A SPARTAN'S WAR

PUMA'S PRIDE

"…Fighter group is ranging out ahead two light years." Popal reported to Pusintin as they sat in the officer's lounge. "Their modified sensors are detecting the Borellum trace, barely, but it is on a constant course."

"Can they estimate how old?" Pusintin asked as he sipped the wine.

"Given the dissipation, the Flight Leader estimates three days… four at most." Popal answered.

Pusintin nodded. "They must be stopping every few days." He said. "Why though?"

"The other ship with them did not appear to be a warship Marshall." Popal spoke. "The design is nothing we have seen, but it appeared more like a transport of some kind. A large one."

"They're looking for supplies?" Pusintin said.

"It's a possibility." Popal spoke. "We were able to replenish our stores before we left Nefoa. There is no indication they returned to any Union planet to do the same. They could have replenished by ship, but they could not have received much."

"It is out of character for my brother." Pusintin said as he rose to his feet. "And why run in the opposite direction into unknown space? They could have made it back to core Union space easily. What else Popal?"

"Captain Korua has the reports you asked for." Popal spoke motioning to the Kavalian officer that occupied the table with them. Kalis sat quietly at the other end of the table.

"What took so long?" Pusintin asked.

"Marshall… I wanted to be absolutely sure about my conclusions before I presented them to you. It took some time to trace all the information within the ship's data bases." The man answered.

Pusintin nodded. "What did you find?"

"The report from the outpost that was struck by the Lycavorian King and his men stated that all were accounted for except one of the females that was sent there to entertain the men. Iama'Juturi was not among the dead. Biogenically altered, but her tail remained. She was given to the brothels of Nefoa because of this." Korua spoke evenly. "It just so happens that her father commanded a DIATAGA assigned to Nefoa Marshall. He is among the fleet even now. He knows of his daughter's betrayal and he has been asking to speak to you since we left."

"Really?" Pusintin asked.

"Commander Koguth Marshall." Korua answered. "He has served the Empire since he was a small boy. He commands the RAVAGER with his son who is his executive officer. He is highly spoken of by even Prefect Keleru. Commander Koguth's father is one of the Prefect's most strident supporters."

"Interesting." Pusintin spoke. "Set it up Korua. Now… tell me why this attack on the outpost was significant."

"Well… aside from the fact that they killed everyone and stuck their heads on staffs, we believe they were able to somehow tap into our command channels Marshall." Korua told him. "Nothing truly secure but enough access to give them deployments and numbers for a sizeable number of our fleets. I believe that is how they determined you had only a short Task Force with you. I am not completely sure… but much of the evidence indicates this."

"I don't care about that Korua." Pusintin said. "I care about anything you have discovered about Muton and the others that helped For'mya escape."

Korua nodded and held out the data pad to him. "This is everything Marshall." He stated. "I cross referenced his name over nineteen different data bases. He is part of a group that the prefect ordered destroyed nearly a thousand years ago."

Pusintin looked at him. "That group on Cabelir? The Watchers… the seers… something ridiculous like that."

"They called themselves Monitors." Korua spoke. "A religious sect of some sort that Prefect Keleru ordered wiped out as I said. It is actually the second time he has done this, the first being some five thousand years ago."

Pusintin looked at him. "Same group?" He asked.

Korua nodded. "Yes Marshall." He answered. "I have nothing to base my…" Korua stopped talking and looked down.

Pusintin glanced at Popal and then back to Korua. "Captain Korua… I may be a mean sonofabitch, but I'm not completely foolish. Do not be afraid to tell me what you have found and what you think. Intelligence is your field… not mine."

Korua looked at him. "Thank you Marshall Pusintin." He spoke. He lifted his copy of the data pad. "I do not believe Muton was what he made himself out to be." He said. "Yes… he was your doctor for nearly four centuries Marshall, but he was far more than he deceived everyone into believing. I believe he was one of these Monitors. His age alone indicates that he was alive at the time Prefect Keleru first ordered their religious cult destroyed. He is nearly as old as the Prefect if the records we have are accurate. Which leads me to my next point. The records are incomplete."

