Flashing red lights filled the corridors as the young white tiger and his mother ran towards the escape pods towards the back of the F-model Okami-class freighter. He watched as members of the ship’s crew rushed past them in the opposite direction with guns and blades ready to fight off the pirates who now stormed the starship. They had been on their way to deliver high-tech equipment to Dennier when they were attacked. They were just outside of Dennier’s gravity field when they were caught off-guard by a large black battleship heading straight for The Shooting Star. As the crew raced by them at amazing speeds, he recognized each of them as either family or friend. But even at the speed they ran, everything seemed to go in slow motion to the young tiger as he looked at their worried and panicked faces. As they headed toward the back of the ship, the thirteen-year-old tiger’s mother pulled him by his left arm as he held a sheathed, straight sword in his right hand. While running he took a glance at the sword. It was his father’s favorite sword; the blade itself was made out of Terran Damascus steel, and the hilt was made of solid gold with a leather strap that covered the handle and a clear crystal orb at the end of the hilt. As they took the lift down to the cargo bay to the escape pods, he remembered what his father said at the bridge of the ship before he had gone to fend off the pirates:

“Son, take this sword and follow your mother to the escape pods.”

“But won’t you need it to fight the pirates?” the young tiger said, sheer terror showing in his voice.

“I have others,” he said as he lifted well-crafted steel broadsword in his right hand. “If anything happens, I want you to have it. Protect your mother with it, Drake.”

Since age five, Drake’s father had taught him martial arts that were similar to the shaolin style on Earth, which included the use of weapons like the sword.

“I want to stay with you and mom! I want all of us to be together,” Drake said as he clung to his father’s midsection in a fierce, emotional hug. He looked toward his father’s face with tears flowing from his ice blue eyes and then to his mother as she joined in to help comfort the white tiger cub.

His father was also a white tiger, he was slightly tall at six feet even and was well built from head to toe due to extensive training in the martial arts. He was the owner and captain of his ship, “The Shooting Star”. Drake looked into his father’s ice blue eyes, which were in most cases, kind and understanding, inviting anyone to come and talk to him about anything, but were cold and fierce when it came fighting in the battlefield. Then he looked to his mother who was tiger of tawny yellow,  but also well-built due to martial arts training. As Drake looked into her light brown eyes, it reminded him of how they gave a sense of kindness and caring to all family and friends who looked into them. His father wore a pair of black loose-fit jeans, white turtle neck shirt, and brown flight jacket with the ship’s logo on the right shoulder, and a pair of black boots that stopped halfway up his calf. His mother wore a pair of black slacks made out of a thin silk-like material, a white button-up blouse, and a pair of comfortable black slip-on shoes. Drake had been practicing at the time when the pirates attacked, so he was in his training clothes, which consisted of black warm-up pants, a white button-up shirt that resembled the ones used in shaolin-style training on Earth, and a pair of black training shoes with white socks. They stood together in a moment of silence as they embraced each other.

Then a panicked voice came though the ship-wide intercom system. “Captain Arlin, the pirates have breached the hull in the top storage level. They’re in the ship!”

“They’re here!” said Captain Arlin as he looked at his wife and son. “Lia, take Drake and get to the escape pods in the cargo bay.” Lia gave her husband one last desperate kiss before she took Drake by the arm and sped through the bridge door and toward the lift.

When they reached the escape pods, Lia knelt down on one knee, took her son by the shoulders and looked into his ice blue eyes. “Drake, take good care of yourself, I know you can.”

“Wha-, what do you mean, mom, aren’t you coming with me.” Drake asked, tears still flowing down the fur of his cheeks.

“No, it will be safer to launch the pod manually from the outside. You remember what your father taught you on how to fly the ship, right?”

Drake nodded, mentally going over what his father taught him about navigating and landing on a planet, but quickly snapped out of it when he realized he was leaving without his mother. “No!” he said as he wrapped his arms around his mother with no intention of letting go. “I don’t want to leave you and dad, I want to stay and fight with you,” he said as he looked at the sword he dropped on the floor when he hugged his mother.

