27 The Return of the Black Star

Lee Long saw his girlfriend's spaceship. Claw was standing not far from the gate of the Colony Europe 9 checkpoint. Cool stuff! His Courier is cool, but the princess got a great model as a gift. A small figure rose from the grass against the shiny metal of the side wing. Lee immediately ran toward his friend.

"Hello, Star!"

"Hi, Lee," the cat purred. "Let's go talk. You almost ripped my tail off, you bald worm."

The boy already suspected what trouble had begun for his girlfriend. The Ferin tribe did not accept the concept of permanent and hereditary power. The tribe always had a permanent replacement of the best ferin who was in charge. Black Star was constantly proving her potential. The connection with the colonist was a negative that compromised the cat. In her absence, Lee allowed herself to establish herself at her expense. That was what her competitors and rivals might have thought.

The friends walked to the riverbank and sat down on the grass. Star immediately grabbed the boy by the scruff of the neck,

"Have you realized your mistake?"

"I showed off your gift for nothing," Lee admitted.

"I gave it to you for nothing," the kitten agreed. "I should have brought you a blaster. Bald worms love those weapons."

"We're finished with that question. Tell me what it led to," Lee offered to change the subject.

"I have a new mission," snorted the cat. "I'm fine. I got through my old mission. My father reassigned me to another operation. You will be my partner in the new mission. The patriarch agrees with the tribal Council. You're a strange man. You're well-received in the tribe. You're being given a chance to prove yourself again. It'll be a dark case. We can prove your right to be my hunting partner. Or you'll be alone on your trail."

Lee thought about it and realized he liked this decision of the tribe. Cats are sometimes as simple as animals. Is there a problem? We have to solve it. Have the Ferins decided to deal with the kitten-boy friendship once and for all? Great. Star made her choice. She could have given up her friendship with the colonist. She could have just stayed out of touch and ignored Lee. It was time for them to grow up, it was time for them to accept responsibility. She accepted Lee Long. He never thought of giving up a trustworthy girlfriend. By and large, he owed her his life. She gave him a new life - the Life of a Duelist.

"Let's do it. I'm ready to show them my claws," Lee smiled. "Move your Claw over here. We'll discuss dark matters under the cover of your ship's walls."

Star rose from the grass and looked toward the colony walls,

"Always knew they were spying on us." The little ferin hissed.

"So did you, little one. It's mutual entertainment for our scouts."

She laughed and walked toward the ship. Lee thought her return was a good thing. He was too actively beginning to expand his field of activity. The Lower City, the partnership with the Cracked Bone, the conflict with Rhonda, the competition in the middle district of the capital, other small pranks. Too many different directions. He's leaving a lot of unnecessary traces and is no longer in control of the situation. It's time to go back to the beginning. I wonder what kind of cases Star had become entrusted with.

He watched her scout approach. A gorgeous model. The perfection of simplicity and functionality. Nothing superfluous. The Claw had been specially designed. The scout consisted of a single egg-shaped hull and two side wings. The wings were the usual panels that covered the hull and could carry hardware and weapons.

The claw landed beside it and the boy stood up to walk aboard. Away from the wire - closer to success in their affairs.

An entrance opened on the side panel and Star stepped out onto the riverbank. She was carrying a small coffer.

"Sit back down, monkey! I'll get your news first. I have delicacies from the neighbors and a desire to hear your boastful lies."

The boy did not argue and sat down on the grass. His girlfriend sat down beside him and opened the coffer. They began the picnic and the boy talked about his adventures.

He managed to surprise her. The cat decided to think quietly about his new acquaintances and prospects.

"Let's go aboard. Let's discuss the details of the operation," she suggested ending the picnic and getting down to serious business.

Lee Long was ready to begin a new adventure. This case could provide excellent practice for his varied capabilities.

The Claw had three compartments. The front compartment had a small hold that could contain a couple of prisoners and a supply of food. Three paces long and a couple of paces wide. A miserable semblance of a hold, but good extra protection from accidentally hitting the attack front. The central compartment was the control and rest cabin. The engine compartment was located at the rear of the ship's hull.

Black Star sat in the pilot's chair and quickly entered commands into the computer. She turned on the listening protection and began the briefing.

"Our mission is related to the Grirad sector. It is known as the Galactic Wastelands. It is a sector of the Orc race. In ancient times, these jerks fought wars of annihilation against each other. The Orcs recognized no limits to the use of total means of destruction. They burned every living thing on the planets of their sector. "If the enemy does not surrender, destroy him!" A brutal motto of brutal times. Now, most of the planets in the sector are covered with deserts and rocks of rock. These assholes have excellent supplies of M-crystals to make weapons and build ships.

We will infiltrate the Ondokor star cluster to the central planet of the cluster. Our mission is to mine and destroy the main mining facilities of the planet Ondokor."

"Mines made by Bregan or Shade?" the boy asked.

"Shade," the cat replied and asked his question. "Now you know the details. Are you in?"

"What's the problem?"

Black shook her head and snorted,

"Orcs recognize slavery. There are slaves of different races working in the mines. There are a lot of humans out there. Are you willing to participate in the destruction of humans?"

"There are enough humans and ferins there as well.

You are willing to destroy the ferins. What's the problem? I don't care about the fate of slaves. Everyone accepts their fate. Your seventh birthday gift is always ready to hold me," the boy smiled at the memory. "Maria appreciated and only that day came to terms with our friendship."

"The poison capsule in the communicator is a reliable backup in case of deadly problems," the cat agreed.

Lee Long swiped his hand and rubbed his nose. He wanted to know more!

"You guys are tough. I don't see a clean trail in this hunt. The Ferin is provoking a conflict between the Orcs and Shade. You will take part in the affair on the side of the allies. Such consequences are visible to the naked eye. But these are the wrong conclusions. Too primitive and intrigue!"

"Who needs such allies? Orcs are maniacs and even today can conduct military operations without limits. With such allies, no enemies are needed! Today you will support the Orcs, but tomorrow you will get your revenge and your planet will be bombed by an orbital bombardment without restriction. The Orcs have only allies and it's only Orcs," laughed the cat. "I don't know the Council's decision. There is no telling how the tribe will take advantage of the fruits of our hunt."

"Big prey for the tribe. Lots of pieces of roast meat can be cooked. What are the time constraints? You know my duties in the colony."

"The management of Europe 9 has been watching us for a long time. You will be excused from practicing at the hospital for the duration of your absence. We have a full supply of power. We're going in a hyper between the Bregan and Shade sectors. Frontier zone. Cloaking and speed. Two days to Ondokor cluster. A couple of days for the action. We'll set up surprises and you'll collect trophies at the same time. You'll cut down a few meters of m-crystals. That's good booty. A water mage on a team is a good partner," the cat squeezed her eyes shut with pleasure and purred. "You can buy yourself a small spaceship. Not as nice as mine. A small one. But your own. Not like mine. But your own."

Lee laughed and thought he already had a ship. A small one. But faster than hers.