Siyam faced the drone and beckoned Dreenagh over to him. She walked into the transparent light and looked at the device.
“We are the Rebels Against Genetic Engineering,” he said, confidently, “We do not need to mask ourselves any longer because we want all of you watching to know who we are.”
Siyam lifted the membrane to his chest to reveal a holographic control bank, complete with a joystick and several red buttons.
“Months ago, RAGE invaded USARIC’s animal compound. We had no choice. We were informed that the test subjects from the failed Star Cat project, amongst other endeavors, were kept from their owners to be used in experiments. We couldn’t in good faith allow this to happen, and so we rescued them.”
Siyam turned to Dreenagh and whispered, “How many are watching?”
Drennagh held her forearm to her face and watched the ink swirl around her skin to form a number over 1,000,000.
“Enough.”
“Good,” Siyam turned to the drone. “Citizens of the United States of America, it has come to our attention that USARIC and the IRI intend to form a conglomerate, overseen by both the Russian and United States government. Their intention, they claim, is to allow a smooth transition of Russian nationals back to their country of origin. What they do not tell you is precisely how they are doing it, and what is coming next.”
Siyam nodded at Dreenagh to take a step away from the door.
He pushed his finger through the holographic button, “What you’re about to see now is the result of their new project.”
RUMBLE.
Jamie took a step forward for a better look at the vibrating room, “What’s going on—”
Rana held him back, “No. Stay there.”
KRRRRROOOOOMMMM.
The scores of cats inside the tech room squealed and shrieked and funneled out through the door and onto the table.
BOOM — BOOM — BOOM.
A strange robotic noise thumped along behind the door and turned forty-five degrees to face everyone through the frame.
“Oh, wow,” Leesa gasped. “Look at that thing.”
WHUMP — WHUMP — WHUMP.
The twelve-foot forklift stomped through the door and rested on its legs.
“Citizens, this is the solution. Before we show you it, we need to show you the disease,” Siyam turned to Noyin. “Can you pass me Leesa’s pet, please.”
“Sure.”
Noyin pushed his arms out and passed Suzie Q-Two to Siyam.
“Dreenagh?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Can you take Mau, please?”
Dreenagh looked at the cats dispersed all over the table, sitting patiently.
“Which one’s Mau?”
Siyam nodded at a fierce, stern-looking cat at the head of the table, “The Egyptian Mau. That one, there.”
“Oh, Mau,” she said, scooping her into her arms, “Come on, it’s okay.”
Dreenagh held Mau as she returned to Siyam, who turned to the drone.
“At first glance, these cats look perfectly normal. At first, they were, but USARIC interfered with them.”
Leesa found the theatrics of Siyam’s presentation so overwhelming that she began to cry.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Jamie said. “Don’t cry. Be strong, remember?”
“What d-did they d-do to her?” she whispered through her tears.
He watched Dreenagh release Mau to the floor. Siyam did the same with Suzie Q-Two.
“I don’t know.”
The two cats sneered at each other and prepared to fight.
“The white cat, Suzie Q-Two, came in third place at the Star Cat Project back in 2117. You’d have expected her to have grown old and slower, but no. Today, she’s just as energetic and youthful as she ever was.”
“Hisssss,” Suzie whined at Mau and bushed her tail out.
Mau’s ears flicked back and forth, indicating her desire to defend herself.
“Together with Manning/Synapse, Maar Sheck, Dimitri Vasilov, and those responsible for the Star Cat Project, conspired to acquire the best feline subjects for themselves. These are no ordinary cats. They never age, and they will never die of natural causes.”
Mau threw the first punch and swiped her claw at Suzie, who jumped back and leaned on her haunches, ready to strike.
“Citizens, the Androgyne program didn’t extend to those in the military. Those who wanted a companion. It extended to animals. It is an abomination of science, and one that must be stopped.”
Suzie bolted forward and swiped at Mau. Both paws slammed together in unison. They weren’t about to fight, but team up to fight.
“What you see before your very eyes is USARIC’s modified Androgyne Series Four units.”
