander Phar, what brings you to visit us today Xia?”

I grinned at the older woman and shrugged, “I thought Kit and I might keep you all company and maybe I can tell the kids some stories if they’re interested. Or I have another idea if you’re all not too busy with something else.”

“You know the kids love it when you and Kit come and play or tell stories Xia. We were just trying to come up with suggestions for names for our two moons. We can’t keep calling them Moon One and Moon Two,” she said with a laugh.

“What have you come up with?” I asked. Naming the moons hadn’t really occurred to me with all the other priorities I had since we had landed.

“The children were having trouble thinking of names on their own so I suggested Artemis and Achelois,” she replied. “The children wanted me to suggest them to you actually.”

I nodded at the suggestion, but I only recognized one of the names. “I know Artemis was a Greek moon Goddess, so that sounds appropriate, I don’t think I’ve heard of Achelois though. What’s it from?”

“Achelois was another Greek lunar Goddess, a minor one,” she answered. “Her name means ‘She who drives away pain’. I thought it appropriate given what we’ve all been through.”

I raised my brows at that and smiled. “That’s perfect Rebecca; we’ll name the larger one Artemis and the smaller one Achelois.” Then I turned to the children present with a conspiratorial wink. “So now that the names of our moons have been decided I have a question for all of you.” I paused a moment to make sure they were all listening and then asked, “How would you all like to go down to the beach for the afternoon?” My question was met with excited squeals and shouts and I had to raise my hands to get them to quiet down. “If we go, you have to listen to me, Rebecca, and Pallu. And if you find anything unusual or you hurt yourself you need to tell one of us right away. Amy and Kyle will be coming as well and will be able to treat any injuries if I have to leave.”

I gained an enormous amount of respect for Rebecca as we made our way with Amy, Kyle, and the other nineteen youths down the path to the beach. The older kids helped some with the smaller ones but still that’s a lot of little ones to keep track of, teach, and entertain all day within the confines of the camp. The path to the beach had been made easier to traverse since a good portion of our food was coming from the ocean now, but one can’t be too careful with children so Rebecca and I were both sure to keep a watchful eye on the group as we walked the path. The trip was without incident though and soon we had arrived at the beach where Pallu and Seddar were leading the group on fishing duty for the afternoon.

Pallu had just added some more fish to the growing pile in the back of the mag-transport and waved as she saw us. I quickly waved her over and once she was close enough for casual conversation I grinned at her. “I figured that our children could use a day of fun in the sun. Your dad has the fishing crew well in hand so do you think you can help me and Rebecca keep them entertained? Maybe you could teach those who don’t know how to swim?”

“That sounds like fun,” the Yazuik agreed. Soon she was giving swimming lessons and playing in the water with some of the children while others ran along the beach playing games with Amy, Kyle, and Rebecca. Three children had shown some interest in building constructs in the sand. I used to love doing that as a kid myself, so soon I found myself kneeling along with them packing wet sand together and helping them build whatever ideas their imaginations came up with. The comms stayed quiet that afternoon and as I watched the children having fun on the beach and in the water I was really glad that I had thought of it, these kids needed a little fun.

Even the slips were getting involved. Violet stuck close by Amy’s side for the most part and I wasn’t sure how Amy managed it, but later in the afternoon she somehow got her young slip to find places to hide while the children sought her out. Violet was small enough that sometimes the kids really had to look hard to find her. Kit on the other hand seemed to take her cues from me, digging up sand to use in constructs and when I saw a child getting too far away from the group sometimes she was up before me, dashing over to the child and playfully luring them back to the others. The behavior of both slips made me wonder again just how intelligent these creatures were.

As the afternoon progressed it got hotter and hotter, I tried to just enjoy myself and even went for a short swim with my three architects so we could all cool off a bit. It wasn’t long after our swim when my comm unit beeped followed by the sound of my sister’s electronic voice. “I am calling to let you know about our progress Xia.”

“How is the ruin exploring going Krie?” I asked, eager to know if they had found anything.

“This was definitely some sort of town, though it wasn’t very large,” she replied. “From the construction and what few rough iron tools we’ve found Luiza thinks that their development was about equal to the middle ages on Earth. They weren’t very advanced and probably never saw the disaster coming. There are a few things that really confuse me though.”

“What things?” I inquired, making sure to keep my eyes on the children.

“The first thing is that there’s crocosaur burrows nearby, but this town was built really close to the river,” she explained. “I would have thought that with the presence of such large predators there would be some sort of defensive walls, or they would have built the town further from the river, but that’s not the case. Also I doubt their iron tools would do much good against a crocosaur, even if they did have weapons of some sort as well.”

I mulled that over in my mind a moment before suggesting, “Maybe they had some sort of biological defense mechanism, or they domesticated the slips and used them as an early warning system? I mean Kit did warn me about that first one, did you see any in the forest?”