“No, you need to be somewhere safe. Here, take this.” Lia took a silver necklace from around her neck. On the thin but dense rope-like necklace was a medallion with a loop on the top for the chain. It was in the shape of a dragon’s paw with long claws going in four directions and curving down to a point where the tip of the claws were less three-quarters of an inch from meeting at the bottom, which left a good size hole in the middle of the four claws. In that hole was a crystal ball that fit loosely in between the claws but showed no sighs of falling out.

She put her arms around Drake’s neck and said softly, “As long as you wear this and carry that sword, we will never leave your side, my son.” She picked up the sword from the floor and handed it to Drake, and then with an unexpected fist to the stomach she knocked the wind out of the unsuspecting tiger cub. She then put him in one of the escape pods and quickly closed the door of the pod before Drake knew what happened. The vidscreen kicked in when the door locked. He watched in protest, begging his mother to let him stay while she made the final preparations to launch the escape pod. Though she could not hear nor see his cries, she somehow knew how he must feel and hoped that he would one day understand why she did what she was about to do. When the pod was secure she moved to the button that would launch it. She then felt a presence behind her. She turned around to defend herself and froze in horror when she saw her attacker.

 “Ashar!” the female tiger said, sheer terror looming over her voice.

Drake watched in horror as he saw the intimidating figure advance toward his mother with blade ready. With eyes wide with fear for his mother, the words barely escaped his lips in a quiet whisper, “Ashar Dismond!”  Saying the name suddenly brought back memories of an experience with the ruthless pirate that had nearly got him killed. As a result, Ashar had gained two noticeable scars, three claw marks across his left eye and a slash across his right cheek, gifts from both Drake and his father.

The tall dark brown lion stood a few feet before her holding a broadsword in his right hand, the blade tainted with fresh blood that dripped to the floor. He gave the female tiger a sinister glare with his piercing light brown eyes and an evil lopsided smile as he lifted the sword high overhead to strike her down. The blade came within two inches of her muzzle before another blade appeared in front of her that blocked the striking blade. Lia instantly recognized it and looked to her right. She was relieved when she found her husband at the other end of the protecting blade. Her relief quickly turned to fear when she noticed how badly beaten he was from battling the other pirates. Ashar was outraged from being deprived of his kill and took his anger out on Captain Arlin in full force.

Lia was frozen in horror as she watched her husband desperately block a parry and the onslaught of slashes a jabs from Ashar’s blade.

“Jettison the pod,” Arlin said just before Ashar thrust the point of his sword through an open spot on his stomach.

Lia’s eyes flooded with tears as she watched her husband slowly fall to his knees and then to the floor. A split second later she suddenly realized what he was trying to tell her.  She quickly turned to face the control panel for the escape pods. Within an instant she felt a sharp pain go into her back and through her stomach. She looked down to see a blade lined with blood protruding from her midsection.

Drake was frozen in horror; tears flowed like rivers from his eyes. He could not hear anything, but what he saw was a thousand times worse then anything he would ever hear. He watch helplessly as his mother used the last bit of strength she had to push the button that launched the escape pod he was in before Ashar could stop her.

Before the pod was launched Lia turned to the pod and Drake could see her face through the screen. With her last breath she said the words that Drake would cherish in his heart forever: “We love you son, and we will never leave your side.” Even though the pod was soundproof, he could hear those words clear as if they were sent straight to his heart.

As the pod escaped the ship, Drake felt the emotional bond with his mother and father fade. Tears poured more and more as he felt their life force slowly slip away to nothing, leaving only a few words of sorrow escape his lips. “Mom…dad…please don’t leave me….Noooooo!”

 •••

It was a cold and quiet night, and Drake could hear heavy rain fall on the outer hull of the escape pod. He used the vidscreen to scout the area where he had landed. It was an open meadow with tall green grass covering the ground and tall trees surrounding the wide area. With the unauthorized landing he had made, he knew the Dennieran authorities would come to pick him up by morning. Seeing that it was night without knowing where he was, he quickly decided that it would be safer if he stayed in the escape pod.

