Pet Noir

by Pati Nagle

  I couldn’t stop thinking about those green eyes and the note of fear in that sad mew. I had to know more about the mysterious beauty, and that meant checking up on her human.

  Finally Devin packed our trash into the recycler and started for Security. I trotted along a little ahead of him. My legs were longer now, and I rarely had trouble keeping up with him anymore. That day it felt like he was going twice as slow as usual.

  Finally we reached Security and walked past Bligck, the aqua guy, who manned the front desk most days. Since we’d wrapped the Stratoma case we were entering the station by the front door, though Devin and the chief were still the only people who knew about my engineering. The rest of the Security staff just thought Devin had gone nuts and acquired a pet.

  I played along with that. You can pick up a lot by looking guileless.

  Speaking of which, I paused to give Bligck a wide-eyed “Prrt?” and was rewarded with one of his custom-cooked popcorn shrimp. He always asked the Zip Fix guy to undercook them. It left the batter kind of mushy, but the shrimp were really succulent.

  I swallowed the one Bligck tossed me and gave an appreciative wave of my tail as Devin and I passed the desk. Bligck smiled and nodded, then went back to monitoring the Security feeds.

  In the office I hopped up on Sheila’s desk and started hitting the data feeds. The address on the apartment was no help—it was registered to the Immigration Assistance bureau. Standard process for newcomers. Not everyone can handle station life, so there’s a six month trial period. If she decided to stay the lease would be transferred to her name.

  I pulled up the immigration records and quickly whittled down the list to a dozen females who had come to Gamma over the past year. I started bringing them up on the holo. The fifth one was a visual match, and I told the feed to hold while I looked over the record.

  “Elsa Grippe,” I read aloud.

  Devin came to look over my shoulder. “Looks happier in that holo.”

  “Yeah.”

  I hadn’t really thought about it at the time, but the blonde had been frowning in the park. I’d attributed it to concern over that gorgeous dark cat. Maybe there was more to the story, though.

  “She works for Megalink,” I said, still reading her file. “What’s that?”

  “They run the com feeds for the whole station,” Devin said.

  “Everything?”

  “Well, Security has its own link to Intergal and the non-public data feeds. But Megalink runs all the commercial communications.”

  I looked back at the file. “What does an accountant do?”

  “Handles the finances. Is that her job?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hm.” Devin lost interest and slouched back to his own desk. “Who’d have thought an accountant would have legs like that.”

  I watched him prop his feet up, lean back in the chair, and close his eyes. Looked like I wouldn’t be getting much help from him for a while.

  Going back to the file, I combed it for any mention of the dark beauty. The only hint of her was a sidebar on Elsa Grippe’s immigration record which showed pet import permissions for a single feline. They had come to Gamma five months ago, from Dahlia, a small planet in the Flora 192 group.

  Having little else to do, I surfed up a wealth of information about Dahlia. None of it helped me much, except for one news article in the Dahlia Daily. An engagement announcement for Elsa Grippe and one Thomas Upshore III. The wedding was supposed to have happened on November 26, two weeks after Elsa Grippe had emigrated to Gamma Station.

  Maybe a human would have found it more interesting. Once I’d determined there was no mention of cats in the announcement, I couldn’t care less.

  I closed the Dahlia files and backtracked to Megalink. Learned a lot about the communications industry in general and in particular the variety of ways in which outflung stations were dissatisfied with Megalink’s service, but nothing about Elsa Grippe.

  I shut down Sheila’s com unit and hopped to the floor. Devin looked up.

  “You all done?”

  “For the moment,” I said. “Let’s go home.”

  We headed back to the apartment. It was late and we had to work the next day, so Devin called it a night after only half an hour of cruising the porno feeds.

  I climbed in my bed and took a couple of turns, then lay down to wait. When Devin’s snores settled down to a soft regularity I got up again and padded to the door.

  I had tried to reach the access pad only that morning, as part of my daily routine. This time, though, I had more motivation. I stretched like I’d never stretched before, but could not quite get my thumb on that pad.

