by M. A. Owens
Kerdy clenched her teeth, when suddenly a young, gray cat with a sword on his side walked into the room. “Oh wow, it’s awake.”
“He,” Kerdy corrected. “Arn, he’s not some unknown species. He’s a dog just like Lady is.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Arn said, gawking at me.
Kerdy clenched her fists, and took in an abnormally deep breath.
Arn threw his paws up. “Hey, I’m sorry. I was just leaving.”
“Arn…” Kerdy said, stopping him in his tracks.
“Yeah?” He said, twisting his head around while still facing the door.
“Why did you come in here?” Kerdy asked, tapping her arm.
“Oh, right… Just wanted to let you know the patrols are finished and activity is still decreasing. It’s been one full week since a scout sighting in our territory.”
Kerdy waved her paw, dismissing Arn. “Thank you.”
Kerdy and Joy stared at one another in silence for several long seconds, the atmosphere taking on a dark tone I hadn’t expected, and certainly didn’t understand. It had something to do with whatever these scouts were, but it’s not a question I would risk asking at the moment.
“Did Lady make it?” I asked, breaking their silent communication.
“She did,” Joy replied, with no extra snark. “She was in worse shape, but healed faster. Because of the… shot, treatment, boost, whatever you’d like to call it, she received as a pup. That you received recently. She told us everything about the prison break. About how all of you pulled it off. Considering the resources you have available, and your technology, I was… impressed. We need someone with your skill set here. We have a few mysteries that have, unfortunately, been left unsolved for far too long, and time is ticking. We’ll all be dead soon, unless something changes.”
“Stop it, Joy. That won’t happen,” Kerdy said, reaching across the table and grabbing her by the shoulder.
Joy brushed her paw off. “I hope you’re right, Kerdy. Alright, let’s get this procedure finished so the mysteries of the world can completely overwhelm the detective here. He should have some free roaming time before we ‘hire’ him, right?”
Kerdy nodded. “Some time. That’s about all we can give. I’ll leave you to it then. Work your magic.”
Kerdy walked out the same way the other cat had, and Joy pressed a button on the side of my table. With some quiet motor noises, my bed slowly turned upright, with the legs bending down to form a chair. Of course, it still strapped me in.
“Going to take off these straps at least?”
“Hah, no chance. It’s for your own safety. If you mess up this procedure, I don’t care how much Kerdy demands another, it’ll be a big fat ‘no’. You’re a city-dweller. This will all be strange to you. You will not feel pain, because I have disabled your pain reception. You probably haven’t noticed, but you have a strap around your head. Through my control panel, I can manipulate your brain signals. You follow?”
I sighed. I couldn’t say I was surprised, because I wasn’t. It didn’t exactly match up with my imagination, but it was pretty close. “Yeah, I follow that much. Sorry for all the questions, but…”
She waved her paw, dismissively. “It’s alright. I’m sorry too. Just been a little on edge lately. The cat that walked in is my son, and he’s become a warrior at the most dangerous time. I know you’ll want to ask why it’s the most dangerous time, but let’s deal with one mystery at a time, shall we?”
I nodded. “Gladly. So, are you going to put me under for this little eye procedure?”
Her eyes went wide. “What? Goodness, no. And risk making a programming mistake and ruining this little treasure? Not on your life, little dog. Your entire flesh body isn’t worth one of these old relics.”
“Wait, old? You mean to tell me this isn’t brand new tech? You know what, never mind. Like you said. One mystery at a time.”
“That’s the spirit. Now, I’ve already removed your useless eye while you were comatose, so we’re halfway there.”
“Wow, thanks for asking my permission.”
“Sure. Right. I should’ve just asked your permission to save your life too, while you were unconscious, bleeding out on my operating table.”
“Fine. Point taken,” I said, trying my best to at least appear relaxed, while being the exact opposite.
She held up the eye in front of me, showing me the odd thing briefly. It was grotesque and mesmerizing all at once. It looked like a normal eye, but the back of it looked like something pulled out of a broken television set.
