The Delegates

[§ñühwö£f]

The Delegates from Planet Gravog

When they first arrived people were excited. SETI had finally paid off.
Their mission; to meet with us for possible inclusion into the General
Assembly of Galaxies. Some Earthlings, myself included, called them
'Romulans'. Not because they looked anything like the race of the same
name from the successful movie franchise. But rather that they reminded
us of our own mythology. Let me explain. They were intelligent wolves.
Bipedal like us and with opposable thumbs. Yet quite obviously on their
home world the canine had become the dominant species. There was an
affinity for us immediately. Perhaps due to our best friends being dogs.
They had monkeys as pets but primates on their home world never got past
the clever chimp stage. As it happened, I was the first one to make
contact. Maybe that wasn't the best thing, but there it was.
I'm a werewolf. Yes, really. And I was camping in the bad lands of
eastern Montana when their craft...appeared. I won't say "landed"
because one minute it wasn't there, and then it just was. They had been
observing me for some time and considered me to be the most logical
person to meet. They had obviously not studied our culture or they'd
have known my type was persecuted. The Gravogians assumed much, but knew
little. Two tall handsome wolves wearing tunics and wrist computers
stepped out of their sleek black craft and introduced themselves.

"Hello, Earthican, I am delegate Vukolag sent to make contact from
planet Gravog", said the wolf with yellow eyes.

I happened to be in my were-form at the time and couldn't speak as
clearly as I could in human form. I raised a paw in a 'wait-a-minute'
gesture and began to shift back. The Gravogians didn't bat an eye. Yet
another assumption that I wasn't that unusual on my own planet. They'd
learn. Oh yes.

"How'd you get here?", I gasped. Of course I knew they'd flown in a
space ship but I was stalling for time to suss them out. I never assumed
the best of anyone. Experience is a bitch like that.

"We come from the nebula region you call 'Perseid' in the ship you see
there", the green eyed wolf gestured. He continued;"I am Kemlar, second
delegate on this mission."

"Should I take you to my leader?' I quipped, smiling.

"Let us explain our mission", said yellow eyes. "Your people are being
considered for inclusion to what you Earthicans call a 'parliament'. We
were chosen by the General Assembly to contact you based on humans
affinity for canines."

"Well, you might want to take a good hard look at us before you make
your final decision", I said.

"We fully intend to. After our report, the members of the Assembly will
vote on your readiness", green eyes said with a slight nod.

I wondered why they'd chosen this point in time to say hi. Especially
since there was a third war now starting in the middle east. One thing I
did know though. If I had my way; they'd be taking me back with them. I
had given up hope for my own species long ago. Funny how chance works
like that. If they had picked an average non-were at random they might
have gotten a better impression of us.

"So where do we start, Kemlar?", I asked.

Kemlar smiled, cocked his head to one side, and gestured towards their
ship. I followed the two wolves inside to a laboratory room. After we
were seated on chairs with backs made to accommodate tails, Vukolag
explained their psy-tech.

"This device will allow us to tap into the memory centers of your brain.
That way we can get a detailed history of your people."

"This won't hurt will it?", I asked.

"Not at all", continued Vukolag, "you will feel as if you are dreaming."

The chair reclined smoothly and soon I had an array of sensors placed on
my head. Then, they induced sleep.

* * * *

[§ñühwö£f]

