Star Cat: The First Trilogy (Infinity Claws, Pink Symphony, War Mage)

by Andrew Mackay

  "Cannot leave," Jelly blurted matter-of-factly and patted her mattress like an excited child, "Stay, stay, stay."

  Jaycee approached the bed and felt the urge to touch her face, "What did you say?" His gloved fingers made contact with her cheek.

  "Miew," she cowered, only for his finger to brush against one her whiskers.

  ZAAPP-PP!

  Each whisker lit up and jolted Jaycee’s hand away, "Oww. What the hell is wrong with you?"

  Jelly exploded in tears and held the sides of her head with her paws, "Brain. Hurts."

  "Look what you’ve done," Wool scooped the sobbing Jelly into her arms. It wasn’t until she felt her weight that she fully acknowledged her growth, "Honey, are you okay?"

  "Bad men," she wept, "In head."

  "Bad men? What bad men?"

  Jaycee turned to Tor and pointed at Bonnie. "You, wake Dr. Whitaker up. Now. We need her online."

  "Fine."

  Tor raced over to the chair as Jaycee turned back to Wool and Jelly, "What’s wrong with her?"

  "PET scan complete," the machine advised, "J. Anderson, configuration one, one, eight. Congratulations, you’ve a clean bill of health. Generating quantitative report. Please standby."

  The image displayed a 3D rendition of Jelly’s brain. All four quadrants flashed green.

  "What does that mean?"

  Wool hugged Jelly and exhaled, "Like the machine said, a clean bill of health. Nothing wrong."

  "Hey, wake up," Tor bopped Bonnie on the shoulder.

  "Huh?" she licked her lips and opened her eyes, "Where am I?"

  "Very funny. Get up. We’re at war."

  "War?"

  "Apparently so."

  Bonnie jumped to her feet and sprang into action. She reached for her Rez-9 and clasped the holster, "Who are we fighting?"

  "You remember those ugly monster things?"

  "Yes."

  "Them."

  "Where are they?"

  "We’re waiting here for Tripp. Just get ready," Tor immediately thought of a question, "Don’t get angry, but… are you human?"

  "Of course I’m human, you idiot," Bonnie spat and saw Jelly in Wool’s arms, "Oh, there she is."

  "Hey."

  Bonnie lifted her boot at the end of her mechanical leg and wondered why it was vibrating, "Oh, it’s not me. Are we traveling?"

  "We’re trying to," Tripp entered Medix. Covered in pink slime, his face and inner-suit had seen happier, cleaner days.

  He slung the K-SPARK over his shoulders and held out his arms, acknowledging his gory state, "You’re welcome." He turned to Jaycee and held out his hand, "Fresh mag, please."

  "You got it," Jaycee released the magazine from his gun, "Here," he threw it at Tripp, who caught it and slotted it into his shotgun.

  "Thanks," Tripp wiped a slew of pink gloop from his face and pulled the door shut.

  "What’s the situation, Tripp?’ Wool asked. ‘I’m hearing those things got into the ship."

  "Yes, I’ve just killed about twenty of them."

  "So, they’re all dead?"

  "Nope," Tripp cleared his throat and wiped his pink sludge-splattered face, "That was just the start. We’ll be out of here soon. We need to kill however many of them are left. Where’s Baldron?"

  "He, uh, didn’t make it," Jaycee said.

  Tripp hawked up a pink wad of phlegm and spat it at Tor’s face. He recoiled with apology when it splatted against the man’s forehead.

  "Eww."

  "Sorry, I meant to miss you."

  Tripp barged the man out of his path and looked at the E-MRI holograph hanging in the middle of the room, "This is Jelly, right?"

  "Yes," Wool explained, carrying Jelly over to Tripp, "The brain scan came back all clear. Just a routine health check, really."

  "You okay, Jelly?"

  Tripp smiled at her, hoping for a positive reception. No such luck. She pressed the side of her head against Wool’s shoulder and avoided him.

  "Charming."

  He turned around and addressed Wool, Jaycee, Tor, and Bonnie, "Okay, here’s the lowdown. We’re screwed. Manuel’s trying his best to get us out of this godforsaken place, but the thrusters are playing up and we might not have enough throttle to reach the sky, let alone orbit," he shot Tor a look of utter disgust, "Ain’t that right, comrade?

  "I’m sorry."

