Space Station Rat (9 page)

Trapped! And out in the open!

Wicked stupid boy!

Rat hobbled to the side. She scrambled against the plastic. Her forepaws got no grip. It hurt, but she stretched up on her hind legs. She pushed at the lid, jostled a crack open.

“Hey! Don't do that.” The lid thumped down as the boy rested his hand on it. A fingertip showed in an air hole. “You could fall and hurt yourself.”

Hurt
you!
Rat tried to bite the finger. But she could only graze the tight skin with her teeth. Her leg hurt fiercely when she reached so high.

“That tickles,” the boy said. He moved his finger away and looked in the side. The box distorted his face, spreading his eyes wide and smearing his features like wet paint.

Tickles! Rat ground her teeth. She meant to draw blood. Put her in a cage! Peer at her like a scientist!

Rat lurched to the side and banged on it with her front paws. Then she signed at the boy with brisk, choppy motions, “Release me at once!”

“Hey! You're talking to me, aren't you? That's sign language, isn't it?”

The boy pressed his eye closer and squinted hard to see Rat's small paws. Rat signed her demand again. The boy stared at her dumbly.

“I don't know sign language.”

“Idiot!” signed Rat and turned away. Of course, even if he
did
know sign language, he would not understand Rat. They used a special version in the lab, modified to suit tiny paws.

Rat needed another way to make her demand. She saw an edge of paper in the corner. She raked the T-shirt aside.

“You shouldn't thrash around so much.”

Rat pulled the paper out. She made a map in her head. Using her front paws, she moved the paper through her mouth like cloth through a sewing machine.
Nip-nip-nip.
She pressed the nibbled paper against the box. It read:
LET ME OUT
!
NOW
!

“Wow!” the boy said. He popped the lid off and reached in. When he tried to slide his hand under her, Rat lunged, catching the loose bit of skin between thumb and forefinger in her teeth. The boy pulled away.

“Yeouch! Those teeth are sharp!” He examined the grazed skin, sliced deep like a paper cut. “Was I doing it wrong? I've never picked up a rat before … I mean, an awake one. I hope I didn't hurt you.”

Rat shook her head. She felt a little ashamed. She did not threaten to bite when he reached in again. One hand supported her rump, careful not to bend the bandaged leg. The other palm slipped under her belly.

“Is this okay?” It was a very nice, secure hold, but Rat did not respond. “I thought you died when I touched you before. But you had only fainted. Good thing! It probably would have hurt a lot when I set your leg.”

Rat was not interested. She jabbed her forepaw at the computer.

“You want to go to the computer?”

Rat nodded and pointed sternly.

The boy limped as he carried Rat to the desk. He held her against his chest. He was very warm, but the open zipper of the jumpsuit rubbed her ribs. Annoying. She was thinking about biting him again, when he set her down gently in front of the keyboard. Rat shivered. She washed a ruffled spot on her shoulder until the fur lay down properly.

Bones filled the computer screen. They were put together in a pattern. Rat read the diagram label:
MAMMAL-RODERE-RATTUS-SKELETON.
Rat studied the picture. She looked at her forepaw. She wiggled her toes.

“Your bones are different from people bones. I needed to know how to put the splint on. I hope I did a good job.”

Rat was not ready to thank the boy. She climbed onto the keys. She tried to get into the proper starting stance, but it was impossible with the hurt leg. She had to use her good back leg and tail to keep from toppling. She could not reach the
SHIFT
key using only her forepaws. Rat did not like that. It wasn't correct, and she had always been a perfect typist. Besides, it was harder to make the words angry enough without exclamation points. She hit
CAPS LOCK
and typed:
NEVER EVER EVER EVER PUT ME IN A CAGE AGAIN
.

“Cage? It's just a box. I thought it would be a safe place while your leg healed. It's busted, you know.”

SCIENTISTS USE CAGES. THEY ARE NOT SAFE. FREEDOM IS SAFE
.

“That's what you meant! You said you'd never been outdoors! You've been a lab rat! I'm sorry. How could I know?”

How could he know? He couldn't, of course. He did not know anything about Rat.

