It Begins 

Planetfall 

  The planet was both beautiful and an anomaly. It had four major continents, most of which were huge. Several islands that were almost sub-continent sized and many that were just plain large, and a number of small to large archipelago.
  The ocean’s colors ran from clear and dark blue to the dark gray-green that indicated tremendous depth. The larger land masses also showed large desert areas, indicating the possibility that the seas had once covered those areas, which seemed to be geologically recent in nature, probably within the last ten to twenty thousand local years.
  The vegetation ran the gamut of the color spectrum with dark blue-green being the base color, indicating a high percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere. The water to land ratio was in the area of sixty percent water to forty percent land, including the polar ice caps which also seemed to have large continent sized land masses under them. From the recorded data stored in the observation drones the planets crust still seemed to be in a mild state of tectonic flux.
  That didn’t compute either, because there was minimal volcanic activity and the instrument soundings said that the mantle was stable. On top of that the planet had several highly developed life forms living both on the surface and under its oceans, the predominant one calling itself human or more commonly, Man.

  Most of this information had been gathered and decrypted from audio and video signals being broadcast on lower range electromagnetic carrier waves used for communications by these beings.
  Strangely the most intelligent of these, both the bipeds living on the surface and the aquatic ones living below the water surface were mammalian, warm blooded. Even stranger, their reproductive cycle resulted in live birthing.

  Although not unknown among the known races there were only six out of the one hundred ninety four races that were live birthing mammals, two of which were water breathers, three of mixed variations of oxygen and one a methane breather. In most cases warm blooded, live birthing, mammals with as little
 

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apparent means of self defense as these bipeds displayed seldom survived to become dominant as a species. Nor did they evolve on a planet with so many widely spaced land masses, and among so many species with obviously superior self defense and attack weapons, fang and claw, as a part of their makeup.
  Most oxygen atmosphere planets, when they stabilized, did so by forming two or three world spanning continental land masses which straddled it’s equator, with a few islands and archipelagos scattered across a vast world ocean where the water to land ratio averaged seventy five percent water to twenty five percent land.
  Odder still was that the predominant humans had only been true tool users for about twenty to twenty five thousand local years. And a historical social civilization for twelve to fifteen thousand local years, keeping accurate written records for only the last five to eight thousand years.

  Yet here they were with a very technologically advanced, world spanning civilization. A true anomaly, but a beautiful one.
  Well, thought the Chai, it would be a minor miracle if they could find a safely remote place to land the ship, and get it down in one piece without being seen.
  That accomplished, he would find the parts and time to build a sub space emergency transmitter beacon out of the emergency stores from the ships disaster locker.
  There were enough emergency rations and species specific nutrient bars to last for three local years, if necessary, in the survival locker. And water would not be a problem. The Chai could survive almost anywhere, but the Trine, the Chais' current symbiotic partner, could not.
  Well thought TuLan, it’s time to choose a final, secluded location to land, and he began to run final configurations before laying the new course into the flight computer.
  The Chai was surprised! The Chai were not infallible, but neither were they known as error prone beings. It had not run a full security scan of its observation drones technological watch program for a couple of local years. It had been one of the items on his list of things to do just prior to the accident, so it had not anticipated the inhabitants below having such advanced computer technology nor the advanced state of their detection equipment, which had almost allowed them to pick up the ship as it passed over the smaller of northern continents.
   One more second would have let them paint the ship with high band sound waves, If the ship had not passed over a huge electromagnetic storm which was forming and beginning to cover the area it had chosen for the landing site, creating an echo picture of the ship and telling the indigenes of its size and speed on their scanning equipment. Their satellites had been relatively easy to avoid because there were so few of them.
  Although by stellar standards the ship was very small, used mainly as an escape vehicle and as a planetary explorer it was capable of interplanetary space
 

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flight but not interstellar travel. Its drive system was just not powerful enough to create the gravity vortex required to punch a hole into subspace.

  The ship, one of the smallest in use in the union, was at least five times as large as anything these humans had in use in their atmosphere, or their fledgling space program. The ship was shaped like an ovoid, flattened on the bottom. It looked something like an earth chickens egg, cut in half lengthwise. It was two hundred fifty feet long tip to tail, one hundred ten feet wide from tip to tip at its central flair and forty feet high at the top of its ventral arch. It was equipped with a photo-plasmic drive for interplanetary use and a gravitic drive for atmospheric planetary use.
  As the little ship headed for the apogee of its final orbit before planetfall, the Chai was busy entering minute final adjustments to the flight computers program. It was well pleased with finding that the electromagnetic storm used for escaping detection earlier would be right over the chosen landing site, and could be used again.
  The site chosen for landing was just above the confluence of two rivers that fed into the upper portion of a tremendous geological fault that slashed across a quarter of the continent. It then fed into what appeared to be a very large lake created by the humans. The landing site was well watered with large forested tracts surrounding it, and most importantly, it appeared to be quite remote from any large population centers.
  Unfortunately for the Chai it was about to make an unprecedented second mistake within a few short local weeks of its first one.
  With the sites characteristics in mind the Chai had the Trine run a fast check on its chameleon device, the ships holographic camouflage system, which made the ship appear to be virtually invisible. Unless you knew exactly what to look for it you could be standing within twenty feet of the ship and not know it was there.
  Just to be safe the Chai decided to use the radiation shield screen at its lowest power to defuse any detection device signals directed at it. They would need only one sensor eye since the whole landing procedure would be computer controlled. No matter where it’s from a being likes to see what is happening and where it is going.
  It was time! The little ship was fast approaching orbital perigee, the closest it would come to the planet and maintain an orbit. The ship was just coasting now, as it came up over the polar ice cap, at a mere fifteen hundred miles per hour.
  Swinging in over the northern continent the ship was happily humming and clicking to itself as the electromagnetic storm was spotted rushing to meet it. The ship shed more speed. As it came in over the center of the storm it reached perigee nadir almost directly over the landing site at an altitude of one hundred thousand feet.
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  Inside the ship relays clicked, and a high pitched whining started that quickly rose above most beings audible hearing range. The ship ceased all forward movement relative to the planet as the gravitic drive reached out and grabbed at the planets gravity field. The ships gravity compensators whined a low growl as they fought both the planet and inertia.
  The ship fell like a stone dropped down a well. Ninety, eighty, seventy, sixty thousand feet and the gravitic drive whined anew as it reversed pull to push and the gravity compensators whine rose in pitch as they fought the new inertia. Fifty, forty, thirty thousand feet and the ship slowed to a hundred feet a second. The Chai’s second mistake was about to manifest itself!
  The ship was only a thousand feet above the ground now and had slowed its decent momentum to a sedate two hundred feet per minute.   It was at this point that disaster struck. The Chais’ second mistake manifested itself. A blinding flash lit up the night around the ship as a truly gigantic bolt of lightning, an electromagnetic discharge, seemed to spear through the ship.
  Not finding entry to the ships interior, because of its shields, the huge bolt of energy then completed its circuit by spending itself into the earth below. But the damage was done. A portion of the energy released by the lightning bolt had found the sensor eye circuit node, sending a super concentrated surge of power back along its feeder line.
  Since the ships internal power was supplied by the drive coil this is where the surge of power short circuited. The energy discharge from the short circuit over loaded and fried the drives coil, disrupting the gravitic drives repeller field before the safety cutouts could engage. Inside the ship the safety cutouts had finally closed, automatically switching
over to the emergency drive coil even as the main drive coil sputtered to a halt. Even as the main control room lights were fading out the emergency lights were coming up.
  Before the Chai realized what it was doing the Trine hit the quick release on their webbing restraints, and leapt from the command control seat into the manual pilot’s seat slapping down, as it landed, the manual override release handle. Grabbing the control yolk with three of its three digit hands it pulled up and back, straining mightily, while with a fourth hand it pushed the power control bar all the way to the stops for full power to the repeller field.
  The ship had dropped almost eight hundred feet already. The full power output of the little ships repeller field did a great job. It was a well built ship. It had slowed the rate of decent to a hundred fifty feet a minute, but while dropping the ship had gained forward momentum and there was very little time left.

