“Okay,” Tripp looked around and ran off in the direction he thought would take him to the control deck.
Jaycee hit the second lever, opening the outer airlock door.
Alex pushed the newborn kitten into the airlock and followed her in, giving Jaycee the ‘thumbs up’ through the window.
His jaw dropped as he turned to the blinding-white bridge. Saturn’s rings gyrated faster and faster. A liquid circle formed over its surface. It appeared to sing as it enveloped the two ships with a brilliant white light.
“My G-God…”
SCHWUMP.
Alex couldn’t believe his eyes. A wondrous event was in full swing. He caught the newborn in his arms as the decompression thundered around them, “What’s happening up there?”
Jaycee yanked the second lever down and opened the inner door, “Give me the baby.”
Alex bolted through the door and passed the kitten to Jaycee, “Something insane is happening up there.”
“I know. We saw it,” Jaycee inspected the kitten. She’d bled a little form her facial orifices but was still breathing, “We need to protect Anderson’s baby.”
“What about Jelly?” Alex pointed at the door.
Oxade and Jelly faced-off in the middle of the bridge. He aimed his gun at her and threatened to shoot, “My name is Oxade Weller. I am the captain of Opera Charlie,” he said before realizing Jelly couldn’t hear a word. She could see he was speaking through his mask, but little else.
Nutrene sidled past him on the bridge with her Rez-9 drawn. Her monocle rotated and focused on Jelly, “Let me take care of this putrid ball of fluff.”
Jelly lowered her claws and huffed. The absence of atmosphere began to crack the fur and skin on her arms. She harnessed the pain and used it to psyche herself up, ready for war.
“It’s very pretty out here, isn’t it?” Nutrene looked up at the angry blue planet spinning its rings. She pointed her gun at Jelly’s heart, “Now surrender. You’re a perversion of science.”
Jelly whined. Her muscles tensed up as she held her claws out in surrender.
“Good girl,” Nutrene laughed through her mask, “Who’s a good girl? Yes, you are,” she pulled herself along the bridge with her free arm, “Come here for a murdering, you fluffy little—”
SCHWUPP!
Nutrene’s gun lifted away from her palm and shot up to Saturn’s spinning rings, “Huh?”
She grabbed at it - to no success. The gun sped at that bizarre circular formation smothering Saturn’s surface.
Nutrene made the mistake of looking up at the spectacle, “Oh, m-my,” Her monocle swirled around, focusing on her gun drifting towards the planet, “It is God!”
“Meow,” Jelly snarled and swiped her claws across Nutrene’s face. Her mask burst apart. The lens in her monocle cracked.
The gelatin frontage sucked into her face and blasted three perfect streams of gas towards Saturn, depriving the woman of oxygen.
“H-Help m-me…”
Nutrene let go of the rails. The pull from Saturn yanked her eyeball through her broken monocle, forcing her head away from the bridge. Her chest cracked out and made its way towards the blackened surface of Saturn as she suffocated to death.
“Aaggghhhh…” Nutrene’s suit tore open and punched a hole in her torso. Her organs plumed out and stretched away from her body.
“Oh God,” Oxade raced forward and kicked himself down to his back. He spun around on his side and watched what little remained of Nutrene fold out.
The bones in her body crunched together and threw her remains at Saturn like a stretched piece of chewing gum.
Jelly’s hair began to lift toward the cataclysmic black event on Saturn, “Miew.”
She turned around and held onto the bridge railing and yanked herself toward Opera Charlie.
“Oh, God, Nutrene.”
He witnessed the bottom half of her body, and legs, stretch over thousands of miles and melt into the fantastic light show above his head. Her monocle elongated as her messy amalgam of bone, flesh and skin snaked toward the angry planet.
Oxade felt his feet drift up and away from the bridge, “Come back here,” he screamed, pulling himself toward Jelly.
Poz and Neg peeked out from Opera Beta’s outer airlock hatch and scanned the bridge, “Seems stable enough.”
“Yes, but what about that black hole?” Neg tilted her eyebulbs directly above their heads.
