The pitter-patter of rain fell down Xants back.

He sat in the twilight watching the multicolored waves crash on the black sand beach.

It was calm, peaceful and beautiful, he loved it when his mind let him visit this precious place.

The rain only added to the environment's beauty, the water drops fell on the dark ocean and caused colours to ripple among the waves.

The sand was crumbly between his fingers, and the wind was warm and welcoming, he relaxed his shoulders, closed his eyes while soaking in as much as he could.

These moments were fleeting, there was no knowing when he would return, Xant had learned dreams were fickle that way.

The sand under he fingers turned shaggy and warm, a giant cold raindrop smeared across his face-

Sieglinde's tongue licked Xants face, waking him from the dream.

“Xant Xant!” she nudged him with his nose, the golden retriever snuggling up under his arm from under the covers. Her voice was bouncy but her body was still sluggish from the morning.

Xant couldn’t be annoyed with the creature, he patted her head and sighed.

“Hello friend Sieglinde,”

He sat up and recalled his surroundings.

The ‘master bedroom’ of the super yacht, unkept and chaotic, not his usual residence at all.

The rain still fell, dripping against his skin, a sensation recording that tapped into the Frequency Network. Frequency or ‘Freq’ was the electronic signals and waves that connected all living and sapient creatures. If you had a Freq pulse, you were considered intelligent, above that of animals that existed on pure instinct, capable of complex thought and emotion.

Both he, a Zenthi, and the golden retriever Sieglinde were born with these abilities.

The human, who was snoring loudly on the other side of the bed, needed a little help on the matter.

Jasmine was deep, deep in sleep, while she usually held herself with poise and condefence, when she slept it was much like the room around them, a chaotic mess. Her limbs stretched out across the kingsize bed, an arm hanging over the side, a pillow between her legs and a small drool patch under her open mouth.

She lay on her right side, exposing the small metal part of her translator, the rest living as a separate organ inside her skull and threaded down her surprisingly small spinal column.

Humans were not born with the organs to broadcast Freq, yet possessed an incredible processor inside their brains. Once they were equipped with the right equipment, humans turned out to have the most powerful signals outside of council sanctioned, genetically engineered soldiers and the Arvas imperial elite.

Thankfully, the one asleep beside him did not use her powers for ill intent.

Xant reached to the bedside table and turned off the sensation recording, the pleasantly cold rain vanished from his nerves and he was met with warm stale air. He needed to get up and move around, staying in bed would only make his muscles more sore.

Xant pulled back the covers and swung his legs and tail off the bed, rubbing the thin, long ears that sat atop his head. Dark speckled skin, a long snout and forward facing eyes, the human, Jasmine, had once described him as an anteater crossed with a killer whale. Xant was not fond of either of those comparisons and insisted he simply looked like a Zenthi but she assured him it was not meant as an insult .

Sieglinde was slow to jump off the bed, walking to the ensuite sink and sitting beside it.

“Xant, may I have water to drink?'' The dog, while being a companion species to the human, was not able to manipulate many of the devices aboard the yacht. Humans without the Freq sense were not able to communicate directly with their friends, so, built a world completely unsuited to anyone not human. He had come across several obstacles resulting from his tail and Captain Rynard couldn't even fit down stairs, the giant Sulin had been living on the deck.

Xant walked over to the ensuite and turned the tap, filling a bowl left out for the lovely dog.

“There you go Sieglinde,” Xant smiled, and reached to fill up a glass of his own.

The action was interrupted by a thud, and a yelp of surprise.

Jasmine had rolled out of bed unconscious and onto the floor.

“I’m ok!” she blurted out, scrambling to her feet and nearly falling over the clothes in her way.

Xant filled up a second glass and waited in the entrance, it would be another 30 second before the human would register anything comprehensive and so the Zenthi simply waited for her consciousness to finish switching over from dream to awake.

Jasmine rubbed her eyes and yawned awkwardly, blinking several times before she recognised Xant and Sieglinde.

Xant offered her the glass.

“Water?”

“Oh God yes,” she exclaimed and proceeded to gulp the entire glass in one hit. She handed the glass back, followed by another yawn and more blinking, “goddamn, my head is dizzy…”

“Better than being in pain,” Xant nodded his head,

“Yeah, guess you stopped me drinking just in time, not the worst hangover in the world, nothing a bacon sandwich wouldn’t fix-” the human cut off her thought, there would be no bacon sandwich to enjoy in space, “next best thing, how about some seared salmon?” she smiled at her companions.

“Prehaps it’s best we prepare ourselves for the quarter ahead, before we rush into sustenance?” Xant offered. They were no longer alone on the yacht, two other humans had joined their ranks and were not as trusting of either Xant or Jasmine.

The human took a moment before catching on, she looked at her reflection in the ensuite mirror.

Dark circles formed under blue eyes, fading tanned skin, the stubble of regrown brown hair and an unflattering drool stain down the side of her jaw. Her clothes were crumpled from the bed and her pants stained blue from last nights... distressing activities.

“Yeah, I should probably get cleaned up,” she admitted.

“Then we can discuss how to approach the other humans,” Xant proposed.

“Glad you’ve got the mind for a plan.” Jasmine chuckled, putting on a brave smile to hide the lingering effects of a mild hangover. There was only so much that could counteract a whole bottle of Russias finest, Jasmine would be quick cleaning up though, she was absolutely starving, “then we can get food for the lot of us,”

“More for me!” Sieglinde barked happily.

Jasmine grinned and squatted down to give the golden retriever a good all-over scratch and rub.

“Especially more for you! Who’s a good girl? Who’s a-” The humans' voice caught in her throat as her hands stopped at Sigi’s waist, then the most excited squeal slowly escaped her lips.

“Jasmine?”

The human looked up at Xant, her eyes tearing up.

“Xant!” she whispered loudly “I can feel the puppies!”

Pups.

Xants curiosity got the better of him, as he crouched down beside the pair, Jasmine lead his hand to Sieglinde's belly gently.

“You can feel their freq pulse!” Jasmine was overjoyed, Sieglinde was glowing delightfully from the attention, as Xant pressed his fingers to the golden fur, he could indeed feel the stirring of several different pulses, weak at the moment, but distinctly there.

“Friend Sieglinde can feel it, Sieglinde will be a life giver soon!”

Jasmine embraced the dog tightly, and upon release was filled with a new found determination.

“I’m getting dressed, then we’re going to breakfast, Sigi deserves a feast!”

Xant nodded his head along, there wasn’t much he could do to dissuade a human once they had set their mind to something. He would make sure he grabbed his dataslate before they went downstairs however, a revision of their discussion last night was in order.