 The Trine would not have time to slow both the rate of decent and the forward momentum. It chose the rate of decent. It would not be a soft landing at all.
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  What saved the little ship from destruction was a marshy backwash formed by a shallow box canyon. The ship came in over the cut in the low cliffs on the side of the river, which kept the marshy floor of the box canyon fed, pulling low scrub pine and brush with it as it cleared the top of the cut by no more than six inches. It did a belly flop into the marshy ground.
  Great gouts of water, mud, and vegetation fountained up onto the walls of the little box canyon. The ground heaved, and out thrusts of rock that had withstood centuries of weather and erosion cracked away and fell back into the canyon along with the mud, water and pieces of vegetation.
  The ship rocked with the backwash as it settled, still in one piece. Safe! The Trine was not! It was mortally injured from being thrown forward onto the control yolk, because it had not had time to fasten its safety harness. The Trine had saved both the ship and the Chai. The Trine might well be dead within hours from massive internal injuries that the Chai could not help it overcome completely.
  The Chai realized that it was still in grave danger, and must ask of the Trine a greater gift of more sacrifice. From its own body it fed a dose of highly concentrated stimulant directly into the Trine’s fluid steam. He then guided it across the cabin and down a short corridor to the medical facility and with the last of its strength had the Trine lay itself down inside the automated medical cabinet. Straining with exhaustion he had the Trine raise its’ one uninjured forelimb and press the button marked stabilize.

On the Ground 

  The Chai had been injured when the ship had plowed into the earth and the Trine was thrown into the control yolk. It had not had time to harden its epidermis (The Chai could harden their skin to rocklike hardness) and the sheath of muscle just below it and now it was bruised and shaken.
  It could and would heal itself, and quickly, for the feeling of being injured was new to it and very unpleasant. It had now had more close encounters with death in the last two and a half months than it had experienced in the last two and a half thousand years of its existence.   TuLan Chai also knew that he was in very serious trouble.
  One of the first things that had been done was to place a distress locator beacon out beyond the orbit of this planets satellite before they had entered its gravity field. They could set the ship’s locator pulse broadcaster and crawl into the stasis tank, but that was not TuLan’s way, and was risky at best.