“We can make it,” Poz said. “I don’t want to die on this crappy spaceship.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Neg rolled across the bridge at speed, headed toward Oxade and Jelly.
Oxade clung to the bridge and felt his shin bones crack apart, “Oh, oh…”
Jelly spun around and slammed the outer airlock door, “Let me in.”
Alex hit the lever on the wall. The hatch flew up and let Jelly into the decompression chamber. She tumbled backwards and hit her tail on the wall, “Mieewww.”
Oxade grabbed the outer door edges, trying to fight back the force of the event taking place above them. He looked at the ground and tried for one last push.
“Nyaaarrggghhhhhh…”
WHIZZ…
Neg rolled into the chamber underneath his chest as he pulled forward.
“Hello, Captain.”
“Gah, gah,”
Oxade wrenched the top half of his body through the frame of the airlock door.
SCHWUNT-SMASH!
The hatch sliced down on his right foot and severed it from his ankle.
“Gaaooww,”
The compressed air blasted around Jelly, Neg, and Oxade, sealing them in from the bridge.
Jelly caught her breath and held the end of her tail. The pain was sensational and angered her to the core.
Oxade and Neg looked up at her.
“N-Neg…” Oxade looked through the window and saw his severed foot drift through space, headed for Saturn, “Touch Jelly for me.”
“My pleasure,” Neg twisted around and rolled forward, threatening to make contact.
Jelly back up to the inner door, “Stay away from me.”
“Come here, girl,” Neg slid forward and beeped, “I want to absorb you.”
Jelly elbowed the inner door behind her, “Alex. Open the hatch.”
“Touch her, you useless marble,” Oxade shouted at Neg.
“Okay, okay,” She rolled further forward, nanoseconds away from making contact.
Jelly gripped the inner hatch, closed her eyes and squealed.
Neg almost made contact with Jelly’s knee. Her cylindrical body lifted ten inches into the air and rocketed back toward the outer airlock door.
CLANNNGGG!
Her frame smashed against the bottom of the door like a super-powerful magnet, “What the hell?”
Neg looked around and saw Poz on the other side of the door slowly drifting up toward Saturn’s event.
“Neg, Neg,” Poz’s muffled squeals blasted from the window, “Help me. Don’t let me go.”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Neg slid up the door with Poz, their magnetized surfaces keeping them bound together.
“Don’t l-let me go up there, I’m scared.”
Jelly and Oxade’s watched the magnetic droids share a moment together as Poz’s body dragged Neg further up the outer airlock door.
“Work with me, here, Neg,” Poz said. “Let me in.”
Jelly screamed and clanging her claws against the window, “Alex, open the damn hatch.”
Alex kept his grip on the lever and eyed the pressure inlet dial, “I’m waiting for the chamber to reset. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…”
Biddip-beeeeeeeep.
The lever lit up, indicating the decompression had concluded.
SWISH!
Alex yanked the lever down. The inner airlock hatch flew up. Jelly backward-rolled inside Opera Charlie..
She thumped her claws to the ground and growled at Oxade and Neg.
“Come here, you defiant cow,” Neg attempted to break
away from Poz’s magnetic charge from the other side of the outer airlock hatch.
“Alex,” Jelly shouted, “Now.”
He thumped the lever down.
SLAMM-SCHWUNT!
The inner hatch slammed shut, sealing Neg and Oxade inside the airlock chamber.
Jelly grunted and slapped her tail against the ground. Alex let go of the lever and turned to her, “What d-do we do, now?”
She trained her eyes on the window as she stood to her feet and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Jelly?” Alex asked in fright.
She pushed him aside and made her way to the yellow pressure inlet dial. She punched through the glass and turned the dial counter-clockwise, raising the pressure.
Screeeeeeeeee… the spindle on the dial daggered to the right, flying up the atmosphere pressure numbers.
“Oh no,” Oxade’s muffled voice splashed against the window of the inner airlock door. He scrambled to his bleeding stump, realizing what was about to happen, “Please, Anderson. Don’t...”
Jelly ran her tongue along her bottom lip and scowled at Neg, then at Oxade, imprisoned in her little playground.