He sat back in the chair of the small and uncomfortable cockpit. The entry into the atmosphere was rough as the shields had barely held their own against the intense heat. The procedures of the entry and landing of the small vehicle on the planet had been able to momentarily take his mind off of the horrors of the recent events which had led to his being orphaned. With his right hand, he grasped the necklace his mother gave him before she died while he gripped the scabbard of the long sword that his father entrusted him with in his left. His mind unwillingly played back the unmerciful slaughter of both of his parents, and then he cried himself to sleep.

 •••

The road was wet and quiet as Kyle came home late from work to correct a networking failure at one of the manufacturing warehouses his company was in charge of maintaining. The failure began just as he was about to close the office and head for home. The problem was not critical, but it was enough to keep him at work an extra two hours rerouting and reprogramming some of the computers that linked the warehouse to the main office. Benefiting a supervisor of a small band of computer techs in the region, he was very well paid. It also helped that he had a really good stock advisor to help him make some very profitable choices in the stock market. With the money he made and saved, his next paycheck would provide him enough capital to do what he and his wife had always dreamed of.

He reached over to his car’s vidscreen and tuned into the local news network where a reporter was giving a news flash on an escape pod landing on the outskirts of town.

“Poor guy, I wonder what his story is? It can’t be good,” said the tall ursine as he turned up the volume and bought his full attention to the road in front of him.

The rain had completely stopped by the time he pulled in to the driveway of his house. When he got out of the car and closed and locked the door, he leaned back against the side of the vehicle and looked towards the clouded sky which was now starting to clear and show sparkling stars. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it a moment to savor the fresh and clean scent the rain left behind, then exhaled in a relaxing sigh. A cool breeze flowed through the thick light brown fur that was not covered by his short-sleeve dress shirt and black slacks and his soft light brown eyes reflected the lights that illuminated the widows of his two-story house. While he was looking over his house, he took a moment to reflect upon the accomplishments of his life, the well paying job, the degree in college he worked hard for, his house, his car, and finally, his most cherished accomplishment, winning the heart of his beloved wife, Jinna.

Just then, the front door opened and a gray and white female wolf slowly walked towards Kyle.  She was of average height standing four and a half inches shorter than the six-foot ursine. As she walked her green blouse and black silk like pants flowed mystically in the gentle breeze revealing the lean and graceful features of her body. She leaned up on the ursine’s strong chest and gave him a long passionate kiss as he wrapped his arms around her. “Hi, honey. Long day at work today?”

“Yeah, but coming home to you was worth the wait,” Kyle said as he gently turned her around and embraced her back against his chest. Together they looked towards the dark sky as it became clearer and the stars brighter. Almost immediately he noticed that she wore the perfume he liked and was dressed fancier than usual.

“Tim called,” Jinna said, “he wanted to know if you wanted to go ship-searching tomorrow after work.”

“Well, my last paycheck is coming this weekend, and I guess now would be a good time to start looking around for a good freighter.” Kyle released his love as they straightened up from the car and headed inside. “I guess I should give him a call and see if he wants to start earlier. I’m sure you’ll want to come along as well, after all, you are flying with us as one of the primary pilots and I want you to help us pick a good one.”

Jinna turned around and gave Kyle a questioning look. “Earlier?”

Kyle closed and locked the front door, “Yeah. As a going away gift the boss is giving me the next two days off so I will only have to work three days this week,” Kyle said as he turned around to follow his wife, who was now leading him to the kitchen. “I don’t know, I think they are all up to something at work, but I can’t quiet figure out wha… whoa, what’s with the setup?”

The kitchen lights were dimmed low, the dinner candles, the good silverware and tablecloths were set neatly on the dining table with a bottle of white wine and two wine glasses set next to the candle holder. Jinna walked up to him and gave him a small peck on the cheek. “Just a little something I whipped up.” Despite the little voice that told him that something was amiss he quickly decided to go along and wait until she was ready to tell him. “We are having you favorite, Fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli.”

“What’s the occasion?” He asked as she led him to his seat, and then left the table to get their plates.