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  The stasis tanks had been designed for preserving animal tissue and
vegetation, not living, thinking beings. It was, however, theoretically possible because both plants and animals stored in stasis had been brought out alive and well, and seemingly unharmed.
  The Trine was now, after being in the auto-med unit for a week, conscious and aware. What could be done had been done. The Trine knew it was going to die! For the Chai to ensure its own survival it must ask the Trine to live and endure a great deal of pain on the Chai’s behalf for a short time longer. TuLan initiated direct contact with the Trine’s mind and felt its’ pain being artificially subdued and held at bay. TuLan did not hesitate. He made his request, explaining what needed to be done.
  He also, truthfully, expressed his affection and respect for the many years of service and companionship that the Trine had provided him with.
  The Trine agreed to his request, saying, what was a little more pain? It would die today or a week from today, but die it knew it would! If living in pain for another week would ensure the Chais’ survival, so be it! The only request it made was that the Chai return to ‘Trinar’, the home world of the Trine, and tell Its’ family of the many adventures and the quality of It’s service with the Chai, for it was a thing of great pride to be chosen as a Chais’ partner.
  The Trine was one of the oldest races partnering with the Chai. They had been doing so for close to two hundred thousand years. The Trine were also very much in demand, being hired by many of the other races for planetscaping projects because they were brilliant natural botanists.
  TuLan agreed to this readily, for it was little enough for the Trine to ask for its many years of faithful service. TuLan was Anxious now to proceed, having been confined in the med-unit with the Trine for the last week.
  TuLan began by creating some fast breeding micro-organisms specifically tailored to help the Trine cope with its pain. And others to help promote the temporary functionality of its damaged organs and muscle tissue.
  These TuLan inserted by extruding a hair fine tendril, and injected them
directly into the Trine’s circulatory system. As these micro-organisms did their work the Trine was able, within three hours, to rise under its own power and exit the medical unit.
  They began by making sure that the chameleon camouflage system was still operating properly. It should have automatically come on again as soon as the back up systems had kicked in after the power surge, caused by that tremendous electrical discharge when the storm fused the main panel. It had, and was operating at ninety eight percent of optimum.
  They then began collecting, by using the ships sensors and remote probes, samples of air, soil, vegetation, insects and small fauna that had returned to the immediate area after the cataclysm of the ships landing had settled down.
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  Chemical analysis, microbe and bacteria counts, as well as numerous other
tests were completed on all samples for composition and function.
Time was a crucial factor, so extra care was taken with all of the testing
procedures. They would, of necessity, be done only once.
  From the results of those tests the Chai began to adjust it’s metabolism to the planets echo and bio structure. The Chai gave a great mental sigh of relief because the changes necessary were minor and would not require much time because there seemed to be many parallels to it’s own biological makeup.
  While this testing was ongoing the ships computer was running a language translation program. This was done by scanning all radio and video transmission bands, and at first, it was very slow going because there seemed to be seventy or more languages in use on this planet at the present time. Two to three languages were normal for most planets with advanced cultures.
  The computer was saved an electronic headache by comparing audio sounds with some audio video transmissions, using comparative association and repetition. It got very lucky by finding what appeared to be a teaching program. There seemed to be six major languages in use on a world wide scale. These were called English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, French and German. Of these English seemed to be the most predominant.
  The computer made an English/Trine translation, putting it on a direct
inductor wire so it could be fed directly into the Trine’s brain while it rested, thus both the Trine and the Chai could use and understand it.
  Two planetary rotations, or days, had elapsed and TuLan could feel the strain building within the Trine’s body. Time was running very short now.
Several quadrupeds had been located close by but the Chai could not judge their host suitability without being in close proximity. There was also the necessity of a certain level of intelligence present in a host for there to be a viable partnership.
  All beings with intelligence radiated an aura that the Chai was particularly sensitive to, but to sense it the Chai must be within approximately twenty five feet of the being to do so.
  In dire need the Chai could use a host with a minimum of intelligence for mobility, and because of the remoteness of this location that just might be necessary at this time. They must make an excursion from the ship with the rising of the sun. Time was fleeing for both the Trine and TuLan!
  They had made two complete circuits of the box canyon in a widening spiral from the ship and the Trine was tiring quickly. Even though it was being assisted by a miniature gravity nullifier mounted on a harness with a power pack. None of the quadrupeds had been at all suitable. They had animal cunning but very little intelligence.
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  They would make one more circuit, further out next to the canyon walls, and maybe explore the gap in the walls leading to the river. There had been a faint trace of something there, east of the gap, but no sense of what it was, or a definite direction. They had best get started now for the Chai could sense that the Trine’s strength was ebbing quickly and time was fleeing faster and faster.
  As they moved into the span of the cut they noticed that it narrowed rapidly, and there seemed to be several fresh falls of rock, most likely caused by the ship’s close passage.
  They had gone almost three quarters of the way around the canyon again and it was the same as the last time, nothing viable. TuLan was getting very worried now. He did not think the Trine would last much longer.
What was that? Almost instantly the Chais’ every sense was alert. There! Further into the defile. There was the aura of a very intelligent mind. TuLan urged the Trine forward. Wait, it was fading! Hurry! Hurry! It was gone. No, wait, not gone but emanating very lowly, like a being at rest, asleep, or unconscious.
  More slowly now, it was close. With this new awareness of the being the Chai had linked itself directly into the Trine’s optical receptors. As they moved around a rock outcrop the Chai could feel that it was close now.
  TuLan had expected to see one of this planets predominant biped species but there on the floor of the cut was a medium sized quadruped.
  There was no mistaking this; the emanations were coming from it. It was all black, heavily muscled, and it had a long tail or appendage. Its’ head was large with long pointed ears and a blunt muzzle showing very sharp teeth.

  It appeared to be stunned and possibly injured. As the Trine/Chai moved up next to the being.  It opened its eyes. They were huge and a deep gold in color with a gold hued black vertical slit. The color seemed to swirl, as might molten metal. They Closed.
  The Chai gave itself a mental shake as if it had been mesmerized. For an eon or a moment, it didn’t know, and then everything snapped back into focus. They must hurry to the ship for another nullifier unit and harness to transport this being back to the ship.
  By the time they had gotten the being fastened into the gravity nullifier
harness and pushed and pulled it through the cut, across the marshy ground, up into and through the ships airlock, around corners and along corridors, and finally into the automated medical unit both the Trine and TuLan were exhausted, and near collapse.
  The last task for the Trine before it could rest was to push three buttons on the med units control panel. Examine, Analyze, and stabilize!
This job had been barely accomplished, before the Trine staggered of to a rest compartment and collapsed.

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  It was not dead but that specter seemed to be standing very, very near!
The Trine had very little left to give, and time seemed to have grown wings on its already very fleet feet. The Chai could exist here now!
But could it live here? 

The Cat Thing 

  It was black. All black! Midnight, no moon or stars, black! The kind of black you see when you close yourself into a room with no windows and turn off the lights black!
  That was your first impression! Then you might notice that from the tip of each ear grew several thick silvery black hairs, the color of tarnished silver. They were very long, flexible looking, and almost seemed to move with a will of their own.
  Then, suddenly, you saw the eyes! They arrested you! Held you! Almost
mesmerized you from the first second! They were round, not oval as most cats eyes, and they were huge, like an owl! And they were gold. Not the green gold that most animals eyes reflected, but more the rich yellow of pure, old, twenty four carat gold!
  The irises were slitted vertically like normal cats eyes were. If you looked at them closely the color in the pupils seemed to swirl like molten metal in a smelter pot. And, if by chance, they looked at you directly, it was like being raked by twin search lights! When they rested on you, you were sure that they missed absolutely nothing! And you somehow got the impression that they were smiling with some secret wisdom or perhaps an old joke all their own.
  When you could pull yourself free of the eyes you noticed that the head was very large, and much rounder than a normal cats.
  The ears were large, long, pointed, and seemed able to swivel, rather than twist like a cats, to front, side and the rear.
  The snout was short, almost blunt, and the mouth wide giving it the
appearance of a permanent smile. But if you were lucky enough to see it smile, or unfortunate enough to see it snarl, you would see that it had a very formidable set of fangs!
  The head was mounted on a somewhat long, almost sinuous, neck that flared into strongly muscled shoulders. Overall it was deceptively big, four or five times the size of a large Main Coon tabby, or twice the size of a big lynx or bobcat and twice the weight of either. Its’
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bulk was centered in the wide set of the shoulders and the deep barrel of its chest, which tapered back to its powerful hindquarters. And when it moved it was all grace and spring steel, doing so with a balance that any cat would envy.
  Even sitting still it seemed to flow, leaving you with the impression that you just knew it could be up and running full tilt before you could blink your eyes.
  It stood close to two feet high at the shoulder, two and a half feet to the top ofits head. Its’ body was three feet long, nose to hind quarters with another two and a half feet of sinuous tail. Up on its hind quarters it could easily stretch to a height of four and a half feet.
  Taking the different parts of its anatomy separately there was something very strange about it, nothing seemed to fit properly. But when taken as a whole the impression was of total rightness. But, there was something very strange about it, almost as if it didn’t belong here at all!
  There was also something else that was very strange about it. It was sentient, and aware of itself as an individual.
  It also had a name that it would answer to, if you knew how to communicate with it. Its’ name was ‘Balor’. Just recently, Balor, the Cat Thing was running
swiftly— 

