by M. A. Owens
“Sorry, Joy. Had to make a point. Got carried away. Won’t happen again,” Kerdy said, in a soft voice, prompting me to narrow my eyes and look to Nightshade. Nightshade caught my glance, then immediately snapped her gaze forward again with a shrug of her shoulders.
“‘Sorry, Joy. Won’t happen again, Joy. I’ll be more careful from now on, Joy.’ Hah! You hear me? Hah! That’s what I say to your empty promises. One day I won’t be around, and you’ll have to do this yourself. Maybe then you’ll appreciate me a little.”
“I do appreciate you, Joy. Stop that,” Kerdy said, tilting her head.
“Then act like it!” Joy yelled, cinching the bandage tightly, causing Kerdy to wince. “Now get out!” Joy snapped, turning her back to us and sitting back in her chair, typing violently on the device in front of her.
Nightshade and I both walked out ahead of Kerdy, feeling uncomfortable already. Watching someone yell at Kerdy was worse than being yelled at by her. I kept waiting for her to reach out and choke Joy any moment, but it never happened. Instead, Kerdy just looked remorseful about the whole thing.
Once she came out, we followed her for a short distance, and entered a tent that must be her office. She directed us to sit, and she did the same.
“Okay, let’s get down to business. Whatever you’re about to tell me, it better be good.”
I grinned. “Oh, you’re going to love it. Almost certain to fail. Unacceptably high risks. Ridiculous requirements. But so crazy it just might work.”
Kerdy leaned back in her chair and raised a brow. “I’m listening.”
11
I nudged Nightshade. “You want to lay it out, or want me to?”
Her eyes widened, and she looked between the two of us. No doubt deep in thought. Maybe I was rubbing off on her already.
“Huh? Oh. Nope. You came up with it, so I’ll let you.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. Clearly this dame had something else on her mind, and as her new partner I made a mental note to add prying about things that were none of my business to the list. Near the top, of course.
I explained everything to Kerdy, just as I had Nightshade, to repeated nods and grunts along the way.
“Small problem. I’m willing to go along with everything in this plan of yours, except the part that requires the cloaking devices. Since that’s required for all of it, all of it gets thrown out. You’ll have to come up with something else.”
I shook my head. “Like what? Look, everyone around here’s a capable genius. Strictly trained. Airtight routines. Maybe this time you need to approach the problem like a reckless idiot who just set foot in this camp recently.”
Kerdy nodded. “Well, you certainly check all of those boxes.”
“Gee, thanks. Real vote of confidence there,” I said, grinning.
“Weren’t you listening? I said I could go along with all of it. Those cloaking devices Morel cobbled together? I wouldn’t trust those things to cloak a blade of grass. And besides, at her most conservative calculations, they’ll burn through one of our most valuable battery packs in an hour. That means… what? Let’s test your critical thinking skills.”
I leaned back in my chair, tapping my chin, giving it some thought.
“It means you’ll need more in case you need to be there longer. If we have to go in pretty deep it gets dicey. At some point we’d have to expose ourselves to change the batteries if that’s even something we can do in the field.”
“That’s a lot of words just to tell me it’s a one-way trip,” Kerdy said.
Nightshade raised her paw. “Excuse me, but why does it have to be a one-way trip? If we have a scout speeder, we can make—”
“Right, right. Assuming you’re not killed before you hit top speed. Assuming you don’t crash the thing along the way. Assuming you don’t stop at all along the way, which would make the entire trip pointless.”
“You don’t think I can drive one, do you?”
“With more practice, I know you can. Simulations don’t count,” Kerdy scolded.
“With all due respect, Commander, you’re wrong.”
Kerdy leaned toward her and pointed a claw inches from Nightshade’s nose. “Maybe you’re not hearing me, kitten, or maybe you’re not listening. Maybe this loose cannon Chihuahua is rubbing off on you. The answer is ‘no’. I can’t afford to lose any more of you to short-sighted heroism. Start from the beginning, rethink your plan, and try again. We need results, not good intentions.”
Nightshade started to speak again, but I raised my paw. We definitely weren’t getting any further with Kerdy on that point, and I had a feeling I knew why.
“What about the ‘old dog’ legend? Is it true?” I asked.
Kerdy sighed and turned away, tapping her foot.
“Okay, that answers that question,” I said. “Did you know the dog? Is he still alive?”
She took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. “Deep into enemy territory. Same problem. Same lack of solution.”
“Did you know the dog?” I repeated.
Kerdy glared at me for a moment, making her feelings known, but played along anyway.
“He was my friend. He and his warriors were the template for the warriors of today. Known for having an unbreakable will, and skills that seemed impossible. They were from an adversity zone like me, except theirs was even further deprived of technology. They barely had weapons besides rocks and clubs when we discovered them. Yet, they were the only other group, besides these cats, who survived against the enemy. They built the wall around their village with the shattered bodies of machines. They’re your ancestors, Trigger. Lady’s ancestors. Now such a long way from where they were. But it was what he wanted. It would be a kindness to allow him to continue sleeping to the end of time.”
“Would he agree if it meant the end of time came sooner?” I asked.
