The President's main transport ship, Space One, orbited
Earth at a safe altitude, awaiting the appointed time.
Another ship, smaller and equipped with sophisticated
camouflaging tools flew a few miles away, almost invisible to
Space One's sensors.  The mission counter ticked down.
     When Space One's timer hit zero, the ship jumped out, to
the AFF's Planet.  The invisible ship continued orbiting
Earth.
     The President, aboard Space One, waited nervously.  It
would be risky to jump in unannounced, but the computers had
decided that this would be the best way.  They would have to
work fast if this mission were to work out in a favorable
manner for the human race.

               *         *         *         *

     Space One appeared around The Planet in the middle of
a formation of Star class capital ships.  As soon as it was
possible, Space One was broadcasting a peace/truce/surrender
message to all of the ships in the area.  They managed to get
the message out before any of the capital ships had a chance
to vaporize them, and only a few shots actually hit them.
Instead, a message was beamed from the misshapen space
station that the President had seen in the holo to the other
ships.  Although Space One's computers couldn't decipher it,
the capital ships all launched fighters at the same time, and
moved into a new formation, a big bubble around Space One.
     The station sent a hailing message to Space One a few
seconds later.  After the comm systems had worked everything
out (which took a while, given the differences between the
human and AFF fleet standards), four holos snapped into
existence in front of the President.  Two large tigers, a
lion and a wolf.
     "What are you doing here?" snarled the wolf.  "You are
lucky that you came in with your necks exposed like that, and
that we didn't chose to tear it out!"
     Not a good start for peace talks, thought the President.
I have to keep them occupied for...  10 minutes.  He smiled
at the four animals in front of him.  "Friends, I have come
on a peace mission.  Are you the leaders of your...
organization?"
     "Yes," rumbled the lion.  He's a big bastard, thought
the president.  The lion was a tawny gold color, and massive.
The holos were full size, and the lion was easily seven feet
tall.  He was very big and muscular looking, with many scars
visible.  There was one across his pinkish nose.  His tail,
along with those of the tigers, were always twitching back
and forth, curling, uncurling, always moving, never stopping.
The President also noticed that they didn't wear clothes, and
his face flushed slightly.
     "Have you not seen our message to the human race?" asked
a tiger.  It-no, it was most definitley a she-was a orange
and black striped thing, about as large as the lion.  Her
tail was slightly thicker than the lion's, and she was about
the same build as the lion.  Except for the nipples.  Four
of them, rather hard to miss.  Why didn't they wear clothes?
     The President focused on their faces.  "The message?
The one that said that you were going to destroy human kind?"
     "Yes."
     "Yes, well, it did make the news for quite a while.
But, we humans don't think that violence is necessary.  We
haven't had any on our streets for years.  We would like to
work out a peaceful agreement."
     "No."  The lion shook his head.  "You must not have
understood that message."
     The other tiger, a male, had appeared to be pondering
something for a few moments.  "No, no, wait."  He looked at
the President.  "Hold on for a minute."  Abruptly the
connection cut off.
     The President looked stunned for a moment, then shook
his head.  These animals were so confusing.  "How much time?"
he asked.
     A voice came back.  "Five minutes."

               *         *         *         *

     Foxy was roused out of his state of stupor an hour after
his shower.  Two guards and a guard dog came through, and
stopped in front of his cell.
     "Come on," said one of the guards.  "No funny tricks
like last time."  He shook his gun for emphasis.
     Foxy grumbled, but he got up, and exited his cell.  At
least he would get a little excersize.
     That translator fox whom Foxy had met before, in the
doctor's office, was hovering about outside the prision cell.
     "Ah, how are you doing?" asked the fox of the guards.
     "Whaddya want?"
     The fox sketched a half-bow.  "Sirs, I was instructed to
accompany you and the new one."
     "Alright then, but stay quiet."  The guards continued,
dragging Foxy along, with the other fox following close
behind.
     In a few minutes, they were back again in Warden's
office.  Foxy sat down in one of the chairs, and the other
fox took the chair next to him.
     Warden dismissed the guards, then looked back and forth
at the two foxes.  They did look similar, except the new one
was more reddish, while the other was darker.  And the new
one had a muzzle on, while the other one didn't.
     "So," Warden said with a smile designed to put one at
ease, "How has your stay here been so far?"
     The translator fox started to interpret, but Warden
interupted.  "I want to hear straight from him."
     Foxy felt a shiver go through him, but didn't show it.
Had the humans found out he really did speak English?  Were
their little electronic toys that good?  He had already
forgotten that he had held a conversation with the Warden.
     He mumbled something.
     "What?" asked Warden in a patient tone of voice.
     Foxy said something louder in Fox, but it was short and
clipped.  It didn't exactly sound praising, but everything in
their language sounded vaugely threatening.
     "Come on, I know you can speak in English.  If you just
co-operate with me on this one question, I will grant you
permission to outdoors every day."
     "I get dragged back and forth between this office and
the cell so often, I don't have to," Foxy commented to the
other fox.
     "Yes, that's true," agreed the fox.
     "What?  Can you two understand each other?"  Warden
was leaning forward slightly, resting his hands on the desk.
     "Sorry sir, but I couldn't fully understand it.  I was
just asking him what he said," said the fox, whose name was
still unknown to Foxy.
     Warden skewered the fox with a glare, causing the other
fox to shift uncomfortably, but niether of them said
anything.
     Finally, Warden leaned back, drumming his fingers on the
armrest of his chair.  "Let me show you something," he said,
pushing a button in the edge of his desk.
     A flat computer screen popped out of the desk's top,
folding and twisting itself into the proper shape.  At the
same time, a keyboard and a little pointing device presented
themselves to Warden.
     Warden did something, and then turned the screen around
so that Foxy could see.
     "These are some videos taken of interrogations we have
previously conducted."  Warden clicked the control device,
and the videos started.
     First there was a wolf in a chair, thrashing about.
There was no sound, which was probably to the better.  The
wolf looked to be in the extremest amount of pain any living
thing could possibly stand before dying.  Two humans were
standing by, looking with something that looked like quiet
pride, disgust, or anger on their faces.  Abruptly, the video
changed, this time showing a tiger in the chair.  The chair
seemed to be barely containing the violent writhing of the
tiger, which was roaring at the top of its lungs.  The video
changed again, this time to a fox, then changed again and
again.  Eagles, panthers, coyotes, weasles, lions, hawks.
All of them were featured on the video, all of them in
extreme agony.
     By the time the movie ended, Foxy was feeling very
nauseated.  Those humans could actually torture these animals
to that extent, and for what?  Even the other fox was looking
away, probably biting his lip.
     Foxy glowered at Warden fiercely.  Finally, he growled
in English:  "You're a very sick human."