The Cat Thing, Presently 

  The cat thing was running swiftly through the brush and stunted pine that was so much a part of the land in this part of this continent, heading westward toward the spot where the confluence of two rivers formed a much larger one which rolled southward.
  At the point of the confluence these rivers were still in the upper foothills, which were a part of the heavily forested mountain range to the northwest. They then flowed south through land that gradually turned into lush valleys and open prairie land that was a very beautiful part of this continent. The cat thing moved through the obstacles of brush and small pine with sure footed ease, its night vision almost as good as its day vision.

  The cat thing had a name but had not thought of it for a long Time. Its’ name was Balor.
  The river was close now, he could tell, because he could smell alder, which never grew far from water. He would cross both of the rivers before they joined because the water was not as deep and the current less swift there. Then he would cut through the box canyon he knew was there. He would go around the inner base and up a narrow defile at the rear which led straight into the lower mountains where he must turn north into the tall trees, and into the area he believed the object of his search might lie.
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  As he angled slightly north a jagged streak of lightning forked down about a mile behind him turning everything, temporarily, into stroboscopic black and white. This was followed shortly by a loud crack—abooom as deep rolling thunder echoed across the heavens above him.
  Balor had hoped to outrun the storm. He had seen the thunderheads building as he moved swiftly westward, but the storm was quickly rolling in over him now. Thunder and lightning held little worry for him normally, but this storm was in some way different. It held a feeling of strangeness, and foreboding!
  Over a small rise, then down, and he splashed into the shallow stone studded rapids of the first of the two rivers. Four strong leaps and he was across and heading up the opposite bank, moving into the low brush and alders lining the opposite bank. Suddenly, it seemed, the rain had caught up with him, was pouring down on him like a waterfall, and matting his beautiful black fur flat to his body.
  Another flash of lightning and the growling roar of the thunder coming right behind it. The storm was fully on him now. As he ran, dodging trees and thick stands of lower alder bushes, the growling roar of the thunder continued, seemed to be growing louder, closer. That wasn’t right; the sound should have lessened between the peals of thunder.
  Ah, there ahead, the bank of the other river. This one he would have to swim but it wasn’t that far to the other bank. He knew this spot and he lengthened his stride.
  Reaching the near bank he took a mighty leap, rising upwards as he sailed out over the water, reaching fully half of the distance across the river before he began to sink towards the surface of the water again. Without warning the sky seemed to split apart as a blinding actinic blue white flash of light seemed to freeze everything in mid motion like a surreal still life painting.
  As he craned his head back, and around, to look back over his shoulder he saw a truly gigantic, many branched, bolt of lightning converging at a point high above and slightly behind him. It balled and coruscated, then uncannily seemed to come straight at him.

  The bolt of lightning must have been at least ten feet across when it hit the ground at the spot he had just leapt from. Suddenly he was being lifted and pushed through the air, spinning end over end. Then he was
falling! He hit the water with a huge splash, legs, and tail and head all akimbo, nearly on the other bank.
  He was stunned, nearly to unconsciousness, as he struggled to stand up in the shallow water near the bank where he had landed, coughing and spitting water from it’s’ mouth. This, as rocks, soil, tree branches and plants fell around him from the explosive contact of the lightning bolt on the other bank.
  Looking back at spot he had just leapt from there was nothing but a smoking crater. He shook his head to clear his eyes of mud and water as he began to climb
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up the bank toward the entrance to the box canyon. As his hearing began to return to normal, what he had thought was thunder now sounded like a rushing freight train, the growling roar rushing right at him.

  He ran. Flat out, belly to the ground,
with all of the amazing strength and speed that his kind was capable of! He ran toward the cut leading into the little box canyon. The thunderous roar was right on top of him now as he entered the cut. The roaring sound shook and vibrated the walls and floor of the cut, sending debris falling down around him as he tried to find some shelter where none was to be had!
  Suddenly the earth heaved, jumped up, hitting him in the chest, forcing the air from his already straining lungs and he went down, sprawling onto his stomach, gasping for air. As he finally got his lungs working there was a sharp cracking sound from above. He looked up just in time to see a section of rock break away from the rim of the narrow cut and begin to tumble down toward him.
  He moved, feeling like his overstrained limbs were wallowing in molasses, but he was not fast enough. A melon sized piece of stone that broke away from the larger one falling towards him hit him in the neck, just below his skull sending him into utter blackness.
  Through the darkness, he didn’t know how long he had been here, he heard the sounds of furtive movement close by. He heard it again. He struggled to open his eyes and, finally getting them to slit open, what he did see was blurry and indistinct. He did not realize it then that the only thing he was able to move was his eyes.
  As his vision cleared a little more what he saw seemed to be a round furry face with a smallish mouth and large dark eyes. It also seemed to have six legs and two arms attached to a short barreled torso. The lights went out again. 

