Cedric waited at the Emperor’s left hand. The splendor of the Imperial dining room didn’t faze him- he’d been bodyguarding the Emperor for almost a month now. At seventeen years old, he was the youngest Caffrean bodyguard ever chosen to wait upon the Emperor. He was proud of the fact, and worked hard to preserve the Emperor’s well-being. In about ten minutes, he would be given another opportunity to prove his worthiness. The treacherous Jack DeSon and his daughter Neko were dining privately with the Emperor now. DeSon had given a weak excuse about his wife not feeling well, which was a sure sign that he suspected trouble and was prepared for it. He had obviously brought Neko as a substitute for her mother because she was less valuable and it wouldn’t matter as much if she was killed in the skirmish.

The Emperor caught the head bodyguard’s eye and gave the faintest of nods. The bodyguard nodded back, and all the Imperial guards moved into position. Cedric’s place was near DeSon, ready to assist the arresting officers if needed. Another guard moved behind Neko and pulled her none-too-gently from her seat. She stood in front of him, facing her father with a scared expression and a knife at her throat. Cedric thought absently that she looked rather beautiful in her flowing rose-colored ballgown and ebony hair piled elegantly on top of her head.

“Jack DeSon, you are under arrest for High Treason. To ensure your good behavior, your daughter is also under arrest.” The chief guard said self-importantly. Cedric smiled inwardly. Everything was going exactly as planned…until Neko grabbed the front of her guard’s shirt and dragged him under the table. There was a high pitched scream, which turned into a gurgle and then into silence. The guards looked at each other uncertainly, wondering what to do. Then Neko suddenly appeared on the other side of the table, mouth and hands smeared liberally with blood. They stared at each other for a few seconds, the guards and the noblewoman, and then she had crossed the table quick as thought and was ripping out the throat of another guard. He never even had time to scream. The guards all broke position quickly. One raised his blaster and aimed at her head. She instantly dropped the body and lunged at him, knocking the blaster to the floor. She ripped out his throat as well. The rest of the bodyguards, Cedric included, moved into to attack her. She sprang to her feet and became a deadly flurry of pink silk as she fought like a Hellcat. An officer went down and Cedric moved in. Instead of trying to get a clear shot, like his comrades were doing, he jabbed hard at her with the front end of his blast rifle. She slammed into Cedric’s chest, knocking him backwards, and then slashed at his throat with her claws. He tripped over a body and fell backwards, hitting his head against the stone floor and passing out.

When he came to, he ached all over, his throat was itching like Hell, and he was covered in something damp and sticky. Blood, he thought, and resisted the urge to move. He could hear slurping to his left, and he turned his head slightly to see Neko lapping up blood that had pooled on the floor like a cat with a bowl of cream. He felt nausea rising in the pit of his stomach, and turned back away. In the other direction he could see DeSon rummaging through the Emperor’s hidden compartments. The Emperor’s body lay on his throne like a discarded rag doll. He realized that the Emperor was dead, really dead, and that Cedric personally had failed to save him. Cedric felt tears welling up and he forced them back down. Grown men did not cry. Caffrean citizens did not break into tears. The youngest Imperial bodyguard ever did not lament his failures, but forced himself to think rationally. Right now, his job was to survive and report to his commanding officer about the failure of arrest and the Emperor’s death. Just then he felt a sandpapery tongue brush hard against his throat. He forced himself to hold still as Neko licked his wound clean. He could see her face, and it was drenched in blood, a macabre barbeque sauce. He could feel panic rising into his stomach where it pulsed like a rapidly beating heart. Panic and nausea was not a good combination.

“Whadda ya got there, Neko?” DeSon asked.

“Nothing.” She replied guiltily.

“Is he alive?”

“No.” Neko told him, in the tone of a chocolate-smeared toddler who is asked about the vanished cake.

“Yes, he is. Let me see him.” DeSon commanded. Neko hissed. Cedric felt his breathing speed up and the panic rose to his chest, beating against his rib cage. DeSon was unfazed and knelt down to take Cedric’s pulse. Since Cedric was sure it beating twice the normal rate, DeSon had no trouble finding it. “Alright, let’s have a look at you. What’s your name, boy?” He asked, sitting down and pulling out a field medic kit.

“Private Cedric Gellers, X10-980-4353-762,” Cedric recited automatically. DeSon nodded absently, taking inventory of his injuries. At even this hint of normality, Cedric began to calm back down. But as Neko went back to licking his throat, Cedric felt his pulse speed back up again.

“Stop that, Neko.” DeSon ordered, probably sensing Cedric’s panic by his heartbeat.

“I’m helping.” She protested.

“I know, dear, but you’re scaring him.” Neko considered this a moment, then licked his face a few times. It wasn’t any better than the throat-licking, but she seemed pleased with herself. Her bright green eyes stared happily into his light blue ones. Her elegant hairstyle had fallen to one side, and poking through on the opposite side was…a cat ear? Cedric studied it gravely, detached from the horrific scene around him. It was triangular, the back was covered in black fur, the inside was bright pink, and it sat up perkily, like Neko was doing now. Yes, it was a cat ear, and it was on Neko’s head. Something cool interrupted Cedric’s musings, as DeSon smeared an ointment on his throat and applied a bandage.

