Hellcats: Anthology

by Kate Pickford

  Matias’s face crumpled. “But, but, but look at them! They are small! They are too tiny to squeeze a human head! Those are full-grown. Even a baby is safe.” He shrugged. “Dogs are safe. Even Earth cats are safe. I made them the perfect size to kill starflockers. There’s nothing else on Harley Five for them to eat, so they’ll kill all the starflockers and then…go away. It’s perfect.” He smiled like a fond father. “Besides, look at them. They are so cute.”

  “Right. They’re cute. Until they bite you and kill you!”

  Matias shook his head sadly like he couldn’t fathom her objections. “I took away the venom. They still have sharp teeth, but tiny. No venom. They will eat the starflockers, nothing else.”

  Gia closed her eyes for a moment and tried again to regain some patience and calm. “We didn’t think the starflockers could live on Harley Five either, did we? There are no seeds, no insects other than the invasives, no plants they can digest. They ate all the invasive Old Earth bugs. We can’t find any. So, what are they eating? The only thing they can digest on Harley Five are the rock creatures, and they shouldn’t be able to get through their shells. But somehow, those pesky birds found a way to pull those things out of their rock shells and they get enough nutrients to not only live but thrive. They’re not dying. They’re killing all the rock creatures and each other. They’re breeding and adapting.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing, Matias. You haven’t created BatKats, you’ve created Hellcats.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Flying cats, with razors for teeth and claws, and wings strong enough to strangle. Hellcats.” She glared at him. “Because they will create hell on Harley Five.” Rather like Fatima, the original Hellcat, did during uni on Valenti. Fatima had multi-colored hair occasionally, too.

  Matias shrugged. “Okay, that is a better name. I’ll give you ten, no five percent.” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

  “Matias…” She dropped her head. “I don’t want credits. I don’t want any part of this. I want the virus you were asked to create. If eggs are a bad thing to attack, then attack their lungs or blood or brains or whatever, but not—those!” She pointed a finger at the cage. “Get rid of them now. Take pics and vid, apply for your patent and trademark, but get. Rid. Of. Those. Things!”

  Matias’s mouth and eyes hung wide open.

  She’d never yelled at him. Fighting a mix of guilt and frustration, Gia turned to walk out of the lab.

  “It’s too late.”

  She spun back fast enough she almost fell over. She grabbed the edge of a lab table to keep herself upright. “What? What did you say?”

  He swallowed, hard. “It’s too late. I had to test the design, so I let one go. Just one. But somehow, two got out. I know I didn’t allow more than one in the airlock, but there’s two out there! And I don’t know how!” He sunk into his chair, hand over his eyes.

  Gia closed her eyes. Why did she bother with a vacation? It was never relaxing. Every time she left, she came back to a mess. Chip was useless. She screamed inside her head, long and loud. Then she contacted Captain Weaver.

  “What can I do for you, Research?” Weaver‘s battle-damaged face frowned and her voice was wary.

  “There’s been a biological escape.” When Weaver‘s mouth opened, Gia added, “Accidental.”

  “Uh-huh. Sure. What escaped?”

  “These things.” Gia turned so Weaver could see the Hellcats over her shoulder. “I’m calling them Hellcats.”

  “Hey! I am calling them Hellcats. You said you didn’t want any part of my creation!” Matias yelled.

  “I don’t,” Gia snapped. “Nonetheless, that’s what they are.”

  “If Matias invented them, you’re right.” Weaver glared. “Matias, you’d better send me the full specs. I still say we should just gas the whole planet from orbit, just to be sure.” The last sentence was muttered.

  Weaver wasn’t entirely wrong. It might yet happen. Especially when the big bosses found out about this latest…situation. And they would. And the fact that Gia was gone while all this happened? That wouldn’t matter. Since the CEO’s kid was her deputy, she’d end up with all the blame. She should just pack her things and leave now. Find a new job out in the frontier someplace maintaining air plants. After the company got done with her? She’d be lucky to get that.

