Thanks (or blame?) to Chris for triggering my brain to create this. This is set a short time after the story "Zeruda". If you'd like to check it out, here's the link: http://www.gatchfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1564 ========== Ambassador Harcharot had been kidnapped by Spectra and held captive while Zoltar impersonated him in an attempt to get the Galactic Federation so wrapped up in the Zeruda debate that nobody would notice that the Spectran Empire had exploited (if not decimated) the planet Shui's resources until it was too late. And, if Zoltar had played his enemies just right, the Zeruda would have become a new source of gourmet meat and luxury fur. But, thanks to Jasmine and Faron, the Zeruda ambassadors of Shui, (as well as G-Force,) Zoltar was thwarted. A few days later, Harcharot was located and rescued. After being treated for malnutrition and exhaustion, the man who was considered one of the Federation's best people for interspecies relations was back on the job. Harcharot was thankful the Zeruda had a keen sense of smell, otherwise Faron and Jasmine wouldn't have been willing to allow him anywhere near them. Spectrans don't have the scent of a Federation citizen. In fact, they even allowed him to move into the modified house in the diplomatic compound on the planetoid Bandari. The past couple of weeks had been spent getting to know each other, trying to achieve new breakthroughs in communication between humans and Zeruda, and Harcharot coming to terms with Jasmine's apparent addiction to "Oonah" -- tuna fish. But there were other things happening on Bendari. On another part of the planetoid, an animal refuge was being built, one of many scattered throughout the Galactic Federation. This one was designated for several smaller Earth species that were threatened by human encroachment and could very easily be wiped out if Spectra ever succeeded in conquering that planet. It was far from ready for full operation, but it already have a few residents: two mating pairs of Fennec foxes named Cujo, Kayla, Tawagahe, and Tillie had made themselves comfortable in an indoor enclosure. "I'm sorry," Ambassador Harcharot told the park manager, "I don't think we should give the ambassadors of Shui a tour just yet, though your offer is appreciated." "But why not?" the manager asked, "Don't you think they'd find the little versions of themselves adorable?" "Actually," he replied, "I have no idea. We don't know enough about the Zeruda. They might find the Fennecs adorable, or they might be horrified at the sight of miniature images of themselves confined, or they could have a reaction none of us could foresee." The manager thought about this a moment. "Maybe, once our two species have gotten to know each other better, we can be sure everyone will enjoy the experience." Harcharot explained, "And the park will be operating closer to its potential." The next few days were the average fare -- nothing could honestly be called "routine" -- for Ambassador Harcharot. While he managed to slip over to the animal park while Faron and Jasmine took their afternoon naps, most of his attention was focused on a crisis that threatened to erupt between Ambassador Cutleri of Porcellus and one of the Federation's renowned chefs, Trey Genique. "Believe me, Chef, the last thing Cutleri wanted was to insult you." Harcharot said to a blank screen; Chef Genique never used the visual component of his communicator, claiming the projected image violated his artistic integrity. In fact, the chef was so paranoid about his artistic integrity that anybody he communicated with had to use the telephone receiver attachment to prevent anyone walking by from accidentally hearing his voice. So, anyone trying to listen in at Harcharot's end would hear: "...Sir, did you receive the nutritional requirements -- ? ... Those aren't suggestions. Cavies' digestive systems just can't handle such large amounts of animal protein. They're herbivores, not simply vegetarians....I mean, they're that way by evolution, not choice..." The ambassador lowered his head and tried not to audibly sigh as he waited for a pause in the chef's tirade. Finally, "Chef, I believe Cutleri had your interests in mind when she asked for some changes in your menu." A brief wince. "Please jus...just look at it this way: would it be easier for you to make a few changes or deal with the repercussions that come with several high-ranking souls being hospitalized after eating one of your dishes?" That evening, the ambassador peeked into the Zeruda's room as though he was checking on his children when they were small. Jasmine was curled up under a blanket on her sleeping shelf, and Faron let out a small snore from his hammock. He pulled himself into his bedroom and actually fell asleep before his head was on the pillow. Tap tap tap Something patted his arm. "Ar-char-roh!" Something sounded familiar. Tap tap tap "Ar-char-roh!" He fumbled for the light and then opened his eyes to find a worried-looking vulpine face looking at him. "What's wrong, Jasmine?" She went toward the doorway, stopped, and looked back over her shoulder. Harcharot blinked a couple of times before he got the message. