by Gary Starta
“Oh, I got a head over water - and my body’s under the sun.
When the moon’s shining thru me - well I just - stick out my damn tongue.
Oh, let me know - someone’s waiting on down the line for me.
Don’t know what this little world’s been doing - or what blue green means to me.
“Got a paw in the water – got a paw in the sand.
Going ‘round and ‘round in circles - in some kinda quantum mixed up land.
All I know is saying words – saying words - don’t mean a thing.
Don’t know where this little world’s going - or what blue green means to me.
“Some say that I’m particle - some say that I’m mass.
Some little doggie in the corner - says he’s gonna come and kick my ass.
Well, I got my claws out honey - so just you come over - and you try.
Gonna rip him up in little pieces – gonna make myself - a little doggie pie.
“Somebody trying to classify me, someone calling me a wave.
Think I don’t mean nothing to nobody - unless someone sees the path, I’ve paved.
I don’t know if I’m real - but I sure can feel – can feel the pain.
I’m hot and cold and lonely - but my girl and doc they try to keep away the rain.
“Well, they call me Earth Cat Zero - I can’t say – what I’ve seen.
All I know is that - time and space and place - made me both king and queen.
There is space in the shadows - where little things live - that you cannot see.
So, don’t expect me to know nothing - or what my little kitties - used to tell me.”
The applause was thunderous enough to welcome an encore of the song. No one seemed to mind the repeated lyrics, in fact, the crowd was singing along by the middle of the song and stamping feet.
Miranda stirred a straw in her drink hoping that the cat had reached his catharsis. She did not notice what Brands had.
“You were so good!” Miranda congratulated the cat as Chuck placed him back in her arms.
Brands wore a dour expression. “Doctor, what’s the matter?”
“Oh. Oh nothing, Miranda. It’s just that the blues really seem to get me here.” The doctor placed a hand over his heart. Miranda stroked the cat behind its ears while trading suspicious glances with Felicity, not quite believing the doctor’s answer.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Miranda spent the night tossing and turning, immersed in thought. Which reality did I observe? The one where Earth Cat Zero gave a heartfelt blues performance or the one where the blues of trepidation were etched all over Dr. Brands’s face? Is it as simple as erasing the one I don’t want?
With a grunt, Miranda rolled over waking Earth Cat Zero. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No apologies necessary. It was only a cat nap.” The cat made a gurgling sound and Miranda interpreted it as laughter.
A stretch boosted Miranda’s energy sufficiently to place her legs on the floor. Still seated on her bed, she mopped a hand through her tousled bangs. “I guess it’s time to face another day. Ready or not.” With a press of a button, an app opened the windows of her bedroom to glimmering sunlight. We need things on the table. To shine in the light no matter the consequence. The teen bit her lower lip, stewing in anger that the doctor was hiding something from her so deep into the game or whatever sports analogy Brands was accustomed to using. She had read the deceit on Felicity’s face as well. She must have seen it too. Miranda recalled Felicity had become quite loose during the festivities thanks to drink. She showed her cards. Now Miranda was angered at both scientists. If she had had Felicity’s contact information, she would have called her. What else can I do?
Fumbling through her phone, she stumbled on the latest headlines. Of course. It was as simple as clicking a link. Earth Cat Zero’s performance video was spectacular, but Miranda didn’t have the heart to show the feline, not if something was wrong. She cut the audio while she watched.
A few replays revealed a strange opalescent effect, where the cat seemed to shimmer in and out of focus. For a second, Miranda wanted to believe it was the club’s lighting or a faulty camera. No. No. This is just like how Brands appeared during the last acceleration. He winked on and off. She scanned stories but no one seemed to pick up on the anomaly. How could this happen without a huge energy source?
On one hand, Miranda was excited to be thinking like a scientist. On the other, she wanted to strangle a certain someone.
Bursting through the sensor activated doorway to the living quarters, Miranda called out to the doctor to no avail. At the same instant, her phone pinged with his message. “I’ll be right back, just replenishing grocery supplies.”