“Anderson, p-please,” Oxade begged. He pressed his gloved palms to his ears in an attempt to block the pressure increase.
“Let us out of here,” Neg threw bolts of electricity out from her body. Each multi-pronged whip of lightning crawled along the four chamber walls, “Don’t do it.”
“Jelly,” Alex placed his hand on top of Jelly’s as she held onto the dial, “Don’t do this.”
Jelly purred and threw his hand off her paw, “They killed my mommy.”
“I know, but don’t do it. They’re trapped. They can’t get out. Let USARIC deal with them when we get back.”
“They are nothing but vermin to me. Useless, stinking rodents. Look at them,” Jelly rolled her shoulders wanting death. Her long, dark orange hair flowed down her back as she turned to watch the execution, “You might want to look away.”
“Oh God, don’t—” Alex couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
Jelly took one last look at Oxade’s face. Fissures and blisters cracked across his forehead and exposed facial skin. He shook his head ‘no’ and pressed his palms together, “You’re a monster.”
“I’m not a monster, Alex,” Jelly screwed her face and allowed the anger in her heart to flow up her torso and rocket into her arm. “I’m a mother.”
SCHWUNT!
“For God’s sake, Jelly,” Alex grabbed her hand and tried to remove it from the compression lever, “What do you think you’re doing—”
“—Don’t touch me,” Jelly shoved Alex onto his ass. She kept the dial forced to the right and watched the spindle reached its maximum pressure point.
Oxade slumped to his knees and held his neck for dear life. His mask bloated out and crushed into his face. His suit tore into strips. Neg’s ball-like surface indented and crushed in on itself, killing her instantly.
THWUMP!
Jelly smashed the dial with her fist, “Can you hear this?”
Neg’s body rolled up the inside of the outer door hatch along with Poz. The charge caused the door to crush outward and create an opening into outer space.
“Got it,” Poz squealed, hanging from the opening at the bottom of the airlock hatch, “Now, let me in—”
“—No, Poz,” Neg screamed, “We’ll die—”
SCHLAAAM!
Jelly screamed into the window, “Meow.”
The chamber rocked against the intense pressure drop.
A rope of blood daggered from Oxade’s mouth as he screamed, “Noooo—”
SCHPLATTTTT!
His body exploded, throwing his insides through the hatch opening. A concoction of destroyed Oxade limbs and organs rocketed towards Saturn.
“Holy h-hell,” Alex backed away from Jelly as she watched every second of Oxade and Neg’s death, “J-Jelly, y-you’re a—”
“—Killer?” She turned to face him matter-of-factly and with little emotion.
“Y-Yes”
“That’s right. Don’t ever forget it.”
Alex pressed his hands against the hatch window. He saw Poz and Neg fly with Oxade’s remains towards Saturn.
“What have y-you d-done?”
“I took out the trash,” She pushed herself away from the door and stormed down the walkway, “Now let’s get out of this hellhole.”
Alex clambered to his feet and raced after her, “Where are you going?”
“To the control deck,” she shouted over her shoulder, “Keep your mask on. I’m still toxic.”
“Toxic?”
“I’m carrying Symphonium. Keep your mask on,” Jelly turned her walk into a sprint, clanging her claws along the walkway, “Who’s got my child?”
“Uh, I gave her to Jaycee.”
“I want my baby. Give me my baby.”
The Control Deck
Space Opera Charlie - Level One
Jaycee carried Jelly’s kitten into the control deck to find Tripp negotiating with Manny. She hung in the air, refusing to budge.
“What’s the score?” Jaycee asked.
“She won’t listen to me,” Tripp turned to Manny, “Look, this is serious.”
“Manny?” Jaycee muttered.
“I’m sorry, Tripp. I can only take instructions from a commanding officer or my captain. And they are dead.”
“We’re all dead if you don’t enable the thrusters and get us out of here,” Tripp tried to little avail.
“Want me to threaten her?” Jaycee passed the kitten to Tripp, “Give it some of the old ‘user friendly’ approach?”
“I’m afraid that will not work.”