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, stuffed his feet into his slippers and pulled on a robe before following the Zeruda vixen into the hallway. "Where's Faron?" Jasmine's ears laid down, but she didn't look at him. The communicator chimed. "Ambassador Harcharot, could you please come to Medical? Ambassador Faron has been involved in an incident." Jasmine was already out the door. Harcharot rushed after her, certain she knew darned well what was going on. For all he could tell, she had entered the correct building and reached the exact area her mate was located by the time he'd reached the entrance. Faron was on his belly while on an examination table, his paws covered his nose. In addition to the medical staff, Harcharot found one of the animal handlers and a security guard there. "He'll be all right." the doctor explained, "It just looked a lot worse that it actually was." She reached out and stroked Jasmine's ears. "I'll bet his pride was hurt worse." "So what happened?" the human ambassador asked. "Well, sir," the guard replied, "the two ambassadors here were doing their nightly visit with the Fennecs --" "Their nightly visit?" "Yessir...I thought you knew -- they let themselves in without any trouble and played with them like little kids." "It was really quite charming." the handler added, "You'd have thought the Fennecs were their children." "Anyway," the guard continued, "Mr. Faron and one of the little ones --" "-- Tawagahe." the handler interjected. "--got into a little tiff. And then, pow, the little furball jumped right up and nipped Faron in the nose!" Jasmine gave Faron a hard look and a disapproving snort. "I think," Harcharot said to the security guard and the animal handler, "I need more information about the Zeruda's visits." In one of the small offices used by the compound's security, Ambassador Harcharot, the animal manager, and the security guard watched the story unfold through a few days of video footage. They saw Faron and Jasmine cautiously enter the dimly-lit Fennec room. "This was at two in the morning." the guard said. "We dim the lights to simulate nighttime." the handler explained. The Fennecs were in their enclosure, tossing a toy mouse high into the air and then chasing it. The Zeruda carefully chose their steps as they approached the glass dividing the enclosure from the rest of the room and peered through. The Fennecs continued playing until Kayla looked up and noticed the audience. She froze. The other three stopped what they were doing and stared at the Zeruda with wide eyes. Then, as one, they darted into their den. "All of the animal park employees have watched that," the handler said, "and we all find that part fascinating. We never expected this from the Fennecs; they're accustomed to seeing people watching them--" "You mean 'humans'?" Harcharot asked. "Well, yeah..." Jasmine and Faron exchanged puzzled looks. They looked back to the den, their heads tipping from side to side. Jasmine gently tapped the glass with her right paw. After a couple of minutes, the Fennecs cautiously crept out of their den and made their way over to the glass. They looked up at the Zeruda, their heads tipping from side to side. They sniffed the air; Kayla and Cujo stood on their hind legs, trying to get closer to the giant versions of themselves. The Zeruda exchanged looks one more time before walking away from the glass. "Now here's the part that blows me away." the guard said while fast-forwarding the footage until the Fennecs darted toward the keeper's entrance to the enclosure. They let out excited shrieks while their tails were a blur. And then Jasmine and Faron stepped through the door. "Now how the hell did they figure it all out?" the guard said. "They're more than pretty faces, I've found." Harcharot replied, knowing all too well that a couple of Chief Anderson's adopted children taught Jasmine how to set up the console to play video games. The Zeruda and the Fennecs began playing with -- tossing the toy mouse and chasing each other -- until they settled down for a short nap. The footage was fast-forwarded until tonight's incident. Up to this point, the threesome saw Jasmine and Faron play with the Fennecs with almost total abandon or nuzzle and groom them as if the Fennecs were their young. But there was a clear difference in tonight's footage. As soon as Faron and Jasmine stepped into the enclosure, Tawagahe laid his ears back and glared at the male Zeruda. Faron gave him a questioning glance before going on as if nothing was amiss.