  Matias said, “I am sending the full specifications now, Security Specialist Weaver. They are very small and do not have venom. They cannot threaten or injure you.”

  “Sure. That’s what they said about the starflockers too. Now the rad-blasted things can peck right through armor.” The flexible side of Weaver’s mouth twisted like she’d eaten an Eridanus sour. “The plas face shields take just a couple of strikes and boom, they’re shattered and someone’s eyes are getting pecked out.”

  Matias’s shoulders rose around his ears. “Eww.”

  “Don’t ‘eww’ me. You haven’t seen it. I have.”

  Gia shuddered.

  “All right.” Weaver heaved a huge sigh. “I’ll get the team out within the hour. Just two escaped, right?”

  “Two.” Matias looked at Weaver, but his glance slid away.

  “I don’t believe you,” Weaver said. The screen went blank.

  “I don’t believe you, either.” Gia took in a deep breath. She knew what she had to do. There wasn’t another choice. “Matias, you’re fired. Pack your bags. You’re on the next ship out.” When he opened his mouth to object, she added, “You’ll be lucky if you’re not in chains or traveling back in a military brig. You created and released an invasive species on a planet with no defense against it. One already suffering from multiple invasive invasions.”

  “But it’s native to the system!”

  “Matias. Go.” She pointed at the hatch. “You will proceed to your living quarters and remain there until a fold transport is available. File for your patent in your quarters. Do not leave. Food will be delivered.”

  A horrified and betrayed-looking Matias rose, slowly ran a hand over the container the Hellcats were flying in, clearly loving their wings, and shuffled out of the compartment.

  Gia closed her eyes again, sickened by her action and what she’d have to do next. Another deep breath and she brought up the lab controls. First, she copied all of Matias’s copious files into her personal storage and sent a copy back to her account on Valenti, just in case.

  Next, she selected the specimen box controls and the “terminate and destroy” option, then closed her eyes, unwilling to witness the destruction of the cute, but hellacious critters. When she opened her eyes again, what little debris remained was sucked out of the container. Gia sighed, saddened beyond endurance.

  The end of the Hellcats, the end of Matias’s research, and the end of her career. She should have listened to her mother, stayed home, got married, and had babies. It was too late for any of that now. The years she’d put into her career had been all-consuming, and now? Her future was completely consumed too.

  Gia walked out of human resources, the mix of exasperation and anger keeping her fists clenched and her shoes clicking sharply on the plascrete as she left the building, the noise of crowded Valenti City making her wince. She should be relieved—she hadn’t been fired or charged with a crime. She even got a severance bonus. But only because she agreed to keep her mouth shut about the complete incompetence of the CEO’s son.

  At least they’d fired Chip too. Quietly. Probably with a bigger severance than she got, not that he needed it with Daddy’s money.

  Poor Matias. He’d borne the brunt of the fallout. Certainly, he’d created the problem. He made and released the Hellcats. But everyone on the research station knew Matias needed constant supervision. Everyone interviewed, from the researchers down to the janitorial staff, stated they’d warned her idiot deputy that Matias was going way off-orbit. But Chip couldn’t be bothered to do his job. Dealing with Matias was just too stressful. No, Chip was busy with some pyramid scheme his girlfriend
was running. She was now in jail and Chip didn’t seem interested in helping her get out.

  Gia snorted. At least Matias was still working, even if it was in a high-security military research center. Actually, he was probably happier there—the military was good at making and maintaining routines, something Matias craved.

  But Chip? He was frittering away his family’s money at some luxury resort while the company and the military tried to clean up the growing problem on Harley Five.

  That idiot really needed to pay.

  Gia stopped in the middle of the walkway, people bumping her as they passed, but she didn’t care. She grinned—she would make him pay. So what if she didn’t get to keep her severance bonus? If she played her cards just right, she might keep it, get Matias some help, and send the idiot to jail. Satisfaction coursed through her.

