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CHAPTER 1

DAY THREE--07:03

Already warm, the early morning sun-wash was angled low across a sky full of clear,
bright promise for the coming day. It gushed over the ridgeline and into the shallow dish
of a clearly human-made elliptical valley, all incongruously lain out in front of Dree
amidst the otherwise choppy swell of hilly landscape. Within it lay a large town.

From his tree covered gentle crest standing sentinel before its open mouth, he gave the
scene a long and thorough last scan with his viewer, helmet visor lifted fully, exposing
him to the open air for the first time since landing. He was acclimatising himself to its
texture and scents, needing to go native for what he planned next, yet also keeping
himself wary for any traces of the scent-plants encountered by Aliiss in her touching
report from the day just gone. Dree wanted to know for sure and not simply gamble that
none would be present so close to a big urban centre such as the one in the valley before
him. His way, he would be securely isolated and alone if proven incorrect in that
assumption, and not in the thick of it as she had been.

Lucky girl, in more ways than one...

Across the distance, lain tangentially through the valley`s focal point, the oval-formed
sprawl of that town stirred to the gentle pace of first light glancing off its tallest
rooftops. These people liked their arcs and ellipses--a psychological need, or spiritual
expressionism? Shifting his attention to the surrounding land to sides and beyond, he saw
only a cultivated riot with parcelled sections of chaotically different crops, all adding
their dominant colours to an otherwise dull region of broadly undulating foothills.

Beyond, a deeper smudge of forest filled the distant valley head below the dawn
picked-out ridgeline, where the artificially sloped walls ended and the high ground
resumed. Dree guessed a deep well must have been sunk back when the town had been made, to
create this paradise where the skim of soil was relatively thin. In support of that, a
single road entered and departed the town, its strong line as linear a slash as any
engineer could wish for. The place had been chosen and engineered to suit, all set up with
a purpose in mind.

Barely visible against that far off and lofty slope-wall, where the roadway presumably
stopped, his Signature Imager picked out a single tower of familiar type. It denoted the
road`s destination as a spaceport, now gone fully pastoral judging by the corpses of
several monolithic support buildings also tagged by the Imager, and more importantly, what
looked like skeletal remains of two large orbital lifters, with only their ribs now
discernable above the tree-tops.

Big ships not found by the orbital comparative scans, or even picked up on by my Image.
Those would definitely need to be checked in on later. He afforded himself a grin at
having beaten the software, yet again. The discoveries were, however, extra spice to be
savoured afterward. In the meantime, Dree was preparing to enter the town, and for that he
would need to pose as a local.

There were no readings discernible from anywhere across the whole site, but he hadn`t
really expected there to be any as it wasn`t on his mission-plan. Yet, the late discovery
of the spaceport offered him extra hope. His two remaining ports of call lay still almost
a full day`s ride away, the first on the distant tip of the continent`s equatorial
peninsular, and the last was on an island a further half day out over the tropical
waters.

He thought he had another agenda, and some time spare for a side-mission. He wanted to
observe more closely how these different species achieved their coexistence, needing to be
sure the first settlement encountered yesterday, had not been an anomaly caused by their
isolation, or some cult-driven thing. It would add more information-bait for a higher
Surv-Arm fee to be negotiated when they got back home.

After a last and uncomfortable sigh, he methodically stripped out of his beloved
environment-suit, until completely naked both physically and metaphorically. As a part of
the acclimatisation, he stood there pale amongst the breeze-touched trees, folding the
supple fabric purposefully slowly into a compact bundle, shaking his head and thinking of
why Aliiss actively chose to do this, loving the idea of being naked out in the open. This
was also an attempt for him at trying to understand that, and apparently still failing.

With another shake of his head, he pulled a carefully procured local tunic quickly over
his rangy frame, then a longer over-robe to complete his disguise. Immediately feeling
better, he, nevertheless, enjoyed the unexpected freedom of having on no underclothes, a
necessity as he did not want to compromise his subterfuge with any anachronistic
giveaways.

The dangle of it all, he felt he could get quite used to, and in response he felt a
slight suffusion thicken him in appreciation of the freedom being afforded both body and
mind.

Stashing the bare minimum of miniature scanning gear and emergency medical supplies into
a hip-sack, Dree stowed the rest of his kit in the bike`s cockpit, having already secreted
that back away out of sight, in its own nest deep amongst the trees behind the hill`s
crown.

Avoiding leaving any signs of his passage on the way down from the secluded woods, he
made for the road and the town.

* * * *

Some while later on, Dree relaxed and sat back quietly in the spice-musky shade of a
third storey terrace, from which he could look out and down freely onto the large central
square, a place of colour and noise of the town where the six major thoroughfares met.
Dree sipped from a cool, tall juice drink and smiled. He had found himself an ideal place
to observe the regular comings and goings of the city folk. In particular, two women whom
he had followed for much of his morning`s wanderings, were proving most insightful and
helpful.