Kerdy shook her head. “No. He hoped to die in battle, as a weapon when we needed him most. The old dog wasn’t all there to begin with, and there’s no telling what the long sleep has done to his mind. He’s more machine than dog already. He fought until there was almost nothing left of him and paid the price for it. His wish was to die in battle, but now that I’m many years older and wiser, I think it would be better to let the old dog rest and dream. The world he knew is too far behind him now.”
“That’s not your decision to make. It was his,” I stated bluntly.
Kerdy stared at me for a moment, maintaining her composure. “It’s irrelevant. Without proper cloaking devices, we’ll never make it to him. Moving him would be an issue by itself. Waking him up would be another if the system we put in place to wake him fails, assuming Joy could even do it manually without killing him. Come up with a plan that isn’t impossible, or idiotic, and I’ll listen.”
“Alright, humor me then. What is this immortal queen business? How old are you anyway?”
Nightshade grabbed my arm and shook her head, but I yanked it away.
“It’s alright, Nightshade. He has a right to seek answers, and since we’ve fought side-by-side already, I consider him a comrade. Though, understand that the answer is likely to confuse you as much as it has me. The truth is that I don’t have a real answer. I don’t know why I’m this way, beyond the superstition my people created to pretend to explain something they lacked the knowledge to understand.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “I just want to know what’s going on here. It’s fine if you don’t have all the answers. I can’t fit them all in my brain anyway, not with all the other things you cats have been shoving in there since I woke up.”
“I lost track of how long I’ve been around. I’ll start from the beginning and give you the abridged version. The royal family in my kingdom was said to produce female heirs every few generations who didn’t age normally. Problem was that constant war made this impossible to confirm. No one ever lived past what would be an unusual age. Royalty included. Especially royalty. Assassinations were… normal. Our rivals feared these he
irs. The same way we all fear everything we don’t understand. When we were attacked by the colossus, by the time we realized it wasn’t an invading army, it was too late for more than a few to escape. A group of outsiders showed up, eager to help us. They were dressed strangely and carried strange weapons we’d never seen. My mother and father, the king and queen, were convinced they were agents of the enemy, and turned them away.”
“So, these cats that showed up were the ancestors of the cats you lead now?”
Kerdy nodded. “Except they were our superiors in nearly every way. They wore PanTech soldier power suits that gave them many times regular strength. They had cloaking technology that was reliable and barely used energy. Their guns rarely malfunctioned. But even they were no match against an enemy that had no known weakness…”
“Look, you don’t have to go on with the story if you don’t want to,” I said, now regretting the fact I’d brought it up. I couldn’t imagine how painful it must be to live this long, and see everyone around you die over and over, even from old age.
“It’s fine. You’re getting the abridged version anyway, remember? After they saved me, over time it became apparent that I didn’t age like others did, confirming the superstition to be real. I accumulated knowledge, and eventually I was chosen to lead by the eighth commander. Many years after that, we came across a village, containing a species we’d never encountered. We had to consult our databases. These were dogs, thought to have gone extinct shortly after humanity. They were stubborn and didn’t accept our help. Something about them was otherworldly. Even with our suits, they could best us in combat. They smashed up machines like they were nothing. Their leader, Link, was the strongest of all. They would only listen to strength. I challenged him to a duel and lost. We’d set up nearby, and they agreed to co-exist peacefully. So, when the colossus attacked again, they joined us.”
“I don’t like where this is going,” I said.
Kerdy nodded. “The colossus ended their lives with every bit as little effort as it ended ours. They could do nothing. We thought it might be possible to defeat the thing once and for all with their help, but it didn’t matter. We couldn’t spot any weaknesses in its armor. Just like the times before, we escaped and took massive casualties. It wasn’t long after this we discovered Arc City, as we made distance between ourselves and our destroyed homes. It had been abandoned for no telling how long. Only dusty old human bones remained. We scrapped what we could of what was lying around. After I brought him up to speed on everything I knew about the human world, PanTech, the machines, and the colossus, Link decided to send all the pups they’d saved to grow up there, ignorant of the world he’d now learned the truth of. He didn’t want them to know the world we did until the time was right.”
“Odd decision from someone who valued strength so highly, don’t you think?”
“Not really. We took precautions. We’d been taking the fight to them, and we thought... Well… we thought maybe if we gained enough distance, and stopped engaging them, that we could give up on the mysteries of the world and live peacefully. After all, there was probably nothing left to save, and everything left to lose. He asked that we ‘upgrade’ him from all his body’s damage so he could fight at his best, since he was now so old, and put him into sleep. If the machines returned, or if I found a weakness in the colossus, he asked me to awaken him so he and his dogs could rejoin the fight.”
“Only one problem with that, Kerdy. Where’s my super strength? Even Lady can’t fight like you’re talking about. Every dog I know that hasn’t gotten that shot of yours is like a pup compared to you cats.”
“We realized after the next generations were born, that they were no stronger or faster than us. It must have been something to do with their village. The water, maybe, or plants nearby, or maybe the animals they hunted for food. Either way, there was no way to make it back, and the machines would have wiped everything out anyway. Link’s warriors will be a far cry from what he hoped. Not warriors at all, but normal dogs living peaceful lives, just like he hoped they would in the end, strength or not. I’m afraid nothing but disappointment will await him if we wake him up. Do you really want to wake him up, just so he can watch everything he dreamed of die before his very eyes? It’s far too cruel, even for him.”
