Celta Cats Page 3

  Striped pressed back against the wall, good.

  Peaches glanced up at Lewisy with a grin. You will let him stay in the bay and let us open the door so you can see that he can’t breathe—

  “No!” shouted FamMan and grandmother Chloe.

  Peaches swaggered to Striped, within good sniffing range. Striped smelled of fear. Peaches lifted his nose. Of course to keep you safe you will need to be stuffed in a nasty suit. He looked up at the mean man. But you don’t care about that, either, do you? You don’t care about your FamCat.

  The door opened near FamMan Randolph and the Captain stepped from the room, looking more dangerous than anyone Peaches had ever seen.

  “You think we lie to you? Is that so?” the Captain asked smoothly. With a gesture, other tough guys, security guards, gathered around him, and everyone faded back to give them room.

  Peaches stood and waved his tail, shouted so all the dim humans could hear his mental words. I WILL TAKE STRIPED TO LANDING BAY. HE CAN BE IN A SUIT. WE WILL OPEN THE *DOOR* TO THE SHIP AND HE CAN SEE OUTER SPACE AND THE PLANET HIMSELF!

  People gasped, but everyone looked interested.

  Striped’s claws scrabbled on thin non-stick floor panels, the metal walls, trying to get purchase. Nooo! he wailed.

  The Captain cleared his throat. “I will not be a party to the endangerment of an animal...”

  Peaches glared at him.

  “Or a Familiar Companion.”

  He nodded to Lewisy, swept a hand around to those gathered. “Come, if you need proof of what we say, that we have found a new world to live on.”

  “You lie! You lie all the time! This is nothing but a big lie!” Peaches actually saw little bits of spit dry near the ends of Lewisy’s mouth.

  “Then we’ll fit you with a spacesuit, open the bay and let you go out on a tether. You can tell us whether there’s a planet floating in space or not,” Grandma Chloe said sweetly.

  And you can see whether this is all true or not, Peaches said. We will ALL watch. People who believe like you do! He swiveled his neck around to people who had been smirking at him, at the Captain, doing the thumbs-up thing to stupid, mean man.

  “I can help him into the spacesuit, monitor his vital signs,” FamMan Randolph said. He swung on his heel and stared at the disbelievers. “There’s an observation room next to Landing Bay. It should accommodate all of you who’d like to watch Lewisy’s excursion.”

  The Captain grinned, rocked lightly on his feet. “Yep, you can be just a hardglass window away from outer space. See outside yourselves.”

  Now some of those people looked scared.

  “A good way to verify those facts you doubt,” said FamMan Randolph. “In person.”

  Human pride not as touchy as Cat pride, but these people would lose face if they did not go. And Lewisy would be shown to be deeply stupid if he did not accept the challenge. Well, he was deeply stupid and would be shown that either way, but he’d also be shown to be wrong. That the lies he had spewed were lies.

  Peaches and FamMan Randolph and Captain and Captain Lady and Pilot told the truth. Wanted best for everyone. FamMan’s old bad friends, like this Lewisy, had only wanted best for themselves.

  Peaches looked for Striped. He’d vanished down the hallway, maybe hiding behind a couple of bigger dogs a few meters away.

  Come on, Striped! Peaches sent through the Familiar Companion mental stream to all the Fams.

  No, thank you, Top Fam Peaches, I believe you now!

  A dog rumbled, Fams smarter than some humans.

  The Captain said, “We need a good test of the opening of the human landing bay door anyway.” He rolled heavy shoulders, nodded to FamMan Randolph. “First Science Office, please proceed.”

  Randolph appeared slightly stunned.

  Captain nodded at him, “We had a consultation and decided that since you’ve been doing the job of a Fist Science Officer, you should hold the title.”

  “Thank you,” murmured Randolph. Then he sucked in breath and swept a hand around the group, “GentleSirs, GentleLadies, follow me.” Then he stepped close and put his wide hand around Lewisy’s biceps. “Come along. We’ll get this matter straightened out.” He smiled big. “And if you want a few hundred subsistence sticks, we can give those to you, too.”

  “Yessss,” Peaches vocalized, strolling behind marching FamMan and shuffling Lewisy.

