Flash!  And there I was.


  Where is there?  There is here, Naline's world.

  And it was on fire.  The entire savanna was blazing angrily
all around me.  Thunderous plumes of thick black smoke rose
furiously, obscuring the sun, bathing all the nearby real
estate in a bizarre orange glow.  I hate it when that
happens.

  "Kitten?"  I couldn't see her anywhere.  That was bad.  I
could hardly breathe.  That was bad too.  I had brought my
combat helmet.  That was good.  That was very, very good,
because it meant that I could breathe safely.  And use the
high-tech gizmos in the helmet to find her.

  As the helmet systems came online, a piercing high-pitched
noise came through the sound amplifiers.  Great, just what I
needed, feedback noise.  Come on, what's wrong with this
thing?, I just got it calibrated.  Wait a minute that wasn't
feedback noise, that was a yell.  That was Naline!  Where
where where?  I looked around desperately for my little
Kitten.

  I was standing in the middle of a grassy clearing, which
was on fire.  There were about a dozen trees dotting the
nearby landscape, which were also on fire.  And there was
lots and lots of black smoke, which wasn't on fire, but got
in the way of seeing things like little lost lionesses.

  Lions usually aren't afraid of grassland fires, because
they can run quickly enough to avoid them.  A hop, a jump,
and a skip, and they are out of harm's way.  But where in
the world was Naline?  And why couldn't she get away?


  The yell came again, and this time I was able to locate
its panicky source.  She was way up in a tree.  The good
thing was that she was safe for the moment because the tree
wasn't on fire.  The bad thing was that the flames had
completely surrounded the tree, and were beginning to spread
to the lower branches.  Not much time.

  I was ever so very glad I had shelled out the big bucks to
buy the suit I was wearing.  Not just because it was bullet
and blast proof, but because it was fireproof too.  Heck, it
was everything-proof.  Kinda gives you a warm fuzzy feeling
inside to know that there's nothing that anyone can throw
against you that will harm you.  Oops, sorry, didn't mean to
make a bad pun, there.  But it was true.  It was also true
that Naline did not have the benefit of a big-bucks suit to
keep her untoasted, so I did like the proverb says and jumped
from the frying pan into the fire.

  Have you ever walked through fire unscathed?  It's a
marvelously empowering feeling, you should try it sometime.
Imagine the atmosphere itself incandescing from the heat,
white-hot fire blazing all around you.  Flames gushing from
the burning grass, exploding around your feet with every
step, swirling up your legs, rolling past your body,
whirling around your arm with every movement as you walk.
I held out my hand and watched the fire play around my
fingers.  It almost made me cry, it was so pretty.

  And hot as hell.  Literally.  Say, did I ever tell you
about the time I went to hell?  It looked just like this.
I'll tell you about it later, when I don't have to rush to
the rescue.

  "Hang on, Kitten," I yelled, "I'm coming!"  If she
answered, I didn't notice because I was trying to solve the
problem of how to climb a charred, charcoal-covered tree.
Charcoal, in case you didn't know, is slippery stuff, and it
doesn't make for good climbing.  Good sliding, yes, but not
good rescuing.  Crud.  Wish I had claws.

  Hang on, I did have claws.  In one of these pouches of my
load-bearing harness I carry climbing claws.  Now, where did
I put them?  Gotta take inventory one of these days.  Ah,
there they were!  I quickly put them on and zipped up the
tree in no time.


  When I got to Naline, she was completely covered from tip
to top in black soot.  She looked like a little black
panther with large green eyes.  Very becoming.  "Didn't your
mother ever teach you not to climb trees during thunderstorms
and fires?"

  "Get me out of here!"  From the panic in her voice to the
fear in her eyes, Naline was the very picture of a trapped,
cornered animal that knows there's no escape and it's about
to die.  She didn't have to worry, though; the cavalry was
here.

  "Alright, alright, keep your whiskers on.  Here, breathe
through this."  I stuck a respirator in her mouth, just the
thing to keep her from choking to death on the suffocating
smoke.  "Don't make that face at me, just do it!"  I wrapped
her up in a sheet of thermal foil, the kind they wrap re-
entry vehicles in, and held her tight.

  It was then that I realized that they never taught
burning-tree descending back at combat school.  That's what
we get when the government gets a hold of public education.
I bet if I'd gone to a private combat school, they would
have taught everything from burning-tree descending to ice-
covered-ladder ascending.  Well, I'd just have to improvise
and not fall.

  Naturally, the next thing I did was fall.  I banged every
tree branch on the way down.  Twice, I think.  I hit the
blazing ground with a back-breaking, rib-cracking thud.
Fortunately for Naline, the rib that had cracked didn't
belong to her.

