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Truth and Consequences 2

5: Dorzeli: Big Battle

Feih was relieved when she saw Matt's shuttle appear in the distance as it was over and hour overdue. While it prepared to land she informed his sister that she was going to give him a hard time about what had happened to make him so late. Sarah's only response was a sly smile.

Matt emerged the second the shuttle's main door opened and ran toward her, but slowed when he saw that she appeared to be angry. He tried to look as submissive as possible when she frowned upon his arrival in front of her and the rest of her family in the cleared out zone that was to be the battlefield.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I have no excuse for what I've done. Even if you did give your permission for it I should not have betrayed your trust in me."

He did not flinch when he felt her hand come up to his chin and lifted his face to meet hers.

"It's all right Matt." He opened his eyes and saw a smile on her face. "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have ever met someone as wonderful as you, so I can afford to let you have the one thing you've always wanted."

When she froze and sniffed at him he knew that she would soon find out about what had happened on the shuttle.

"I smell Freerah on you and a hint of Jason but who belongs to the third scent?"

"It belongs to the pilot of the shuttle. Shi was in heat and I-I couldn't help myself." He lowered his head once more. "I'm sorry."

She looked at the pilot who was checking over the shuttle's exterior then back to Matt and smiled. "We've always had friendly relations with the 'Ans but this is the first time any of us have been with one in some time, especially one of hir unique status."

He was not totally surprised that Feih could sense Kreesak's condition. Hir scent was very distinctive. "You're not angry with me?"

"No." He felt relieved until she dug her claws into his face and spoke to him in Dorzel. "If you and Jason can forgive hir for what shi's done I can do no worse, but I don't want you ever to be with hir again."

Matt was surprised; "I don't intend to, but how did you know about hir?"

"I have friends among the Dorzeli-An, among them hir mates. They'll consider it an honor that one of us was with hir instead of a stranger so you won't have to worry about hir safety, this time."

When a look of anger came over his face Feih tried to remove her hand, but he was too quick. He grabbed it before she could withdraw, pulled her hand away from his face and licked her claws to confirm his suspicions. When she saw his ears go back she knew that her and Sarah's secret was out.

"How could you do this? Jason promised me he wouldn't hurt you but if you use these on him he'll kill you." She tried to respond but was cut off when he released her and stormed over to his sister. "You should've known better than to do something like this."

Before she could respond Feih growled. "Matt, stop it right now." He turned back to her, ears still laid back but with his mouth closed. "It was at my insistence that she use the diamond layering process on my claws." He looked down to her feet; "Yes, all of them."

"But," he began as he calmed down, "Why would you take such a chance?"

"Because I intend to win this battle; if I manage to wound him early on he may yield."

"And I've seen him tear through the armor on Soriss cruisers with his." He stared back at his sister who saw a return of his anger. She shrugged her shoulders. "She needed some advantage."

Feih moved next to him and gave an affectionate nuzzle. "If he gets too angry and I fail...I'll tell you this truth: you were never in any danger from me when we first met." His eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, that's right. I was as attracted to you the moment we met as you were to me. I could never have hurt you. I didn't let you know this then because I was afraid of the way you might have reacted. I'm also sorry for what I put you through up to that special night we shared."

They looked at each other and smiled as they remembered the events of that night.

He kissed her then said, "I don't think Jason will harm you and I won't let him near you if he defeats you." He kissed her again then left her for his sister who had a nervous smile. Daihas, already tense from Matt's first outburst, was prepared to jump in between them but he relaxed when Matt's spoke in a calmed voice.

"Where did you get the equipment and the expertise to apply that kind of coating?"

Sarah looked relieved, "I called in a few favors with some friends I knew at the company that was to build the space elevator until it was judged to be too tempting a target for attack by the Soriss." She showed him her claws to let him know that she had applied the coating to them as well. "There was a liquid diamond generator on board the Thresher Kone in case they needed super strong cabling. I just adapted it to a different purpose." She turned her hands to look at them. "Too bad they'll fall off in a few days."

"He's coming!" They all turned and saw that it was Kreesak that sounded the warning. Shi was had what appeared to be a remote hand held terminal; "E.T.A. in three minutes."

Moments later, Daihas shouted that he could see Jason, Freerah and a military shuttle in the distance. When the new arrivals got closer they all saw that the craft was an armed Cherrodon shuttle. The two Dorzeli-Primes touched down a hundred meters away from Feih's family and the shuttle slowed to a hover near its Kroon counterpart. After a quick look around Jason hand signaled the ship to land.

Once on the ground its passengers exited from the civilian section. Matt could see that most of them were human and that many were of military rank, but he became apprehensive when he saw that some of them were members of the news media. He could not believe that Jason was going to allow this event be shown to the general public.

When the Cherrodon section opened and two Dorzeli-an stepped out Kreesak ran to them. Matt's assumption that they were hir mates was confirmed by the affectionate greeting that they gave each other.

Minutes later both sides had taken their places on the field. Once Jason had seen to it that the witnesses had settled into the seating that had been brought for them, he and Freerah signaled that they were ready by walking to a previously agreed position. Feih, Matt and Daihas did likewise. When they were within two body lengths of each other they stopped.

Freerah was the first to speak. "Everyone present knows the rules governing this combat?"

