Across The Universe With A Giant Housecat (The Blue) (2 page)

Somehow, it was familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I had heard it before.

Not that it mattered. All that mattered was how much I really, really wanted to rip the noisy machine from its moorings and cast it out into space.

If I was in space.

Where was I?

The annoying machine sound stopped, to be replaced by a teeth-gritting beep that sounded once and was silent.

And I knew where I was.

I was inside the
Dragontooth
, my own spaceship, inside the ship’s healing medical pod.

That meant Katelyn had rescued me! But how? The last thing I remembered was lying in the desert, dying from thirst, a rattlesnake bite, and Randew Larsen’s knife. He had stabbed me, hadn’t he?

My body felt wet and smelled of scented cleanser as well as the telltale pod disinfectant smell: Katelyn must have set the pod to do a full body wash as it healed me.

Good idea. After three days of wandering the desert, I was probably beyond filthy and rapidly heading towards rank.

Had it been three days? I couldn’t remember.

Abruptly, the suction tubes activated and sucked all the water around me away within seconds, leaving my skin dry but a bit chilled.

The darkness around me gave way to cold, bright light as the pod door opened with a soft click and the hiss of air rushing in to me. I shivered.

Katelyn stood outside the pod, wearing a pink sundress and a pair of sandals. Her eyes were tightly closed, a towel held spread out at arm’s length in front of her.

Oh, right. The towel was for me. I realized I was naked.

“Ok, tell me when you’re covered. I don’t want to see
anything
,” she announced.

Stepping out of the pod, I allowed the warm towel to envelop me. She had even heated it for me! Divine sister! It felt magnificent. I cuddled further into it, so warm and soft like the fur of my pet kvyat, Leo.

Leo! Where was he?
 

“Where’s Leo?” I asked.

“Pacing back and forth in the cockpit. I shut him in there so he wouldn’t knock you over before you had a chance to get your bearings.”

“Good thinking.” Indeed. It had been a practical idea on her part: without a doubt, if Leo had been able to, he would have happily bowled me over in his enthusiasm at seeing me alive. He was as lively as a puppy when he was happy and often forgot that he was the size of an overgrown dog. He had grown a few inches and put on quite a few pounds in the last several months.

“Want me to let him out?” she offered.
 
“Oh, and there’s a glass of water sitting right there for you.” Still without opening her eyes, she nodded her head towards my left.

I looked over and saw a glass of water sitting atop one of the medical supply chests. Immediately, thirst assailed me: another of the pod’s side effects. I pounced upon the glass of water, downing it in one gulp.

“Thanks!” I breathed. “And yeah, you can send Leo in if you want.”

She went to the cockpit to free the kvyat and within seconds, a giant ball of orange fur came barreling towards me. I braced for the impact, but to my surprise, the kvyat slowed down and instead of jumping on me, decided to approach me delicately, nuzzling my hand while purring with happiness.

“Did you miss me?” I asked him, running a hand over his large, vulpine head as he blinked his golden eyes.
 

I had inherited Leo along with the
Dragontooth
. He was a kvyat, a species humans had discovered on one of the first colony worlds and promptly domesticated. He bore a resemblance to a normal housecat, except that he was the size of a large dog, though much stockier, with paws the size of my hand. His fur was the color of fire, with splotches of white and a fluffy tail that grew as wide as my leg when puffed out. Leo was a great bodyguard and had saved my life several times so far.

His disposition was both canine and feline; I was convinced he had some level of intelligence. Sometimes, he seemed to understand when I spoke to him. Other times he didn’t—though perhaps understood all the time, but chose to ignore me in a display of feline aloofness. He always kept me guessing.

With the purring Leo following me, I made my way to my bunk and rummaged around for some fresh clothes.
 

As I dressed, I surveyed my body. The pod had healed me completely, leaving only faint scars where the rattlesnake had bitten me and Randew had stabbed me. Those would heal in time, perhaps. If not, I wouldn’t mind. I smiled to myself. Battle-scarred was a look I could live with.

Katelyn appeared in the doorway as I was buckling a belt on after getting fully dressed. I remained barefoot, though: I liked the feeling of the cool deck under my feet, and being barefoot kept me from slipping.