  "I swear on my wife and son, Tor," Tripp grunted, about ready to execute the man with his own bare hands, "If you say you’re sorry just one more damn time, I’ll tear off your head and thread it on a skewer along with Baldron’s. Do you understand what I’ve just said?"

  Tor pressed his hands together and decided it was best not to call his captain’s bluff, "Yes, Captain."

  "Good," Tripp reached into his belt, retrieved his Rez-9 and push it into Wool’s hands, "Bonnie, are you carrying?"

  "Yeah, just the one piece," Bonnie gripped her firearm and thumped her metal leg, "Got the K-12 on as a backup."

  "Stay behind Jaycee, then. He and I are locked and ready to blast."

  "I don’t have a gun," Tor tried, temporarily forgetting that he was the bad guy.

  "Why don’t you try punching them in the face? See how far that gets you?" Tripp winked at Wool but she hadn’t the heart to smirk back.

  "This isn’t funny, Tripp,” Tor said.

  “Yes it is. You’re good at hitting things, aren’t you?’ Tripp pointed at Wool, ‘Especially women.”

  “That’s irrelevant. If we go out there unarmed I’ll get killed."

  “Want me to tear your arms off, then?” Jaycee joked, enjoying the man’s distress, ‘I’ll rip them off and batter you to death with them.”

  “No, armed, you dummy. Give me a weapon at least.”

  "No guns for you, ass hat,’ Tripp spat. ‘If you die, you die. We’ll be sure to send N-Gage your loved ones and tell them how awesome you are, or, hopefully, soon to be were."

  Jelly’s whiskers sparked up. "Miewww," She clawed at Wool’s arm, wanting to be set down on the bed.

  "Okay, honey."

  Everyone watched as she dropped Jelly to her mattress, "Voice in brain," she shuddered and held her claws to her face, "Pink… Pink Symphony."

  "What’s she talking about now?" Jaycee asked, ready to storm out and do battle. The bizarre interlude was preventing him from doing his job, "We’d better go."

  "No, wait," Wool leaned over Jelly and looked at her face, "What’s wrong, honey?"

  Jelly yelped and swiped her infinity claws at Wool, tearing three slits across her cheek, "ROOWAAR."

  "Gah," Wool cupped her face and stepped back against the wall, “She scratched me!”

  Tripp ran over and held her arm, "Wool.”

  Jelly snatched the radio on her bedside desk and slammed it against her thighs. The bone in her leg cracked pushing her feet out a further two inches, "Pink…"

  She dropped the radio to the floor and writhed around in pain, "Waaaah."

  The black device hit the floor, cracking apart. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony piped up.

  Da-da-da-dummm…

  The crew backed up as Jelly’s chest hulked into the air and carried the rest of her flailing body ten inches above the bed.

  "Shaaah…" Her childlike voice deepened, mid-cry, "Shaaantaa…"

  Wool caught sight of a commotion coming from outside the window, "Look, out there."

  The two smaller suns in the sky converged into the biggest. Its rings whizzed around at speed, vacuuming the grains of sand off the floor like a reverse waterfall.

  The ship shuddered and rocked around forcing the horizon to creep back into view.

  "I don’t like this," Tripp said. "What the hell is—"

  THUD!

  Jelly crashed back to the bed and wailed, "Ugghhh…"

  Bonnie widened her eyes at Jelly. Her body had lengthened by five inches. Still covered by the blanket, she shook her head and flicked her ears, "They come."

  "What?" Jaycee lost his temper. "Who com
e?"

  "We stay," she said in her huskier voice, barely registering any pain, "We fight."

  "Fight what?" Tripp asked, about to explode with frustration.

  Jelly’s blinks turned her orange eyes pink. Her whiskers lit up. Her voice husky and gravelly, as if possessed, "Do you know why you are here?"

  Magnetized by Jelly’s transformation, Tripp cleared his throat and calmed down, "No, we don’t. Tell us."

  "Look outside and see," she said, attracting the undivided attention of everyone in the room.

  All sets of eyes averted to the window.

  Hundreds of thousands of creatures scurried across the sand away from the ocean. Many crammed into each other as they funneled to the ship like a virus.

  "God, look at that."

  "We gave Jelly The Gift," the girl’s voice slowed down, near unrecognizable, "We need your help."

  "That’s not Jelly talking," Wool said.

  "Who are you?"

  "Pink Symphony. Evolve."

