The home stood upon a dark lonely hill. Its wooden exterior dark and menacing, yellow light pouring through the glass windows.

This was an isolated spot, deliberately so. Beyond the windows, trees grew to the outermost horizon. Within that darkness, foxes scurried on their hunt for food and owls hooted at the waning moon.
Tarra gazed out of her bedroom window. Mom was at work as usual. Papa had left years before, unable to cope with his wife’s erratic behaviour.

Tarra was a happy thirteen year old. Her straight and yellow hair always seemed to gleam, even when it went unwashed.

She watched as bats flitted past, seeming to engage in aerobatics before her enquiring eyes. Her mother would return at dawn, she had better go to bed.

Sighing deeply, she turned her head away as a flash of light attracted her attention.

“What can that be?” she asked softly.

She screwed her eyes and stared hard through the cloak of darkness. Just within the boundary of the woods, a flashing halo of green light was clearly visible. Tarra had never seen anything like it.

She turned away quickly and threw her housecoat over her slim shoulders before prancing from the room. She darted down the creaky stairs and entering the hall made her way to the locked rear door.
In a moment it was open, cold air rushing past as she carefully crept outside. Her small hand pulled the door shut and she walked slowly but with purpose towards the location where the light had been seen.

As she got closer, the darkness seemed to grow denser and her heart beat a little faster. A loud whirring sound seemed to be coming from the woods, but the light had vanished.

A loud click persuaded her to crouch low. As she watched, an indistinct figure came into view. It was at that moment Tarra sneezed.

“Who’s there?” a strange high-pitched voice called out.

Tarra remained silent, holding her breath in desperation.

“Please come out,” the voice called. “I won’t harm you, promise.”

Tarra stood nervously as the figure watched from the trees.

“Please sir, I was just looking.”

“Of course you were little girl. No harm in looking you know.”

“I am not a little girl,” she protested. “At least not anymore.”

“Come closer,” the voice called. “I don’t bite.”

She crept slowly forward and gradually the figure came into full view. What she saw was clearly impossible.

Standing before her eyes was a rather large slim cat. He stood upon his hind legs and seemed to be holding something between his paws.
She saw the sea blue eyes gazing at her and the animal smiled.

“What’s the matter? Never seen a cat before?”

Tarra shook her head and rubbed her eyes quickly. The apparition remained solid.

The cat came forward, putting out a paw.

“I’m Jerrix Tau by the way.”

Tarra shook it.

“Tarra Jenkins. This can’t be possible.”

Jerrix looked surprised.

“That is the problem with humanoids,” he muttered. “Always assuming they are the pinnacle of creation.”

“Well we are,” Tarra replied studying him closely.

She clearly saw the deep brown fur over his paws and head but his body was wrapped in a bright yellow cloak that was kept closed with a throat clasp. She saw that two side pockets had been sown in. In one paw, he was holding a small silver star.

“What is that for?” she asked pointing.

“Just a direction finder Tarra, nothing important. Definitely not a ray gun.”

“I am glad of that,” she replied. “Are you lost then?”

Jerrix looked shocked.

“Me lost? Never. Just checking the location that’s all.”

“You sound lost to me,” she replied.

“What would you know about it? My brain would not fit inside that tiny skull of yours.”

“Look who’s talking,” she responded.

“Are we going to spend eternity arguing or can I leave now?”

“Where will you go to?” Tarra asked. “This is the middle of nowhere.”

“Ah, that is where you are wrong. I have a craft you see.”

Tarra gazed past the strange figure but her human eyes saw nothing.

“You have quite a walk then.”

“What do you mean walk? It’s right behind me,” Jerrix replied.

“That’s funny, I don’t see it.”

Jerrix laughed.

“Actually I am glad you can’t. That would be rather awkward.”

He glanced at the silver star and promptly swung around. As she watched, he stepped forward and vanished.

“Hey, wait for me.”