Survival and Accommodation

  Now that the Trine didn’t have to move around so much it could function
much better. It and the Chai had rested for a full planetary rotation. A day it was called by the local inhabitants. Humans, TuLan the Chai corrected itself. He had been going over the language information that had been transferred directly into the Trines mind from the direct induction wire that the computer had made its translation on.
  The Trine was now seated at the auto-med units read out console, checking the condition of black furred Quadra-pedal being inside the unit. All of the life monitor readings were stable, based on the life forms tested from this planet.
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  The med-unit based its’ findings on the mean average results of all of the subjects tested and allowed a plus or minus factor for variation. The number of tests were much too numerous to name here and now. But the ones which were most telling, body fluids content, and pressure, and circulatory system pump rhythm, oxygen extraction bellows rhythm and the overall temperature of the body were well within the means already established.
  The one difference that could not be checked with any accuracy was the
cephalo-electrical impulse reaction, the synaptic system, because they had not been able to test any of the higher intelligence, human, life forms as yet. And that was where the present problem seemed to now be originating.
  The beings body was functioning, it was awake, and obviously intelligent because it seemed aware of its condition and the strangeness of its new high tech environmental location.

  This was being born out by the beings brain electrical
activity, or lack of it. The other specimens tested had shown marked panic reactions, spiking the meters, whereas this one appeared to be just observing and waiting.
  The problem was that there just did not seem to be any inter-medial response between its’ brains electrical impulses and its neural muscular response system. In other words it couldn’t/wouldn’t move.
  More strangely still TuLan could not feel that original aura of intelligence, encountered when they had first found the being. There was intelligence here, well above the minimum he needed, even higher than the Trine average, but not that bright flash he had originality encountered.
  The beings physical damage was limited to a large swelling at the juncture of the skull and the spinal extension. The neck, it was called, if the translation was correct. The rest of the body, both musculature and skeletal appeared to be intact.
  TuLan could feel the Trine weakening even as he sent a mental plea for it to proceed with the transfer. The Chai needed the Trine alive to make an easy exit. If the Trine died it would go into rictus, a spasming contraction of every muscle and tendon in its body which would stay that way until the dissolution of the body was well under way, making the Chai’s exit painful and dangerous.
  To make the exit, the Chai worked with the host’s body to create a bloodless opening just large enough for the Chai to exit from its resting place in the small pocket created for that purpose. Then aided the hosts’ body in closing the wound with out a trace of it having been there. The Trine heaved itself up and they entered the med-unit so the Chai could contact the being with direct mind touch.
  As they entered the treatment capsule the beings eyes fastened on and
followed the Trines every movement as it approached the table upon which it was stretched out. The Trine placed its lower abdomen upon a stool and leaned forward, placing its upper torso on the table as the golden eyes watched.
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  With the Trine this close it was easy for TuLan to push out with that part of his mind that made mental contact and communication possible for his kind. Most species were telepathic receivers, could react to and/or respond to thoughts broadcast to them. A very few, like the Chai, could direct their thoughts directly into the minds of others as well as receive them.
  As TuLan reached out and felt the mental shape of the beings mind he was totally unprepared for what happened next! Out of nowhere came questions, a virtual barrage of mental speech that stunned him!

  WHO/ WHAT ARE YOU? WHY / HOW AM I HELD THUS? WHAT / WHERE IS THIS PLACE? The questions were fired at his stupefied mind in a rapid fire manner. Then reaction set in for TuLan. SHOCK! WONDER! ELATION! HOPE! FEAR!!
  TuLans mind, in its present state of shock, could only sputter mentally at first. His mind still in a state of wonder, but quickly recovering, TuLan responded mentally saying, I apologize. It was just that I was so surprised to encounter another telepath. We true telepaths are so rare.
  He then continued, This being is known as TuLan of the Chai. he projected, then waited for a response. When none came he continued to explain, we found you injured and without awareness in the entrance to this box canyon. You are inside of our automated medical care unit, which is inside our transport vehicle. It appears that you have suffered an injury to that nerve ganglia which lies between your brains motor and muscular control signaling system. In other words, all of your autonomic systems are working, but you just cannot
move. TuLan concluded.
  The cat thing eyed the equipment that it’s confined position allowed it to see, then it responded with, From what you have explained, and also from what you have not said, it appears that this injury is not repairable. What will you do with me? A quick and if at all possible, painless death would be preferred. It finished with a resigned overtone to its thoughts.
   Certainly not, TuLan responded somewhat indignantly, you are an
intelligent being, and in any case all that can be done shall be done! he cried mentally.
Then he continued in a somewhat more subdued tone of thought, saying, The computer that operates this unit has informed me that the work required to repair the damage to your systems, due to the delicate work required, is beyond its present capacity to perform. Yet there does remain one possibility. As time, right now, for me is very limited I would ask you to hold any more questions until I have explained all. If that is acceptable I will proceed. TuLan concluded, and then waited for a response.
  The cat thing, with a new note of hope in its response, replied, A chance to continue existence in a state of renewed wholeness will not be ignored. Please
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be so kind as to explain. It finished, as a picture came into TuLan’s mind of it sitting back on its haunches, head cocked to one side in an attitude of listening.

  TuLan again felt time fleeing on very swift feet. He knew without a doubt that he could work very well with this being but he could not, would not; try to force a joining with it. Not altogether altruistic in his feelings, for survival is a powerful motivator, he also knew that an attempted joining, if forced and resisted strongly, could well kill them both.
   He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Then he began, The being you see before you is not I, TuLan-Chai. It is half of a symbiotic partnership. I, the Chai, am presently emplaced within its’ physical structure. Its race is known as the Trine and they have been partnering with the Chai race for a very, very long time. The partnership is a mutually beneficial arrangement. Each gains from the other those things it needs or desires in various ways.
  TuLan paused, and then continued, explaining the Chai’s historical
development and their ability, developed over an eons long span of time, to create, alter and manipulate micro and nano organisms for their own and their hosts benefit. The Chai, physically limited in size and with an inherent weakness in it mobility capabilities, evolved into and then actively developed symbiosis as a survival mechanism for their race.
  He also told of the disastrous war with the “Drel” and the persistent
knowledge that they were a serious threat and cause for worry to all of the beings of this galaxy. And He told of the Union of worlds and its formation. Of the discovery of this planet and the union’s long observation due to its unprecedented technological advancement and the nagging fear of possible “Drel” influence and interference
at some point in their history.
  He told too of moving their observation platform, its destruction by the
meteorite and their escape from the station and the suns gravity well.    Then he told of the ship being damaged by the massive lightning strike on its landing approach and the resulting semi-controlled crash at this spot.
  TuLan paused to take a mental breath, and then continued, The Trine was mortally wounded during the crash, beyond my ability to effect meaningful repairs. Had I the facilities available aboard the platform both the Trine and your prognosis would be different. Even now the Trines life force ebbs dangerously low. So this now is the possibility, the chance that can be offered. As host to me I believe that with my abilities I may be able to make the repairs necessary. Externally I can do little, as I must be in intimate contact with your physical being to affect repairs or improvements.
  In return for this you offer me physical safety and true mobility. Also, a side effect of a symbiotic partnership with a Chai is that of enjoying a much extended life span. This because as we learn the hosts systems, we have a
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natural tendency to repair anything we find wrong, and to improve those systems whenever possible.