               *         *         *         *

     Five minutes had passed by, and the President was
sweating.  He hoped that the other ship had come in okay, and
that everything was proceeding to plan.  What were taking
those furry bastards so long?
     "What are the other ships doing?  Are they showing any
sign of noticing anything?" the President finally called up
to the cockpit.
     "No, sir!  They're still in the formation they were in
after they encircled us.  They don't seem to be aware of
anything."
     "Good," breathed the President.
     "Sir, we've just recieved a hailing call.  I think
they're ready again," a crew member said.
     "Get them through," the President ordered.
     The holos once again flared to life.  The male tiger
wasted no time in talking.  "We wish to talk with you in
person.  Immediately.  Prepare for your ship to be docked
with.  Just stay where you are, or we will destroy your
ship."
     "Wait!  You said, `immediately'.  Do you mean now?"
     The tiger looked annoyed.  "That's what the word means,
human."  The holo shut off.
     The President groaned.  This was not a good beginning to
the talks.  He had an honor guard of ten Marines on the
craft, but that was all.  Versus however many of those things
were required to fly one of those ships of theirs.
     In a few seconds, Space One's hull creaked and clanged
as the other ship preformed the docking operation.  The
President pushed the button that summoned the honor guard.
They were snapping to attention and saluting the President in
moments.
     "Well guys, I hope you're ready," the President said,
returning the salute.  "Do you know what's going on?"
     "Yes sir!" they said in that military voice, all in
unison.
     "Good.  Come on, we're expected."
     The President walked over to the exit door, and waited
for the green light indicating that a safe docking had been
completed.  The honor guard was beside and behind him.
     When the hatch was opened, the AFF greeting party was
reavealed.  It looked as if the whole entire crew of the ship
had turned out.  There were literally thousands of animals
standing about the cavernous hangar bay they were in.  It was
quite an impressive show of force.  Standing closest to the
President were the four animals he had spoken with eariler,
the lion, tigers, and wolf.
     The big cats were huge, imposing, and scowling.  The
wolf wasn't quite as big, closer to human size.  But he
looked like a tough customer.  He had a bit of his left ear
clipped off, probably lost in a fight.  His nose was
twitching, getting the scent of the humans down.  Then his
whole entire muzzle wrinkled, and his eyes narrowed.  He said
something, but none of the others showed any reaction.
     The President smiled, his smile that had won over so
many voters.  "So, shall we get the peace talks on the road?"
he asked.
     "Your guards," said the wolf.  "They are not permitted
to carry any guns."
     The President glanced at the Marines ridgidly holding
their rifles, with the pistol holster on their hips, then
looked back at the wolf, thinking quickly.  "I know you have
your own traditions, and I cannot blame you for wanting to
follow those, but this is one of our own traditions.  You
must allow my guards to carry at least their sidearms."
     The wolf's eyes narrowed.  He spat out a command a
second later.  Several AFF stepped up.  "Fine then," said the
wolf.  "Have your guards give their guns to them, and we'll
let let them carry their pistols."
     "We must have our rifles back," said the President.
     "You'll recieve them when you are leaving."
     The President seemed agreeable about that, and motioned
for the guards to hand over their rifles, which they did.
Not that they were happy about it.
     "Yes, let us continue," said the lion.  He motioned
towards the back of the hangar.  "The ride is over there," he
said, then started off.  The President walked beside him,
with the other Leaders on the other side of the lion, and the
guards trailing behind.
     "What are your titles, my good, uh, animals?" the
President asked on the way there.
     The lion looked down his nose at the human.  "Lion," he
said, in a laconic voice.
     "Tiger."
     "Tigress."
     "Wolf."
     The briefness of their responses caught the President
off guard, but he recovered.  "Yes, thank you.  I assume you
already know my title?"
     "Yes, we know," replied Tigress.
     Five minutes later, the President and the Leaders were
at the other end of the hangar, standing in front of a large
bank of elevators.  The lion pressed a button for one
elevator, and the door opened with a smooth hiss seconds
later.  "You may ride in this one," said Lion.
     The President looked inside.  Rather large elevator, for
a spacecraft.  Come to think of it, almost everything on this
ship was huge.  The cylindrical elevator has a layer of grass
growing on the floor, with silvery sides and a soft, pleasant
light from the top.  Also inside was a lioness.
     "I think this one is occupied," the President said,
facing the Leaders.
     "She is there to operate the elevator."  Lion had a
perfect poker face on, so the President didn't know what to
make of it.
     "Ah, I see.  That is very kind of you," the President
said, then stepped inside.  The doors closed behind him.
     The lioness skewered him with a peculiar look, where she
was looking at him with her nose pointed slightly farther
downward than necessary to look at someone the Presiden't
height.  Her eyes looked to be one forth closed, and her
mouth was slightly open, so that the triangle of her nose and
the triangle of her mouth were about the same size.  The
President didn't know if it she thought he was food or if it
was a look to turn him on.
     "Shall we go?" she asked in a gruff voice, but then all
of the AFF had gruff voices.
     "Yes, if you please," the President said.  The lioness
went over to a patch on the wall that had several buttons.
Each one was labeled by what seemed random scratches in the
wall, but upon closer inspection, each stratch was obviously
painstakingly carved into the wall, then silvered.  The
lioness pushed one of the buttons, again seemingly at random,
then returned to her previous place.  On the way back,
