[Scarlett O'Hara]

Pelama Rolof. Kleyposian. Part of a pride of Mit'shib.......I mean part of Heightened Light's pride? Stay here? On an artificial world? I look from one to the other and I am afraid.

"Heightened Light? Bonded we are. Break bond you wish?" I asked sadly. She assures me she does not wish to break the bond, only increase it and encompass our Terran, Darwin. I look at him and know that when I am female I feel something for him, but he does not like me. He has made it clear. I am not blind. I see the way the two of them long for each other. But I am Kleyposian and we do not possess others. We love and cherish others by giving them as much freedom as possible.

Heightened Light begins to talk softly to me again, explaining more details. But they do not understand the pain I have and they must understand my limitations.

"Heightened Light! DAA...WEEN! Much pain have I. Conversions too fast, too often. Much pain. Bad. Much pain on conversion." They must understand that when I change too fast and too often, the physical pain becomes almost unbearable. I must be left one way or the other, or at least for long periods of time.

"How long, Pel? How long do you need between changes?" asks Darwin, a slight grin and a twinkle in his eyes. I wish I had eyes that showed emotion. If I did, they would see I am filled with fear and pain and love for them both. "Week. Month better." I answer after much consideration.

I remember my special presents and reach inside my tunic. I present each of us with a communication device. With these, we should understand each other's language instantly. If I adjusted them correctly, that is. I am not very sure of my abilities any more. I see their faces full of laughter as they clip on their new toys and I do as well. This should make things easier for us to talk. I hope it will anyway.

[Hereford Eye]

Our pride. I am drawn to that. Our pride.
As a grouping we fit, we mesh, we make each other better. Apart we stumble, together we march with giant steps.
As a unit we can look in the mirror and know that we have built a good thing. We can take pride in who we are together without ever losing who we are apart.
We will be different. We will not be easy to accept. Our races will see us with suspicion, distrust, even fear. We are not the norm. We are different. Different is frightening to the status quo.
It isn't the physical relationships that will threaten though they will be the key to attacking us. One man, one woman, one both.
Unnatural. One Kleyposian, one Hunter, one Terran. Unnatural yet fitting together in the most natural of behavior.
Natural is what the universe says is natural. The universe made us possible, so we are a part of a natural universe.
Courage to introduce change. Courage to accept backlash.
Courage drawn from who we are together.
"Pelama, the change is your decision, always. You change when you want to change, when you need to change. Your change will strengthen our bond, be the glue that holds us as three equal partners."
"Where our pride will take us I have no clue.
"I know where our pride must start. There is a being on this world who hurt our pride, who hurt Hieghtened Light. Our pride must protect itself. When one is attacked, all our attacked. I really want to hunt this being. I want this being to become our mark. I want to use this being to finance our pride as well as feeling our pain."

[Scarlett O'Hara]

I saw the subtle movement of his eyes and face telling me we had to talk without Light. I subtly nodded once. And we waited. Heightened Light eventually left us alone for her daily shower and solitude. She left her communication device on her clothes which she dropped onto a chair outside the bath facilities. Darwin and I quickly talked and were agreed on getting even with the one who had thrown our Light out like refuse. We devised our plans. As we quietly armed ourselves, I took the comm device off Light’s clothes. Neither of us wanted her to hear this. This was our hunt, our need.

The mark was easily found since I remembered where I had stumbled over her. It was not far outside the hostile alien environment of thick watery atmosphere. I noticed Darwin continually shivering, not from cold or wetness but from his normal xenophobic perspectives on the physical appearance of these particular aliens. They were not to my liking either. Reptilian with yellowish eyes, flicking tongues, slimy scaley elongated bodies. The embodiment of evil for most species.

The mark had two bodyguards and Darwin and I spoke softly into our comm devices to quickly adjust our plans and actions. We were a pride already. We hunted like a pride!

We carefully worked ourselves around until Darwin was in front of them, I at their backs unknowingly. Darwin, in his normal Terran arrogance, announced who he was and his intentions. DAMN! ?Why did he do that? I sniffed the air, picking up "fear", "anger", and "danger" as well as something gnawing at the edge of Darwin’s thoughts. I glanced at him then quickly look back at the two bodyguards nearest me. I inhale deeply and let my Kleyposian instincts take over. Silently and slowly, each leg is moved up then down carefully. Slowly I stalk my hunt.

