Jelly reached the pilot control bank and analyzed the main levers.
All of them were covered in blood, and clearly built for the size of a regular human hand.
“Huh?”
Jelly moved her paw away from the gore-soaked controls and felt a rush of anxiety tear through her body.
BOOM. BOOM.
The ship rocked from side to side in an instant, throwing Jelly back-first to the wall.
SCHTOMP-SCHTOMP-SCHTOMP.
Jelly could just about make out a shape moving out of the light; a disgusting snoring sound moving in time with the footsteps.
Then, a hungry slavering sound like that of a dog reverberated through the walls.
“Oh, God,” Jelly began to hyperventilate as she felt the walls start to close in and trap her, “I gotta get outta here.”
The lights dimmed, slightly, and snapped shut.
SCHWUMP.
“Uh, uh,” Jelly felt her mouth turn to sand. She panicked and closed her eyes.
GROOOOWWWWWLLLL.
She held her breath, daring not to make the slightest movement or sound.
Stupid Jelly, she thought over and over again. There she was, as usual, treading into waters she didn’t know. Her own mortal curiosity may prove to be her undoing if she wasn’t careful.
Her mind flew into overdrive, curtailed by something entering the spacecraft with her.
A single sliver of light from Saturn pierced through the windshield and folded across the wall, offering little in the way of illumination.
GUG-GUG-GUG-GUG-GHUUG.
The sound of throaty breathing flew around her head as she squeezed her eyes shut. Hopefully, whatever had entered the ship would get fed up and disappear soon enough.
Jelly didn’t have any concept of prayer, but if she had, she’d be reciting one over and over again in her mind.
Her nostrils flared at the unmistakable scent of something she truly hated. A particular type of animal. She couldn’t see it, but she knew what it was.
And it wasn’t feline.
The shuffling from whatever had entered the ship stopped for a moment and continued its investigation. A pungent stench emanated from his body.
BARK. HOWL.
The cries were of wolves, or large dogs - sounds Jelly knew all-too well, but hadn’t heard in years, and hoped never to experience again.
No such luck.
SHUFFLE-SCHTOMP.
“Uh, uh, uh,” the pit of her stomach whined.
She kept her shoulders pressed firmly against the pilot cabin wall, lamenting the moment she stupidly trapped herself inside.
She should have known better.
Then, she made the mistake of opening her eyes.
Instead of seeing an empty cabin, a row of silver teeth streaked across her field of vision.
The creature faced her…
GUG-GUG-GUG-GHUUG.
It closed its eyelids over its pyramid-shaped pupils and held its gargantuan, ugly face a couple of inches in front of hers.
The pit of Jelly’s stomach whined once again.
It came from her vocals chords, and she knew it; it just felt like it had come from the depths of her stomach.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the creature in front of her. Its head hung down due to the sheer size of its frame. The beast’s shoulders scraped along the ceiling as it moved toward her, confused by Jelly’s presence .
The thing opened its eyelids and stared into her face.
One ugly creature.
Rows and rows of teeth, and urine-colored pupils that shut sideways. Jelly clocked sections of the ship’s exterior fastened around its arms and torso.
Finally, it whipped its furry tail against the flight deck, causing the plastic facade to crack and break apart.
“Huh-huh-huh,” Jelly kept her breathing to a minimum, but it was no use.
The creature sniffed around Jelly’s face. She looked in any direction but the beast’s, as far away as possible from its terrifying eyes.
Four silver talons on each paw could ravage her to within an inch of her life.
The beast snorted and snored as it moved closer to her. Each step forward rocked the ship, further antagonizing her.
“P-Please, d-don’t—”
GROWL.
The beast lowered its arms and tilted its head as it screamed a blast of pure energy at her face.
It shut her up in an instant.
Why wasn’t the creature tearing her apart? A fractured image of several howling wolves in their dozens swam across the cracks in the windshield.
Even if she escaped the ship, she’d get mauled to death by the beast’s cohort outside.
GUG-GUG-GUG.
The beast sniffed around the wall, taking its time to arrive at Jelly. She extended her infinity claws, ready to strike.
Saliva roped down between its teeth, its hound-like nose inch in front of her own.
She winced and pressed the side of her face against the wall in a state of delirium.
It sniffed around, unsure of what was squirming in front of it.
Jelly held her breath in utter silence. Her heart thumped against her ribcage. The beast couldn’t hear it, though.
She looked the thing right in its soulless eyes.
“Huh,” she whispered. “You c-can’t see m-me?”
THCLAP-TCHLAP-GULP.
The beast pulled its head back a couple of inches and swung its tongue over its teeth. Jelly squinted at the beast as it tried to lift its head and stand up straight. It was unable to due to the height of the ceiling in the cabin.
Jelly licked her mouth and repeated her view, “You can’t see me—”
“—Muh-shta-zee-taaah,” it growled in its low-pitch voice of death.
Jelly wasn’t happy. She wanted out of there and back to the safety of Space Opera Charlie.
She clinked her infinity claws together on her right paw and had an idea.
“Let’s see if you can see this,” Jelly slid her right elbow up the wall, making sure it created a sickening sound like nails on a chalkboard.