  Mean man was stuck.

  Grandma Chloe joined them, still fiddling with her flat mechanical thing. “I’ve decided we were right in keeping the name, ‘Ash.’ We’re Ashes.”

  Her words were nice, Peaches had done some fixing there, but he and FamMan shared a serious glance. Grandma had only grudgingly accepted something she’d tried to take away, the name that had been set long ago. A last name she’d chosen and given to Randolph as a baby.

  Randolph’s lips turned up again and said telepathically to Peaches. We’re Ashes again.

  We always have been, Peaches grumbled.

  We managed to smooth that disagreement over, but she still fears the future. We must do better. *I* must do better.

  SHE must do better, Peaches replied.

  FamMan stood at the glassed in console in Landing Bay. Peaches admired his courage, but sat in the observation room next door on a cabinet next to the floor-to-ceiling window. Some of the people in the corridor hadn’t made it to the observation room. They’d faded away due to fear. Only ten or so humans came to watch, and only three Fams, including Peaches. Striped had returned to his quarters.

  Just beside Peaches’ cabinet, an older, mid-sized dog leaned against the glass wall. Peaches had touched the wall and found it cool. He knew when the Landing Bay doors to outer space opened, the glass would turn frigid. He shivered a little and hoped with all his heart that FamMan remained safe in the cubicle. For an instant, he wished he were back on FamMan’s bed and not having to look out into darkness with stars and planet again.

  Lewisy clumsily got into the space suit that went over his clothes. At least he would have arms and legs free. If Striped had been stupid and prideful enough to do this, he would have been in more of a bubble, with no control of his limbs in relation to the outside environment.

  The Captain put a helmet on Lewisy and made sure it attached good. Captain patted all of the openings to the suit, checking them. Peaches got the idea Captain felt fiercely amused.

  Captain attached a flexible metal cable to Lewisy’s belt. The other end of the cable came from inside the wall of the Ship. Peaches figured that end was really, really safe, but didn’t know about Lewisy’s belt. Peaches was glad he hadn’t been stupid or prideful enough to do this, either. A person should always watch his words that might lead to devastating challenges.

  Taking Lewisy’s arm, the Captain walked him to the edge of the door. “You’ll be fine,” Captain said.

  “Wait.” FamMan Randolph exited the small cubicle and crossed to the two men. His lips moved as he murmured Words, magic spell words, and the suit glowed. “Added Flair shields we’ve developed against the vacuum of outer space,” Randolph said. He smiled with white teeth. “Should do great, though we haven’t tested them, yet.” He returned to the glass case.

  The Captain tapped his fingers on Lewisy’s helmet and making pinging sounds, and said, “Later,” to Lewisy, turned his back on the now trembling man — Peaches thought the suit looked to be for a larger guy than Lewisy — and sauntered from the room. Now only FamMan Randolph, in his glass cube, and Lewisy in a space suit, remained in the huge Landing Bay.

  “Let’s check the communication out,” FamMan Randolph said. He flicked a few switches, and Peaches realized the quick whooshes he heard and the rapid thump-thump-thump, came from Lewisy’s lungs and heart. Scared. Ha!

  “Your vitals statistics read a little high,” FamMan said. “Let’s test the communication now. Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” replied Lewisy. It sounded tinny.

  “Try again,” Randolph said.

  “YE
S!” This time the word boomed throughout the Landing Bay, and the observation room, and Peaches even heard it in the corridor.

  “I’ve initiated Ship-wide cameras and audio for this first Space Walk,” FamMan said

  “Space walk?” Lewisy squeaked.

  “Opening the Landing Bay doors,” Randolph said. His hands moved over the console.

  “No!” Lewisy cried, too late.

  The huge inner rectangular doors split horizontally and disappeared into the floor and the ceiling with metal grumblings.

  “No,” Lewisy whimpered, turning his back away from the door.

  “Iris door opening is initiated,” FamMan said. The eye-iris shaped door slowly opened in a circular motion.

  Gasps echoed throughout the Ship from everyone watching. Peaches wasn’t ashamed to admit he gasped, too. Maybe shrank a little against the nice, solid wall.