“You're a Modified, aren't you? And you escaped from somewhere.”

Rat nodded.

“I bet you're in big trouble with those scientists, whoever they are. And now you've gotten me in trouble, too. The captain'll kill me when he finds Nanny!”

Rat startled straight up. The hurt leg could not support her. She toppled and slid off the keys.

“Careful!” The boy stopped her from going over the edge. Rat lay on her back, looking into his pale face. Would the captain really kill the boy? Rat remembered the terrible eyes, furious about the stolen food. The captain wanted to kill Rat for that.

“I only meant to blind Nanny so we could get away. But when I hit it with the liverwurst, it went haywire and stopped.”

So that was what happened, thought Rat. Her liverwurst had killed the vicious machine. Rat had saved it to eat, but what a better use! Rat wished she could see the robot dead in the dark and the dust.

In the boy's world, destroying Nanny was a mistake. Big enough to bring death? Rat could not be sure. She did not know enough about people. Too many mistakes in the lab, and the black tag got hung on the cage. Next day came the needle full of death. That was animals. But she saw on the news—every day—people killed their own kind, too, in many many ways.

Rat signed, “Will they really punish you with death?”

“It's neat you can do that, but I still don't understand.”

How annoying!

Rat rolled and reached for the keys. The boy helped her into position. Even upset he was gentle. The scientists rarely handled Rat as nicely.

LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE SOON. WOULD HE REALLY KILL YOU

“No, silly, but I can't imagine what he will do!”

Relieved, Rat sagged onto the keys. She was glad to know the captain would not hang a black tag on the boy's cabin door.

“Poor rat! You need rest, not problems.” His finger stroked Rat's nose, but too quickly, too roughly for comfort. The boy was worried.

Rap-rap-rap.

“Hello in there.”

“The captain!” the boy hissed.

Run! Hide!

But Rat could not run. She could not scurry into air vents. Her quick eye saw a shadowy place. Big enough! Most of Rat slipped inside the boy's jumpsuit. The bandage snagged on the zipper.

C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN

W
HERE
'
S
N
ANNY
?

The captain's voice instantly reminded Jeff of the many urgent calls for Nanny while he cared for the rat. Nanny never answered, and now the captain had found out why.

What would he do?

A tickle along his belly made him look down. The rat struggled to get her broken leg into his jumpsuit. He was worrying about the wrong problem! Unsnagging the bandage, he scooped the rat in. She settled along the top of the waistband.

“Jeff?” Mom, too! He jerked the zipper up.

“Is everything okay in there?” And Dad! Everything was not okay. The box sat in plain sight on the bed.

“Ah—wait—I'm not dressed,” Jeff called, then crossed the room in three quick strides, hunching over to keep the jumpsuit loose. He flicked the bed covers over the box and sat on the edge of the bed. He tried to sound groggy.

“Okay. Come in.”

The door slid open. Jeff stretched and yawned and groaned. He didn't have to fake blinking. It seemed a three-headed monster crowded his doorway. The captain stood in front. Mom and Dad's heads poked over his shoulders. It wasn't an angry monster, and this surprised Jeff. Their expressions were eager, then quickly slumped with disappointment.

“Not here, either,” the captain said.

They don't know!

Mom said, “This is terrible! What are we going to do now?”

What was terrible?

The captain asked, “Why aren't you hunting with Nanny?”

“Nanny wouldn't let me.”

“But I
ordered
Nanny to take you along.”

“Nanny doesn't obey orders,” Jeff said. “Nanny
threatened
me when I tried to follow it!”

“Preposterous,” the captain said. “Nanny is programmed to
protect
you, to keep you out of trouble, that sort of thing. It couldn't
threaten
you.”

Mom said, “It was awfully aggressive about reports, and it did blast that discarded barrel section to pieces right there in the cafeteria. Maybe it's gone vicious or something.”

Nanny
was
vicious! Jeff's ribs hurt if he breathed deep. He had bruises. What if he told them that? Would that make wrecking Nanny okay? He wished there had been more time to talk with the rat. The rat was clever. She was sneaky. Maybe they could have come up with a story, like criminals with an alibi. He felt her warm body across his belly, but there was no way to communicate now. He had to figure it out himself.

