The Neko's Tail (Book 2 of Astara)

Water for Dalmar

"Captain Artemis!"

Artemis turned his head, spotting a cream Faro hurrying toward him. The tiger let out a sigh. He already had to spend a day away from Elias to check on their ship. With another interruption, he might have to spend another night in port.

The Faro saluted crisply, his striped black bracer showing his rank of private.

"Fleet Command requests your presence, urgent."

"Fleet Command?" Artemis frowned.

It was strange for him to be singled out. He was IEFL, not military. Still, if the Fleet Command wanted him, he couldn't really ignore the summon.

"Lead the way," he said.

The Faro spun on his heel and hurried toward the main building of the port. Artemis kept up with the fox easily, wondering if Reinard would look as cute as this Faro if he were to run with his shorter legs.

The port was almost empty, the tiger and the fox seemingly the only ones in the area. Now that he thought about it, the port had been empty when Artemis and Elias had arrived almost three weeks ago.

Thankfully the snow had melted. Artemis hated the stuff, the way it soaked into everything. He had seen more than enough of the frozen water to last him the rest of his life. This planet was cold. Not as cold as some of the planets he had been on, but there was a definite chill to the air, even up north.

"Right through this door," the Faro said, pointing toward another small building.

"Thank you," Artemis said, returning another salute.

He stepped through the door and was immediately approached by a Dalmar.

"Captain Artemis, thank you for coming."

There was no marker on the Dalmar, and the tiger assumed he was not in any of the fleets.

"General Steila is waiting for you through that door."

The tiger frowned but refrained from questioning the Dalmar. He walked to the second door and rapped sharply against it.

"Enter!"

Stepping into the room beyond. Artemis found a grizzled looking brown Faro sitting in a chair.

"Captain Artemis of the IEFL reporting as ordered," the tiger said, throwing a salute.

"At ease. Have a seat Captain."

The Faro let out a sigh as Artemis sat on the other side of the desk.

"You are no doubt wondering why I asked you here. I have a problem Captain, and I'm praying that you are the solution."

Artemis remained silent, still wondering.

"What is the largest ship you are rated for Captain?"

The tiger blinked.

"Uh... it's been a few years, but I've flown a 20,000-tonne freighter as a training mission," he said.

"Perfect. You have no doubt heard of the issues between my planet and the Dalmar. They are on a desert world and their water is not reaching them. Now, this isn't the worst problem we could have; they have survived for centuries without our water. But as per the Alliance treaty, we are required to provide the Dalmar with no less than fifty thousand tonnes of water every month.

"Needless to say, our inability to comply is a danger to this entire system. Neither planet can afford another war. Many of our most prominent families were devastated in the last war. We do not know what has caused our shipments to quite literally vanish, but we cannot rule out foul play. There is a chance the pilots of the previous shipments mutinied and took the tankers elsewhere. We need an independent party. That is where you come in."