"Incomplete?" Pusintin asked. "In what way?"

"They only go back five thousand eight hundred years." Korua answered. "His age alone indicates that we should have records going back nearly ten thousand. We do not."

Pusintin looked at him. "And when did Keleru first order this Monitor Group destroyed?" He asked.

"It was before you came to us Marshall. The exact date is lost to our historians, but it happened five thousand eight hundred years ago, give or take a decade." Korua answered.

"You think he was part of the group that Keleru took out?" Pusintin asked.

"As I said Marshall… I have no proof." Korua said. "But that is what I believe yes. And he has been among our midst all of this time planning for something just like what they have executed. A mass exodus out of Kavalian space."

"Why?" Pusintin asked as he returned to his seat.

"I'm not entirely sure Marshall… but I believe it has something to do with these Pralors that have been mentioned in recent Union broadcasts. A race of highly advanced species of humanoid persuasion that have incredible mind powers and I dare say, are the species that built the ship that butchered so many of our brothers. I would even go so far as to surmise that the old woman Demahra is of this species."

"The one who tried to guide Keleru into different areas?" Pusintin asked.

Korua nodded his head. "One and the same. He ordered her immediate execution after Athani defected but she was never found. The Prefect blames her for twisting Athani's thoughts and manners. There may be more to that than we know."

"She disappeared months ago." Pusintin said. "And if she has stayed hidden that suggests she has quite a following."

Korua nodded. "Yes. No record of her having been found or her death has ever been produced." He spoke. "I believe she is somehow tied to this ship. Somehow tied to the obvious technological advances the Union has made in recent years that we did not know about."

"Korua… where have you been assigned before you came to PUMA'S PRIDE?" Pusintin asked.

Korua lowered his face. "I was a minor analyst within the Intelligence Division sir." He said. "No one… no one believed any of my theories."

Pusintin looked at Popal. "Popal what do you think?" He asked.

"Had we not seen and experienced what we did Marshall I would say he is crazy as a mole wasp." Popal answered. "Now… now his theories actually make sense."

"Korua… I want you to draft a secure message to Keleru. Lay out everything you have and tell him it is my belief that my brother is after something else out here." Pusintin spoke as he leaned back. "Put it all together for him and I'll sign it." He looked at the wall. "I may have come out here after her, but it's entirely possible he's not running away from us and running to a place we know nothing about."

"For what?" Popal spoke.

It was Kalis who leaned forward now. "More of those ships." He stated.

Pusintin looked at his son across the table with some distaste but some new respect for what he had just said. At least he wasn't as ignorant as Pusintin thought. "Kalis is right." He said. "Can you imagine what we could do with ships like that Popal? Two or three of those ships under my command and we could rule the entire universe."

"They would fight us." Kalis spoke again. "And they already have an advantage in their engine designs or else we would have caught them by now."

"Let them try to fight us!" Pusintin said. "We have detected no other Core Plasma Traces from different engines since we have been out here which tells me they have that one ship and the transport we saw at Enurrua. We have an entire Fleet Group!" Pusintin got to his feet and smiled. "Oh this is beautiful! I'm going to rescue For'mya, fuck his other Queens to death in front of him and take whatever it is he finds before I kill him. When we return to Kavalian space we'll be hailed as heroes."

Kalis looked at his father silently as he paced the room at the other end of the table. {Rescue For'mya?} Kalis thought to himself. {She would carve your nor from your body before she ever allowed you to have her again.} Kalis blinked several times in surprise as he realized he had just used a word from the Lycavorian language. He also realized then that his father was twisted beyond his ability to reason with him.

His hate for me and your grandmother drives him now. His Uncle Martin had told him in the Holoprogram. He is beyond reason. Beyond redemption now.

For the first time in twenty-five and a half years, Kalis realized just how true that really was.

Kalis was walking down the deck towards the lift, his mind adrift in thought, when he heard the desperate female cry. He had been deep in thought as he went from deck to deck simply walking and trying to bring things into focus within his mind. Nothing had deterred him until he heard that voice.