The captain said to Mom, “Nanny was in hunt mode then—it just needed a target.”

“Nanny is in hunt mode
now
!” Mom said.

“Ah … right …” The captain agreed. Then, considering, he shook his head. “No. It's impossible. There must be some other explanation.”

“I don't
need
explanations!” Mom said. Her voice rose. “I need that robot
now
! What are you going to do?”

What could be wrong that they needed Nanny so desperately? Maybe he would
have
to tell. What could he say and stay out of trouble? Jeff was wondering, when he noticed Dad.

While Mom and the captain stood in the door arguing about what to do next, Dad had been observing. Now he stepped toward the computer. Jeff almost gasped. The computer was still on—with rat skeletons and rat words! The words seemed to glow in neon:

NEVER EVER EVER EVER PUT ME IN A CAGE AGAIN
.

SCIENTISTS USE CAGES. THEY ARE NOT SAFE. FREEDOM IS SAFE
.

Did Dad see them? Jeff willed the screen saver to come on.

Dad picked up the toilet-paper-tube telescope next to the keyboard. Just as Jeff remembered doing, Dad looked in each end. They'd accused him of stealing those lenses. Would Dad remember that?

Dad glanced briefly at Jeff. Jeff couldn't imagine what his own face showed at that moment. Dad puzzled over the three pairs of neat marks. He fingered the charred spot on the tube. Then his eyes turned up to the air vent above the bed.

“Are you listening to me?”

Jeff wrenched his gaze away from Dad, who was lifting the tube to his eye, and looked toward the captain.

“Don't yell at him! This isn't
his
fault,” Mom snapped. “Jeff, I know you're always groggy when you wake up, but please pay attention. The captain asked if Nanny told you where it was hunting.”

“I don't remember,” Jeff said, hating to lie when she was taking his side. “I was mad. Nanny wouldn't let me go. I didn't pay attention. Why do you want to know, anyway? Are we going to die or something?”

“We're scaring you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to,” Mom said. “It's not us, it's the project … the
world
! Just the most
senseless
thing has happened! If we don't … we'll miss … it's just terrible!”

Mom stopped abruptly. She was shaking.

Dad slipped the tube into his pocket and put an arm around her. He said, “One of the meteors damaged a rocket stabilizer somewhere. It's out of control. It keeps jiggling the station.” Dad glanced at his watch. “We have four hours and thirty-six minutes to find it and shut it off. Otherwise, we'll miss solar maximum.”

Jeff had no idea the critical time for the experiment was so close. He hadn't been paying much attention to his parents lately.

“Only Nanny can work fast enough to find it,” the captain said. “There are thousands of those things. We've lost the records on some. Of course, it's one of
those
that's malfunctioning!”

“Sloppy,” Mom muttered. Then her fury got the better of her. “I just can't understand how you could be so incompetent!”

“I am
not
listening to that again!” The captain turned like a great blimp and stomped into the hall.

Mom was right behind him, yelling, “Well, just what
are
you going to do? The fate of Earth is at risk here!”

The captain said, “Only if you're right, lady. Otherwise, this is just a royal waste of my time!”

Boots ripped along the corridor.

Mom poked her head in the doorway. Her face was splotchy. “That man! That ignorant man! Please, Jeff. Think
hard.
Any clue, maybe some place you went yesterday …
anything
might help. If we don't … I mean … it'll be another eleven
years
before we can try again. Too late! Those fools will begin global cooling.”

She hurried after the captain.

A surge of feeling hit the middle of Jeff's chest. For the first time since arriving here, he wanted to help Mom.

What a mess.

C
HAPTER
S
EVETEEN

A W
ARM
, D
ARK
S
OFTNESS

When the zipper had gone up, the cloth squeezed tight, squashing Rat hard. It pressed on her body like the sleeve in the lab. They slipped it over you, a stiff ribbed cloth that stank of elastic.

Gotcha!

Can't run!