"He’s always had stars in his eyes. I’m sorry I wasn’t at the famous dinner! I would've like to have met this Anna Romanova. If she’s a looker, I’m sure Jamie will have fallen for her already!"
It was a bit of a family joke that Jamie would fall in love at the drop of a hat. They started to walk out of the auditorium at the end of the crush.
"So, the Brotherhood?"
"Ye’ve been able to find out anything more?"
Jenny, as Guild Master for all security and police forces, had put the internal security forces on to gathering further intelligence as to any infiltration of the colony.
"Not yet, but there’s some talk of them, nothing proven or substantial. We still haven’t been able to identify the man you killed." She grimaced. "Bad business. By the way, there won’t be any charges, it’s a straight case of self-defence. Lots of witnesses to the fact."
"Glad to hear it!"
He wasn’t too worried. While they had a fine justice system, he had a lot of clout where it mattered.
They exited the auditorium into the last of the day’s sunlight. A red glow stained the clouds orange and pink. Two moons of different sizes could be seen hanging in the sky.
"Dinner at the house? We can talk strategy afterwards. Although I may have to entertain some of the guests staying at the moment."
"Sounds a plan."
As they walked away together, they didn’t notice a figure in the shadows. He’d been following them, but now stayed in the blackness. He held a communicator to his mouth, and spoke quietly. Then he disappeared.
Twenty One
"No!"
Anna was adamant.
"We can’t stop now. We lost time stopping to convert credits into gals. To go to the cat planet will take time we don’t have. Time we should use to find the Stone. This is my ship!"
"Bloody mop head! This is my ship!"
Snark was furious. His tail thrashed back and forth.
"We’re no further forward in knowing where to look. I need to get home as soon as possible."
"You agreed to the Seeking. You agreed to help me. You agreed the ship would be yours when we finished."
"We’ve got to go to my homeworld!"
"No, we continue on!"
Jamie held up his hands for silence.
"Ok, Ok", he said quietly. "I hear both sides of the argument. But in my book, we should go to the cat planet. And then continue the Seeking."
He smiled encouraging at both grumpy faces.
"Easy. We do both."
Anna sighed.
"Perhaps."
She was not happy about this, but she had no real idea of where to go next in her search. She’d been hoping for a Seeing so she could get some clue. This had always helped her in the past, but nothing had come when she’d tried. She was too anxious to get a result. She needed to relax. Wind down. It had been a rollercoaster ride for her for too long now.
"Humph!" grumped Snark with a huff. His tail slowed and became still. "Once I find out why I’ve been recalled, we can go from there."
"As long as you don’t stay there. If you do, you don’t get the ship."
"No! It’s mine. I saved your sorry ass, and it’s going to be mine!"
Jamie held up his hands again.
"Shipmates, please!"
They hung their heads.
Jamie smiled. They were certainly a pair of hotheads. Stubborn as a pig being taken out of a mud filled field, the both of them.
"Ok, so I set a course for the Cat Homeworld."
"Yes!" snapped Snark
"Alright," conceded Anna.
They were on the bridge of the Seasprite. Jamie thought it was a poor name for such an amazing ship. The Revenge, or maybe, Intrepid, or something inspiring such as Vanguard, Venturer, or Enterprise.
Jamie sighed, and set the course for the Cat planet, somewhat narked he had to bend over the helm chair to do it. He was actually looking forward to seeing another specie’s homeworld. Were all the cats as grumpy as Snark? He thought for a moment. Time to change the subject.
"Tell me about your Homeworld, Snark."
"The Cat World? Well, it’s home to the Cats of the Plains. That’s the most civilised race. I’m one of the Cats of the Plains of course. We run things."
"Oh? There’s other cat races?"
"Yes, but they’re the Wild Ones."
"Wild Ones?"
"They still have fur, and live in the forests and wild places. They don’t have cities, but still hunt and move around their territories." He looked down his long nose at them. "We Cats of the Plains don’t have fur. We’ve become civilised, intelligent, reasoning, and sensible."
Jamie and Anna smiled at each other. Both of them were holding their grins in, and they knew it.
"The World Council hasn’t happened for a long time. So things must be at a cross-roads for my people if they’re holding one."
He looked agitated. His ears flattened back against his head, and his eyes grew wide.
"It’s a while since I’ve been back."
He sniffed a bit and wiped his nose with his paw.
"I’ve been busy."
Anna wondered the real reason why he hadn’t been home. Snark seemed a bit evasive.
Jamie was also wondering, but he was too full of the new, and what the Cat World would be like, to spend much time on it. But he did wonder how he was going to put up with the two of them at loggerheads like this. Jamie was an optimist and liked to get along. He particularly wanted to get along with Anna.
He straightened his back, and as it twinged, he also decided he wanted a way of controlling the ship which didn’t involve bending over a chair designed for a cat. He went looking through the control interfaces to see what he could find.
Twenty Two
The Grand Mother snapped awake with a start. It was dark. She could hear the rest of the family in the dens nearby. Had she overslept?
