Across The Universe With A Giant Housecat (The Blue) (3 page)

What did Northe want me for?
 
He wanted me to go to the very place where I had attended military school. They couldn’t want me back, could they? They had all but discarded me after my accident. I hadn’t even heard from them since then, except for when I had grudgingly taken myself there ten months ago so Dr. Kassa, the doctor who had taken care of me after the accident and installed the medical vest, could check on my healing. Of course, I hadn’t exactly made myself easily reachable…

But they wanted to see me now.

Why couldn’t he have just told me what he wanted? Then I wouldn’t have to spend the whole trip wondering.

With a snort of annoyance, I turned to the controls and plotted a course to Iron Horn Base, setting the controls on automatic.
 

As soon as the ship started moving on its course towards Standing Admiral Northe, I stood up and headed for the sleeping area. The trip would take several hours, and I refused to spend the whole trip to my old stomping grounds worrying. After all, I had just nearly died in the desert. The thought of it made me thirsty again.

“Where are you going?” Katelyn asked, elbow deep in kvyat snuggles on the floor. Leo peered up at me in a happy daze, his mouth half open and his tongue out.

“Water, then sleep. If they are going to drive me mad with curiosity about this, at least I can be well rested.”

Chapter 5

Useia, the love of my life, was there. Her short brown hair brushed against her apple-round cheeks as she laughed, holding out her hand to me.

 
How had she found me?

“I love you, Alan. I will never leave you again.”

“Where were you? I waited so long,” I asked.

“Does that matter? I’m here now, and I won’t go away ever again.”

I pulled her in for a long kiss, which felt amazing down to the tips of my toes.

I had met her when she had still been an assassin, having sold herself into a sort of slavery to Trilloque’s assassins to keep her family from starving to death. She had been sent to assassinate Lawrence Lockmere, the former owner of the
Dragontooth
, but had found me on board instead. Later, she had abandoned her assassin clan to help me find Katelyn and we had started to fall in love.
 

Together, we had defeated Trilloque and exposed his plot. Afterwards, she had found her family, whom she had not seen for years. She had left with them, saying she had to catch up on lost time. She said she had to rediscover how to be a human and not just a killing machine. She had promised to find me, later.

That had been a year ago. But it didn’t matter, because she was here now.

She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me closer. Closing my eyes, I melted into her soft embrace. This was heaven…

A harsh beeping interrupted our embrace. Something was wrong.

Oh, no. The proximity alert.

That meant that this had all been a dream.

#

I awoke in the dark, the proximity alert still shrill in my ears. I was aboard the
Dragontooth
and Useia was, of course, not there. She hadn’t come back to me yet.

The disappointment was downright uncomfortable.

The beeping stopped and Katelyn appeared in the doorway, Leo at her heels.

“Oh, good, you’re already awake.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I muttered, peeling the covers off my body and climbing out of the bunk.

“We’re at Iron Horn Base,” she announced.

“Good,” I grunted. “Can you request permission to dock?” My eyes felt gritty. “I’m going to wash my face.”

“Already sent the docking request.”

A different, softer beeping came from the cockpit.

“That was fast,” commented Katelyn. “That must be their answer.” She vanished, scurrying back to the cockpit.

After splashing my face with warm water, I felt immediately better and joined Katelyn in the cockpit.

She was seated at the controls, guiding the ship into one of the smaller docking bays.

Before us lay Iron Horn Base, the home of Horatio Nelson Military Academy. Though the academy was in a separate wing of the base, the two shared a spaceport. I remembered the first time I had seen this view—as a new cadet, fresh off my home world of Nirdin Colony. A true country boy going to the big city. I’d been ready to explode with excitement and anticipation.

Now I viewed the massive metal city in space, anchored partially to an uninhabited planet below, with a world of different emotions—mostly uncertainty. What did the Stellar Intrepid and Standing Admiral Northe want from me?

Leo bristled at the sight of the base, a low growl coming from his throat.

“It’s ok, Leo. It’s not going to hurt you.”

