by M. A. Owens
“You don’t know that,” I said. “You ever tried to fish in this part of the river?”
They shared another look, but the gray cat was more interested in continuing the conversation.
“Everybody knows they ain’t no fish in Arc River. Besides, how do we know you’re telling the truth anyway? We’re out here looking for a Chihuahua what ought to look just like you.”
The black cat shot him a glare. “You’re kidding. He looks just like him because he’s him, you idiot. Where do you suppose he came from just now?”
“I dunno. How do you know he wasn’t fishing, hmm? Can you prove it, if you’re so smart Mr. Smarty Pants? You think you know everything,” he shot back.
Good. Yes. Keep talking. Just a little longer. I cannot even believe this is working.
“Were you dropped on your head as a kitten… from the top of a tall building?” the black cat asked him. “He doesn’t even have a fishing pole! Besides, you said it yourself, there aren’t even any fish in this part of Arc River.”
The light bulb finally went off in the gray cat’s mind, his mouth opening in a wide expression of shock. “Hey, you really ain’t got a fishing pole, do you?”
“You got me, but hey, I’ll give you some good information to make up for it. A dog that looked almost exactly like me just walked by this way, not even five minutes ago. I’ll bet you anything he’s the dog you’re looking for,” I said.
“You hear that, Iggy? What do you want to bet that dog he saw’s our dog?” the gray cat said to the black cat, apparently Iggy.
Iggy stood, staring at him, completely dumbfounded. “I should’ve come by myself.”
“Besides,” I continued. “That Detective Trigger is far, far, faaaaar too handsome to be me. Look, I’ve even got both eyes. Everybody knows that dog’s only got one.”
“Well, he does have a point there, Trigger only has one eye, and he’s got… what? Why are you looking at me like that, Iggy?”
Iggy didn’t answer, just pointed to my eyes. The gray cat looked to me, and back to Iggy again, not understanding.
“Good eye, Joe. One good eye, not one eye.”
“What’s the difference?” Joe asked.
Iggy just rubbed his face with his paw. “Look, this is obviously the guy. You’re here because you’re a lot better fighter than me and the boss didn’t want to take any chances on him getting away, so why don’t you muscle on up to the guy, and grab him? We’ve got other things to do, remember?”
When Joe turned around, I wasted no time socking him in the jaw. Wow, that really hurt my paw. Now I knew why this guy was so dumb. His mother must’ve poured out his brains and replaced them with concrete.
Without flinching, he countered with a left hook to my jaw. Even though I tried to dodge backward, he extended his arm the precise length necessary to compensate. Just my luck. The cat was an absolute moron in conversation, but a scientist in a scuffle. I dropped to one knee, seeing stars. As I got my bearings, I tried to stand, but a swift kick to the gut cut my rise short. I fell onto my back, clutching my stomach. All my ribs were intact, but he’d taken every bit of the wind out of my lungs.
I heard a whistle, and Joe and I both looked toward the rails. As Joe turned, Kerdy dove off the rails and used the momentum to deliver a punch to the side of the cat’s face. Now it was his turn to see stars. How in the world could a cat as small as Kerdy hit like a big dumb brute like Joe? No… I just hit him, and he didn’t even feel it.
He grabbed for her shoulders, and she brought up her paws, sending his arms falling uselessly by her shoulders without grabbing them. She headbutt him right in the nose, and as he was staggering back, threw both paws out and struck him on each side of the neck. That look on his face now, I recognized well. Joe here’s never been hit like that in his life. He was scared out of his wits. Maybe he should be.
Petey emerged from the other side of the rail now, not with nearly the grace, falling over into the street in a similar fashion I had, but he’d heard enough to know what was going on. He reached into his pocket as he jumped to his feet, coughing, pulling out his badge and holding it up to Iggy, who seemed to contemplate whether what he was seeing happen to Joe was even real, barely noticing Petey at all.
“A…” Petey coughed. “ACPD, put your paws on top of your head!” He pulled out and extended his baton with his other paw.
