As she kicked away, she somersaulted, legs-over-head and caught the Botanix door frame. The lower-half of her body swung sideways into the room.
She pulled herself through the door and placed her infinity claws against the plate on the wall.
The door slammed shut on the tip of her tail, "Meeeoooowwww!"
"That is one smart animal," Baldron couldn’t believe his eyes.
"She’s stuck," Tor said.
Jelly floated away from the door like a sideways pendulum, trying to ‘swim’ from the door. Her tail was stuck.
"Anderson?" Tor finally re-evaluated his position in life. Floating before him was a cat smart enough to save the crew from death - at the expense of oxygen.
Baldron swallowed hard. A blob of pink blood drifted away, slowly, from his cheek, "Look at her, she knows what’s happening."
Jelly swung her metal claws at the pair. "Toooooorrrrrr…" As she tried to speak, clumps of fur shed from her face and floated into the corridor.
A sliver of blood streaked through the air from her eye sockets, "Toooorrrr—"
KA-BOOM!
Botanix exploded like a self-contained thunderclap in a teacup. The sound of the explosion muffled and threw sparks against the window.
The plants caught ablaze and shattered. The heat lamps burst into pieces, sending jolts of electricity around the room.
The door shimmed enough to release Jelly’s tail. The tip separated from her body and released her into the corridor.
Baldron and Tor turned to face N-Carcerate, "Oh, dear."
Bonnie grabbed a latch on the corridor wall and propelled herself toward Tor, "Remember? No Russian?"
Baldron went to strike her with his fist, "Yes, I remember."
"Yeah, let’s stick to that. Stick this."
Bonnie swung her body around and kicked Baldron in the face. He tumbled back in the air and grabbed a latch on the corridor wall. He booted himself forward and punched Bonnie across the face.
A string of blood flew from her lips and traveled toward N-Carcerate.
"You think you can win, you dumb robot?" Baldron grabbed her by the back of her hair and snarled in her face. She clasped his fist with both hands and stared him down.
"Yeah, I think I can win."
Baldron spat in her face, "Repeat after me. I am a dumb robot."
"Ugghhh," Bonnie closed her eyes and spat his saliva away from her mouth.
"I am not a robot," Bonnie growled. "My name is Dr. Whitaker. I am a human being, and I remember everything."
She yanked his fist away from her head. He accidentally took a clump of hair away from her head.
Bonnie leaned back and head-butted Baldron on the nose, busting the cartilage within. His face turned a bright pink. The pink blood on her eyes could have been his, or hers, but she didn’t care.
Baldron held his face in his hands and squealed in pain.
Everyone watched as Bonnie accosted the bad guy.
She grabbed his inner-suit collar and held him up for a timely telling-off, "Time to take out the trash. On behalf of USARIC, consider this a dishonorable discharge."
She planted her titanium foot on his chest and kicked through his breastplate. His body screamed back against the door to Botanix, narrowly missing Jelly.
Baldron twisting and turning through the air in agony. He coughed up a torrent which corkscrewed around the weightless environment like a mad firework.
Tor kept his hands behind his head and looked at Bonnie in terror. She stared at him and wiped the blood from her eyes, "You want some, too?"
"No, no," Tor pleaded, keeping an eye on Tripp as he approached him, "I surrender."
Bonnie drifted out of consciousness and lilted in the air. Her flowing, black locks drifted behind her shoulders, "Something… fantastic is… about to happen…"
Tripp pushed his way over to Tor and sealed the zip tie around his wrists, "Tor Klyce, if that’s even your real name—"
"—It is not."
"—Well, whoever you are, you are under arrest," Tripp said, "I would ask you to hand over your cyanide capsule, please."
"My right inner thigh."
Tripp pushed him towards N-Carcerate. He spun around and drifted toward the cell doors. Tripp reached into Tor’s inner thigh pocket and took out the capsule.
"Thank you very much."
Tripp shackled the man’s ankle to the cell bed. Wool drifted back into N-Carcerate and breathed a sigh of relief.
Jaycee kicked himself along the corridor. He reached N-Carcerate with the unconscious Baldron in his arms.
Tor was upset. His comrade had been defeated and so, too, had their plans. A pink blob of water fell away from his tear duct, "Why… why is everyone crying pink?"