Tarra followed and found herself inside an alien craft. She gazed at
the walls and floor that shimmered pale blue. Ahead, Jerrix stood before four metallic cat statues, each around five feet high.
Slightly taller than he. The statues stood at the four compass points and within that space, a metal dome rose to waist height.

Jerrix turned as she walked across the spongy floor.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Yes it is me. You don’t think that vanishing trick fooled me do you?”

“It seems not Tarra. Now you had better leave.”

“Give me one good reason why?”

“I could give you a dozen reasons. The fact is I have to leave.”

“In this thing?”

“Of course. See these levers?” Jerrix asked.

Tarra could only see three.

“What about them?”

“If I pull one of them we leave this planet of yours. So if I were you...”

“Wherever you are going I’m coming too,” she said quickly.

Jerrix was astonished.

“Are you sure Tarra? It won’t be a picnic.”

Tarra folded her arms.

“I’m staying Jerrix. At least for now.”

“As you wish.”

He turned and wandered to the north-facing statue where he seemed to pull something. Seconds later, rays of white light shot from the eyes of the statues and formed a silver grid above the dome.

“What do you think?” Jerrix asked.

“Quite amazing. What is it?”

He did not answer but simply waited. A few seconds later a spiral shaped sea of stars appeared. A huge bulge of light shone at the centre, and two dots flashed. Tarra noticed that they were on opposite sides of the galaxy.

“What do you make of that?” Jerrix asked.

“I’m not as dumb as you seem to think,” she replied. “The nearside dot is Earth but I don’t recognise the other one.”

“Of course you don’t. From your planet, it’s invisible. That dot is where I come from.”

A third dot started flashing, quite near the galactic centre on Earth’s side.

“Why is that flashing?” she asked.

Jerrix smiled as he walked to the east side. He pulled the lever sharply down and said, “That is where we are going.”

There was no feeling of movement, nothing at all. Not even a slight vibration. Moments later Jerrix pushed the lever to the middle position.

“We have arrived Tarra. Fancy taking a peek?”

He walked quickly past her and vanished again. She was about to follow when he reappeared, covered in snow.

“It’s far too cold.”

Tarra laughed.

“Serves you right. I can’t possibly go out like this.”

“I see you’re point. Now let me see.”

He rubbed his chin a moment before wandering over to the far wall.
He bent down and pulled open a hidden drawer. She approached as he tossed a small silver ball in her direction. She managed to catch it.

“Well done, you have excellent reflexes.”

He closed the drawer and stood to his full height once more. Then he placed his ball in a side pocket and suggested that she do likewise.

“How will this help?”

“It will keep us warm. Now come on.”

He vanished once more and taking a deep breath Tarra followed.

She had expected to freeze at once but a warm glow surrounded her slight form.

“Warm enough?” he asked.

“It is amazing Jerrix. I don’t feel cold at all.”

“Just keep the thermal globe in that pocket of yours, otherwise you freeze.”

She glanced around the windswept landscape. Sharp towers of rock stood stark against the pale sky as flakes of snow fell around them.
She turned expecting to see the craft but apart from a slight green glow, it was gone.

“It is turning opaque, never mind,” he explained. “I can always find it again. Linked to my cortex you know.”

She stepped forward as the snow rose to knee depth.

“Where are we Jerrix?”

“In your own language it is called Sagittarius one. Of course your astronomers have not seen it yet.”

“You don’t speak English?” Tarra asked.

“Of course not, I’m a cat after all. That would be silly.”

The young girl was puzzled.

“How come I can understand you then?”

“Our minds are linked. Have been from the moment we met. Not to worry it is perfectly normal.”

“Are we going to stay here long?” she asked.

“Depends on what we find. I reckon we go this way.”

Jerrix walked off in a westerly direction as Tarra followed. The snow acted as a restraint to their movements but they waded on.

“Have you done this before?” Tarra asked.

“Many times. I am a seasoned traveller.”

As he said this he tripped, landing on his furry nose.

“Eh right,” she said giggling.

As he scrambled free, he coughed loudly, wiping the snow from his cloak.

“That was lucky,” he commented.