  I wasn’t about to give up. I looked around Devin’s room for something to climb on. There wasn’t much to work with. A couple of empty takeout cartons from Zip Fix, but I was too big to stand on those now. A pizza box—too precarious. Put the cartons and the box together, though… .

  I had to move slowly to avoid waking Devin. The hardest part was lifting the pizza box and getting it up on the cartons. My thumbs are great, but my hindquarters are not designed to balance my weight by themselves. I tried picking up the box, but kept falling forward. Finally I took it in my mouth and one paw, and stood on the other three paws. Got it shoved up onto the cartons, and with a couple of minor adjustments I got it steady enough to hold my weight. I climbed up carefully and was able to reach the access pad.

  The pad turned green and binged softly as the door slid open. I glanced at Devin, but he hadn’t moved. Still snoozing. I went out, kicking the cartons apart so he wouldn’t twig to what I’d done with them.

  I had not spent much time alone in Gamma Station, usually only when I was on my way to see Spats or Butch, and that was usually during day shift. This was swing shift, and a whole different crowd was afoot. Traffic in the corridors was decidedly thinner, and I realized belatedly that I couldn’t pull the same trick I’d used in Devin’s apartment. If I wanted to get through access doors, I’d have to go through with someone who could reach the pads.

  Deciding to cross that bridge when I came to it, I headed for the lifts. I got into one pretty quickly with a couple of girls dressed in pink and green skin-tights and trendy plex-tile blouses that tinkled musically as they walked. They were headed up to the rotunda, though, so I wound up riding away from my destination. Three human guys and a heavyset four-armed orange dude, all in warehouse one-alls, scoped the girls most severely when the doors opened. The girls gave them the cold shoulder as they left.

  The guys got on and directed the lift to the warehouse section, taking me even farther from the park. Worse, we were going into low gee. I hooked onto the carpet, and as the lift rose toward Gamma’s axis the guidelines went from purple to blue to green. Suddenly, without warning, I felt myself grabbed around the middle. I was caught off guard and the human who’d caught me succeeded in pulling me loose from the floor.

  “Hey, look,” he said, letting go of me in midair. “A floating cat!”

  Another guffawed. “Let’s play catch!”

  “Naw, he’s got claws,” said the third as I scrabbled desperately in a futile attempt to reach either the wall or the eyes of the guy who’d picked me up. “Volleyball’s better.”

  “Vollycat! Your serve!”

  I was sorely tempted to cuss them out. It probably wouldn’t have helped, and anyway I was caught off guard by a swat on my back that sent me flying across the lift toward one of the humans.

  I gave loud vocal indication of my disapproval, but with the chief’s past threats in mind I stuck to cat-talk. I also put out all my claws, ready to grab anything I could catch. The human toward whom I was sailing was too quick, though. He gave me a bat between the shoulders that sent me in another direction and also set me spinning.

  A couple more vector changes and I was feeling queasy. I was therefore not only surprised but deeply grateful when the orange dude caught me gently, forming a cage with three of his gargantuan hands. I hastily pulled in my
claws, not wanting to repay my rescuer with scratches.

  “Leave him alone,” the orange dude said in a gravelly basso. “He don’t like it.”

  The humans all laughed. “Hey, Gleeb, I didn’t know you were a nature-lover,” said one.

  One of the giant hands moved away and a face like a puddle of orange concrete appeared over me, yellow eyes gazing tenderly down at me. I gulped, and gave a tentative mew.

  “He’s just a little guy,” Gleeb said, his maw spreading in a leer that I hoped was friendly and not hungry. “How’d you like it if someone played catch with you?”

  “Depends on what she looks like,” said a human, and they all laughed again.

  Gleeb stretched out a finger to stroke me. I shiver of fear went through me at the sheer strength in the digit moving down my spine. He could have crushed me in a second.

  “Just ignore them,” Gleeb said to me. “You’re safe with me. You lost, kitty?”

