Princess Shlilah

Three years had passed since Princess Shlilah returned to Earth with Captain Kicef and his crew. She had been shown around the Earth so that she could have familiarized herself with the surroundings. She could not let anyone know that she was actually older than she looked. Nor that she had been on the planet Zephir for so long, and that she had no one on Earth as kindred. She therefore looked toward the Captain and his crew as her family. And as such, she lived with them in their housing area beneath the lake in the Mojave Desert, the same lake that covered the landing bay of the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush being the space ship that Captain Kicef and his crew traveled around in.

The water in the lake was beautiful to look at. It reflected the sky as the warm breeze blew across its surface. Princess Shlilah had taken the opportunity to go for a walk around the lake that morning and breathe in the air blowing through the trees surrounding the lake. It was something she had done from time to time whenever she reflected on what she left behind on Zephir, and what was to become her future. The area provided her a moment of solitude.

As she walked through the trees, Princess Shlilah started turning her head slightly from side to side. Her senses, which were developed on the planet Zephir, as she was trained, were being put to use. The Princess felt as though she could hear the presence of someone or something moving in the area around her. Time and again as she walked, she turned her body around to make sure no one nor anything was following her.

Princess Shlilah then continued strolling through the wooded area. By that time, she had walked a fair distance from the lake. The movement of her ears indicated that she was still hearing something.  She could not place what she was picking up with her ears. For all she knew, the sounds could have been coming from small animals running through the wooded area.

Suddenly, Princess Shlilah began to pick up a smell. It was a smell she recognized. It was a smell from her past. The smell caused panic in the heart of the Princess. She immediately turned and faced the position from which she thought the smell was coming.  Then she heard movement in the trees above her.

Princess Shlilah knew that the sound of movement in the trees was too heavy a sound to be small animals. As she looked up to the branches of the trees, she saw a Caprikat crouched on a branch in the tree. Turning her head from side to side, Princess Shlilah then counted several other Caprikat crouching in the trees.

Princess Shlilah knew that the Caprikats and the Zephirians did not get along. She knew they fought against each other while she lived on the planet Zephir. She also knew that since she once fought against the Caprikat as a Zephirian soldier, there was no reason for her to expect cordial greetings from the Caprikats.

Princess Shlilah then turned and started running toward the lake. The Caprikats clinging in the trees jumped to the ground and started running after the Princess. The Princess realized somehow that the Caprikats had entered the Earth’s atmosphere. She realized she was only able to see them at the moment she saw them because it was then that they allowed themselves to materialize.

Princess Shlilah was quick on her feet. She was moving so swiftly among the trees, heading for the lake, that she seemed inhuman. Yet, the Caprikats seemed to be gaining on her. Just when the Caprikats seemed to be about to snatch her off her feet, Princess Shlilah dove into the lake head first. The Caprikats stopped themselves short of entering the water in the lake. They peered into the lake waiting for the Princess to resurface. But, she did not resurface.

The reason the Princess did not resurface was that she dove to the bottom of the lake where she located an airlock. She had located the airlock and let herself into the housing area. The Princess scampered out of the airlock and into the passageway leading to the sitting room to find the rest of the Captain’s crew playing chest games among themselves.

Her presence in the sitting room drew the attention of the crew. They immediately stopped their game. They rose to their feet and approached Princess Shlilah to find out why she was soaking wet.

Heshim led the questioning when he asked the Princess, “Why are you wet?” He knew she was not going to be walking around the confine in that wet state. They had never seen her like that before.

Princess Shlilah began to explain why she was looking the way she was, and with fright on her face.  “I have just run into something from the past. I just saw some Caprikats in the wooded area around the lake”.