Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Sorry this part took a while.  I went on a vacation for a couple weeks.



   Part 15 Fighting Dizyntk (scfi, no sex)





   "It's a beautiful day." Cynthia Rodgers thought as she stared out the
window of the shuttle.  Indeed, the sun was shining brightly and there were
just a few white puffy clouds.  She was still uneasy at the thought of
meeting Feyalisa.  While she was curious about this Dizyntk with whom her
friend had fallen in love, she was still nervous about it.  What would she
be like?  She was a princess after all; at least that is what she had
heard. Michael had not mentioned anything about it when they had talked. 
Her thoughts on this were abandoned as the ship began to descend and she
saw the Royal Residence.  The building and the grounds were beautiful.  As
she exited the shuttle after landing, she saw Michael waiting for her near
the building's entrance.  He walked out to meet her.

   "I'm glad you could come." he said to her.

   Her eyes darted back and forth a bit and she lowered her head a little.
"I'm still a little nervous about all of this."

   "I can understand that." he said as he motioned for them to walk to the
house.

   "Try not to worry too much about it.  My mates are really looking
forward to meeting you."

   Cynthia stopped dead in her tracks.  She was sure she had heard him
correctly.

   Michael turned to look at her.  She had a surprised look on her face. 
"What's wrong, Cynthia?"

   She looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "Did you say mates, as in
more than one?"

   Michael was confused by the question for a moment.  He then realized
that he had said nothing about Velakari during the talk that he and Cynthia
had had yesterday.  He had not been trying to hide anything from her; it
had simply not crossed his mind.  He said as much and apologized for not
thinking about it sooner.

   "I have just gotten so used to living with the Dizyntk that I forgot
about what you might think about this." he explained.

   "I mean, I saw the recording you made that explained how Dizyntk society
worked." she said.  "But I just didn't think that you would actually be
married to more than one other person."

   "Believe me, if you had told me eight years ago that I would have been,
I would have thought you were crazy." he said with a slight hint of
embarrassment.

   Cynthia put her hand on her head and said, "I am almost afraid to ask
this but, how many?"

   Michael smiled at her.  "Just one other, her name is Velakari."

   "Well, now I'm really nervous." Cynthia said.

   Michael then took her hand and said to her gently, "There really is no
need to be.  Come on, let's go inside."

   Cynthia nodded and let him lead her into the house.  When they entered,
Cynthia saw a female dizyntk with long black hair and very pale skin coming
down the stars in front of them.  She was also wearing flowing green robes
that were quite unlike any of the Dizyntk clothing she had seen up till
now. She walked up to them and looked and Cynthia.  She then said something
in Dizyntilin.  Cynthia had no idea what the girl was saying but, she had
one of the prettiest sounding voices she had ever heard.  Michael then
looked at Cynthia.

   "Cynthia, this is my bonded mate, Velakari.  She would like to welcome
you if you don't mind." Michael explained.

   Cynthia looked at Velakari even more closely now.  So this was one of
Michael's mates.  Even with the tail and the strange ears, Cynthia had to
admit that Velakari was not hard to look at.

   She looked sideways at Michael and asked, "How do Dizyntk welcome
guests, I don't think I caught that on your info recording."

   Michael shrugged slightly and said, "Generally, they hug you."

   Cynthia thought for a second and nodded.  "Sure, that's fine."

   Michael told Kari it was alright.  Kari then wrapped her arms around
Cynthia and gently hugged her as she said something in her trilling and
lyrical language.  The only thing that Cynthia understood was her name.

   Michael translated for his friend's benefit.  "She is saying, welcome to
our home Cynthia; I am very pleased to meet you."

   "It's nice to meet you to, Velakari." Cynthia replied as she hesitantly
hugged her in return.

   After stepping back from the embrace, Kari said something else to
Cynthia.  Michael told Cynthia that his mate had asked her to, "Please, you
may call me Kari."