"I don’t know, Tor," Tripp took Baldron’s weightless body from Jaycee’s arms, "Blood is usually red. Perhaps it’s a lukewarm communist statement? Who knows."
"Why does my face feel like it’s on fire?" Tor cried. "What’s happening?"
"Shut up, Russian," Jaycee threatened to punch Tor’s lights out.
"Now, now, Jaycee," Tripp said. "There’s no need for rudeness."
Jaycee clamped his giant glove around Tor’s neck, "This Soviet scumbag is responsible for this. If it wasn’t for him, Captain Katz would be alive. Haloo would be alive. We might not have gotten sick."
"That’s not true," Tor said, the grip on his neck making him feel sleepy, "We didn’t mean to kill anyone—"
“Didn’t mean to? You’re talking lessense,” Jaycee punched Tor’s lights out, “That’s for Wool.”
The unconscious Tor slumped into Tripp’s arms. He flung the bad guy to the bed and nodded at Jaycee, "I’ve had enough of that idiot."
"Sounds good," Tripp shackled Baldron’s ankle to Tor’s. He took a step back with Bonnie and admired the view, "Look at them."
“Yeah. So pretty together…”
Jelly propelled herself into Wool’s arms. They were both very happy to see each other.
"Jelly, come here, honey."
"Meowwwwwww-oool…"
"What’s that?" Wool yelped with amazement. She took out a penlight and flashed it in Jelly’s eyes, "Let me see you, honey."
Jelly yawned and dug her titanium claws in Wool’s suit.
"Oh, you poor thing," Wool inspected the tip of her tail, "No damage done. You were very lucky."
"What’s wrong, Wool?" Tripp asked. "Her tail?"
"Look."
She inspected Jelly’s tail. The end was bleeding. A lot of the fur was missing. "I don’t think the bone is affected. She’ll be okay in an hour or two."
"She’s bleeding from the eye, as well," Tripp felt his eyelids beginning to lower. Jaycee had fallen asleep like a huge, revolving boulder in the corridor. "I, I… need to get back to control and update USARIC."
"I’ll take Jelly back to Medix and make sure she’s okay."
"Very good," Tripp said. He pushed himself from the cell door and over to the door.
Opera Beta Control Deck
Tripp pulled himself into the room and snapped his fingers in the air, "Manuel…" he gasped, breathlessly, "Do you read me?"
The holographic book appeared above the flight deck, "Yes, Tripp. May I ask what happened?"
"Tor Klyce disabled you just before we boarded Alpha."
"Why did he do that?"
"He’s working for the Russians. He and Baldron Landaker. They’re in N-Carcerate till we reach Earth."
"Am I to understand that Captain Katz and Haloo Ess are also no longer with us?"
"Yes," Tripp wiped the blood from his face and sat into the flight chair, "I need you to generate a report on Botanix’s current operational output."
"Yes, give me a moment."
Manuel ‘paused’ in mid-air as Tripp hit a button on the terminal.
The screen sprang to life, showing Tripp’s bloodied, worn out face on the recording in real time.
"Jeez, Tripp. You look like hell," he whispered to himself, "Right
. Commence recording. USARIC, Cape Claudius. Date imprint, run-time display. Second-in-command, Commander Tripp Healy. Record."
A red record button flashed in the corner of the screen. Tripp looked at the screen and took a moment to run through what he wanted to say.
"This is Tripp Healy, assumed captain of Space Opera Beta. We have lost her captain, Daryl Katz…."
Saturn’s rings revolved at speed around the planet. The blue surface glowed and breathed in and out.
"Shortly before boarding Space Opera Alpha, we deciphered enough of Saturn Cry to ascertain that it was, indeed, sending a distress call. Baldron Landaker and Tor Klyce are in incarceration. Dimitri Vasilov, I hope you can hear this. Maar, I hope you’re with him. This has been a deliberate sabotage of our mission. I hope USARIC finds the powers it has to rectify the situation."
A pink gas blossomed out from the dark side of Enceladus.
"Haloo Ess confirmed deceased at time of recording. Can confirm that Zillah Chin-Dunne was on board Opera Alpha, although her crew were dead. She speculated that something to do with Saturn was about to happen. I can’t recall her exact phrase, but it was going to be something fantastic."
