Star Cat The Complete Series

by Andrew Mackay

  “—Muh-shta-zee-taaah,” it growled in its low-pitch voice of death.

  Jelly wasn’t happy. She wanted out of there and back to the safety of Space Opera Charlie.

  She clinked her infinity claws together on her right paw and had an idea.

  “Let’s see if you can see this,” Jelly slid her right elbow up the wall, making sure it created a sickening sound like nails on a chalkboard.

  SCREEEEEEEEE.

  “Heh,” it growled, moving its head from the side of her waist and up the wall along with her claws, “Muhhhh-shtaa—”

  “—That’s it, big boy,” Jelly whispered, “Mastazita, huh?”

  “Heh,” it finished at Jelly’s arm’s length, half a foot away from her head. It balled its paws like a fist and raised it up to its chest, ready to kill.

  “Muh-shta-zee-taaaaah,” it growled once again.

  Jelly tightened her right paw into a ball, “Come, kill it.”

  THWUMP-CLANG.

  She thumped the wall with her right paw.

  ROOOOAAAAARRRRRR.

  Mastazita threw a punch at Jelly’s fist. She moved it away just in time to dart out of the cockpit.

  THWAAA-SMASSSSSHHH.

  Jelly bolted down the landing area of the ship and made the mistake of looking back at the cockpit.

  “Oh, Jesus Christ.”

  Mastazita wailed in pain and grabbed his right arm with his left paw. He’d punched a massive cavity into the wall with such force, it rocked the ship upright against the ground.

  SLAMMMMM.

  Jelly didn’t stick around to find out just how much of a killer Mastazita truly was. She approached the ship’s frame without looking, and prepared to pull herself outside and make a dash for Opera Charlie.

  She turned around and was about to launch out of the ship, when she held herself back and had second thoughts.

  Dozens of angry, blood-hungry silver wolves growled at her from a few feet below, wanting her for dinner.

  “Oh my God,” Jelly clung to the door, faced with a choice.

  Stay and get mauled by Mastazita, or jump and risk being mauled by the wolves.

  And she had about five seconds to decide which course of action to take.

  Chapter 8

  R.A.G.E. Arena

  Laguna Vista, South Texas, USA

  (150 miles south of Corpus Christi)

  The view from the back of the car offered a dank, barren road that had seen better days.

  Jamie knew he wasn’t in the United Kingdom any longer. The road markings were all different.

  The populace of the area was certainly less dense than he was used to.

  The area was something of a shanty town - decrepit houses, closed stores, and litter everywhere. Next to no sign of human life. It was a depressing sight for Jamie, who’d managed to shake off the initial anxiety of being taken against his will.

  “Where are we?”

  “Not far from where Jelly won the Star Cat Project.”

  “We’re in America?” he whispered against the window. His breath fogged up the inside.

  A few minutes later, the car emerged from the trees and made its way toward a dome-shaped building.

  Dingy, gray walls prevented the eyesore from catching the attention from anyone who made their way across the grounds to the shore line.

  “Is that an ocean?” Jamie shuffled forward and pointed through the windshield, “What is that?”

  “That’s the Gulf of Mexico, my friend.”

  “Wow. It looks really nice.”

  Sure enough, the sparkling blue water was breathtaking. The water was as serene and calm as the bright blue sky, and not at all like the feeling in the back of the car.

  “Okay, we’re here,” Rana rolled the car to a stop by the entrance to the dome. “Now, Jamie, I need to forewarn you.”

  Sierra and Noyin exited the car.

  Jamie turned to Rana, “Forewarn me? What does that mean?”

  “Give you a heads up.”

  “Oh.”

  “You may recognize some of the people you’re about to meet. So, no freaking out, okay? We need you to remain absolutely calm and do as we say.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. It’s important you help us so we can help you.”

  Jamie wasn’t convinced by Rana’s attempt at sincerity. He climbed out of the car and was immediately struck by the fresh sea air drifting up his nostrils.

  “Come on,” Sierra said. “This is your new home for a while.”