Post by §ñühwö£f
The Delegates from Planet Gravog
When they first arrived people were excited. SETI had finally paid off.
Their mission; to meet with us for possible inclusion into the General
Assembly of Galaxies. Some Earthlings, myself included, called them
'Romulans'. Not because they looked anything like the race of the same
name from the successful movie franchise. But rather that they reminded
us of our own mythology. Let me explain. They were intelligent wolves.
Bipedal like us and with opposable thumbs. Yet quite obviously on their
home world the canine had become the dominant species. There was an
affinity for us immediately. Perhaps due to our best friends being dogs.
They had monkeys as pets but primates on their home world never got past
the clever chimp stage. As it happened, I was the first one to make
contact. Maybe that wasn't the best thing, but there it was.
I'm a werewolf. Yes, really. And I was camping in the bad lands of
eastern Montana when their craft...appeared. I won't say "landed"
because one minute it wasn't there, and then it just was. They had been
observing me for some time and considered me to be the most logical
person to meet. They had obviously not studied our culture or they'd
have known my type was persecuted. The Gravogians assumed much, but knew
little. Two tall handsome wolves wearing tunics and wrist computers
stepped out of their sleek black craft and introduced themselves.
"Hello, Earthican, I am delegate Vukolag sent to make contact from
planet Gravog", said the wolf with yellow eyes.
I happened to be in my were-form at the time and couldn't speak as
clearly as I could in human form. I raised a paw in a 'wait-a-minute'
gesture and began to shift back. The Gravogians didn't bat an eye. Yet
another assumption that I wasn't that unusual on my own planet. They'd
learn. Oh yes.
"How'd you get here?", I gasped. Of course I knew they'd flown in a
space ship but I was stalling for time to suss them out. I never assumed
the best of anyone. Experience is a bitch like that.
"We come from the nebula region you call 'Perseid' in the ship you see
there", the green eyed wolf gestured. He continued;"I am Kemlar, second
delegate on this mission."
"Should I take you to my leader?' I quipped, smiling.
"Let us explain our mission", said yellow eyes. "Your people are being
considered for inclusion to what you Earthicans call a 'parliament'. We
were chosen by the General Assembly to contact you based on humans
affinity for canines."
"Well, you might want to take a good hard look at us before you make
your final decision", I said.
"We fully intend to. After our report, the members of the Assembly will
vote on your readiness", green eyes said with a slight nod.
I wondered why they'd chosen this point in time to say hi. Especially
since there was a third war now starting in the middle east. One thing I
did know though. If I had my way; they'd be taking me back with them. I
had given up hope for my own species long ago. Funny how chance works
like that. If they had picked an average non-were at random they might
have gotten a better impression of us.
"So where do we start, Kemlar?", I asked.
Kemlar smiled, cocked his head to one side, and gestured towards their
ship. I followed the two wolves inside to a laboratory room. After we
were seated on chairs with backs made to accommodate tails, Vukolag
explained their psy-tech.
"This device will allow us to tap into the memory centers of your brain.
That way we can get a detailed history of your people."
"This won't hurt will it?", I asked.
"Not at all", continued Vukolag, "you will feel as if you are dreaming."
The chair reclined smoothly and soon I had an array of sensors placed on
my head. Then, they induced sleep.
* * * *

I was re-experiencing my life. As a werewolf, I'm long lived. We can
expect to last about 300 years before we finally expire. Most of us die
violently however so I was again; an exception to a rule. My earliest
memories they tapped were from Salem Massachusetts.
My wife Mary was in shackles. I, known as John Eastick then, sat next to
her in stocks. A huge oaken collar around my neck with a chain anchored
to the floor. Of course the villagers had grown suspicious: my wife had
aged over twenty years, whereas I had not. So they hauled us before some
bastard named Phipps who was going through the motions of a trial of
sorts. It was all bullshit based on superstitious nonsense...and ergot
poisoning. So after we'd been accused of being witches along with Sam
Wardwell, and some women who I didn't know, faced Americas first water
boarding. In retrospect, we were trend-setters. They put us in the
'dunking chair'; a long pole with a chair on the end that could be
submerged in a lake. It was to extract confessions. It worked. People
confessed to sleeping with the devil, making cows give sour milk, and
all sorts of ridiculous crap. Their reward for fessing up to their
'crimes'? Pressing. This involves being placed under a large wooden
door, while the friendly townsfolk stack rocks on top. Of course the
real criminal, Cotton Mather, never got any real punishment.
I broke loose from my dunking chair when I turned wolf. I entered the
pond as a human, but emerged as wolf. I ran until I got to western
Pennsylvania. I could feel the Gravogians probing my mind. Scrolling
through my memories as one would a video with a thumb-wheel. They
stopped during my stint as a 'conductor' for the underground railroad.
By that time I'd gotten all the way to Quincy Missouri in my trek west
and saw the need to help escaped slaves. After seeing twenty slaves hung
for wanting freedom, I joined the cause. I had a small house and barn on
the outside of Quincy where I would hide the passengers. Several times I
had to break into plantations as wolf, shift to human and explain to the
slaves they had a ticket on the underground railway, then help the
slaves escape by leading them to a station. Bounty hunters would kill me
and recapture the slaves if they found us. But I would kill the pursuers
as wolf.

* * * *