(Tia reminisces about her home planet and her relationship with the cats there. We hear about the animals that are hunted and why they are hunted. We also learn about the evolution of her species which is descended from cats. She covers the geography of the planet for our comparison.) 

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Tia: getting to cats, cats are little minds on my planet. They're kind of spiritual beings so we tend to look after them and the fact that we can communicate, it's like being able to communicate with another animal on your planet with ease. And to us, because we can communicate and talk to them, even though it's....

John: is it a verbal communication or a telepathic communication?

Tia: verbal.

John: it is a verbal communication.

Tia: uh-huh, yeah. It's......

Russ: that makes them sentient.

Tia: uh-huh, so we call them little minds and we take care of little minds like the reason why I like you guys so much apart from the fact that we've all worked together in the past and Mark's my triple soul, is the fact that you have the same way of reacting to cats as we do on our home planet. I would almost say that you are the nearest earthlings that would be the equivalent to Durondedunn's on my planet.

Russ: there are people who react a lot better than we do.

Tia: yes they are that I know and I only a few of yours too. 

Russ: oh, that's true.

Tia: but cats are very spiritual animals and something that is important to our spiritual growth. Cats are little minds, they're little us' as we were millions and millions of years ago. They are a reflection of that apart from their communicating capable and they're sentient of course. They're spiritual animals. At our shrines and temples and monasteries there are lots of cats that hang out and they are part of the ritual hunts that we do that you will have six or seven priestesses and the high priestess go off on a hunt and you'll have probably twice as many cats that come along and the cats will watch and participate and get smaller game. For example, they may bring down something like a "sheedar".

John: a what?

Tia: it's kind of.....

Russ: a deer-like animal.

Tia: no.

Russ: no?

Tia: no.

Russ: I thought that's what it was the last time we talked about it?

Tia: no, a sheedar is different from what we talked about last time. That was a "hannah", which a deer-like animal.

Russ: oh that's right.

Tia: a sheedar is..........the best way to describe it is from what I've seen, a bigger version of your rabbits.

John: oh okay.

Tia: kind of like four times the size of your hares, jackrabbits as you call them.

Russ: that's a big bunny.

Tia: uh-huh. And they'll bring down one or they may bring down yeah eight or nine of them and they will bring them to the monastery themselves. Each one carrying this animal that's about the size they are between their legs. Drag them all the way back to the base. They will feast on maybe two or three of them and the rest, the skins are always cut off, the skins are dried and so are the heads and the heads are kept for spiritual purposes. The fur is used for clothing and so on and the flesh is used to eat, the bones are used as tools for religious ceremonies and so on and the cats will eat maybe two, three of them or they'll go out and hunt more, it depends on how many there are. And they understand as well as we understand the necessary to maintain the balance.

Russ: hmmm.

Tia: but they're big rabbits. Huge beautiful ears. They're great for tickling with as well.

John: and I take it....

(a phone rings)

Tia: let it ring.

John: there's several varieties of feline species.

Tia: uh-huh.

John: right from what we call our domesticated cat right up through lions and tigers..... 

Tia: no.

John: and larger species?

Tia: no. The biggest that they go is about the size of pumas.

John: oh okay, okay.

Tia: uh-huh. Nothing bigger than that because we are the bigger versions.

John: I see.

Tia: uh-huh and we don't have the manes and the tails or anything but that's what we are descended from. If your planet was on the same evolutionary scale as ours, as your gorillas and chimpanzees and so on are your relatives, so are the cats and the puma equivalent and the tigers. The tigers and lions are the missing......well not the missing branch but the fossil branch.

Russ: hmmm...interesting.

Tia: uh-huh, tape's about ready to end as well. So....

Russ: it's unusual to hear about another planet and its evolution, it's almost like a science fiction except it's science fact.

Tia: yeah, you could say that. Your planet's science fiction to me anyway. Well not so much science fiction as.......

Russ: I mean you've seen this planet, you're seeing this planet. Now we on the other hand have nothing but...........

Tia: stories of.

Russ: stories right.

Tia: stories of Durondedunn.

Russ: Mark has seen it but that's different.

Tia: uh-huh. Oh the great houses and the park lands and the forests. Actually it's something I really do miss is climbing around in trees in the buff. Used to love doing that as a little girl. We don't have so much of a clothes taboo as you guys do.

Russ: probably warmer weather too.

Tia: yeah, down in the low lands but up in the mountains they wear fur more than they wear clothing. But it's done nicely, hair-like jackets and so on.

John: how about the relationship of water to land, is it similar like our planet it's about three quarters water to about one quarter land?

Tia: ours is a little less. I should say it would be, what's it? About 3/16 which is just under a quarter.....no it would be a little bit more than 3/16. Something like about 7/32 is about the equivalent so it's just under a quarter.

John: so you actually have more water on your planet then we do on ours?

Tia: uh-huh, yeah. And that there are people like myself that don't like water. I don't like big open bodies of water. Swimming in rivers is fine to a certain extent. Swimming in pools and ponds, that's okay to a certain extent, I don't personally enjoy it. There are other people on my planet that almost live in the water.

Russ: Dolphin Lake does not entice you I take it?

Tia: no, no. I'm the person that sits in the middle the boat when going boating. Don't you remember that story that Mark told you?

Russ: I remember.

Tia: uh-huh, I'm the person that holds on for dear life. I wear my life vest, I wear flotation devices as much as possible.

Russ: you're surrounded by dolphins.

Tia: so?

Russ: well you'd never drown..

John: do you swim?

Tia: yes, but not very well.

John: so you're not real comfortable when in big bodies of water?

Tia: uh-huh, I will go to the swimming pool from time to time, preferably not when the hairy guys are around. 

(the Wookies on the base)

Russ: anymore.

Tia: I will go swimming, I won't swim on my own. I prefer to have Mark there or Kiri or Alana or Lyka. I'm not a strong swimmer. I will dive in, I don't like being underwater for any length of time. You'll never get me in Lake Dolphin in a wetsuit diving down to great depths like Alana does which she can't do at the moment.

Russ: no.

(Due to her pregnancy)