  He took a deep breath and joined Sierra and Noyin as they made their way to the dome.

  ***

  The dome’s mechanical door lifted up the wall. The gap was big enough to fit a tank - maybe even a train.

  “Here we are,” Sierra said to Jamie. “This is where it’s all going to happen.”

  Jamie walked in with her and looked around the huge complex, “Wow.”

  A long, rectangular table took center stage in the middle of what resembled a colossal warehouse.

  The curved ceiling loomed fifty feet high above their heads.

  A shiny black van sat immediately to the right.

  To the left, a bank of antiquated computers and data banks full of wires and cables. The heat generated was quite intense, as well as the sound from the processors.

  A dug-out section housing a gigantic telescope sat at the far end where the ceiling extended in the direction of the ocean.

  “What’s that?” Jamie asked.

  “That’s the holoscope,” Sierra continued walking and pointed at Jamie’s backpack. “Take that off and come with me.”

  “Okay,” Jamie slipped his backpack off his shoulders and grabbed it in his hands.

  A tall, black man grinned at her from the other end of the table, “You made it.”

  “Yeah, Siyam.”

  “My man,” Noyin ran up to Siyam and bumped fists with him, “I see they got you babysitting again?”

  “Yeah. Grace and I needed a bit of a rest after that whole business with the cats and the helicopter.”

  “How are the kids getting on?”

  “They’re fascinated by the holoscope,” Siyam looked at two children playing with the telescope controls, “They kicked up a fuss at first, but they’re fascinated with the toys.”

  WHIIRRRRR.

  The giant telescope rolled slowly to the right as the young girl tilted the joystick in the same direction.

  “Hey, kids,” Siyam hollered at them. “Stop playing around and say hello to our new intake.”

  Jamie placed his backpack on the elongated table in the middle of the room. Sierra tipped the bag upside down and emptied the contents.

  “We had a cursory check in the van to make sure you weren’t carrying any weapons or dangerous items.”

  “You went through my bag already?”

  “Yes, but we need to take a closer look to see that you don’t have any tracers on you.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, good. Let’s see what we have here—”

  “—Sierra?” Rana made her way to the main wall behind the table, “Are we good to record, yet? We’re all present and accounted for, right?”

  Sierra rifled through the random objects on the table that had fallen out of Jamie’s bag, “Get your BeeGee on, and get ready.”

  “Okay.”

  Rana snapped her fingers and held her hand at the wall, “Let’s hope USARIC votes the correct way.”

  The wall broke up into tiny oblong shapes and rearranged themselves into a dark surface. Four letters in a bright, white font emerged on the new surface of the wall.

  R.A.G.E.

  The door to the side wall opened. A tall, shapely woman named Grace exited with a purring Egyptian Mau in her arms.

  “Hey, you’re back,” she said.

  “Hey, Grace,” Rana focussed on the formation of the text on the black wall, “How are the cr
itters holding up?”

  Grace held Mau up to her face and let her lick her brow, “Ah, you know. Commandeer a car, crash a helicopter, and then have us rescue them. Good times.”

  TWITCH-WHIZZ.

  Mau’s infinity claws twitched back and forth as her purring intensified. She liked Grace a lot.

  “Miew.”

  Grace smiled at Jamie, “Hey, Anderson.”

  “Huh? How do you know me?”

  “I’m the one who called you,” Grace said. “You can thank us later for coming to your rescue.”

  “I thought I recognized your voice.”

  Rana made a face at Mau, “Aww. Look at her. She’s having a fun time. Aren’t you, you cute little thing?” she said before trying to cozy up to the cat.

  “Hissss.”

  “Whoa, easy tiger,” Rana said.

  “She’s just been fed, so she’s a bit wily,” Grace said. “They’ve chewed through that chicken liver pate like no one’s business.”

  Jamie looked at the end of the table to see Siyam talking to the young girl and boy.

  “Who are they?”

  “Never mind that, let’s concentrate,” Sierra opened a plastic container and sniffed the contents, “What’s this, Anderson?”

  “My packed lunch.”