"Stop it! You're hurting him! Stop it!"

"Shut up wench!"

Kalis stopped when he heard the distinct sound of a hand hitting flesh and he altered his direction. He was on deck nineteen, and he realized this is the deck where they were holding the Hadarians. He quickened his pace, winding around the corner until he came to the open door and saw three Kavalian troops. One was standing in the corridor laughing at whatever was taking place inside the quarters. He heard the deep thud of a fist hitting a body and he moved quickly towards the quarters. The Kavalian in the doorway did nothing as Kalis stepped into the quarters and his blue eyes grew wide.

The teenage Hadarian male was on the floor beneath the much larger Puma Bane troop as he pummeled the young man. The second was looming over both Hadarian females menacingly with one hand holding the front of the younger female's shirt. Kalis had seen the older Hadarian female before but he had not seen the younger one and his dark blue eyes grew even wider as the scent reached him. It was a delicious cinnamon and cherries scent but it was also mixed with fear and something inside Kalis told him that was not right. The scent should not have the fear in it. Kalis did not know what possessed him to do it, but he would eventually discover it was the Lycavorian male within him that acted upon Serale's female scent touching his nose and igniting something within him. The sweet and pungent scent of cinnamon and cherries assailed Kalis's senses, overriding everything else in the room and his blue eyes suddenly and quite instinctively changed to that of his wolf persona. The thick black ring appeared around his eyes shifting between different spectrums without aide until they stopped and he was looking at the Kavalians and Hadarians in the room with a bluish hue to them. He felt the splash of his salvia inside his mouth as the long dual wolf fangs burst forth from his gums. His hands went to his mouth as he felt the long powerful fangs fully extend, his eyes going ever wider. This had never happened to him before. His father had never delved very deeply into the Lycavorian half of his blood, never taught him anything and because of this fact Kalis responded in a very instinctive manner. A most instinctive and painful manner.

His keen mind determined he had three seconds before the Kavalian straddling the young Hadarian male would hit him again and Kalis moved. He moved with all the inbred speed of his wolf and feline blood combined and he struck viciously and without mercy. He snatched the raised arm of the Puma Bane troop and twisted savagely to the left. The trooper yelled in pain as his arm dislocated and then Kalis's knee ended his conscious thoughts as it crashed into his jaw with terminal velocity. His head snapped back roughly and he exploded off the floor to land against the wall unconscious and out of the fight. The Puma Bane troop hovering over Serale and Ceale whirled instantly; lifting his arm to strike Kalis in the head. A blow intended to kill. A blow that would not strike anything but air. Kalis simply sidestepped the soldier's weak blow and hit him with a ridge hand just above his nose. That part of his face crunched and ground together as blood erupted and the pain caused his eyes to tear up as he staggered back. As he reached for his face, Kalis continued to move. He stopped behind the dazed trooper, gripped the back of his head and brought it smashing into the bulkhead with devastating force, shattering the man's cheek and staining the bulkhead red with blood as he slumped to the deck befuddled and completely out of it.

The Kavalian from the corridor was entering the quarters by now and reaching for his assault rifle. As the Puma Bane troop got it unclipped and was about to bring it up, the Kavalian Industries ARSOC 11 12.7mm sidearm that Kalis always carried was out and jammed painfully into his cheek stopping the Puma Bane soldier in his tracks. Kalis wasn't even looking at him as he slowly turned and the Puma Bane soldier saw those wolf eyes focus on him. His dark eyes grew wide as he saw Kalis snarl and expose the vicious looking dual fangs. The Puma Bane troop did not know the significance of those dual fangs. He did not know now and he would never know before his death came to him.

"I will give you five seconds to explain your actions Senior Sergeant!" Kalis growled savagely. "Then I will pull this trigger and scatter your ignorant brains all over the bulkhead for what you were attempting to do here!"

