Catfantastic: Nine Lives and Fifteen Tales Part 8

Swish.

There was just the slightest change in the almost subsonic mutter of the ship, that Wart thought of as the giant ship-monster breathing. Wart hesitated.

"I'm going to reverse power on us gradually, love, and cut power on the scoops but leave them out on a random drift pattern. Slowing us down that way'll take a couple of hours, but I want to conserve fuel as much as I can. We'll restart the scoops and collect them later."

"Thanks, Jere." Human-mommy shifted slightly, and the taila"Wart had his gaze fixed on that fluffy gray eminencea"picked up its rhythm slightly.

"Wart!" Human-tom had spotted the stalk. "Don't you dare!" It was a Must-Be-Obeyed tone. Wart immediately sat up on his haunches, and began industriously cleaning between his. toes, all innocence and ignorance. Who me? Doing what?

Human-tom choked off a laugh, but Wart could feel the human gaze fixed on him. He spread his paw luxuriously and continued to clean.

"Oh my G.o.d!" The sick horror in those tones froze all three of the listeners. Even Grimalkin's tail stopped moving.

"What is it?" Human-tom broke out of his paralysis to fling himself out of his chair. "Love? Miri? Is it time."

He bent down, slid his arms under her knees and shoulders as though to pick her up.

"No, Jere. Look! Fredessers!"

Wart didn't know what fredessers were, but he had heard the humans mention them before several times, always in a tone that he himself used for sneaky stinging scorpions or those little slimy things that burned your mouth if you bit them, or maybe a swarm of buzz-divers.

"Devi take them!" he breathed. "Where do you think they're hidinga""

Sounding sick. "I don't know. I've been scanning all along at full rangea""

Thump as he landed back in the other chair again. "I'm reprogramming all doggoa""

"Quicklya"" Her voice rose on the last syllable.

"Keep yours trying for a full translation," he gritted between his teeth.

"I am. Do you want to switch ch.o.r.es?"

"No. You've better intuit than I do. You keep with the translating. Engine work is practically automatic for either of us. Soon as I finish this, I'll send out an all-alert."

"Oh, yes. If there's a fredesser armada in this sector."

"Aleko protect them!"

"Jere! I have a partial translation! Ambush! A larger vessel ambushed them!"

"Good! Give the rotten sneaks some of their own back!"

"Wonder why we can't see any of it. With the transmission so strong."

"Just out of range. Devi! No telling what direction we're getting it from either."

Wart decided that Human-tom was sufficiently distracted, i.e., attention off IMPORTANT matters, i.e., **Wart**, that he could make another try for that marvelous swinging tail a "Devi take them," Human-tom was muttering. "If only we knew where their home world is."

Wart slid into his very best crouch.

"Or home bases. Or anything." Human-mommy, despite large cat and equally large protuberance, was bending over her funny-window, her claws clicking frantically against the keys. Then she giggled. "If a computer generated translation of a nonverbal transmission could sound furious, this one does. They been had."

Grim. "Serves 'em right." Wart waited his chance, tail a-twitch.

Another giggle, as Human-mommy shifted slightly, and Grimalkin's tail stopped and restarted its slow rhythm. "The other vessel was doggo and then just turned on and tractored thema"like a giant scoop clearing its filter and restarting. Sluuurp."

"Giant scoops? Don't be silly, love."

All business. "I have the slowdown programmed. I'm recording the alert message, now. I'll send it." Wart oozed closer to the flicking, twitching temptation.

"Everywhere in this sector."

"Don't teach grandma how to suck eggs," he muttered. Somehow, without taking his gaze from his own funny-window: "Don't, Wart."

Wart decided that as long as Grimalkin was in here and the humans alert to a tail attacka"he would do much better elsewhere. Casually, he got onto all fours and began strolling out.

"MrrrrrRRRR." Grimalkin sneered at his retreat.

Wart ignored her, his tail high and swishing.

Once out of the control room, he had to decide what he wanted to do. Explore some more, follow a scent trail, just find a long corridor and do some dashing This new ship was so much smaller than the place he had been a kitten on. But he liked Human-mommy and Human-tom here. There he had been one of many cats, with many humans. Here it was only two humans and two cats. Loads of smells, too, ground-in, years-old faint smells, and newer, fresher ones, including the fascination of what Human-tom called his "herbgarden." So many things to like here, like the jingle and shinybrights on Human-tom's jacket made when Wart pawed at them or when the human moved, Human-mommy's warmtha"when Grimalkin wasn't hogging it a 'course, that was the stinger a Grimalkin a If only Grimalkin wasn't soa"soa"

What had Human-tom meant when he said something about, "Just be patient, little buddy. When you're old enough, instinct'll put her right where you want hera "

Wart stopped, wondering. Sniffed. Wrinkled his aristocratic nose. What was different? Then he knew. The rumble had changeda"that was it. It was much quieter! Much much quieter!