“MEOW,” Mau called out to the dozens of other cats on the table.
HAARRRROOOOWWWWLLLL.
They shouted back.
Dreenagh widened her eyes in shock, “Oh, my God. You’re saying that these cats aren’t cats? They’re—”
“—Droid, yes. Androgynes.”
“Are they dead?”
Siyam and the others watched as the cats meowed at each other in reverence of Mau and Suzie.
“Not completely. They had their bones removed and replaced with Titanium, much like the material used for the infinity claws.”
Mau hissed at her peers to calm down. She walked up and down the floor, keeping an eye on each and every modified cat that stared back at her.
“Meow.”
Siyam continued, “It’s possible some died in the process, and most would have needed time to adjust.”
“But, why?” Dreenagh asked.
“Because they could,” Siyam said. “You can’t put a price on obedience—”
“—Hissssss,” Mau threatened to strike at some of the cats.
“A sense of order. Hierarchy within species. Undertaken, presumably, in case Jelly Anderson returned with something? We don’t know. But what we do know is that they know.”
“What?”
“Like us, they want this situation taken care of. Something beyond the realm of imagination is coming, and these Androgynes know it. We all know it. Watch this.”
FLANK — FLANK.
The calves of the hunched robotic forklift sprang open and let out a little whistle sound.
Mau and Suzie Q-Two darted over to the legs and hopped inside.
“Based on USARIC’s Classified Risk units, we at RAGE have devised our own method of attack.”
Mau climbed up the thigh, through the waist and up past the chest of the forklift. Her hind leg lifted and propelled her into the head.
She grabbed the two sticks in front of her and pushed them around.
WHEEERRR-STUTCH.
The head of the forklift - a bizarre dragonfly-esque frontage with one rectangular, bullet-proof eye for the occupant to see out of - shifted left and settled on Sierra.
“Go get ‘em, girl.”
ROOAAARRRRR — SCHTOMP.
The forklift’s left leg pushed forward and slammed against the ground.
Suzie Q-Two raced up the waist of the contraption and shifted its left arm. She sat on her hind legs and gripped the two sticks in the ‘palm’.
ROWAAARRRR — WRENCH.
The arm pulled back at the elbow and, as Suzie threw her paws forward, so, too, did the forklift.
WHOOOVE — SMAASH.
The forklift fist punched the wall, breaking the paint off the wall and cracking the bricks.
“Wow,” Jamie screamed. “That’s insane.”
WHIZZ — WHUDDA-BVOOOM.
“Citizens, RAGE has devised the ultimate response to animal cruelty. We are proud to introduce you to the next phase of rebellion. PAWZ.”
Twenty cats jumped off the table and careened to the open calves on the forklift.
Each cat raced up the body and took a spot within the gigantic structure.
Some entered the arms, most entered the torso.
“Okay, everyone, sta
nd back,” Siyam said. “Don’t worry, I have the controls if it gets out of hand.”
PAWZ barreled forward like a drunken octopus, flailing its arms around as it staggered toward the holoscope.
“Siyam,” Sierra hopped over the table and slid across the surface to the other end, “No, don’t let it go near the holodeck.”
WHUMP — WHUMP — SHCTOMP.
“Oh, Jesus Christ.”
The twenty-odd cats moved PAWZ towards the exit. The right arm lifted into the air and rammed its fist into the central table.
“Oh, shi—”
KER—SMASSSSSSHHH.
The giant fist not only obliterated the north end of the table, but threw the opposite end into the air like the adjacent end of a seesaw.
WHUCK- — CRAAACKK.
The table daggered into the ceiling. Clumps of dust and brick coughed down to the floor.
Sierra ran in front of its path and held out her hands, “Stop, stop. It’s wrecking the place.”
STOMP — STOMP.
Mau and Suzie Q-Two meowed with excitement as they stopped PAWZ still a few feet from the holodeck.
“Phew,” Sierra said to an utterly astonished Noyin, Rana, Jamie, Lees, and Remy. “Siyam, did you do that?”