"Colonel!" He gasped. "You… your father sent us to bring the Hadarian bitch to him! The boy got in our way and struck Sergeant Greno! Then the younger female struck Hendi! Your father has decreed the Hadarian bitch is to be left untouched but not the children! They struck us! Greno and Hindi were only going to…"

Kalis rammed the barrel of the ARSOC tighter into his cheek in savage anger that he did not understand. "Going to what?" Kalis snarled at him. "Beat the boy to death and rape the female! Rape her in front of her family! In front of her mother and brother!" Kalis's wolf eyes were wild with unbridled and overwhelming anger.

"She struck Hendi!" The sergeant growled back.

"My father sent you to collect her mother!" Kalis snarled at him. "Not to force yourself upon her daughter and beat her son while she watched! He has told her they will remain unharmed if she does as she is instructed! You will not violate that decree! Collect your men and leave! Now! Send another detachment to collect the woman!"

"Colonel we…"

Kalis reached up and jerked back the slid action of his ARSOC. "Do not make me repeat myself or you will be dead for disobeying the orders of a superior officer! You and your men may not care for me Senior Sergeant, but you will follow the Kavalian Order of Command or I will execute you right here!"

Kalis could see the hate in the man's eyes but he also knew the Puma Bane soldier would comply. He watched as he lowered his rifle and moved to help his fellow trooper to his feet. Together they got their unconscious comrade between them and hauled his inert form out of the quarters.

Kalis lowered his ARSOC, his entire body shaking in a combination of fear and resolve. He slowly turned his wolf eyes on Serale, gazing at her tanned face and wide dark green eyes. He stared into her face for a long moment, studying the contours of her cheeks and her lips, the way her deep rosewood colored red hair cascaded around her face and over her shoulders. The depth and brightness of those eyes. To the surprise of both himself and Serale, his eyes never once moved lower to gaze upon her womanly body. They remained locked on her face and the way her eyes moved and her lips quivered in fear. Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, Kalis blinked.

"Tend… tend to your brother. Before… before more of them come." He spoke finally in a soft whisper of a voice.

Serale didn't hesitate and didn't think. She dashed to where Danim lay on the floor, her hands flaring a soft white.

"Serale no!" Ceale gasped seeing this.

Kalis turned his head quickly and saw the shimmering glow of her hands vanish instantly at her mother's warning. Serale's face was locked in an expression of horror as she realized what she had done and stared at Kalis. He turned his head and looked back to Ceale and then to Serale once more, his wolf eyes wide. His father did not know the younger Hadarian female had this ability yet, of that he was positive. The mother had told his father that her daughter had not Ascended… yes that is what she had called it. Kalis looked back to Ceale and he could still see the minor bruising of the woman's face and the state of her clothes. His mind suddenly pictured the younger woman like that and terrible anger surged though him. In another act he would not fully understand until later, Kalis turned back to Serale and nodded his head.

"Heal him. Heal him quickly." He hissed at her softly. "Do not let them see you doing this. Hurry!" Serale didn't move from her position, her eyes now filled with confusion as she looked at Kalis. "I will tell no one! But you must hurry! Take care of your brother!" Kalis insisted jarring Serale out of her daze.

Serale didn't hesitate and she brought her hands to her brother and began to heal his painful injuries.

Ceale stared at Kalis from the floor and pushed herself into a sitting position against the wall. "Wha… why?" She gasped.

Kalis returned his ARSOC to its holster and met her eyes. "I… I do not know." He spoke softly. The words poured forth then and to Kalis they were the most truthful words he had ever spoken in his entire life. "I… I am not like… I am not my father."

"Your father?" Ceale rasped with wide eyes.

Kalis didn't answer her and moved for the door and let it close behind him as his wolf persona finally left him and he took several deep breaths before locking the door. Her scent was not as powerful here in the corridor and it did not affect him as potently as when he was in the room. He shook his head gently as a two member team of Puma Bane soldiers came rushing up to the door. One of them the man Kalis had leveled his weapon at. The other man was the Senior Master Sergeant of the Puma Bane detachment and a man who had trained Kalis when he was younger. A harsh Kavalian instructor but one who had taught him well and always seemed to take interest in what Kalis was doing.

