24 Returning Home

During the flight, Lee Long performed the operation Vampire. He wanted to obtain the cat's blood discreetly. The blood exchange could enhance the success of the Race Dance. At first, the boy wanted to take advantage of the inadequate state of Cracked Bone. But he was suspicious of the toxins in the milk. They could taint the purity of the blood. The duelist decided to combine the useful and the necessary. First, he cured himself completely.

Fighting a bregan showed just how dangerous an elf was. These sentient creatures were the longevity of the galaxy. Over the years, the bregans became powerful enemies.

Eternal life... that was a special moment of galactic existence.

Members of most sentient races lived about 150 years. But there were also rare species of long-livers.

When humans discovered the way to new advances and possibilities, they discovered the tempting prospect of living about 150 years. Magical energy permeated the entire galaxy. It provided the strength for a long existence.

A close encounter with a race of ferin showed the special intricacies of longevity. Most cats didn't use the services of advances in genetics and medicine. The Ferin lived an active life and did not welcome the appearance of the Longevity Elders. A healthy tribal life required renewal. Youngblood becomes mature. The young come into life and occupy an important place in society. No one is interested in the appearance of the Eternal Wise and Just Strongest Elder. This is the road to dictatorship. The patriarch of the Ferin tribe was not representative of the kind of permanent rulers of the planet. He was the best among equals. The Black Star had many competitors for the position of a future ruler.

There was another reason for the aversion to long life. The Ferin had a perfect example of the disgusting effects of longevity near the borders of the sector. The Bregan were enemies and they were long-livers. The elves had no sympathy whatsoever.

Humans themselves had experienced and realized all the unpleasantness of a long life. It's hard to lose family and friends. The colonies were small social groups. Social experiments could be conducted in them.

Set up a longevity colony? Establish life extension to 300 years as a requirement for all colonists? That made sense! But young colonies needed funds. Life-extension surgery was expensive. It required constant monitoring and expensive special medicines. People spent credits on exploring the galaxy. It wasn't tourism, it was gathering information about new living conditions. Galanet is not the answer! Important things must be seen with their own eyes. Ferin had a powerful and centuries-tested program of financial control of their subordinates. The colony received funds and just as quickly spent the credits.

The idea of longevity did not take hold.

Lee Long saw a new side to the issue. He was guided by the presence of a system. Longevity is a lot of attributes. Rhonda struck a few blows. She was unarmed but did good damage to the boy.

Lee used Balance and regained maximum value for endurance and intelligence. He still had enough mana left and decided to apply the Suggestion on the cat.

Lee went down to the hold and began examining the dredroids' bodies. They were not tall and mighty defenders of the planet Bregan. These creatures acted as guards and servants for simple jobs. Blasters and long clubs were the weapons of the wooden creatures. They wore no clothing whatsoever. Pathetic prey! Lee looked at the club with disdain. There were spikes on its end. It gave him the right idea.

Lee Long returned to the control room and handed the club to the cat.

"Are you familiar with this weapon yet? How dangerous is it?" the boy asked.

The cat took the club and waved the weapon in the air a couple of times. A contemptuous expression appeared on his face.

"It's not dangerous. I only fought a dredroid once. I was faster, and I won!"

The duelist wiped the point of the spikes with a cloth early on. There might have been poison on them! These bregans are very treacherous creatures. The boy feigned an indifferent look and sat down in the pilot's chair. He did not look in the direction of the cat. There was no need for the suggestion. Lee activated the Mental Hegemony skill.

"Cracked Bone, you want to test the sharpness of the spike. Scratch your finger!"

The cat obeyed the little manipulator's orders. He snorted and returned the club to the boy.

"Sharp spike, but my knife is more dangerous. Take this crap back."

The boy took the club and discreetly stabbed his finger with the bloody spike. The Vampire operation was a success! All done cleanly and neatly.

