Catalyst_ A Tale of the Barque Cats - Anne McCaffrey [57]
He commed Varley but got no response. He wanted to warn the rancher, but realized he’d be foolish to leave any sort of a trail implicating either one of them. He also realized, to his surprise, that he had already decided to disobey Varley’s orders.
It wasn’t until he had made the trip to the surface, located the rancher, and conveyed his message, that he realized just how firmly he intended to resist the role the government was assigning him in this crisis. Varley swore that he would inform the neighbors and they’d take whatever steps they could.
Jared returned to the station. It would be up to him, he realized, to notify any of the ships that had docked at Hood Station that their animals were to be impounded. Including ships’ cats. And the next time the Molly Daise docked, someone would inform them that their animals must also be impounded. Including Janina’s beloved Chessie and her kitten.
CHESTER ABOARD THE MOLLY DAISE
Three more watches, three more haunted catnaps later, and my rest was disturbed on that fateful occasion when Captain Vesey called Kibble to the bridge. Mother and I were at her heels and under her feet as she hastened to obey her commander. “Looks like we’ll be launching a rescue mission,” he told her. “But you’re the one who will need to go, so I’d like to consult you about whether or not we respond. As you can see, the COB sign, with that cat outline on it, deviates somewhat from the galactic regulation notification. What do you think?”
A dark and drifting ship loomed in the viewport. The Molly Daise’s running lights illuminated it. On the bow was the familiar glowing paint with the universal COB letters, in addition to a simple black line drawing of a cat sitting upright. The writing was the picture writing from my dream. I was certain that this was the ship containing the cat who had been intruding on my naps.
“I don’t recognize it, sir,” Kibble told the captain, “but the sign is clear enough, even if someone did add fanciful artwork and the ship does look derelict. No answer to your hails, I presume?”
He shook his head. “None. It’s quiet as a tomb. You’ve not had to do this before, Janina. Perhaps we should just notify the Galactic Guard of its position and give it a miss.”
“Sir, by the time the Guard reached it, a cat survivor might have died slowly from lack of oxygen. I’ve not done it but I have been trained to do it. Being a Cat Person isn’t all food dishes and litter boxes, you know.”
“I know. Do you want to take backup?”
“Hmmm—well, they say in training to take your own ship’s cat to help locate the survivor or—well, what would have been the survivor. I was issued a cat-sized adjustable pressure suit and helmet with olfactory amplifiers so the cat could still smell. But only one. They gave me a life-support carrier for the stranded cat. Chester is inexperienced and Chessie is—”
I climbed her trouser leg. “Me! Me!” I cried. “Let me go! I know what’s there! I dreamed it.” I knew no one would understand me, but since I was only about ten inches long, exclusive of my tail, I felt I needed to make a great deal of noise to get noticed and I might as well give them a real piece of my mind.
“No, Chester, you’re too young,” Mother said, since of course she did understand. I could tell however that she didn’t really want to go. Once she’d returned to her ship after her ordeal dirtside on Sherwood, she never wanted to leave it again. Still she protested, “I am the Molly Daise’s official cat. I am the one who must go.”
I ignored her and continued to climb Kibble.
“I think you have a volunteer,” Captain Vesey told her, laughing.
“I don’t know. He’s just a baby, sir.”
“Yes, but he’s learning and is nimble and fast on his feet, whereas our Chessie is getting on in years. He’s smaller too, and