   The three of them then went into the dining room.  As they entered,
Cynthia saw a red haired Dizyntk walking towards then.  She had no trouble
recognizing her as Feyalisa.  Michael had described her perfectly.  She
walked directly up to Cynthia and took her hands into her own.

   Feya looked into Cynthia's eyes and said, "Welcome, Cynthia, I have been
looking forward to meeting you."

   Cynthia looked at Feya for a moment as she realized that the Dizyntk had
greeted her in English.  She had been told that a few Dizyntk could speak
her language, but this was the first time that she had heard one do so.

   "Thank you.  I am a bit nervous about this, but I am glad to meet you as
well." she said to Feya.

   Feya nodded.  "I understand you nervousness, but please come and eat
with us and put your mind at ease.  We will talk for a while and get to
know each other."

   They all went to the table and sat down.  Feya sat next to Cynthia so
that they could talk.  As the servants were bringing the food in, Aria and
Vasi came into the room.  Michael introduced his daughter and her friend to
Cynthia.  Cynthia was fascinated by Aria's mixed human and Dizyntk
features. After helping Vasi to her seat, Aria went over to Cynthia to give
her a better look.

   She held up her hands and said, "See, I have five fingers just like my
father."

   "Yes you do." Cynthia commented.  She examined them and noticed that,
while the hands did resemble human hands, Aria's fingers lacked
fingernails.

   "Do you have claws in all five of them?" Cynthia asked.

   Aria just nodded and extended her claws.  After a couple of minutes of
talking with Cynthia, Aria went back to Vasi and sat next to her.

   Over the next hour they all ate and talked.  Cynthia also watched as
Kari took care of the two youngest children.  After a while it became
obvious to her, as it had become obvious to Michael fifteen years ago, that
the Dizyntk were not so different from humans.  Their appearance may have
been different, but they were still pleasing to look at.  Their society my
have been different, but they still enjoyed many of the same things as
humans.  Cynthia knew that it would only take a little effort on the part
of the colonists that she had come here with to integrate with the Dizyntk.
The hardest part, she knew, would be getting used to the Dizyntk's
completely different view of sex and intimacy.  That and the way in which
the Dizyntk seemed totally unconcerned about those of the same sex
displaying affection to each other.  This last was the most prominent thing
in Cynthia's mind at the moment.  She had watched Aria kiss Vasi a couple
of times during lunch.  It was obvious that said kisses were more than just
friendly.  It was equally obvious that no one in the room, besides herself,
was the least bit bothered by it.  In fact, even though Cynthia understood
not a word of Dizyntilin, Feyalisa had seemed to instruct her daughter on
one of the kisses.

   Michael could see that his friend was uncomfortable by the redness of
her cheeks.  He knew that he, himself, would have felt the same way once.
As they were finishing their meal, Cynthia noticed one other thing. 
Actually she had noticed it earlier; it was just that now she actually let
herself pay attention to it.  It seemed that Ariarisha was helping Lilavasi
do many things.  Also, Lilavasi had never actually looked at anyone, just
in their direction.

   Cynthia leaned over to Michael and asked in a whisper, "I noticed it
earlier but, can Lilavasi not see?"

   Michael shook his head.

   Cynthia was puzzled.  "We can fix retinal and optic nerve damage; can
the Dizyntk not do this?"

   Michael leaned even closer to her and whispered, "Her blindness was
caused by damage to her visual cortex.  No one can fix that."

   Cynthia sat up straight and said in a normal voice, "Yes we can.  We can
fix that." Then she thought about something and added, "Well, maybe we
can't."

   Michael looked at her for a second and then asked, "What do you mean,
can you or can't you?"

   Cynthia felt bad for a moment at having gotten his hopes up.  Then she
explained, "Well the Protectorate has the technology to do it, but I don't
think that Dr.  Winston has that sort of equipment with him."

   Michael thought on this for a few seconds.  It was true that the
refugees had not been able to bring much with them.  It was unlikely that
their medical facilities had anything but the basics.  Then another thought
occurred to him.

