‘What do I do? How do I live?’ asked Kitty.
‘Before you leave I’ll give you the remainder of the pills I have; there’s just under a month’s worth. I’d go and pick up more, but with the announcement they’ve just made it’d look very suspicious. I’d suggest you live as best you can. Keep to the side streets and move only at night. Head towards Sou’nd; I’ve heard the wild cats number their strongest there.’
Kitty nodded.
‘If I knew how the wild cats lived, maybe I could give you better advice.’ He grabbed a piece of paper from a handy notepad and wrote down his link number. He handed the paper to Kitty. ‘Remember to keep in touch. Call every night if you can. I’ll give you some paper money. Don’t use it unless it’s a machine; the first human who sees you will probably try to kill you if he doesn’t just raise an alarm. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come home.’
Kitty took the paper and looked at it. She couldn’t actually read words, but numbers were something else. ‘Won’t the wild ones tear me apart when they see me?’ she asked, seeming very worried about the whole thing, but obviously trusting that her master would do right by her.
‘They might.’ George was unsure. ‘I know very little about them. I hope they’ll see that you’re both in the same predicament now and take you in, but be careful anyway. Remember, you need to take one pill every day.’
Kitty seemed to be trying to put a brave face on it. She clearly didn’t want to leave; indeed, George didn’t want her to leave either, but she really had no choice in the matter. She took the pills George offered her and headed towards the front door. Fear, mingled a little with anticipation, seemed to show on her face.
‘I’ll check that the road is empty before you leave,’ he said to her. Then he stopped as he looked at her. Her tail was too obvious, for a start, and she wouldn’t last five minutes in the real world in just the rags she had on.
He got his coat from the hall closet and attached the hood. ‘People might wonder why you have the hood up when it isn’t raining, but it’ll help to hide your facial stripes and your eyes. The coat will hide your tail and the rest of your stripes. Be very careful.’
Kitty took the offered coat and threw it about her as she’d seen George do on many an occasion. She moved the hood into place and snuggled into it. It would help fight the cold a little, as well as hide her; she’d be very glad of the coat in an hour or two. She admired herself in the hall mirror for a moment. Her face was still clearly striped and her eyes seemed to stand out from the hood, but it was better than nothing.
George ventured out into the darkness. He waved to someone across the street and then rested on his car, just chatting to the neighbor about this and that and waiting for her to vanish back into her house. In his own house he was well aware of Kitty waiting patiently and watching him through a small crack in the door.
George was beginning to feel the cold of the night air and wished the neighbor would go indoors. It was dark. It wasn’t safe for the neighbor to be out anyway. It wasn’t safe for him to be out.
Eventually the neighbor did make an excuse and go indoors. George waited until he was sure the neighbor wouldn’t reappear and then signaled Kitty to come and join him.
She left the house that had been her home since she had been no more than a kitten. There were tears in her eyes as well, but also an obvious sense of love for her master who even now was putting himself at risk of imprisonment to ensure her safety.
George realized that she might just decide to go her own way, regardless of the outcome of the next few days. But he felt it most likely that she would return to him as soon as she could, as soon as he told her it was safe.
George petted her head gently and said, ‘Remember to call every day to let me know how you’re getting on, and so I can tell you when it’s safe to return.’
‘I love you,’ Kitty said simply. ‘I won’t forget.’ And she left him, turning right when she was beyond his garden wall while George still rested on his car, watching her until she was out of sight around another corner.
He returned to the living room. He was happier that he’d given his pet a chance to survive, but he was an emotional man and hadn’t felt this much sorrow since he had seen his wife and son die.
4
Pursuit
About an hour had passed since February had first climbed into the driver’s seat of the patrol car, and she was having a wonderful time. There was something childish yet satisfying about stealing an army patrol car. It was like she was rubbing it in by effectively driving around under their noses. It couldn’t last forever, though, and she had been surprised that the backup she had assumed the soldier had summoned hadn’t already tried to contact the vehicle in order to find out what was happening. It could only be a matter of time before someone would try to contact the erstwhile owner of this vehicle, and that would be her signal to leave.
She began to eye the monitor suspiciously, waiting for that contact. A silly idea began to drift through her mind. Perhaps they had already checked on the driver of this car via some hidden camera that she didn’t know about and couldn’t see. She looked about the cabin for such a device, but surely if they were after her already she would have seen some sign of pursuit by now.
Vehicles like the one she was in must certainly have some sort of tracking feature, just in case it should be stolen; such features were common enough on the vehicles of ordinary civilians. Even her own car had one; though she hated the device, she had dared not remove it for fear of raising suspicions. And if that wasn’t enough, she currently had two laser rifles in the vehicle, each of which would be equipped with their own tracking devices.
She wondered if after half an hour she shouldn’t find some other vehicle, something less flamboyant and less dangerous. Surely thirty minutes was enough to rub their noses in it. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t really like the dangerous aspect of her life; it just seemed to be required. One night of bravado and then a month of keeping her head down until the next hunt.
