June had set me up in the same apartment complex that the Tigereans used. She also got me the access badge, and a motor pool pass. She then gave me a fairly large envelope with a lot of various places in El Paso. "El Paso is a very tolerant community. Especially for Texas." Her quiet voice sounded somewhat strained, and somewhat metallic sounding. At my puzzled glance, she 'pathed the explanation to me. My vocal chords were badly damaged by a birth defect, but it also gave me this ability. I later had a voice box inserted, but it hurts if I use it for too long. Most mundane people can't hear my telepathic voice, unfortunatly. Strange world, eh? She continued out loud. "George told me to give you the rest of this week to get situated. Me'Neath has also been granted a week of leave to help you adjust. See you two Monday!"
Me'Neath had a pained look in his face, which went to a face of surrender almost immediately afterwards. "I guess. If it must be, then it must be. Come with me, young one. I will show you the Motor pool entry." We went to a stairwell, and went up. We emerged by the Motor pool, where we got a truck. We then drove off base, and I guided him to the freight company. We picked up the two sizable crates, and then we drove to the apartment complex. We showed the manager my papers, and she set me up with a furnished apartment. We unloaded the crates, and Me'Neath looked at me odd as I was looking over the truck. "Something wrong, sir?" I asked. "Two things. I am waiting for you to open the crates, and never call me sir. Even in the field." I cringed a bit. "Sorry. I'm looking for the toolkit. I'll get this open in a bit." I found the truck's toolkit, and we shortly had both crates opened.
One of the crates contained a battered and scorched deep space trunk of Tigerean make. I set it aside. We got the rest of the crates unloaded and put away. We then put the crates back on the truck, so the base would recycle them as targets or some such. We sat down by the trunk. As I unlocked the trunk, Me'Neath appeared to be rather curious as to the contents. "Whats up?" I asked him. "I have something I need to tell you, but I felt that could not until the time was right. I feel that the time is now right. I will start from the beginning."
"Do you know why Tigereans are sent to Earth, when nothing but animosity has been experienced between our two races? No? I will tell you. The government on my homeworld sends people here that either are researching the humans or those that the Empire does not want meddling in the affairs of our people. Your mother was a researcher specializeing in biological defensive arts. Her primary focus was to determine the biological weaknesses of these human beings and the weres. The Empire sent me to find out what happened to her when she died and to continue her mission as best as I was able. Unfortunately, I am not a biological researcher, my speciality is in combat engineering. This trunk contains her belongings I am assuming?" I nodded blankly. The fact that Mom was somehow an spy searching for ways to destroy the people on this planet was quite unnerving. "What were her findings?" I asked nervously. "We do not know. The part of her journal that was uploaded was not forthcoming. That is why we need to recover it, and see if she had done anything else with it."
I took the key from its place on my key ring, and carefully unlocked the trunk. This was made difficult by the fact that the locks were old, rusty, and slightly damaged by the fire which had narrowly cost destroyed it and me. I then undid the latches, and I opened it. There was a sheet of paper inside with rough symbols on it, Tigerean Standard by the look. It was in handwriting I knew to be hers. I read it quietly to myself:
"My Son,
If you are reading this it means that I am dead, and you and the trunk found it's way out of the house. In this trunk is my journal that the Tigerean that is probably next you is going to be wanting. It contains my findings, and my will. Also in the trunk are books that will help you if you ever visit my planet, a few things from my true home, and several other items which may be of use to you.You may have discovered that you are not a 'normal' half-breed, and that those around you use that term in a disrespectful manner. I use that term in a most respectful manner. You are probably the most advanced half-breed in the whole of our two worlds. Your Über-forms are the stuff that legends are spoken of on Tigria. The Tigerean that finds my work will discover how this happened, I think.
I leave you these final instructions: Follow your heart. You are better then any human alive, and as good as any Tigria-born despite the obvious differences. Listen to your Tigerean mentor. He or She has much to teach you. May your claws never dull, and may your heart soar as high as your dreams."
"So, I guess I am something special then", I stammered out. "Indeed. You are a truly unique individual. I do not recognize the word, 'Über', however." He struggled to pronounce it. "What does it mean? It is not a Tigerean, English, or Spanish word." I rummaged through the trunk a bit, and found the book that I knew to be in there. "Mom told me that she need to know more human languages, because of the different variety of them." I pulled out four or five large textbooks. "She bought these at the local bookstore and learned German, French, and a couple others." I handed him the German to English dictionary. "Über is German for above or about, depending on usage. The context I'm using is that of an Über-man, or superman."
The rest of the day was spent in almost complete silence, as I unpacked the rest of the trunk. Me'Neath helped me identify some of the items, but was otherwise absorbed with the textbooks. After I had gotten the trunk completely unpacked, I started to look over the machine that I knew to be mom's journal. Me'Neath asked for the machine, took a small card out of his vest pocket and plugged it into the machine after turning it on. "I am coping the journal file over to this memory card. Do not worry, I am only making a copy. I feel that you should have a copy in order to better understand what we have been put here to do.
I know that you became nervous when I told you what our mission is. Believe me when I tell you this: We are not looking to destroy the human race. We are only looking to know our allies better. Tigereans have several weaknesses. We take longer to heal. We are not as maneuverable or as fast as humans or weres. We can be disabled rather easily, even with our bone armor. But we are altogether stronger then our weaknesses. I have noticed that humans are highly adaptable. They may be weak, but they can use tools and equipment that makes them much more powerful then any Tigerean. Have you ever seen a power suit? I have. It puts our strength to shame. But you, you are special, Se'Matck Hunt. You have a form that takes the best of both worlds, and combines them into a near perfect killing machine. This will require honing and training in the martial arts beyond what you have been taught already. I will teach you how to best utilize all your forms. In return, I want you to teach me these languages. I wish to learn them. We will also go over your mother's journal together. This way, I might gain insight on your past."