Drew's Trouble with Cats and Roaches Pt. 15 Combined

The girl sputtered, coughed, and wiped her face and Drew pulled back the two furry greeters, and laughed at the face she made. She had crawled into a tiny ball against the wall but was calming herself knowing that the animals were not attacking her.

"Who are you little one?" Drew asked pulling a chair over to the side of the bed so he could control his two furry companions. They both were still trying to crawl into bed with her. He waited for her to answer and then gave her that look that all adults have just before they get cross.

"I am known as Cara," the translator issued after what Drew thought he heard was Latin. She was still curled up making herself as small as possible.

***

So, the next day the furred crew raced off to find their own adventure, only coming back at lunch time to mooch lunch from Drew and Cara. After lunch they raced off towards the caldera. Drew promised Cara to fly over it on their way out to let her see it.

She asked a hundred questions about the Pride, his life and why he wanted to live in the cold. He answered what he could and admitted that he did not have all the answers to his own life. They planted trees, laid out his cabin and generally walked. She looked a bit silly in his extra cold weather gear, but its not like he packed for a stowaway. Drew was happy for her and was pleased that she enjoyed her time planet side.

The next morning, they made a simple breakfast and were packing to leave when Cara opened the front door to let Kitten and Goldie out. All Drew heard was a blood curdling scream. He came out the restroom, half done with his shower...in just a towel. Cara was trying to lift the projectile rifle he had left by the door. He had told her never to touch it, but her fear outweighed his orders. He grabbed the weapon and turned towards the door to find Goldie and Kitten with fur up, growling and snarling to save their life. He looked out the door and there planted on the gravel walkway was the biggest spider he had ever seen. He guessed over 6-foot-wide, 4-foot-tall, with black fur, red eyes and 8 segmented armored legs.

Time seemed to halt at that moment. He called his furred ones back, but they would not move. He saw that the spider was not advancing but vibrating. He knew spiders could jump, and guaranteed, this one could clear the distance in a flash.

He felt an odd tickle, it was as if he was receiving a message, but none was there. He closed his eyes for a second and could see a weird set of symbols, almost pictographs he was receiving. He decided to try something, he sent some back, his own mental pictures of Elsa and the babies, fun times with the two growling beasts at his knees and the feeling of cold, that was hitting him. He was really starting to feel the cold, him still wet from his shower wrapped only in a towel.

The large spider danced a bit and backed away from the doorway. Kitten stopped growling and her ears came up. Drew wondered if she had received any communication from the spider or picked up that he was trying to communicate. Goldie was oblivious and continued to growl.

Drew had to grab his towel because Cara and come up behind him and was grabbing it for comfort. He did not want to share other aspects of himself with this young woman, so he juggled the riffle and the closed towel.

He looked at the spider and motioned for her to stay there and that he needed to do something for the cold. He got a pictograph that showed a sunny day in the jungle and he could feel the emotion of warmth from the spider.

He turned, upsetting Cara. Kitten came over and rubbed against her and stayed with her as he dashed to get dressed. He returned fully clothed and slipped on his winter boots being warmed by the front door. He set down the rifle and started to walk forward, with his hands outstretched and shown. Cara stayed by the door, but both Kitten and Goldie followed him towards the spider.

Just a few steps had been taken when Kitten stepped in front of Drew and looked up at the edge of the door canopy, her ears went flat, her hair raised, and she growled. He heard her say, 'other' while she looked up. Drew straightened himself and then put his hand on the sidearm the had strapped on when he dressed. His dads old Colt 45 911 was an antique but had been worn and used in two wars by his ancestors and he kept it in pristine condition.

They all heard a series of clicks and whistles come from the large spider. A much smaller spider flew off the canopy to land by the large spider and get smacked by her. She did a dance and a vision of mating and a brood of eggs.

"Ah, your mate, and he seems to not listen."

Drew was in a quandary. He was faced with a sentient being. They were beginning communication. But what to do now? He knew he was talking about the nightmare scenario from a whole host of species. Do you invite them in? Do you take them in a ship and bring them to a bigger ship?

