Chapter 10: The Ninth Day of February 2349

It had been almost two years for Raavi since he stepped aboard the UHN Opet. He walked down the long passageways. He had gotten the word and updates that were going on in the United World’s Alliance. His heart was filled with worry and concern. The sense of powerlessness was profound. It was something that he kept inside of himself. It was unthinkable, and he wondered what the New Olympians were going to do about it. Walking beside him was Neb Petti in her true form. Her hair was a little bit different in that it was longer and wavier than it was two years ago. Her clawed feet would tap the floor, making little tapping sounds as her tail would swish around. Raavi wore blue sweatpants and a red t-shirt as he trotted down in his new sneakers.

“I still think that you are a little worried about it,” Neb Petti said in her deep feminine voice.

“Why?” Raavi commented. “I am just worried about my home planet getting wiped out, that is all.”

“The Itreans will not conquer the human race. They have proven to be resilient in the past.”

Raavi shook his head. “I don’t know about that. I know my home. Three Itrean ships managed to conquer Eutera with a single blow. Aphadus has what? Two ... three warships protecting it. The base is huge, but I doubt it could stop a big assault.”

“And you think that we can do anything about it?”

“I have been in orbit with my wife for two years, Neb,” he said to her annoyance. “I have been watching this fleet just sitting idle doing nothing. You have a fleet that can easily protect everyone else.”

The four-legged hybrid creature shook her head as her hair waved around. “You have been on this ship more than long enough to know our reasons for not getting involved.”

Raavi simply shook his head again. “I just can’t accept it. The Itreans are going to conquer and wipe us out. I am sure of it.”

“They won’t take New Olympia.”

“I just have to talk to Opet or somebody up the chain of command.”

“That is the second time you have said that. I know that Fumi Yuki cares, but I think you will have a hard time with it regardless.”

Raavi sighed. “I know ... yeah ... I know.” He stopped walking as Neb Petti stopped and kept her gaze on him.

“We have our reasons, Raavi ... it is a perfect reason.”

“I have heard it before ... it’s just ... I remember them putting down the colony when I watched it on the UWAN. Eutera was the first time they actually put a colony down for the UWA in over ten years. Before that was Cipra.”

“I am sure that things will be alright. The Itreans will never break through this fleet.”

“You say that with such assuredness...”

“I just know that they want to get through. It will be very difficult.”

“I don’t know.”

Neb Petti seemed to sigh a little bit. She turned around and began to walk forward to the bow section of the ship. Raavi began to walk again to stay up with her.

“I don’t know what to say, Raavi,” the female goddess told him. “We have a long history of doing what we need to do. Things find a way to get through.”

“Yeah...” he said. He tried to keep his emotions in check. He tried to shake away his thoughts. “I can’t believe it has been almost two years.”

“Time can fly. One thing about us immortals is that we can lose track of time more easily than you mortals. We start to take things for granted. It is important that you mortals are with us to constantly remind us of that.”

“Is that why you have a boyfriend now?”

“Hmmm ... I would say, close friend. Might become a boyfriend if my luck continues. Ugh ... sometimes I hate being this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, look at me.”

Raavi was looking at the four-legged creature. She was intelligent and smart, but her physical appearances made her look like something else. She looked like a beast that could rip a person apart. For him, however, he tried to be nice to her.

“All I see is a smart goddess that is telling me not to worry about some alien invasion,” Raavi told her.

Neb Petti smiled the best that a crocodile-like jaw could. “Thank you. Nonetheless ... I know I look hideous to most human mortals. Kinda hard for me to get laid.”

“Your mother wouldn’t agree to that.”

“Ugh ... my mother. The only reason why she got laid all the time was that she pretty much forced herself onto her past mates. Of course ... there is the fact that they live a life of luxury and never having to worry about living a life of poverty. When that happens, it becomes a monetary relationship. Because of that is why I exist.”

Raavi shrugged his shoulders. “I can understand the dilemma. I admit I remember saying something like that to Opet awhile back.”

“You did?” she asked as she gave him a questioning look.

“Yeah. I remember saying that and well ... I don’t mean to sound horrible, but I figured it would have been difficult. I realized that I was wrong about that. I think that you are a good person.”

Neb Petti seemed to look down for a little bit as she swung her tail and stopped. “Thank you ... for saying that.”

“It was Sam that you were talking to on the dating site, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. One thing nice with the dating sites here is that I can be in my true form instead of doing the whole ‘surprise, this is my true form,’ as the mortals begin running for their lives in terror.”

“Then he likes you for who you are. That sounds great.”

“Hmmm ... I hope it is,” she said as she turned and resumed her walk. “It isn’t easy for the dating in New Olympia.”

“I know it is. With much fewer men than women on New Olympia, it makes sense.”

“Fuckin Yuki...” Neb Petti said, shaking her head. “That is all their fault.”