  "Lessense," Jaycee prepared to hop through the window and go down in a blaze of glory, "That’s a stupid name for—"

  "—It is the closest name we have. Beings from your universe cannot comprehend our true name," Jelly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood to her feet. She pulled the E-MRI pad from her chest and clutched the blanket around her neck. "To you, we are Pink Symphony. Pink, because that’s as close as your eyes can process…"

  Jelly looked at the radio on the floor and sighed. A battered, tinny version of Beethoven’s classic whimpered across the ground.

  "Symphony. Because of the language your radio speaks. Your friends on the other ship came to help us, but they did not have the right species."

  Tor put two and two together, hoping he hadn’t arrived at five, "Wait. That makes sense."

  "What makes sense?" Tripp asked. "It makes no sense at all."

  Tor went for the radio. "No, hang on. Wait." He picked up the broken piece of plastic and tore out the wiring, "When Alpha went through Enceladus, it must have come here. To Pink Symphony. Right?"

  "Can’t say I disagree."

  "Don’t you understand?" The puzzle slotted together in Tor’s mind, "Saturn Cry, the message it sent. It wasn’t coming from Enceladus. It came from here."

  "Why didn’t Alpha crack the code?" Wool asked, still failing to get to grips with the idea.

  "Because they didn’t have a cat on board," Bonnie said, "They were useless to whoever this is we’re speaking to through Jelly."

  “The Gift,” Jelly made her way over to the wardrobe and sifted through the hanging medician gowns, "Blind as the day you were born."

  "She cracked the code when she was in Pure Genius," Tor continued. "She sent us through Enceladus and brought us here."

  "Yes, but it was either that or run out of oxygen," Tripp tried his best to question the bizarre logic.

  "No, this was no accident. Jelly had no choice."

  "Pink Symphony is oxygen. We breathe, we live," Jelly slipped her arms through the sleeves of the medician gown and pushed the door shut, "The girl is cold."

  "Whatever brought us here needed Jelly," Tripp asked. "Or, a cat?"

  "The cat went into the water. She returned with The Gift we gave her," Jelly flicked her shoulder length hair over her shoulders. She stood an impressive three foot five and looked more human, "War is coming. You need to protect her."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Not Jelly," Jelly held out her arms, encouraging Wool to go and hug her, "Pink Symphony."

  "Are we… talking… to Pink Symphony right now?" Tor asked.

  "Yes."

  "Wow," Tor cackled wildly, "That’s messed up."

  Tripp shrugged his shoulders and waved Tor across the room, "Well, you’re the communications expert. Go and talk to her."

  "This is incredible. Let me look at her."

  "Just don’t touch her," Wool squeezed Jelly’s shoulders from behind.

  Tor lowered himself and looked into Jelly’s possessed eyes, "Jelly?"

  She blinked, shyly, and clung to Wool’s leg as she awaited Tor’s questions.

  "Why did you bring us here?"

  "To save us."

  "Who is us?"

  "Pink Symphony—"

  "—Yes, I know. But, who are you?"

  "Virus."

  "That explains the pink gas," Tor looked up at Tripp for a response. He didn’t get one and so returned to Jelly, "A virus?"

  "You carry us," Jelly’s face remained utterly still, "We cure humans, we kill humans."

  "It hasn’t killed me, yet. Or any of my crew."

  Jelly shook her head, "Only kills humans."

  "Right. So why aren’t we dead, yet?"

  Jelly twitched her nose as the voice radiated through the skin on her face, "No one heard Saturn Cry for the equivalent of an Earth millennium. Humans responded to the message. We didn’t mean to kill your people."

  "Is that what happened to Alpha?"

  "We learned much from Alpha. They came, we heard noises we liked. We sent Alpha back, they helped to transmit our call for rescue. To save us."

  "Save you from what?" Tor asked, carefully.

  "Shanta."

  "Shanta?"

  Jelly scowled and roared in Tor’s face, "Pink Symphony is evolution."

  Wool turned to the E-MRI scan and noticed spotted a glowing pink orb in her belly, "What’s that?"

  "The gift," Jelly approached her and pointed to the stomach organ, "You protect cat."

  "We can never go home," Jaycee said. "We’ve been infected by the virus. It’ll kill everyone."

  Jelly’s eyes tilted up into her skull. "Protect. Please," She closed her eyelids and slumped to the floor in a crazy heap.

  "Jelly," Wool crouched down and scooped her into her arms and lifted her up, "God, she’s gotten heavier, Tripp. Help me carry her to the bed."

