Surefoot 68: Three... Two... One...

"Now," Kami continued, crossing her arms as she looked to Tshal. "What's happened?"

The older male tugged at the sleeves of his Starfleet jacket. "Lt Cmdr H'Nille has been demanding updated intelligence on the defences of the Ferasan Headquarters in First City. In his defence, however, I believe he's been receiving insistent transmissions from the Deep Keep."

H'Nille glared at him. "You've been monitoring my communications?"

"No, your tail."

The other male started, and was making an obvious attempt to regain control of his tail, which even now was giving away his anger and frustration as he turned towards Kami. "Commander, you were present when Captain Mrorr had been here. You know how imperative she believed an immediate attack on the Enemy was, despite your husband's reasoning."

Kami nodded. "Which puts you in an unenviable position, as the link between your vessel and ourselves." She turned to Nenjo. "What can you tell us about your intelligence gathering operations, Agent?"

The coal-furred female straightened up, making a show of focusing on Kami rather than look in H'Nille's direction. "We've compiled a list of viable targets that will maximise Enemy death and damage and minimise the same to our own side... but something's come up regarding their Headquarters.

Our contacts there reported that after the appearance of the Deep Keep and the rescue of Captain and Lieutenant Hrelle, there's been increased communications between the Master Governor and his Engineers, with talk about a project he's ordered... and some powerful field generators have just been installed in the Capitol. I have people around the Motherworld analysing what they might be using them for, but our contacts within the Capitol can't tell us much more right now."

"That's not good enough!" H'Nille snapped. "They need to understand what's at stake here!"

Now Kami faced him again, her expression and tone calm... but taut. "Lieutenant Commander, these are females who have chosen to willingly remain in an environment where the Ferasans abuse them on a daily basis, and can kill them with no more regard than you might swat a fly. I think they understand all too well what's at stake here.

Captain Hrelle is expected back in under four hours; unless something happens before then, he'll assess the situation and make the final decision as to whether or not the intelligence we've gathered will suffice for Captain Mrorr. My impression of your Commanding Officer is that she is a very capable, and very astute, and I'm certain she will continue to err on the side of prudence.

Just a little more time, Mr H'Nille. You'd be amazed what can happen..."

*

FIFTY-NINE MINUTES, FIFTY-FOUR SECONDS... FIFTY-THREE... FIFTY-TWO...

Mroara-Lnee Shipbuilding Industries Head Office, M'Restir Province:

"Take care. Stay safe.

We love you."

Jnill Mroara-Lnee sat at her desk, replaying the message for the twenty-third time since it arrived, hidden inside a seemingly-innocuous corporate message; only the fact that the name on the Sender Line was a former business partner who she knew had died nine years before of heart failure told her there was something more waiting for her than market challenges and potential IPO projections.

She'd been right. Her heart raced like a starship at warp as she gazed at the image of her beloved daughter and son... and her granddaughter! Look at her, so soft and tiny and adorable!

And bearing Jnill's name. It had been most gracious of Kami to support that choice.

They lived. They all lived, and were watching out for each other. The Hrelles would see to that. She had the utmost confidence in them.

The clan would be safe, and live on.

Thank you for this...

She finished her glass of wine as she heard the weapons fire outside her office door. Such timing, receiving this wonderful news.

It would make the coming moments that much more bearable.

Seconds later, her door lock was blown way, the door physically slid aside as a body was flung in to roll to a stop.

Jnill bolted to her feet, noting with genuine regret that the body was her loyal Security Chief Shikor, with several disruptor burns in her chest. Forgive me, my friend...

Then Ubar-Sin stepped in with several of his fellows... and, unexpectedly, Hrulish.

Unexpected, but it explained everything. If anyone might have spurred Ubar-Sin into suspecting she had been secretly arranging for the construction project to be delayed through sabotage, it would be her miscreant, perfidious brother. And when she received the Security Alert moments ago from the shipyard below, and couldn't reach her Ops Manager K'Misil, she knew they were onto her. And that there would be no escape.

At least, not in the way these mongrels would define it.

Ubar-Sin strode up to her, one paw resting on the disruptor pistol holstered at his side, the anger thick in his scent. "There you are, 'Milady'." He glanced around, grinding his sabreteeth with barely-contained rage as he noticed the recently-added devices to the room. "Transporter inhibitors? Not very trusting. And here I thought we were all friends, working together for a common cause."

