“Just do it, please.”
Jamie rolled up his shirt sleeve and presented his wrist to his mother. The gray square imprint stretched across his veins like a moving Rorschach inkblot. The square closed in on itself and formed a straight line from his wrist to the crook of his elbow.
“See?”
“Good. The last thing we want is to get disqualified because you didn’t turn it off.”
“I know, Mom.”
A spotlight shone on the banks of paddocks. Seconds later, fifty white lines shot up the width of the arena from the paddock gates to the east wall.
Another light snapped on to the end-point. Each end of the fifty rows illuminated to reveal a five-inch-high bank containing five holes. That was about all the audience could see from this distance.
“Attention people,” the female voice announced from behind the mega screen, “USARIC is committed to the safety and the wellbeing of all the contenders. We ask that you remain seated at all times during the trials. Any attempts to interact with the trials will result in immediate disqualification.”
A soundtrack began to play as the white running lines lit up. “People, welcome to the Star Cat Project, and the Star Cat Trials, London. Now, please welcome your host… Gunnar Kane.”
The audience erupted with excitement as Gunnar, a smartly dressed man with bright white teeth, sprinted in front of the track and held out his arm. He gripped his headset and pointed and winked at random people in the audience.
“Wow, thank you for that wonderful app-paws!” he said in his thick, southern-American accent.
The crowd laughed at the joke as Gunnar stepped back and pointed at the paddocks.
“We truly have the cream of the crop with us today. Fifty of London’s premiere contenders. Give it up for the felines, would you?”
The crowd burst into applause once again.
The cats in the paddocks rattled the bars. Some with their paws, others with their noses. They didn’t look especially happy to be cooped up within the cages.
Jelly didn’t move very much. She dug her claws into the fabric surface and licked her lips, itching for the bars to be released.
“Let’s begin.” Gunnar joined a panel of three judges at a desk near the participants’ seating block. “Round one…”
The title of the activity appeared on the mega-screen, showing various clips of cats running and jumping around.
“Agility. In this first round, whichever contender reaches the end of the one-hundred meter track and hits the button on the floor wins. The first three will then proceed to the next round.”
“Mom, look,” Jamie pointed at the eighteenth paddock. “There she is.”
Jelly pressed her nose through the bars and sniffed around. Jamie and Emily could just about make her out from their seats.
“This will be interesting,” Emily said. “Come on, Jelly. Don’t screw this up.”
Jamie shuffled in his seat and pressed his palms together. “Come on, Jelly.”
“Here we go,” Gunnar announced through his headset. “In three… two… one…”
The music ground to a halt as the audience held their breath in anticipation. Gunnar waved his hand down, signaling the start of the activity.
“Go!”
The paddock cages flew open, releasing the animals.
Ten of the cats, including Jelly, jumped out.
The others whined and either nestled down for comfort or tried to attack the opened bars.
“Okay, that’s ten, eleven, fifteen and eighteen out of the paddock, followed by twenty-two, twenty-five and forty-two and forty-four,” Gunnar commentated over the proceedings. “Not much in it between them as they wander around.”
Jelly stepped forward and poked around the white line. The moment her nose crossed over, a spark ignited, forcing her back into her row.
“No, they’re hurting her!” Jamie jumped to his feet. “There’s electricity keeping them in line.”
“What?”
Jelly shook her head and turned to the east side. The white lines flickered and trailed along the width of her path, promising salvation one hundred meters away.
“Go on, Jelly!” Jamie shouted over the crowd, as he watched his cat trundle along the path. “Yes, yes.”
Fiorina climbed to her feet and threw her arms in the air. “Come on, Cindee. Run.”
The white cat in lane forty-four made eyes at Jelly in lane eighteen and hissed.
Jelly stood her ground and flicked her tail. “Meow.”
“I think our contestants need a little encouragement, guys,” Gunnar said to the audience. “How about it?”
The crowd cheered with excitement.
Just then, the cat in lane twenty-two, a slinky silver-furred beast, figured out what she was supposed to be doing. She leaned back on her haunches and propelled forward.
“Jelly,” Jamie screamed at Jelly, “Run, run.”
Gunnar hit a button on the console. A holograph of a common mouse snapped into each of the fifty lanes. The image shot along the path, catching all the cats attention.
Jelly meowed and bolted after the rodent.
“Yes, go. Go,” Jamie clapped his hands, keeping an eye on lane forty-four.
Cindee chased after her holographic mouse, keeping up with Jelly’s speed.
The silver pet in lane twenty-two gained on Cindee and Jelly as they raced forward.
“Here we go,” Gunnar said, “It seems it’s between eighteen, twenty-two, and forty-four.”
The holographic mice whizzed toward the east end of the arena, with Jelly, Cindee and the nameless silver cat in hot pursuit.
“Cindee’s going to win,” Fiorina jumped in her shoes with astonishment. “Go, Cindee.”
“No, she’s not,” Jamie barked at his new friend. “Jelly’s gonna smash her.”
The mega-screen displayed a top-down view of the racing track. Cindee’s paws pushed out a few inches in front of Jelly.
The silver cat shot in between the pair and launched into the air, trying to take a swipe at the mouse.
It was enough to catapult the shiny ball of fluff through the holograph and ahead by several lengths.
Jelly sped up and ran through her holograph, causing her fur to spark and stand on end. “Meeoow!”
“Eighteen is leading by a nose to twenty-two in second and, finally, forty-four in third,” Gunnar announced to the audience. “Only twenty meters to go.”
Cindee gained on the pair and deliberately jumped to the left, knowing that the white line might zap her and send her to the head of the pack.
It did.
Cindee’s shoulder connected with the invisible barrier and spun her around in mid-air, throwing her to her paws, aiding her travel.
She blasted through the holograph of her mouse, sending a shower of orange sparks forward and first past the finish line.
She slammed her paws on the button surface and tumbled over three times.
A giant gong sounded off as the mega screen burst to life, revealing that lane forty-four had won.
“We have a winner,” Gunnar said, as the silver cat barreled into second position.
Jelly screeched to a halt in third place and tumbled over the button on the ground…
1st place: Cindee (The Family Beamish)
2nd Place: Bullet (The Family Cotter)
3rd Place: Jelly (The Family Anderson)
Three cat handlers approached the winners of the race and ushered each of them into a mobile cage.
“Aww, man,” Jamie stomped on the ground and folded his arms in a huff.
“Calm down, poppet,” his mother said, yanking him back to his seat. “Cindee won that one, fair and square.”