  "Don't squirm!" I could hardly breathe, much less shout
out instructions, so I just kinda squooshed her till she sat
still.  Sorry, Kitten, no time for gentleness.


  I laid on the fiery, burning grass for a few seconds until
my lungs figured out how to breathe again.  It was quite
unpleasant.  I got up with a painful grunt, carrying Naline
in my arms.  Was it me or had she gotten heavier since the
last time we met?  Better not ask her.  It's not gentlemanly
to ask ladies about their weight.

  I ambled down the blazing savanna, upwind towards the fire
line.  If I could get to the other side of the fire, the
side that had already burned out, we'd be safe from the
flames.

  Come on, how wide can this fire line be?  Naline was
safely tucked in my arms, but I could feel her shaking and
shivering like crazy.  Poor thing was probably scared to
death.  "Hang on, Kitten, just a little bit longer."  Come
on, where's the edge of this inferno?

  Speaking of the devil, I took two more steps and the view
immediately cleared.  We emerged from the writhing wall of
rising black smoke and blazing flames, past the windy vacuum
zone at the edge of the fire, and into the charred remains
of the grasslands.  The fire had already burned everything in
sight, leaving behind only a plain of cooling cinders and
charred trees.  I was struck by the sharp contrast between
the brilliant blue of the sky with the dull black remains of
the savanna.

  I located the least unpleasant spot and deposited my
precious cargo on the ashy grass.

  "You can come out now," I said with a grunt as I tried to
find the least painful way to sit down, "we're okay now."


  "Are you sure?"  She stuck her little face out of the
bundle of thermal sheeting and checked around to make sure I
wasn't lying.  "Aaaah!  What happened to you?"

  "It's just a helmet.  Hang on," I took the protective
headgear off, "see?"  "Oh," I pointed at the respirator,
"you can spit it out now."  She made a face as she took the
unfamiliar thing out of her mouth.

  "My, how you've grown," I commented with a smile as I
brushed the soot off her face.  She really had; she seemed
about twice as big as last time I'd seen her.  That would
make her, what, a lioness teenager?  I'd need to look that
up when I got back.  "Hold still."  The golden tan of her
lion fur appeared once again as I dusted the black ashes off
her.

  "You okay, Cruz?"  She gave me a concerned look-over.
Hey, broken ribs ain't easy to hide.  You try it sometime.

  "Just bopped a rib, Kitten.  Don't worry about it, I've
got more."  I slumped forward and rested my elbows on my
crossed legs, the least uncomfortable position I could find.
"Just gimme a second to catch my breath."

  "You look great, Kitten."  And she did.  Except for the
soot, I mean.  She was now a little larger than your average
dog, but she was unmistakably feline.  Her expressive green
eyes hadn't changed a bit, they still had that intelligent
glint.  And the same indefinable charm that could bend my
will like a blade of grass.  I could argue and rage and hold
my own against crusty old colonels and dogged sea captains,
but there was something about Naline... something that
bypassed all my flinty defenses and could make me act
against my better judgment simply with that irritatingly
wonderful look she had.  Good thing for me that she was on
my side.


  "No I don't."  Naline examined herself critically.  "I'm
covered with black stuff and I smell like smoke and my fur
is all disarrayed and..."  Out of the corner of her eye I
caught a glance that said "feel free to interrupt me and
contradict me anytime."

  "Yes you do."  She raised one eyebrow, looking as pitiful
as a lost kitten seeking its mother.  "You do," I insisted.
"You've grown a lot since I last saw you and... hey, let me
see those claws."

  Despite Naline's best efforts to hide it, I could feel the
pride leaking out of her as she splayed out her set of
feline claws.  "Wow," I took her front paw in my hands and
tested the tip of each claw, "nice.  Very sharp."  Her wrist
had gotten bigger too, and the bracelet was beginning to get
a little tight.  I'd have to get her another one for next
time.  She was growing into the powerful predator I knew
she'd one day be.  I was proud as peaches.

  She suddenly turned and looked into the horizon as if she
had just remembered something really important.  "I better
go and find my pride."

  "Hey, not to worry, I'm sure they're alright.  All the
same, you'd better go."

  "Okay."  She got up to leave.  "Cruz," she gave me a look
that said thanks more effectively than a platinum thank-you
card, "thanks for coming."


  I smiled a smile that said "you're welcome," and brushed
her sooty chin with my finger.  "Anytime you need me, just
call, and I'll be here."

  "Thanks."  She turned to go, and walked away into the
charred, blackened hills of the savanna.  Clouds of ash
accompanied her every footfall.  I needn't worry, she'd be
okay.

  She would, but I wouldn't if I didn't see a doctor soon.
A broken rib is a serious thing if left unattended.  I hit a
few buttons on my forearm computer unit and ... Flash!
There I wasn't.

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