"Kalis… what is going on?" He demanded.

"They were beating the woman's son in front of her Mata!" Kalis hissed angrily. "They were going to rape the younger female in front of her mother! My father told the woman they would not be touched if she cooperated with him."

The Kavalian looked at the second soldier. "Is this true?" He snarled.

"They are Hadarian!" The man hissed back. "Prisoners! We should be able to use the younger wench as we see fit! There are many of us who wish to use her! And she struck Hendi Senior Sergeant!"

Mata's large hand snapped out and struck the Puma Bane soldier in the head savagely. "We do not disobey the orders of the Marshall or his son! No matter the reason!" He growled. "She is a tiny thing… her blow would have been no more than an insect hitting him!"

"She must know her place!" The man insisted.

"You would take her against the Marshall's wishes?" Mata growled.

"Why not? She is female and many of the others agree. She is ripe and she has a lush body for fucking! She could entertain many of us!"

Mata lifted his hand again to strike him but held back. "The Marshall would see you flayed for disobeying his orders. Is that worth some young Hadarian wench? Is it?"

The younger Puma Bane trooper finally shook his head. "No."

"I will discipline you for this!" Mata snarled.

"No." Kalis said quickly looking at him. "It is done Mata. But they are not to transport the female prisoner anywhere on the ship and they are not allowed to come near this room again. Is that clear?"

Mata bowed his head. "I will see to it Kalis." He spoke.

"Allow them a few minutes to recover from this fool's actions and then you may collect the mother to take to my father." Kalis spoke the words even though they left a foul taste in his mouth. "I will be in my quarters."

Mata watched him turn and head down the corridor. When Kalis was out of ear shot the other spoke. "Why do we listen to him Senior Master?" The man hissed with contempt dripping from his voice. "He is not the Marshall."

Mata looked at him with angry eyes. "He is the Marshall's son and he defeated you and your stupid friends with ease. He is not to be trifled with. I am the one who trained him and he would make short work of you and the others" Mata snapped. "He will be obeyed because of the rank he wears! Do not make the mistake of thinking him weak. He is not weak. And he will kill you if you press him too far."

"Him? Kill me? Not likely." The Puma Bane soldier said. "He is not Leruk!"

"No… he is not Leruk! And that is what makes him more dangerous than his brother. Who is now dead in case you have forgotten?" Mata hissed.

The man shook his head. "No." He answered meekly.

"Return to the barracks and send the Watch Sergeant fool!" Mata hissed. "If the Marshall catches wind of this he will punish you regardless of his son's orders to leave you be. You heard his orders… now go!"

"He is no Kavalian." The man spoke before turning and heading down the corridor.

Mata turned to see Kalis's back as he rounded the corner of the corridor heading for the lift and he nodded his head. "No. He is no Kavalian." Mata said softly. "He is something… he is something different."

Kalis entered his quarters and waited for the door to close before he released the long sigh he had been holding in. He stood with his back to the door for an enduring minute as the memories of what had just happened raced through his mind. The wolf blood within him had never come out like. When her scent had wafted around him, drawn deeply into his lungs so that it filled his head, Kalis had felt the incredible surge of anger at what the Puma Bane troops were doing. He wanted to slaughter them all, his entire body filling with the strength of the wolf inside him. His father had never told him anything of the wolf blood within him. He had never taught him how to shift his form, how to track with his nose or use the many different spectrums of vision he had when his wolf persona gripped him. What had occurred today had been instinctive to him, his mind reacting without thought.

Kalis liked that feeling. It was a feeling of power and control. A feeling of confidence and… honor.