“You’re bound, but I need you to stay relaxed and still. Answer every question I ask you as directly as possible. This will not be a time for sarcasm, or small talk. Understand?”
“Understood,” I said.
She leaned over me, placing the little machine into my eye socket, adding a longer wire from the side that I hadn’t seen until now.
“Stop moving your other eye. Straight ahead. Do not move your eyes again,” She said, holding a paw in front of my nose, giving it a tap. “This is a tool for wiring your nerve to its new eye. I’m not a professor. I’m a doctor. So, just be a statue until I say otherwise. This is a procedure, not a lecture.”
I didn’t answer, because I didn’t know how to without ticking her off again. Was this the cat who trained Kerdy to be such a grouch? Sheesh.
“Tell me when you see anything besides darkness through the new eye.”
After a moment of fiddling with a screen that was just out of my view, I saw something that made me want to jump out of my seat. Something I hadn’t seen in many years.
“I see something!” I shouted.
She moved her head in front of me and narrowed her gaze. “I’m sitting right here. No need to shout. Compare it to the other eye.”
“It’s… got a weird green tint to it,” I said.
“Applying a correction. Sit tight.”
“Uh… sure.”
She moved her face in front of mine again, frowned, and moved back to the screen. Several taps and clicks later, my vision became clearer.
“Closer?”
“Yeah, almost.”
“Tell me when to stop. I will take you one small adjustment at a time. Say so when it matches your healthy eye.”
She went back to clicking and tapping again, but slower this time.
At last, it matched perfectly.
“Stop!” I shouted. I couldn’t help but smile as hard as I could manage.
“Congratulations, city-dweller. Seeing is only part of what your eye can do, but we’ll get to that later.”
She reached down and, one by one, loosened all the straps that had been holding me to this seat.
“Thank you, Joy. I know you wanted it to go to someone else, but thanks anyway,” I said.
She laughed. “Well, you have one thing going for you. Unlike these other ungrateful miscreants around here, you at least know how to thank your doctor. Go on now, but slowly. Your limbs will need to adjust a bit. Meet everyone. They’ve all been waiting.”
I stood up, stumbling slightly at first, but quickly catching my balance. Joy stepped over and pulled off the strap that had been on my head.
I took a deep, deep breath, and exited the room.
2
The first thing that caught my eye after leaving wasn’t the crowd of cats hanging around the entrance, or the strange machines strewn about the area, the odd armor some of them wore, weapons they carried, or even the frightening smile that stretched across Kerdy’s face. It was the trees. There was the occasional small tree planted here and there in the city, but other than the few in Rose Garden Estates, there weren’t any in the Black District at all. In Adria District? A few more, but not much variety. Grass, trees, or any plant was an odd sight anywhere in the city. But here…
Trees stretched tall and had different leaves. They brushed against one another in the breeze, and while the area we were standing in had been cleared, all around us th
e trees were thick and seemed to go on forever. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen, and not just because I should have been dead after falling into the river, but because it was wild. A wild world I only imagined existed, and now I was seeing it with my own eye. Eyes, even. Boy, what I wouldn’t give to show this to Rick. He wanted to see this place, and he wouldn’t have been disappointed.
Thinking of him pulled my thoughts to another place. Two months? What had happened to my friends in two months? Given everything going on, it may as well have been two years. Did Petey still have control of the Black District as chief? Had Mr. B been appointed district representative as planned? What would Saint have done to respond? Maybe he’d have attacked the district without delay. Maybe it was already a smoking pile of rubble right now.
“Thinking of home, little detective?” Kerdy said, jarring me back to reality.