SCREEEEEEEEE.
“Heh,” it growled, moving its head from the side of her waist and up the wall along with her claws, “Muhhhh-shtaa—”
“—That’s it, big boy,” Jelly whispered, “Mastazita, huh?”
“Heh,” it finished at Jelly’s arm’s length, half a foot away from her head. It balled its paws like a fist and raised it up to its chest, ready to kill.
“Muh-shta-zee-taaaaah,” it growled once again.
Jelly tightened her right paw into a ball, “Come, kill it.”
THWUMP-CLANG.
She thumped the wall with her right paw.
ROOOOAAAAARRRRRR.
Mastazita threw a punch at Jelly’s fist. She moved it away just in time to dart out of the cockpit.
THWAAA-SMASSSSSHHH.
Jelly bolted down the landing area of the ship and made the mistake of looking back at the cockpit.
“Oh, Jesus Christ.”
Mastazita wailed in pain and grabbed his right arm with his left paw. He’d punched a massive cavity into the wall with such force, it rocked the ship upright against the ground.
SLAMMMMM.
Jelly didn’t stick around to find out just how much of a killer Mastazita truly was. She approached the ship’s frame without looking, and prepared to pull herself outside and make a dash for Opera Charlie.
She turned around and was about to launch out of the ship, when she held herself back and had second thoughts.
Dozens of angry, blood-hungry silver wolves growled at her from a few feet below, wanting her for dinner.
“Oh my God,” Jelly clung to the door, faced with a choice.
Stay and get mauled by Mastazita, or jump and risk being mauled by the wolves.
And she had about five seconds to decide which course of action to take.
CHAPTER EIGHT
R.A.G.E. Arena
Laguna Vista, South Texas, USA
(150 miles south of Corpus Christi)
The view from the back of the car offered a dank, barren road that had seen better days.
Jamie knew he wasn’t in the United Kingdom any longer. The road markings were all different.
The populace of the area was certainly less dense than he was used to.
The area was something of a shanty town - decrepit houses, closed stores, and litter everywhere. Next to no sign of human life. It was a depressing sight for Jamie, who’d managed to shake off the initial anxiety of being taken against his will.
“Where are we?”
“Not far from where Jelly won the Star Cat Project.”
“We’re in America?” he whispered against the window. His breath fogged up the inside.
A few minutes later, the car emerged from the trees and made its way toward a dome-shaped building.
Dingy, gray walls prevented the eyesore from catching the attention from anyone who made their way across the grounds to the shore line.
“Is that an ocean?” Jamie shuffled forward and pointed through the windshield, “What is that?”
“That’s the Gulf of Mexico, my friend.”
“Wow. It looks really nice.”
Sure enough, the sparkling blue water was breathtaking. The water was as serene and calm as the bright blue sky, and not at all like the feeling in the back of the car.
“Okay, we’re here,” Rana rolled the car to a stop by the entrance to the dome. “Now, Jamie, I need to forewarn you.”
Sierra and Noyin exited the car.
Jamie turned to Rana, “Forewarn me? What does that mean?”
“Give you a heads up.”
“Oh.”
“You may recognize some of the people you’re about to meet. So, no freaking out, okay? We need you to remain absolutely calm and do as we say.”
“Okay.”
“Good. It’s important you help us so we can help you.”
Jamie wasn’t convinced by Rana’s attempt at sincerity. He climbed out of the car and was immediately struck by the fresh sea air drifting up his nostrils.
“Come on,” Sierra said. “This is your new home for a while.”
He took a deep breath and joined Sierra and Noyin as they made their way to the dome.
***
The dome’s mechanical door lifted up the wall. The gap was big enough to fit a tank - maybe even a train.
“Here we are,” Sierra said to Jamie. “This is where it’s all going to happen.”
Jamie walked in with her and looked around the huge complex, “Wow.”
A long, rectangular table took center stage in the middle of what resembled a colossal warehouse.
The curved ceiling loomed fifty feet high above their heads.
A shiny black van sat immediately to the right.
To the left, a bank of antiquated computers and data banks full of wires and cables. The heat generated was quite intense, as well as the sound from the processors.
A dug-out section housing a gigantic telescope sat at the far end where the ceiling extended in the direction of the ocean.
“What’s that?” Jamie asked.
“That’s the holoscope,” Sierra continued walking and pointed at Jamie’s backpack. “Take that off and come with me.”
“Okay,” Jamie slipped his backpack off his shoulders and grabbed it in his hands.
A tall, black man grinned at her from the other end of the table, “You made it.”
“Yeah, Siyam.”
“My man,” Noyin ran up to Siyam and bumped fists with him, “I see they got you babysitting again?”
“Yeah. Grace and I needed a bit of a rest after that whole business with the cats and the helicopter.”
“How are the kids getting on?”
“They’re fascinated by the holoscope,” Siyam looked at two children playing with the telescope controls, “They kicked up a fuss at first, but they’re fascinated with the toys.”
WHIIRRRRR.
The giant telescope rolled slowly to the right as the young girl tilted the joystick in the same direction.
“Hey, kids,” Siyam hollered at them. “Stop playing around and say hello to our new intake.”