however, she rubbed up against him lightly.
     The President didn't say anything.  He brushed at his
coat, for once at a loss of words.  He noticed the flicking
tail of the lioness in the grass near his feet.  He must have
looked like a fool for a few moments there, absently brushing
at his coat, staring at a beast's tail twitching in the
grass.  He shook himself out of it.
     The lioness was still looking at him, this time with a
faint smile playing on her face.  Why is she coming onto me?
wondered the President.
     Just then, thankfully, the elevator stopped, and the
doors opened to another large room.  The lioness, now with a
sulk in her voice, said, "This is your stop.  The others will
be up in a minute."
     The President stepped out, saying, "Thank you for the
ride."  The doors hissed shut again.
     The room was a very striking one.  The ceiling was a
large, domed one, made out of clear stuff, and it opened
right out to hard vaccum.  The stars burned, clear and fierce
out there, undistorted by the ceiling.  A nebula was visble
up near the center, too.  The ceiling streched onwards, and
didn't look to have any walls, stopping only as it met with
the floor.  The room where the President was looked like the
savannahs of Earth, which the President had once seen in a
holo.  Of course they were not there any more; that area now
was the location of some of Earth's largest cities.  The
floor was covered with tall, golden grasses, just like how it
looked in the holo.  Looking around, the President felt like
he was in wild, untamed Africa before there were even any
humans on the Earth.  As the President turned about, he
realized that he couldn't see where the elevator had opened
into the room.  Then he realized that the huge tree was was
growing behind him actually was the elevator.  Or at least
the elevator opened up on it.  The President was closely
examining a crack in the tree which he suspected might be the
door, when the spilt opened, and a guard sprang out past the
lioness.
     The guard was grumbling, but quickly snapped to
attention as he saw the President.  "At ease, soldier," said
the President, walking away from the tree.  The guard
followed.
     "Was that animal in there making passes at you too?"
asked the President of the guard as the door opened again,
letting loose another embarrassed guard.
     "Yes sir," replied the first guard, as the second took
his place next to him.
     A few minutes later, all of the guards had arrived, but
no AFF leaders.  The President engaged in some idle chat with
the guards.  He discovered that the tree might be a baobab
tree.  At least, that was what one of the guards thought,
though he wasn't sure.
     All of the guards seemed impressed with the savannah-
like room.  One guard even sheepishly admitted that he was a
little afraid of really wide open spaces, like this savannah
that appeared to go on forever.  Indeed, all three hundred
and sixty degrees around the humans was perfectly flat, all
the way to the horizion, except for another cluster of trees
off in the distance.  The stars overhead were slowly rotating
past as the station spun.
     The elevator opened, letting Wolf step out.  The guards
were called to attention, and saluted the wolf.  He
acknowledged the humans with a curt nod, then went off a
little distance, watching the planet rise.  The guards and
the President were talking again when the wolf raised his
head, and let a long, mournful howl loose that sent shivers
down every human's back.  Wolf went on howling his wolf song
until the elevator opened again, and Tiger came out.  The
wolf cut off sharply, as if he didn't want the tiger to hear.
     Tiger again gave the humans a nod when the guards
saluted, then went off a ways, but not too close to the wolf.
They all waited a minute before Tigress stepped out of the
elevator and was saluted.  She nodded, and joined the tiger.
     A minute passed before the lion came up, saying
something to the lioness.  She nuzzled him under the jaw
before he stepped out, and she left.  The President wondered
if they had done it on the elevator ride up as the guards
saluted.  Lion walked over to the President, and nodded to
the guards.  The other Leaders closed in, around the lion but
several feet back.  "In case you're wondering, no, we didn't
mate on the elevator," said Lion in a low voice designed to
be heard only by the President.
     The President felt his face becoming a little warm, but
only said, "I assure you, I was not thinking of that."  It
was a lie, but so what?  They wouldn't know the difference,
would they?
     "Of course.  In that case, let's have the `talks'
begin."  Lion turned, and raised his majestically maned head
to the sky, and roared.  The President flinched at the
thunderous sound, but only momentairily.  What he saw next
scared him more than the lion's roar.
     Not more than ten feet away, a lion had appeared out of
the grass, and raised his head in a answering roar.  In a
circle around the group of guards and the President and the
AFF Leaders, there were ten lions and lionesses.  Each of
them were roaring back, and Lion roared back.  Then the two
tigers roared their loudest, each of their voices
intertwining around each other, supporting and amplifying the
resounding roars of each other.  Ten tigers and tigresses sat
up from the grass ten feet back from the circle of lions, and
answered, the ones in the center answering back once, before
the wolf raised his lone call to the skies.  A circle, fifty
feet out, of wolves called back.  The wolves' song was by far
the most impressive.  They went on for five minutes, singing
an incredibly ancient wolf song, singing in a way that no
human could ever possibly hope to duplicate.  When one group
was reaching a cresendo, and starting to fall, more would
come and bolster the wavering voices, uplifting the symphonic
singing to another plane, unreached by many human composers.
The wild howls sent shivers up and down the human's spines.
The wolves seemed to be crooning their haunting aria for the
stars, and when the requiem finally wound down, the President
actually felt kind of sad.
     Turning to the wolf, he said, "Wolf, I feel deeply sorry
that I have not tried to done more to bring more of you
animals into the world."