He pushed away from the wall quickly and moved to his desk to unlock the Data Disc. He had already viewed it three times in its entirety, listening to his Uncle's voice as he walked the corridors of the ship he had been on, telling him things he had never known. Part of the Holoprogram had also had him walking within some sort of modern village where he had seen Immortals in the background, as well as dragons and elves and other Lycavorians in great numbers. All of them working together, talking and even at one point laughing. True to the very purpose of the Union his Uncle had said. His Uncle Martin spoke with patience and even humor as he told him of many things Kalis had never imagined. It was mostly about the men and women in the Union. How they had built what they had. Towards the end his Uncle had spoken of his grandfather and grandmother and a longing had filled Kalis to meet her just as his brother had. Kalis had hoped for more from the data disc, but he knew you could only put so much information on one, no matter how sophisticated it was. And the one he had was exactly that Kalis knew. He had tried to take it apart to study it, but decided against it for fear of damaging it in some way and losing the program. The technology was far beyond him and would be far beyond any technician on PUMA'S PRIDE. Not that he would ever give it to any of them.

The last two times he had viewed it, he had fallen asleep with his Uncle's voice in the background. A confident and warm voice, always interjecting humor whenever he could into his words. During that sleep he had dreams unlike any he had ever experienced. So vivid and lifelike. Places and people he had never met. Events he had never experienced. Images of so many of his cousins as they grew, laughing and smiling. So many things that he had never experienced yet they were events he wanted to experience for himself. Seeing the Holoprogram had awakened the wolf within him and Kalis wanted more. He wanted to know so much more. To experience more than what he had now. The craving was growing stronger by the hour and he found himself no longer fighting it. Even knowing that it would be the same program again Kalis reached for the data disc wanting to watch it again. As he lifted it, the data disc beeped twice and activated on its own. Kalis looked at it wide eyed as he had not hit the button to begin the program. He stood there amazed as a different image of his Uncle suddenly appeared from the tiny holoprojector in the disc's front edge. This time he was dressed in a different set of clothes than Kalis had seen him in before, and he was standing before a monument of some kind.

"Hello Mandri." Martin's voice spoke. "Have I surprised you again?" His image smiled and looked around. "The Data Disc you have is a unique device Kalis. It is not of Lycavorian design, nor High Coven. It is a technology that is not widely known and only my family and one or two friends have them. Primarily because we don't know how to build more just yet. Each Data Disc is encoded to its user. The one you now hold in your hand is the last of twenty-one of these devices and it is now yours. No one else will be able to access the information on it, or utilize the other options it can facilitate. That Data Disc you have is now encoded to you nephew. It is linked to your life signs. If it detects that your life has ended it will self destruct. Use it Kalis. Store your thoughts and wishes upon it. It will only activate by your touch and it will not work if there is someone else in the area with you unless you have activated and entered a biometric scan of that individual that you want to be able to access the information into the Disc. Something I don't believe you can do just yet. You know as well as I Kalis that a biometric scan is very thorough and takes several minutes to complete and it is my hope that after viewing the previous Holoprogram, you have at least decided to see for yourself what your Lycavorian blood gives you. The history it gives you." Kalis saw him hold up an identical Data Disc. "Every one of these pads is linked to mine. Given the nature of the men and women who designed them, they are… powerful to say the least. Wherever I am at the moment, a message has been sent to me and I know that you have seen the previous holoprojection."

Kalis's eyes grew wide as he heard this and he looked at the Data Disc.

"It is I who has activated the additional programs within the disc's memory Kalis. As before… they will reveal no military information useful to your father or anyone for that matter. I am of the hope that now you would not share that information with others. At least until you have seen what I am showing you. These programs… they are meant only to give you knowledge Kalis."

Kalis pulled his chair out quickly and sat down.

"As you can probably see I am not where I was previously. These programs I made weeks prior to whatever event led me to get this Disc to you. This is Thermopylae Kalis." Martin waved his hand behind him and to the sides. "This is where your grandfather fought and died for the freedom of so many against the High Coven. His remains are interned here in the tomb behind me. I come here often when I want to focus and think of things. I thought it would be the best place to teach you. To give you the knowledge your father should have given you. Each Holoprogram that is now active within this disc is a separate training and history program. It is… using an expression I learned long ago… it is a poor man's tool. A way for me to give you at least the beginnings of your Lycavorian and Spartan history and possibly the future you could have. As I have told you, I do not wish to influence you Kalis. What I want is for you to see the other side of your blood. Only then will you be able to make a definitive decision on the path you wish your life to follow. I will not plead or beg for you to turn against your father or those you have come to call your people. That would be wrong in every way. I am going to give you the means to follow your instincts in what you feel you want for your future. Something they will not do."

