"Am I cleared now? It would be about bloody time!"
"Of course." She grimaced. "As soon as I get out of this bed, and back into action at least. You’re now a national treasure, hero, and saviour. Everyone’s conveniently forgotten the past."
"Just as well, frankly," he said grumpily.
"Thank you," she said softly.
He took her paw in hers.
"Thank you," he said.
He grinned, and turned as Preddle ran back in.
"I believe we owe a debt of gratitude to you as well!"
She grinned and waved her tablet.
"It’s all about networks," she said. "Mother always says it’s a waste of time, but clearly not!"
They all smiled at each other.
Forty
Anna was exhausted. The last few days had been traumatic, coupled with all the events leading up to them. She was wrung out, physically and emotionally.
Jamie was out of hospital and doing well. Snark had been released before him. All three of them had bruising from where they'd landed on the bridge. Jamie's were worse, and he'd been hospitalized as a precaution, while Snark and Anna had been examined, and allowed to leave. The cat medical staff had had a bit of a challenge with Jamie. Not in treating his bruises, but he kept telling jokes no one understood.
Sapperscar on the other hand was in intensive care. It still wasn’t known if he'd lose an arm or not, but he'd been in surgery for a long time in an attempt to save it. He'd simply been unlucky, and without a belt suit to absorb most of the impacts, he'd come off the worst of all of them. Some of his troops also had minor injuries.
Patters, even without a belt suit, had come through the best. Used to hunting conditions, she'd been able to control most of her movement through the bridge space, and merely had a bruise on the back of her head. It had been enough to make her pass out like the rest, but as soon as she'd woken up, it had been she who'd roused the others, and attempted to care for Sapperscar.
Anna felt guilty, as if she’d failed Mac. And guilty also for getting them into this mess. The Seeking was nothing but a cause of trouble. And she was starting to doubt her own resolve in finding the Destiny Stone. Perhaps it was just a myth after all? Bhatet was beaten in this round, but still powerful. And the Brotherhood had had their nose bloodied a bit, but that would probably just make them angrier and more resolved.
Jamie was staying with Snark in make-shift accommodation in the Grand Mother’s private suites in the City. She also had accommodation there, but she was crossing the city to visit Sissness. She wanted to follow up to see if she'd found anything more in her research. And she also wanted to thank her.
Sissness was back in her own den. She felt it would be safe to return now, and she’d missed her things. She welcomed Anna by reaching up and touching noses. Anna stooped over in the small surroundings, and found it awkward.
"Are you alright?"
Sissness was surprised Anna looked and smelled so ill. She had black marks under her eyes, her face was pale, and her hair untidy. She stooped as if ill. And her smell was peculiar.
"Yes, fine. Why?"
"Nothing. It’s just you must be quite traumatised by the battle and everything."
"Oh yes. A bit." She looked into Sissness's slanted eyes. "I wanted to thank you for everything."
"Nonsense!"
Sissness looked down at her feet, and tilted her head to one side, then looking up at Anna without moving her head.
"I was glad to help," she said.
There was a pause.
"So, have you got any further with your research?" asked Anna.
Sissness smiled. "I have."
She waved her arm at the couch, but Anna sat on the floor. She could just fit in comfortably this way.
Sissness thought for a moment.
"This is all my interpretation of what I’ve gleaned from the records and sources. I haven’t formed a proper hypothesis yet. But I’m going on what the evidence shows." Anna nodded. "I’ve researched further into the initial records indicating a 'God-like' cat visiting the Cats of the Plains a very long time ago. We cats don’t hold much for supernatural beings. We believe more in the divine right of us each individually to express our spirituality."
Anna nodded again.
"But what if it wasn’t a cat, but a human?"
She showed Anna the picture. Anna nodded encouragement.
"I found a further reference around this time, to a 'Talisman'. There’s a passage which describes the arrival of strange beings, who showed them the Talisman. It had great power evidently. It defeated their enemies, and they had more food that year than at any other time."
She was excited in retelling the path of her findings.
"I also found another reference to the 'Stepping stone'. This was more about stepping into another life from this one. At least that’s my translation. There are multiple references to these beings, and a stone of one kind or another, if you know where to look. Secondary, but also primary references." She was obviously very impressed by this. "Primary sources!"
Anna nodded again. It didn’t provide her with any detail. If something did visit the cats centuries ago, where was a clue about where they went next?
"But I also found this. This's impossible. A star chart. It’s obviously a star chart, but the cats of that time had no idea about such things."
Anna looked at the chart on the tablet. It was definitely a chart mapping stars, and was that one star marked out? Sissness looked stern. She could see Anna was excited and animated.