Jnill looked up at him, seeking some fear within her at the inevitable finally coming out... but finding none. She had been prepared for this eventuality... and seeing Ptera, Mirow and her new granddaughter in the message had only bolstered her. "We were never working together, Ferasan. We are at War."

She moved around him to her desk, casually reached for the small, elaborately-crafted silver pillbox beside her wineglass, opening it and retrieving one of the small white pills within. "None of us here were ever friends, only adversaries." She looked over at Hrulish, who kept in the background, never quite managing to work up the courage to look back directly. "Or traitors."

She swallowed the pill quickly, ignoring its bitter taste as Ubar-Sin drew up and spun her around, clutching her forearm and baring his teeth, hot breath on her muzzle as he growled, "You're finished, Old Cat. Your brother is taking over."

Jnill smirked. "Knowing him, I daresay your troubles will only be beginning, though in his case, they will stem more from ineptitude than fortitude." She looked to her brother. "The company is yours, Hrulish. Enjoy it while you can... you will only possess it for as long as you live."

Hrulish looked away again.

Ubar-Sin shook her now, his bared teeth widened. "You should be trembling in terror now, bitch!"

She raised her muzzle defiantly to him, feeling a numbness quickly suffuse her from within. "I am a Mroar-Lnee. We are Highborn. We can trace our ancestry directly back to the First Landing over a thousand years ago. You'll get no trembling, no cowering or pleading, no tears -- not from me, at least."

Now his other paw clamped around her throat. "I will tear your rotted flesh from your ancient bones! I will make an example of you, and your end will be long and excruciating!"

Her vision, her breathing, was quickly fading... though she had the lingering presence of mind to recognise it wasn't from Ubar-Sin's actions. "My life... is mine... it is not... the property... of some Ferasan trash... to give... or take..."

He growled and squeezed tighter.

But Jnill was already gone.

She wasn't there to see or feel Ubar-Sin fling her body in the direction of her brother, who stepped back, horrified at the display to the point of looking away and almost retching.

A reaction which filled the Ferasan with disgust. "Pathetic creature! You crawled to me, promising full cooperation if we gave you power and dealt with your sister!"

Hrulish was still heaving, and still couldn't look at her body, but between gasps protested, "You- You didn't have to just kill her!"

But the Pridemaster drew up to the desk, lifted up the pill box and sniffed at it, before tossing it aside. "It seems I did not. She prepared for this end." He looked to Hrulish, snarling. "And if you do not wish to join her-"

A beeping alert from the desk computer drew their attention, and Ubar-Sin stared at a series of announcements appearing. "What is this? COME HERE, DRUNKARD!"

Hrulish shook as he carefully stepped over Jnill's body, staring at the display as well. "What's going on?"

As if in response, the computer calmly announced, "Alert received from biomedical implant in CEO Jnill Mroar-Lnee -- Lethal amounts of cyalodin detected in bloodstream. Initiating Emergency Protocols."

Ubar-Sin laughed harshly. "You're a little late to help the wizened old bitch, you mechanised moron!"

But the computer responded evenly, "Emergency Protocols Initiated. Ferasan designated Ubar-Sin of the Evercrest Fur Pride detected in room. Detonation commencing..."

The Ferasan blinked. "What?" Instinctively he smacked his Emergency Transport control, only too late remembering the inhibitors in the room.

Hrulish had time to spare one final glance at Jnill, wanting to speak a lifetime of apologies, recriminations, pleas and accusations, but having only the time and wit to think: Oh, nice one, Sis-

Outside, the employees of Mroar-Lnee Industries who had not yet abandoned their work in protest at the Occupation looked up to see the top of the building envelop in a plasma explosion, making windows rattle throughout the expansive grounds.

*

THIRTY-EIGHT MINUTES, FOURTEEN SECONDS... THIRTEEN... TWELVE...

Lnoro Gesh University Dormitory, Shanos Minor, Nashea Province:

Mreia's heart was racing, and her footfalls echoed in the corridor as she checked every room she passed, shouting, "SHAU! SHAU! ANSWER ME!"

Behind her, her unnamed contact tried to keep up. "Mrs Furore, we have to go!"

But she barely listened to his entreaty, cursing herself. She should never have left her son alone, not for a second! He was too damned stubborn, like his father! "SHAU!"

But every room was empty. Not only Shau, but all the students.

And she knew why.