"Well fuck" Drew said out loud. Drew picked up his comm and called Eddie.

"Yes, lord Drew, are you on your way back?" asked Eddie

"Um...no. we have an issue at the valley. I need you down here and any other scholar that wants to meet a new sentient species. Xeno-linguistics may help, but a lot of it is mental transfer. Oh, and anyone that has an absolute fear of spiders...they should not come. The hut is going to be awfully small if anyone flips out."

Drew turned to the large female spider and her nervous mate and waived them inside. He herded kitten, Goldie, and Cara to one side of the hut. The beds had already been folded up into the wall so there was much more room.

As the large spider squeezed through the door, Cara started to panic, well truth be told, so did Goldie. He put both in the opposite end of the hut near the rear door. The smaller spider came in and danced around his larger mate.

Kitten glued herself to Drew and kept her eyes on the smaller spider. His nervous movements were making her nervous. The female spider finally reached out during one of his skittering movements and smacked him. That quieted him down and made it more comfortable for all in the small hut.

Drew sent a mental message that friends were coming and they would learn to talk together. In the heat, the large female stopped most of her vibrating and she seemed to settle in and lower herself to the floor. She sent a message of thanks. He felt her gratitude was for the heat and that they would allow her and her mate in their nest.

Everyone took a deep breath and realized this meeting of species was going to be special.

***

The large shuttle landed and disgorged the moteliest collection of beings Drew had seen in a while. It was mixture of species with one Avian Xeno. Eddie headed up the entourage of three scholars, several biologists, two xeno-linguistic scientists, one being Eddie's mate and one slim Chinese interpreter who now governed one of the colonies.

Drew stood in front of the doorway and stopped the entourage before they crossed the threshold.

"To all of you, if you have any reservations in being in close quarters with two spiders, one being much bigger than you are, now is the time to go back to the shuttle. My hut is not large and she, the female, is quite impressive." Drew stopped to look everyone in the eye. No one moved.

They all passed by him, Eddie leading them in. Drew just waited for the new governor to pass by. He held up his hand signaling for her to stop.

"Governor, I would not have expected to see you here. May I ask why you are on this mission? We are not quite ready to have diplomatic relations."

She shivered and looked up at him for a second. He finally noticed she was only dressed in a skirt, button down blouse and simple flats. Drew pulled his coat off and wrapped it around her, she grabbed the edges pulling the warm fabric close to her body.

"My first degree was in biology with a focus on Entomology, the study of insects. My Masters was concentrated on Arachnology, the study of spiders. My doctorate focused on the potential for the use of spider silk as a substitute for petroleum based plastic threads. When I landed, someone brought me the windblown threads from the jungle spiders. They are amazing." She seemed giddy, frozen giddy, but giddy none the less.

"And now you are talking to them" she said trying to clap her hands in joy through the layers of his protective coat.

***

Drew followed the gaggle of scientists into the hut. It had already become an incredibly small space. At the rear huddled Cara and Goldie. Goldie had taken the body of the she-wolf she was and tried to fold herself into being a dachshund in the far corner. Kitten just sat on the one sofa and was cleaning her paws and ignoring the circus in the main portion of the hut. The other parties, not knowing Kitten, were not about to go ask a full-grown looking puma to share the soft space.

Drew wove his way around the crowded scientists and passed by Eddie who was front and center with the female spider. He brushed by Eddie, but he felt a hand reach out to stop him.

Drew linked and asked, 'how is it going?'

"Absolutely nowhere. You can read symbols from her? Language?" Eddie asked.

Drew forwarded the previous communication with the female.

Eddie just shrugged and went "Huh, I am getting nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"What about all these fine science folk? And all the equipment that you brought with you?" Drew asked.

"Those of us that have the means to do direct mental contact are getting nothing. We are receiving no symbols, no transference." Eddie paused trying to think of another path, "Unless we have a basis of communication, we can't interpolate the readings on any of the instruments we brought. Which means my lord, right now, you are the only person that can help."

Drew did his own interpolation. What Eddie was saying would be months of being a lab rat with spiders, along with the 100 other things he was responsible for.