She started keeping as much as she could to the side streets. If she was suddenly discovered, it would be easier for her to dump the car and escape into the relative darkness than it would on a well-lit main street. Besides, with the lights out inside the car, as was the law, few people could actually see in to see who was driving, even when circumstances forced her to use a main road.
It was while she was heading down one of these side roads with one eye on the communications monitor and the other on the road, all the time waiting for that call, that the vehicle’s automatic collision sensors activated and halted the vehicle with a resounding screech.
A figure had been moving across the road and had obviously not seen the car coming. The hooded figure—both scent and appearance told February it was a female Herbaht—peered, terrified, into the darkened patrol car and then scurried across to the far side of the road. A strong smell of fear was now also coming from the figure.
February wasn’t too surprised that the figure was scared. It was no doubt the sight of the patrol car. But she was surprised, when the figure reached the far side of the road, that she made no attempt to climb over the seven-foot-tall fence as any other Herbaht would’ve done, especially if feeling threatened. Instead, this female was moving along the bottom of the wall, almost cowering, as she headed towards a main thoroughfare. This led to a particularly popular part of the city with very well-lit streets. There were plenty of shops, plenty of meeting places and nighttime entertainment and a very definite absence of Herbaht. As soon as she hit that area, this girl would very likely get cut to pieces.
February grinned to herself; perhaps she was just worrying unduly. Different Herbaht got their kicks in different ways. February liked to hunt in her natural stripes. This other Herbaht evidently liked to mock the humans by moving amidst them, being right under their noses whilst wearing no makeup. The smell of fear was understandable from any Herbaht placed in proximity to any patrol car.
The figure continued to move, almost running, as she looked back at the patrol car. She was moving a little more clumsily than February would’ve thought, but perhaps that was just an attempt to emulate humans; if she moved too gracefully she’d be picked out in an instant.
February started the vehicle up again and continued along the road, glancing at the female as she passed. Something seemed very wrong. The other tried to hide her face from the vehicle with her hands as it passed, causing the hood of the coat she was wearing to fall as she knocked it. She hurried to replace it, baring her face for a moment; then she quickly turned towards the fence, trying to hide. Her head ducked down, still covered by her hands. The smell of fear was unbelievable. Not even the herd were so scared when they knew they were about to die.
February realized that it was that smell that was making her pay more than just a passing attention to this female. It was unlikely she knew where she was headed if the occupant of one car could scare her so, even a patrol car. Actually, the more she thought about it, the more there seemed to be nothing graceful about her at all. The figure had a mark around her neck, a funny-looking discoloration of the skin as if she had been wearing some sort of a collar. A collar! February cursed herself for a fool; of course the other didn’t have the natural grace of a Herbaht, and of course she didn’t know to avoid the floodlit streets. This was an escaped pet.
She pulled the vehicle alongside the cowering figure and opened the passenger door to allow her in. ‘Come on, you’ll be safer with me,’ she said. She tried to sound soothing and friendly, but she couldn’t help a touch of the antipathy that most of the wild Herbaht had for those who had been brought up to be domesticated.
The figure seemed to stare back in total fear. She was now lying down at the base of the fence, apparently having given up any chance of salvation.
February sighed to herself; that the other hadn’t jumped at the chance actually irritated her a little. How did she end up in these situations? The intelligent thing to do would be to start the engine and drive off, leaving this ex-pet to look after herself. February knew this creature wouldn’t last more than another five minutes, especially if she continued heading towards that thoroughfare. If February didn’t help her, she’d have to live with it for the rest of her life.
‘Come on,’ February repeated. The irritation and impatience was strong in her voice this time, and she made no attempt to hide it. ‘I don’t have all night.’
The hooded figure didn’t reply; she didn’t move. She just huddled more towards the fence and gazed at the driver of the patrol car in abject terror.
February sighed again. For a second she flicked on the switch that lit the interior of the vehicle, revealing who she was to the other. Although she had wanted to look calm and sedate, her expression was one of irritation. She flicked the switch off again after a second, before it attracted less welcome attention.
Kitty, for that was who it was, stared blankly at the figure now shrouded again in darkness. She seemed to relax a little, though only a little. She did, however, choose this moment to speak: ‘You are a cat?’
February spat angrily. She really should have just gone home and left this pet to her own doom. She did not like being called a cat; few of her race did. ‘I am Herbaht. Get used to the word. Many will do you great harm if you try to call them cats.’
‘I-I’m sorry,’ Kitty stammered back. ‘My master, er, my ex-master always referred to us as cats.’
‘When a herd uses that word, they intend it as an insult. They use it to make themselves feel superior to us so they can pretend that we’re little more than animals.’ February placed both hands on the steering wheel of the vehicle and said, with more patience than she felt she had, ‘Now get in and let’s go before the herd finds you! Get in now, or I’ll leave you here!’
Kitty got to her feet quickly and climbed into the passenger seat of the vehicle without hesitating further. She sat quietly in the passenger seat and seemed to be thinking about something. She glanced at February a few times but seemed too skittish to talk. The smell of fear was still there, and it was still strong.