“Wait, ACPD… and the private detective? And that must be the other outsider he warned us about…” Iggy muttered to himself and seemed to conclude that running was the best option.
Despite being worn out from the trip across, Petey caught him before he made it five steps, and had him on the ground, struggling. By now I could make it to my feet and rushed over to help him, delivering a swift kick to the side of the cat’s head as he tried to make it to his feet. Petey used the time to get one of his paws cuffed, and we dragged him over to the rail, cuffing the other link to the cold steel. He wasn’t going anywhere now.
I turned around to help Kerdy, only to find the huge cat out cold at her feet. Although she’d swam the same trip we made with the help of the rope no less than six times, scaled the walls multiple times, and beat this massive muscle-head unconscious, she was still barely winded.
I doubled over again, doing my best to catch my breath. “What is this, just a regular Tuesday for you?” I asked Kerdy.
“As long as I’m tagging along with you, it seems. Time to make Cat Meat here talk,” she said, cracking her knuckles. She took a step toward him, punching him hard in the side of the face. He was dazed, and nearly went unconscious. “Where is Saul?”
“S-Saul? I… don’t—”
She slapped him hard again.
“Hey, Kerdy…” I said, quietly. “We’re not the bad guys here. Let’s not kill the guy, huh?”
She glared at me before punching him again. “You said ‘other outsider he warned us about’. I heard you. That means you know about Saul, and it means Saul warned you about me. It also means he must have told you what I’d do to you if I caught you, in order to bring him back.”
Iggy laughed, spitting blood onto the ground. “You’re in over your head, kitty cat. You all are. Saint’s got this placed locked down so tight you’d have a better chance of surviving if you jumped back into the river over there. You think you’re cold, kitty cat? You think you’re ruthless? You’re nothing. Maybe you’ll kill me. If I talk, Saint will make me wish I was dead.”
“We can take you into protective custody. We can keep you safe, in exchange for information and your testimony if we can get this into court,” Petey said.
Iggy laughed again, even louder this time.
“You’re nearly as slow as Joe over there, officer. Things are going back to how they were. The ACPD works for Saint. He controls this district, and soon it’ll be the city. It’s already happened, you just haven’t caught up yet. The ACPD isn’t your friend anymore, heroes. You’re on your own. Once Saint chews you up and spits you out, there won’t be any heroes left. He won’t make the same mistakes Mr. B did, and he won’t have the same soft spots. Mr. B is maybe the only one in this entire city who could stand up to Saint, but he’s locked away in prison, and Saint’s going to make sure now that he never sees the light of day again.”
Footsteps echoed from behind us. Several.
“That’s the ACPD, I’m sure, here to clean up. Why not stay and catch up with your pals, officer?” Iggy asked with a cruel grin spread across his face.
Petey looked down at his feet, then to me, considering it for a moment.
I put my paw on his arm. “We gotta go, Pal. Sorry…”
Petey shook his head. “Me too, Trigger… Me too.”
Kerdy delivered another right hook to his face, knocking him out cold.
“Time to go,” she said.
8
“ACPD. Show yourselves!” a voice called out, getting closer.
I grabbed Petey by the arm to pull him along, but he didn’t budge.
“Petey, what are you doing? You heard him, we have to go,” I said.
Petey shook his head. “Sorry Trigger, but I have to see Buddy. You and Kerdy can’t take the risk, but I can. This is where we part ways, pal. Trust me on this one. We’ll meet again soon.”
It’s not that I didn’t trust him. It just felt too dangerous. It felt way too much like saying our goodbyes.
I nodded. “Soon, then.”
“Time’s up,” Kerdy said, grabbing my arm. “Good luck, Petey.”
With that, Kerdy pulled me along, hiding us around the corner not far away.
“Why did you stop?” I whispered.
No answer, but I could venture a guess from the look on her face. Was she actually worried for Petey?
“You know, if you’re worried, you could just say so. I know I am,” I said.