   "Would Dr.  Winston know how such equipment was made?" he asked.

   Cynthia shook her head.  "I don't know.  You would have to ask him."

   Michael got up and whispered into Feya's ear what he and Cynthia had
just talked about.

   She turned and looked at Cynthia.  "Humans have the ability to repair
this kind of damage?"

   Cynthia nodded.  "Yes we do.  It was perfected just five years ago so it
is still a pretty new procedure.  But from what I understand they can cause
the brain to re-grow and repair damaged areas."

   Feya thought for several moments.  "Cynthia, the girls were going back
to your settlement anyway to play with the children, could you go with them
and talk to Dr.  Winston about this?"

   Cynthia nodded and smiled.  "Of course, I would be happy to."

   Cynthia then said her goodbyes and left with the two girls.

   After they were gone, Michael and his mates began to talk.  They were
all hopeful that Dr.  Winston might know how this new equipment was
constructed.  Before they got very far into this conversation, Iriatrosi
came in and told Feya and Michael that there was a call from Captain
Lefarsa.  The two of them went to the communication room.

   The Captain's image appeared on the display.  "Your Highness,
ambassador, there is an incident developing on our border with the
Protectorate near the Trellken system.  A messenger ship arrived just
minutes ago carrying information that there appears to be a revolt against
the Protectorate by three human worlds."

   "Which ones?" Michael inquired with concern in his voice.

   Captain Lefarsa brought up a map display that showed the worlds in
question.

   Michael immediately recognized the systems.  "Tau Epsilon, Eckleston and
Berringer.  Well none of those are any surprise."

   "What do you mean?" Feya asked.

   "Even fifteen years ago, those systems were well known for causing the
government some grief from time to time." he explained.  "So the fact that
they are actually revolting is no big surprise."

   Feya nodded in understanding.  She then thought the matter over for a
moment and asked, "Is there any possibility of an incursion into our space
by Protectorate forces?"

   Lefarsa studied the map for several seconds.  "Not by any heading for
Tau Epsilon, but there is a chance if any try to go for the other two
systems." he concluded.

   "Who is in charge of our space forces here on Elishen?  Feya asked.

   "Admiral Ysiniavera, your Highness." Lefarsa replied.

   "Is she aware of the situation?" Feya inquired.

   "Yes, your Highness, she is.  She is awaiting any orders you might
have." Lefarsa said.

   "Please connect me to her, Captain."

   Lefarsa's image disappeared and was replaced by that of Admiral
Ysiniavera.  Ysiniavera was an older Dizyntk, almost 40 cyankas.  She was
from a family that had served in the Dizyntk military, in one form or
another, for over ten generations.  She had already ordered the ships under
her command to stand to and be ready for deployment.  All she needed now
was an order to launch.

   The Admiral bowed her head to the princess.  "You Highness, my fleet is
ready to deploy at your command."

   Feya smiled.  She knew of Ysiniavera's family and was grateful that
there was such a capable officer in command of this region of Dizyntk
space.

   "Very good, Admiral.  How many ships do you have?" Feya asked.

   Ysiniavera looked up and replied, "Eighteen warships and thirty-two
scout vessels, Your Highness."

   Feya nodded at this.  She was not experienced with military matters, but
even she knew that this was not a large force.

   "I am placing my escort vessels as well as the strike cruise Amber
Lightning at your command as well, Admiral."

   Ysiniavera looked concerned.  "Is that wise, Your Highness?  If you do
not have your escorts..." she started to say.

   Feya smiled and shook her head.  "With so small a force, you will have
more need of these ships than I.  I will not leave the planet until Admiral
Elianala sends reinforcements from Kalantk."

   Ysiniavera bowed her head slightly.  "As you wish, my Princess."

   "Your rules of engagement are per usual Admiral." Feya said.  "Any human
warships are to be ordered out of Dizyntk space.  If they do not comply,
you may engage them at your discretion."