  “Landing Bay Earthan atmosphere depleting, equalizing to zero grav and zero atmosphere matching the vacuum of space outside,” Randolph said.

  The dog jerked back from the glass, but watched. Everybody in the whole Ship watched, Peaches figured.

  The world looked like it could almost float inside, bigger and more beautiful than seen through porthole windows. The star colors appeared a little different, too. Peaches’ mouth dried.

  And the planet seemed to move faster, he saw a brown-green land pattern he hadn’t before.

  “Zow,” breathed FamMan Randolph. “What a view!”

  “What? No. What? No! What…NO!” repeated Lewisy, his voice high and irritating.

  “That, my friend, is space, and our new home, the world we’ve named Celta.” Yearning laced Randolph’s quiet tones. He cleared his throat, then said, “Just take a few steps outside of the Ship—”

  A long, low wail came from the speakers as Lewisy flailed around. “NO!” He grabbed the edge of an outer wall and held on tightly. “Don’t make me go out there. No, no, no! Let me stay in!”

  FamMan hesitated, then said calmly, “You must release the edge of the wall, so I can close the doors.”

  “I’ll die, I’ll die. There’s nothing out there, outside of our Ship. It IS a starship and we’re in the STARS.”

  “Exactly so,” said Randolph. “Let go of the wall and I’ll yank you back in to the safety of the Ship.”

  Lewisy shivered for a good minute more, then propelled himself back a little, then FamMan hit a button and the tether tied to his belt reeled in. Slowly the iris door closed, then the bigger ones snapped shut with a huge clunk.

  Peaches found himself panting.

  Landing Bay filled with good, breathable air quicker than Peaches had imagined. Before he thought about strolling in to meet his FamMan, the hall door opened and the Captain walked into the bay.

  Lewisy saw him and waved his arms, jumped up and down once before collapsing.

  “Let me out of this suit, let me out, please!”

  “You sure we aren’t lying to you, Lewisy Munz?” questioned the Captain softly, but with a dangerous edge to his voice.

  Never wise call this Captain a liar, the oldest dog said. He shook his head like a human might. Shoulda learned that lesson days and days ago.

  Peaches agreed.

  “No, you don’t lie! I’ve SEEN space. I experienced it. Now let me out of this suit!” Lewisy nearly wept.

  Captain went over to Lewisy and squatted, began taking off his helmet. Captain’s nose wrinkled. “Your bowels let loose in the suit, didn’t they? Good thing it’s self-cleansing.”

  At that moment, the door to the Ship opened and a tall woman with near white hair and curves humans prized strode in. She wore a spacesuit, too, and moved like it was as comfortable as regular clothes. She carried her helmet.

  Her glance swept over FamMan Randolph and the Captain. “Wait!” she commanded.

  The Captain rocked back on his heels. “Yes?”

  “What’s this about a space walk? Don’t you think I should have been consulted? Since I am the only one who’s ever actually been in space?”

  “Uh,” started the Captain.

  “Events moved a little too quickly,” FamMan Randolph said.

  Pilot stopped at Lewisy, she showed no emotion at what must have been bad smells. “You want to try again, Lewisy? I’ll be glad to accompany you. We can head out and check this area of the Ship’s skin together.”

  “No,” Lewisy said weakly, pushing his helmet off his head. “No, thank you.”

  With a jerk of a nod, she indicated to the Captain that he should help Lewisy rise. Instead, the Captain hauled him up more roughly than Peaches would care to be treated. But the Captain had lots of muscles and Lewisy looked puny.

  Pilot went to work and had Lewisy out of his suit in a few seconds. She was a professional, and, Peaches realized, as everyone else in the Ship did at the same time, she knew what to do. How to land Ship. And, of course, Ship had landed itself before.

  They—the crew and the tube people colonists—could trust Pilot and Ship. A big sigh of relief came through Ship’s speakers from many people.

  Pilot put Lewisy’s spacesuit carefully in the cleanser pod and activated it, dusted her hands and nodded to Captain and Randolph. “Any more need for me here? Or can I go back to consulting with Ship on orbital mechanics and the landing approach?”