And a he felt funny. Almost as ifa"

A tiny dust fluff floated by. As he had many times before, Wart lunged for it. But this time, instead of rising perhaps three or four times his own height, he sailed up and up WheeeeeeEEEEEE!

Wart landed with a light crouch. When he had been allowed out off-ship once, he had watched the flutterers going by in the air, jumped for them, wishing he, too, could float up as they could. Now he was!

He took another jump, and mrrrred in displeasure when he slammed against the ceiling. There was more to this floating bit than he had thought!

Another jump. Wheeeeee!

Another. He had the knack now. He just had to turn in mid leap, and land Up, as if he were landing down, using his legs anda"whooops! He "landed" on the ceiling, but when his legs crouched, he found himself launched off again "MMRRRRRRR!" From the sound, Grimalkin was close behind him and didn't like the new strangeness at all. Wart sn.i.g.g.e.red to himself. Let'r suffer!

Another launcha"now that's the ticket. Don't aim up, aim forward! Look at that leap! Wart! King of the cats! Stalwart defender.

He continued his leapings, traveling much farther then he usually did. He didn't even think to worry how he was going to find his way back, because he was leaving scent marks much much farther apart than normal walking, or even leaping after a prey.

Something small was flying slowly down the corridor, humming. Wart stared at it, head c.o.c.ked. It was about his own size, but dark and with the funniest shaped head he had ever seen. Winged, too, like the flutterers. PFEUGH! It smelled AWFUL. What a stench! He didn't even want to try to identify it!

"Mrrr?" He issued a tentative challenge.

Pfffut! At the noise, Wart launched himself. He had meant to go backward, but with his new lightness, he went up and sideways instead, bouncing off a wall and caroming in another direction again.

BLAM! A section of the wall exploded outward. Wart, in midair again, looked amazed at the pieces of debris raining outward from the site of where the wall had been. One of the chunks. .h.i.t the flying awful-smell (worse than a buzz-diver it was! a or had the creature hit the wall hard enough to break it?) and instead of flying steadily, it, too, seemed broken, was careering clumsily, randomly about.

Wart cowered back. It was tumbling through the air, hit a wall and bounced as he had, and slammed off again. It came close to him, and he batted automatically. Both he and the awful-smell spun off.

Ha! New game. Wart turned, got his feet under him, and launched again.

Wham BOUNCE! The SMELL collided with his paws, and hit a wall and spun off. Wart twisted and launched again.

OWWWWWa" Something bit his paw. Wart ran, howling. It hurt. Every step hurt. He ran, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

But if he ever saw that thing again, or anything that smelled like it.

It was a long, long time before he found a scent trail that led back to Human-mommy and Human-tom. He was tired and hungry and his paw felt dreadful.

He had stopped and cleaned it twice, there was a small hole on one of his pads, and a tear, too.

He didn't even notice when he crossed through an open doorway, and got his weight back. Though less than he was used to when the ship's engines were giving close to normal G.

Wart entered sleeping quarters complaining at the top of his lungs.

n.o.body was there.

He headed for the control room. Yes, there they were.

Grimalkin was licking her chops, too.

Wart ran over to Human-mommy and rubbed against her.

She didn't even scratch behind his ears! "MmmRRRRRR!" Wart complained. He could smell fish on Grimalkin's breath. She belched more fish in him smugly.

"MMMMMRRRR!" He jumped up onto Human-mommy's lap.

"Not now, Wart," she said absentmindedly. "I have to get this translated.

"I'll take care of him." Human-tom stood up. "You keep working." He bent over Human-mommy's lap and scooped up Wart, heading out of the control room.

Wart purred. He knew he was going to be fed and that now!

"Here you go, pal." Human-tom popped him on the shelf that came in and out in the eating room, and put a bowl in front of him. "Jus' a sec nowa"" Then he was scooping FISH into the bowl.

Wart dug in.

"Milk for a growing boy," Human-tom added. "Not that the diagnos says you're going to grow any more, Wart my runty little man. But we can always hope, can't we."

Wart didn't pay any attention to Human-tom's growl. He was EATING.

"Small-bred, my foot," Human-tom continued, a genuine growl in his voice. "Runt is more like it. They saw us coming, Wart my little man. They saw us coming." A sigh. "I wonder if you're really pure bred, too. Though you look it, right enough. I admit, it seemed a neat cross for when you were grown, Siamese and Persian. Besides, Miri thought those two different colored eyes of yours were adorable." A sigh. "I wanted her to have what she wanted, even as little a thing as a kitten with mismatched eyes." A snort. "But I fixed that fakir when he tried to up the price for it, being so unusual. Humph. It isn't. d.a.m.n him. But you're a good kid, aren't you, Wart, you can't help being made out of spare parts, and not all working right, either."

