I will never betray a friend

Inside the interrogation room, Detective Matrov paced around Gerald and Ilrica as they sat in the uncomfortable metal chairs. Ilrica was aloof, but Gerald was sweating.

"We've found evidence of seventeen separate explosive devices placed throughout the city's power and defence grid," he explained as images of the explosion sites played out in the air before them. "The entire matrix was taken down. Even the backup systems. This was no accident. Someone deliberately sabotaged the temple complex and the surrounding city defences just moments before the pirates arrived. One of the most heavily fortified planets in the core, and they just waltzed in here like it was nothing. You two made us all look like fools, and you will pay dearly for it."

"We already told you, we were only there for a prank," Ilrica restated, her tail whipping about nonchalantly. "We were just trying to reshape the temple grounds to look like a traditional Eldireer Festival. Check the command inputs, you'll see that is all we were doing."

"I already have. The records do corroborate your story, but records can be falsified. With all the damage we can't compare the files to the backups, and that is awfully convenient as far as you're concerned. The part that I just can't get past is that the two of you were in there at the very moment as the bombs went off, the defense systems went down, and the pirates attacked. Now, that seems like one trell of a coincidence, wouldn't you say?"

"I know it might seem unbelievable, but things like that happen to me all the time," Gerald admitted. "Sometimes I think I'm cursed or something."

"Oh, you are cursed all right," Martrov said coldly, "because you are going to spend the rest of your natural life in prison for terrorism."

"I am an Exeter Student. Don't I have diplomatic immunity?" Ilrica asked.

The Detective snarled. "Yes, you do."

"Then there's really nothing more to say. I'm outta here."

Ilrica and Gerald stood up.

"You stay where you are, human."

"But..."

"But nothing. I can't charge her but I can certainly charge you. Your world doesn't have a functioning government, which means you don't have diplomatic immunity. Now sit back down."

Gerald sat back down, quite fearful for his future. As Ilrica walked out, she looked back at him sadly.

As soon as the door closed, the detective switched tactics. "Look, you're a young kid, you've got your whole life ahead of you. There's no need for you to take the heat for this. Tell me what you know; agree to testify against the Bertulf, and we'll drop the charges against you."

Gerald was confused. "You know, I was with her most of the day. There is no way she could have set those explosives."

The detective ran through the security footage of Gerald and Ilrica at the bar, at the arcade, at the park, and at the hotel. "Look at this!" he snorted. "Don't you see, kid? It's obvious that she was going out of her way to create an alibi. She cheesed off just about everyone you guys came in contact with today so they'd remember her being there. She knows that if we took her to court, she'd have a roomful of witnesses on her side."

"Well then, if the evidence says she couldn't have done it, you should be looking for a new suspect. That is how detectives are supposed to work, isn't it?"

"You idiot, she's a time-bender. She could have left to set the explosives at any moment. You could have been looking right at her when she did it and never even noticed. Heck, the cameras probably couldn't even have picked it up.

"Well now you are just being paranoid."

Matrov held up his hands. "She's a Bertulf!"

"And you're a bigot! It's perfectly obvious to me that you're so hopelessly prejudiced against her that you decided she's guilty before you even looked at the evidence. You look at footage of a student going out on a date, who just happens to be a little rough around the edges, and all you see is a Bertulf terrorist. Her people aren't exactly known for their social graces, sure, but I am sick and tired of watching you people treat them like criminals. You Alliance types practically break your own arms patting yourselves on the back over how tolerant you are, but you only grant that tolerance to the people you approve of."

The detective leaned in close. "And what about you, human?" He spat the word as if it were an insult. "Are you sure you're not just being blind to the truth because she's your classmate?"

He rewound the footage to their ping pong game from earlier. In one frame, Ilrica's image blurred as she bent time, but the blur didn't seem to be pointing towards the ball, it almost looked like it was pointing towards the exit.

"Ask yourself, what do you really know about Ilrica Faolan?"

Gerald looked at the image, then back at the detective. "I know that she's young and vibrant. I know that she insists on having fun. I know that she grabs life by the throat and shapes her own destiny. She doesn't wait around for happiness to come to her; she goes out and hunts it down. I know that she has a deep sense of honor and a soft heart that she tries to hide. I know that she bears your racist treatment of her with more dignity than you deserve."

"Look, I don't have to argue this with you. You're about to spend the rest of your life in prison. Just testify against her and you can go free."

"I don't think she did it. And even if I did, I'd never throw a friend under the bus."

"She's not your friend. She's a Bertulf."

"I know she's not my friend. That is her choice. But I am hers; that is my choice. At no point is she required to return the sentiment."

* * *

Unbeknownst to either of them, Ilrica was standing out in the hallway, her keen wolf-like ears picking up every word with perfect clarity. As she listened to Gerald defend her, she swished her tail indifferently.

"You know, Dyson," she said to herself. "You really are an idiot. If you had betrayed me you could have gone free." There was a tender look in her eyes. "But... sometimes... just sometimes... you have kind of a lone-wolf thing going for you. It's almost like..."

Ilrica could feel herself blush a little as she thought about the time she had spent with Gerald that day. She couldn't recall the last time she had enjoyed herself so much. Her two hearts were beating fast in her chest. She absentmindedly reached up with one claw and started twirling the fur behind her ear.

"What is that smell?" a female police officer said as she walked by, looking around.

A cop poked his nose up from his cubicle and sniffed. "Yeah, I smell it too. It's kinda... sugary. Is someone baking?"

Ilrica covered her mouth with embarrassment and ran to the women's bathroom as fast as she could. Inside, she locked herself into a private stall and looked into the mirror. No wonder the others had noticed. Her face was flush, her pupils dilated, her breathing a short energetic pant. Her tail swept rhythmically from side to side.

She slapped her cheeks. "Okay girl, get it together. This is ridiculous. This is stupid. He's a human, and we don't go into heat over a human."

She turned on the sink and doused her whole head with cold water. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening..."

She stood back up and shook her fur dry. "This isn't what it looks like, okay? You're just... feeling a little under the weather, that's all. Yeah, that must be it. Stress. You're getting sick. He's just a hairless little grass-eater. It's not like you want him to... kiss you..."

In her imagination, Gerald walked up behind her, the rippling muscles of his shirtless back glistening with sweat. Slowly he reached forward with his strong tanned arms from behind and wrapped them around her athletic waist. His chin ended up right at the nape of her neck, his breath tickling her fur, sending shivers down her spine. Her knees went limp. Her body lost its strength. She could feel herself yearning for his lips against hers. Hungry for it, even. In her imagination, she melted into him.

As she stood there in front of the mirror, Ilrica got goose bumps from head to toe. She could actually see herself swoon just thinking about him. Her body involuntarily released even more of the sweet scent into the air, and she flushed even deeper than before.

Her eyes went wide as saucers. "Oh crap! Oh no, no, no, no, NO!"