Both Feih and Jason spoke at the same time: "There are to be no fatal blows and or biting. The first to violate either of these two prohibitions will forfeit the match and will have to obey the victim's family's decision in the matter under dispute for the time period specified by any prior agreement."

Matt remembered that, although the Dorzeli were immune to their own venom, no matter the sub-species of origin, they considered biting in such disputes the equivalent to assault with a deadly weapon.

Freerah looked to Daihas and he stepped forward and asked them, "Is there anything either of the two combatants wish to say before they begin?"

Feih stared directly into Jason's eyes. "I have nothing to say that hasn't been said since my challenge."

Jason returned her stare. "Yes, I do have something to say and do." All eyes went to him. "I wish to make it clear that I intend to win this fight, but I also wish to make it as fair as possible by eliminating two advantages that I have."

He stepped back and his Cobra like hood opened. The red circles on them went solid and glowed then the glow spread across his entire body. Everyone was amazed when his wings disappeared and he shrank in size until he was equal in height to Feih.

When the glow faded he spread his arms and asked, "Is this acceptable to you?"

She answered with a toothy grin and, "Yes, it is."

For a moment Matt thought that she might have a chance after all. Then he realized one more advantage he had over her and became bold enough to mention it. "What about your power horns?"

Jason glanced at him and pointed at them. "You're going to have to trust me when it comes to these."

"Enough of this," shouted Feih, "Let's get on with it."

Without another word their assistants returned to their respective sides; Matt followed Daihas back to his family's position and Freerah backed to and stood next to where the humans and a hand full of nervous Mendalls were stationed. When this was done the two combatants backed twenty paces away from one another and stopped. For over two minutes they looked into each other's eyes in order to judge who would make the first move. During this time Freerah noticed that one of the human military personnel was recording the event on a video camera.

When the armor clad woman realized that she was being observed and by whom she tried to explain; "I-I'm sorry Chire Freerah Braega, but I thought I would be allowed to record this event."

Freerah smiled and alleviated any fears she may have had. "It's okay, but don't miss anything." She turned back to view the combatants. "I'll want a copy of this later." With this permission given several other observers broke out their cameras. They did so just in time.

Jason and Feih roared and charged each other with claws extended to their full length.

Feih executed a last second spin move when she and Jason passed and slashed at each other at such a high-speed that those watching the scene could barely see what had happened.

The two stopped some distance from each other without turning around. That was when Matt saw four red lines form across Jason's left side. Feih had drawn first blood!

He did not know whether to be happy or sad, but the expression on his face caused Sarah to caution that, "This is only the beginning. He'll be more dangerous now."

She had just finished her sentence when the two fighters turned and charged again, this time they jumped into the air.

Matt could see what was about to occur: Jason had made the same move that he had used on Daihas several days earlier, but this time Feih ducked Jason's kick, grabbed his other leg with her tails, jerked him hard then released her grip. He spun and landed face down.

She turned and dove at him, but he managed to roll out of the way; her claws penetrated only the dirt beneath his former position.

Before she could move Jason slammed her in the head with his tail which stunned her just long enough for him to ram into right side her with full force of his mass. Unaffected by this blow Feih grabbed at his body and left more claw marks on him as they rolled across the ground.

He roared in rage and pain, grabbed and lifted her body into the air and threw her into the ground near the spectators.

Some of them ran from their positions in panic except for the woman taking the video. She who held her ground when Feih rolled up into a position from which to charge back at Jason and her tails passed within less than two meters of her head. Freerah did not know whether it was dedication or stupidity that caused the woman not to move until she scanned her. She grinned and went back to the struggle before her.

Jason and Feih met head on and slammed into each other with such force that many feared that bones had been broken.

Feih pushed up on her legs and managed to throw Jason off balance, but he grabbed her as he started to go down. She remained on top of his back when he hit the ground and placed her claws just under his jugular while her weight pinned him down.

She growled in Dorzel for him to surrender.

He shouted in English, "Never!" and she cried out in pain.

Matt saw the source of her pain: Jason had buried the tip of his tail deep into her left thigh.

He slammed the back of his head up into her lower jaw. Feih rolled off of him and he rolled with her in an attempt to get on top, but to his surprise she was ready for him.

She planted both of her feet squarely in his chest and with all her strength pushed off so hard that he was thrown high into the air. She winced in pain when his tail tip pulled out of her leg. Her next move surprised all but Freerah.

As Jason flipped in an attempt to land feet first she got up, and stuck her arms out so that they pointed at where he was going to land. Her claw tips and horns glowed with energy that arched between them.

Jason landed and dug his claws into the ground in order to stop his slide toward the spectators. He stopped well short of them but wondered why they were running from him, including, to his shock, Freerah. When he heard Feih shout out an unfamiliar word he turned and gasped, "Oh shit."

Panic spread through out the bridge of the Pressat and alarms sounded as its sensors alerted the auxiliary bridge crew the event beneath their position.

Colonel Yurex Creduta, its temporary commander, stared at the bright ball of light that covered the area where his friend Jason and the others should have been.

"What should we do sir?" asked a human ensign that manned the weapons system

Yurex remained as calm as he could but he could not take his eyes from the scene beneath their position; "We have to follow Jason's orders and stay here no matter what we see going on down there until he calls on us. Everyone: maintain your post and let me know what you find when the dust clears."

"Jason, what the hell is going on down there," thought his Mendallian friend, "Are you even alive after that?"