February started the engine again and was about to pull away from the curb when the screen finally flashed into life. A woman on the screen wearing the uniform of an army corporal said, ‘Andrew nine seven zero, calling Andrew nine seven zero. What’s causing the delay; you should be here by now with the new….’ There was a pause, then: ‘You aren’t Andrew nine seven zero. Oh my god!’ The screen went dead again.
February hit the brake quickly and to Kitty said, ‘Quick, get out. We’ll have to escape on foot.’
‘Escape on foot,’ Kitty replied, more than a little puzzled. She had obviously seen the figure on the monitor too, but she clearly didn’t comprehend what was happening.
‘Quickly!’ insisted February urgently. ‘I’ll explain in a minute.’ Then, without checking to see if Kitty was doing as she had been told, February tried to open the door on her side, only to have it refuse to budge.
‘I can’t get the door open.’ Kitty sounded pathetic as she spoke.
‘No,’ February replied, ‘we left it too long; the real owners of this vehicle have locked it remotely. We’re trapped inside!’
As February spoke, the brake beneath her feet suddenly lost all resistance, and the vehicle began to move forward, apparently by its own volition. When the car reached the next intersection, it started to turn left. February tried to counter this by turning the wheel right, but it refused to budge.
‘W-what do we do?’ Kitty commented. If it was possible, the scent of fear from her got even stronger.
‘They have taken control of the vehicle,’ February commented needlessly. ‘They’ll probably send an escort to ensure we don’t get away. If we’re going to get out of this, we need to be gone before the escort arrives.’
Already sirens could be heard heading this way. It was a distinctive type of siren; the army was on their way.
Without waiting for another word, February broke off the faceplate of the vehicle’s dashboard computer and began to poke around inside. ‘I can’t see the mechanism for the doors, but I think I can override the remote controls.’
Kitty screamed as the vehicle skidded out of control for a second as February made the necessary connection and then had to switch her attention from the computer to the road again.
‘I can’t look for the door control and drive this thing at the same time,’ February called, straightening the vehicle, ‘and those sirens are too close for me to want to risk stopping. Do you know anything about computers?’
‘Not a thing,’ Kitty replied worriedly.
‘Then I guess we’re about to go on a little drive around the city.’
It wasn’t long before the sound of the army sirens could be heard getting closer and closer. Indeed, they seemed to be closing in from three different directions. February had been hoping they might have been headed elsewhere and that their intended escort was barely leaving the barrack house, but it had been a weak hope and it was now certain that she was their quarry.
Then, to make matters worse, she saw a small flying craft off to her left side. ‘Great,’ she complained to Kitty, ‘it looks as if the police want to get into the act.’
The craft was a police hovercopter coming straight towards her, a large search light on the front scouring the road until it found her, almost blinding her. The hovercopter would be a lot more maneuverable than she, and even though it was a police model, it was equipped with side missile launchers, as well as forward-firing lasers.
February gave a gasp when she realized just how much hardware the hovercopter was carrying. Had she been on a country road or even on a main road, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. If she stayed on the side streets, though, and used the whole width of the road, swerving from side to side, she might be able to prevent them getting a lock, and they weren’t likely to open fire indiscriminately for fear of hitting one of the houses on either side. On the other
hand, this evasive action would slow her down and allow those in pursuit to catch her. She knew she had to avoid this danger first and worry about the pursuit when they caught up; by the sound of it, they really weren’t all that far off now. The main problem was that if they were somehow able to abandon the vehicle and head out on foot, the hovercopter would still be able to follow them. It could report to the pursuing vehicles by using infrared to keep them in sight even in out-of-the-way places. The situation seemed hopeless.
Kitty shivered with fear in the passenger seat. February had no doubt that this was the first time she’d ever traveled with a wild Herbaht, and it might easily be her last. Kitty had actually closed her eyes and wasn’t making a single sound.
February tried to ease the tension a little, despite the fact that she was very worried herself. ‘I’m February,’ she said simply.
Kitty opened her eyes and looked at the driver. She actually appeared to relax a great deal. ‘I’m Kitty,’ she said, swallowing deeply as if trying to contain her fear.
Whilst she had been talking, February had also been concentrating on the road and the hovercopter overhead. She needed to lose it if she was to have any chance of chasing off pursuit and convincing the vehicle’s computer to open the doors. But the hovercopter seemed to be omnipresent, and it was quite likely that the pilot knew these streets a lot better than February did.
Up ahead, the road widened a fair bit as four roads converged. The hovercopter moved on a little and turned as if preparing to strafe the patrol car at that point. The hovercopter’s lasers wouldn’t dent the patrol car’s laser-resistant body, but the missiles could destroy it.
February saw the danger. She quickly spun the patrol car about and headed back the way she had come. The hovercopter took only a moment before it was overhead again, the searchlight back trying to blind February while at the same time illuminating the target for all the pursuers.
London Wild Page 8