In the year that Katelyn had been with me aboard the
Dragontooth
, she had taken to spacefaring life as if she had been born to it. Though she was only thirteen, she had already learned how to fly the ship and had a knack for using the onboard technology that floored me.
 

“How did you do it?” I asked. “How did you find me so easily?”

“Easily? You think that was easy? It took three days to find you in that desert! Some sand got into the sensors the first day, so I had to clear them out and then guess where you had gone. By the time I got into the air, I was sure you were dead.” Her lower lip started to quiver and I saw that there were tears in her eyes. “For three days, I thought you were
dead
, Alan.”

In the midst of all her technical brilliance, it was easy to forget she was still a thirteen-year-old girl, and I was the only family she had left in the universe.

She bolted to me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. She started to sob softly.

“Thank you for being alive,” she whispered.

“Always. I don’t want to lose you, dear sister.” I hugged her back as she sobbed into my shirt.
 

She was right—she had almost lost me. I had been so intent on trying to stay alive and fight Randew that I hadn’t really thought about what would happen to her if I died.

She had the ship and she had Leo for company. But that was it. There was no one else if I was gone. No family, not even any friends.

Katelyn stood back, eyeing me. “The pod did a good job. You were on the brink of death, you know,” she said, wiping the last remaining tears from her eyes. “I found you lying on the ground near Randew’s body—he was dead—and some stabbed-up rattlesnakes.” She glanced down at Leo with an odd expression. “Leo
ate
the rattlesnakes. All of them. It was so disgusting.”

“That’s my boy,” I said proudly. “One of those rattlesnakes bit me.”

“Yeah, I know.” She shuddered.

“And Randew?”
 

“I checked him out. Dead.”

“How did you got me into the pod? Or even on board the ship, for that matter? I’m way too heavy for you to pick up.”

“For me, yes. For Leo, no. He dragged you.”
 

I glanced at the kvyat with fondness. “Thanks, Leo.”

The kyvat nuzzled my hand, looking at me with soulful eyes.

“Where are we now?” I asked.

“Floating in orbit of the planet. I didn’t want to stay down there any longer than we had to.”

“Good idea.” I swallowed another cupful of water. The pod had re-hydrated me fully, but I couldn’t shake the constant thirst. I hoped it would go away in a few hours.

A series of beeps resounded through the cabin. I recognized the sound—it meant someone was trying to contact us through the ship’s comm. system.

Katelyn checked the nearest monitor. “It’s from the Stellar Intrepid.” The surprise, even shock, was evident in her voice.

The Stellar Intrepid was the branch of the military dedicated to exploration and discovery throughout space. When I entered military school, it had been with the dream that I could one day join the Stellar Intrepid and become a captain of one of their ships. And now—well, it was never going to happen. I’d been injured badly two years ago, while still in military school. I had broken my spine in a training accident. And while my spine was mostly healed now with the help of medical technology, it would still always be considered weakened. There wasn’t a chance the Stellar Intrepid would want me as captain anymore, not when there were legions of never-been-injured cadets who could line up to take my place.

It made sense, of course. A captain who was more susceptible to a paralyzing injury, as I was, was a risk they weren’t willing to take in deep space. But if it hadn’t been for my injury, I might never have found Katelyn or taken down the assassins. But still, it sometimes rankled that I had had to give up my dream. Even the name Stellar Intrepid formed a bitter taste of regret in my mouth.
 

Why would they be contacting me now?

“I’ll take it in the cockpit,” I announced, heading forward to the cockpit.

Whoa… I felt a little unsteady on my feet. I slowed down a bit, taking each step carefully until I reached the cockpit and collapsed into the pilot’s chair.

The cockpit of the
Dragontooth
was easily my favorite place in the whole ship. It had a huge window looking out into space; I had spent many an hour in quiet contemplation, seated in one of the comfortable pilot’s chairs, staring out into at the vast blackness of space.

Through the window, the pearly pink of the planet shone below, its atmosphere making its edges hazy. Above it, the sky gave way to darkness, several stars twinkling in the distance. And the
Dragontooth
was suspended in the middle, in the planet’s orbit.