Jamie placed his backpack on the elongated table in the middle of the room. Sierra tipped the bag upside down and emptied the contents.
“We had a cursory check in the van to make sure you weren’t carrying any weapons or dangerous items.”
“You went through my bag already?”
“Yes, but we need to take a closer look to see that you don’t have any tracers on you.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re not lying to me, are you?”
“No.”
“Okay, good. Let’s see what we have here—”
“—Sierra?” Rana made her way to the main wall behind the table, “Are we good to record, yet? We’re all present and accounted for, right?”
Sierra rifled through the random objects on the table that had fallen out of Jamie’s bag, “Get your BeeGee on, and get ready.”
“Okay.”
Rana snapped her fingers and held her hand at the wall, “Let’s hope USARIC votes the correct way.”
The wall broke up into tiny oblong shapes and rearranged themselves into a dark surface. Four letters in a bright, white font emerged on the new surface of the wall.
R.A.G.E.
The door to the side wall opened. A tall, shapely woman named Grace exited with a purring Egyptian Mau in her arms.
“Hey, you’re back,” she said.
“Hey, Grace,” Rana focussed on the formation of the text on the black wall, “How are the critters holding up?”
Grace held Mau up to her face and let her lick her brow, “Ah, you know. Commandeer a car, crash a helicopter, and then have us rescue them. Good times.”
TWITCH-WHIZZ.
Mau’s infinity claws twitched back and forth as her purring intensified. She liked Grace a lot.
“Miew.”
Grace smiled at Jamie, “Hey, Anderson.”
“Huh? How do you know me?”
“I’m the one who called you,” Grace said. “You can thank us later for coming to your rescue.”
“I thought I recognized your voice.”
Rana made a face at Mau, “Aww. Look at her. She’s having a fun time. Aren’t you, you cute little thing?” she said before trying to cozy up to the cat.
“Hissss.”
“Whoa, easy tiger,” Rana said.
“She’s just been fed, so she’s a bit wily,” Grace said. “They’ve chewed through that chicken liver pate like no one’s business.”
Jamie looked at the end of the table to see Siyam talking to the young girl and boy.
“Who are they?”
“Never mind that, let’s concentrate,” Sierra opened a plastic container and sniffed the contents, “What’s this, Anderson?”
“My packed lunch.”
“Packed lunch? You mean like a lunch box for school?”
“Yeah, why? Do you call it something different?”
Sierra popped the lid open and sniffed inside.
“Peanut butter?”
“Yes. I never got to eat it,” he said, before deciding to finish his sentence, “Someone kidnapped me.”
“Not kidnapped, Anderson.”
Sierra slid the box away and grabbed the next item from the table - a thin, transparent screen.
“Saved. Rescued. Whatever you want to call it.”
“I’ll call it kidnapped.”
“Don’t get clever with me, Anderson. You may be Jelly’s owner, but she’s not around to protect you. Remember that.”
Sierra thumbed the screen and booted the device. She bent it back and forth in her hands, “Cute thin. Make and model?”
“Attwood, Series Seven-Hundred.”
“Sky capacity?”
“Fifty-six terabytes.”
“Fifty-six? Didn’t your mom spend any of the prize
money on a decent thin?”
“Don’t talk about my mom like that.”
Sierra folded the screen in half and busted it into two, “Attwood? It’s junk. I hope you backed up all your homework to the sky, right?”
“Of course I did. It’s on perma-backup,” Jamie watched as the screen crumbled like sand in her hand. “Why did you break my thin?”
“Are you kidding? Attwood junk comes installed full of Traceware. We can’t have anyone trace you here. It’s not safe.”
“Oh.”
“We’ll have to take care of your Viddy Media, as well. Is it on?”
Jamie rolled up his sleeve and saw three inked lines along his forearm, “No. On standby.”
“Keep it that way for the moment. We’ll be removing the node from your arm, shortly. Don’t worry, it’s relatively painless.”
Something caught Sierra’s eye next to the lunch box. A tiny necklace reflecting the light from the bulbs on the ceiling.
“What’s that?”
“No, give me that,” Jamie reached over the table and snatched it before Sierra could, “Stay away from it. It’s mine.”
“What is it?”
“None of your business.”
Sierra held out her hand, “Anderson. Hand it over.”
“No.”
“Hand it over.”
“You’ll break it.”
“I won’t break it if I don’t have to,” Grace quipped. “Give it to me.”
“Why?”
“Do you want me to break your fingers?”
“No.”
“Then hand the damn thing over. At once, please.”
Jamie opened his palm and stared at the necklace. A plastic, orange-colored telescope pendant had been attached to it.
“I won’t ask again, Anderson.”
He sighed and held it across the table for her to take, “Fine. Please be careful with it.”
“Very cute,” Sierra smiled at it as she hung it above the dull light emitting from the table’s surface, “How long you had this?”
“My mom gave it to me when—”
Jamie stopped talking and ducked his head, trying not to get upset.
“When she got you Jelly?”
Jamie nodded, afraid to speak.
Sierra sighed and felt sorry for the boy, “Huh. Jamie?”
Star Cat: Killer Instinct Page 8