"Attention people," the female voice announced from behind the mega screen, "USARIC is committed to the safety and the wellbeing of all the contenders. We ask that you remain seated at all times during the trials. Any attempts to interact with the contenders will result in immediate disqualification."
A soundtrack began to play as the white running lines lit up. "People, welcome to the Star Cat Project, and the Star Cat Trials, London. Now, please welcome your host… Gunnar Kane."
The audience erupted with excitement as Gunnar, a smartly dressed man with bright white teeth, sprinted in front of the track and held out his arms. He gripped his headset and pointed and winked at random people in the audience.
"Wow, thank you for that wonderful app-paws!" he said in his thick, southern-American accent.
The crowd laughed at the joke as Gunnar stepped back and pointed at the paddocks.
"We truly have the cream of the crop with us today. Fifty of London’s premiere contenders. Give it up for the felines, would you?"
The crowd burst into applause once again.
The cats in the paddocks rattled the bars. Some with their paws, others with their noses. They didn’t look especially happy to be cooped up in the cages.
Jelly didn’t move very much. She dug her claws into the fabric surface and licked her lips, itching for the bars to open up.
"Let’s begin." Gunnar joined a panel of three judges at a desk near the participants’ seating block. "Round one…"
Round One
- Agility -
The title of the activity appeared on the mega-screen showing various clips of cats running and jumping around.
"Agility. In this first round, whichever contender reaches the end of the one-hundred meter track and hits the button on the floor wins. The first three will then proceed to the next round."
"Mom, look," Jamie pointed at the eighteenth paddock, "There she is."
Jelly pressed her nose through the bars and sniffed around. Jamie and Emily could just about make her out from their seats.
"This will be interesting," Emily said. "Come on, Jelly. Don’t screw this up."
Jamie shuffled in his seat and pressed his palms together. "Come on, Jelly."
"Here we go," Gunnar announced through his headset, "In three… two… one…"
The music ground to a halt as the audience held their breath in anticipation. Gunnar waved his hand down, signaling the start of the activity.
"Go!"
The paddock cages flew open and released the animals.
Ten of the cats, including Jelly, jumped out.
The others whined and either nestled down for comfort or tried to attack the opened bars.
"Okay, that’s ten, eleven, fifteen and eighteen out of the paddock, followed by twenty-two, twenty-five and forty-two and forty-four," Gunnar commentated over the proceedings, "Not much in it between them as they wander around."
Jelly stepped forward and poked around the white line. A spark ignited, forcing her back into her lane.
"No, they’re hurting her!" Jamie jumped to his feet, "There’s electricity keeping them in line."
"What?"
Jelly shook her head and turned to the east side. The white lines flickered and trailed along the width of her path, promising salvation one hundred meters away.
"Go on, Jelly!" Jamie shouted over the crowd as he watched his cat trundle along the path, "Yes, yes."
Fiorina climbed to her feet and threw her arms in the air, "Come on, Cindee. Run."
The white cat in lane forty-four made eyes at Jelly in lane eighteen and hissed.
Jelly stood her ground and flicked her tail, "Meow."
"I think our contestants need a little encouragement, guys," Gunnar said to the audience, "How about it?"
The crowd cheered with excitement.
Just then, the cat in lane twenty-two, a slinky silver-furred beast, figured out what she was supposed to be doing. She leaned back on her haunches and propelled forward.
"Jelly," Jamie screamed at Jelly, "Run, run."
Gunnar hit a button on the console. A holograph of a mouse snapped into each of the fifty lanes. The image shot along the path and caught the cats’ attention.
Jelly meowed and bolted after the rodent.
"Yes, go. Go," Jamie clapped his hands, keeping an eye on lane forty-four.
Cindee chased after her holographic mouse, keeping up with Jelly’s speed.
The silver pet in lane twenty-two gained on Cindee and Jelly as they raced forward.