The pink chasm on Enceladus’s dark side glowed and bleached out across the darkness.
"Opera Alpha was destroyed. Most of us made it back, but we seem to have contracted some sort of virus. The same extends to Jelly Anderson, as well. Botanix has been compromised. I am waiting on Manuel to report back on the severity of the damage. I do not expect it to be positive."
A holy pink light burst from the dark side of Enceladus. Saturn’s rings sped up, as if it were responsible for the moon’s cry into the infinite vacuum of space.
It caught Tripp’s waning attention. He looked over at the deck and saw the light show in all its magnificence.
"Oh m-my," he stammered. "Look at it. It’s beautiful…"
The recording continued and displayed half of Tripp’s head on screen. It didn’t reveal just how in awe he was of what he saw.
Manuel’s holograph appeared above the screen, "I have the results from Botanix, Tripp."
"Wait a moment, Manuel," Tripp kept his awe-struck gaze on the light show occurring in space. He turned the screen to face the pink matter wading out of Enceladus.
"Can you see that on the screen?" Tripp’s voice came over the recording, "Enceladus. Saturn’s sixth largest moon. We always knew something was happening. We’re hearing it’s a wormhole. We think Alpha may have been through it."
Tripp blinked and shook himself out of his mire. He angled the screen back to him as he returned to his chair, "Report, please, Manuel."
"Botanix is at critical levels of operation. Eight-five percent damage."
Tripp sighed and gave up the fight to stay awake, "I feel like I’m burning up."
"I can attempt a shut-off-and-rejuvenate on Botanix’s core functionality, if you would like?" Manuel offered.
"Just tell me how much air we have left, Manuel," Tripp closed his eyes and buried his face into his arms on the flight deck.
"Approximately seventy-two hours, Tripp."
He lifted his head at the screen, still bleeding from the eyes, "Three days? That’s it, I’m afraid. No one will survive. We’ll be long dead before you send Opera Charlie, if you ever do," Tripp nodded at Enceladus’s pink beauty, "Anyway, there’s your answer, USARIC. Saturn and Enceladus partying up. Something called Pink Symphony. Whatever that means. This is captain Tripp Healy… signing off…"
Tripp slumped into his arms.
Manuel floated around and flapping his pages like a bird, "Hmm. Stop recording, please."
The recording stopped.
"Transmit recording to USARIC."
The screen produced a loading bar and advised a send-time of five minutes.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Wool strapped a piece of gauze around the end of Jelly’s tail. She clipped the end off with a razor and pressed the tape around the wound.
"You’re very lucky, Jelly. Your injury could have been much worse," Wool coughed into her palm and stroked Jelly with her free hand, "I don’t know if you know what’s going on. How could you possibly know? Manuel says Botanix has enough oxygen for three days, sweetie. We’re going to die up here. Suffocate. There’s no way out."
"Meow," Jelly sniffed around Wool’s face.
“You initiated zero gravity,” Wool said. “How did you do—”
“Zeeeh… rooooow… graaaaa…” Jelly tried.
"Something happened to the crew, Jelly. To you, too. Look," Wool wiped the top of her own cheek. A streak of pink blood ran over her knuckle, "I don’t understand why I’m sick. I never boarded Alpha. Whatever it is, they must have brought it back with them."
Wool cleared her throat and took a black capsule from her inner-suit pants.
"Take this. It’ll make everything okay."
She pushed the capsule toward Jelly’s mouth, but the cat refused to take it in her mouth, "N-Nuh…"
"Come on, honey," Wool hesitated, "It will help. You trust me, don’t you?"
Jelly tilted her head and ran her face along the side of Wool’s hand.
"It’s okay, honey," Wool lifted the cyanide capsule and mimed opening her own mouth, "I’m taking one, too. We’ll both go to sleep and there won’t be any pain, I promise."
It was enough to convince Jelly. She opened her mouth with great obedience and allowed her friend to drop the cyanide capsule in.
"Good girl," Wool smiled and ran her hands down the sides of Jelly’s face.
Little did she know that Jelly flicked Wool’s capsule off the table with her hind leg.