“That’s the other thing,” she responded, making me really wish I could sense her thoughts. “We didn’t see any in other parts of the forest, but we’re seeing a lot of them in the ruins, there’s at least a hundred watching our every move. They are almost compulsively interested in us. Mischief seemed to have some sort of empathic conversation with some of them and made it quite clear that I belonged to him, but now every other member of the scouting team has been claimed by one.”

“I thought we agreed not to feed the local wildlife anymore,” I stated in confusion.

“That’s just it; they hardly had to do anything for one to stake a claim on them. Nu-Arr dropped a crumb from his ration bar and Luiza accidentally brushed one with her hand. They seemed to be in competition to claim one of us before the others did.”

That sounded more than a little troublesome. “Just how competitive are they?”

The comm buzzed faintly as she thought about it. “Not violently so, if one made a claim the others moved on, they seem to respect one another’s claims. I would say they’re domesticated, but it’s been three hundred years, shouldn’t they have gone wild by now? It’s almost like they have a genetic imperative to bond with us, like it’s some sort of empathic symbiotic relationship.”

“Maybe it is, these creatures aren’t as smart as us, but they are damn smart, so maybe domestication proved to be an evolutionary advantage for them and now they seek it out. Kit did seem interested in me when we first met and it didn’t take much to bond with her. It could be due to racial memory or something as well, they remember being domesticated so their claim is a deal that we care for them and they care for us by warning us of danger and taking care of what’s important to us.”

“You could be right about that,” she admitted. “Amy and I might have only had trouble forming a bond with Violet and Mischief because they’re so young. None of the ones that have bonded with the others are as young as Mischief is. It could be something to do with their empathic abilities not being fully developed yet at that age.”

“That’s probably it,” I agreed as I lay back on the sand. “Hopefully the slips will leave you all alone now that you’re all claimed. Your team should be heading back to camp now if you want to get back here before dark.”

“We’re packing up our gear and getting ready to head back now. We’re just waiting for Nu-Arr and Tanna to get back, she thought she spotted something moving on the mountainside while doing a flyover and he wanted to check it out. I just wanted to update you before they return and we get going. I’ll see you when we get there.” She disconnected the comm link and I turned my attention back to playing with the children.

A little over two hours later, Pallu approached me wearing a frown on her furry face. “Commander, we need to get everyone back to camp and under shelter.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked simply.

“The feel of the water has changed and the fish are moving to deeper waters,” she responded quickly. “There is a storm coming.”

I didn’t bother to ask if she was certain. The Yazuik know water better than any other species, so if she said there was a storm coming, then there was a storm coming. I just nodded and told her, “Have your dad pull in the fishing teams and load everything on the mag-transport. I’ll help Rebecca, Amy, and Kyle get the kids back to the camp. I’ll have Tarek drop what he’s doing and come back to pilot the transport back once it’s full.”

She ran off to do as I instructed and I used my comm unit to send out a system-wide call. “All team leaders, this is Xia. I need you all to have your teams finish what they’re doing, pack up their gear and return to camp as soon as possible. There’s a storm coming in from the ocean and I don’t want anybody outside the EM shield when it gets here. Krie that means your team too, double time it back here or find a place to bunker down and let me know when you do. Karran, make sure the EM shield is ready to go the moment we know everyone is safe. Tarek, I need you to finish whatever you’re helping with in the fields and come bring the transport to the camp once it’s loaded.” Once I disconnected the call I called out to Rebecca, Amy, and Kyle, “We need to gather up the kids and get them to the shelter of the personnel ship!”

With that done I turned to Kit and sent a telepathic command. *Kit, go help bring the children here.* The slip rushed off toward where Rebecca was child wrangling, leaving me with my three tiny architects. “Jittu, Xith, Mikey, I’m really sorry, but our day at the beach is over. I promise we will do this again soon, but once Rebecca and the others join us here we need to go back to camp. Pallu says there is a big storm coming and I want you all somewhere safe. So I need you all to do something really important okay?”

The Murqui girl, the young Haran, and the human boy all nodded and replied, “Yes Commander Phar.”

I smiled at their quick and eager response. The three had really enjoyed spending the afternoon with me and when I wasn’t helping them build things in the sand they followed me to go swimming or join in a game like three little ducklings, it was so cute. “Okay now, I need you all to make sure you stay really close to me until we get to the personnel ship and let me know if any of the other kids are falling behind the group. Do you think you can all do that for me?”