“Yeah,” I said, honestly. “A lot was going on when I left. I know they all think I’m dead, and I can’t shake the part of me that thinks they may be too. Saint is not the cat who would be dealt with easily. He has too much power already. I’m not sure they even—”
“I’ll put your mind at ease. I visited the city just weeks ago. Mr. B has been appointed district representative, and Saint hesitated to act, giving him enough time to put some protections in place. I must admit… your choice of counterattack is odd. No, odd is the wrong word. Stupid. But this Mr. B seems to scare Saint enough that he didn’t act in time to settle things early or quickly. Now, both have officially announced their run for mayor. The situation is volatile, and I can’t promise everything is still in one piece, but the stalemate seems to hold for the moment. I didn’t contact anyone about your whereabouts, because we can’t afford the distractions at the moment. And, trust me, after you learn the things you’ll be learning over the next couple of days, you’ll be glad they’re not coming out here to get you. What we’re about to confront is far more important than anything going on in the city. I know that’s hard to believe,” Kerdy said.
“Very hard to believe, actually. But I’ll believe it anyway. You cats seem to have a better idea of what’s going on in the world than us city-dwellers ever will.”
She tilted her head. “I see you’re already adopting some of our speech. Good, you’re a quick learner. It’ll come in handy since you have a lot to learn.”
“Where’s Lady?” I asked.
Kerdy laughed. “She’s being held, along with Saul. Where else would she be?”
“She saved my life, and she could’ve stayed in the city, you know? She isn’t like Saul.”
Kerdy clenched her jaw. “Right, she isn’t like Saul. At least Saul had ideals. At least Saul had a cause. He believed in something. In his tiny, stunted mind, he thought he was fighting for vengeance in the name of his people. If anything, he was too loyal. Lady? She’s a selfish brat who only thinks of herself. The only dog Lady’s loyal to is Lady. She should’ve stayed rotting in Arc City Prison. Now, she can rot here. Where she belongs hasn’t changed. Just the scenery.”
“Come on,” I said, holding out my paws. “You expect me to believe that’s how you really feel? Sure, Lady’s selfish. She didn’t save me because she likes me. I’m pretty sure she hates me. She saved me because she thought it would impress you. She wanted to redeem herself and fight with her people once again. Why not give her another chance?”
Kerdy growled. “Enough! Because of her, we lost the Grand Gobbler. She held it in her paws and only had to deliver it to me. Instead, she tried to sell it, even if she didn’t truly intend to complete the transaction. By doing that, she sold out every single one of us, both my people and yours. Inside that statue is a key, a literal key, that could end this nightmare once and for all, once we locate the proper keyhole. Now it’s lost. Again!”
“The police have it,” I corrected.
“Had it. Now, it’s gone again. Probably Saint’s doing. Now, we have more important things to deal with, but after… either you get it the civilized way, or I’ll bring whatever’s left of my people through the front gate and we’ll rip the city apart until we find it. But hey, that’s a mission for another day.”
I laughed, letting a smile creep across my face. “First, you’re bluffing. Second, I suppose that gives away the case you’re hiring me for. We’re finding the keyhole the key belongs to, aren’t we?”
The cats that had been standing around listening, quiet so far, muttered between themselves.
“Good. I see the two months of sleep hasn’t fully addled your brain. You’re sharp. Right about why you’re still here, but you’re wrong about my threat being a bluff. Believe what you want, but before you return to the city, if you return to the city, you will understand what is at stake. Then, maybe you’ll even support the idea of a forced retrieval of the statue.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get ahead of yourself,” I said. “My tiny, addled little dog brain can only process so much, remember?”
“At least you finally admit it,” Kerdy said, without the hint of a smile. “Now, would you like to bicker more, or would you like me to introduce you to those present?”
“Absolutely. Hopefully, most of them are nicer than you,” I said, prompting a laugh from the one cat I already knew.
“Great, let’s start with the young warrior, Arn. Arn has a lot in common with you. He’s small, has a lot to learn, even more to prove, and can’t live up to half of it.”
“Thanks a lot, Commander. Way to set expectations for the city-dweller. Not that I care what he thinks, of course,” he said, frowning.
“You set them, Arn. I just state the obvious. Next, the other you already met, Joy, who, as usual, is too busy to join the rest of us. She is our doctor. I’ll say this because she isn’t here, but she’s probably the finest doctor to ever walk this earth. Being nursed back to health by her is far more than you deserve. Then again, it’s probably more than any of us deserve, myself included.”