  She scrolled through old contacts, finally finding the right one, and started composing a message. “Fatima, it’s been a long time, but I hope you still remember me and that favor you owe me. Because I’m calling it in. I need some lab help, just like you did, back in the day, Hellcat.” She laughed, aware the sound was an evil cackle.

  “Gia, didn’t you work for Invasive Solutions before you came here?”

  She smiled at her new coworker. “Sure did. Why?”

  “Did you see this article?” Kate’s tone conveyed horrified gloating.

  Gia shook her head. “You know I don’t pay attention to the news.”

  “Well, you might want to pay attention to this.” Kate pushed the article over to Gia’s workstation.

  She obediently clicked on the gossip site link, a picture appearing in glorious, almost neon color. “CEO’s son found dead! Killed by Hellcat! Is the species loose on Valenti?! Military response expected. Luxury resort residents horrified! Keith Richards evacuated.” Gia bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Oh, Kate, that is terrible.”

  Then she wrote a message to Fatima. “Expectations exceeded. Thank you, Hellcat. Thank you so much. We’re even.”

  After twenty years as a US Air Force space operations officer, AM now operates a laptop, trading in real satellites for fictional spaceships.

  AM’s writing cave is deep in the mountains of western Montana; there’s lots of pictures on Instagram. AM is also a volunteer leader with Team Rubicon Disaster Response.

  Quinn of Cygnus: Lift Off, book 1 of the new Quantum Fold Series, will go on sale Oct 15th, 2020.

  Sign up for the Scott Space Newsletter and get a free novella, Lightwave: Nexus Station, the exciting prequel to the seven-book Folding Space Series, available now.

  The newsletter link is: dl.bookfunnel.com/he7mqnp499

  16

  Kitty to the Rescue

  by Ann B. Harrison

  A heartfelt romance about finding

  your purrfect match.

  Chapter One

  Lissa Richards picked up the telephone. “Rescue Ranch. Lissa speaking.”

  “Honey, it’s Grandpa Wilson. Have you got time to help an old man out?”

  Fear trickled down her spine. She wasn’t used to hearing uncertainty in his voice. He was the strong one who held her up when she had a meltdown. “What’s happened?”

  “One of the boys found a cat in the back pasture. Poor mangy old thing ain’t doing too well.”

  “And?”

  “She’s hurt. Boys wanted to do the kind thing and put her out of her misery.”

  “But?” It was in his voice. The regret or was that pain for the poor animal involved?

  “We think she’s got a belly full of kittens. Last thing we need at the ranch is more cats, especially one in her condition, but there aren’t that many options other than you taking her. Know what I mean?”

  Sadly, she did. The rescue was often the last chance for a lot of animals, and she was the soft one who couldn’t say no. “I’ll speak to Rebel and come by shortly. Is she contained, easy for me to collect?”

  “Yeah. I got her into a crate, and she’s not too happy.”

  “Leave it with me.”

  When Lissa drove down the driveway of the Wilson’s ranch an hour later, her palms sweated, heart pounded, and her mouth went dry. This was where that cowboy lived. The one who’d brushed past her at the bar last month, with a ‘sorry ma’am,’ when Rebel dragged her out to ‘socialize.’ ‘The one’ she’d watched over her one glass of white wine while nursing it between her hands wishing she was anywhere but out in public.

  ‘The one’ she’d dreamt about for the last couple of months.

  ‘The one’ who made her heart race.

  A recluse by nature, Lissa was happier among animals, not people. Only problem was she never met anyone hiding from the public and she was getting ‘mature’ as her mom would say. ‘Over the hill,’ was the phrase her spiteful little sister preferred.

  Lissa called it lonely. And even she was sick of it.

  What she’d give for a stable relationship with someone who enjoyed the same quiet life she did. Never a party girl, watching the sunset with a coffee and a fire pit were more her thing.