Tripp held the messy kitten in his arms and stared at its face. She nestling into his arms and opened her gunky eyelids.
“Look at you, you have no idea what’s going on, do you?” He said, looking at his forearm. The blisters on his synthetic skin bubbled and popped, “Are you okay, Jaycee?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Ruptured a few vessels. Kind of annoyed about discovering I’m not human, but that’s nothing that a good sleep won’t fix,” Jaycee clenched his fist and threatened to punch the console, “Manny. If we die, you’re coming with us.”
Jelly stormed into the room with Alex, “Where’s my baby?”
Tripp looked up at her and smiled, “She’s right here, with me.”
“Give her to me,” Jelly held out her paws. Tripp dropped the tiny ball of fluff into her palms.
Jelly ran the side of her face along its body. The whiskers on her face lit up, along with her daughter’s. They fizzed and connected together, calming the kitten down.
She took a deep breath and looked at Tripp.
“Why aren’t we moving?”
“The autopilot won’t engage the thrusters.”
“Take her,” Jelly passed her newborn to Tripp and walked up to Manny, “Hey, you. Stupid book. Why won’t you engage the thrusters?”
“Because it is not in my remit to take orders from strangers.”
“Really?” Jelly marched over to the communications console. She knocked Jaycee out of her way and expanded her infinity claws at the screen, “You have five seconds to get us out of here or I’ll rip your guts out.”
Manny shuffled in the air in an attempt to seem calm, “You can do that if you wish. It won’t help.”
Alex stepped forward. He knew what had to be done, “Manny?”
“Yes, Alex?”
“Captain Weller was killed on his mission. That makes me the captain, now.”
Tripp, Jaycee, and Jelly turned to Alex with relief.
“Captain Weller is dead?” Manny asked.
“Yes, Jelly killed him. And Nutrene, and droids Poz and Neg.”
“I see.”
“Make no mistake. Anderson is in charge, now, after me. I hereby assign full captain privileges to Anderson in the event of anything happening to me. ”
Manny froze in
mid-air and drained the color from her book-body.
“You will take orders from us as we see fit. Do you understand what I’ve just said?”
“In that case I await your commands.”
“Engage thrusters,” Alex said. “Make up a course for Earth, please—”
“—Nggggg,” Jelly grunted in agony, inadvertently catching everyone’s attention, “It’s h-happening again.”
Alex’s eyes widened as he saw Jelly pushing her second baby out from between her legs, “Jesus.”
A gush of transparent liquid fountained down her thighs.
“Stand back. Give her some space,” Tripp said.
Opera Charlie rumbled to life as Jelly rolled onto her side. She arched her knee into the air and meowed at the top of her lungs, “My baby… it’s c-coming…”
KER-RUUNNNCCCHHH!
The spacecraft shunted around, spilling the crew off their balance, “What’s that?” Tripp screamed and clutched at the chair in front of the console.
Opera Charlie’s back thrusters lit up and blasted away from Saturn’s spectacular light show.
The bridge cracked and broke away from Opera Beta entirely. Huge clumps of white metal daggered out and tossed Opera Beta into a sustained revolution, like a Catherine wheel.
KERCHUNK-BOOM!
The bridge severed itself from both vessels and twirled in the air like a discarded bone.
Saturn’s tumultuous ring revolved so fast it threatened to light up the black whirlpool on its surface. The sound it produced was beyond deafening.
BLAST-BLAASSST!
Opera Charlie’s thrusters lit up and sent the structure rocketing away from the planetary event literally unfolding behind them.
The nukes in Opera Beta’s control deck detonated.
“Cover your faces. Don’t look at the window.” Jaycee stood in front of the flight deck windshield, “Beta’s gonna blow—”
In an intense slowing down of motion, Tripp, Jaycee, Alex, and Jelly turned away from the windshield. Tripp covered the kitten’s face with his palm as each of their faces bleached out into a mass of pure white…
KEERRR - WHUD-WHUD-WHUD-WHUDD-DD…
Star Cat: The First Trilogy (Infinity Claws, Pink Symphony, War Mage) Page 68
