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  “Come with us.” Lulled by my passivity, the one holding the knife to my throat lowered the blade in order to get a better grip on my shoulder. The instant the steel was away from my throat, I struck. I shoved at his chest with all my might, knocking him off balance. He stumbled back, letting out a curse in some foreign language, and slashed at me with the knife. I wasn’t there any longer – no sooner had I pushed him than I had dropped to the ground, and his blow passed harmlessly over my head. I dove for the kitchen table – at least here, I was in familiar territory. I scrambled beneath it, narrowly avoiding getting tangled in my long nightgown, and fetched up against the far wall.

  “Get out!” I screamed, snatching my hiking staff from its stand by the door. “Get out of here!”

  The one I had shoved had regained his footing and was coming around the table towards me. The other one left the workshop and moved to flank me, passing in front of the door to the bedroom as he did so.

  “Go away!” I shouted, swinging the staff from side to side. “I mean it!”

  Just as they were about to close in, a tawny thunderbolt shot from the bedroom with a shriek of unadulterated fury. Amber launched herself at the closer of the two and using those poor deformed forelegs, slashed at my assailant’s leg and back. He fell to the side, screaming in pain and surprise, while the other one sprang backwards, away from me.

  Amber took advantage of the gap this opened and rushed to my side. She placed herself before me, hissing and spitting furiously. “Good girl, Amber!” I cried, gaining courage from her. I stepped in front of her protectively. She was brave enough for both of us, but she was, after all, only a little cat. Now it was my turn. “Get out of here while you still can!” I brandished my staff threateningly. Amber voiced another defiant scream and tried to shoulder past me.

  “Get away from her!” One of the bikers shouted. “Come here!”

  “Are you insane?” I snapped back.

  The one Amber had wounded climbed painfully to his feet. I shook my stick at him. “Get out!”

  “Step away from her! I need a clear shot!”

  “Don’t you dare hurt my cat!” I gasped, falling back to stand in front of Amber. She was struggling madly to get in front of me, and I had to take one hand off my staff to ensure that my body was protecting hers.

  “She’s protecting it,” one of the bikers said incredulously.

  “Well, of course I am!” I snarled at him.

  “Streth m’lo nyep!” The other one swore. “Who could have anticipated that?”

  “Anyone with half a brain!” I retorted. “Now that you’ve seen there’s no one here, you two just move on! There’s nothing here for you!”

  “What do we do now?” One biker asked the other blankly. “This changes everything.”

  The other shook his head. “I don’t know. Her welfare is paramount – if she won’t leave it…”

  “I’m not going anywhere!” I cried, my fear returning.

  “Can’t we just take her?”

  “Don’t even try it!” I stepped forward and brought my stick up to my shoulder. Behind me, Amber shrieked a new challenge.

  “We’ve got to get her calmed down.”

  “It’s a little late for that!” It had been a while since I had played softball, but I remembered my old batting stance.

  “What are you doing?” Oblivious to my imminent swing, the biker’s voice was full of shock and alarm. I followed the direction of his gaze and saw his colleague about to doff his helmet. I took a step backwards, reorienting – I should aim for the one whose head was unprotected.

  The biker took off his helmet, and I was surprised to see how hairy he was. I knew bikers generally didn’t shave or go to the barber, but I was still surprised to see how completely his hair covered his head and spilled down over his collar. Then he turned to face me, and I saw that he had a full beard and moustache too. His hair fell down over his forehead, giving him the appearance of a furry animal. There was so much hair, his nose was nearly invisible – in fact, as he looked at me, I realized that all I could see were his eyes, but they were an unusual, almond shape. And there was something about the pupils, too, they seemed to glow in the dim light. And then his colleague flipped the light switch and I got my first good look.

  “Oh.” That was not just a full beard. The bones were all wrong. The mouth, lipless, with pointed fangs barely visible… He looked like one of those creatures on TV – half man, half cat. And yet, I could tell this was no makeup job. “Oh,” I said again, feeling my knees weaken.