“Call that lucky?”

“I was referring to the thermal globe Tarra. It remained in my deep pocket. Now if we go this way...”

He pointed ahead towards what seemed to be a distant ledge.
They trudged on as the wind billowed around them. At this extreme altitude, there was nothing but silence. No birds, no nothing.

They stopped as the ledge was reached.

Tarra looked across an extreme range of mountains rising up from a sea of low-lying clouds.

“It looks beautiful,” she muttered.

“Certainly does,” he replied looking down.

She followed his gaze and saw the snow covered ground falling away. To her horror, he sat and gingerly put his legs over the edge.

“We can’t go down there,” she exclaimed. “It’s far too dangerous.”

“There is a glacier just below here,” he replied. “We can slide down. It is much quicker than walking.”

“Oh come on, we shall be smashed to pieces.”

“You can be boring and stay here if you wish but I’m off.”

She saw him slip over the edge and vanish before sliding rapidly down the hillside. Tarra shook her head before dangling her own legs over the ledge. With a deep breath and a sense of fear, she let go.

The falling sensation was bad enough, but when she found herself hurtling down the ice covered slope her courage failed completely.

“Jerrix!”

The howling wind drowned out her voice as she hurtled toward the cloud base at increasing velocity. She closed her brown eyes in terror as the fluffy white material engulfed her.

In desperation, she thrust her hands into her pockets, gripping the ball tightly as she shot from the clouds and into a wider expanse. To left and right the thick glacier ground on and it seemed that the slope was easing. There was no sign of her companion, no sign of life at all.

She gazed ahead and saw a small blue patch that seemed to be getting larger.

“I hope its water,” she muttered, sliding toward it.

Moments later, there was a loud splash and Tarra found herself swimming in a warm Turkish bath. She clawed her way to the surface and saw Jerrix sitting on a grass-covered embankment watching her.

“Give me a hand then,” she spluttered.

“Try breaststroke,” he suggested.

She swam on, reaching the bank before hauling herself out.

“Knew you could do it,” Jerrix said.

“That was foolhardy in the extreme,” she shouted. “What kind of maniac are you?”

“Maniac indeed. We were never in any real danger. Those clouds were steam. I knew what lay below it.”

“You could have told me,” Tarra complained.

“Why? It would have spoiled your fun,”

“You call that fun?”

“Certainly funnier than ending up in a pig sty.”

He stood up and helped her to her feet. Looking down he noticed that her slippers were missing.

“Your bare feet could get cut, so be careful.”

Before she could reply, Jerrix walked along the embankment muttering quietly.

She followed, despite the wet clothes.

“What are you saying?” she wanted to know.

“I’m observing the fauna Tarra. Very earth like. Oxygen levels are
quite similar too.”

“Is that important?”

“Everything is important. You never know if the locals will grab you.”

He stopped suddenly.

“What is the matter?”

“I thought I heard something,” he whispered.

She strained but heard no sound whatsoever.”

“Must be your unique hearing,” she commented.

“Probably,” he replied. “Humanoids can’t hear a pin drop.”

Just ahead of them Tarra saw a long brown shape that seemed to be burrowing its way out of the ground.

Jerrix grabbed her hand and pulled her unwillingly into the thick undergrowth.

“We have to outrun it,” he said pulling her harder.

They ran for a time before he judged it correct to slow down.

“A killer plant?” she asked.

“Certainly looked like it. I have met this kind of thing before.”

“Which direction?” she asked.

He looked up at the canopy of trees, yellow sky beaming down at him.

“I will take a look.”

Without further comment, Jerrix shinned up the nearest tree and vanished among the leaves.

“What can you see?”

“Quite a lot,” he replied. “There seems to be a town just ahead of us.”

He reappeared and was soon standing beside her.

“We should check it out,” he said.

“A town seems fine to me.”

He took her hand and led her to the edge of the outback where a better view was afforded.

Ahead lay the strangest town she had ever seen in her life.

Ta...This series may not be to everyone's taste...