Tillie tossed the toy mouse into the air and Faron caught it. Tawagahe's angry look grew more intense as he started grumbling. As Faron tossed the mouse toward Cujo, Tillie rolled onto her back and wagged her tail. Faron bent down to nuzzle her when Tawagahe jumped in between the two, baring his teeth and growling at the Zeruda. Tillie rolled away and stared at Tawagahe, confusion ruling her expression. Faron also stared at the furious Fennec; he tipped his head from side to side, questioning the little one. By now the others noticed. They stopped the game and also stared at Tawagahe, confused by his display. Faron stepped to one side, but he was intercepted. He stepped to the other side, but was again intercepted. Tawagahe's growl turned into an angry scream. Faron blinked at him, and he responded by snapping a couple of times. Faron let out an annoyed snort. With a swipe of his paw he slapped Tawagahe away. Jasmine let out a startled yelp. Within a heartbeat Tawagahe launched himself into the air and clamped his jaws onto the tip of Faron's nose. The Zeruda was frozen in shock for the brief moment Tawagahe hung on. As soon as the Fennec let go, Faron let out a pained shriek and blood spurted from the bite. Tawagahe prepared to leap again but Jasmine was there before he could launch another attack. "Keck keck keck keck keck keck keck!" she yelled at the little fox. The Fennec looked up at her, stunned. Tillie darted between Jasmine's legs until she stood in front of Tawagahe. She directed an even angrier series of screams at him. He slowly backed away. She kept drawing near. Suddenly, he turned and ran. Tillie chased him, bellowing with rage the whole time. Finally, she trapped him in a corner. He pressed himself against the walls as far as he possibly could; his eyes were so wide from terror that they could have popped out of his head. Kayla and Cujo watched this with eyes wide with fear. As soon as it seemed safe to do, they dashed to the shelter of their den. The guard and the handler rushed in. One stood on each side of Faron. The guard pressed a handkerchief against his bloody nose as they rushed him out of the enclosure. Jasmine herded Tawagahe and Tillie into their den before hurrying out to join her mate. "So what set that little guy off?" the guard asked. "Tillie must be coming in heat," the handler replied, "though it's not the right season." "Couldn't it be the other female?" Harcharot asked. "No. Fennecs mate for life. Cujo would have been aggressive if Kayla was about to come in heat." "What did you mean by 'the wrong season'?" the guard asked. "The Fennec mating season comes at the beginning of the year." the handler answered, "Since that's a few months yet, it means Tillie's having a false heat. It's not uncommon for faster-than-light space travel to trigger this in some animals." Harcharot pinched the bridge of his nose. It was clear to him that he needed to talk to the Zeruda about the nature of the Fennecs -- namely, that the Fennecs weren't Zeruda kits that would grow into more sophisticated Zeruda adults. But how was he going to get the point across? Even though it had been proven that the dominant species of Shui had some sort of sentience, it was still a guessing game as far as knowing what concepts they had, if they had a formal language, or even if they realized human beings were different than other species. The ambassador continued to mull this over as he headed back to Medical. Once he got there, however, he discovered that the Zeruda had left, escorted to their quarters by one of the other med techs. He stifled a yawn as he trudged back to the quarters. A very slight hint of dawn was forming on the horizon. Maybe he'll be able to get some sleep before... He saw something out of the corner of his eye....a streak? A tip of a fuzzy tail? He turned and saw nothing. It was probably nothing. He went back to dragging himself toward his bed. Harcharot didn't realize how loudly he groaned when he checked on the Zeruda until Jasmine's head poked out from under her blanket. Faron's hammock was empty. "Where is he?" Harcharot wearily asked. Jasmine tipped her head from side to side as though she didn't understand the question. Just then the back door opened and then shut. Faron made no other sounds as he pushed past Harcharot and hopped into his hammock. "So where were you, Faron?" Harcharot asked. He then quietly scolded himself -- how could he expect the Zeruda to answer? It wasn't as though Faron would actually say, "Well, Mr. Harcharot, I decided to take a brief stroll...." The only sound Faron made was a small snore. The communicator chimed. He got there just before the chime sounded again. "Yes?" "Ambassador Harcharot," The animal handler's image appeared on the screen. "Do you know what Ambassador Faron' done?" "No," Harcharot replied, a sense of dread growing in his gut, "He's not the talkative type." "Oh." It took a moment before the handler got the joke and laughed a little. "Well, give me a moment, and I'll show you the security footage." It started with the Fennecs playfully chasing each other around the enclosure. However, each time Tawagahe got a little too close, Tillie snapped at him. But they suddenly stopped and looked toward the door. Faron entered the enclosure, carrying a squeak toy that looked like a pink frog. Tawagahe glared at the Zeruda. Squeakysqueakysqueaky! Tawagahe forgot the glare, his curiosity piqued. Squeakysqueakysqueakysqueakysqueaky! The Fennec's mouth hung open, desire filled his eyes, and his tail twitched. Faron squeezed out one more squeak and tossed the frog toward Tawagahe. The frog hit the ground and bounced to the side. Like a cat, the Fennec pounced on the toy. The toy squeaked one more time, and the Fennec started zipping around the enclosure, the other Fennecs giving chase. Faron watched for a little bit with a grin on his lips. Then he quietly went to the door and left. Harcharot stared at the screen. He didn't even breathe. "Ambassador?" "I must be overthinking this." he breathed. "Excuse me?" "Ah..." Harcharot's tired mind seemed to refuse to work. "Do you think there's any reason why the Zeruda shouldn't have access to the Fennec enclosure?" "Well, in spite of the incident earlier this evening, I have no problem with the ambassadors coming to visit. Faron seems to have forgiven Tawagahe, plus he seems to have figured out how to get on that little punk's good side." "All right. I'll have a discussion with the park manager. And, if you don't mind, I'll share what you just said." "That's fine with me." "Good. Now, if you'll pardon me, I really must get some sleep."

The mental images I have now just make me go "daw" and my brain melt a bit ...