Yeah, well can you leave the concoction responsible for making your purple goo in the cart. The teen only formed the reply in her mind, not via text.
Miranda sat on the couch with Earth Cat Zero next to her, his tail thumping as if he too had a few choice words for the doctor.
As soon as the door clicked open, Miranda and the cat were up and off the couch, fire in their eyes, and ready to pounce.
“Oh. Whatever it is. Save it. Just save it.” Brands held up a hand.
“Whatever it is, is pretty important.” Miranda stood with arms crossed. Earth Cat Zero began to bat his LED toy aggressively.
“I just received a very distressing message. I am sorry. Let me catch my breath.” Brands fumbled his way to the kitchen island dispensing his load of groceries. “I think we could all use some protein today. I’ll make eggs.”
“Good idea. But first we need to talk before I break a few shells.”
Miranda fine-tuned her face to resemble her mother’s ‘no more discussion-no nonsense’ posture. She capped off her ice melting expression with hands on hips.
“Point taken.” The doctor seated himself across from the couch on a recliner. Earth Cat Zero did not waste a moment to take the opportunity to pounce onto his lap.
“First, let me share my news.”
“Which news would that be?” Miranda spat the words out with a raised eyebrow. “From last night…or…?”
He positioned his arm so Miranda could see his watch. The message read: “For your eyes only. No further tests will be conducted re: Project Earth Cat Zero unless it advances the United States’ technological superiority.”
Earth Cat grumbled. “A ‘please and thank you’ might have added a nice touch. It might do the military good to pick up a book on prose.” The cat licked his paw and then rubbed his cheeks.
“Ah, so they’re pissed. I guess that’s the DOD’s go-to emotion.” Miranda laughed sarcastically.
“I – I don’t care what they say or want.” The roar of the tiger had crept back into Brands’s throat, it was guttural and catlike. “To hell with them. I will do what is necessary for the cats – all our cats.” He shot Earth Cat a meaningful glance. “Damn it! I’ll even quit if I have to.”
Miranda raised a hand to her chin. “Hmm. Maybe you could join their competition – the Department of Energy.”
“Oh, very good, Miranda. Quite the devious plan.”
“I’m not kidding, Doctor. Then you can work side-by-side with your girlfriend.”
“Miranda, I didn’t mean to upset you. Did I act inappropriately with Felicity?”
“No. No, Doctor. You acted just like a regular human being; one not out to save the world from itself by science - for a change.” Miranda shook her head from side-to-side not quite believing she had to explain this to a grown man.
Brands shuffled a hand through his unkempt hair. “I guess I better make breakfast.”
Miranda flashed a hand. “Not so fast, Doctor.” She directed her hand back to the recliner. “We’re not done yet.” Although Miranda appeared incredibly angry on the outside, her heart had softened a bit. He’s still on our side – the cat’s side. He said he would even quit the DOD. If she could smile on the insi
de, she was.
“Now, about last night. I saw the video.”
“I didn’t want to worry Earth Cat.” He cupped a hand over the cat’s ears.
“Doctor, that’s not going to work. My feline hearing is vastly superior to yours.”
“All right. As I said before, our minds our linked. You’d find out sooner than later.” The doctor inhaled. “I did observe a wavering effect last night when Earth Cat Zero sang. It occurred when you were experiencing your strongest emotions, Earth Cat. It seems your human contribution is giving you quite a bang for your buck, so to speak.”
“So, you’re saying I can really belt it out, huh?”
“Indeed.” The doctor scrubbed a hand over his face nearly mimicking the cat’s grooming habit.
Miranda interjected, suppressing an urge to giggle despite her concerns. Fear and humor made strange bedfellows. “How can this be, Doctor? And what danger is Earth Cat in?”
“I couldn’t say. I do apologize for my insensitive comments earlier. You said the city’s pollution was affecting you. I can see it might affect you more than let’s say an original inhabitant who would have grown up the environment, thus building resistance.”