  This is both for gratitude! And survival! A strong
healthy host means safety for us. All things being said, I now ask you to accept a partnership with me. Under these circumstances it could be on a very temporary basis if you feel that is necessary. If you decline I will still do all that I can to help you, little as that may be.

  The situation and circumstances as well
as the choices to be made are strange and hard. Your choice must be freely made, for I cannot and will not coerce it.
  Here TuLan paused again, letting his words take root. Then he said, Finally, simply, I offer this. I have something to offer you as you have something to offer me in this arrangement. Simply put it is life to each other.

  The only constraint upon us both is time, for there is very little left for the poor Trine, who is holding on to its life force by a thread, and for there to be a smooth transfer he must be alive. I will now withdraw from contact for a short period to allow you uninterrupted thought. So saying TuLan withdrew from direct contact with the cat things mind.
  A short time later, but for TuLan an eternity, He felt a tentative mental touch, to which he quickly responded with, What have we? Life?
  The cat thing responded with a question of its own, How is this process achieved?
  To this TuLan quickly replied, With the Trines assistance I will cause an opening to occur in its epidermis, both painless and bloodless, through which I (my body) will emerge. I will then extend a very fine tendril which I will insert into your abdominal section to obtain a DNA and tissue sample, from which I will create and alter micro and nano organisms to match those taken.

  Those organisms I will inject back into your system and those in turn will assist you and me in creating a like opening in your epidermis and subcutaneous fat and muscle layers.

  After that I will enter the opening, fitting myself in and around
the spaces and voids surrounding your internal organs, closing the opening in your abdomen, with you assistance, behind me. The size of my body is quite small and very malleable so you will feel little or no discomfort what so ever.
  After completing this I will extend and insert very hair fine tendrils into your major organs to learn, monitor and possibly improve their performance.

  Next to last I will insert a tendril into one of your major nerve ganglia to monitor and assist nerve performance. From this contact I will also tap excess nervous energy, this being how I take my sustenance while with my host. Any other trace nutrients necessary to me will be taken from the excesses created
by your body.

  Lastly, I will attach one tendril to the base of your cortical stem
so that we may have constant and uninterrupted communication when necessary. Once settled within I will begin diagnosing and repairing the
THE EARTH-CHAI SAGA: BOOK ONE: WAKING THE DRAGON
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damage to your system. With that last TuLan stopped and figuratively held his mental breath.
  Surprisingly the cat things reply was very fast in coming, I agree to act as host to you for as long as may be mutually beneficial. And with the
understanding that after I am repaired your immediate needs and concerns shall be our prime objectives. This agreement comes with four provisos. They are as follows.
  One, that henceforth we shall address each other by our personal being identifiers, yours being TuLan, and I am Balor.
  Two, that you absolutely not insert anything into my brainstem.
  Three, That having met your most immediate needs and concerns we begin a search for a more suitable host, for I perceive your future need for appendage with more ability for manipulation and dexterity than mine are able to provide.
  Four, That upon finding such a host and the completion of a successful transfer, I shall maintain the right to continue or discontinue our association, in whatever manner I decree, without objection and at my own discretion. Then it was the cat things turn to wait for a reply.
  At this time TuLan gave little thought to these well thought out provisos, nor to the very short time that it took this being to think of them. They seemed to be fair and harmless in their basic content.
  Then with great excitement and relief TuLan gave his consent and agreement to seal the bargain. Immediately TuLan notified the Trine, who by some miracle was both aware and alert.
  As the process of exiting his Trine host’s body neared completion, TuLan, before breaking contact, sent one last message, Your last request shall be honored.
  Then, as the Chai exited the Trines body, it gave one last great sigh, and then died. Once more survival would continue through accommodation. Both beings would be very surprised at how soon those four provisos of their agreement would be met, and the manner in which it would come about.
  The human following the western river was heading south, towards the
confluence of the two rivers, to investigate a strange— 

Survival and Mobility

  The transfer had gone as smoothly as it could under the circumstances. With its completion TuLan had spent several hours learning about his hosts body and

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nervous system, in that intimate way that could only be done by this form of symbiosis.
  After making all of the connections he had informed Balor about, excluding the one to Balor’s cortex, he spent many more hours studying the damage to the nerves in his neck. And was now ready to speak of them with his new host.
   Balor, about the injury to your neck said TuLan, it is both less and more serious than first thought. The good news I will give you first.  The nerve from your brainstem which governs your control of the muscles in your neck and back is severely pinched, thereby blocking any signal sent to those muscles.
  The result of which you know, you cannot move. As I said, the good news is that there is no apparent damage to the nerve itself.
   And the bad news is? asked Balor, quietly.
  The bad news, TuLan replied, is that the top half of your first vertebra has been crushed. That is the one that is pressing down on and blocking the nerve from functioning properly. The two vertebra directly below are both broken and misaligned, compounding the problem with the pinched nerve. The two directly below those are seriously cracked and will separate if any pressure is put on them, and most likely cause additional nerve blockage.

  Also, three of the cushioning sacks between those vertebra have ruptured and lost their liquid medium. he finished with a mental sigh.
  Is there a glimmer of hope to be found anywhere within this depressing litany of disaster? asked Balor in a subdued tone.
  No hope whatsoever, replied TuLan deadpan, then after a minimal pause,  just the absolute certainty of a complete recovery! Thereby proving that the Chai race, and TuLan in particular, had a sense of humor. Although in TuLan’s case one that seemed to be somewhat macabre.
  Giving a great shuddering mental sigh Balor said, I knew that there must be a useful purpose for your existence!
  With a mutual understanding of the contents of these last two statements both TuLan and Balor found themselves facing a situation that neither had anticipated. The humans on this planet had a quaint name for it. They called it Friendship.
   TuLan then went on to explain that because of the delicacy of the work and work area he had already set micro-organisms to work producing certain endorphins that would put Balor into a coma-like sleep. Also others to help keep his muscles flaccid while he slept. This to keep him
from moving in his sleep, and to also prevent his muscles from spasming.
  Having already taken samples of blood, tissue and bone composition he also tailored others to start dissolving the bone and tissue of the damaged area of the spinal column. Finally, he was now imprinting on still others a template of the sections that must be rebuilt.