Lee ordered the ferin to tell all the details of his bregan operations. The cat was in a great mood after checking the number of credits in the case. Cracked Bone pulled out a flask and began recounting his adventures in the Bregan sector. Occasionally his tale would break off and the cat would purr embarrassedly. All his dark deeds were connected with different criminals of different races. Sometimes the story was about secrets that had nothing to do with Bregan. Bone interrupted the story. He had a desire to explain to the little kitten how dangerous and treacherous elves are. But you can make a lot of money with them! You can earn a lot of credits with the various bastards of the Shade Sector, too. But the boy must not be told about these scoundrels! The elves will still serve their team. These big-eared ones appreciate the ferin tree. Getting the tree is difficult but possible. Now the cat has a proven method of smuggling! He has never conducted such a successful business.

The Fluffy Paw went into hyperspeed. Piloting didn't require sensitive attention. The onboard computer was in charge of everything. Ferin was talking about the elves. The boy listened intently to the cat.

He did not turn on the recording on his communicator. Maria once warned him, "Don't trust important information to the communicator! Keep the precious things in your head, boy." Lee remembered the lesson. You can't be gullible about everything among strong competitors. Communicators were made in the Ferin factories. They were a crucial part of the galaxy's technology. These little devices resembled ancient watches. No human knew all the properties of useful assistants with artificial intelligence. Perhaps any communicator had a link to the creators! Paranoia? No! It was a security concern.

Suddenly Lee interfered with the cat's story,

"Wait! You said you had a fight with your father and you were a stupid kitten. Why did you leave the family?"

"I don't want to sit in an office all my life. I wanted to be a free explorer of the frontiers of the galaxy. My family spent a lot of credits to block my path to space. I dreamed of serving in the Sector Intelligence Service. I tried many times to take the exams and pass the aptitude test. Always a failure! Only later did I found out that my family got in my way. I gave up the family business and became a smuggler. I am not a pirate. I never dealt with slaves. We were young and bold cats! We attacked the Bregan planets. It was revenge and lust to hunt a dangerous enemy. One day Fluffy Paw was killed. I broke down and left the squad. I was entrusted with mining credits to support operations. Smuggling and controlling establishments in the lower town. I'm content with life."

"You did well. Our colony has strict rules. No one has the right to be impertinent. No one can spit on the colony and become a free space warrior. It used to be possible. My ancestors and my guardian's ancestors were formidable adversaries. They too attacked the Bregan and Shade planets. Now the colony has a Mercenary Division. But it's a serious contract service. Everything is under control there. What kind of business does your family have?"

"Chemistry. Chemical technology. No biochemistry, my family honors my ancestors! There are a lot of scientists and specialists in the family. But it's a household business. I won't tell you the details," the cat smiled and went back to the story about bregan.

The boy thought that acquaintance and connection with this cat bring good prospects. Chemistry is useful. Chemistry is important. He would take his time and continue to deepen his communication with Cracked Bone.

He liked the new possibilities. The flight from the planet Ferin to Mirros lasted 13 hours. It takes 26 hours to travel there and back. The little duelist has enough time for adventures on an alien planet!

The time on the road will not be wasted. Practicing healing doesn't require a special place. Lee remembered an amusing fact with a smile. It is very easy to practice healing on yourself. You just have to be willing to experience pain. A hard fist bump into a hard surface or a knife wounding one's body! And then you can perform healing on yourself. Applying healing to a healthy person doesn't give development for the skill. But who has ever met a perfectly healthy person? Lee had no shortage of clients. He sparred with Cracked Bone in flight and applied to heal. The cat proved to be a good fighter.

Lee Long left an enemy behind him. Rhonda will take revenge. Rhonda will become an obstacle in Lee's way. This is a good thing. It will allow him to fight a strong opponent. A strong enemy is as valuable as a true friend. Who knows where this road will lead?

An important character trait of this elven woman became clear from the ferin's story. She allowed herself to take great risks. Dealing with ferin was not welcomed among the elves. They still kept the old covenants. Only blows of a weapon could be exchanged with the enemy. The rest of the valuables had to be taken from the enemy. Rhonda decided to take the goods. It was a normal thing for a warrior to do, but a strange thing for a merchant to do. Perhaps she had decided to stop all business with

Cracked Bone? No matter. Rhonda would deal with Lee Long now.

The boy licked his lips and whispered the ancient motto of the strong warrior:

"I'll be back."