He gave me a look that could only be described as kvyat skepticism, but quieted.
 

Katelyn slid the ship into its docking position effortlessly, then powered down the engines. The docking bay doors snapped closed behind us., a red light illuminating on the wall.

An automated message from the base came through our comm. system in a smooth female voice. “Docking successful. Please stand by for air replacement.”

There was a
whoosh
all around the ship as the vacuum of space inside the docking bay was replaced by breathable air.

The red light turned green. “Air replacement successful. You are clear to disembark, and welcome to Iron Horn Base.”

Katelyn picked up her pink messenger bag and I hoisted the military-issue bag I used as luggage.

Opening the hatch, we disembarked, Leo beside us.
 

Immediately cold air assaulted me. Katelyn cringed and began rubbing her arms. The air in docking bays was always freezing cold.

A thin man entered from the door to the base and approached us. He was holding a tablet.

He stretched out a hand. “Alan Michael Wolf? I’m Levi Cartus, aide to Standing Admiral Northe. Welcome to Iron Horn Base.” He smiled a wide smile, which somehow put me at ease. “I’ve been assigned to help you settle in. We have quarters waiting for you.” He didn’t look surprised to discover that I had a teenage girl and an alien cat in tow.

Quarters? Why did he think we needed quarters? How long did Northe expect us to stay here?

“Alan Wolf, Katelyn Wolf, and Leo of the
Dragontooth
,” I said, shaking his hand. “Perhaps you can tell us why we are here?”

“It is not for me to divulge,” he answered apologetically.

“Then can you at least tell us why we need quarters here? We can sleep aboard the
Dragontooth
.”

I dodged an elbow nudge from Katelyn. Clearly she had been looking forward to the unexpected luxury of staying on the base, instead of in our bunks aboard the ship.

“We insist. For now, you and your… crew are guests of Standing Admiral Northe.”

That was even more confusing. I was just a former cadet; why did he think of me as a guest?

“When will I get to see him?”

“Tomorrow.”

“He said to come immediately. It sounded urgent. Are you sure he wouldn’t want to see me today?” Was Northe really going to make me wait longer for this mysterious visit?

“He has been informed of your arrival and wishes to see you tomorrow,” said Levi Cartus. “Right now, I’m going to show you to your quarters, if you are ready.”

“Yes, yes, we are,” piped Katelyn, who was probably already thinking of feather beds.

“If you will follow me.” Turning, he led the way out of the docking bay and to the main part of the base. Katelyn and I followed, Leo padding alongside us.

“So that’s it?” I asked, catching up to Cartus. The man set a brisk pace. “We’re just supposed to wait until tomorrow?”

“No. Before the meeting, there’s one more stop you’re supposed to make,” said Cartus, staring down at his tablet. I tried to crane my neck for a look at what was on it, but I couldn’t read it.
 

He narrowed his eyes, staring down at the text. “It says here that I am supposed to take you to Medical for evaluation.”

He led the way to the nearest elevator, a cylinder of steel and glass. “They might want to check my spine,” I suggested.

“Your spine?”

“Yep. It’s broken. Or it was, at least. It is supposed to be healing.” As the four of us piled into the elevator and the door slid smoothly shut behind us, I gave him the quick version of the story of my accident. “That was two years ago,” I concluded.
 

“I’d heard of healing devices like those, but never seen one before,” he remarked.

Flipping up a corner of my shirt, I revealed an edge of the device. By now, I didn’t notice it at all. The vest seemed almost like a part of my body now.

“Impressive,” said Cartus. “It is a wonder you can move in that thing.”

“It took a bit of getting used to,” I admitted. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open with a sharp hiss, revealing a carpeted corridor.

Cartus took the lead. “This way.” He led us down a few hallways lined with numbered doors on either side. I guessed we were in one of the residential wings.

Cartus stopped before a door marked 548 and slid a key tab into a slot, which unlocked the door. After pushing it open, he handed me the key, then handed Katelyn a spare key.

“Here is where you will be staying.”
 

Katelyn darted in first, the rest of us following.