"Hey," Drew said out loud, "let me take care of those two and I'll be right back," he stated pointing at Cara and Goldie.

Edie provided him affirmation and turned back to the large female spider. Drew could feel the large female looking at him, and he sent her a message of patience. He got back a 'feeling' of frustration.

Drew was not past the avian scientist before Goldie vaulted at him whining and yipping. This set off the avian scientist whose nerves were on absolute edge because of the monstrous Spider sitting not 6 feet away. She chirped and warbled in fright, which caused others to squeal and scream which set off the spider's mate who hopped down off his perch and skittered over to provide 'protection'.

The large queen came off the floor and stood taller, vibrating, causing further alarm. She shifted her whole body to face Drew.

Drew just raised himself to his full height and broadcast out in a verbal and mental yell to everyone.

"Calm yourselves...NOW!"

There was silence for a moment and Goldie, the instigator of the calamity had slunk back to Cara because she knew "papa" was upset.

"Please let me deal with family," he paused briefly to take a deep breath, "and then we can see if we can move this forward." No one responded except that he got a warm sunshine image from the female spider.

Drew went to the rear door and unlocked it. He pulled his comm device out and cycled his shuttle so the heat would be on and the hatch slid partially open. He touched Goldie and told her to go sleep on her bed in the shuttle where she would be safe. He turned to Cara.

He looked into her eyes, but her eyes kept shifting to the vibrating Female spider.

"Do you want to go with Goldie? You could sleep together in an armored shuttle away from this craziness?"

"No, I stay." She stated in English which surprised him.

Drew heard warbling behind him to find the avian scientist standing close.

"Can you repeat that please?" Drew asked

The warble came again and then the translator kicked in, "May I go out to our shuttle please. I thought I could handle this but..."

At that moment Cara stepped around Drew and took the feathered arm.

"Please stay. I will stay with you. Together we will get through this," stated Cara. Her translator providing both the avian and English translation.

Drew could feel something going on. Immediately, once Cara had touched the Avian, both of them seemed much calmer.

He watched them slowly head toward the large spider. He took the opportunity open the back door. Goldie bolted, never looking back and found the open hatch, scurried in, and found her 'bed' in the foot well of the copilot's seat. Goldie wrapped herself around the chair, snuggled into her blankets she had when they flew, she hated that too, and tried to forget about big ugly bugs with too many legs.

Drew snugged the hatch closed remotely and turned back to the crowd and confusion.

What he saw confused him too.

Cara was on both knees next to the female spider, she had one hand raised and the spider it seemed, very gently, had one of its foot pads set in her palm. Her eyes were closed, her face upturned, her brows raised and her mouth slightly open. Next to her was the avian scientist, her arm still intertwined with Cara, in almost the same position.

Eddie looked at Drew and shrugged. He reached out and took the other arm of the avian scientist and had his mouth drop open.

"Oh, wow," he broadcast to Drew.

Others started to link hands and touching, all ended up with the same reaction, in opened mouth awe.

Kitten had already gotten up and slid her way between the avian and Cara, sort of wrapping herself around her. She was just purring away but keeping a sharp eye on the male spider.

Drew cautiously walked up, not wanting to spoil whatever was going on, and knelt on one knee behind Cara. He placed his hand on Cara's shoulder and felt a flood of emotions and feelings. He opened himself up to try and read the others. Because they were touching and had their minds open, he could scan what they were receiving.

They were all receiving what their conduit could read, emotions and some symbolism. Drew could see and read a higher function of communication. But he felt that this could be tailored to overall communication, albeit rudimentary, between the two species. The conduit was interestingly enough, Cara.

Cara was some type of empath. She was receiving and passing along the communication. And she was doing it in both directions.

The queen moved her foot pad to Drew's shoulder so she could communicate in a more precise method. She asked him for one simple favor.

"Stop killing my children."

Drew nodded and sent back acknowledgment.

Drew stood and then stumbled. He had not realized how much it took to communicate with her.