"Here we go," Gunnar said. "It seems it’s between eighteen, twenty-two, and forty-four."
The holographic mouse whizzed toward the east end of the arena, with Jelly, Cindee and the nameless silver cat in hot pursuit.
"Cindee’s going to win," Fiorina jumped in her shoes with astonishment, "Go, Cindee."
"No, she’s not," Jamie barked at his new friend, "Jelly’s gonna smash her."
The mega-screen displayed a top-down view of the racing track. Cindee’s paws pushed out a few inches in front of Jelly.
The silver cat shot in between the pair and launched into the air, trying to take a swipe at the mouse.
It was enough to catapult the shiny ball of fluff through the holograph and ahead by several lengths.
Jelly sped up and ran through her holographic mouse. Her fur sparked and stood on end, "Meeoow."
"Eighteen is leading by a nose to twenty-two in second and, finally, forty-four in third," Gunnar announced to the audience. "Only twenty meters to go."
Cindee gained on the pair and deliberately jumped to the left, knowing that the white line might zap her and send her to the head of the pack.
It did.
Cindee’s shoulder connected with the invisible barrier and spun her around in mid-air, throwing her to her paws, aiding her travel.
She blasted through her holographic mouse, sending a shower of orange sparks forward as she passed the finish line.
She slammed her paws on the button surface and tumbled over three times.
A giant gong sounded off as the mega screen burst to life, revealing that lane forty-four had won.
"We have a winner," Gunnar watched the silver cat storm into second position.
Jelly screeched to a halt in third place and tumbled over the button on the ground…
Round One
Agility Results
1st place: Cindee (The Family Beamish)
2nd Place: Bullet (The Family Cotter)
3rd Place: Jelly (The Family Anderson)
Three cat handlers approached the winners of the race and ushered each of them into a mobile cage.
"Aww, man," Jamie stomped on the ground and folded his arms in a huff.
"Calm down, poppet," Emily pushed him back to his seat, "Cindee won that one, fair and square."
"It’s not fair."
Fiorina clapped her hands together amid the onslaught of adulation from the crowd behind them, "Yes, yes, yes…"
"That’s not fair," Jamie thumped the girl on her shoulder, "Your cat cheated."
"She did not."
"Yes, she did. She used the electric barrier to speed her up."
"So? That’s allowed, you know," the girl spun around and threatened to smack Jamie, "Your stupid orange cat is just too fat and slow."
"Don’t say that about Jelly."
"Hey, hey. Stop this lessense, please," Fiorina’s mother broke the two children apart with her hands, "Play nice, or don’t play at all."
"She was the one talking lessense," Jamie said with complete superiority, "Silly cheater."
"I never cheated. You’re just a bad loser."
"I’m sorry about this, Mrs Beamish," Emily clutched her son’s arm and forced him back to his seat. "Jamie’s just a bit upset about the result."
"That’s fine, but I’d appreciate it if your son wouldn’t hit my daughter."
Fiorina scowled at Jamie. She stuck her tongue out at the boy and sat back into her seat.
"Id
iot," Jamie muttered a little too loudly.
"Shut up, ugly."
Round Two
- Prowess -
"And then there were three," Gunnar stepped back. The white panels slid across to the middle of the arena.
"Round two will measure our three contenders ability to think, consider and operate to the best of their intelligence. Welcome to… Prowess."
The title of the game fizzed to life on the mega-screen. It displayed footage of a variety of pets pushing objects around a gleaming surface.
A female voice provided a narration to the game, "It could be pure intelligence. Of course, it could be luck. Prowess contains four holes on the white panel. It’s just a matter of who completes the activity first."
Four shapes lined the panels.
1 - Square
2 - Circle
3 - Star
4 - Crescent
The plastic blocks lay several inches ahead of the slots. Their arrangement, however, did not naturally correspond to the correct hole.
"Which of the three finalists can conquer Prowess first - and quickest?" asked the female announcer as the footage faded to black.