She recalled the dream. Not the cold evil this time, but a place, a scene she'd observed. Some strange beings, were these humans? They walked on two legs upright, and had only two arms, which was very strange. They seemed too simple. One was straight up and down, and one was a more curvy shape, she assumed male and female. They had smooth skin on their faces, but surprisingly thick fur on their heads. One had very long fur indeed.
They seemed appealing in some way. She could see their faces moving in many different expressions as they talked, but she couldn’t hear the conversation. She wouldn’t have been able to understand it even if she could. It was hard to tell, but they were tall, much bigger than the biggest cats. They stood at the foot of a great waterfall with three separate courses weaving their way down to merge and flow into a large pool, and it had some strange luminescence which made the surface seem reflective and deep at the same time.
She was standing looking through a stone arch, which appeared to be a natural formation. She wanted to cry a warning. There was a sense of danger all around, a dense force, almost like fog, but invisible. She couldn’t speak or cry out. The two beings walked into the pool, seeming to float on the surface, and then disappeared through the curtain of water.
And she had woken, the dream disappearing into black, leaving her feeling very disturbed. This vision was very different to the one telling of the sinister force, but they seemed linked in her mind. Were the beings part of what was coming? What was the significance of this scene, this place?
She sighed. All she could do was trust the visions would tell her, and the universe would give her the pieces of the puzzle all in its own time.
She had to focus on the now, and the preparations for the World Council. Most of the key delegates had accepted her invitations, and were sending their Heads or senior representatives and parties. Her team were busy organising the security arrangements, accommodations, program of events, and entertainments. It would be a grand display of the Cats of the Plains’ status and power, but it also needed to be a forum for real dialogue and decision.
&nbs
p; Meanwhile, she had also been busy herself. Her network of spies in other systems had been tasked with finding out all they could about the humans, and how they impacted the Sector Ten council, and how this would flow on into the Cat Council. She also wanted to know about destabilisation, and who was seeking power after the demise of the Owls. She had ordered them to report in person, or send emails with written reports to arrive before the World Council began, so she could be prepared.
She had also started to talk with the council members separately where she could about where they stood, and what they were thinking. She wanted to sound out who she could rely on for support, and who would be against her, as well as wanting to find out about their reaction to Prrinks return.
She knew she was relying on Prrinks to come through. He alone had been there at the defeat of the Owls. He had seen the Human power first hand. And she trusted his judgement, even though many would not. She just hadn’t received a reply. Yet.
It was time for a meal, and to spend some time with the new litter of kittens. She was a mother and grandmother many times over, but she always enjoyed the new litters. Such rascals! She left the room and went forward into the light beyond.
Twenty Three
A figure detached itself from the shadow beside the bins at the back of a rundown bar. Smitch didn’t like this area as a meet. He didn’t like the whole thing. It smelled bad. And not just those bins. The tip of his tail flicked to and fro, and his eyes were pools of black in the poor light. He pulled his head down. He didn’t want any reflection of light shining in the dark, and marking his location.
A being hopped along the alleyway, and stopped short of him. It was wearing a large bulky coat which disguised its form, but the four feet showing below the flapping hem line gave him away. A Pidgeon. The figure hopped closer, and gave him the passcode.
"Falcon’s rest," the bird like figure chirped.
"Is in the high mountains," replied Smitch.
Who thought up this rubbish, he wondered? The Brotherhood was losing its grip.
Smitch took the package the Pidgeon slipped out of the pocket of his coat, and quickly hid it under his embroidered cloak. The Pidgeon was lucky. The Cats of the Plains were civilised, and used to alien species wondering around the city. But a Pidgeon? They were much larger than the cats, more bat sized, and so would take a bit of bringing down, but really, he wondered how they tasted. Some of the more disreputable joints on the skirts of the city reportedly served alien fare as rodent, or actually as what they were. Savages. But one did wonder sometimes.
The Pigeon hopped away, and Smitch merged back into the shadows. He could feel the contents of the package. The shape of the gun felt solid, but deadly. He wondered where they'd obtained it. It was said to be a human laser gun. It was large for his paw, but felt satisfyingly heavy.
He checked no one was coming, before moving down the alleyway in the opposite direction to the Pidgeon. As he moved, he wondered again, whether he could do this. The Brotherhood had taken advantage of his jealousy and rage, but it was very, very risky, and he wanted to come out with his skin in one piece. They were also paying a lot of gals, and this had initially made it easy to accept. But as the plan became clearer, he wasn’t as sure he’d be able to get away to spend them. He needed to be very careful, and also second guess his pay-masters. He also wondered who was paying them.
As he walked, one leg clicked. The artificial limb was as good as the others, but had this annoying clicking noise. He should get it fixed.
He smiled to himself. They would soon be fixed. Permanently.
Twenty Four
On the other side of the city, in a high-rise den complex, Sissness was deep into her research on the origins of the galaxies species. An anthropologist, historian, and sociologist, she was delving into the origins of the cat civilisation in particular, but also the overall history of the galaxy. She was hoping to answer some key questions about how the different species evolved and spread, and how they'd developed civilised societies. She was currently completing a research project for the Syntex Foundation, looking at the origins of the cats of the Plains, and their transition from prairie living to civilised city dwellers. She was trying to narrow down the scope of her research into a manageable question to solve, and also find a profitable outcome from the research. She was finding it, as ever, difficult.
