Second Contact is now posted.
Chapter Four of Four
Of alien races, the Shfathshfain have formed the closest bond to humanity, despite remarkable differences in intellectual, sexual, and individual neural organization. The emotional compatibility from the first is remarkable, as was reflected by repeated contacts during the war centuries, most notably in the person of sealwife of The Alverin Cumae.
Of course, as one wag observed, it is easier for humans to get along with creatures that look like harp seals, warm and fuzzy with big, soft eyes, than with the silicon-based dendrites, blind flower-creatures, methane-breathing manta-rays, liquid-nitrogen-swimming cephalopods, or titanic, armored monster-worms.