  I didn’t know how to answer that one without getting deep in shit. Sensing I was teetering on the verge of my second unwanted adoption, I took the safest course. I leaped out of Gleeb’s hands, bounced against the lift wall and took myself up toward the ceiling out of easy reach of the bipeds who were static-held to the floor. For good measure I hissed, though in fact I felt grateful to Gleeb for getting me out of a jam.

  The lift stopped and the door slid open. The humans started shuffling out.

  “C’mon, Gleeb. The show’s starting soon.”

  “I think he’s lost,” Gleeb said, staring up at me.

  “He’ll be OK. Come on, buy you a drink.”

  I watched Gleeb reluctantly vacate the lift. Holding my breath, I waited until the door slid closed and I was alone, then pushed off to get closer to the lift’s control panel.

  “Park level Beta,” I said as I caught myself against the wall beside the door.

  “Thank you,” said the lift, and with a soft jolt it started moving.

  I pushed off toward the floor and hooked onto the carpet, grateful to be grounded again and doubly grateful for the increase in gravity. I watched the guideline change colors and the level numbers flash, and winced when the lift stopped again at the rotunda.

  A couple of bipeds got in, human male, green female of undetermined species. They started making out as soon as the door closed, oblivious to my presence and the fact the lift was moving without their instructions.

  I watched in queasy fascination as they slurped and giggled. The guy had his hands all over her. She didn’t seem to mind.

  “Park level, Gamma Station Beta,” the lift announced as it slowed to a stop.

  I don’t think the make-out artists even heard. I left the lift, and as I headed across the park, I heard a muffled “Huh?” just before the door closed.

  The park was darker now, the lighting set to simulate planetside night. Good for the trees and stuff, as well as atmospheric for the humans. A few people were wandering around, mostly in pairs. The lake, which was officially Lake Gamma but everyone called it the Puddle, glimmered softly and reflected the warm glow of the retro-style lampposts that lined the pathways. There was a cool, green smell to the place that I hadn’t noticed during the day.

  I cut across the park toward Elsa Grippe’s apartment, crossing lawns and ducking through hedges. Coming up over the rise of a hill I was surprised to see a man standing at Elsa’s door, which was closed.

  He was broad-shouldered, on the heavyset side but more muscled than fat. He wore an expensive business clingsuit and his red hair was cut short, double-buzzed into a subtle pattern of waves, one of those expensive cuts that had to be touched up once a week. He had one arm leaned against the door frame and was talking intently into the com. I slowed down and approached him stealthily, taking a position under the box hedge that separated the park from the walkway in front of the apartments.

  “It’s stupid to argue like this,” he was saying. “You know you can’t win.”

  Elsa’s reply was muffled and I couldn’t hear it, but from the tone of her voice it was obvious she was upset. My claws flexed.

  “I’ll make it worth your while, honey,” the man said. “You want one of those fancy starview apartments? You got it.”

  “I said no!” Elsa answered. “Go away!”

  The man straightened up and for a minute I thought he was going to kick the door. His fists clenched, then slowly relaxed, and he laughed in a low, nasty tone.

  “Have it your way, then,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time.”

  He turned around and I cringed, but he didn’t see me. He was frowning, bushy red eyebrows pinched together and the brown eyes beneath them angry and restless. I stayed still as he strode past me in the direction of the lifts.

  Not until he was out of sight did I dare leave the shelter of the hedge and pad across the walkway to Elsa’s door. Through it I heard the muffled sound of a sob.

  “Leila?” I called softly. “You in there?”

  I waited, listening to Elsa’s stifled crying. After a minute I heard a quiet, feline voice.

  “Who is there, please?”

  “It’s me, Leon. We met in the park today.”

  “Oh.”

  “Why’s your human crying?”

  “Oh, there is a man who wants to mate with her, and she doesn’t want to.”

  “Who’s the man?”

  “I don’t know who he is. He comes often. She never lets him in.”

  “Why doesn’t she get help? She could call Security.”

  “What?”

  I sat down, thinking. Leila was pretty sheltered, she probably didn’t know about Security. Other than walks in the park she probably spent all her time in Elsa’s apartment.