               *         *         *         *

     The camoflauged stealth ship that had been part of the
President's plan was carrying out its mission perfectly.
Exactly at the appointed time, the ship had came into orbit
around the AFF planet.  Nothing took any notice of them, and
the ship had started its descent to the planet's surface
exactly on schedule.  The mission planners had decided that a
fast fall towards the surface held the best hopes for the
mission, a fall reminiscent of the late 1900's, with the
Apollo capsules and Space Shuttles falling down into the
atmosphere.  The ship had been specially built, and was
designed to not heat up over ten degrees over the surrounding
air, thanks to highly advanced materials.
     As it plunged down, the Marines aboard were strapped
into their seats, waiting for the green light.  When that
flashed on, they unstrapped, and were at the door at the time
that the ship was settling down onto the ground.  The Marines
rushed out, flopping down onto their bellies, and searching
the LZ for anything hostile.
     When their complex battle suit sensors didn't pick up
anything, they set about camouflaging their ship and setting
up the base camp.  Sentries were always watching the
surrounding area like paranoid hawks, their guns always at
the ready.
     Staff Sergeant Blackmon was standing guard when he
noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  He faced the
movement, at the same time crouching for cover, and checking
to make sure that the camo device was on.  Whatever had
moved, it was near the woodline of a small forest some two
hundred yards away.
     "Captain, I think I saw something moving over to the
left of my area," he called in on the secure comm line.
     "Do you know what it is?" came back the captain.
     "Not sure, sir.  I would like to check it out."  Staff
Sergeant Blackmon was changing to the IR mode.  Yes,
something had definitely been there.  There was some residue
heat, but it quickly melted away.  There was a faint patch of
warmth still there though.
     "Permission granted.  You have fifteen minutes."
     Staf Sergeant Blackmon crept forward, cautiously.
Nothing attacked him by the time he was within a few feet of
where he thought he had seen something.  But nothing was
there.
     "Wait a minute," Blackmon breathed.  He switched back to
the normal color vision.  There was a burrow of some animal
near the foot of a tree.  "Sir, I've found a hole in the
ground.  There are paw prints around it.  I think something
lives here, sir."
     "Alright, stand by," replied the captain.  In half of a
minute, three other Marines were standing around the hole.
Blackmon was standing up, his rifle aimed at the entrance to
the hole, studying the ground in IR mode.  The sensors could
pick up two bigger life forms under the ground.  It looked
like both were looking up at him, or at the tunnel to their
home.  They knew they were trapped.  There were also smaller
blobs of heat packed together, laying next to one of the
bigger heat sources.  Blackmon guessed babies.
     "What's the situation?" asked one of the Marines.
     "There's at least two adult animals in there, and I
think they have a litter of babies in there too."
     "So nape them," said someone.
     "Can't.  Their tunnel turns, and the nape grenades won't
make it down to the bottom."
     "Ah, shit."  One of the Marines was squatting in front
of the hole, peering down it.  "Gimme a pistol.  I'll take
'em."
     A small pistol was handed to the volunteer, who dropped
his pack and his rifle.  "I'll be back," he said, then
slithered into the blackness of the hole head first.
     Watching in IR, Blackmon saw the action unfold.  The
Marine crawled down, bending around the turn in the tunnel,
farther and farther down.  The adults got up, and stationed
themselves at the entrance to their den, preparing to defend
their cubs.  Eventually, the volunteer inched around the last
turn in the tunnel.  It must be a tight fit.  One of the
animals surged forward, and was dropped immediately.  The
other seemed taken aback at the quick events before it too
was shot down.  As it lay on the ground, it seemed to be
staring directly at Blackmon, the eyes white in the IR
goggles.  Blackmon shook his head.  This mission would be
tough enough without having some dead animal's spirits
following him around.

               *         *         *         *

     Warden stared at Foxy, amazed.  "What?"
     "You're a very sick human," reiterated Foxy.  He looked
upset.  "Why did you hurt them?" he said, pointing at the
video screen that was still out, although thankfully not
showing its ghastly movie.
     "Because they did not co-operate," said Warden, "And if
you do not co-operate, we'll be adding you to the video.  So
you should answer these questions, now that we know you can
understand us."
     Foxy chattered something at the other fox, who replied
in the same language.
     "Maybe you could tell us about your hands," said Warden
coldly.
     "Eh?"  Foxy said something else to the other fox, asking
his name.
     In Fox, the fox replied, "Wiley.  Don't ask how I got
it, just accept that I do have it."
     Foxy paid some attention to Warden now.  "What about my
paws?  See, they're paws," he said, holding up his paws, and
turning them, showing Warden the palm side and the back of
his paws.
     "We have reason to believe that your hands are
artificial," stated Warden.
     Foxy cocked his head.  "What?"
     "Fake, you idiot," growled Warden.
     "They're reals!" said Foxy, bringing his hands up to his
face, and examining them.
     "Reals, huh?"  Warden briefly considered having the
doctor neuter this fox, without any anesthetics.  "Then let
me see them."
     Foxy wordlessly held out his paws, and showed them to
Warden.  Warden probed the furry paws himself, comparing the
translator's paws to the new fox's.  When he couldn't find
any difference, he flung the new fox's paw on the table
roughly.  "Alright, we'll let you go this one time.  But
we'll be inspecting later, you hear that?  Get outta my
sight."
     The guards came in, and manhandled Foxy out of the room.
The translator fox, Wiley, followed behind, and Foxy tried to
say something to him, but the guards smacked him with a hard
fist whenever he made a sound.  In this manner they
transported Foxy to his cell, and flung him in, and locked
the door.
     "Oh no, he's back," groaned Jade, but Foxy ignored her
for the moment, being too busy glaring after the guards until
they left.
     "So how's your life, Jade?" Foxy asked.  Then he noticed
the new inmate they had.
     A ebony female panther was now occupying the cell next
to Jade's.  She was pure black, except for her nose and her
eyes, and her white teeth.
     "Well, we have new company," said Jade in Traditional.
     "Yes, I know," replied Foxy.  Panthers had always
facinated Foxy.  They were lithe creatures that seemed very
dangerous all of the time because they were always alert,
unlike the lions.  The lions may be stronger, but they were
more laid back.
     The panther and Foxy were staring at each other before
Foxy looked away.  Those hard eyes of a panther could make
anyone nervous.
     "So what are you doing here?" asked Foxy, after he
scratched his ear, pretending that he wasn't nervous.
     "I'm not sure," replied the panther in a voice that was
smooth as the surface of a lake at dawn, and was rich and
powerful.  Why did all the cats have voices like that?  "But
I overheard the guards saying that the cathouse was full, and
that I would have to make do in this place."
     "What's the cathouse?" wondered Foxy out loud.
     "It's the human slang for the building where all of the
cats are kept, and also it is slang for a brothel," said
Jade.
     "Yes, I know that," replied the panther in a disgusted
tone of voice.  "My first job on Earth was working in one of
those places."
     Foxy's jaw dropped.  "You mean you had to-had to mate
with the-"
     "No!' said the panther vehemently.  "I had to rub up
against the humans coming in, get them all hot and ready for
the human females upstairs.  I never understood why I had to
do it.  There was another panther working with me there.  I
think the human males were somehow turned on by us rubbing up
against them."
     Jade and the panther continued talking, but Foxy zoned
out.  He was just laying on his bed, absently scratching at
the wall and staring out into infinity, his brain in a
totally torpid mode.  Just a few days in captivity had
reduced him to that, his brain atrophying in his skull.  But
during this period, Foxy was diverting an amazing amount of
brainpower to thinking about nothing.