“That should do it.” He said, getting to his feet. “Can you stand?” Cedric forced himself to place his hands on the cold tile and slowly push upwards. He was evidently too slow for Neko, who grabbed him and dragged him to his feet. He stood still a moment, purportedly to gain his balance, but in reality to steady his heartbeat. He was terrified of the killer girl, more than he would ever admit to anyone, even himself. He could imagine being held down while her kitty-cat fangs pierced his skin and drew out his lifeblood…

“Come on, then.” DeSon grasped his upper arm and led him to one of the Emperor’s secret doors. Neko bounced ahead happily, her black-furred tail swishing from side to side. She opened the door and disappeared down the dark tunnel. Cedric supposed it was too much to hope that she would stay vanished. DeSon and Cedric followed her down the stone passage. They had been walking for maybe five minutes when Neko suddenly appeared. Cedric held absolutely still, petrified with fear, as she petted and pawed at him for a few seconds, and then sprung forward into the darkness without a word. They started moving again. DeSon seemed familiar with the tunnel, but Cedric had never been there before and his eyes were having trouble adjusting to the darkness. Neko reappeared a few minutes later, to paw at him again and vanish. After the fourth or fifth time, DeSon volunteered,

“She’s making sure that you’re still here.”

“Where else would I be?”

“Somewhere else? Eden only knows how her mind works.” He replied. As the hour-long journey though the tunnel continued, Neko came back every five minutes, regular as clockwork. He got used to her visits, and was even able to keep walking, thought his heart rate never failed to jump when he saw her approaching. Finally, they reached the end. Neko was waiting impatiently by a large stone door. DeSon pulled it open for her, then grabbed Cedric’s upper arm again and steered him towards a small spaceship waiting for them. Cedric offered no resistance as they climbed the ramp and the ship took off. DeSon was armed, and besides, Cedric was deathly afraid of Neko and her retractable claws that had ripped out the throats of his comrades.

Once on board, Cedric was safety-belted into a chair and the release pin was removed. Neko disappeared behind a door, to reemerge greatly changed from the elegant girl in the dining room. Her pink ballgown had vanished, replaced with a functional tunic and slacks, both colored blue. She had braided her mane of black hair so that it fell down her back almost to her waist, leaving both cat ears to poke through. She was barefoot, and her feet were shaped like cat feet. Neko curled up in the chair next to Cedric’s, cocking her head to the side and watching him earnestly. Cedric stared straight ahead, ignoring her as best her could. She made no move to touch him, for which Cedric was grateful. DeSon was sitting across from the both of them, reading a stack of papers that looked very businesslike. As time wore on and nothing tried to hurt him, Cedric’s panic subsided.

After a few hours, the ship bumped as it landed, and Cedric looked up expectantly. DeSon yawned and left through the exit ramp. Neko jumped up and stood over Cedric.

“Time to get up, Cedric.” She purred. She pushed the release pin back into its slot and unbuckled Cedric. He stood up, steadying himself on the armrest of the chair.

“Once Mama sees you, you can have something to eat.” She told him, holding his hand and moving him towards the exit ramp. He looked around, but saw no sign of a pilot or anyone else to accompany him with the cat-girl. He groaned inwardly, but the thought of messing with Neko never crossed his mind. They stepped out of the spaceship, onto the metal floor of another spaceship. He blinked. The hangar was huge, larger than any he’d ever seen before.

“Imperial Terminator.” DeSon answered his unasked question. “We stole it, and we’ve remodeled it to fit our needs.”

“A moveable rebel base.” Cedric breathed. Every Caffrean citizen had heard of the rebels, of course, but he hadn’t known that they possessed this kind of resources. He turned back to ask DeSon another question about the ship and its design, and noticed the woman he was talking with. Cedric had seen pictures of Mrs. Irina DeSon, of course, but those had been in Imperial fashion, with her white-blonde hair piled up and a long dress covering her feet. Never with cat ears, cat feet, a white-furred tail, and delicate kitty-cat fangs to match Neko’s.

“Mama, Mama, look!” Neko cried, bouncing up and down excitedly. Irina turned to look at Cedric. He really wished that Neko had kept her mouth shut. He could feel fear rising up within him. He kept perfectly still while Irina circled him like a jungle cat, sniffing at him and pawing him like Neko had. He’d heard that animals could smell fear. If so, he must have reeked to their sensitive noses. Once Irina had made a full circle around him, she stopped in front of him and nodded to Neko.

“He is acceptable.” She told her daughter.

“Yea!” Neko cheered, throwing her arms around her mother. Acceptable for what, an appetizer? Cedric wondered nervously. DeSon nodded resignedly, obviously reluctant to keep an Imperial soldier on board any longer than necessary, and then tapped his wife on the shoulder.

