Pet Noir

by Pati Nagle

  Didn’t see Elsa or Leila, but about halfway through my search I ran into Devin who had decided to take a walk. I gave him a cheery meow and kept a good two meters away.

  After a couple of half-hearted tries at grabbing me he settled into a comfortable stroll. I continued my search and he more or less followed, though he stuck to the footpaths when there was one around. He chuffed a little going up the hills. I decided he really should get more exercise, and made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

  We came across some kids carving their initials into a tree. Devin flashed his Security badge and chased them off. He also busted a guy in a greasy one-all—mechanic, probably—for throwing his Zip Fix cartons on the ground. Littering in the park is a serious offense.

  While Devin was explaining to the chump the dire consequences of his action, I made a careful inspection of the evidence. Wouldn’t want any shrimp to go to waste.

  Having thus justified our presence in the park, we silently agreed it was time for another siesta. Devin returned to his bench and I found a nice cool spot under a nearby bush. I’d been all day without a nap, and I was more than ready. I turned around a few times and made sure the dead leaves were fluffed up, then curled up and was out like a light.

  “Psst. Leon. Where are you?”

  I raised my head, blinking. “Under here.”

  “Is that her, up on the hill by the trees?”

  I got up and peered out in the direction Devin was looking. Elsa had changed her business attire for a casual, pale green clingsuit, and was teasing Leila with a wad of pink feathers on the end of a sparkly wand. My heart pounded at the sight of that sleek beauty romping the hillside. Elsa didn’t look bad either.

  “Yeah, that’s her. Let’s go.”

  I got up and stretched, then made a casual show of sniffing for mice underneath the bushes as I worked my way toward the ladies. Devin strolled in the same direction.

  When we got close I went all the way under a bush, figuring Elsa might find the sight of me a mite unsettling. Devin walked on up to her and crouched about a meter away.

  “Cute cat,” he said, nodding toward Leila. “What’s her name?”

  Elsa gave him a long, suspicious look, then glanced away and waggled the feather toy. “Leila,” she said as Leila pounced. “She’s a Burmese.”

  “Mm.”

  I glanced at Devin, silently willing him to get on with it and ask her what was going on at Megalink. He didn’t have to court her. He could say she had nice legs if he wanted.

  “My name’s Devin. Devin Munroe.”

  Elsa played tug-of-war with Leila a little more, then looked up at Devin. This time she smiled.

  “Elsa Grippe.”

  “Hi.”

  Humans take forever getting acquainted. It’s because their sense of smell sucks. More observant species—cats for example—know most all they need to know about each other without making a sound. A little sniff here and there, a turn of the ear like so, and we’re halfway to intimate friendship. Humans are handicapped, though, so they have to talk a lot to compensate.

  It was mildly interesting to watch Devin go through his song and dance. He used a different approach with Elsa than he usually took with the girls up at Molly’s. Gentler, more respectful, instead of the direct admiration he expressed for Candy and the other waitresses.

  As they chatted Elsa got more and more lax with the feather toy, until she finally set it down. I saw that as my cue to move. Keeping out of Elsa’s sight, I circled around behind her and showed myself to Leila, who sat twitching her tail for a minute, then walked up to me.

  “Hiya gorgeous,” I said. “Good to see you again.”

  She lidded her eyes at me, then glanced back at Elsa and Devin. “That is your human?”

  “Sort of. He’s OK. I think he can help Elsa out, if she’ll let him.”

  “How? Will he fight the other one?”

  “Uh, probably not.”

  I hoped not. Devin was a lot smaller than Hoyden.

  “How can he help her, then?”

  “Uh … humans have ways of working things out besides fighting. He’s going to try to help her using the legal system. It’s sort of a different kind of fighting, done without touching.”

  Leila looked puzzled. “You mean they just stand and howl at each other? How stupid!”

  Thinking of what I’d seen on the court feeds, I had to agree. “Yeah, well, humans are weird.”

  “Mais oui.”