His unofficial tour-guides had paused in their unwittingly educational itinerary for
their own refreshment at this ideally located refectory`s terrace, a place so split-level
it occupied much of the building`s outer wall, with each of its platforms accessible by a
maze of steps, all shaded for comfort and privacy. From his position on an upper level
patio directly behind them, he was able to continue observing while following any
developments occurring across the square beyond, where the locals seemed preoccupied with
parading their business.

The two appeared to be local equivalents of socialites, both elegant and assured in every
movement they made, living that surety of self in every interaction they had with the
people they knew or had dealings with on the way. As a result of observing their manner
and style, he was surprised at how developed the social structure and its level of
amenities appeared to be, certainly for what was no more advanced than a middle-period
agrarian society, one not yet in possession of machinery, or even power that wasn`t human
or possibly creature generated. Their clothing by its fine quality also suggested a
personal and available affluence coming from a stability of trade, something that had not
seemed apparent before this little side-trip of his.

His chosen control-subjects, as well as most of the others encountered on the streets,
had exuded an ambience more consistent with a far more advanced culture, one which had
chosen to live simply with knowledge, instead of surrounding itself with possessions as
the displayed icons of its achievements.
He continued to watch them converse, while partly reclined on their loungers set looking
out over the terrace`s balustrade, and apparently content with discussing what they saw
amongst the foot-traffic making its way across the big meeting place that was the square.
Even such observations seemed to be only an occasionally surfacing thread, in what little
of the ongoing conversation he could follow from the ceaseless weave of it between them.
They seemed content to drift through topics, merely sampling them until something else
occurred to draw them on further. More intriguingly to Dree, their base language still
contained bits of what he half-recognised as pure jWl`al, but only enough to further
tantalise and frustrate, instead of elucidate.

He was fast becoming fascinated with the two, upon several levels.

Having encountered them while moving as one of the crowd through the busy morning
streets, smelling the smells, rubbing against the colourful cloths of other`s lived-in
clothing, he had instantly been drawn to them upon first sight. This had been just at the
point when he was done with his initial exploration of the town, learning the layout of
its busy thoroughfares, all made narrow and irregular by the inward crowding of tacked-on
structures surrounding the original buildings, now for the most part completely hidden
from view at street level.

The first of the two females was distinctly a feline type, graceful and languorous of
movement, completely self-assured and poised with elegant, fully mobile ears rising proud
above a thicker mane that dominated, bushing out from forehead to shoulder blades. Her
sleek-shine of a richly patterned tight pelt in pale gold and browns, along with a strong
and proudly lengthy tail completed the impression. Furthermore, that tail appeared to be
articulately prehensile, and very conversationally active.

Her clothing in view of the fur and climate was delightfully scant, just a backless tunic
draped loosely down her front, over six small but incongruously human and perfect breasts,
some of which were frequently visible as she moved. It was plainly a garment of
enhancement more than concealment, and made of a breeze-sensitive, light fabric that Dree
definitely found most distracting. It did its job well. Not only did this delightfully
expose the tight, strong lines of her back, but also the upper slope of her hips and
backside; furthermore the tail had an attention-holding way of lifting her high-cut hem
higher, to expose much of her undulating cheeks during its frequent conversational
movements. It all had Dree quite transfixed.

Her companion, a taller exotic of ethereally slender form and almost featureless face,
observed the moving crowd as they moved on through its slow convection. That look of hers
bled perception and understanding with each glance made.

It had been his need to get a closer look at those minimalistic features, which had drawn
him to follow the two in the first place. She had the briefest sketch of inverted V-slit
nostrils for a nose, combined with a tiny mouth that offset her large, molten-amber
eyes--the definite seat of her liquid perception--viewing all from under high-sweeping,
vestigial brows and a smooth, high forehead.

She too had a prehensile tail, although one ending in an opposable trio of slender
fingers that were as much a part of the conversation as her companion`s. It constantly
swayed and darted over either shoulder, adding its own tireless barrage of quirky gestures
to emphasise what was being said, as if it were a silent, third party to their
conversation.

Like the feline, she wore a top loosely hung from her slender neck, draped barely
adequately over a single pair of slight breasts, the resultant overhang revealing the
undersides whenever she moved. Her remaining modesty, barely protected on time from the
beholder`s eye by a colourful pair of loose pantaloons, slung very low below the hips and
ending at mid calf, left any admirer with an unimpeded view of all the long curves and
smooth, tight flesh fully exposed between. In subtle counterpoint to the obviousness of so
much bare flesh, the pantaloons used the attention distracting appeal of having random
ventilation-slits cut into the fabric all around. Her walk revealed, with each long step,
swift glimpses of shade hinted lines, where firm flesh of half-intimate familiarity
moved.