Darwin stood defiantly, his normal arrogance and ranting at the one who did harm to our Heightened Light. He tells him exactly what vengence is coming. I realize Darwin is raising his voice to cover any noise that I might make. Then, he is talking to me, though the hunt thinks he still talks to him “It is beautiful to watch. Vengence is beautiful to watch. You should see her the way I do. All maroon with green hair! But I am also vengence. A plain Terran, nothing special. The mate of a pride Matriarch and a Kleyposian.”

I move in slow motion, ears erect, nose twitching to pick up any changes in the situation and, when I am within five feet of the closest bodyguard, I lowered my body into a crouching position. My eyes moved only once to Darwin, letting him know I am ready. I see Darwin’s muscles twitch once and he propelled himself up and forward, landing on the neck and shoulders of our main hunt. I leap as well, my teeth dig into the neck of the repitilian.

Darwin swung his leg around, sweeping the other bodyguard off his feet, his pulse weapon firing into the torso of the main one. With his free hand, Darwin reached out and gripped the wrist and jerked the other bodyguard back towards him. I hear screams of intense pain as we two mates reek our vengence. But we have much to do with these and more to follow in order to finance ourselves.

This hunt is especially sweet.

[Hereford Eye]

"Gennuhmen, or what's left of you beings. A couple of quick notes, if you don't mind. We've already stated that this is pay back from Nature's Pride. It's payback because you contracted for a service, received the service, and probably paid for the service. But you treated the servant shabbily. When you contract with the Pride, treat them as equals.
"You probably paid for the service. I said that didn't I? Which means the record of funds transfer still exists. If you decide to report our little evening interchange to the authorities, particularly to Security, then we'll have to examine that transfer in court and discuss all the ramifications of an inter-species contract. That should be pleasant for you, so please feel free to pursue that path.
"If you wish to continue your activities on this planet, feel free to do so. For a paltry two million credits we will not attempt to interfere. It should be placed in my account, just ask for Darwin, I'm sure the bank will recognize me.
"Finally, let me point out something that should be obvious but you may need help reasoning these things out right at this moment. You have met a Kleyposian contingent of our Pride. You can see I'm Terran. You can deduce the Hunter, Heightened Light is a member. But how many other and of what species? We are the first inter-species Pride you have ever heard tell. Think on what that means. And be nervous, very nervous.
"Two million credits, close of banking day tomorrow.
"Questions, then?
"Excellent. Very nice doing business with you. You may leave."
The mark and a guard attempt to stand. Pel solicitously aids their standing and departure. The third is dead.
"We'll make an exception in his case. He can stay. Send one to police him up later."
Our victims depart as do we.
"Let's go see Rim guy before they do," I suggest to Pel.

[Scarlett O'Hara]

As Darwin and I leave the encounter, we search the people around us before stepping into the light. We were not observed. Then we start to laugh. The first part of our plan worked beautifully! "Yes, DAA...WEEN. We see Rim guy next." and we both laugh.

"Did you get it off them?" asks Darwin laughing and holding his hand out. I smile and nod, place the 2 environment patches in his hand. He turns them over and over, shaking his head. "Unbelievable!" he says softly. "Hard to believe that this small patch can project an encounter suit environment." "Yes, DAA...WEEN. They can." Darwin realizes that the new comm devices they wear has taken the quaint speaking style out of the translated voice of Pelama. He misses the pidgin speak. But she still drawls his name and it still translates as DAA...WEEN. He's glad it remains. Darwin looks at her and thinks how truly wonderful she looks to him. Not beautiful in traditional phsyical sensitivities of a Terran but still wonderful.

The two meander around the public spaces, talking loudly and making plenty of stops so they are seen and identifiable. As soon as they reach the right angle turn of a corridor, they place the environment patches on their wrists, engage the phasing. Had anyone seen them, they would have observed a rippling affect which formed an environmental bubble around them, and then projected the image of the reptilian aliens.

Without enough time to decipher the devices, both of us will find the watery cold environment inside the bubble a bit uncomfortable, but absolutely necessary to part two of the plan.

We make our way to the casino that I had marked and mapped out earlier. Luckily for us, we had gotten here quickly and were just in time for shift change. Pulling common looking energy weapons we actually surprise the casino guards, and take the secure chest containing daily deposits. We fire carefully about to destroy as many security monitors as possible. Then we run as fast as we can, though burdened by environment patches and the heavy chest. We stay disguised and head towards the alien environment.