Miranda gasped. “Is Earth Cat Zero ill? Is that why his tongue is always sticking out?”
The cat shook his head. “I’m only ill from what you humans call ‘beating around the bush’.”
“I see, Earth Cat. My apologies.” The doctor straightened his back and placed his hands flush on his thighs. “A disruption of the Solfeggio Frequency may be responsible for the interference. It seems to comprise an integral part of the wave that keeps Earth Cat with us. If so, I could bolster it. But in the meantime, it might be best to put singing at the bottom of your to-do list.”
“But doctor,” Miranda said. “You seem very prone to this frequency as well – from your mind share connection with Earth Cat.”
“Yes, the qubit. The chip. My additional gray matter. It’s all a bunch of ingredients in a soup bowl now and it’s going to be – I must admit – next to impossible to strain any one element out of the recipe at this juncture. If it’s any comfort, we can’t just stop our exposure to the quantum world – even if we wanted to. The hair cells in our inner ears are sensitive to movements on a molecular scale. It is around us – part of us – like it or not.
“Bottomline. We just need to be as careful as we can. But” – the doctor waggled a finger – “no three-letter agency is going to tell us ‘how we should take it easy’.”
“Agreed.” Miranda added in a resigned tone. “But they’ve probably already heard everything we’ve said anyways.”
“No. I am using the scrambler.”
“But I don’t hear the whirring sound.”
“I fine-tuned it.”
Miranda burst into a mischievous smile. “We can always say we are proceeding to bolster our country’s safety with every stride we make. There. Was that bureaucratic enough?”
The doctor winked. “You’re learning. Scientists must always dance precariously with those who budget our dreams.”
Miranda was about to agree to breakfast when Earth Cat mewled. First in a high pitch, then in a more aggressive buzzing tone.
The doctor’s mouth fell open. “Oh. Someone doesn’t sound happy. Don’t worry, I bought more salmon.”
“That isn’t it. It’s in regard to budgeting. I think I’ve earned enough for a personal request. Actually, it’s for all our sakes. But…” The cat swatted a paw aimlessly.
“Speak your mind, Earth Cat.” Miranda huffed. “Remember your own rules – no beating around the bush.”
“I think my destiny may be in the stars. In the tarot.”
The doctor harrumphed and crossed arms. “We have science at our disposal, Earth Cat. Why on earth would you turn to superstition?”
“That’s just it. My own research concludes even quantum science cannot predict outcomes. There is no deterministic version of quantum physics. Recent tests concede De Broglie’s claim of pilot waves was erroneous. There are only probability waves.”
“Huh?” Miranda reacted with a tilted head.
The doctor grunted. “Hmm. Yes. The French physicist De Broglie wanted to believe that there were pilot waves which would allow us to predict outcomes – such as in double slit experiments where particles and waves exist simultaneously. But we cannot know for certain whether the double-slit experiment would yield a particle or a wave – not at least in every circumstance – because particles may become entangled by nonlocal wave function even if the particles have traveled light-years apart.”
“That’s a mouthful, Doctor. But it seems you’re agreeing with Earth Cat. We can’t be certain what further tests will yield.” Miranda placed a hand on her forehead. “That means we will never be certain if we are bringing the cats home – or – if we will lose Earth Cat Zero in the process.”
“I must agree. Local and nonlocal contributions are unpredictable. As they say: results may vary.”
Earth Cat swatted his toy. “Then, it’s settled. We will budget a trip to a psychic.” Earth Cat Zero hopped onto Miranda’s lap and pawed at her phone. “I suggest we book a reading straight away.”
The Spirit’s Heart accommodated Earth Cat Zero’s wishes. “We have an opening at 2, dear. We’re on the second floor, 1430 North Milwaukee. Major credit cards preferred.” Miranda closed the call which had been on speakerphone with an apprehensive sigh. “I think our psychic believes the reading is for me.” Earth Cat Zero tilted his head. “You need to be specific, Miranda. Like when the doctor served you fried eggs this morning. You preferred scrambled. But you didn’t vocalize your wish.”