Dree had needed to reposition his hip-sack about then, to control an erection of
appreciation for her show of casual, sexual purity, something she definitely had in easy
abundance, even without the costume props` enhancement.

Despite all those obvious lures, what had him instantly decided to stay turned about to
follow her, came from a completely surprising source.

To compliment her outfit, a headscarf partly curtailed her mane of riotously curly hair,
and in so doing deliberately exposed the graceful upsweep of her own pointed, elegant
ears. She had accentuated them in a way that showed an equally easy confidence, akin to
exposing a long line of smooth neck, stating she knew exactly what it was she was doing.
Dree wished she would reveal that answer, as the plain view of their fine-arched shape
certainly had a continued, strange effect on him since first seeing them in those initial
moments. It left him wondering where that particular sexual trigger had come out of to
plague him.

Convinced swiftly that it was within the spirit of needing more specifics concerning the
unfolding social patterns so far encountered, he bowed his head to his libido and tagged
along at a discrete distance. It had been plain they knew what they were about, and more
importantly, also where they were going. The abundance of their pleasing lines and beauty
on display, were of course purely secondary factors in determining this choice.

The day had already proven quite a tour he reflected from the comfort of his recliner,
and as a result was grateful for the current chance to rest, savouring the same drink that
everyone else on the terrace was also enjoying. A fruit-juice bar in such a society? His
had been ordered by the simple expedient of pointing and feigning a lack of capacity for
speech, a trick that had served him perfectly well during past missions, as the simplest
way to disguise his off-world origins.

At first his guides had taken him on a surprising rooftop tour, a route that turned out
to be a curious form of window-shopping across the city`s overworld. They had led him up
broad and shallow flights of winding, switchback steps, then along passages to an
upper-strata maze of mini-patios with narrow galleried courtyards, sunken into the
structures and all hidden from the world of more regular commerce below. It was only then
he realised the two worlds while mingled below, were clearly separated once up above. It
was the place where people came to play, as testified by the clothing worn and atmosphere
on parade.

On the earlier tour through the narrow streets, he had only briefly noted the bridges
high above, spanning the gaps between buildings. It was literally an openly concealed,
other aspect to society, a concept his own culture would see as an underworld district.
This one lived with light and openness aplenty, giving him a glimpse into how their
society of co-existence had viewed love for life throughout its history--tantalizing in
more senses than one.

At their first stop, he saw them leant over a low wall and looking down into a courtyard
full of well muscled males, all of whom were arrayed in block formation and performing
regimented exercises to the cadenced calls of an old instructor stood before them. The
sight of sweat-oiled muscles and all that taut taught-flesh were not particularly Dree`s
thing, but the women`s rapt attention and slight squirming-on-the-spot motions gave him
clue enough as to why they and many other casual onlookers had come to watch.

Keeping his own presence subtly away from their own direct line of attention, he took up
a similar position nearby and sought to blend in by looking down also, while in reality he
continued watching the two women watch the men. The self-teasing squirms were coming not
only from what they were seeing in what they saw, but also due to extra attention from
their tails, each idly wrapping with slow languor about the other`s flank or waist, adding
slowly suggestive and light sliding touches of deeper intimacies ready for sharing later.

Nor were the two alone in their public display of open affections. Still later on the
tour he encountered more in the form of massage rooms, grooming parlours, none of which
seemed overtly sexual in any way that he had come to accept while back on the civilised
worlds. Yet pairing up and sexual fulfilment was definitely everywhere in the air around
these places. There were meditation classes too, and other rooms where lessons in a
variety of things were being taught, all occurring alongside the casual, sexual trade-offs
happening around them. It was plain that these people had plenty of quality in their
lives, and throughout it they seemed to interact with each other on the same level, there
being no distinctions evident beyond casual recognition of gender. The only ones whom
anyone seemed to defer to were the elderly, usually the teachers from what he had seen,
but there the distinction stopped.

In support of this, his earlier circuit of the ground-level strata revealed only one
building to be larger than the rest, a civil structure he`d guessed by the steady flow of
people to and from it, and its location fronting the central square. The rest were pretty
much identical in size, leading him to construe along with the rest he`d seen, that no
privileged class had risen to dominate their society in any way.

Perhaps wealth was a part of the issue, and how they viewed such. He had seen people use
small sticks with writing on them as payment, writing that had developed and evolved too
far away from the original jWl`al script for him to decipher quickly, not without all the
correlative reference materials needed and good cognitive software.