               *         *         *         *

     The Leaders of the AFF looked around at the surrounding
lions, tigers, and wolves, and at some unheard signal, they
all sat down in the grass.  The humans were the only ones
standing, but even so, the lion's and tigers' heads were
about even with the President's chest.
     The lion motioned for the President to sit down, and he
did so after a little hesitation.  The guards remained at
attention.
     Lion looked up at the guards, then back at the
President.  "Now, what was your proposal?"
     The President nodded his head, saying "Yes.  I have an
obligation to save the human race, you know.  After all, I am
the leader of over half of the total human population."
     As they were talking, the AFF planet was coming over the
horizion, lighting the savannah.  As the day came forth, life
on the savannah started taking its daily rounds.  Overhead, a
flock of some kind of bird soared by.  Off in the distance, a
herd of zebras, and wildebeest gathered around a waterhole.
The President watched in facination.
     "This is quite a facility you have here," commented the
President as several elephants appeared to eat the leaves on
a clump of trees.
     "Yes," nodded Lion.  "Reminds me of home.  Too bad there
are no more places like this on Earth," he said a little more
pointedly.
     The President spread his hands.  "Well, you can't really
blame me, or any other person alive right now for what people
did before I was even born.  Most of the enviromental damage
was done shortly after two thousand A.D., you know.  That was
a long time ago."
     The lion nodded, his attention focused on something off
in the distance.  Wolf was also looking off at the same
place, ears pricked.  Tiger picked up the conversation.
     "Yes, but it was also your human race that caused the
enviroment to get trashed, animals slaughtered, and every
single other problem in this galaxy."
     "What?" spluttered the President.  He was used to more
subtlety than this.
     "You don't understand?" snarled Tiger forcefully, in a
tone severe enough to make the guards almost go for their
weapons.  "Then let me spell it out for you.  Are you
Christian?"
     "Wh-?"
     "Are you?"
     "Yes, I am but-"
     "Then you know from your silly Bible or whatever it is
called that your god said to go forth and multiply, but he
didn't say like rabbits!  And then when you humans did
multiply, you simply swamped the Earth with your numbers.
Up until...  No, as soon as you humans appeared on this
planet, you started trashing it and going against the grain
of Nature.  You had to murder animals for their fur, just
because you didn't have any to keep you warm.  Just because
you could control something called fire you took over the
entire world, killing my ancestors in rituals to gods who you
can't even prove exist."
     The tiger looked angrily away for a moment, and Tigress
took up his line of thinking.  "Ancient humans had some
respect for animals.  In ancient Africa, the tribe's hunters
would ask a slain animal for their forgiveness.  But humans
were not meant to be hunters, or even carnivores."
     The President took advantage of a lull in Tigress'
triade when she took a breath to step in.  "What do you mean
that we were not meant to be carnivores?  Almost everyone I
know love to have a nice juicy steak on the table for dinner,
and even in primitive times, people hunted for food and
brought it down."
     The tigress made a funny snuffling sound.  "Open your
mouth and bare your teeth."  At the President's hesitation,
she thundered, "Do it!"  The President did.  "You guards, you
do it too, so that your President may see what human teeth
look like."  The humans looked postively like fools at this
moment.
     "Now, see what real teeth look like," Tigress said,
baring her huge canine teeth.  "And look," she continued,
unsheathing her claws, "Compare these to your pathetic
nails."  There was quite a difference between those razor
sharp claws and the neatly trimmed nails of the President.
     "Now, tell me that those teeth and nails of yours were
meant to be used for hunting, and eating meat.  Why, I
imagine that you couldn't even draw blood if I let you bite
me as hard as you could.  In fact, I'd like to let you try.
Go ahead," she said, raising her chin so that her neck was
exposed.
     "No, thanks," said the President uneasily.  At first he
had sort of enjoyed the casual setting of the talks, without
all of the stiff protocol that one normally had to go
through, but now...  These animals were crazy.
     "No, I insist," growled the tigress.  "Here, if not on
my neck, try here," she said, tapping her shoulder.
     The President stared at Tigress.  "You want me to bite
you on the neck, in the middle of peace talks?  Such a thing
is not normally done at peace talks."
     "Yes, but have you ever done peace talks with us
before?" asked Tigress.  "No?  Good.  We're making history
then.  So bite me."
     The President stiffened.  Did she know if that was an
insult?  The President couldn't tell, and now he knew that he
was caught in a quandry.  If he refused to bite her (and how
crude that seemed!), he would lose face in front of the AFF,
and possibly his own men, because he wasn't brave enough to
  get close to the monstrous tigress.  One the other hand, if
he did bow in, then he would lose face in front of his men,
bending to the animal's will.  He wished that he had one of
those old fasioned coins to flip.
     Ah, what the hell, he decided.  Might as well draw some
blood here.  "Alright, I'll do it," the President said,
eliciting some looks of surprise from his men.  After all, if
he could draw blood, that would gain face.  Right?
     He stood up, and walked over to Tigress, stamping a foot
that had fallen asleep while he was sitting down on it.
     "Where?" he asked.
     "Anywhere you want," the tigress replied, getting up
onto all fours.  She looked lithe, supple and strong.  All of
them did.  But the curious thing about the AFF was that they
looked perfectly alright on all fours.  Not like a human, who
had to go on his hands and knees.  The AFF could walk about,
run about, and preform naturally and smoothly while on all
four feet at once.  They looked more like animals and less
like humans on their four paws.
     Tigress started to slowly circle the President,
skewering him with a glare that was cold, hard, and
challenging.  The guards stirred uneasily, hands creeping
closer to their pistols.
     "Well, sit still," said the President.  Tigress did so,
and the President came closer.  He eyed her for a moment,
wondering where to bite her.  Finally he decided to go for
the base of her neck, where it met her shoulders.  A
compromise between her suggested places.
     Just as the President was bending over to bite her, a
low rumble was felt.  Tigress' head snapped to the side, and