  Leila blinked slowly at me, then came closer, rubbing her pretty head against my shoulder. My pulse went sky high, but I knew this wasn’t the time. I had to keep tabs on Devin’s progress.

  Glancing that way, I saw that Devin had moved closer to Elsa and was sitting cross-legged, within touching distance. She was leaning toward him as they talked. I’d watched enough human interaction to know that was a positive sign.

  “Do they also mate without contact?” Leila asked.

  I chuckled. “Oh, they get around to it. They just take their time about it.”

  “Silly creatures.”

  She rubbed against me again, purring. I gave her a gentle nip on the back of her neck. She seemed to like it—she let out a low, throaty yowl.

  Unfortunately, that got Elsa’s attention. She turned and saw us, and like lightning she was on her feet running toward us.

  “Get away from her!”

  “What’s the matter?” Devin asked as he hurried up.

  “That nasty stray! He keeps bothering my Leila!”

  Elsa swooped at us. Leila and I jumped apart, and I beat it underneath the nearest bush. I didn’t like the look in Elsa’s eyes.

  “Um, he’s not a stray,” Devin said.

  Elsa was trying to catch Leila, but Leila wasn’t cooperating. She ran under a different bush, one full of pink flowers. Her dark fur instantly blended with the shadows, making her vanish.

  Elsa turned to face Devin. “Is he yours?” she demanded.

  “Um, he’s my—roommate.”

  “Is he fixed?” she demanded.

  Devin looked startled. “Uh, no. I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t even know if your pet has been fixed?”

  I didn’t like the trend of this conversation. I backed deeper into the shadows.

  “He’s not my pet, really,” Devin said, looking uncomfortable. “I sort of inherited him.”

  Elsa stood frowning at him, her chest moving up and down with her deep, angry breaths. “Well, keep him away from my Leila!” she said finally, and bent down to look under the pink flowers.

  If humans were like cats, Devin would have been all over her the minute she assumed that pose. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and meandered toward me, his gaze searching the bushes. I stayed hidden.

  “Leila? Come out, honey.”

  Devin paused to look back at her. “You’ll think about what I said?”

  Elsa glanced up, frowning, then her face went still and she dropped to her knees. “What’s the use?”

  “We can help you. File charges and we can put a stop to it.”

  She shook her head sadly. “I’d lose my job.”

  Devin went over and squatted next to her. “He can’t do that. If he’s threatened to, he’s in violation of the Fair Employment Code.”

  “He’d make my life miserable—”

  “More miserable than it already is?”

  “—so I’d have to quit to get away, and then he’d make it impossible for me to get another job.” Elsa sighed. “This was supposed to be a fresh start for me, moving to Gamma. Instead it’s become a nightmare, and I don’t see a way out.”

  Devin took her hand. “Let us help. You’re not alone.”

  She closed her eyes and was still for a long moment, then withdrew her hand. “Thank you, but you don’t understand. Anything you try to do will be stopped before it leaves Gamma. I’ve tried complaining to corporate headquarters, but my messages didn’t get through. Hoyden controls Megalink on G
amma Station, and Megalink controls all the communications.”

  “Not ours,” Devin said. “Security has its own com feeds.”

  She gave him a startled look. Devin nodded.

  “In the first place, we have jurisdiction over what happens on Gamma, so we don’t have to get outside authority to book him on a local offense. In the second place, we can also get information out of the station on our independent feeds, so if there’s something bigger going on we can bring in Intergal. All you have to do is file charges and we can bring him down.”

  Elsa was staring at the ground, frowning in thought. She seemed about to give in, then suddenly she shook her head.

  “No. I can’t.”

  “But—”

  “I have to go. Come here, Leila.”

  She reached under the pink flowers and caught Leila, hauling her out by her middle. Leila made an indignant protest. I had to keep myself from going to the rescue.

  “Elsa?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Elsa stood up and looked around, then went to where Leila’s lilac carry bag sat under a tree. She picked it up and tenderly stuffed Leila into it, tail first. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she faced Devin.