Barter by receipt? With these sticks being given for whatever services rendered, each
accorded a value by the texts on it and circulated in exchange for later counter-barter?
Whatever the system, it seemed to work for them all.

This was possibly another clue, as he had seen that wherever a service was on offer,
considerations were made for all species that might need it. From where he now sat,
sipping his drink, a shallow pool shared a third part of the split-level terrace occupied
by the two women and himself. It was empty now, but earlier it had played host to two of
the amphibious giants, a young and accompanying mature female, allowing them the comfort
of taking their refreshments, whilst partially submerged in its cooling waters.

He had already seen other pools in the town, with a large communal one for daily bathing
being the largest. His guides had led him there shortly after the exercise yard viewing,
to join a larger crowd of casual others watching from a broad rooftop walkway, looking
upon a variety of quite uninhibited flesh, feather, scale and fur all come to bathe and
casually display itself for anyone to see.

Just as he`d noted with the previous community of yesterday, they plainly had no problem
with nudity in their midst, or with being observed while in that state. Not only was it
evident by the lack of costumes worn, but after bathing some went to stretch out on low
recliners alongside the pool`s edge, to lie awhile and dry themselves off in the sun. It
was all so casual and natural, even the noticeably visible erections went uncovered or
uncommented upon, remaining unrepentant and attentive in between the conversation
partners, without any strain or discomfiture evident as a result.

More spectators had lined that particular balcony than any other so far encountered, and
the evidence of erections was not just limited to those naked or around the pool. Dree saw
a few happy bulges standing out under the fabric of tunics, or fronting loose trousers up
on the balcony itself. Nor were the males alone in their signs of appreciation, he saw
many a hardened nipple under the tunics of several women nearby, and even one woman
distractedly stroking her breasts whilst looking on with far-away contemplation in her
defocused gaze.

It was his conclusion that these people must be permanently ready for, and in a constant
state of sexual excitement. They certainly didn`t seem bothered with disguising any signs
of their arousal. The pool seemed to be a meeting point for interested parties. One male
had walked away from the crowd with a smile on his face, the cloth draped steeple of his
large pride and joy preceding him, there for all to notice and appreciate, or even take
advantage of. Like elsewhere, that sort of thing seemed to be going on all across the
rooftop world, but it was far more evident around the viewing-pool with mix and match
couples strolling off to further introduce each to the other(s), somewhere more secluded
and comfortable.

Though not that all of them had bothered with finding a quiet spot...

His subconscious pulled Dree back from the reminiscences and ruminations, flagging a
noticeably fallen quiet and sudden cessation of animated conversational motion upon their
part. He saw they had stopped talking to settle and watch three tall males making a slow
show of walking across the square together, possible aiming for the refectory.

About to return to the review-thoughts, his subconscious tweaked him again as the exotic
woman languidly drew her legs upward; familiarity with the motion and intention behind it
triggered his return of focus fully to the present. He felt himself growing quickly hard
as she casually angled them open, a hand sliding inside one of the slits, where it started
moving with a light, up and down rhythm.

A glance toward the other confirmed she was also touching herself, making him feel like a
voyeur on his balcony, looking down to see the two young women stretched out and playing
with themselves, as if unaware of and not expecting to be viewed by any others than
themselves. It was a stolen sensation made stronger by most of their bodies being shielded
from full view behind the recliners` backs, the foreshortening of elevation allowing him
to see little more than from their waists downward, just legs spread casually wide and a
hand moving snugly between them. His fascination was spiced by noting how both of their
knees were swung out in a posture and angle that perfectly mirrored the other`s.

So`Kt`cha gHaa ... but how I love this culture and its ways! He moved forward slightly on
his recliner, angling for a better view through the partial screen of fronded plants.

Despite his mental outburst, since the morning`s tour he was growing to accept such open
displays, almost in the same casual manner they were carried out. As he had been
contemplating just before the current distraction unfolding before his eager eyes, not all
onlookers at the public baths had sought privacy to conclude their sexual excitement. He`d
seen a number of bathers from both genders stroking themselves to some degree or other.
Not all, but many openly masturbated through to orgasm, as if oblivious of their
surroundings, yet by their motions and postures he guessed they were mostly playing as
much for an audience, as for themselves.

Nor had it been simply direct advertising, combined in there with a little personal
relief time, a couple and a nearby trio had started into full-blown, acrobatic sex for
everyone else`s pleasure along with their own. If audible, there would definitely have
been a soft applause of pattering sperm from all around the balcony, judging by the amount
of focused activity it inspired from the onlookers. He had found it all most bizarre at
the time.

He shifted quietly again, moving further so his own steeple proud erection under his
tunic, no longer blocked his view of the action below.