“Your parents called today after I got off the phone with Tim.” Kyle grimaced at the fact that his parents called, recalling how he argued with them about marrying outside of his species. Through the whole ordeal the only argument they had was “how do you plan on having cubs of your own when the time comes.” He had no answer for that, and hated to admit that they were right about even one thing concerning the marriage. Jinna’s parents, on the other hand, were quite understanding about it.

“What did they have to say?” Kyle asked, a hint of disgust in his voice. Jinna came back to the table with two plates full of pasta. Kyle got up and took the plates and carefully set them in front of their chairs, and then held the chair out for Jinna to sit down.

“They just wanted to say hi and see how their son was doing,” Jinna said as Kyle filled the wine glasses. He looked toward his wife only to find her with a preoccupied look on her face.

“Is something wrong?” He asked with concern written all over his face. She looked at him with a weak smile that only worried him even more. “Jinna, you know you can tell me anything… did you get into a fight with my parents – did they yell at you?”

“No…nothing like that,” Jinna answered immediately. She took a moment to gather her thoughts while Kyle sat down nervously awaiting her next words. “Kyle, what do you think about adopting a cub, you know, a cub we can call our own.”

Kyle felt weak with relief and leaned back in his chair. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Phew, don’t scare me like that, I nearly had a heart attack.”

Jinna could not resist a light chuckle, but it quickly faded away as she brought her focus back on the question she had asked. “Well…” she said feeling a little more confidant about the question, “what would you say if I told you I wanted to adopt a cub.”

Kyle looked at Jinna with a gentle smile, “Actually, I had been thinking about asking you the same thing. I just wasn’t sure how you would react to it.” Jinna beamed with delight at what she heard. She immediately leaped from her chair and into Kyle’s arms, nearly bringing them both crashing down on the floor. When they glanced into each other’s eyes, the radiance of the candlelight twinkling in them, Jinna wrapped her arms around Kyle’s neck and slowly drew their muzzles together in a long and passionate kiss that they both were sure would not be forgotten easily.

 •••

Knock, Knock!

The young white tiger’s eyes slowly opened to the faint sound of someone rapping on the outer hull of his escape pod. He slowly straightened himself from his curled position in the cockpit’s chair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with one paw while he tapped a series of keys on the control panel to activate the vidscreen with the other to see who was knocking. The relentless images that flowed through his dreams had made the last few hours rough and restless. When he turned on the monitor he immediately noticed two things: one, it was nearly dawn and two, the person knocking was in a uniform that clearly stated she was a local officer of a nearby town in the area. Now fully alert, Drake took a few moments to clear his thoughts, and then hit a sequence of buttons that opened the hatch.

The tall Dalmatian heard a hissing sound erupt from the vessel and took a few steps back as the hydraulic arms lifted the hatch. Not knowing what to expect, the canine stayed alert with a paw rested on the firearm at her side. When the hatch finally opened, the officer’s eyes went wide at what she saw. “You’re just a cub,” the officer said as the young tiger climbed out of the escape pod.

 Feeling a little disoriented and dizzy from the sudden atmospheric change, the tiger took a few deep breaths for moment to center himself and adjust, and then turned back towards the pod and pulled out the only remaining thing he owned – the sword his father had given him. The officer immediately reacted as soon as she saw the weapon, and was about to draw her firearm until she noted that the blade was safely stored in its sheath. Seeing the officer’s reaction when he picked up his sword and seeing that even though she did not draw her gun, her paw was still tense on the handle, he decided that the best thing to do would be to lay the sword on the ground next to him.

The Dalmatian let out a sigh of relief allowing her to release the breath she was holding as she watched the tiger cub put the sword down and back away from it. She relaxed her paw from her firearm, moved toward the sword while keeping a careful eye on the cub, and started to pick it up.

“Be careful with it!” Drake nearly shouted in a shaky voice. “That’s the only thing I have left of my father, please, be careful with it.”

Even from where she was kneeling, she could see the tears starting to swell within his eyes. She took a moment to get her thoughts together, then decided to leave the sword where it lay. Judging from the cub’s actions and the way he spoke to her, she thought it best to start slow and easy.  She slowly walked towards the tiger cub and knelt down in front of him, deciding that the simplest of questions would be best. “What’s you name?” she asked gently.