I rested my elbows on my knees, and put my paws behind my head, taking in a huge breath and slowly breathing out. “Sorry, Kerdy, but I’m just not buying it,” I said, sitting upright again. “Maybe you’ve already lived your life, so you can look back at everything. Maybe all you can do is look back now, but there are kittens here who don’t have a past to speak of. All they have is the future, and you to lead them there. Don’t you think that is what he wanted? To fight for the future of his people, even if it meant confronting his own end?”
Kerdy stood up, glaring down at me, clenching her teeth. “Think of that feeling you had, when I was in your office, when you thought Harvey would die. I saw how much pain it brought you. Imagine seeing it a thousand times. Everyone you know. Over, and over, and over again. Don’t you lecture me on being stuck in the past, when you have no idea what it means to be cursed with a long life in this nightmare of a world.”
I threw up my paws and stood to my feet. “You’re right, Kerdy. I don’t know, but neither does anyone else. You don’t understand what Link’s experience was. Yet, you think you can decide to go against his wishes and claim it’s for his own good. That’s wrong, and you know it. You’re being selfish. He’s the one old friend you didn’t have to watch die, and you can’t bear to do it again. That’s it, isn’t it? We wake him up, and he’ll die soon regardless of how it goes, and you’ll have to say farewell to one more hero.”
“You!” Kerdy grabbed me by the collar, lifting me toward her, drawing back her fist.
We stood there in that same pose. Nightshade could watch, knowing better than to intervene. After what felt like forever, Kerdy slowly released me.
“Perhaps you’re right, Trigger. But I’m afraid I still can’t go along with this plan. Sorry. I need the two of you to leave. I’m need some time to think.”
Nightshade and I left the tent. Talk about a lousy feeling.
12
“Well, back to square one I guess,” Nightshade said, shrugging her shoulders.
I shook my head. “Not without looking into something first. There seemed to be a common theme in her objections, right? Objections, or excuses.”
Nightshade narrowed her eyes. “You know, for a dog and cat who speak so highly of one another, you don’t seem very nice face-to-face.”
“Nah, that’s part of the charm. Where’s Morel’s tent? We need to make a little trip before we call it a day.”
“Morel’s tent? Oh, I see what this is. You’re the kind of dog that doesn’t take anyone’s word for anything and has to see it for himself.”
“Yeah, that’s me. What’s the harm? We go there, we confirm what Kerdy said, and we see if there’s anything we can do about it. If we can’t, that’s that. If we can, well… we’ll go pick up the old dog Link and see what he thinks about all this. I’ve always wanted to meet my great, great, great, great… whatever he’d be to me.”
Nightshade sighed and hid her face with her paws. “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”
I grinned and put a paw on her shoulder. “I have absolutely no idea. Lead the way.”
We walked a short distance to Morel’s tent and stepped inside.
This place was an absolute wreck. Bins full of matching parts surrounded the interior, with several worktables positioned throughout the center. All but one of them was piled up and spilling over with what must’ve been abandoned experiments in progress. What I expected to be the best lit tent in the camp was almost completely dark, save for one corner that glowed like some kind of moon. It was Morel’s workstation, that she sat hunched over, wearing some kind of giant hat on her head with a bright light attached, tinkering away on something. A speaker next to her blasted an unfam
iliar tune. She hadn’t even realized we came in. If it wasn’t for the bright light, I’m not sure I’d have seen her over the tables, bins, and piles of junk.
I could see how the presentation wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence. But the fact was, like everyone else I’d met so far, Kerdy placed her in this position because of a high skill level that deserved to be respected. That’s why nothing Kerdy said felt right to me. It all came across as emotional. Even if there were challenges with this cloaking gadget, why not send us to Morel to see what we could do about it? I didn’t get the impression that Morel was any different from any of the other geniuses here, based on the chatter around the camp. Nightshade was right. I needed to see things for myself. Especially when I get that familiar feeling in my gut. That feeling I’ve learned not to ignore, no matter when or where it happens.
“Hey, Morel,” Nightshade said in a raised voice. “Got time for a couple of visitors?”
No answer. Nightshade looked at me and shook her head.
“Should we come back tomorrow?” I asked.
“Maybe, but we’ll get her attention first. She gets really, really absorbed in her work. I’m afraid if the attack happens while she’s like this, she won’t even know about it until she leaves her tent and sees that everything’s a billowing cloud of smoke. She even faces the corner so nothing that comes through the door distracts her.”
“She going to fly off the handle if we interrupt her?” I asked.
“Maybe, but you said this was important, right? You’re afraid of Morel, but not the commander? You really are something else, Trigger. Come on, let’s go say hello.”
I followed her as we stepped carefully around the hazards scattered everywhere, making our way to Morel’s desk. I wasn’t exactly scared of her but interrupting a cat or dog when they’re that absorbed is a quick way to make a poor impression. But it was important, and we’d just have to chance it.