Paws and Planets Read Online Free PDF

not,”
declared Qian and Quort, furling and unfurling their wings.
    “You will so,”
thundered Jaru. “All of us will return to our respective ships.
That is an order.”
    “Try and make
us,” jeered Quort. “We stay. We have already reported our findings
to the Ammokko and we Dglai are in agreement that we
stay.”
    “I will report
our findings to the Limokko ,” said Jaru.
    “As I to the Jamokko ,” added Dru.
    It was only
when the Susas of both the Jamokko and the Limokko threatened to blast the Ammokko out of existence that, with
bad grace and disappointment in their very demeanour, Qian and
Quort agreed to leave.
    The Dglai might
have fought one ship but even for them a two to one fight was a too
uneven contest.
    A froth-filled
and noisy ferment was the only way to describe the ambience on all
three ships when the Quorkos returned.
    The Dglai were
insisting that the existence of these creatures was no bar to their
colonisation. Quend, their leader, even used the word
‘conquest’.
    The Brai and
Lai were insisting that the barrier was a very real one, at the
same time growing nervous about the number of times the Dglai were
using ‘conquest’ in the conversation.
    “But it is
perfect,” remonstrated Quend on the ship-to-ship link. “They are
primitive. Their demise would be no loss. We Dglai will deal with
them if you are too squeamish!”
    “You will not,”
insisted Laru in so loud a voice that those closest to him found it
necessary to cover their ears with their wings. “I will blast you
out of existence first.”
    Expect the
unexpected was one of Laru’s mottos but even he was surprised at
what came next.
    His comunit
bleeped as he was taking some well-earned rest. He learned a
heartbeat later that the Ammokko was making ready to depart
orbit.
    “Stop them,” he
ordered. “Try to speak to them.”
    “They are not
answering,” was the reply.
    The Lai and the
Brai could only watch open winged as the Ammokko departed.
    “Now what?”
asked Jaru of Laru.
    He
shrugged.
    Long were the
discussions between the Lai and the Brai. Both were convinced that
the Ammokko would return. Should they leave, after
replenishing their stores hoping they would not? Should they stay,
to guard it?
    “One of us must
stay,” said Laru at least, “until at least we are sure that the Ammokko has gone for good. The other must carry on.” Laru
knew that this was the right decision but who should go and who
should stay? He knew that the Limokko was in far better
physical shape than the Jamokko which had sustained some
damage in a recent circumnavigation of a potential planet not far
(spatially) away but he did not want to be the one to state the
obvious.
    “We will stay,”
announced Jalatou, Susa of the Brai, “but we ask you to take some
of our ltsctas with you so that if the Ammokko returns some
of our rtath will survive.
    “So be it,”
agreed Laru, accepting this though his heart was breaking at what
he knew was in all likelihood, their final parting of the ways. He
knew this was a no win situation. If the Ammokko returned,
the more ruthless and bloodthirsty Dglai would destroy the Brai.
Unless Jalatou used his ship as a weapon and flew into the Ammokko , blowing herself up in the process the Dglai would
take over the planet. The Brai were condemned to waiting in an
endless orbit.
    “If they return
we will stop them,” promised Jalatou.
    “I know you
will,” said Laru.
    The Limokko prepared for departure in her turn, it took some
time as the Lai took advantage of the plenty the planet below
offered and harvested liberally.
    “Stay in touch
for as long as you can,” said Laru.
    “We will,”
Jelatou promised and did.
    The Limokko’s engines fired and the ship heaved her ponderous
bulk out of the planet’s orbit and towards her destiny, the Lai
never imagining how, many thousands of xanus in the future, they
would come to share a planet with the descendants of those they had
saved from