A Distant Future

A Distant Future Part 13

I had to reroute so many systems and reprogram so much of the computer it is a miracle we lived through that mess. After we had more federation come on board to help repair the ship I was left in command as the only officer still alive and not in sick bay. Once the tugs took over completely I went down to sick bay to find out Jake had received a lethal dose of radiation and had almost died as a result.

This was just his first cruise and not the last time he would pull crazy stunts to keep us alive and stop an enemy from boarding us. We served together and I began dating him discretely for almost three years more until we both left the service after the wars were finally over. So when he says he did not do anything dangerous or get in any major battles you can call him a liar."

I laughed with them as she told me the numerous tricks they pulled in the service and then to steal and repair their ship to get them and everyone here. Jake and Sarah laughed about the attempted rape on Earth and the dead bodies Uri and I left behind. I swear, If Jake had not been married I would have gone after him instantly.

I rummaged through everything and found a spare data cube. I put a copy of the source code on it that I had written to run everything and gave it to Sarah. "This should solve a lot of issues with your computer. It is the source code I wrote to run everything and it is very efficient compared to the code the federation uses. Just start overwriting everything with this and go from there. Within a week you should have your systems running a lot better."

With Jake and Sarah out it was time to go for a bit of a hunt with the pack. The pack was within sight and they began to howl in warning of danger. In an instant my wings were fully spread and I was airborne looking for the source of whatever it was that had set the pack off so badly. The pack had carried all the cubs to places of safety and hiding which left the bigger males of the pack free to confront whatever they sensed as dangerous.

The source came into sight pretty quickly as the pack swarmed out of hiding and surrounded a group of cat people carrying someone on an improvised litter. The cat people, I later learned, are very private and rarely intervene so it must be very important to get them all worked up enough to haul someone to me and risk the pack tearing them apart.

The group stopped in surprise and a bit of fear as the pack surrounded them and held them in place for fear of being attacked. Had they been a hunter group then the pack would have killed them instantly but they wanted something else this time. With the group not making any move to attack or retreat the pack made no move to do more than keep them from leaving until they were inspected by me.

I surprised the group of the cat people when I landed with a blaster in my hand set on maximum power. They had not ever attempted to harm me before and had even saved me once, but anyone the pack considered as a possible threat was going to be greeted by me with a blaster in hand until proven to not be a threat to the safety of the pack or me.

"You have come a long ways and have upset the pack so speak fast and tell me why." The youngest looking one of them spoke up as she carefully stepped into plain view of me. She was a very pretty young tiger with an arm in a sling and a few stitches in other places as well. "This man is an exile from his people and is hurt beyond what we can heal. He saved me a few days ago and I learned about how he was forced to leave his clan because he has wings. You also have wings and the ability to heal him where we can not. I owe him a life debt."