His hand rubbed just the right way and Wart stretched under the caress, but didn't miss a movement in his almost frantic eating.

"Devi, but you eat. I don't understand. We've run you through the diagnos twice, no problems, and you eat like you were starving, but you don't grow." A sigh. "You know what I'm doing, Wart my little friend, don't you. I'm talking so I don't have to think about what's going on in the control room, how close we are to those murderous fredessersa"I saw what was left of a world after they got through with it once, Wart. It was a cinder. Not a living thing on if. Yet n.o.body even knows why, much less how they do it."

Another caress. Wart stopped eating long enough for a short appreciative chirrup.

"The best anybody can come up with, is that they have a scorched earth policy. Whenever they find somebody settling on a world in what they consider their territory, they burn them off. Totally. No mercy, no survivors. The trouble is, n.o.body knows what they consider their territory, so n.o.body knows where they'll show up next. n.o.body's ever even seen a fredesser, just picked up occasional transmissions and seen the results. They burn worlds, Wart, my man, whole worlds." An amused chuckle. "More? Where do you put it, Wart." But he scooped another serving into the dish, and Wart took care of that, too.

"n.o.body's ever seen them to survive and tell the tale, no amba.s.sadors we sent with armed convoys or in unarmed ships came back, no NOTHING. Devi only knows how many indies like us who have disappeared, ran into a fredesser. n.o.body knows. Though we all know the risks, and there's dangers enough out here in the boonies without counting on a fredesser armada." A laugh with no humor in it. "Though we may be small enough to ignore. If that's what's out there, I only hope so!"

Wart burped politely.

"Enough, little man. If we did take on a pest or two last landing, I only hope you're still hungry. enough to take care of it."

Wart wondered where the wounded flying awful-smell creature was. If he found it, it wouldn't have a chance to bite him again. This time, he'd be smelling for it. This timea"

Human-tom turned and strode out of the eating room. Wart debated following, and decided to. Maybe he could get up on Human-mommy's lap and get a little petting "Anything new, Miri?"

"Message from the nearest naval base." Her growl sounded strained. "Acknowledging the alert, warning us to be careful, asking us to keep them posted."

"The usual."

"Except for one item. They ran a computer a.n.a.lysis on indies in this sector. They say that there's an abnormally high percent of indies who haven't checked in recently. Of course, it's hard to keep track of indies, I could hear the sneer in that one, buta""

"Devi!"

"I've had a second transmission, too. The translation's faster, now that we have the base to work from, if you can call what little we think we have a base. It's incomplete, of course, like the first one, but the ship's almost certainly a scout, and there was a second ambush, smaller single vessel, and they've had to abandon ship. But theya"or maybe it's a single survivora"are going to try to take the larger vessels, I can't tell which one; maybe both of them. It's a rough translation, of course, with no equivalent of a rosetta stone, all the translations are guesses at best."

"I know." Human-tom was scowling. Wart decided he would be better off exploring again. He trotted out. Nothing (he sniffed in disdain) interesting anywhere near quarters, though he did find a sc.r.a.p of printout and played with it a while.

Then he decided to explore again.

Sniff sniff. Most of the scent trails were obvious. His, or Grimalkin's, or the humans'. Nothing interesting. Again he crossed an invisible line, and found his weight going. Wheeee! It was fun bouncing around a Sniff? Was that the faintest hint of awful-smelling flyer? He stopped his caroling and took a deep breath. Sniiiiif.

It wasa"and it wasn't. Another sniff.

It ran along here Was it stronger this way or that? Wart galloped along a straight corridor, decided it was getting weaker this way, and turned and retraced his path.

Yes. This way! It was getting stronger. He slid to a crouch, and began moving as stealthily as he knew how. Unfortunately, with his weight almost nothing (though ma.s.s normal) this wasn't very stealthy; he still hadn't adjusted to being able to practically throw himself on the ceiling with every step. But if he just oooooozed alongaWhatever you wanted to call it, when he was above the floor and not touching it most of the time.

The smell was getting stronger.

YUCK!.

Wart slithered along as best he could. He must be getting close-yes! Something was scuttling along ahead of him. It had more legs than he and Grimalkin and maybe both humans put together. It was a lot smaller than the other creature, too. He wasn't sure if he could get the whole thing in his mouth, but he thought he could if he tore the legs off first.

But you had to be careful with scuttlers. Some of them had stings and bites that could be painful.

Wart tried to get a little closer, bring the thing into focus.

It moved too fast. All he could be sure of was that it was a smells-AWFUL many legged scuttler, heading along a wall.