Emily and Tripp chuckled as they watched Jelly sneak around the plants trying to hide from her master.
“Hey, Tripp. Did we get those new purifiers I ordered?”
“I’m not sure. I’m about to have Baldron, our new engineer, and the other new guy check it. I forget his name.”
“Tor, I think.”
“Right, that’s him,” Haloo smiled at Emily. “Hey, congratulations on winning, by the way. A real honor to be working with your… cat. Jelly?”
“Yes, Jelly,” Emily said. “Is she really going to be the first?”
“Yes, she is. Is there anything you’d like to ask while you’re here? You can ask anything.”
Emily looked around and took in the sheer height of the room. At least thirty-feet tall. “This is really impressive. So, all this provides all the oxygen you need?”
“Yes, it’s a cyclical process. As long as us humans, and, uh, felines, keep on producing carbon dioxide, the plants continue to generate oxygen and provide fresh water.”
Haloo nodded over at the far end of room. “The room is hermetically sealed when not in use, so CO2 levels remain constant. God forbid we ever have a fire in here.”
“Why?”
“The place would go up in an instant, so the entire place is fireproof. Bombproof, actually.”
“Well, that is reassuring,” Emily looked over at Jamie and Jelly playing around in the plants. “Hey, guys. C’mon, don’t disrupt the lady’s work area.”
“Oh, they’re fine.”
Jamie scooped Jelly up in his arms and scrambled over to his mother. “I think she likes this room.”
“I’m not surprised,” Emily said, “Loads of opportunity to hide and trash the place.”
The statement received a knowing chuckle from Tripp and Haloo.
“Okay, I better get back to work,” Haloo said. “The tank needs refilling.”
“Okay.”
Haloo returned to her hose amongst the plants. “Please check on those filters, Tripp.”
“This spaceship is so big,” Jamie said to Tripp as they made their way to the front of the vessel.
Emily clutched the handle on Jelly’s carry case. She looked through the bars to see that her pet was unhappy. The cat clawed at the bars and whined.
“Hush, Jelly,” Emily said.
“We’re going to meet a very special person,” Tripp walked into the Fit Room.
“Wow,” Jamie took a look around.
Treadmills.
Exercise bicycles.
Rowing machines.
In the corner, a young woman with brunette hair held her fists up at a mannequin. She bounced around on the spot, ready to attack it.
A holograph of a man’s face appeared on the silver head of the mannequin. The woman squinted at it and clenched her right fist.
“Stop looking at me,” she screamed at the mannequin’s face. Her body lifted into the air and roundhouse-kicked the mannequins head. The piece of plastic exploded and bounced off the wall, leaving fine debris remnants to float to the ground.
“Bonnie?” Tripp shouted across the room. “Are you fit?”
She lowered her head and slowed her breathing. “I’m fine,” she said, socking the headless mannequin in the gut in anger.
“Whoa,” Jamie stopped in his tracks, afraid to go anywhere near her. “Who’s she?”
Bonnie twisted her head to the young boy and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Who are you?”
“This is Jamie Anderson and his mother, Emily,” Tripp said.
‘Hi,’ Jamie offered, innocently.
Bonnie took a towel from the wall holder and wiped the sweat from her brow. “So?”
“Their cat won the Star Cat Project.” Tripp took the carry case from Emily and presented it to Bonnie. “Here she is.”
Bonnie looked through the bars with a blatant nonchalance. “Oh, cool.”
Jelly meowed at her from inside the case. Bonnie’s demeanor changed the moment she clapped eyes on the animal.
“Can I hold her?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Bonnie opened the cage. Jelly relished the opportunity to jump out into her hands. She nestled quite comfortably in her arms and sniffed around her chest. “Cute cat. What’s her name?”
“Jelly,” Jamie said. “I’m her human.”
“Cool.”
Jelly’s purring was so loud that it could be heard from the other end of the room.
“I’m Dr. Bonnie Whitaker,” she smiled. “Opera Beta’s physicist.”
“Why were you punching that plastic thing?” Jamie asked, to the amusement of Tripp and Bonnie.
“Oh, just getting some exercise. Do you know Jitsaku?”
“No? What is it?”
“It’s a fusion of Jijitsu and Kung Fu. You use your enemy’s power against them.” She looked for a reaction from Tripp. “We have to stay fit and exercise otherwise we’ll slow down. Shame we can’t do the same for our mental state, isn’t it?”
Tripp grinned at Jamie. “Bonnie, why don’t you show young Jamie, here, your special feature?”
“Sure.”
She passed Jelly to Jamie and unbuckled her inner-suit pants. Emily widened her eyes, expecting the worst.
“Actually, it’s better if you don’t—”
“—No, it’s not what you think.”
Bonnie stepped out of her pants. Metal bolts and wires adorned her right leg. She lifted her thigh and showed off the unusual amalgam of joints and connectors.
“Oh wow,” Jamie said in awe, “What happened to you?”
“I don’t remember, exactly. When I was a girl I got an infection. It started in my foot and spread to my joints, here.” She pointed at her hip.
Her left leg was perfectly fine, and perfectly formed. Jamie’s attention was drawn to what lay between them behind her underwear.
“Hey, kid. Look at my leg, not my crotch.”
“Sorry.”
“I think you may have a new admirer, Bonnie,’ Tripp joked and threw her a wink.
“Shut up.’ Bonnie lifted her right knee and wiggled it around. The mechanics whirred away under her fingertip. “Jamie, you see that?”
“Yes?”
She removed the lower half of her false leg. “I can take it off and replace it with various things. It’s made of titanium, a bit like the claws we’ll be putting on Jelly, here.”
“What?”
“Ah,” Tripp said, trying to hush his colleague. “Yes, we haven’t quite gotten around to discussing that just yet.”
“I’m sorry,” Emily butted in, full of confusion. “Did you say you’re going to be putting Titanium on Jelly?”
“Oh,” Bonnie reattached her leg and pulled up her pants. “Do they not know?”
“They do now,” Tripp shook his head, angry at being put on the spot.
“What’s this about?” Emily took Jelly from Jamie’s arms and cradled her. “You’re not going to interfere with her, are you?”
“It’s a small procedure, but a necessary one,” Tripp explained. “When we’ve reached our destination, Wool will perform what’s known as a cuticle restructure.”
“What’s that?”
Bonnie buckled her belt and pressed a button on the wall. “Her claws will be removed and replaced with a set of titanium ones, along with a thumb attachment.”
Jelly looked at the humans in the room, understanding very little of the surgical proposition.
“What?” Emily grew nervous. “No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s a perfectly straightforward operation. Of course, it’ll be reversed when she returns to Earth.”
“No,” Emily turned around and made for the door. “Come on, Jamie. We’re leaving. I knew this was too good to be true.”
“I’m afraid you’ve already agreed to it,” Tripp said. “In the contract, the stipulation under enhanced modification.”