   "What of any refugee ships, your Highness?" the Admiral asked.

   Feya thought about this for several seconds.  "Any unarmed vessels
seeking refuge will be allowed to shelter in the Trellken system.  Also,
any warships that attempt to attack said vessels after they have been
granted permission to enter our space may be engaged without warning."

   Admiral Ysiniavera nodded slowly.  She thought that, while this Princess
may be young, her orders were sound and reasonable.

   "Anything else, Your Highness?" she asked.

   Feya shook her head.  "No, Admiral.  You are the professional here, not
I.  I shall leave the rest in your capable hands.  You have my permission
to launch.  Good luck, Admiral."

   Admiral Ysiniavera bowed and the image switched back to Captain Lefarsa.
Feya instructed him to lead her escort vessels to rendezvous with Admiral
Ysiniavera.

   "I have transferred you to her command." Feya told him.  "Good luck,
Captain Lefarsa."

   He bowed and the transmission ended.

   Feya told Michael that she needed some time alone, and then went
upstairs to her room.  She was feeling uneasy.  She knew that she had many
responsibilities as Princess.  One of these was the command of Dizyntk
military forces if she was closer to a trouble spot than the Queen or
Admiral Elianala, who was in command of all Dizyntk space forces in the
Second Star Cluster.  She knew that she had no choice but to order the
deployment of forces to the border.  This did not make it any easier to
know that she may have just sent some of her people to fight and maybe to
die.

   ------------------------------------------------------

   Steven Winston had been a doctor for most of his life.  A brilliant
student, he had graduated medical school when he was 23.  Now he was almost
fifty and had resigned himself to being a simple family doctor at his new
home, instead of the research clinician he had been before deciding that
the Protectorate's intrusiveness into his and others lives was no longer
acceptable to him.  He now had a challenge however.  Cynthia Rodgers had
introduced him to the young Dizyntk he was now examining.  The young girl
was blind.  According to Ariarisha, whom he had already met, she had
suffered a brain injury as a child.  As he studied the image from the scan
of the girl's brain, he could definitely make out the damage to her visual
centers.  He was still amazed at how similar the Dizyntk were to humans. 
It was true that he did not have the proper equipment to treat this sort of
injury.  He did, however, understand how that equipment worked and some of
how it was assembled.  He was telling this to Cynthia and Aria as he
studied the scans.

   "I would have to work with Dizyntk technicians to even try and replicate
it." he said.

   "Is their medical technology good enough to try?" Cynthia asked him.

   Dr.  Winston nodded and gestured to the Dizyntk autohealer that had been
provided to him just that day.  "If this machine is any indication, then I
would say most definitely.  It has capabilities that are even better than
our own autodocs."

   He then looked at Aria.  "I don't suppose that you would know where your
people make these, do you?"

   Aria shook her head.  She had no idea where such things were made.  She
then asked Vasi if she knew.

   Lilavasi thought for a moment.  She had, over the Cyankas, taken to
studying quite a few things as a way of passing the time when she was by
herself.  She was no longer by herself much, but she still enjoyed learning
new things.  She also had a phenomenal ability to recall anything she had
ever learned.

   She slowly nodded as she remembered.  "There are four major
manufacturers of medical equipment in the Imperium." she said.  "The
closest one to here is in the Ashal-Kendant system."

   Aria perked up and smiled.  She had never been to Ashal-Kendant, but she
had heard of it.

   "The planet with the glittering rings!" she exclaimed.

   Vasi laughed and nodded.

   Aria then translated for Cynthia and Dr.  Winston.

   "How far is this system from here?" Dr.  Winston asked.

   He was surprised at how quickly and knowledgeably Aria answered.

   "It depends on the translight speed of the ship, but on average about
six days." she said without any hesitation.

   "How did you figure that out so quickly?" Cynthia asked.

   Being a pilot herself, she was very curious about this.