“No,” he said, pointing at the feverish cats racing around the interior of the forklift, “They did.”
CHAPTER TEN
Space Opera Charlie
Jelly made her way to the airlock slowly and measuredly. She peered through the hatch and saw scores of silver wolf eyes blink back at her.
“What are you looking at?”
Blink-blink.
Jelly growled at them. They sat on their hind legs as if waiting for instructions.
Satisfied with their response, she pressed the damaged infinity claw on her index finger to her mouth, “Shhh.”
The wolves whimpered and wagged their tails as the index finger pointed at them.
“You did this,” she whispered. “I hold all of you responsible.”
The wolves’ shadows stretched along the rocky ground and stopped at her feet. A bizarre array of pure, dark oblongs cast by the fiery ball in the sky.
It used to be Saturn. Not that long ago, it had rings. Now, it had appeared to shrink to the size of a golf ball, as if expelling its final breath.
Still bright, for sure, and with a beautiful pink light blasting overhead, leading somewhere.
The entire planet was warming up.
“Jelly?” a high-pitched wail asked from further up the walkway.
She turned around to see someone she didn’t recognize - at first. The size gave the person away, though.
“Jaycee?”
“Yes,” his voice struggled to escape from his perfectly embossed silver head, “It’s me.”
Jelly squinted at the mechanical monster standing before her, “What happened to you?”
He didn’t respond at first. Instead, he lowered his head, his one boot and barrel-ended gun-cum-leg inadvertently lit up due to his eyes throwing a red beam over them.
“Jaycee? What happened?”
Blip-beep.
The tiniest movement from his neck and shoulders rendered the man she knew as just a bunch of wires, bolts, and connectors. Jaycee didn’t look at all human, anymore.
He lifted his head and clutched his suit in his right hand. Three of his fingers were missing.
“I d-didn’t kill your d-daughter,” he croaked. “You keep insisting I’m a murderer. It’s not true.”
Jelly snarled and shook her head from left to right. Now wasn’t the time for apologies.
“Leave me alone.”
“You have to b-believe me,” he pleaded. Or, at least, that was the tone his voice box attempt to emulate, “I have nothing, Jelly.”
“Nothing?” Jelly half-laughed in a state of sarcastic anguish, “You want to talk to me about nothing?”
SCHTOMP — SCHTOMP.
Jaycee moved forward a couple of steps, rocking the ship from side to side. No finesse, no attempt at quieting the mood between them. A desperate plea for acceptance of whatever remained of his humanity.
“Jaycee, you’re scaring me.”
The wolves knew something wasn’t right within the ship. They picked up Jelly’s scent although they couldn’t see inside.
Jaycee’s eyebulbs snapped off and on, “I’ve come to accept that I am not who I thought I was. I know I have been programmed that way.”
“Don’t come any closer, Jaycee.”
SCHTOMP — SCHTOMP.
Two more footsteps, and several feet closer to the one person who could forgive him for the thing he didn’t do.
“It’s clear to me now, Jelly.”
She moved back and felt the urge to defend her chest with her hands, “What’s become clear?”
“It all makes sense. Opera Charlie. The sun. Your daughter.”
A blob of water folded out from her left tear duct and dampened the fur on her cheek, “What are you talking about?”
He took another steps towards her, “USARIC doesn’t want us to get home. They think we’re dead, and they want it kept that way.”
“Wh-what—?”
“What we’ve found is too great to comprehend, Jelly,” he said. “What happened to you, and what happened to us. Even if we could go home, we shouldn’t. The consequences are too horrific to comprehend.”
Jelly backed up against the far wall and found herself at a dead end. She could escape through the airlock or stick around and converse with Jaycee.
Neither option was especially pleasing to her.
“I’ve been trying to fight against it, Jelly, but it’s no use. I’m programmed to serve in the interests of USARIC. Occasionally I fight hard, but it’s no use. My instinct is to protect them. All of ours instincts were to protect them. Our real family.”
“I’m not playing around, Jaycee. Get back.”