Gunnar stepped forward and held out his palm to the activity center in the middle of the arena.
The mega-screen displayed the three finalists in their cages, ready to hop out and do… something, at least.
"Here we go," he said. "Handlers, please release our contestants."
The handlers popped open the cages and offered the three cats out and onto the podium in front of the activity.
Jelly trundled out, quite the happy cat. Obediently, she sat on the padded surface, somewhat distracted by the four toys in front of her.
After some coaxing, Cindee exited the cage and followed her tail around three times before settling down.
Still to come out of her cage was Bullet.
"Come on," her handler said. "Bullet, let’s go."
"She’s not very quick, is she?" Fiorina grew impatient and crossed her legs on her seat, "Whose cat is that, anyway?"
"I don’t know," Jamie looked around for the owner, "They must be here, someplace."
"She’s my cat," said a bearded, pasty-faced man in his fifties. Jamie looked to his right to find he the man sitting all on his own.
"Her name is Bullet?"
“Yes.”
“Not very quick, is she?”
"She’s usually pretty good at obeying orders," he said, worried at Bullet’s refusal to exit the cage.
"Are you here all on your own, mister?"
The man looked down and rubbed his knees through his jeans. "Yes. It’s just me and her."
"Why did you put Bullet in the contest?"
"Poppet, leave the man alone."
He turned to Emily and tried for a smile, "No, it’s okay. It’s quite simple, really. I need the money."
"Yeah," Emily giggled, "Don’t we all?"
"But what if Bullet wins the trials?" Jamie asked, quite forthrightly. "You would be all on your own?"
"I could get a new cat with the money, though," the man said.
A curious response for a five-year-old to fully comprehend. Jamie thought the man’s response over for what felt like an eternity.
The idea of selling your best friend to make a quick buck gave Jamie the chills, "How could you do that?"
"Quite easily," the man said. "It’s not as if I’d never see her again. Life would be better for both of us if she won. And you know something, young man?"
"No, what?"
"She will win," he chuckled and punched his knuckles together.
"No, she won’t. She’s no match for Jelly."
"We’ll see about that."
Bullet’s handler had little choice but to hoist her forward under the arms. He plonked the silver cat onto her podium and shut the cage door.
"Oh dear," Gunnar said, his image displayed on the mega-screen, "I think the judges may knock off a few points for Bullet’s refusal to take part."
The audience booed and rumbled the ground with their feet. Bullet’s owner folded his arms and sat back into his seat, "Okay, now that is unfair."
Jelly appeared on the giant screen, looking directly at the audience, "Mom, look."
"Yes, it’s her," Emily looked at her cat’s face and smiled, "Isn’t she gorgeous?"
"You can do this, Jelly," Jamie whispered. "Just put the right block in the hole."
The stadium spotlights twisted around and shone onto the three feline participants, causing the audience to tense up.
"Okay, here we go…" Gunnar announced. "In… three… two… one…"
"Come on, Cindee!" Fiorina muttered loudly enough for Jamie to hear.
"… and, go," Gunnar finished.
Jelly sniffed around the first star-shaped plastic block hoping it wouldn’t pounce back.
Satisfied that the block wasn’t the enemy, she rubbed the side of her face along its top and knocked it onto its side.
"No, Jelly," Jamie gasped. "What are you doing? Don’t play with it, you silly girl."
Cindee extended her paw at the square block and tapped it three times in a row. She growled and flicked it onto its side.
"Yes," Fiorina beamed with glee, "Do it."
Cindee knocked the square into the correct hole, enabling a buzzer to sound off around the arena. The square hole lit up, indicating that it had been solved.
A strange, continual hissing noise played through the speakers. The three cats looked up in confusion.
"That was just lucky," Jamie said to Fiorina, keeping an eye on Jelly.
Bullet, on the other hand, found the crescent shape utterly fascinating. She pawed the top, forcing it to rock back and forth along its curve.