Kalis watched him turn and face the monument in the background.

"I remember the first time I came here." Martin spoke. "It was nighttime and the moon was high in the sky. I was with my Melda Min. My first elven mate Dysea. It was the night I discovered who I really was Kalis. The night I discovered the true blood that runs in my veins. The blood that runs in your veins Mandri. Somehow your grandfather's essence had been lying dormant here until I arrived. Over three thousand years since his death and it had remained within the circle of power of this place. He appeared to me that night Kalis. In front of those who were with me." Martin turned back to the vid drone that was recording the message. "As crazy as it seems, I have been able to speak with him or an image of him if you will, in my dreams ever since. I wasn't kidding when I told you that before. Not directly mind you, but in the form of a dream and whatever event that dream is depicting." Martin began walking now and Kalis waited patiently until his Uncle reached what appeared to be some sort of bleacher benches and sat down. Martin looked up as the vid drone shifted again.

"There are six programs available to you now Kalis. Each of them about three hours in length. The first two are simple history files. The history of our family and the history of Sparta and the Union. These were put together by a man who fought beside my father during that time. He is called The Guardian of our Line. The man who is responsible for raising me in many respects. For saving me. He will be the one conducting the classes since he is the one who knows the most about it. Assisting him will be another man who I have come to trust with my life. You probably know him already; he is your grandmother's current mate, Fleet Admiral Riall. The second two programs are given by two of my wives and mates. Anja is Hadarian. And she is as fiery as the color of her hair. I turned her long ago and it is she who can tell you all you need to know about what you can do and cannot do as a child of two species. She will also be able to tell you many things of the species you call your people that you probably did not know. The fourth program is where you will meet my Melda Min. She is as supremely intelligent as she is beautiful and she is also an exceptionally skilled warrior. She can answer almost any question you may have in regards to the Union now. Our politics, our education system. Anything. The fifth program is much more recent… and it took a bit of arm twisting mind you after what took place on Hadaria… but that is by your cousin Androcles. He does not yet trust you Kalis and he thinks this is a bad idea but he will allow you to begin to view the world using your wolf blood. He will show you how to shift, how to run and turn and fight in wolf form and how to use many of your senses. He does this regardless of his feelings because of your blood Kalis." Martin smiled at the vid drone.

"Androcles is… he is as passionate as he deadly. Like his brothers and sisters, he honors the blood in his veins with all that he does. The sixth program is by me and you will only discover what it is about when you complete the others. It will remain locked until you have completed each instruction block. Only then will you understand what I will tell you." Martin sat back on the bleachers.

"The really cool thing about this particular Data Disc is that it is interactive." Martin told him. "It will allow you to ask questions within a specific set of parameters. I am doing this Kalis… I am doing this to give you all the pieces you need to make a decision on your future. You may hate me now… hate your cousin and all of us because that is what your Kavalian blood and your father no doubt tell you, but you deserve to have all the pieces of knowledge Kalis. All the parts your father did not tell you. That he did not let you experience. It is your choice nephew. It is my hope that you will make the best one. Do what you will now Kalis. I have given you the means to discover everything about who you are. And perhaps explain to you some of the things you have experienced but do not understand. What you do with them is now up to you. If you take nothing from these programs then know one thing. You are of my blood Kalis. Your grandfather's blood. I will love you without question until the moment you give me reason not too. Then… then we will be enemies. And you have already seen how I deal with my enemies. I hope that does not turn out to be the case my boy. Learn all you can Kalis. Only then will you be who you are truly meant to be."

Kalis sat there as the holoimage froze at the end of the message. He looked down at the Data Disc in his hands and stared at the metallic surface for several long moments.

"What I could have?" Kalis whispered to the silence around him. "What I could have?"

Kalis lifted his thumb and without hesitation he stabbed down on the control board. "Activate first Program." He spoke in a firm voice.