Miranda responded to Brands’s grumbling in the background. “I know, I know, Doctor. The reader could be a charlatan. But like our lives these days, we will take a chance – for Earth Cat.”
“If it’s at the expense of the DOD, then all the better.” The doctor continued to grumble. “It’s probably good you didn’t say it’s for the cat. We don’t need a mob scene.”
“Is that really it, Doctor? Or are you afraid your colleagues will think you believe in tea leaves?” Miranda teased.
The walk to the shop was surrealistic. Wind blew at the trio as if to shoo them away. “Such a hot wind.” Miranda commented.
“That usually signals the coming of a storm.” The doctor was uncharacteristically tight lipped, cursing himself for forgetting his chewing gum.
The doorway to the shop squealed in protest when the doctor opened it, and then nearly closed again in response to the wind gusts.
“Maybe you’re right, Doctor. Maybe this isn’t a good idea.” Miranda offered. Earth Cat mewed as if in protest.
“If you think the weather portends doom, then you’ll probably believe anything. Weather is science. It doesn’t steep itself in the human condition, Miranda.”
“But you even said the wind was a sign of a coming storm, didn’t you?”
The doctor laughed. “A literal storm, Miranda. Not a figurative one.” He hummed as he climbed the steps. “Let’s see what’s in store for us; other than another credit card bill.”
Miranda shook her head, tagging behind with Earth Cat Zero on her shoulder. Another squeal of a rickety wooden door brought the trio to a reception area.
“You are…Miranda?”
“I am.” The teen raised her hand. “Ah, but…”
The woman clasped hands. “I’m Deborah. I’ll be reading today…something tells me it’s not going to be for you.”
Miranda bowed her head. “I am sorry if I wasn’t forthcoming. I just didn’t know if you would even read a cat.”
The woman beamed. “A cat? That’s a matter of opinion. He seems pretty human to me.” The woman strolled over to Earth Cat to stroke his head. “Besides, he’s not just any cat. Are you baby?” She laughed.
“I will read him as any other being.”
“Really? I thought you’d be u
sing the animal spirit deck.”
“The deck doesn’t matter. Only the truth does.” Deborah grabbed a pen and pad off of her desk. “Now give me the vitals. We need birthplace, birth date and time.”
A few minutes later, the psychic reappeared. She motioned for the trio to enter a room adorned with candles and incense. Brands laughed as he moved through a bead strung doorway until a stern frown from Miranda stifled his contempt.
“I see Earth Cat Zero as a true Gemini. Not only by his birthdate – June 20th – which is Gemini, but his natal sun and natal moon fall under the same sign – the twins.”
Miranda smiled with the psychic, then turned to Brands. “Still think this is nonsense, Doctor? Earth Cat would seem to be a twin to himself – at least in your paradoxical world.”
Brands smiled but Miranda wasn’t sure he was even listening because the doctor had found a free mint on Deborah’s table.
“I do enjoy the atmosphere.” Brands commented, enjoying his candy.
At least he’s trying.
“Before we cut the deck, Earth Cat. A brief introduction might be helpful. With your sun in Gemini, people will judge and see you from your behavior. But your moon in Gemini will govern those emotions. You probably run at a quick pace and love information. But be careful, an informational overload can worry your mind and bring forth negative energies. In a word, you are as curious as cats.”
“Hmm.” Earth Cat interjected. “Humans say curiosity killed the cat.”
The psychic continued. “Your innate desire for knowledge can be an advantage. Although you may be prone to quick opinions - you’ll change them. You’ll believe in others easily and will be tied to family, emotionally.”
Miranda stroked Earth Cat Zero’s back and whispered in his ear. “We’re here for you.”
“You do value intelligence, Earth Cat Zero. You may see beauty as skin deep and will be short with people who are mere surface.” The reader closed her eyes as if scrying.