"Eddie, send out a message please. Order all communities to stop any deforestation activities and all aggressive action against the spiders. They are now considered to be native sentient species and to be treated as part of the colonization effort. There will be no grace period. The spiders are now full members of our new society and will be protected under our laws as such."

Eddie was leaning on another couch he had folded open. He stood, staggered a bit, bowed to Drew, and then bowed to the female spider. In all the information they had been privileged to absorb, her title would be equal to a Queen.

***

Goldie woke in the morning to a nightmare. The hatch fully opened, and Drew swung in to check on her. Kitten bounded in and they rubbed muzzles. Cara came in and placed her belongings in the flight area as Drew directed.

Goldie was overjoyed to have her family back until she saw what was heading her way. The two hairy bugs were coming toward the shuttle. She sprinted back to her bed and tried to become small under the seat.

Accompanying the Queen spider and her consort was Governor Li-Jing. She had plans to show the spiders the weaving and other products she was using the spider silk for, in hopes of creating an economic foundation for friendship.

Drew sat and began preflight checks and Cara, Goldie, and Kitten all crammed into the co-pilots chair space.

Li-Jing took one of the fold down 'jump seats' in the rear with the spiders. Drew continually sent messages to the queen, that the humming and vibrations were normal.

Cara reminded him of his promise to fly over the caldera lake on his way home. Drew tried again to have the spiders recognize and understand flight. He just shrugged and lifted off. The queen was very calm as they took flight and headed up the mountain slope. Her mate, not so much. He was becoming more erratic and this caused kitted to flatten ears and really growl in warning as he danced forward close to the cockpit.

He was smacked several times by the queen before he would settle down next to her.

Drew turned only slightly and asked her to go back to the queen and make contact, "Tell her when I roll open the blast shield on the window in the large hatch, that all is safe. I want her to be able to see her world. Touch the glass to show her it's safe, OK?

Cara got excited that she was important enough to do something so significant, plus she really wanted to look too.

She settled next to the queen, Kitten then draped herself over Cara's legs and stared down the smaller spider. Cara lifted her palm, and the queen placed her pad in her hand. The information flowed. The queen was confused but understood 'safe.' Both entities knew that there was a long, long way to go on communication between species.

"Open, please," Cara yelled up to the cockpit...in English.

Drew flipped the switch and a multi-fold covering slipped back allowing a huge window in the hatch to open for their viewing pleasure. The male freaked and starting dancing around again, eliciting more aggressive response from Kitten.

Cara was tapping the glass and then the queen mimicked the tapping. Then she smacked the male again to calm him. The queen shifted from tapping to placing her foot pad on Cara, starting more communication, and understanding.

The spiders and Cara were enraptured with the view of the partially frozen caldera lake. He swooped down low over the jungle as they neared where, he assumed from the mental pictures, that the queen was from. It was eerie traveling through the mist above the jungle canopy. They crossed the transition and could see the work of man immediately. Plowed fields in the distance, solar fields laid out, and the buildings of their destination.

The menagerie that stepped off the shuttle was not something that was planned, for the introduction of a new species. It's one thing to have heard rumors that the head guy has some interesting pets, but when a full sized wolf and puma-like creature rocket out of the shuttle hatch to say 'hi' to all their new friends, people panic. The panic really started when a full sized, huge spider squeezes past the portal, followed by a very fast-moving smaller version.

Let us just say, it took a good half hour to calm everyone down.

Drew could see how respected their Governor was. He could also see the way she worked people and how she calmed the situation. It was good to know that sometimes Karma played good jokes and that he was lucky to have chosen right on that fateful day.

Drew was stuck in a quandary, he needed to get back and talk over multiple issues at the capital. But there were only two beings that were known that could communicate with the spiders, he, and Cara. He gathered Li-Jing, Cara and the queen and tried to layout the issue. Cara immediately volunteered to stay for a day or two and Li-Jing volunteered to house her and keep her safe.

"Call me when it's time to come pick you up," he commented as he turned to leave. He received a duel "yes papa," one mental, and one in accented English. He turned and saw Kitten glued to Cara.