   "Oh I know how far it is between almost any of the systems in the
Imperium." Aria explained.  "I love navigation and piloting.  My father
began teaching me when I was little."

   She then brought out a small handheld computer and projected an image of
the Second Star Cluster.

   "We are here on Elishen." she said.  A system on the map lit up in
green.

   Another system then lit up as well.  "And this is Ashal-Kendant."

   Cynthia nodded and smiled.  Stellar geography was a necessary knowledge
if one wished to be a good navigator.  Ariarisha seemed to posses a great
enthusiasm for the subject.  She continued to happily show the other
systems in this part of Dizyntk space.

   "Here is Kalantk, where the fleet is based.  And here is my home of
Ishalitk.  I think that means Sapphire in English.  Those are all of the
main worlds of the cluster." Aria said.  "The frontier worlds are, Zekala,
Trellken and Arlintk."

   Cynthia watched as Aria rapidly entered the coordinates of each system
and displayed them on the map.  She was quite impressed.  If Aria was this
good already, she would make an excellent navigator one day.

   "Heck, she's as good as most navigators right now." Cynthia thought to
herself.

   Just to test this opinion, she asked Aria if she could show her the
flight path to Ashal-Kendant.

   Aria beamed at her.  "Sure I can!"

   Cynthia knew that it would take most navigators about five minutes to
calculate a six day jump.  She chuckled to herself when Aria did it in just
four.

   She put her hand on Aria's shoulder and said, "Remind me to hire you as
my navigator if I ever get my own ship."

   Aria smiled, straightened herself as much as she could and said, "I
don't know if you could afford me."

   Cynthia could not help but laugh at this.  It was sounded exactly like
what Michael would have said.  This was indeed his daughter.

   Dr.  Winston cleared his throat in order to get everyone's attention.

   "Back to our original subject." he said.  "With help, I might be able to
get the proper equipment built that would help repair Lilavasi's brain.  I
would be doing some trial and error as I only know the basics of the
construction.  To be honest, even if I can get it built and working, it
might take three or four years before it is ready."

   Ariarisha nodded and then, as Lilavasi understood only very basic
English, translated this for her.

   Vasi took Aria's hand and pulled her to her.  She hugged Aria gently and
stroked her hair.

   "I have been blind most of my life." she said softly to Aria.  "If this
human can fix this in the future, then I will be very happy."

   She then took Aria`s face in her hands.  "If he cannot, then I will
still be happy as long as you are with me."

   Vasi then softly began kissing Aria.  For the second time, Vasi had
managed to do something that very few had ever accomplished even once.  Her
final comment had made Aria blush.

   -----------------------------------------------------

   The small Dizyntk fleet arrived in the Trellken system near the border
four days after leaving Elishen.  Admiral Ysiniavera then split her small
force into three groups in order to cover the frontier.  She did not have
any illusions about being able to stop any large scale incursions with her
forces.  All she could do in that event was to try and fight a delaying
action until reinforcements arrived from the main fleet on Kalantk.

   Three days after deployment, the point group encountered the first human
warships attempting to cut through Dizyntk space.  Amber Lightning was the
ship in charge of this force and ordered the Protectorate ships out of
Dizyntk territory.  When the human ships ignored this, Captain Lefarsa
ordered an attack.  In the ensuing battle one Dizyntk ship and three of the
six human vessels were destroyed.  The remaining three ships fled back into
Protectorate space.  Now that the first contact had been made, Admiral
Ysiniavera ordered all but three of her ships to converge on Amber
Lightning's position.  She could only hope that this small battle would
discourage any further incursions by human ships.

   ---------------------------------------

   Four days later, in the outer reaches of the Tau Epsilon star system;
Fleet Commander Steven Phelps was counting his blessings.  The last attack
by the Protectorate had nearly broken his lines.  As it was he had lost
half of his ships in the battle.  He now had only thirty-five left.  The
flanking attack by the Protectorate fleet had almost finished him.  If they
had brought in a few more ships from another direction they might have won.
He had no way of knowing that a small fleet of Dizyntk warships was
effectively protecting his trailing flank.  What he did know was strange
enough.