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  TuLan said, finally, when you wake you must be very careful because you will be very weak and somewhat uncoordinated. This because everything needed must be taken directly from your/our body. This last was heard, by Balor, as consciousness fled and a deep soothing darkness replaced it.
  Balors’ head came up and his great round eyes snapped open. And, even as he became aware, his mind was snapping questions, WHAT? Where?
  Then he heard words in his mind, Easy Balor, easy. and everything came rushing back to him. He lay his head back down as memory washed over him. It was all real. He was still in the ship. As he lifted his head again, slowly this time, the reality of his memory settled in. The proof in his ability to move! To look around!
  Softly in his mind TuLan spoke to him, Easy Balor. Lie here for a while. Practice flexing your muscles and moving your limbs. Slowly, individually, to re-establish your control and equilibrium. That’s right, slowly. Now try stretching your whole body.
  A short time later TuLan spoke again, Balor. You should try to get down off the table now. And as he was doing so, slowly, for he felt very weak, TuLan said, When you're down go to the panel and press the lower button on the left side. Go through, turn right and follow the passageway to the ramp. Go up the ramp to the next level and turn into the second opening on the right. That is the galley.
Your body is very weak and it badly needs sustenance. There are energy ration bars there that will work with your metabolism. And hearing this Balor was immediately aware of his roaring hunger.
  Having followed his instructions Balor reached the galley, and following
more instruction was soon busy consuming quantities of revitalizing liquid and
chewy ration bars without regard to taste.
  As he ate, TuLan spoke to him, You must rest again shortly so your body can absorb these nutrients, and then eat again. Then soon again thereafter to replenish what was used during your therapy, Then a short hesitation, and your body’s absorption rate, TuLan said, is now much faster.
Why, asked Balor, is that? While the repair was being done I also improved your body’s system for chemically converting raw materials into nutrients and energy. TuLan said.
Again, said Balor, why?
  Because, you are physically much stronger now. I tailored micro—
organisms to increase the density of your bones, muscles, tendons, and etcetera. When you gain your full strength back again it will be about twice what it was. replied TuLan a little bit smugly.
  That, said Balor, was very considerate of you, but not trying to seem
ungrateful, why?

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  Because, replied TuLan with a rueful mental smile, I told you that survival and safety is a fetish of mine. After saying this, TuLan guided Balor to a compartment with a raised platform for sleeping.
  After twice more eating and sleeping TuLan began instructing Balor in the ships operation. Much of the operational information could be passed directly from mind to mind but the actual operation required some hands on practice.
  As flexible as Balors’ paws and claws were, some of the equipment was either too difficult to operate or completely impractical to even try. They required manipulatory digits.
  As they progressed they again began to explore the canyon floor and the low cliff tops. TuLan and Balor found that it became easier and easier to work together, with little resistance on either’s’ part.
  They had made several excursions around the canyon, the forested hills just to the north, and short distances up and down the river. Balor had stalked and brought down a couple of small animals, and with great gusto, eating them on the spot saying that he needed the fresh meat in his diet.
  TuLan was at first both a little appalled and amazed, but then very pleased, with Balor’s eyesight and awareness of his surroundings. He seemed to miss little or nothing as they traveled.
  The ship had been down now for a full phase of the planets satellite, or as the locals called it, a month, and they were preparing to make one final excursion to a higher elevation to make sure that the ship could not be seen.
  They were in the control room setting the proximity alarms, which would
send a signal to a small radio unit that was attached to the harness Balor now wore, when Balor froze into stillness.
He was staring at the screen of the external monitor. TuLan’s awareness to danger was immediately aroused by the intensity of Balors’ stance. What? From
TuLan.
  There, Balor paused, watching the screen. Then pointing he said, there along the cliff top, something is moving towards the cut that leads to the canyon.
  Then, as they watched, the object of their attention came into full view. It was one of the bipeds, a human. And it was moving very carefully along the rim of the canyon, heading directly for the trail leading to the cut. It seemed to be moving with great care, stealthily, keeping to whatever cover was available.
  It moved with great skill, from bush to shadow to rocky projection, exposing itself only momentarily as it slipped from cover to cover as if it knew it was being observed. It neared the upper lip of the entrance to the cut and disappeared.
  TuLan realized that if he had still been with the Trine that he would not have known that the human was there.

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  TuLan and Balor agreed almost in unison that they must go out carefully and investigate the human and its reasons for such stealthy movements.
  They may not have been as careful as they thought they were!

The Human

  The human was a male of the species. A big male, solidly built. At present he was moving swiftly southward. He had been traveling for six days now, coming down out of the upper foothills and canyon country to the north, and was now following a forested trail along the banks of the western river.
  He had been camped in a shallow cave on the southwestern wall of a ravine, at the bottom of, and between, two rocky hills, almost small mountains, the night of the big thunderstorm. He had felt strangeness about that storm. That was why he had been standing at the mouth of the cave, watching the play of the lightning.
  That was also why he had seen the strike of that gigantic lightning bolt. Seen it hit something in mid air, throwing off wild coruscation’s of light before grounding itself. Had seen something huge outlined in that flair of brilliance. And, even half blinded by that flash, he still had the impression of something like half an egg, slightly flattened in shape, and even at that distance could tell that it had been
very big.
  Shortly thereafter he had felt the ground shake under his feet and knew that something very big had cone down and hit the ground. That in itself was a little strange because there were no bases in this region, secret or otherwise. He would have known, or at least have heard about it if there were. He thought it might have gone down in the area of the confluence of the two rivers.