  Amber, perhaps reacting to the lessening of tension, let out a quizzical chirrup and looked up at me. Automatically, I glanced down to reassure her and that’s when I realized why the creature before me looked so familiar. He had Amber’s face.

  I sat down rather abruptly on the kitchen floor. Amber squeaked in concern and jumped in my lap, raising one gentle paw to touch my lips. I tasted something odd, metallic, and I realized that she still had blood from the other “biker” on her.

  “Oh, oh – dear.” I fumbled in the pocket of my robe for a hankie and started cleaning her paws. It was such a normal, domestic task that I felt my mind start to function again.

  “I’m sorry to have startled you,” the first creature said to me. He had squatted down on the floor, a respectful distance away. Next to him, his colleague removed his helmet. “But I realized that we needed to talk.”

  “Yes.” I cleared my throat and tried again. “Yes, I can see that.”

  “We seem to have gotten off to a bad start.”

  “Breaking into someone’s house and threatening her with a knife will do that!” I retorted tartly.

  He showed his fangs in what I hoped was a smile and raised one hand. A soft flick and suddenly knives – or rather claws – appeared at every fingertip.

  “Oh,” I said again softly, feeling reality once more threaten to slip away.

  Amber was now sitting in my lap, regarding the other two with unblinking eyes.

  “We came here for the princess,” the other one explained.

  “Princess? You mean Amber?” I looked down in surprise.

  “Amber? She is – “ he snarled on a rising note “ – the youngest daughter of the Rrubato clan, and the seventh in line to the – “ another snarl “— throne. She was traveling with her parents when their ship developed engine trouble and crashed on this world.”

  “Then her parents –“

  “They perished in the crash. We were able to trace their craft to a remote canyon not far from here where we found the bodies. The vessel appears undisturbed.”

  “If it crashed the night I found Amber, I can understand why. No one would have been outside to see it come down. She must have walked here from the crash site.” I hugged her close. Poor little thing! Now that I could compare her to the others, I found it hard to believe I had been so stupid. Those “deformed” legs were actually hands – her “crippled” gait was normal for a young biped just learning to walk…

  “When we traced the princess to your dwelling, we were naturally concerned.”

  I bristled. How dare they imagine I would harm Amber! “Why?”

  “Your species’ attitude towards extra-terrestrials is well-known. The documentaries which you broadcast go well beyond your own atmosphere, you know.”

  “Documentaries? Oh!” Yes, I could name several movies where extra-terrestrials weren’t treated nicely. If they had come in expecting something like –

  “We feared you had relinquished the princess to some form of government testing facility,” he explained apologetically. “We did not realize you had adopted her. Is ‘cat’ a term of endearment among your people? A form of foster child?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly right,” I agreed without missing a beat. Even if it wouldn’t have proven disastrous for our newly amicable relationships, I was not about to admit I was stupid enough to mistake an extra-t
errestrial for a house cat.

  “Well, that does create a new issue. The child is very young, you know. She has clearly bonded to you.”

  “And I to her,” I replied, hugging Amber anew.

  “What do you propose to do?”

  “Me?”

  “Clearly the princess cannot remain here. Eventually others of your kind will come, and when they see her – “ He had a point. As she grew larger, Amber’s origins would become more clear. “Besides, she is a member of the royal family and must be educated properly in order to assume her duties when she comes of age.”

  My eyes filled with tears. I knew that Amber would have to leave with them, but it still rent my heart to say goodbye. Amber caught my distress and started to whimper.

  “So will you come?” the other – person – burst out impatiently.

  I sniffled. “Where?”

  “Home to Grrrneal. With us.”

  “With you? You mean, back – up there?” Incredulous, I pointed out the window towards the stars.

  He nodded, his expression almost pleading. “The child has already lost one set of parents. She should not be distressed further. Will you come? It will not be forever – just until she is old enough to bear the separation.”

  “Clearly you have made the child an important part of your life. Can you not set aside your other responsibilities – for a time?” the other one coaxed.

  “You will be well treated,” the first one hastened to reassure me. “Not only are you a foster mother to one of the Rrubato clan, but our empire is vast and well