I had almost died on that planet. With narrowed eyes, I gave it a challenging gaze. The planet was like an old adversary now, the kind best regarded from a healthy distance. Well, it hadn’t beaten me. Of course, that had been because of a thirteen-year-old girl and a giant housecat, but even so, I had won.

Katelyn appeared beside me, her fingers flying across the monitor as she accessed the comm.
 

A face popped up on the monitor. It was a male face, the mouth a firm line of disapproval, the eyes hard and calculating beneath thick gray eyebrows. He was in his late fifties, perhaps older.

I recognized him at once.

He was Standing Admiral Northe, one of the men in charge of the entire Stellar Intrepid.

Chapter 4

I didn’t expect that at all.

“Sir!” I gulped. What did he want? “It is a pleasure to see you, sir. How may I help you?”

I had only seen him once before, when he had paid a visit to Horatio Nelson Military Academy when I had been a student there, before my injury. Other than that, my only knowledge of him came from a portrait that hung in one of the halls of the military school, alongside the portraits of other admirals, past and present.

“You’re Alan Michael Wolf?” he asked, his voice gruff. Was he angry? Perhaps that was just his normal expression.

“Yes, sir!” I proclaimed with too much enthusiasm. I was instantly nervous at speaking to someone of so high a rank.

Leo caught sight of the man on the monitor and bristled, letting out a low growl. Katelyn shoved him out of the cockpit and closed the door. Thankfully, Northe didn’t see any of that.

“Good. My name is Standing Admiral Northe. I’d like to speak to you.”

“Yes, sir. I’m listening.” I leaned forward.

“I’ve got an offer for you, Wolf. But I don’t want to discuss the details of it over this comm. channel. I’m at Iron Horn Base now.”

“You want me to come there?” I asked.

“Yes. Soon, if possible.” He certainly didn’t mince words.

“How soon?”

“Can you leave today? I know you aren’t active military anymore and this request is unorthodox, but I’d consider it a favor if you were prompt in your arrival here.”

I glanced over at Katelyn, whose face was a study of astonishment and surprise. She hadn’t expected any of this, either.

Considering our reason for running from Randew Larsen was gone, we didn’t have anywhere else to be.

“I’ll be there. I’ll leave today.”

“Excellent. Arrangements are already made for your arrival. I look forward to speaking with you.” The monitor switched off.

I let my breath out slowly and collapsed back into the pilot’s chair.

“They want you!” Katelyn exclaimed, bouncing into the chair next to me. “For what?”

“I haven’t the foggiest,” I admitted.
 

“What’s Iron Horn Base? Why does it sound familiar?”

“Don’t you remember? That’s where I went to military school two years ago. Horatio Nelson Military Academy on Iron Horn Base. ”
 

Two years ago, I hadn’t been the spacefaring vagabond I was now. I had been Alan Michael Wolf, star cadet at Horatio Nelson Military Academy and martial arts expert from the colony world of Nirdin. I had been on the fast track to graduating from military school and starting a bright future as a pilot for the Stellar Intrepid branch of the military.

But that had changed the afternoon of the accident. A malfunction of the artificial gravity in the training room I was in had left me with a broken spine and a broken future.

I could move normally now, thanks to the medical vest I had worn since then. A fusion of plastic, metal, and technology, it held me together and helped my spine grow back. I had gotten used to it, and barely even felt it there anymore. Truth be told, no one could even notice it under loose clothing.

But while I was healing, I couldn’t keep training at the military academy. I was told to take a few years off to let my spine heal. In fact, none of the doctors had even been sure if I would ever be able to resume my military training.

“Oh! Maybe they want you back!” she said happily. “They finally realized how great you are!”

“No, not yet. It’s too early. All the physical training at the school is rough on the body. They wouldn’t take that risk.”

A low whine came from the other side of the cockpit door. Katelyn jumped to her feet.

“I forgot about him!” She opened the door, allowing Leo to enter. The kvyat had an injured air about him, which quickly vanished as soon as Katelyn began giving him a vigorous belly rub.