She kept being pulled in different directions, and going off on tangents when she found something interesting. Studying the ancient texts of the first writings of the Cats of the Plains was fascinating, and a rich source of information about a wide range of topics.
She was under the pump to come up with something which would have a gal impact, so Syntex Foundation would continue to support her work. And yet, she seemed pulled in one certain direction, towards some classic texts surrounding the time when the first of the Cats left the protective underground dens, and moved into more permanent above ground structures.
Mriffth had done some fabulous work on the development by the cats of tools and spoken language. This was way too far back for her studies, but the ancient texts sourced by him, were very descriptive of the journey the cats had made over generations.
And then she saw it. A text describing a visit by 'Gods'. While the description was limited in the text, there was a rare drawing which accompanied the documents. It looked strangely like a cat with a wide halo around its head. A halo? Or a helmet? And the being was not cat like, being depicted as a tall, long bodied being, with only two arms. Not three. Two. The rest of the torso and legs was obscured.
She scanned the next documents. Nothing more about the 'Gods', wait, here. There was a depiction of a 'God' holding some kind of object. A lump of something. She consulted the text. It was hard reading the ancient dialect of cat language, but there was enough to decipher some information. It was called a 'talisman'. She checked the reference. Yes, a talisman. Hang on, she checked again, and there was another reference to a 'stepping stone'.
Intriguing. She'd never seen anything in the literature to suggest some kind of 'god–like' beings being present in ancient times before. And what was this talisman? Or was it a stepping stone?
She had to refocus. This couldn’t possibly give the Foundation anything to fund her research further.
She was about to shut down her screen, when she noticed another reference. It seemed to be a statement by one of the cat leaders at a later time. She translated, 'Freedom will come with the Fortune of the Talisman.' Strange. Hadn’t she heard something like that before? But where? Normally able to make obscure connections between different pieces of information, she was struggling with this. Of course, she was overtired. She’d been going since…. She sat up straight with her tail also standing to attention. She’d completely lost track of time, and been going for over eighteen hours. She obviously needed rest.
The good thing was, as she groomed herself before curling up in her cat bed, she had convinced her last mate to get her into the World Council meeting. Her ex was a member of the Council, and she was keen to witness the meeting of the cats of the world, something which had never occurred before in her lifetime, and may never occur again. She wanted to witness the gathering of all of the species of cat on this world. It would be an amazing experience in relation to her research. Why had the Cats of the Plains adopted more 'civilised' behaviours and the city life, and the Wild Ones kept their traditions?
She yawned a wide yawn showing all of her teeth. Curling up in her bed, she wore a satisfied smirk. Oh, nice and warm. She quickly fell asleep.
And woke with a start. Someone was in her room, she knew it. She rolled out of her bed, and at the same time felt something thud into where she'd just been. She rolled over and stood up. A shadow was bent over her cat bed. Steel flashed in the moonlight shining through the window and curtains. It slashed and thumped into the bed. And again.
She was terrified. What was happening? She moved through the shadows to the door. The intruder was still crouched over her bed, no
w clawing through the covers. He’d quickly realise she wasn’t there. She crossed to the bedroom door, and quietly stepped out, and began running for the front door. She could hear him behind her, almost feel his angry breath on her neck. She pulled at the front door latch, and fumbled. He was behind her, hot breath now actually on her neck, and he pulled her around to face him. The knife flashed, but she punched him in the face, and felt his nose implode. Her paw was now in agony, but he flinched away, and she had time to pull the door open and escape. She ran down the hallway to the emergency stairs, and flung herself down them. She couldn’t hear any pursuit. She exited two flights down into the hallway. Where to? Where was safe?
She could see someone walking down the hallway towards her. It wasn’t her assailant, but he didn’t look friendly. She knocked frantically on the first door she found. Come on! She couldn’t wait, she needed to go back down the stairs. She was about to run, when the door opened. She saw an old lady cat in her dressing gown and slippers.
"Excuse me, but could you let me in?" she gasped, and the old lady looked briefly out the door at the oncoming cat, and pulled her into the apartment, before she shot the bolt on the door and checked the deadlocks, grabbing her arm, and pulled her firmly into the living room of the apartment.
"Are you in trouble?"
"Yes," Sissness blurted. "Someone just tried to kill me."
"Oh my!" The old lady was momentarily stunned. "What, in our building?" she cried.
The old cat gathered herself together, and went straight to her coms module.
"I’m calling the police," she said.
Sissness explained to the service what had happened, and they promised to send someone out as soon as possible.
"That will take forever," suggested the old lady. "Let’s have a nice cup of tea and a biscuit."
Later, the police surveyed the scene of the alleged crime. There was certainly shredded bedding, but no other evidence of an intruder. Without more concrete evidence there was nothing they could do.
Snark's Quest Page 9