  "Okay," He grabbed Jelly’s calves in his hands. Wool pulled her over to the bed by her arms.

  "Be careful with her tail," Wool set her top half onto the mattress, "I’m not sure what’s going on here, Tripp."

  "Join the club."

  "The E-MRI is nearly complete. It’s not my place to bark orders at people, but I think you guys should go and do whatever it is you need to do and help us get out of here."

  "You’re right," Tripp looked at Jelly and ran his thumb across her forehead, "Is she okay?"

  "Yeah, BPM is one over fifty. She’s sleeping. Probably a bit exhausted."

  "I’m not going to let anything happen to her," Tripp absorbed the girl’s beauty, "If we have to protect her, then that’s what we’ll do."

  "Tripp?" Tor was eager to get a word in edgewise, "I, uh, I think we’re—oh, God."

  "Not now, Tor."

  Tripp nodded at Jaycee and Bonnie. The primary airlock is damaged, but we’re off-ground, at least. Those creature things won’t be coming in—”

  Jelly’s eyes flew open. "Shaaaanta."

  "Shanta, yes," Tripp agreed before double-taking and realized what he’d just said, "Shanta?"

  "Shanta," Jelly fumed and blinked.

  "Okay, I guess they’re called The Shanta," Tripp said. "Botanix is vulnerable, so I suggest we go there and make sure it’s sealed."

  "There were enough of them trying to get in there," Bonnie said. "Good idea."

  A bead of sweat ran down Tor’s anxiety-ridden face. "Oh, God. She said it only kills humans," he muttered.

  "Tor, not now. You can think about sabotaging all our future missions another time."

  He grabbed at Tripp’s hand in profound desperation.

  "Get off me, numb nuts."

  "Pink Symphony. It only kills humans. Why am I not dead?" Tor turned his back to Tripp and grabbed his left ear, "There’s only one explanation. Please, look behind my ear. Do you see anything?"

  Tripp sighed, "If it shuts you up, then fine. Show me."

  Sure enough, the Manning/Synapse imprint was visible behind his earlob
e now that Tripp held it up.

  "Huh?"

  "I knew it. I’m a damn Androgyne," Tor burst into tears and slumped against the bed on the adjacent wall, "You call me a conspirator? I just knew something was up. Baldron was Series Three, and now… now…" he started to hyperventilate, "Now you’re keeping this from me?"

  "Hey, calm down. No one knew," Tripp spat. "How did you know?"

  Tor wiped his nose and stammered as he spoke, "Jelly, Pink Symphony. Whatever it’s c-called. It’s a virus. Some evolutionary virus thing."

  "Yes."

  "And it only kills humans?"

  "Yeah, I heard her," Tripp tried to scramble for the answer before Tor had to spell it out, "Why?"

  "Who died after we left Alpha?" Tor cried.

  "Daryl, Androgyne—"

  "—No. Not during the explosion. Anyone would have been killed in that. I mean, who died because they had the virus?"

  "Haloo."

  "Right."

  "Right."

  Bonnie and Jaycee knew what Tripp had failed to grasp. Wool knew it, too, and clocked on instantly.

  "Oh, n-no, no," Wool’s hand shook intensely as she reached up to her left ear, "No, I c-can’t be."

  Tripp dashed over to her and grabbed her shoulders, "Quick, show me."

  "If… if I am, then I d-don’t want to know," Wool treated the proposed diagnosis as terminal, “Tripp, p-please. Promise me you’ll lie if I am, or tell me the truth if I’m not."

  "Turn around."

  Her eyes peeled away from his face as she turned around. Faced with her shoulders, he carefully lifted her earlobe up with his knuckle.

  Jaycee scrunched his face and felt a lump form in his throat. He knew what it felt like it. Everyone else fell silent in anticipation.

  "Tripp?" Wool whispered. “Is it there?”

  He opened his eyes but couldn’t squeeze the words out.

  "Tripp? Say something!" Wool squealed as he turned her around to face him.

  "I’m so sorry, Wool."

  Jelly let out a cat-like whine in reverence for Wool’s torment. "Not sad, mommy."

  A stream of pink tears ran down Wool’s face, "I c-can’t…"

  "I, uh, don’t know what to say."

  "Kill me, please," Wool grabbed his wrists like a woman possessed and threatened to lash out at everyone, "I can’t be an Androgyne. It’s not true. It’s some sort of sick trick. Someone must have put it there—"