“I have always wondered why there were so many women when compared to men.”

“Ugh ... it is the rats’ fault. A long time ago, the Yuki were mostly women. Due to some odd reason, most of the children born from humans were women. Didn’t help that many of the survivors from Cataclysm a long time ago were female goddesses, too, since the men were the ones who volunteered to go and give their lives to slow the thing down. For the Yuki, though, Taweret helped resolved that issue with the Yuki. That was a long time ago, but there is still way more female Yuki than males. Some Yuki still don’t do anything about it and keep pumping out girls.”

“Plus, it is the other way around with the UWA. With places like Cebravis, Oshun, Cipra, or Batrice putting rules to limit the number of children being born, most couples prefer to have boys. If they have a girl the first time, then they will try again until they have a boy. Most of the time, they stop the first time after they have a boy. As a result, it starts to offset the gender inequality concept. You would think that our society has gotten progressive ... it hasn’t been enough.”

“That is where we come in.”

Raavi knew well enough of an old question that he had long ago on why the New Olympians preferred to have males instead of females. The price for some of the New Olympians was obvious, though, and he had a feeling Neb Petti was about to say it.

“I might end up becoming a second wife,” she told him. “Sam has a Yuki for a wife.”

“I kinda figured that was going to happen. You are not sure you want to have that or not, isn’t it?”

“Ugh ... I don’t know. I just think it would be awkward with my position. I don’t want to be looked like the pet dog of the family.”

“That is why you are taking things slow with Sam...”

“Yes ... I have to make sure that he is meant for me.”

“Want to have kids?”

Neb Petti shook her head. “Nah ... no thanks. If his first wife wants to pump out the babies, then let her, but for me, I prefer to ... hmmm ... well ... you know.”

“I understand what you are saying,” Raavi remarked as he smiled at her.

She nodded her head as she came to a stop again. She looked at the outside window of space. Raavi stopped to look at the window.

“I get so used to this,” Neb Petti said. “A part of me looks forward to going to New Olympia and meeting Sam face to face. A part of me just wants to live there and get off this ship permanently.”

“Is that why you want to be with him so bad?”

She nodded her head. “I can leave at any time, but I feel like I need an excuse. I don’t mind staying on this ship a little longer, but as each day goes by, I just want to live in that rock we call home.”

Stephen sometimes forgot that he was on a spaceship. Every time he looked at space, it reminded him of what it was. Only the distant sun and the ships in constant orbit were of any thrill. He kept it in mind as he was thinking of his wife.

“Well ... that hippo wife of yours is getting more and more plump every day now, isn’t she?” Neb Petti asked him.

“Yeah,” Raavi replied with a smile. “Another few months, and she will deliver.”

“Hmmm ... I question that. Her mother is still carrying a child impregnated from some mortal almost four hundred years ago.”

“I know. Opet already told me that.”

“That is my point. Do you think she is going to deliver when the time comes?”

Raavi began to really think about it. She chuckled a little bit as she began to walk forward. “See you later,” she said. He remained behind as he saw her swinging her tail around.

Instead, he remained there as he began to consider things more and more. Despite talking with Neb Petti, the past conversations about humanity and the Itreans have not been assuring to him. An alien race ... they were violent and aggressive. They had already conquered and kidnapped the people of Eutera, and the UHN was utterly outmatched by it. Little attacks were beginning to appear here and there. New Olympia had yet to encounter one but for how long? The Opet was part of a fleet of warships but, he had yet to see the proof of their power. Could the gods and immortal beings repel an assault? The dreadnoughts were enormous, but the Itreans may have something bigger or meaner. If they were powerful, then why not help the UHN of other colonies instead? Little things like this were filling his mind. He couldn’t let this continue.

He turned and resumed his walk toward the captain’s quarters. He was almost there as he watched Neb Petti enter the bridge to relieve Gaap that was still commanding the ship. His thoughts went to the vessel and the crew. It wasn’t easy to get to know everyone, but he had made acquaintances with most of them in two years. He was going to go and enter the Captain’s Quarters before watching Gaap and his wife walk out of the bridge. The demon and her rat wife were a peculiar but gothic-like couple to him. It took time to get used to their personalities even if they respectably loved each other and respected him.

Raavi said nothing more as he reached the door before the bridge. He stepped up to it as the door seemed to pause before opening. It opened up to reveal the rather large room that Opet had.

Very few changes were made to the room in the last two years. The only difference was a few additional photo projectors that showed him and Opet holding hands together. Opet herself was not in the room, and he instead walked over to the sizeable bed-like couch. He took his hand and rubbed his beard to feel if he needed to trim it down or not. He sat down and took off his shoes. His eyes looked at his augmented feet. A lingering thought was on his mind as he looked at the toes. It quickly faded as Opet entered the kitchen and living room from the rear room.

“Ah, there you are,” she commented to him. “Did you enjoy your time with Nanook?”