  “Don’t call me,” she said, and walked away toward her apartment.

  Devin stood watching her go, a puzzled frown on his face. I came out and joined him.

  “What happened?” I said quietly.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Did she?”

  “Shh.”

  A couple of women jogged by on the footpath. They were wearing feed headsets, but it wasn’t worth risking. Devin jerked his head toward the lifts and I followed.

  ~

  “The way I see it, she’s got to have some compelling reason for not coming forward.”

  Devin popped a fried shrimp into his mouth and munched it, then tossed one to me. I snagged it, and for a minute I was too busy chewing to answer. There was too much salt in the Zip Fix batter. I hadn’t noticed that before.

  I swallowed. “So compelling she’s willing to risk being bullied into the sack by Hoyden.”

  “Yeah.” Devin frowned, his hand holding another shrimp halfway to his mouth. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “There must be something we’ve missed.” I hopped onto Sheila’s desk and fired up her com. “Com station, voco ID Leon.”

  The com gave a cheery beep. “Confirmed.”

  “Search general info topic Grippe, Elsa.”

  “Didn’t you already do that?” asked Devin. He remembered his shrimp and ate it.

  “Yeah, but maybe I missed something. Com station, adjust search delete Megalink.”

  A revised list of results came up. At the top of it was the announcement I’d glimpsed before, about her not marrying whats-his-name the third. I stared at it for a minute wondering why she’d called it quits on that relationship, then moved on to other stuff I hadn’t perused before.

  Her educational record was impressive. She’d gone to the best schools available, even attended graduate school on Old Earth. It was the bio attached to her thesis that opened my eyes.

  “Holy jeez! She doesn’t need a job. She’s filthy rich!”

  Devin came to look over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Her mom’s a Goldfarber.”

  “Wow! I should have told her I liked her legs!”

  Elsa Grippe was a wealthy socialite, or had been. What was she doing on Gamma Station, working a job in which she felt trapped? Had her family disowned her or something? Had the aborted marriage messed up her life?

  I wanted to find out, and I also wanted to nail Hoyden. If he was harassing Elsa, chances were good he was abusing other employees as well. Not good for morale on the station.

  “Call Steakmeister,” I said to Devin. “Make yourself a reservation for seven o’clock.”

  “Steakmeister? No way, dude! That place is expensive. Zip Fix is good enough for you.”

  I turned my head to give him a look. “Elsa’s meeting Hoyden there for dinner.”

  “Oh.”

  “I can go on my own if you don’t want to get involved.”

  He frowned. “No, I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Make the call, then we’d better go shopping. You need something decent to wear, and a shave wouldn’t hurt.”

  ~

  I went around early while Devin was cleaning himself up. I wanted to touch base with my friend Sue, Steakmeister’s executive chef.

  The entrance to the kitchen is from the maintenance corridor that runs between Steakmeister and Imperial Gardens. Very interesting places, those maintenance corridors. They’re all over the rotunda, running behind and between the storefronts. You can tell a lot about a business just by the condition of its back door.

  Steakmeister’s back door was always impeccably clean, its trash bins tidy and perfect. Usually I came by mid-morning, when Sue had finished prepping for lunch and was gearing up for the dinner crowd. Butch and I would hang out by the back door and she’d come out with a plate of scraps for us, trimmings and choice bits of gizzards and what-not. I gotta say, I love Ling-Ling’s for seafood, but Steakmeister can’t be beat for prime meats.

  I checked to make sure I was alone in the corridor, then jumped for the access pad by the door. Made it first try, and the door slid open.

  The kitchen was huge, and with the dinner hour in full swing it was full of noise, heat, and delicious smells. I stuck close to the counters to avoid the fast-moving feet of a half-dozen frantically busy chefs. I’d never been there during prime time before. Things were a little nuts.

  Sue stood by the stove, stirring something that made billows of exotic-smelling steam every time she splashed some liquid into it. I eased over that way and sat at her feet, waiting for her to notice me.