  She pulled up near the stables and took a few deep breaths. She could do this. Go and find Grandpa, collect the poor cat, and get out before anyone else saw her. How hard could it be? And realistically, what were the chances of running into him anyway? He was probably out chasing cattle in a pasture, the sun on his face, the wind on his back, loving life.

  She swallowed. But what if she saw him? What would she say? How would she react? Would he even remember her? Doubtful. It wasn’t like she made a good impression or anything. Just some poor woman hiding in the corner nursing a drink. She’d probably come over as a hopeless wino for all she knew.

  A tap on the window made her jump and, she clutched her chest, holding onto the squeal rising in her throat.

  “You alright in there, Lissa?” Grandpa stared at her, worry lines on his craggy face.

  She opened the door and slid out. “Sorry. My mind was somewhere else.” She grabbed the cat cage from the trunk and faced him, her equilibrium somewhat returned. “So, show me what you’ve got.”

  “Got her in the tack room. Quietest place I could find.” He led her to one side of the stables and opened a door. “Poor thing is stressed out. Looking at me with those big eyes of hers. Really pulling at the heartstrings, she is.”

  A plaintive meow followed his words.

  “It’s okay, baby girl. Nobody’s gonna hurt you.” Lissa crouched down and shuffled over to the cage. Grandpa had covered it with a horse blanket to give the cat a sense of comfort. Lissa poked a finger in and stroked it down the ears, and the cat leaned into her. She scratched it under the chin as she tried to see how much damage the cat had sustained.

  “You poor thing. That’s some mangled leg.” It hung at an odd angle, even when the cat pulled herself closer to Lissa. Loud purring soon filled the small room. Even in unbearable pain, cats still purred.

  “You got a way with animals, that’s for sure.” The old man stepped inside and shut the door. “What do you think of saving her?”

  “I really don’t know. She’s lively enough. We’ll have to wait until we get her back to the shelter and see what the vet says. Sometimes it’s all about the will to live. She’s come this far, be a shame to not do what we can for her.”

  “Do you want a hand to put her in the carry cage?”

  Lissa smiled at him. “If you could open it for me, I’ll try and lift her out.”

  Grandpa lifted the lid and stepped back as she flipped the lock on the cage he’d put her in. It would’ve been easier to take that cage but it was too big for her car.

  Lissa carefully gathered the cat and the blanket it lay on, into her arms. “Shh, that’s a good girl. I’m not going to hurt you.” She lifted her up and ever so carefully transferred her to the smaller carrier.

  “She knows you’re going to help her. Animals sense these things.”

  Lissa stood up and dusted off her hands. “I sure hope we can save her and he
r babies. Thanks for calling me in.”

  Grandpa got the door as she picked up the carrier. “Any time. Make sure you keep me in the loop. I’d like to know how she goes.” He opened it and held it for Lissa, who walked right into the man she was so desperate to avoid.

  Matt Bollinger put his hands out to stop the woman crashing into him, but it was too late.

  “Whoa there, pretty lady.”

  She blushed, and the cage banged into his gut, knocking the wind out of him.

  He grabbed it with one hand and reached out to steady her with the other. He knew that unruly red hair, those stunning ocean blue eyes. He saw them in his dreams most nights.

  The girl from the bar that nobody seemed to know. The one whose very presence made his heart beat harder. The one who made him lost for words, made it impossible to go over and introduce himself. The one who got away.

  He’d almost given up looking for her, truth be told. Hanging out in bars wasn’t his favorite thing to do. Matt much preferred the quiet of the ranch. Stars instead of bright lights and bar music.

  “Sorry. I didn’t see you.” She muttered another apology and stepped back inside the tack room.

  “Hey, no problem. I was looking for Grandpa to ask how that mama cat I brought in was faring.”

  Her gaze met his. “You found her?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Couldn’t leave her out there to die. Poor thing was hurt.” Not that other guys agreed with him. Matt was a soft touch when it came to animals, especially pregnant ones. He lifted the box and peeked through the slats. “There you are, pretty girl.”