Cindee turned to Bullet and hissed at her. Bullet hissed back and smashed the crescent with her left paw as hard as she could.
The plastic toy rolled off the deck and hit the floor a few feet below them.
Another buzzer sounded off, followed by a red spotlight shining over Bullet’s crescent-shaped hole.
"Oh, the judges won’t like that," Gunnar narrated
Jelly scanned the four pieces of plastic and then looked down at the four holes, "Meow."
Jamie shuffled in his seat, trying to transmit good vibes. "Come on, Jelly. Do it."
She lifted her paw and felt around the circular hole and sniffed around at it.
"Don’t just sit there being stupid," Jamie said. "Put the thing in the thing."
Cindee turned to Jelly and murmured. Jelly ignored her and flicked her tail around. She reached forward with both paws, grabbed the circular piece of plastic and threw it into the hole.
Another buzzer shot around the arena, followed by a white spotlight on the completed unit.
"Ooo, now we’re neck-and-neck," Gunnar said. "It’s amaziant. An intense test of paw-eye coordination."
The hiss through the speakers grew louder and louder, putting the three cats off their game.
And then, twelve seconds into the noise, the whump sound occurred.
Jelly, Cindee, and Bullet jumped into the air, startled.
The crowd let out a collective "Oooooh” as the cats returned to their podium, full of anxiety.
"What was that noise, Mom?"
"I don’t know, poppet."
Judging by the look on Gunnar’s face, he knew precisely what was going on.
The great unwashed public knew nothing of Saturn Cry. The heats would be a test of the unwashed and their response to it.
Typically, the humans just found it confusing. Perhaps a glitch in the arena’s sound system?
The three cats, however, felt that something antagonistic was abound.
Pent-up with anxiety, Bullet accidentally knocked the square off the activity desk, sending it crashing to the ground below. She let out an angry whine and bristled her tail, ready to attack something.
"Bullet, no," the man next to Jamie said. "Don’t do it."
"Shh," Fiorina said over her sho
ulder as she turned back to watch the event.
Bullet dug her claws into the fabric of the podium seat, and poised to move.
"What’s she doing?" Fiorina asked herself, watching Bullet turn forty-five degrees to face Cindee, "She’s not playing."
Cindee knocked the next shape into the correct hole and reward herself by laying down and licking her paws. It afforded her a perfect view of Bullet, who prepared to launch at her.
The two cats snarled at each other.
Cindee hopped back to her feet and crouched down, her internal alarm sounding off.
Bullet sprang from her podium and pounced onto Cindee, paws-first.
Cindee wailed and smacked Bullet across the face with her claws.
"Hey, wait, wait," Gunnar said. "This isn’t on."
Bullet fought back and dug her claws into Cindee’s stomach, pushing her onto her back.
The two tussled and tried to tear into each other.
Jelly watched the tussle between her two rivals and accidentally knocked her circular plastic toy into the correct hole. The action took her by surprise.
Cindee and Bullet went at it, screeching and wailing, tumbling back and forth. The remainder of Cindee’s blocks flew off the activity bench.
"Someone stop them!" Emily stood up and shouted at the arena floor, "This is crazy."
The handlers moved forward very cautiously, not wanting to alert the two feuding cats.
Then, twenty-seconds into the hissing, another whump blasted through the speakers.
Cindy and Bullet rolled away from each other and began to purr.
Jelly did the same and returned to sniff her blocks.
Bullet rolled around and stood upright, rubbing Cindee’s face with hers.
"Why are they behaving like this?" She scanned the ceiling of the arena, "And what’s that stupid noise?"
"I don’t know." Jamie saw Cindee poke her nose around Bullet’s behind. She leapt from Cindee’s podium and back to her own.
Jelly knocked her fourth and final piece, the crescent, into the slot by accident.
The entire console lit up, followed by a shower of orange sparks.
Star Cat: Infinity Claws: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 1) (2nd Edition) Page 4