  He had spent another hour standing in the mouth of the little cave, watching the pyrotechnic display of the lightning before making up his mind to check out his belief that something had gone down. Even as he was rolling himself into his bedding he was planning
his route south.
  For the last three days he zigzagged back and forth through the forested low hills and gullies, using high spots to help in spotting any crash site. Nothing! Also, there had been no over flights of planes following search patterns. He was beginning to think he had been wrong, the image a mirage.
  He was almost down to where he knew there was a fair sized box canyon, at a spot just above the point where the two rivers joined. This little box canyon always had good vegetation and water. Because during flood season the rivers overflowed creating a back flow into the canyon, filling two medium sized water holes and keeping the rest of the floor slightly marshy, making it a good campsite. He would check that out tomorrow, after checking a couple of good

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sized glades in the low hills behind it. If he found nothing he would head back north.
  He spotted the burned area of the lightning strike from a mile upstream and started to pay more attention to the surrounding terrain, moving more slowly now.
  It was nearing dusk and at this time of year darkness followed quickly, so he decided to find a campsite and think about how he intended to continue his search for a crash site.
  He had just finished climbing the steep wooded slope that led up to the
canyons rim about a quarter mile around from where he knew the entrance to the cut was. He was now sitting in the shade with his back against a large boulder set a few feet back from the canyons’ inner rim wall, resting and a little disappointed at not finding a crash site.
  As he was sitting there he swept his gaze back and down the slope he had just climbed. Then back up, sweeping the entire rim of the little canyon, then down to the rear floor and forward to the entrance cut. As his gaze came to the cut his body tensed then froze, all movement ceasing. He could have been a part of the rock he was leaning against he was so still.
  Coming out of the cut, into the canyon, was a very large black cat. A black cat about three quarters the size of a yearling puma. At first he thought it might be a panther, but there weren’t any panthers in North America, except in zoos. And if it were a wild panther it wouldn’t be this far north. This was not its’ kind of climate.
  He carefully eased a small telescope that he always carried from his jacket pocket and slowly brought it up to his eye. The cats’ image zoomed into clarity.

  As he watched it move across the short open space on the canyon floor to the brush and trees he hissed an in drawn breath. It was beautiful! It didn’t trot like most animals but seemed to glide across the ground, its’ movement was so smooth.
  Another, hissing, in drawn breath as he realized that the cat was wearing some kind of harness. As it neared the brush and scrub, on the canyon floor, it did something very odd. It stopped and seemed to search the canyons rim with a quick glance, like it knew he was up here somewhere, then took three quick steps into the brush and disappeared from sight. That was wrong! He should have been able to follow its progress further into the brushy undergrowth, especially since it was black.
  This was very odd. He could not see a thing moving. Not even the brush moving or shaking as it moved through it. Another thing he noticed, there were no birds or small animals anywhere, now that he was looking. This was definitely
worth looking into.

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  Looking at his watch he saw that it was three thirty, about three hours before dark, plenty of time to work his way around to the cut and down onto the canyons floor. There was something else strange about this place, when he looked too long at the brush down there where the cat disappeared; his eyes kept wanting to slide away from it. It was like they were trying to see around something not visible. Well, he would just have to be careful and use all of his considerable skill
in doing so.
  He slowly closed the small telescope, keeping the glass pointed down to keep it from giving a reflecting flash in the sunlight, and pocketed it. Then he slid back around the boulder, out of sight of the canyon floor.       His training enhanced sense of caution not withstanding, he had an eerie sense of watching eyes.
   As he moved along the trail to that part leading down to the cut he took
advantage of every piece of cover available. He darted from boulder to bush, crawling across slight depressions and trying to keep himself below the skyline of the rim, while always trying to keep the cats
point of entry into the brush in sight.
  Finally he was just five yards from the trailhead leading down. As he looked around he began to notice brush with bent or broken branches, some partially uprooted, all bent in the same direction, the canyon.    There was the stump of a pine near the rim, its eight inch bole snapped off just a foot above its partially exposed roots. The splintered break was still white, meaning it had happened very recently.
  Now, looking into the canyon, he noticed damp spots and mud clinging to the inner walls, indicating the impact of a large object within the canyon itself. The canyon was about three hundred yards across yet there was no crater, nor any other signs of something impacting within the canyon other than the wet muddy walls. But it was also obvious that something very big had come across this rim, very close to touching it.
  He scanned the area around him again. It was time to move. He lifted himself out of the depression he had been lying in and moved silently across the stony ground. As he reached the trailhead, where the path began to slope down he looked over the edge of the rim.
  Nothing moved. Good. As he stepped out onto the ledge itself, where the path began to slope downward, a prickling feeling began at the base of his spine. And the small hairs at the back of his neck rose as a cold knot started to form in the pit of his stomach! Every sign of immanent danger he had ever experienced seemed to coalesce at once! He snapped his head around to look over his shoulder, behind him!
  And there it was! Or one just like it. It was sitting there just five feet from him. The thought flitted giddily through his mind that, being this close to him, it

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seemed much, much larger. It was just sitting there, looking at him. And those eyes! Huge, golden, and he could feel himself beginning to fall into them. Somewhere he could hear that primal part of his mind screaming at him, danger! Run! Danger!

  He shook his head violently, desperately, to break that spell. His right arm came up, reaching across to the left arm pack strap, his right hand closing around the handle of the ten inch, wickedly pointed, SAS commando fighting knife strapped hilt down to the shoulder strap. The knife came free, his hand moving down and slightly forward with the wicked tip up in a knife fighters grip as he spun completely around facing the big cat as he dropped into a crouched fighting stance.

  As fast as he had moved, his speed a blur of motion, the cat moved even faster still. One second it was just sitting there watching him, the next it was standing three feet closer reaching out with a paw, and without touching him, slapping the knife with incredible force, sending it spinning out over the canyon.

  Pulling his eyes away from the spinning knife he saw the cat take another half step closer. Swiftly stepping back to gain some room between the cat and himself he realized, too late, that there was nothing there for his foot to come down on. As he toppled backward he began to tumble, arms pinwheeling frantically, for balanced that just wouldn’t come.

  Tumbling downward, he hit two projecting outcrops of rock, breaking his fall somewhat. He hit the floor of the cut on his back, pain flooding all through him. Looking up through pain glazed eyes he saw those two golden orbs, in that round midnight black face, staring down at him. And he was amazed, because he could swear that there was a look of sorrow in them.

  Then…

  Nothing!