She stopped at the common room to catch her breath, as her contact caught up with her. "Mrs Furore, we're on a schedule- if we're to get you and your son out of Shanos Minor-"

"I'm aware of that!" she snapped, her claws extending in a rare display of temper. She looked up at the screens, seeing images of growing crowds with banners and placards and noisemakers; she knew the students had set up closed-circuit cameras around Freedom Plaza to record today's demonstration, to later smuggle the footage out to the rest of the Motherworld.

And she knew that, despite her warnings, Shau would have gone with them. "MOTHER DAMN HIM!"

"Mrs Furore," her contact entreated. "We need to leave in an hour, there's others we're smuggling out..."

Mreia forced herself to calm down again. She was no savage... no matter the provocations from her teenage cub. "I know. But I have to get my son back. And then I -- and what little I'll leave of him after I'm pummelled him -- will be ready to go."

*

THIRTY-THREE MINUTES, FIFTY-NINE SECONDS... FIFTY-EIGHT... FIFTY-SEVEN...

Command Bay, Kaijushima Island, Free Seas:

"Shields," Nenjo announced.

Kami, Tshal and H'Nille looked over to her as one, Kami echoing, "Shields?"

The Mother's Claws agent nodded, indicating text on her screen. "I've had it confirmed from three different analysts. The Ferasans have set up a local refractive shield network around their Headquarters in the Capitol Building, designed to activate at the detection of any incoming hostile vehicle or missile."

The others drew closer, H'Nille asking, "You're saying we can't launch an attack on it? There must be some way to bring it down."

Nenjo shrugged. "A sustained phaser beam from a Starfleet vessel in orbit could overload it... or we could arrange for sabotage to ensure it doesn't come online, but that'll take time... and timing, to match it with any attack your Captain might launch. But if you launched a missile at it now, you'll cause more damage to the surrounding area, with most of your casualties the Caitians outside the immediate shields."

Kami looked to the Commander. "You should contact the Deep Keep, and let them know. At the very least, they'll have more information now than they did before, and that might sate their impatience to take action."

*

THIRTY-THREE MINUTES, FIFTY-SIX SECONDS... FIFTY-FIVE... FIFTY-FOUR...

Deep Keep, Free Seas:

Captain Mrorr had been updating her logs in her Ready Room when she felt the shudder. She had spent too long onboard her ship to not know every noise, every vibration of the hull, the engines, the thrusters.

And the missile launchers.

She was on her feet and out onto the Bridge before the shudder had ebbed. Her crew were silent, stunned... and all looking in the direction of her First Officer, who sat at the Tactical Station. "Mr K'Row?"

Commander K'Row rose to his feet, his posture as stiff as his tail as he faced her. "Captain, I must inform you for the record that the actions I have taken, I have taken without any collaboration from any other member of our crew-"

"What have you done?" Mrorr didn't wait for an answer, turning to another officer. "Lt M'Trasha, report!"

Her Helm Officer snapped out of her stunned state and turned in her chair to check her readings. "We've launched a missile, Captain! Moving north by northeast, projected destination-"

Mrorr's stomach twisted into knots. "I know where it's going." She turned back to K'Row, taut with disbelief. "You've defied my orders!"

He raised his muzzle to her. "I did what was necessary in the face of your reluctance to take action-"

"STAND DOWN!" She bolted towards him, shoving him aside to get to the Tactical station, checking the readings: moving at hypersonic speed, already in the upper atmosphere, its self-defence systems online. "You armed the tricobalt warhead- set for Maximum- Mother's Cubs-" Her paws moved over the controls. "Computer: Abort Missile, Command Priority Mrorr-One-One!"

"Unable to comply. New Security Lockouts in place."

K'Row folded his paws behind him. "I've locked out the Abort option, Captain. As your First Officer, I recommend we go to Red Alert and take advantage of this strike to select-"

"You're not my First Officer any longer! Mr Ashita, escort Commander K'Row to the Brig! NOW!" As her Third Engineer complied, she turned to the rest of her Bridge crew. "Red Alert! Helm, take evasive action! The Enemy will retrace the arc of the missile back here! Tactical, bring the transphasic cloak to Maximum, and break the communications link with the Island, we don't want to expose them if we get detected!"

*

THIRTY-ONE MINUTES, TWELVE SECONDS... ELEVEN... TEN...