the President followed her gaze.
     The herd of wildebeest and zebras was stampeding.  Right
towards the group.
     Lion and Tiger were crouching into the grass, almost
invisible.  The President noticed that all of the surrounding
animals had vanished as well.
     "What's going on?" asked the President.
     Lion rumbled back, "Some lionesses botched a kill.  The
herd is coming this way."
     The President and his entourage watched in facination as
the stampede drew nearer.  For some reason, the President was
not afraid.  It was like some incredibly exciting movie to
him, playing for his enjoyment.  The AFF leaders moved off
towards the stampede.
     The herd of blindly stampeding wildebeest was just
meeting with the outer periphery of wolves.  Their line
wavered and spread out as the grey wolves herded them away
from the meeting area.  Three wolves were harrying a single
wildebeest, attempting to bring down the strange prey animal.
Many of them went through the line of wolves, who now
dispersed.  The tigers attacked the wildebeest.  They were
probably figuring out that this wasn't the best place to run,
as there were more enemies here than over near the water
hole.  Most of the wildebeest started to go away in different
directions, anywhere out into the savannah.
     The lionesses in the innermost circle were moving out to
join the tigers, who were having trouble taking down the
wildebeest.  Tigers were unused to having prey that ran
straight at them instead of away from them.
     In a few more minutes, the skirmish was over.  All but
seven of the wildebeest had survived, and were now scattered
all over the savannah.  The lionesses came closer, apparently
talking to Lion, who answered back in that coarse language of
the AFF.  The lionesses got two of the dead animals, and the
other five were spirited away somewhere.
     Several minutes were needed for all of the excited
animals to re-form their circles.  A few of the AFF were
injured, only one severely, and he was laid in the grass to
recuperate until someone could come and take him away.
     The leaders of the two seperate sides once again
gathered.  Lion was licking blood off of him, displaying the
kind of flexibility that the President thought kind of
obscene.
     Tigress pushed closer to the President.  "So, what are
your plans?  Are you going to do it?" she asked.
     "Yes, yes, of course," said the President.  He moved
closer to Tigress.  He steeled himself for the task, then
shoved his nose into the dense fur at her shoulder, and bit
down, grinding as hard as he could.  When his jaw muscles
started to ache, he stood upright again, spitting fur out of
his mouth.
     Tigress looked at the President with half closed eyes,
then motioned him close.  She whispered in his ear, "I've had
love bites harder than that," her gaze flicking to Tiger
momentarily.
     The President turned red, wondering again why these
damned animals were so confusing.
     Tigress settled herself into the grass again, leaving
the President red-faced and befuddled.  He sat stiffly down
again.
     "Would you like some water?" asked Lion.
     "Yes, please," the President said huskily.
     The elevator doors opened once again, almost instantly.
The lioness inside came out, carrying a large tub that looked
like a wooden bucket.  The President had never seen such a
thing as that.  Another lioness, a she-wolf, and one male
tiger and a female tiger followed her out, and delivered one
bucket to their respective AFF leader.
     The wooden bucket probably held a gallon of the crystal
clear water.  The President h watched the AFF for clues as to
how he was supposed to be drinking it.  All of the other AFF
leaders had simply set the bucket down, and stuck their
muzzles into the water and started lapping it up.  They had a
peculiar way of keeping their eyes up as they drank, watching
the President at all times.
     When in Rome, do as the Romans do, thought the
President, and he put his head to the bucket and slurped up
the water.  It was icy cold, and wonderfully refreshing.
     Wolf picked up the conversation from there.
     "Now, you humans are obviously ill-suited for living.
Thus, why should we let you take over pristine planets and
convert them into some artifical Earth?  And why should we
let you keep hold of Earth, when us `animals', as you have
labeled us, even though you humans are also animals, should
be the rightful inhabitants?"
     The President answered in a cold voice, "Because we are
there.  Humans are smarter than you animals, and we have
profitted from it.  You stupid animals have not taken
advantage of any brainpower you might have, and because of
that, humans are the rulers of the world.  If it was not
intended for that to happen, why are we so successful, and
your kind now only memories or DNA strands in jars?"
     The wolf leered back.  "You humans have only had one
concept of intelligence, and that was your own.  You never
opened your minds to the facts that we are very intelligent,
but our intelligence goes off in a different way from yours.
Wolves and lions on Earth may have never built a computer or
a rocket, but our brains were geared more to survival.  Us
wolves can eat over twenty pounds of meat at one sitting.
Bats can hear echos and decipher the sounds that come back
without all that fancy sonar gear you humans spent so much
money on developing for your outdated Navies.  Birds have a
built in fly-by-wire system far more advanced than your
flight computers can ever be.  We never built any guns or
wanted to tame fire.  We had just decided that we could do
without them.  They are not necessary for survival.  For us
that is.  You weak humans couldn't stand living without fire,
so you took it.  And that was the start of your tyranny over
the world.  You started killing us just because we walked on
four feet, had fur, and never obeyed your commands."
     The wolf paused, and lapped up some water.  "Over the
years, humans have just gotten weaker and weaker, but at the
same time, they also mated more and more often.  They started
trashing the world more and more.  They started killing more
and more animals, and claiming more and more land for
themselves, not once ever considering limiting the population
growth to save the planet.  In an amazingly short period of
time, you humans went over the critical point where Earth
simply couldn't support so many humans.  You were forced to
go migrate to other planets and spread your chaos.  As you
moved farther and farther away from the natural way of life,
the softer you got.  Humans require air-conditioning,
heating, air scrubbers, clothing, cooked food, and all sorts
of other processed necessities.  You can't live off the land
with nothing more than what Nature gave you.  Arctic animals
can withstand the temperature diping to eighty below zero,
