"The Earthers want to see you," the Captain said when the three had barely entered her office. Tana shook her head, Lisel took a step back as though to escape, and Krisin growled. "Stop that, all three of you. We are going to Earth, and you will not argue with me. I have not been back to Earth in twenty years. We are going. You are going to stand in front of the council without shaking your head, backing away, or growling."
"What do they want with us?" Lisel asked and still looked likely to run.
"They think the three of you deserve recognition for what you've done."
"Done?" Tana asked with a frown.
"You have done more to keep the war at bay than any other fighter group.
"Couldn't they recognize us at a distance?" Krisin asked.
"We are going."
She waved them out of her office.
"I would have preferred a were fleet," Tana admitted as they walked away.
Krisin and Lisel nodded in agreement. "How far out are we?"
"Twenty-two days and some hours," Krisin replied. He brushed a hand through his mane-like hair. "Maybe we'll get lucky and have a major were uprising before then."
They were not lucky.
When they were told it would be a bit cool where they headed, Tana had dressed in a single suit, well insulated, and Lisel wore the same, so he could adjust the temperature. Krisin, for some reason, had gone Catchin on them and wore a vest and pants. No shoes, no hat, no gloves. Tana wasn't used to seeing so much fur and claws.
A few people had looked shocked as they boarded the shuttle at the station. Tana tried not to glare or sulk but ended up doing a lot of both. And she panicked. They were coming far closer to the time and the place when they would have to face ... whatever waited for them.
"I want to go fight were," she mumbled as they landed.
Lisel and Krisin nodded.
Telling them it would be 'a bit cool' was probably one of those jokes they played on off-world visitors. They came down into a snowstorm when they landed at Port Denver. The cold gave Tana an instant headache, and the blaring instruments of the band didn't help. Lisel, who had talked about sunny beaches and ocean waves, looked dismayed. Krisin's fur puffed out to nearly twice its regular length. Tana feared he might start hissing.
Officials met them along with a whole line of reporters. Everyone spoke at once as they pressed forward, and Tana didn't think those people took Krisin seriously enough. One impertinent woman even reached out and brushed a hand over the fur on his arm as though testing it for a coat. Krisin's lips pulled back in what was not a grin -- not with those sharp teeth.
She got the idea and backed away in haste.
Tana said a few words now and then as they were herded into a long, black ground car of some ancient make that coughed when it started and slid slightly on the slick road as it began to move.
Tana didn't like the car, the road, or the fact she was not the one piloting. She also didn't like the three people sitting on a couch in from of them, man, woman, man -- all with predatory stares and wearing nice, heavy coats.
"Well, I do hope you like the snow," the woman in the middle said. She had a squeaky voice that automatically made Tana want to throttle her. "We're heading up a historic road in a historic car to one of the most historic mountain towns in the area."
If that annoying voice said 'historic' one more time, Tana planned to leap the distance and take her down. Lisel put a hand on her shoulder. He knew her too well.
Damned Earther mentality that thought bouncing in a falling apart car on a stretch of narrow road with increasingly steep drop-offs was some kind of honor. She wouldn't show her worry or distaste. She leaned back and stared across at the three. The man on the right shifted twice. No fighter there, but he recognized a threat posture.
He cleared his throat and moved again. "So, how do you like Mother Earth?"
At least he had a better voice.
"It looked lovely coming in," Krisin replied.
They all three started as though they had not expected the Catchin to talk ... or maybe didn't know that he could. That started to bring on a rage that was going to boil up out of Tana --
Lisel's fingers dug into her shoulder.
"The Rockies are a beautiful range, despite being so young," Krisin continued. He leaned back. "And yes, I do like snow."
They didn't ask any more questions. The last man did point out a couple spots and managed not to use the word 'historic' hardly at all. The woman glared as though we had somehow tricked her.
They reached Aspen hours later. Once the Earthers shut up, the ride wasn't too bad. Tana would have preferred it in an aircar or her fighter, but the historic part started to take her attention. Other people drove up and down the road, too, even in the falling snow. She imagined the wind currents were unstable with so many ups and downs. She almost asked if that was why they didn't use aircars here, but they might take that as an attack against their historic car.
The city was spread out over the valley and mountainside, and people were racing down mountains on boards of all sorts. It looked insane. And fun.
There was a word she hadn't used in a long time. She had to admit that the long ride up the mountain had been pretty enough.
None of them had expected assassins and terrorists.
"Earth for Earthers Only!"
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