   He had sent twenty massive transport ships filled with refugees out of
the system six days ago.  They had been sent towards Dizyntk space in hopes
that they would be able to hide from any Protectorate forces.  They had
also been hopeful that no Dizyntk ships would discover them in such a
remote section of space.  They had been assigned only two frigates as
escorts.  This was all that Commander Phelps had been able to spare.  Now
those two frigates had returned.  They had reported that they had been met
by five Dizyntk warships right at the border.  They had received a recorded
message from the Dizyntk ships that no human warships would be allowed into
Dizyntk space.  Any unarmed refugee ships, however, would be allowed
passage and safe harbor in a Dizyntk star system just two days journey from
the border.

   Commander Phelps knew that no human ships had ever been allowed by the
Dizyntk to enter their territory.  He had no idea of what might have
happened to cause them to change their minds on this.  He could only be
grateful that they had allowed the refugees to shelter in one of their
systems.  He would have to let his superiors on Tau Epsilon figure out what
this change by the Dizyntk meant.

   The head of the Tau Epsilon system, Prime Minister Eric Adler, was
meeting with his cabinet at that very moment to try and understand this new
Dizyntk policy.  After more than two hours of discussion and argument over
this new development, they were no closer than when they had started to
coming to a consensus over the meaning of this change in Dizyntk policy. 
The only thing they did agree on was to send an envoy to Dizyntk space to
try and open a dialogue with them.  When they had finally revolted two
months ago, they had absolutely no intention of trying to contact the
Dizyntk.  They had seen no point in it.  The Dizyntk had never been open to
talking with humans before.  Now it appeared that this had changed.  If by
some miracle, Prime Minister Adler knew, they could gain an alliance with
the Dizyntk Imperium, they just might succeed in throwing off the yoke of
the Protectorate.

   Later that very day, Michelle Kirtland, the most skilled diplomat on Tau
Epsilon, was sent to try and talk with the Dizyntk.  At only thirty-six
years of age, she was young for such an important mission.  This was
irrelevant in this case however.  There was no one in the three systems
that was as gifted as she at the arts of diplomacy.  It did not hurt that
she was also one of the leading authorities in Protectorate space on the
Dizyntk.  In reality this did not really mean much and she knew it.  What
humanity really knew about the Dizyntk would fill only twenty pages at
best. The most recent thing they had discovered was the possibility that
the Dizyntk might be genetically compatible with humans.  This had been
discovered three years ago when a young scientist on Tau Epsilon, Veronika
Mueller, had been studying some of the precious few Dizyntk tissue samples
that the Protectorate had collected over the years.  As she was, by
default, the best expert on the planet about Dizyntk physiology, she was
being sent along as well.

   -------------------------------------

   In the three days that it would take for Ambassador Kirkland to get to
the border, the first wave of reinforcements from Kalantk would arrive. 
There were now one hundred Dizyntk warships on the border with the
Protectorate.  Even more would be arriving in the following days.

   News would arrive on Elishen from the Queen granting Feyalisa full
diplomatic authority on behalf of the Imperium.  Admiral Elianala herself
would also arrive at Elishen and take personal command of the growing
Dizyntk military presence.  Michael was being sent to Trellken to talk with
the human refugees and hopefully make contact with the three human systems
that were revolting against the Protectorate.  The Dizyntk would try to
talk things out if they could.  If they could not, then they would fight
with an unmatched ferocity.  For as soft and tender as the Dizyntk could
be, they equally enjoyed hunting and fighting and, sometimes, killing. 
They were descended from predators after all.  The last war with the humans
had been a draw.  This was only because the Dizyntk had not been properly
prepared for that war.



   They were fully prepared for this one if it came. . . .