and still be perfectly fine, while you humans will freeze to
death in just a few minutes.  Desert animals can stand up to
one hundred and twenty degrees of temperature, while you
humans will pass out at one hundred and ten.  We don't need
to cook food before we eat it.  Our stomachs can handle raw
meat without having huge stomach cramps.  We can drink
straight mountain water, without having to boil it or purify
it, unlike you humans.  You will get diarrhea and very sick
from drinking that kind of water."
     The President suddenly felt a prickly feeling on the
back of his neck, and turned to look behind him.  A scruffy,
young fox was sitting there, with a silly half-grin on his
whiskered face.  Although it was looking slightly under-
nourished, there was a glint in his eye that hinted at
confidence and inner strength.
     "Ah," said Lion.  "Here he is."
     The President eyed the young fox suspiciously.  Although
by no means an expert, the President felt pretty sure that
the foxes had not moved into Africa until that continent had
been urbanized and the temperature reduced.
     Lion was continuing.  "This juvenile fox was released
into the savannah two weeks ago.  Although this is not his
natural habitat, he has mangaged to live, and feed himself,
which is not bad, considering that fifteen days ago, he was
separated from his parents for the first time.  We told him
to come back here in two weeks, and since have not seen him.
Two weeks ago, we also set one human into the savannah.  This
human was very fit, for a human.  His body was found five
days ago."
     "What does this have to do with anything?" asked the
President.  "I came here to try and work out a peace
agreement, not to be lectured on the morals of living."
     "Yes, very reasonable," said Lion disinterestedly.
     "What?  Look, this is for your own good.  We know that
we have a ten to one numerical advantage to you in capital
ships, a billion to one advantage in population, twenty to
one in fighters, a hundred to one in planets.  We can simply
crush you by sheer weight of numbers.  I'm offering a
peaceful way out where we can limit the amount of bloodshed."
The President seemed flustered as he was speaking.
     "Actually," said Lion absently, his attention focused on
a little bug that was buzzing around, "It's closer to thirty
to one in capital ships, fifty billion to one for population,
a hundred to one in fighters, and a thousand to one in
planets."
     "Exactly.  Now, why would you want to attack us, when we
enjoy a vast numerical advantage, and it is obvious who is
going to win?"
     "Yes, it is rather obvious who is going to win.  Us."
The lion was zoning out as he said this, once again focusing
on the horizion.
     The President was agape.  "What?"  He noticed that that
little scamp fox or whatever that pile of fuzz was was gone.
     "You're always saying that.  Are you deaf?" mumbled the
lion.
     "Wh-?  Of course not," snapped the President.  "It's
just that what you're saying is totally outlandish, and it
will never come to pass.  How can you expect your pathetic
forces to defeat us?  We have thousands of years of military
training behind us, and you're outnumbered, outgunned, and
outmanned."
     Tiger whipped back his reply.  "There is a very good
reason that we will win.  Our fighters can handle hundred to
one odds because they are better armored, they are faster,
more agile, support more weapons, and the pilots are natural
flying animals.  They have untold thousands of years of
flying instinct behind them.  Our capital ships can handle
thirty to one odds because they have better armor and more
weapons, and the crews are willing to die to win.  Our ground
forces have a killer instinct.  They are natural born
predators, and they are not afraid to use that killer
instinct.  You humans are, at best, second class hunters
compared to us.  Only those Marines that you have can even
try to compare to us."
     The President remembered when he was a grunt in the
Marine Corps.  It was a good feeling to have the Marines
praised by these animals, who otherwise only had negative
feelings for humans.  He wondered how the guards felt.
Proud, doubtless.  At least they weren't praising the Army,
or the Air Force.  Those spineless bastards, all nice and
comfy in their air-conditioned cockpits, while the Marines
were running their ten miles in the knee-deep mud.
     The tiger was continuing, heedless of the President's
memories.  "But the thing that really gives us a superior
edge is the fact that every single one of us AFF are ready
and willing to fight for as long as it takes to kill each and
every one of you humans.  They don't want pay raises, R&R, or
any of the things that most of your soldiers demand.  We
don't have to worry about running out of money to pay for
missiles and new fighters and capital ships."
     "And why not?" asked the President.
     "Because we don't have money," snorted the tiger.
     "You don't have money?" echoed the President in
surprise.  "Not even credits or anything?"
     "When was the last time you saw a wild animal with a
wallet, Mister President Human?" said Tigress.
     The President didn't answer that question, but asked one
of his own.  "What's the motivation, then, to work on these
huge ships you build?  Don't tell me they just do it out of
the kindness of their hearts!"
     "Actually," said Tiger, "They do.  All they want is a
supply of food and a safe place to sleep, and it is easy to
provide both of them.  In return, we have the galaxy's best
workers.  Unlike you silly humans who just have to have fancy
jewels and art and furniture and computers and who knows what
else."
     The President was silent for a moment.  Off in the
distance, a faint squawking of birds could be heard.
     "So, I suppose that you AFF are still not interested in
peace?" he finally ventured.
     "No."
     "I would like to negotiate further, however," said the
President.  "After all, I'm sure that we can come up with a
mutually benficial-"
     Tiger cut him off with a wave of his paw.  "What part of
`No' do you not understand?  We will not rest until the
entire human race has been eradicated."
     The President didn't know what to say, but made some
kind of a "But.. but... but.." sound.
     "Don't worry," commented Tigress.  "You're probably
thinking that we're going to be like that one human...  What
was his name?  Oh, that's it.  Hitler, I believe.  Don't
worry.  We won't.  You see, it was a very disgusting way that
he handled his prisioners.  He kept them cooped up in little
cells, worked them to death, preformed disgusting experiments
on them, gassed them, shot them, you know what it is.  We
don't do that.  We just go out, and hunt down our prey, and
kill it, just like we've been doing for thousands of years.
And no human is going to stop us."