  “Packed lunch? You mean like a lunch box for school?”

  “Yeah, why? Do you call it something different?”

  Sierra popped the lid open and sniffed inside.

  “Peanut butter?”

  “Yes. I never got to eat it,” he said, before deciding to finish his sentence, “Someone kidnapped me.”

  “Not kidnapped, Anderson.”

  Sierra slid the box away and grabbed the next item from the table - a thin, transparent screen.

  “Saved. Rescued. Whatever you want to call it.”

  “I’ll call it kidnapped.”

  “Don’t get clever with me, Anderson. You may be Jelly’s owner, but she’s not around to protect you. Remember that.”

  Sierra thumbed the screen and booted the device. She bent it back and forth in her hands, “Cute thin. Make and model?”

  “Attwood, Series Seven-Hundred.”

  “Sky capacity?”

  “Fifty-six terabytes.”

  “Fifty-six? Didn’t your mom spend any of the prize money on a decent thin?”

  “Don’t talk about my mom like that.”

  Sierra folded the screen in half and busted it into two, “Attwood? It’s junk. I hope you backed up all your homework to the sky, right?”

  “Of course I did. It’s on perma-backup,” Jamie watched as the screen crumbled like sand in her hand. “Why did you break my thin?”

  “Are you kidding? Attwood junk comes installed full of Traceware. We can’t have anyone trace you here. It’s not safe.”

  “Oh.”

  “We’ll have to take care of your Viddy Media, as well. Is it on?”

  Jamie rolled up his sleeve and saw three inked lines along his forearm, “No. On standby.”

  “Keep it that way for the moment. We’ll be removing the node from your arm, shortly. Don’t worry, it’s relatively painless.”

  Something caught Sierra’s eye next to the lunch box. A tiny necklace reflecting the light from the bulbs on the ceiling.

  “What’s that?”

  “No, give me that,” Jamie reached over the table and snatched it before Sierra could, “Stay away from it. It’s mine.”

  “What is it?”

  “None of your business.”

  Sierra held out her hand, “Anderson. Hand it over.”

  “No.”

  “Hand it over.”

  “You’ll break it.”

  “I won’t break it if I don’t have to,” Grace quipped. “Give it to me.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you want me to break your fingers?”

  “No.”

  “Then hand the damn thing over. At once, please.”

  Jamie opened his palm and stared at the necklace. A plastic, orange-colored telescope pendant had been attached to it.

  “I won’t ask again, Anderson.”

  He sighed and held it across the table for her to take, “Fine. Please be careful with it.”

  “Very cute,” Sierra smiled at it as she hung it above the dull light emitting from the table’s surface, “How long you had this?”

  “My mom gave it to me when—”

  Jamie stopped talking and ducked his head, trying not to get upset.

  “When she got you Jelly?”

  Jamie nodded, afraid to speak.

  Sierra sighed and felt sorry for the boy, “Huh. Jamie?”

  He looked up and wiped a tear from his cheek, “My mom gave it to me after my Dad died. And she got me Jelly after that. Happy now?”

  Sierra smiled and winked at him. She handed the necklace back and nodded at his side pocket, “Sure. Keep it on you. Make sure you don’t lose it.”

  “Well, guys,” Siyam strutted his stuff and danced toward the table with the young girl and boy in tow, “Lookie what I found playing by the holoscope.”

  Sierra waved at the two kids, “Hey, guys. This is Jamie.”

  The girl and Jamie held their gaze at each other for way longer than necessary. Both kids were about the same age as Jamie.

  “Anderson?” the girl asked, suppressing the urge to explode with excitement, “Jamie Anderson?”

  He recognized her West coast American accent and high intonation immediately, “Oh, God.”

  Her face seemed familiar, as well.

  Sierra chuckled, “Jamie, this is Leesa Task. I think you guys have met, haven’t you?”

  “Leesa?” Jamie gasped. “Star Cat Project Leesa?”

  “Star Cat Project Jamie Anderson? Jelly Anderson?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Jamie adjusted to the five year addition to her face and frame, “But, you’re so… big, now?”