  Captain inclined his head. “Glad to have you here.”

  Pilot swept a glance around with a smile. “Glad to be here on this generational starship. Better than rotting in a ghetto or prison for psychically talented people on Earth. Of course, if they’d captured me before we took off, I’d’ve been long dead by now. Later, Captain. Later, First Science Officer. And, Randolph Ash, I need to pick your brain in the next day or two.”

  FamMan gulped, his voice came higher. “At your service, Pilot Larson.”

  She flashed him a smile. “Holly. I chose the surname of Holly for my new life.”

  FamMan bobbed his head.

  She strode out. If she’d been a cat, her tail would have been twitching in satisfaction at showing her superior space suit skills.

  Silence hung in the room as Peaches and the others watched Lewisy totter from the Landing Bay.

  Randolph shoved a lever. “Initiating cameras outside Landing Bay and showing projections on the doors.”

  Once again dark space and bright stars and the big moving planet showed. This time not in real life through open doors.

  Very interesting, said the old dog.

  Peaches closed his eyes.

  I hear they have bubbles for Fams, the puppy said. I would like to go out and float in a bubble in space.

  Really stupid puppy.

  “That’s that. Disperse people,” Grandma Chloe said. “Get back to work. And there will be plenty of work for everyone on Celta.” She studied the gathering, looked down at her tablet of squiggles. “I see that most of you here have indicated the careers you want to follow down on Ea— Celta. Lewisy has been deleterious in doing that. He has no job or career. I suggest that those of you who haven’t decided make up your mind soon.” She shivered a little. “I have a hunch we will need every hand we can get to build Druida City and thrive on Celta.”

  I will help! Peaches offered, turning his back on space. They would get to Celta. Probably. Fams can help!

  “Absolutely. I know your, and my grandson’s, First Science Officer Randolph Ash’s, capabilities.”

  Old dog walked out, I can help, too. I can dig. I can smell good places for houses.

  I’ll help! puppy bounced after him.

  Later, Peaches and the rest of the Fams trotted through the trip, found out that Lewisy had been one of the last to say bad things about the Captain, to doubt the mission. And all grumblings had been laid to rest.

  All focus was on the now, today, as it should be.

  And the landing.

  Some humans yet had a feeling of doom about getting from space to the world and solid ground itself.

  For an instant Peaches stomac
h lurched. Ship had always felt like solid ground under his paws.

  But, all in all, it had been a good day for Randolph and Peaches. Not one whisper of Randolph’s past faults circulated in the gossip now. No, he was, as Peaches had considered him for a month, a hero. Doing the right thing in breaking away from the conspirators and those who thought of only living on the Ship, not going to a new world to live like humans and Fams should.

  Even Grandma Chloe had mellowed. She’d taken them to the exclusive lounge dining room for the tube people and let them had the best food Peaches had tasted in his life. She’d rubbed Peaches’ head and kissed FamMan Randolph on the cheek.

  Peaches figured all would be well.

  Until they actually began to land.

  A week passed and humans kept busy. FamMan Randolph walked straighter and had special shirts that looked like Captain’s and Captain Lady’s and Grandma Chloe’s and Pilot’s and security guys’ and a few others’. He pointed to a patch on a shirt and told Peaches it said, “First Science Officer.”

  He smiled all the time, enthusiastically answered questions by the crew about their new world and what plants and animals and other stuff they might find there. Apparently a long, long, long time ago, peoples who made Earth also made Celta. Peaches didn’t understand that and it didn’t bother him that he didn’t understand it, but the knowledge made the humans happy.

  Peaches asked the Fams to meet with him in a portion of the GreatGreensward full of flowers just before the landing. He was the only Fam to be descending to Celta in the Main Bridge. All around him would be humans, and he wanted some last moments with beings like himself.

  And he confirmed his status as Top Fam when all gathered when he asked them.

  They all radiated fear or terror and Peaches kept his own anxiety locked away from the others. Did not leak it. Kept his calm.

  They had merged into a more cohesive unit than had ever happened in their generations aboard the Ship. They remembered their purpose, to help their human Familiar Companions, and other people. To comfort. To advise.