“Shut up, and listen,” she said, pointing toward the area we just left, and putting her other paw up to her mouth and making a zipping motion.
I made the same zipping motion.
“Put your paws where we can see them!” an unfamiliar voice shouted orders.
“Relax, boys. I’m BDPD. See, badge,” Petey said. “I was here to check on a dog that was a victim of an unusual attack the other day. I’m not used to this place, so I got lost and jumped by these cats. Some upstanding citizens helped me, but they ran off before I could get the info. But, since you boys are here, the hospital can wait a bit. I need to check in with Colonel Buddy and compare some notes.”
There was a brief silence before the unfamiliar voice spoke up again. “Colonel Rosco has demoted him to desk duty, Petey. Look, go. It may cost me my badge or worse, but I’m going to take you back to Black District and you need to get ready. There’s a hostile takeover here in Adria District’s division, but so far Blue can’t be touched… for now. Patches still calls the shots officially, but Saint’s closer so he’s already running the show.”
Colonel Rosco? I don’t know an officer by that name, and Buddy never mentioned him. Almost guaranteed to be a stooge for Saint. How much was Patches playing along to keep the peace and buy time, and how much was he just rolling over and showing his belly? Wait a minute, the ban on allowing us through the gate! Why didn’t I get it before?
“So, Patches blocked me from entering to protect me… I should have guessed. Thanks for the save, gentlemen,” Petey said, before raising his voice. “It’s a shame I couldn’t have warned anyone else coming here of the same thing.”
“Yeah, I guess. Keep your voice down. You can always warn them when you get back. Gavin, Rhodes, arrest these two cats. We’ll say we didn’t realize they were Saint’s boys and let them go in the morning, when our comrade here is safely back in Black District.”
Kerdy nudged me, and we continued on our way, putting much more distance between ourselves and the ACPD before talking.
“So, we can’t trust the ACPD here, which means we basically can’t trust anyone.”
“Think they’re going to kill your friend, Harvey?” she asked, a bit too candidly.
I considered it for a moment. In fact, I’d been considering it since I found out he’d been transferred to Adria. I understand Rick set everything up, but Saint could have prevented it. He must be aware. So that could only mean…
“No,” I said.
“No?” Kerdy asked, with obvious skepticism.
“He’s too valuable alive in his current condition, because he’s my friend, and because of how vulnerable he is. Saint wants me to know that he could off him at any time, the moment I misbehave. Saint’s going to stay out of the way of the doctors keeping him alive, because now he wants him that way. As a bonus, he gets Rick’s compliance. I don’t know what promises Rick made him already, just to get Harvey into Adria.”
She sighed, pressing her paw against her forehead. “So, your friend Rick has been compromised, then. There goes another ally.”
“Not a chance. No one loves this city more than Rick. Not Patches, not Petey, and definitely not me. He’s given more than anyone to make it safe, and he’s never taken even the tiniest amount of credit. There’s no one we can trust more than Rick.”
“Well, that’s quite an endorsement. I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. I have someone here that we can talk to also, but I wouldn’t call him a friend. In fact, all of this is probably good for business, so we need not be in any hurry to see him.”
“We should see Rick first, I think. Then Sugarplum. Sugarplum is the heiress of the previous criminal empire, turned legit. No one in this city has more money and power, even though she’s chosen not to use it. Saint will be too afraid to touch her. Whoever his rich donor is, they won’t hold a candle to Sugarplum.”
She nodded. “First to Rick, then Sugarplum, and then to the information broker.”
My eyes went wide. “Woah, hold on a minute. You know the information broker here? I’ve heard of him. He only talks to big shot criminals. How in the world do you know a cat like that?”
“He’s not a cat. He’s a dog. A Boxer dog by the name of Max. You’ll… well, let’s just say you’d never in a million years guess that he was the information broker. It won’t be easy to get him to open up in front of you, either. You should think of a secret that only you know, that he’ll find valuable, just in case he requires it. If he doesn’t, consider it anyway. You could always use it to buy information.”