"Look at you, you beautiful thing," she said, near to tears, knowing Jelly would die in her hands a few seconds from now, "You don’t belong up here. You never did. USARIC made a mistake involving you."
Jelly purred, enjoying the rub-down she was receiving. She ran her face along Wool’s cheek.
"I love you too, Jelly," Wool kept the cat’s head in her hands. "Any moment now, sweetie. We’ll both be at peace."
Jelly licked her cheek, catching a droplet of blood from her eye duct.
"I feel so sleepy," Wool said. "It must be a lack of oxygen, or something. And I’m so warm."
"W-Woooolll…" Jelly’s voice rumbled, "W-Woooolll…"
"Yes," Wool gasped, trying to fight her drift into unconsciousness, "That’s my name."
"Woooo-oooll…"
"Yes, yes," She released Jelly’s head from her palms. She sat back in her chair and tucked her chin to her neck. "My name is Wool ar-Ban. You… are Jelly Anderson…"
Jelly shifted her head and watched as her friend fell asleep in her chair.
She hopped off the table and scurried along the ground, heading for the Medix door. Wool lay across the bed with her arms and started to snore.
Out in the corridor, Jelly stopped at a metal grille in the ground. She opened her mouth and poked her tongue around her gums.
The tip of her tongue lifted the wet cyanide capsule over her teeth. The small bit of plastic tumbled over her chin and dropped to the ground.
Jelly snarled at it and pushed it toward the grille. It fell through the tiny bars and dropped down, to be lost forever.
"Meow," Jelly licked her paw, careful not to catch her tongue on the Titanium. She trundled towards the control deck, satisfied that she was free from danger…
***
Tripp lay unconscious over the flight panel.
Jelly trundled in and surveyed the surroundings. She was the only soul on board the Opera Beta who was awake, and she knew it.
A huge playground of fun and opportunity surrounded her - alas, not for very long.
She knew that, too. There was work to be done.
Jelly approached the second chair at the flight deck and hopped onto the seat.
The main screen loomed in front of her, obscuring the view of Enceladus emitting a pink symphony of light into the stars.
The image reflected in
her glazed eyeballs. She stared up at the spectacle in wonder for a brief moment and licked her mouth.
"Meow," Jelly ducked her head and averted her view of the stars. Her internal engine kicked to life, purring up a storm. She moved over to Tripp’s hand and ran the side of her face against his forefinger.
She turned to the screen and held out her paw. Two of her metal claws snapped together, creating a spark.
Manuel’s holograph appeared.
"Ah, Miss Anderson," Manuel said. "It’s a pleasure to finally have some time alone with you."
"Meow."
"Everyone appears to be asleep. The result of some nasty virus picked up on Opera Alpha, apparently."
"Meow," Jelly clawed at the keyboard under the screen.
"What’s that, Miss Anderson?" The book floated around her twitching ears, "You want to access the N-Gage mainframe?"
"Muuuh..."
"Very well," Manuel shuffled down to the keyboard hovered above the N-Gage communications panel, "N-Gage ready. Simply press the green communication button and tell me who you’d like to speak to."
Jelly whined, looking around the keyboard. She extended her paw and punched the green communication button.
A message flashed on the screen, "Enter respondent ID now."
Jelly tried to catch the flashing text with her claws. Her lungs heaved a series of coughs, "Muuuh…"
"Who would you like to speak too?"
Jelly lowered her head and looked around the keyboard. She flapped her tail around and whined.
"Oh, don’t be like that, Miss Anderson," Manuel chuckled to himself. "I’m an advanced system. I can do it for you. I just need the name of the person you’d like to speak to."
Jelly looked up at the floating book. A trickle of blood blobbed out from her eye duct. "Jaayy… Jaaay…"
"Jaycee Nayall?" Manuel asked, "I’m afraid he’s incommunicado—"
"Meow," Jelly shook the beads of blood away from her face and growled. "Jaaaaa-aaaayy… Meeeeeoowww…"
"Jaymeow?" Manuel scanned his internal memory banks, "I’m afraid we have no such person—"
"—Jaaayyy… Meeee…" Jelly whimpered. Finally, she looked down at her inner-skin suit and ran her face along her name.
Star Cat: Infinity Claws: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 1) (2nd Edition) Page 21