“We’ve got to get to the meeting, dear. They’re waiting for us.” He told Irina. She pulled away from her daughter and slipped an arm through his. The two of them exited. Neko grabbed Cedric’s arm and pulled him through a confusing maze of hallways and passages, until they emerged in a nearly-empty cafeteria.

“What do you want?” Neko asked, shoving him down into an vacant seat.

“Anything. Meat.” He replied, straightening himself out. Neko went up to the vending machines and returned with two trays of steaming roast and two cans of fizzy drinks.

“Thanks.” Cedric said, digging into his with a will. Neko didn’t reply, but also began to eat. He was relieved to see her eating solids. Relaxing there in a warm cafeteria with a full stomach, the horrors he’d seen in the Imperial palace seemed distant and unreal. Neko looked up, as if sensing his eyes on her, and grinned at him. He forced a half-hearted smile and she returned to her meal. After they were both finished with their food, Neko led him through the maze again, to a room that was humbly furnished with a bedstand and desk.

“Here.” She said, kicking the door-release closed behind her. He winced as the door slid out of the walls with a menacing hiss, sealing him in. “This is your room.” She perched on the end of the bed and watched him happily as he explored the room. It took him all of ten seconds to ascertain that the other door led to a bathroom, complete with fresh towels and soap. He stuck his head into the bedroom.

“I’m going to take a shower now, ok?” He asked. She nodded. He pressed the door-release and the door hissed closed. He had his shirt off when the door slid open again. Neko padded into the room on all fours.

“Hey! I’m taking a shower.” He objected.

“I know.” She looked up at him solemnly.

“So get out.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m about to get naked, and I don’t do that in front of girls.” He explained patiently.

“Oh, ok.” She padded out again. Cedric punched the door-release and removed the rest of his clothing. He started the water running, felt the temperature cautiously, and got in. He was shampooing his hair when he heard the door hiss.

“I told you to stay out.” He objected, not turning around.

“You did?” DeSon’s voice asked dryly.

“Sorry, I thought you were Neko.” Cedric told him. He rinsed and turned the water off. Wrapping a towl around himself, he climbed out of the shower and began to dry off.

DeSon said, “She left. Her mother had some things to say to her.” He fidgeted with the handtowel for a few minutes while Cedric pulled on the clean pajamas he’d found in a drawer. DeSon finally said, in the air of one making small talk, “Y’know, you’re pretty young to be bodyguarding the Emperor. You must have scored pretty high on the exams.”

“95th percentile or above on everything.” He said cheerfully, reminded of his one great accomplishment. He grew quiet, then asked, “Not to be rude, but...what is Neko?”

“I don’t know. Her mother won’t discuss it, and I don’t push the issue.” He hesitated, then added, “Irina found me in a gutter. She took me in, sombered me up, and kept me clean even when I would have crawled back to the booze and the drugs. She saved me from myself.” He gave Cedric a long, assessing look. “Her daughter takes after her in a lot of ways.” And with that, he left. Cedric didn’t try to do anything more that night, just crawled into bed and fell asleep.

He woke to feel a heavy weight on his feet. Propping himself up and looking down, he saw Neko curled up at the foot of the bed like a huge kitty-cat. He tried to climb out of bed slowly enough not to wake her, but at his slightest movement her head popped up and swung around to smile at him. It was a rather nervous smile to see first thing in the morning, but if you could look past the pointy teeth and kitty-cat fangs, she was genuinely happy to see Cedric. He smiled back, and this time it was not forced. He gathered up his clothes and vanished into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. When he came out, Neko was curled up in a chair, her usually cheerful face blank, and DeSon was standing there with a serious expression on his face.

“What?” He asked, alarmed by the changes in facial expressions.

“I sent to the Caffrean Imperial Army, letting them know we had you and you were safe. I offered to let you contact them.”

“And?” Cedric asked, because that sounded like good news and whatever DeSon had to tell him was not.

“They sent this.” He dropped a stack of papers on the bed. Cedric sat on the bed and looked through them. It took a moment to sink in, but after a few moments...

“Discharge papers?” He asked weakly.

“I’m afraid so.”

“No. The army wouldn’t discharge me for being captured. You forged them.”

“Did we forge this?” DeSon touched a side note by his commanding officer.

“Had serious potential. Shame to let him go.” Had serious potential... His officer had used the phrase frequently while training him, usually with an accompaning “So work your butt off, Gellers!” Cedric flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His entire life he had trained to be an Imperial soldier. It had been his life goal. He had no back up plans. Shame to let him go... As DeSon started to leave, Cedric asked,

“What am I now?” DeSon paused.

“Whatever you want to be. You could join the rebels if you wanted, and I don’t think Neko plans on letting you get away.” With that, he left. Cedric sighed, then sat up.

“I need time to think about it.” He told Neko. She nodded. He sighed again. Standing up, he offered her his arm. “Shall we get breakfast?”