Strange. She speaks so highly of Joy. She really must be every bit as impressive as she claims, or these kinds of words would never come out of her mouth.
She continued. “Saul, and Lady, you already know. You can go visit them later. To my left is Leaflet, patrol master.”
The brown female cat waved, smiling. Patrol master? She was even smaller than me and looked way too friendly to be given such an important position by Kerdy. A thought to explore another time.
“To her left, Iris, our blacksmith.”
This giant of a black cat really didn’t fit with his name. “Iris? But isn’t that a name that a female—”
Several of the other cats shook their heads side to side rapidly, glancing back and forth between Iris and me. “That a female… cat loves? Bet you’re popular with the dames.”
His growl lessened slightly, and I was more than happy to quit while I was ahead, despite his lack of response.
“To my right, Morel, our salvage master. She cobbles together our salvaged electronics, metals, and the occasional cybernetic.”
The long-haired white cat smiled, resting her left elbow on Kerdy’s shoulder. “And the battery cells. And the wiring. And components for our transportation. And many of the great reproductions and inventions of our age.”
The orange cat beside her nudged her with his own elbow. “Kerdy’s been praising you too much again, I see.”
Kerdy sighed. “That one is her husband, Moss. He’s the mechanic here. Builds up our transportation from what Morel finds, keeps them running, makes improvements. He’s gotten in his head now that he can reverse engineer one of those old-world flying machines.”
“Not a question of whether to not I can. It’s a question of whether I ever get the rest of the materials and enough battery cells to fly it.”
“Exactly,” Kerdy said. “We can’t spare the material for one of your brilliant experiments at the moment, and you know it.”
“Fair enough. You’re right. Someday, though. Soon.”
Kerdy nodded. “To hi
s right, Mira, our quartermaster. She manages our ready supplies and equipment, and assigns gear as needed. She lets the others know when we need something, and when we can’t spare components for non-priority projects… like Moss’s flying machine.”
Moss huffed indignantly, and Mira raised her paw in simple greeting. “Hello, Trigger. You and I will meet soon to discuss your needs for this mission… er… ‘case’ that Kerdy has in mind for you.”
Finally, a normal cat around here. “Looking forward to it, Mira,” I said, managing a smile, which she returned.
“Uh oh, Mira, you better watch out. Looks like this city-dweller might be sweet on you. Just let me know if he gets any big ideas, alright?” the old calico cat to Mira’s right said, laughing much harder than warranted, causing Mira to hide her face and turn aside.
“Enough!” Kerdy said, rubbing the top of her head roughly. “This is our part-time joke master, and full-time chef, Lilac. Don’t worry, her food is better than her jokes, or we’d have gone extinct a long time ago.”
“Ouch,” Lilac said, as she slowly stopped laughing.
“And, one more critical cat who isn’t here at the moment, is Nightshade, our recon specialist. She’s even busier than usual right now, with everything going on, trying to map out scout movements and document everything she can to help you with your case,” Kerdy said.
“That I haven’t agreed to yet, just so we’re clear. I was supposed to be retired after the last one. Yet, here I am, getting another one shoved down my throat,” I said, crossing my arms.
“I understand your reluctance, and it will be worth your time, but now is not the time or place to discuss details. We will bring the matter up with Mira to determine what we can spare, and what you’ll consider accepting as payment. Retiring requires being alive. A state you might not be in for long if we fail in this mission, case, whatever you’d like to call it. I’m afraid you’ll just have to grin and bear it.”
“Oh, then let me introduce myself to everyone, Kerdy. I’m Trigger, the grin and bear it master, specialist, or whatever you want to call it. I’ve done enough grinning and bearing it to last a doggone lifetime, so you can see why I was the ideal dog for the position. Got a suicide mission, charity case, or half-baked idea you want to hire a dog to do for a fraction of the pay its worth? Well, that’s me. Dirty Job Trigger. Charity Case Trigger. I’m known by a lot of different names.”