Northern District, Shanos Minor:

Pridemaster Awil-Aya sat perched on the upper steps of one of these pathetic Caitian monuments that seem to litter this miserable world, espousing their so-called Great Mother. Just you wait, you mewling cubs; you'll be cursing your whore goddess for letting us finally deal with you on this day...

He and his sons and brothers and nephews and cousins, and the males of the Iron Whisper, Blood Brow and Grey Halfcrest Prides he had invited to join his own in this little exercise, had gathered, some divesting themselves to just trousers or kilts, their fur daubed with war paint, in deference to the traditions of the Great Hunt.

In the wide clearing of Freedom Plaza before them, hundreds of Caitian students were marching in from various points in the city, no longer impeded. There was a heady collective scent of triumph and anticipation coming from them.

His First Son ascended the steps to where Awil-Aya sat, the younger male's own scent of anticipation as strong as the other Ferasans. "Father, the majority of the crowds appear to have arrived, but there's a few stragglers still coming."

Awil-Aya smiled. "Give them time; we don't want anyone left behind and missing out when we switch on the security fields. What about the projectors?"

The younger male turned, pointing to various places around the Plaza. "Fixed and ready, and so far not spotted by any of the Caitians. But there are a number of the local Constables there. They are armed with their sonic Yaps, and will no doubt side with their own people when the Hunt begins."

"Keep our own weapons trained on them. When we begin, they should be the first to be brought down." He listened as the chants began among the protestors.

Yes, get those voices warmed up. You'll need it when you're screaming later.

*

THIRTY MINUTES, TWENTY-NINE SECONDS... TWENTY-EIGHT... TWENTY-SEVEN...

Command Bay, Kaijushima Island, Free Seas:

"Commander!" Tshal barked suddenly. "Missile detected!"

Kami's heart skipped a beat. "Targeted at us?"

"Negative -- it's on a wide arc trajectory, moving at 40,000 kilometres per hour from the general direction of the last location of the Deep Keep!"

All eyes turned to the screens above them, but Kami looked to H'Nille. "Lieutenant Commander-"

But the Deep Keep's Second Officer was as astonished as the rest of them, as he sat down at his station and obviously tried to contact his Captain. Had Mrror changed her mind? Kami didn't get that impression from the other female. "What's the missile's probable target?" She suspected the answer.

Her suspicions were confirmed as Tshal responded, "The Capitol Building in First City! It'll strike in two minutes!"

Kami looked To Nenjo, who was frantically attempting to reach her contacts in the surrounding area. So she returned to Tshal. "Raise the Tailless, we need to alert my husband!"

*

THIRTY MINUTES, FOUR SECONDS... THREE... TWO...

Lnoro Gesh University Dormitory, Shanos Minor, Nashea Province:

There were a few people left behind in the building at the entrance, startled at the appearance of the spotted, black-clad Caitian wielding a plasma rifle and bursting through the doors, ignoring them and racing further inside, following the tracker now mounted to the barrel of the rifle.

Jhess controlled himself as best he could, not trying to sort out his family's scents among the scores lingering in the air around him. He had barely stopped as he moved from the maintenance tunnels cutting through the mountains, before descending into the sewers to get here, the name outside marking it as Shau's University. Please be here, please be here...

He found a bunkroom, and their bags, and the communicator he had tracked to here. Quickly he tagged their bags, clicking the activators on each, not watching them become enveloped in the quantum swirl of automatic transporter beams back to the Tailless, before he raced back out into the corridor. "MREIA! SHAU!"

Back at Reception, he found one civilian, an elderly male behind the Reception desk, and roared, "WHERE ARE THEY?"

The grey-furred male was shaking, unable to take his eyes off the black plasma rifle in Jhess' paws, its barrel pointed downwards but still appearing threatening, but managed to stammer, "D-Demonstration- F-Freedom P-Pl-"

Jhess didn't stick around, retrieving Sasha's nanoprobe tracer as he burst outside into the light of morning, subterfuge be damned.

*

TWENTY-NINE MINUTES, FIFTY-NINE SECONDS... FIFTY-EIGHT... FIFTY-SEVEN...

Capitol, First City, M'Mirl Province:

"TACTICAL ALERT! INCOMING MISSILE STRIKE! IMPACT IN SIXTY SECONDS!"

Melem-Adu strolled casually to the balcony overlooking the Southern part of the city centre, seemingly oblivious to the klaxons sounding above him, and the panic ensuing around him. He motioned to one Caitian slave. "Wine."