               *         *         *         *

     The Marines on the AFF planet were fully settled into
their new base.  Scout groups of three men each were sent out
into the surrounding wilderness, to observe what exactly
lives on the planet.
     So far, reflected Staff Sergeant Blackmon, not much.
Looking over all of the scout group's reports, about all they
had seen was some insignificant local wildlife, such as birds
and small rodents.
     Blackmon's group was out in the middle of a thickly-
forested area.  They had not even sensed any animal that was
taller than their knee, but were plenty tired.  The forest
floor was littered with the fallen remains of huge trees,
dead monarchs of the woodland.  They created a ground that
looked like a huge speed-bump testing arena with huge
lightposts scattered everywhere at intervals of four feet.
The "speed bumps" were five or six feet tall on average, and
they had to be climbed again ten feet away.  Often, solid
looking pieces of ground were simply branch covered pits that
would give way under the wieght of a Marine.  One man had
already fallen through into a fifteen feet deep pit, although
he was just shaken up with no serious injuries.  This place
was energy draining.
     Even worse than that was the feeling that they were
being followed.  Blackmon had often looked up, searching the
treetops for whatever was watching them.  But nothing was
there.  All of the Marines felt the same way.  None of them
were really happy to be here.
     Abruptly, Blackmon felt the prickly feeling that their
shadower was back.  He looked up, switching from normal light
to infra-red.  Nothing.  Absolutely noth-
     Wait.
     What was that?
     Blackmon saw an indistinct glob of heat energy on one of
branches.  It was stretched out, on all fours, it looked
like.
     He motioned to the other two where to look.  They sunk
lower into their crouches as they looked, trying to bring
more cover down on them.
     "No," said one of them after a long pause.  "Look at it
with no filters or anything.  That's the sun, sir."
     "The sun?" asked Blackmon.  He turned off the infra-red.
Indeed, the muted glow of the sun was visible right there,
where their shadower should have been.
     "Sorry fellas," Blackmon said with a sheepish grin.
     The others acknowledged Blackmon with a grunt.  "Sir,
it's about time to call back in and report," said one of
them.
     "Alright, get everything set up.  You know how to do
it."
     "Yes, sir."  The Marine started to go about the
procedure of establishing contact, and once that was done, he
reported and signed off.
     Meanwhile, Blackmon and the other Marine were sitting
down on a handy log and each eating a ration bar.
     "I dunno," said Blackmon.  "I have a bad feeling about
this.  I still feel like we're being followed."  He gagged
down the rest of the ration bar.
     "Yes sir, I feel the same way," said the other Marine.
"Like someone's watching us, right?"
     "Someone...  Like me?" asked a low, rasping, hissing
voice.
     The Marines jumped to their feet, scrabbling for their
weapos.  They looked about nervously, pointing the guns in
all directions.
     "Or me?" asked another one of the voices.
     "How about me?" asked yet another.
     Glowing eyes started appearing from all around the
Marines.  They glowed greenish in the light of the setting
sun, and long, sharp, white teeth also gleamed in the shadows
all around the Marines.
     Blackmon licked his lips, trying to swallow with a
suddenly dry mouth.  The Marines gathered into a triangle,
back to back to back.
     "What are you?" asked a low voice from above the
Marines.  Blackmon looked up, catching a sight of a shadow
lounging on a branch above him, green eyes glowing down at
him, and tail lazily twitching.
     "United States Marines," yelled one of the Marines
behind Blackmon's back.  All of the Marines took a little
heart, remembering that they were the best that the armed
forces had to offer.
     More eyes were gathering in the deepening shadows around
the Marines as the wraith above them snorted, then asked,
"And what is a Marine?"
     A groups of shadows appeared out of nowhere, and before
anyone could move, one of the Marines was screaming horribly,
down in the dirt, blood oozing from long gashes in his chest,
arms, legs, and back.  His helmet bore long streaks from
where claws had tried to strike but were stopped by the
metal.  The shadows were gone in the next instant, but more
eyes were appearing.
     "What is a Marine?" asked the harsh, low voice again.
     The other Marine's gun barked three times before he
screamed, but even that was cut off short.  Blackmon whirled,
and saw another group of shadows dispersing.  Anger coursed
through his veins, and he squeezed the trigger on his
weapons, sweeping it around him.  The glowing eyes scattered.
Some dropped, yowling loudly.
     "What is a Marine?" Blackmon screamed out.  "The Marines
are over three centuries of romping, stomping, hell, death,
and destruction!"  He turned his gun over to a group of eyes
that seemed particularily menacing, still firing.  "The
finest fighting machines the galaxy has ever known.  We were
born in a bomb crater, our mother was a M-28 and our father
was the devil!  Each moment I live is an additional threat to
your life!"  The gun barked again, dropping another set of
eyes.
     "I am a rough looking, roving soldier of the sea.  I am
cocky, self-centered, overbearing.  I do not know the meaning
of fear, for I am fear itself."  Blackmon's flash of hot
anger had subsided, and now just an ice-cold hatred remained.
"I am a green, amphibious monster made of your blood and guts
and I arose from the sea, festering on anti-Americans
throughout the universe.  Whenever it may arise, and when my
time comes, I will die a glorious death on the battle field,
giving my life to mom, the Corps, and the American Flag."
The gun spat death all around him.
     The shadow above Blackmon gave a low, chuckling, purring
laugh.
     "We stole the eagle from the Air Force, the anchor from
the Navy, and the rope from the Army.  On the seventh day,
while God rested, we overran his perimeter, and stole the
globe, and we've been running the show ever since!"
     The gun ceased its sounds.  Blackmon had run out of
bullets.  No worries.  He flipped over to the grenade
launcher.  Thooomp!  He sent a bundle of death to a dark
shadow, lighting it with the fires of hell.
     "We live like soldiers and talk like sailors, and we
beat the crap out of both of them!"  Blackmon continued
firing grenades around him till the launcher ran out.  He
dropped his gun, and grabbed the SAW from one of the fallen
Marines.
     "Soldier by day, lovers by night, drunkards by choice,
MARINES BY GOD!!!  OORAH!  OORAH!  OOH-"
     The shadows descended.

               *         *         *         *