"It's not definitive. And this emphasis here, well it could be anything. A mark, a spot, someone spilling their wine!"
She smiled. Anna didn’t.
"This is very helpful. Can you send me this, and some of your other notes?"
Sissness was reluctant. This was her research, and she wanted to verify through corroboration before coming to any conclusions. Anna could see her hesitation.
"I’ll pay you," she suggested.
Sissness was insulted, and pulled back immediately. But she was thinking about how this was different from the Foundation funding her research? She calmed down.
"Sorry. It’s OK, you don’t need to pay me. What I do suggest is, if I give you this initial research and a summary, you keep me in the loop about what you find, and I do the same. A reciprocal research project?"
Anna felt bad. She’d blundered badly. It was just she was so anxious.
"Agreed. You’ve been so helpful already. If there’s anything I can do to help you, I will."
"Likewise."
Sissness hesitated, before going on.
"You know, I do really want to see this research have some positive results. That’s why we do what we do."
Anna’s heart melted. This cat had put herself on the line to help not only defeat the coup and Bhatet, but also to help her with her Seeking.
"I really do appreciate all your help. Friends?"
"Friends."
Forty One
Jamie felt the worse for wear. Sometimes, he felt he should have stayed home, where he’d be safely in the pub now, rather than feeling like an invalid. Okay, not so much an invalid, but at least able to walk around without limping, and flinching when he bumped something.
No, that was defeatist self-talk. They’d done what they’d needed to do, and yes, he’d been injured, but he was young and fit, and he’d recover. He’d rather be out here any time.
He was lying down in the Grand Mother’s den. Lying down was the most comfortable position given the ceiling height. The cats had strange dwellings. Some rooms had really high ceilings, and others had really low ones. It was awkward, but he was getting used to it. It was almost comforting being cocooned in this small space. He was just grateful he didn’t suffer from claustrophobia.
He reflected on the Seasprite. They'd awoken to find the battle was over, with four ships disabled nearby, and two fleeing the system. There was no log of what had happened while they were out. They had
minimal shields, which were slowly recovering. Hull breaches in several places were highlighting red on the damage screen. As were a big gun turret and two missile launchers. And the shield generators themselves, although these turned orange, and then yellow, as he watched. There seemed to be five repair robots doing work on the internal problems. He hadn’t known the ship had any.
More strangely though, whole sections of the console were lit up, which he hadn’t seen before. They showed significantly more firepower than he'd been aware of. And what looked like a command program, now dormant.
When the rest of their fleet arrived, Snark had taken them back to the space station. On the way, both he and Jamie had taken the time to examine the console. Snark was loath to touch anything, but Jamie pressed the activate button on the control program.
"Greetings," said a voice.
Both Snark and Jamie startled so badly, they literally jumped.
"Who are ye?" asked Jamie.
"Ship's command computer. I oversee the running of things, perform auto-pilot duties, and co-ordinate weapons during battle."
"Why didn’t we know you existed?" asked Snark.
"I was hoping you would tell me that. Who are you?"
Snark introduced them, and also mentioned Anna, who was off tending the wounded.
"Ah. There is a log entry the ship was sold to an Anna Romanov. Is this she?" Snark confirmed it. "So the likely reason is, I was disabled along with all the weapons when this ship went into the Gaia Hunter shipyard to repair battle damage, and because the ship was sold to a civilian, what was turned off, was never turned back on."
The voice paused, but neither of them said anything.
"I see some time has elapsed since I was last online, and the ship has changed names."
"How do ye come to be active now?" asked Jamie.
"Emergency activation protocol. I see the hull is breached in several places. This would be sufficient damage to trigger a wake up command."
"Was it you who destroyed the enemy fleet?" asked Snark.
"Yes. I have sub-routines which allow me to fight the ship in the event the crew are disabled, but the ship can still fight. Obviously this happened. At the end of such an activation, the default is to place me back in stand-by mode. This ship was once a Fleet Destroyer with a highly trained crew. I was designed to increase their effectiveness. Most of the time, the crew didn’t need me. Obviously this isn’t the case now."
"Nicely put," said Warspite, in AI mode. "Better get used to your new name. When we return to Hunter space, I'll make sure you get an avatar body. For now though, you better act dumb."
They didn’t get much else out of the computer. When the ship was docked, they were all taken down to hospital, and then went their own ways.
Jamie knew the ship needed major hull repairs and possibly an overhaul. The cats were trying to fix her, but they didn’t have the industrial base. The spaceport didn’t have any major ship building capability, although they could handle minor repairs. They needed to find somewhere else to get the ship back to full functionality. But where? Who could they trust to work on the human systems, and firstly, understand them, and secondly, not steal them?