The three were quick to accept their new mission and soon Rebecca, Kit, Amy, and Kyle had managed to herd all the other small children to my group with the help of two of the other older kids. Rebecca instructed them to all stay together and watch out for each other and we began to make our way back to camp. Thankfully, between the children being really cooperative and Kit making sure none of them strayed, we made good time getting to the personnel ship. The camp was a flurry of activity and people returning early from their afternoon rotations, several of which came to join their children in the ship and help entertain the group of youths.

I instructed Kyle to stay with them and Amy to return with me to the medical ship so we could prepare in case of emergency. While Amy headed there I took to the air and got some altitude to get a good look toward the ocean. I could already see black clouds gathering on the horizon and the winds at the higher altitude seemed a little more intense than I had previously experienced when flying on this planet. This storm could be a rough one; I really hoped that Krie and the others made good time getting back. I quickly returned to the earth as I sent a ping to Karran. *We may have to turn on the EM shield well before dark, and this storm could be a long one, are all the solar generators charged?*

*Three are fully charged and one is at three quarters, I am linking them all now so we won’t have to change empty ones for full ones during the storm,* he replied calmly.

*Good work. Do you think the EM shield can handle whatever is coming?* I was a bit worried about that since we hadn’t had to use the shield under severe conditions yet.

*I’m sure it can Xia,* the engineer assured me. *These shields were designed for severe magnetic storms, hurricanes, sandstorms, blizzards, and even to provide safe environments on asteroids or planets with no atmosphere if necessary. They put everything they can in these shield generators to be sure they are suitable for any condition, that’s why they’re so bulky and use so much power. They include air generators and recycling systems, temperature regulation systems, bio-filters, and shield opacity controls. I’m fairly certain that it can handle whatever this planet sends our way.*

I made my way into the medical ship and pinged Tarek next. *What’s your status Tess’hir?*

A few seconds later I got a reply. *I’m helping Seddar’s team finish loading the mag-transport now.* I received an image of the fishing crew piling the gathered seaweed over top of the fish already in the transport and smiled.

*The second you’re finished send everyone back to camp and get the transport here… and please hurry, we don’t know near enough about this planet’s weather systems yet.* I really hated not knowing what to expect. How could I keep all these people safe and secure from things I have no control over or can’t anticipate?

Tarek wrapped me in a mental embrace as his mind voice slipped into my brain five minutes later. *Stop worrying Tess’rha. You’re doing everything you can, and everyone knows that. The transport is loaded and we’re all on our way to camp. I should be there shortly.*

With a sigh I sat down in one of the gel chairs in the forward section of the ship to watch Amy play with Violet. Almost immediately Kit jumped into my lap and started to buzz as she made herself comfortable. The buzzing and the presence of the slip vibrating in my lap conspired to relax me by the time Tarek pinged me again. *We’re all back. All teams and colonists are accounted for except for Krie’s team and the mining team.*

*I’ll contact Mandy and Krie’s team. Hopefully both will make it back before the storm hits. How’s the weather out there?* I inquired.

He too was concerned about the coming storm, I could feel it, but he also wasn’t panicking which eased my own worries a little. *Those clouds are getting closer, but Seddar thinks we still have a few hours before it hits land. The wind is picking up a bit and making it hard for Sarah and the kitchen staff, but they’re managing. Xawin’s team gathered as many fallen branches as they could for the fires on their way back from starting construction on the pipeline.*

*Good thinking on their part. Let me know if anything requires my attention, I’m going to contact Mandy and Krie,* I sent back.

I was wrapped in another mental embrace as he told me, *I’ll keep you updated.*

I selected Mandy’s and Dennis’ frequencies on my comm unit and opened a channel. “Captain White, Mandy, what’s the status of your team?”

“We’re in sight of the camp now, we should be there within ten to fifteen minutes,” Dennis responded. “We are all present and accounted for. I’m glad you called all teams back to camp Commander, I don’t like the look of those clouds.”

“I agree with Dennis,” Mandy put in with her slight southern accent. “Clouds like that over the ocean were never a good sign back home, and I got a feeling that’s one thing that’s not too different here.”

“Hurry back then so we can compare planetary weather systems from the safety of the EM shield,” I encouraged her.

“I’ll hold you to that Xia,” she responded with a laugh as she closed the channel.

As soon as the call was disconnected I reached out with my mind though my amplifier, searching for Krie and Tanna’s mental signatures. To my relief they were within telepathic range so I sent a ping to them both. *You seem to be making good time, where are you?*

*Tanna and I are flying back as quickly as a we can, we should be back in less than an hour if we can keep this pace up,* she replied, her attention not fully on me.

*Wait, why are the two of you flying back? What about the others?* I asked in concern. What reason could they possibly have for flying back so quickly? Did something bad happen?

My fear tainted my thoughts and Tanna responded with what I can only describe as the mental equivalent of the Cheshire Cat’s grin. *Xia, you are not going to believe what Nu-Arr and I found.*