Raavi looked at the once goddess. Her belly distended outward as her pregnancy was in full swing. It was something he was somewhat used to seeing. She wore her traditional headband, peace pendant, and the classic white dress that she always preferred to have on. There was a little bit of water that was dripping from her tail as she had just finished up her shower.

“I am still trying to get through to him,” Raavi told her. “It is like trying to punch a brick wall.”

“Nanook is always a hard god to please,” she commented as she walked into the living room. “That polar bear has a nagging hatred towards most of humanity.”

“I guess it doesn’t help that the human race was responsible for destroying the homes and land of the people that once worshipped him.”

“It was one of the reasons why he and a couple of the Inuit mythics choose to go to sleep rather than be a part of the main plan. He is like me. He has some guilt riding him.”

“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even know what a polar bear was.”

Opet paused for a moment as she went and sat next to him by the bed. “If it weren’t for many of us, you wouldn’t know much about former Earth. So much life was there. Animals and creatures of different sizes. All you know now is the basic wildlife of the other planets.”

He nodded his head. “Nah ... instead I see the mountains of Aphadus instead. I like to think that others don’t take up rock climbing as I do.”

“Speaking of which. Had any more luck with the rock climbing in the simulator?”

“I did. I had a chance to climb Mount Everest. That simulator ... I don’t know how many times I have said it before, but that simulator ... it is just amazing.”

“I agree,” Opet said with a smile. “Ever since I served on this ship, I would often go there and see reenactments in Earth’s history. I get to see great concerts that I always missed.”

“Of course, we would get a chance to do a lot more too.”

Opet chuckled a little bit as she put her hand to her snout. “How can I forget?”

Raavi decided that he wanted to get serious with her. He relaxed the happy set tone that was in the room. Opet could see it immediately in his face.

“What is it, husband?” she asked him. She put her large hand to his leg.

“I received more word about the news with the war with the Itreans. Cipra chased off a scouting group of Itrean warships.”

“That is good, then.”

Raavi shook his head. “I am feeling powerless here, my love. I am happy being on this ship and with a child on the way. I just ... well ... you know my thoughts as of lately.”

“I know. I understand your frustrations with the fact that our fleet just sits here. I have already been taking some steps.”

“You have?” he asked as he gave her a questioning look.

“I am hoping that Fumi Yuki will be responding to us soon. I was just about to call you up here.”

Raavi felt some liberation in her words. “That sounds good.”

“I know it would be. You have been talking about it for a little while now. I know it is a concern for you. I would in your position.”

“I am ... just worried about my parents.”

“I know, husband. The tragedy of this situation is that even I can only do so much about it. My hands are tied.”

Raavi felt the nagging notch in his stomach. “Why do I have a feeling that both of you two are going to gang up on me?”

Opet went and put her hand to Raavi’s shoulder. “You are not in trouble. There are others that feel the way that you do, but even then, I feel it is the only way to end the argument.”

“That the New Olympians are pretty much staying...”

His conversation was cut off as there was a beep sound that echoed in the large room. Both Opet and Raavi already had a hint of what it was.

“That should be her,” Opet remarked. She gestured to Raavi to stand up as she did as well. She put her hand to her distended belly as she walked around the bed.

“Aren’t you going to get in your uniform?” Raavi asked as he stood up and walked around the bed. He stood beside the towering hippo.

“During my off-hours? Nah ... besides, Fumi might not be on duty either. Computer,” she addressed the computer. “I am ready. Open up the channel with the UHN Mnemosyne.”

Raavi felt slightly nervous. It was the first time in his two years that he would actually get a chance to talk with the person that was in charge of the entire New Olympian fleet. Technically, he only had heard of the stories of her from Opet. She was supposed to be friendly, but he also knew that this was his wife’s boss. He didn’t want to make her look bad by being unprofessional or seemingly inappropriate.

A projection appeared in the room that illuminated and correctly displayed a small anthro rat of a woman. It appeared several feet in front of Opet and Raavi. The projection then filled in to show a marble desk and luxury couch where the woman sat down. He knew that it had to be her. Fumi Yuki was one of the Yuki mythics. Supposedly, she was descended from one of the lead Yuki daughters of some great family and had worked closely with Opet’s mother. That was all he knew about her.

The projection was almost perfect. Fumi was an anthro rat that must have been about four feet in height if she were standing. White fur covered her body as she had a long hairless pink rat-like tail that protruded from her rear and slipped around the table. Her gray or silver hair flowed down naturally and was close to covering up one of her red rodent-like eyes. She had a long protruding snout with a pink nose. Her chair was so tall that her digitigrade legs and padded feet didn’t reach the bottom. Fumi was dressed in a red and blue kimono with white stars woven into them. It was a rather peculiar look for her, but it made her look elegant to behold. Even he had to admit that Fumi seemed rather attractive for one of the Yuki.