  She smiled coquettishly at him, ”So are you.”

  Jamie bit his lip and smiled at Sierra, who grinned back at him.

  “And I think you know this guy, too.”

  “Huh?” Jamie turned to the young boy’s thick, black eyebrows and pale face.

  “Anderson,” the boy said with no hint of amusement. His Russian accent was as clear as day, “Your cat killed my cat.”

  Jamie’s eyebrows nearly lifted over his forehead, across his scalp and down the back of his head.

  That Russian accent, albeit deeper and huskier than he’d remembered.

  “Remy?”

  “Yes, it is me,” he said. “I knew they were bringing another owner, but I never would have guessed in one million years it would be you.”

  “But, but—” Jamie failed to comprehend the meaning of this impromptu reunion, “Why?”

  “I do not know. English.”

  Remy jumped onto the table and made a dash for Jamie, “Jelly killed my baby Bisoubisou, and now I am going to kick you in your asshole.”

  “Agh, no,” Jamie ran away from the table as Remy’s ass slid across the surface.

  “Come here, English.”

  Remy’s legs swept the lunch box off the edge and onto the floor, before jumping onto the ground and running after Jamie.

  Jamie backed up against the van and held out his hands, “No, no, it wasn’t my fault. Leave me alone.”

  Sierra clapped her hands together as Remy ran up to Jamie and grabbed him by his short collar, “Hey, Gagarin.”

  “What it is now, stupid yankee?”

  “Don’t call me that, you cocky little comrade,” Sierra said. “Us Americans beat your commie asses in 1991 and ended the cold war, and I’m all for doing it again right now. Unhand Jamie.”

  Remy slammed Jamie against the van and snarled in his face, “This is not concluded. Jamie Anderson.”

  “Let go of me,” Jamie grabbed Remy’s hands and threw them away from his neck, “Ass-face.”

  “Shut up, English. I’ll kill you.”

  “Hey
. No one’s killing anyone,” Rana shouted at the pair from the black wall, “Not yet, anyway. Now, stop feeling each other up and get over here.”

  Siyam chuckled to himself and shook his head, “That’s right, Rana. You tell ‘em.” He produced three circular slabs of metal from a compartment in the table and slung them down his forearm.

  “Bring them over here, we only have a few minutes.”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming. Keep your Black Gold on.”

  Leesa ran her hand over Mau’s head. Grace looked down and smiled at the girl, “She likes you, I think.”

  “She’s a good girl.”

  Mau ran the side of her face along the back of Leesa’s hand and purred up a storm.

  “Where did you find her?”

  Grace sighed, “It’s a long story. A little while ago, my friends set her free from USARIC. She ran away and escaped with the others. She managed to get the others away to safety.”

  “Really? Wow.”

  “Yup,” Grace smiled at the cat in her arms, “USARIC killed my friends when they tried to rescue them.”

  “Why?”

  Grace affected a wry smile, “Because, Leesa, I’m sorry to say that the world isn’t only full of nice people. There are bad ones, too.”

  Leesa scrunched her face and tried to digest the information, “Are USARIC the bad guys?”

  “In a manner of speaking, yes. Actually, scratch that. They are the bad guys. No doubt about that.”

  Siyam held up the three metal discs - twelve inches in width, and with a hole in the center big enough for a human’s neck.

  “Okay, can everyone under the age of eleven please make your way over to me.”

  Sierra waved the kids over to Rana at the black wall, “Just over there, please.”

  Remy, Jamie, and Leesa reached Rana and Siyam, desperate to know what was about to happen.

  “Okay, guys.” Siyam unclipped the first disc and held it up to them. “These are called Decapidiscs.”

  “What it is?” Remy asked.

  “Come here, comrade,” Siyam joked in a crappy Russian accent. “It’s pretty cool. Here, I’ll show you.”

  Remy huffed and stepped forward.

  “Turn around.”

  Remy turned his back to Siyam, who slid the disc around the boy’s neck and left the catch unopened.