Jaycee slipped his three fingers through the synthetic skin in his stomach and pulled it sideways like a curtain.
Beep-beep-beep.
Jelly’s face became awash with the red glare within his body. Her eyes enlarged as fear set in.
“Oh my God—y-you wouldn’t.”
“—It’s all so clear to me, now.”
Jaycee pointed at the wound on his forearm. A shuddering strip of flesh bubbled underneath, “It’s only a matter of time before I turn into one of them. A Shanta.”
“No-no-no-,” Jelly freaked out and looked for an escape, but Jaycee blocked the airlock.
“Where many of us turned and failed to kill you, I will not.”
HOOO-OOOWL.
The wolves outside the ship bounced around and snarled at the airlock as they finally saw the machine threaten their new master.
“It’s you, Jelly. A glorious star burns in the sky all thanks to you. A new sun. A new order of life—”
“—Jaycee, no.”
“—But I can’t let that happen, Jelly. USARIC can’t let that happen. The Shanta cannot allow it,” Jaycee ran his fingertips over the C4 lodged in the base of his spine. “We can never go home.”
Jelly held out her arms and clenched her claws, “Jaycee, please. You’re not thinking straight.”
“I’ve never been clearer in my thinking.”
Beep-beep-beep.
Jelly squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for a miracle. Then, a thought slotted into her mind like a memory stick. She opened her eyes and the giant machine on legs focused into view.
“Jaycee. Whatever you think is right is not right.”
He ignored her comment and moved forward with the intention of smothering her, “Hush, Star Cat.”
“You’ve convinced yourself that we’re the bad guys,” Jelly said. “We’re not the bad guys. Listen to what you’re saying. Jaycee?”
“It’s just a name they gave me.”
“No. Say it. Say your name.”
Jaycee unhooked the K-SPARK II from his shoulder and armed it without glancing in its
direction.
“USARIC Androgyne Series Three. Formerly of the American Star Fleet. Issue one-one-eight, mercenary division. Weapons and Armory.”
“No,” Jelly yelped with fear. “Christ, don’t you remember a goddamn thing?”
TCHA-SHUNK.
He armed the shotgun and pointed the barrel at her face, “If I have to kill you, then that’s what I must do.”
“Jaycee Nayall,” she screamed. “Your name is Jaycee Nayall.”
“Do not resist, Jelly Anderson.”
KA-BLAMMM.
Jelly threw herself to the floor as the charge slammed into the wall - right where her head was a second ago.
Jaycee reloaded and swung his gun at her as she slid towards his feet.
“Arrgghhh,” she screamed and wrapped her claws around the barrel of his gun-leg. “What the hell?”
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM.
He stepped back and blasted the floor apart. Jelly clung to his leg and swung around from left to right.
“Nooo—”
BANG.
The charge singed the fur off her cheek as she tightened her grip on his leg.
“Stay right there, Anderson,” Jaycee said as he aimed the shotgun in his hands at the top of her head, “Stay.”
“Grrrr,” Jelly growled in a fit of rage and opened her mouth. Her shiny incisors glistened against the red C4 bulbs.
SCHOMP.
She sunk her fangs into the leg barrel just as Jaycee fired off an entire magazine into the ground.
FIZZ — SMASH.
Orange sparks bust out from the end of his leg as Jelly bit down on the barrel and bent it back against his thigh.
“Gaaahhh—”
BANG.
Jaycee tumbled back onto the busted stump and fired another shot at her.
She moved away on all fours, flapped her tail and roared at him as she bounced over the bullets that crashed into the wall behind her.
ROAR.
Jaycee squeezed the trigger, “Stop resisting, you stupid bitch—”
“Grrrr,” Jelly grunted and licked her mouth.
BOLT.
She flew forwards and launched at Jaycee.
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM.
The first and second bullet whizzed past her as she darted through the air. She extended her arms and both sets of infinity claws, only for the third bullet to clip two of them off her left paw.
Star Cat: Exodus: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 5) Page 13