“The ayes have it,” Katz said, making his way out of the hub. “We are less than twenty hours from Opera Alpha. I suggest you all orient yourself as you see fit and prepare for contact.”
Katz reached the door and turned around to Wool ar-Ban. “Can you wake up our feline guest, please?”
“Yes, Captain,” Wool joined Katz and walked out of the hub.
Tor turned to the others and shook his head. “I keep forgetting that stupid cat is on board.”
“Don’t call her stupid,” Tripp said. “She might just be the key to what we’re looking for.”
“Yeah, right,” Tor said, kicking his chair away from the console in defiance. “She’s more trouble than she’s worth. Landaker, can I have a word, please?”
“Yes.”
The pair walked out of the hub talking to themselves, leaving Bonnie, Tripp, Haloo and Jaycee to chat amongst themselves.
Wool leaned over Jelly’s hyper-sleep containment unit and hovered her finger over the release switch. A smile crept across her face as she took a moment to absorb the beauty of the creature.
“Look at you,” she whispered, “You look so peaceful. So perfect.”
Jelly looked as comfortable as could be, resting face-up toward the glass.
“There’s a lot to play with up here. I think you’re going to like it.”
Wool hit the button.
The glass retracted along the length of Jelly’s body. A few strands of fur lifted into the air as she shuffled around, still unconscious.
Wool put on a pair of plastic gloves and reached into the containment unit. She stroked Jelly’s stomach with her knuckle. The monitor attached to the unit began to beep, indicating that Jelly was about to wake up.
“Jelly?”
The cat opened her eyes and lifted her paws to her face. She wiped her brow and spun onto her side.
“There we go,” Wool reached in and lifted Jelly under her arms.
“Meow,” Jelly grunted, exercising her vocal chords for the first time in over a year.
“Good girl,” Wool whispered, cradling Jelly in her arms. “Take your time, sweetie.”
Jelly shuffled around and kicked her hind legs forward, stretching every muscle in her body. She licked her lips and dug her paws into Wool’s inner-skin suit.
“Hey, gorgeous. How are you?”
Jelly licked her lips again and clung to Wool’s arm. She let out a whine, fascinated by her surroundings.
An infinite playground.
Desks, monitors, and chairs – ample opportunity to mess around, discover things and hide.
“Meow.”
“Yes, Jelly,” Wool walked over to the lab’s bench in the middle of the room. “This is your new home.”
She set Jelly onto the bench. The cat jumped from her arms and immediately made for the edge of the bench. A five-foot drop to the floor didn’t seem like much of a task.
“Oh no, no, no,” Wool grabbed Jelly and slid her back along the bench. “Not yet you don’t, sweetie. I need to inspect you.”
“Meow.” Jelly struggled to release herself from Wool’s clutches.
“Hold on, girl.”
“Look at me, Anderson,” Wool took out a mini flashlight and shone it in Jelly’s face. “Left eye, please.”
Jelly’s orange pupil focused on Wool’s face.
“Seems good. Right eye, please.”
The light zipped over to Jelly’s other eye. Wool look around for signs of anything that may be untoward.
“Nope. Looking good.”
“Meow.”
“All set. A bit dilated, but nothing to worry about.,” Wool ran her hand along Jelly’s back smoothing out her fur. “Hungry?”
Jelly ran the side of her head along Wool’s hand and purred.
“Very good, Jelly. Very good.”
Wool ran her thumb over Jelly’s right shoulder and observed the scar where the chip had been implanted. “Manuel?”
“Yes, Wool?”
“Can we synchronize our guest with your coordinates, please?”
“Of course.”
The holographic book appeared from out of thin air and flashed a green locater against a map of the ship. “J. Anderson is currently in the hyper-sleep quarters.”
“Yes, I know she is. She’s right here.”
“Meow.” Jelly launched into the air and tried to claw at the holographic book. It flew backwards, trying to evade capture.
The book fluttered to the other side of the bench. Jelly turned around and made for it once again.
“Ha. Jelly, it’s no use, sweetie. You can’t touch Manuel.”
“Meow.”
Jelly swiped at Manuel, but missed it entirely as he hovered several feet into the air.
“I know she can’t touch me,” Manuel said, “But she scares me.”
“She’s just a cat, Manuel.”
“I realize that. I think I’ll just stay up here for a moment.”
Wool chuckled and lifted Jelly under her arms. “Come here, pet.”
“Meow.”
Jelly threw her arms over Wool’s shoulder and kept looking around as they made their way out of the hyper-sleep quarters.
Wool carried Jelly through the hyper-sleep concourse – a long corridor with boxes and attached units on either side of the wall.
“Now, if I let you down do you promise not to run off?”
“Meow.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Wool squatted and released Jelly onto the ground. “Enjoy yourself while you can, Jelly.”
The cat wasted no time exploring the concourse. She bolted to the far end as fast as her legs could carry her.
“Whoa, calm down, pet,” Wool yelled.
Jelly reached the far door and found that it wouldn’t open. She whined and knocked it with her head.
Then, the door slid open, startling her. “Meow.”
She looked up the legs of the man standing in front of her. Tripp looked down and smiled.
“Ah, she’s awake.”
“Yes, Tripp,” Wool said, hopping after Jelly. “Just stretching her legs.”
“I can see that,” Tripp looked at the mischievous cat. “Wearing yourself out, are you?”
“Meow.”
“Such a good girl,” Tripp crouched down and offered her his hand. She ran her face along his fingers. “How long till we suit her up?”
Wool scooped Jelly into her hands and looked at her face. “We’ll get her fed and let her get her energy up. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to suit her up.”
“Very good,” Tripp began to walk away.
“Tripp?” Wool hollered after him.
“Yes?”
“We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?”
“Of course we are.”
“What with the change of course and everything?”
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t we be?”
Wool placed her face on top of Jelly’s head and breathed in. “If something happened to Jelly, I’d never forgive myself.”
“Wool, look,” Tripp walked back and offered her some reassurance. “We’ll be fine. Androgyne will check Opera Alpha out first and let us know what’s happening. There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of.”
“I know,” Wool muttered. “That’s what’s scaring me.”
“What, you’re scared because there’s nothing to be scared about?”
“Yes,” Wool half-chuckled at her own revelation. “Something doesn’t seem right.”
“Exactly,” Tripp smile. “That’s what we’re here to fix.”
CHAPTER NINE
Daryl entered the control deck at the front of the ship and made his way to the pilot’s seat.
Tor Klyce busily tapped away on the board on his communication panel.
“Tor, any response from Opera Alpha?”
“I’m patching into their network now, Captain.”
“We’re off record, Tor, you can call me Daryl for the time being,” Katz said as he strapped himself into his chair. He flipped two red switches which created a polymorphic grid on the screen overlooking Saturn. “Hit the radio on frequency zero-five-four-niner.”