  She was wearing an immaculate white chef’s jacket and a frown of concentration. The smallest person in the kitchen, petite and strong with her brown hair cropped short in a no-nonsense do, she was without question its commander. Every other chef in there deferred to her.

  I waited until she had dished up the pan’s contents and sent them off to the dining room before risking a small mew. She squinted down at me, then her face lit with surprise.

  “Tux! What’re you doing here?”

  “Meow,” I said.

  “No cats in the kitchen, you know that!” She frowned and tried to look threatening, but I knew better. She was a marshmallow. I sat there looking cutely up at her.

  “Mark, get the next one started,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  She stepped away from the stove and another chef took her place. Sue strode to a counter where she did something I couldn’t see, then came back with a small plate in hand.

  “C’mere, Tux.”

  I let her coax me out of the kitchen, hoping she didn’t plan on sticking me out in the maintenance corridor. She didn’t, though. She put the plate down beside the back door.

  “Try this,” she said, smiling. “New recipe.”

  It was an hors d’oeuvre, some kind of paté on a slice of roasted potato, decorated with a sprig of parsley. I ate the whole thing, even the garnish, and licked my chops.

  “Good, huh?”

  “Meowie!”

  She laughed and petted me. I rubbed my nose into her hands, which smelled of all kinds of wonderful stuff.

  “I swear, sometimes I think you understand every word I say!”

  “Mrrrow,” I said, rubbing against her some more. It was the best I could do by way of thanking her.

  “I can’t play right now, Tux. You come around in the morning, OK?”

  “Meow.”

  She turned to open the door, and I slipped off behind a bakery rack, then headed for the restaurant proper. I heard Sue’s puzzled voice as I ducked from the bustling kitchen into the warm, dark, rich quiet of Steakmeister.

  Everything in there was hushed—conversations, the waiters, footfalls on the thick carpet. No background music, jus
t good food in an atmosphere of comfort and elegance.

  Sticking to the shadows, I scanned the restaurant for Elsa and Hoyden. Apparently they hadn’t yet arrived, so I took up a station under a table near the kitchen that had a good view of the whole place. I sniffed around for any fallen crumbs that might have been missed, but the staff here was too good to let that happen.

  When Elsa came in, even the hushed conversations fell away. Heads turned as she walked past, her lithe body sheathed in a silver dress that shimmered as she moved, her pale hair loose to her shoulders, pulled back from her face with a diamond clip on one side. She looked gorgeous, and she wasn’t smiling. An ice queen. Hoyden walked in her shadow.

  When they were seated I made my way closer, careful to move only when the waiters were occupied and no one was looking. I got to the table next to theirs without being spotted. I planned to move under their table when I got the chance, but I could hear their conversation pretty well from where I was.

  A waiter came to take their order. Hoyden recommended the strip; Elsa chose filet mignon. Hoyden ordered a bottle of fancy wine. Elsa asked for sparkling water.

  OK, so it was a standoff. Elsa was cold, hostile. Why had she come, then? I still couldn’t figure it out.

  With the waiter gone Hoyden leaned forward, smiling as he gazed at Elsa in a coveting way. “Glad you decided to join me. I knew you’d see it my way.”

  “Actually, I don’t,” Elsa said. “There is something we need to discuss, though.”

  I caught sight of Devin coming in on the heels of the maître d’. He was freshly washed and shaved, and moved a little stiffly in his new evening cling. Totally unlike Devin. He didn’t look half bad.

  I moved out of the shadows for a moment, trying to catch his eye. He looked straight at me and I nodded my head toward Elsa’s table in case he hadn’t seen it.

  He said something to the maître d’, who was trying to seat him at a nice table in the middle of the restaurant with a crummy view of Elsa and Hoyden. The maître d’ looked puzzled, but nodded and led him back to a little cozy table for two right by the door to the kitchen, which happened to have a great view of our friends and was close enough for him to maybe overhear them.