As soon as we reach a long stretch of corridor, we disengage the environment patches and stuff them into recylcing vents. We take the chest and blow it open with the energy weapon. Together, Darwin and I force open the grated seal of an air duct and stuff the currency inside, and reseal it. We slam the chest shut and toss it over into the lush vegetation near the alien sector. We haul ass as Darwin puts it.

Our next stop is the maintenance shop. For a building complex this large, the maintenance area is huge, people few, security non-existent. We quickly locate several unlocked security lockers, finding a suit that fits Darwin and a tool chest. Once dressed, he heads back to where we stashed the currency and I head for my secured locker to await him.

About 10 minutes later, Darwin casually strolls up with his tool chest and I walk away from my slightly open locker as I see him coming. He stashes our prize and relocks my locker.

Our theft amounts to over 3 million credits. When the reptiles bank transfer 2 million credits to Darwin's bank account the next day, it will appear that the reptiles had to stage a casino robbery in order to pay some type of debt to the human. Police will seek reptiles NOT our pride. Our pride will then have 5 million credits not just 2. Yes, we are definitely stronger together than apart!

Darwin takes the uniform and tool chest back to maintenance. I wait for him near the Rim guy's office. Sure enough Darwin strolls up, winks at me and takes my hand. As soon as he touches me, I feel the changes start in my body. I had just moments ago been in-between, a neutral, now I am beginning to convert to female.

We look serious and go in and make a report to the Rim guy about the threats made to us by an alien. We describe him because we surely don't know him. Some kind of reptilian creature we tell him. He thanks us and we leave, returning to Heightened Light. Darwin held my hand the entire time, my conversion to female complete by the time we are back home.

[Hereford Eye]

Security knows there are unsavory elements on the planet. They even believe we fit the category. It's a little unnerving to them to have us point out the fact one of their more successfuls dons was stupid enough to treat a Hunter the way our mark did. They fully appreciate the evidence is available to all who look and they truly do not want an entire pride of Hunters coming to settle accounts. Will not do a thing for their image.
They ask if we have any knowledge of general mayhem in the mark's habitat? We ask why we might be expected to know of such goings on? We admit that we talked to the being and the mark's apology for his behavior included depositing a small stipend to my account to be used to rehabilitate Heightened Light.
They ask if we have any knowledge of a casino theft and we are thoroughly shocked at the thought we could be knowledgable of such activity.
We notify Security of our intent to leave the planet on the next luxury liner bound for someplace we find interesting. Security asks if that means Pel and I are leaving and we agree that, yes, it means that Pel and I are going. They'll figure out later that Heightened Light went with us.
We also notify Security we are moving to a luxury suite to better enjoy our final time planetside.

[Scarlett O'Hara]

Darwin and I returned to Heightened Light's cave quarters, laughing the entire time at our brilliance, and holding hands. I was fully female when we arrived. Suddenly Light seem to have multitudes of errands and interests and business that kept her away. I think she wanted us to mate, and possibly bond. We did both, repeatedly and gloriously.

At the end of the week planetside, as we were planning to board the luxury liner, we all agreed to "the solution". Because of the pain of conversion for me, I would remain a gender for about half a cycle, then several weeks as a neutral to regain strength before converting to the other gender. It sounded like a workable plan to us all. But then that is where our story starts to get really bizarre! The universe had other plans.

Heightened Light had decided she would return with us to her homeworld, declare her intention to leave Pride Confla and establish her own. She was going to call our pride, the Darwin-Pelama Pride. We were overjoyed. But she said we would take a luxury tour and get back home within a few months. We were going to travel like royalty.

Some nights, Darwin spent with Heightened Light as her mate, and other nights with me as my mate. But the universe saw things a little differently than we had.

Nearing the end of our second month in space, both Heightened Light and I, Pelama Rolof, discovered we were each pregnant. Tests revealed that I was the father of Light's child. I must be extremely fertile since I had mated with her only 3 times to replenish her! Further tests revealed that Darwin was the father of my child. "The universe has a weird sense of humor, damned weird!" according to Darwin.

We rethought our decisions. I could not revert to neutral and male as long as I had a young one inside or nursing. It would be at least two years before I could safely convert to male again.

So Heightened Light took us home. When we arrived many months later after continuing our luxury tour, we were both huge with child. Darwin strutted like a "peacock" or so he said. I don't know what a peacock is!

But some day when I convert to male, Heightened Light will declare me as a husband too. As matriarch of the Darwin-Pelama Pride she is entitled to have as many husbands as she chooses. I think the two of us will be plenty!