The apartment was fully furnished, with a small living area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom.

Katelyn raced into one of the bedrooms. “A real bed!” she shrieked, leaping onto it.

Compared to our quarters on the
Dragontooth
, this place was a luxury.

Leo, eyes bright with curiosity, vanished into the other bedroom.

“I’m hungry,” Katelyn said sheepishly, emerging from the bedroom, where she had deposited her messenger bag. She probably hadn’t eaten for hours just so she would have an empty stomach to cram food into once we reached the base. Even the food on Iron Horn Base would luxurious compared to what we had been subsisting on while aboard the
Dragontooth
.

Cartus pointed to the monitor. “There are several cafeterias in this wing. You can find directions to them on there. All food will be free during your stay, compliments of the Stellar Intrepid.”

They were feeding us, too? This was bordering on insane and it made me increasingly uncomfortable.

Katelyn could not have been happier. She raced over to the monitor and began locating the nearest cafeteria.

“Do you require anything else?” asked Cartus. “If not, I will leave you for now. Your schedule for tomorrow is on the monitor. Northe recommends that you go to Medical as soon as possible.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I don’t think we need anything else.”

“Now, let’s not be hasty,” said Katelyn. “I might need something. I might need room service later, or bubble bath solution, or—”

“Thank you, Cartus! That will be all, and please convey our thanks to Standing Admiral Northe for his hospitality.” I spoke over her, ushering the man out and shutting the door behind him.

“Why not?” Katelyn pouted. “If they are offering to give us whatever we want, why not indulge?”

“Because I don’t know what they want with me!” I burst out, the discomfort I had been feeling spilling over. “This is starting to make me so uncomfortable! Why are they pampering us like this? What if they—what if they know about me?” I lowered my voice. “What if they know who I am? We should have ignored the message. What if Northe wants to dissect me or something?”

I hadn’t thought of that possibility until now, but it made sense. One year ago, I had been given the
Dragontooth
by Lawrence Lockmere, its former owner, upon his death. I had discovered the ship had been packed to bursting with a contraband substance, enhanced Blue Star. I had accidentally been exposed to it.

Most people exposed to Blue Star either died, blacked out, or went insane. Less than one percent of those exposed had a different reaction, the reaction I had had. It had changed something in my brain so that I had become a Space Reader, a person able to navigate space by sight alone. I could see paths and rivers where other people only saw starry chaos.

I had kept the ability a secret, only using it to get myself out of a couple of dangerous situations in space.

Shaking her head, Katelyn began transferring data from the monitor to a tablet. “How would they know anything? We’ve given them no reason to suspect anything about you. Don’t worry.”

Frowning, I tossed my bag into the other bedroom.

“Alan, let’s go get something to eat,” she suggested, tucking the tablet into a pocket in her dress. “There’s a cafeteria not far from here.”

My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten in… wow, I hadn’t eaten in three days, not since before I had gotten lost in the desert. Since then, I had only had the medical pod’s intravenous nourishment and about a thousand glasses of water.

“Food sounds like a really good idea,” I agreed. I stuck my head into one of the bedrooms, where Leo was curled up on the bed. “Leo, wake up!”

He raised his head and blinked two golden eyes at me.

“Come on.” I jerked my head towards the door. “We’re going to get food. That includes you.”

He bounded over to my side, purring.

“Lead the way, Katelyn.”

She happily obliged.
 
The cafeteria was just outside the residential area where we were staying, so it was not a far walk.

The scent of food greeted us as we walked in. On one side of the room was a veritable forest of tables, and on the other side, a spread of food that made my mouth water.
 
The selection was amazing, especially for space food. There was no way I could have been able to afford to eat here when I had been a cadet. Not that I had even known this place existed back then; cadets ate in the school mess halls.

Katelyn picked up a plate and immediately began filling it; I followed, grabbing an extra plate for Leo.

“What do you think kvyats eat?” I asked. Aboard the
Dragontooth
, Leo ate some form of cat-food-like pellets from an automatic dispenser. Here, of course, there was no such thing.