“Not sure what I’d use. I take client privacy seriously.”
“Doesn’t have to be about a client. It can be about an enemy, too. That makes things even better, right? Two birds with one stone,” she said, patting me on the shoulder. “For now, let’s just catch ourselves a quick nap here. We’ll take two-hour shifts. I’ll take the first one.”
“What, you mean right here in this alley? Ever heard of a motel?”
“Ever heard of getting your throat cut in your sleep?” she growled.
“Fine, you’ve made your point,” I said, sitting against the damp wall.
Poor sleep was better than no sleep, I suppose.
I sat for a few minutes, and my mind drifted back to a conversation I once had with Kerdy in her apartment, and I asked her if it was true that there were monsters outside the city, as I’d once heard as a pup. Her answer always bothered me, and I’d hoped for another chance like this.
“Hey, Kerdy. Mind if I ask you something?”
“I’m going to regret saying ‘yes’, aren’t I?”
“You might. You once told me that the monsters outside the city were real, but you played it off like a joke. I could tell it got under your skin that I’d asked, so—”
“So, you thought it would be a great idea to ask me the same question again, right? I had a feeling I’d regret agreeing,” she snapped.
“Alright, I got it. Sorry I asked. You could just say you don’t feel like talking about it, you know. I can’t force you to.”
She sighed and sat quietly for another few minutes.
“I suppose I can see why you’d be curious about it, and I’ve already revealed things to you about my people. Fine, since you’re helping me, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you.”
I nodded, doing my best to contain the excitement. Of all the mysteries I could ever pursue, the secrets of the world outside the city were the best kept. We weren’t even able to leave, except for very few exceptions, like Rick visiting the agricultural village to buy supplies. Then there were the rumors that the city’s cats came from the outside originally. That this city was once all dogs. I had to keep it together and find the opportunities where they presented themselves. If I fired off question after question, Kerdy would just get irritated and would stop answering them altogether.
“Long ago…” she started, but seemed to get stuck at the very beginning of the story, as though she wasn’t sure the right place to start. She took a deep breath and sat silent for another few minutes. I didn’t dare prod. Just sat quietly, looking at her, waiting for her to be ready to continue.
“
There was a time when humans walked this world. They were here for a very, very long time. They started out not unlike the dumb animals we harvest for food, but slowly they learned to use tools, and built shelters, and eventually great civilizations, scientific breakthroughs, governments… cities, like this one.”
“Wait a minute. You’re telling me humans were real? That’s… really?”
Kerdy simply nodded. “Oh yes, they were very real, but enough about them… There came a time when their power reached a level that made them nearly gods, and through their pride they made many mistakes. One of these was the monsters… machines, except the machines didn’t care. Long after the humans stopped controlling them, they kept creating more of themselves, gathering their own resources, and hunting us relentlessly. Why, I can’t say. The reason has been lost to history, and it’s been so long that no one alive remembers when or how it started.”
I rubbed my paws against my cheeks. “Sorry, this is a lot to take in. Humans are real, and made these monsters that attack us, but why have I never seen them?”
“Were real. No one has seen a human in ages. A story once told to me is that once they left this planet in ruin, and they fled to another. Others say they went extinct hundreds of years ago. As for why you never seen the monsters, that would be because we’ve never allowed one to make it past us. We’ve positioned our home between the city and them, directly in their path, and we fight them when they appear.”
“So, the cats outside the city kept us safe from monsters we never even knew existed, and when they showed up, as a way of showing our gratitude we treated them as second-class citizens and kept them in a constant state of poverty…”
She grinned, finding some humor in the fact, for reasons I didn’t quite understand. “Pretty much.”
“And you’re not bitter about that?” I asked.
“Why would I be? It’s not my duty to be bitter. It’s my duty to lead my people to a better future and eventually destroy the machines. What good would it do me to be bitter? My people have done their fair share of bad things and made their fair share of mistakes. Dogs don’t own mistakes and evil, you know. It’s there for any living creature, whispering to them always.”