The Faarian Chronicles: Exile by Karen Harris Tully

my
tongue. They were rare on Earth, born to a lion father and tigress mother. I’d
only ever seen them on the Internet and, okay, on that dumb movie with that
skinny, curly-haired guy.
    She growled at me, obviously unhappy. I froze as the people
around me gasped or tsked.
    “It’s alright Micha. Veridian, I would think you’d know how rude it is to call someone a half-breed. And she can understand you
perfectly well. With time, you’ll be able to understand her too. If you have a
question for her, ask her, not me.” She looked pointedly at my still-empty
seat.
    “Well, don’t stand there petrified,” she said. “You must
have learned about the Ahatu,” (literally, sisters) “from the holo-professor I
sent you.”
    I cautiously sat back down, straddling the bench this time
so I could see them across the table and also make a quick getaway if
necessary. I shook my head at my mother’s question, bewildered. I was sure I
would have remembered a lesson about giant cats with wide, intelligent eyes
that seemed to peer straight into my brain.
    “Sunny!” Sensei reproached. “We talked several times about
the Ahatu warriors being incredible trackers and hunters.”
    “Yes, but I thought we were talking about people!” I
replied. “Er, humans,” I corrected myself while eyeing the tiger – Micha –
warily.
    “The Professor assured me he’d taught you about the Ahatu,”
Sensei said.
    “He taught me about big cats on Earth, not here! And that
stupid holo-professor was boring! Always talking about planting depths and
minimum necessary water allowances and the fall of the Greek Empire. He never
taught me anything cool like this.” I waved at Micha and another growl of
displeasure rumbled from her chest.
    “Sorry! I mean, cool like you… Micha.” Was I really talking
to a giant tiger? To my astonishment, she gave a little “humph” and a nod of
forgiveness before settling on the floor with her head in my mother’s lap so
that I – almost – couldn’t see her.
    My mother sighed and petted Micha’s head. “I’m not terribly
surprised. The National Council is very strict on what information can be
divulged off planet. It sounds like customs disabled the, shall we say,
‘alternate’ parameter allowances I installed in his programming before sending
him to you.
    “No Sensei, it’s not your fault,” she continued when Sensei
started apologizing. “I didn’t want you breaking the law for us; that’s why I
sent the hologram. Besides, I know you were monitored. Well,” she said, turning
back to me, “the government ought to be happy that you were kept properly in
the dark.” She shook her head. “At least he taught you the language. His
reports assure me you can read and write in Faarian, correct?”
    I grimaced and nodded. While I could do it, I wasn’t much of
a reader. I had to concentrate on the words so much that whatever I read didn’t
seem to stick in my brain.
    “Good. It’s all right if you need practice at it. I’ll send
you several books about Macawi, and Afaar in particular, that I expect you to
read in your spare time to get you caught up.”
    Great, just great. She hadn’t even said welcome and I
already had homework. This was going real well.
    The tiger – Micha – stood and stretched. Geez, she reached
almost up to my elbow at her withers. Shoulder. Whatever. She reminded me of a
horse. A man-eating horse.
    She sauntered around the table to stand in front of me as I
stared at her, pressing back into the table edge. What was she doing now?
Without warning, she knocked me off my bench to the ground and pinned me with
her paws on my shoulders. I couldn’t even wiggle, she was so heavy.
    Holy crap! I started to panic. This was it. I was gonna be
eaten alive by a giant cat, in front of everyone, in the middle of dinner, on
an alien planet, and Dad would never even know what happened to me….
    “Micha!” my mother said dryly. “Knock it off.” Unfortunately,
the big cat