  “Why doesn’t she ask a friend to help her?” I amended.

  Leila took a moment to answer. “I don’t think anyone could. She doesn’t have many friends, and those she has are female.”

  I was about to suggest that one of them could mate with the guy, but I knew that wasn’t a solution. If Leila had a bunch of girlfriends and they were all willing to mate with me, it wouldn’t change my feelings.

  “Does she treat you all right?” I asked.

  “Oh, yes. She is good to me, only lately she has been sad like this. It upsets me.”

  “Don’t worry. There’s got to be a way to fix it.”

  “How?”

  Good question. I didn’t have an answer.

  “I’ll think of something?”

  “She’s coming.”

  I heard footsteps and Elsa’s voice raised sharply. “What are you doing? No you can’t go out, it’s nighttime. Come here.”

  Leila gave a small squawk of protest, then the footsteps receded. I was alone.

  Who was this guy, and why wasn’t Elsa looking for help if he was bugging her? I needed more information.

  Elsa Grippe was a fairly new resident of Gamma. Apparently she hadn’t made many friends. That wasn’t so unusual, but she was an intelligent woman. Why hadn’t she gone to Security to get this creep off her back?

  Maybe I could catch up with him before he got to the lifts. I took off running across the park, glancing toward the walkway now and then to try to catch a glimpse of him. He had a long stride, but the circular walkway was an indirect route, the longest way to the lifts.

  I dashed through the hedges and skirted the Puddle at a flat out run, startling a couple of humans as I brushed past their legs. When I got to the lifts I was winded, but it paid off. I saw the red-haired guy coming down the walkway, still frowning.

  I crouched under the border hedge while he thumbed the lift access, then dashed in after him. He was so preoccupied he didn’t notice me.

  I huddled in the back corner and when he got off I followed him, hanging back so he wouldn’t see me. It wasn’t hard—he didn’t seem to notice much. He muttered to himself as he strode down the corridor, and what little I caught wasn’t pleasant. I had no trouble believing Elsa Grippe, or any other human female, would be re
luctant to mate with him.

  He stopped at an apartment, thumbed the access, and went in. I went up to the closed door and listened for a while. Heard him getting a beer and turning on the feeds. Nothing more to learn here, I figured. I memorized the address and headed back for the lift.

  It was closed, and no one was around. Not much traffic on this level. It was where the starview apartments were located, the priciest places on station. My guy didn’t have one of those, he had an inner ring place instead, but even those apartments had to be expensive because they were huge.

  I waited a while, then decided I’d better get the lift open myself if I didn’t want to be here all night. There wasn’t much in the corridor, some decorative plants and stuff, but they were all too heavy for me to move. Nothing I could drag over to the lift doors to stand on.

  I tried reaching for the pad, but I hadn’t grown enough that day to get to it. In desperation, I jumped. Missed on the first couple of tries, but finally I managed to get my thumb on the pad. The door swooshed open and I went in.

  “Level seventeen,” I said, and gave a grateful sigh as the lift started smoothly downward.

  Gravity got a little heavy toward the outer ends of the station, making things a bit less comfortable there. That’s why most of the places on the lower levels, except the starview offices and apartments on the outside, were less expensive. Devin’s pad was on one of the lowest levels, and as the lift descended and gravity increased it was hard not to feel tired and a little bummed.

  Getting involved in human affairs had not been my intention, but it looked like I’d have to fix things for Elsa if I wanted to get anywhere with Leila. What a pain.

  “Level seventeen, Gamma Station Beta,” said the lift as it slowed to a stop and opened its doors.

  “Thanks,” I said over my shoulder as I walked out.

  “You’re welcome,” said the lift, and shut its doors.

  I paused to glance back at it. I hadn’t heard a lift saying anything non-utilitarian before, but then I’d never tried to strike up a conversation.

  Too tired to worry about it now. I headed for Devin’s apartment, got the door open on the second jump, and made a beeline for my bed. Devin was still snoring. I curled up and thought about Leila until I fell asleep.