They'd taken a bad hit, but perhaps this was the time to get in contact with Queen Jane? Who else to fix human systems, than humans? He meant, humans who were up to this technology. He was afraid Anna would be against it. Anna was a loner. She was used to operating outside of the rest of humanity. It was awkward. He was up for meeting with Queen Jane though.
Only trouble was, they were two sectors away.
His mind wandered a bit. He recalled the battle. If only he’d, no he couldn’t do that. What was done was done. But he did feel bad about the wounded troopers. War was hell, he decided.
He was almost asleep, when Snark arrived. Snark was well at home in this space, in fact felt it was too roomy, and a bit ostentatious. He limped over to Jamie, and collapsed into a cat bed.
"Bugger!" he said.
"What?" said Jamie.
"Just bugger!"
"Know how you feel."
A minion appeared at the door.
"A guest" he said nervously.
"Show whoever it is, in," said Jamie and Snark at the same time.
Patters appeared in the doorway, stooped over somewhat. She was much larger than Snark, and the accommodations for the Wild Ones had been built accordingly.
"Cosy," she said.
"Cosy," agreed Snark and Jamie.
She plonked down on a cat bed, but it was too small. She wriggled until she fit in, but the bed bulged. No-one needed to say anything.
"So what now?" asked Patters.
"We need to repair the Seasprite," answered Snark.
"And we need to rename her," said Jamie emphatically. "After what we’ve just been through, honestly. Seasprite?"
The minion was back.
"Another guest."
"Show whoever it is, in," said the three of them.
Fitzy came in through the door. He was still dressed in uniform, with his cap on his head, perched over his ears.
"Cosy," he said.
"Cosy," they all echoed.
And fell about laughing.
"I’ve briefed the Grand Mother," Fitzy reported.
"How's she doing?" asked Jamie
"She’s holding up remarkably well."
"What did she say?"
"She wanted to thank everyone for their contribution, their sacrifice, and their courage."
"That’s nice," said Snark.
They all laughed. The minion reappeared. He looked nervous.
"Another guest?" he said.
"Show whoever it is, in," came the chorus.
It was Anna. She stooped through the doorway, and into the room.
"This is cosy," she said.
She couldn’t understand why they were laughing so hard.
"Anna!"
Jamie wanted to get up to give her his place, but he couldn’t seem to move.
Anna waved at the room generally, and perched up against Patters, who was nice and warm, and rather comfy. She wanted to stroke her thick fur, but pulled her hand back at the last minute. Her tablet was in her hand. She was bursting to talk about the star chart, but realised the others might have other things on their minds.
The minion reappeared. They all looked up expectantly.
"Refreshments," he said, to the amusement of all, and several waiters brought in some platters of various food, and some bottles of the local wine. Quite a lot of bottles, as they were so small.
They all tucked into the various fare they preferred. Glasses and bottles were clinked, and there was a general sigh of satisfaction.
"So," said Fitzy. "How is everyone?"
Nods, grimaces, and grunts followed.
"I see," he said.
"And you?" asked Snark.
He grunted and snuffled a bit.
"All good."
No-one seemed to know what to say next. Jamie cleared his throat.
"The Brotherhood?"
"Hopefully neutralised for now. We’ve tracked down several cells of sympathisers, and active members. They’re like a weed though. You root it out, and it pops up somewhere else."
"Bhatet?"
"We’re sending out agents to find out more about his empire. He’s been bitten but not beaten. We can expect more from him."
"What about the Council?"
Fitzy preened a little.
"I’ve been put in charge of a commission to identify the malcontents, and purge the Council of them. I haven’t given up on my Unit. It’s still mine. They did offer me promotion though."
There were noises of congratulation.
"I turned it down," he added. "I’m not that sort of career soldier. You have to be more a politician at the higher levels, and I'm as high as you go while still retaining direct command over troops. When it comes down to it, I’m happy with what I have now."
He turned now to Anna and Jamie.
&nb
sp; "I’m afraid we broke your ship."
Snark, Jamie, and Anna laughed. It was a good description.
"We do need to make repairs," said Jamie.
"No doubt. The Cat World would like to meet all costs."
"Thanks. But we’ve got to find somewhere which will be able to do the work, and stay quiet afterwards."
Snark frowned.
"I have an idea."
They all looked with surprise at Patters. She'd been quiet, as was her usual demeanour.
"There’s a ship building and repair business operating out of the Patch system," she said, shyly. "I know of it because, well, my previous mate was a trader. He told me about it. He said it was a good operation, with no questions asked."
Jamie sighed.
"Whatever we do, the cats out of the bag." He saw their surprised faces. "I mean, we’ve lost our advantage. They’ll be all over the schematics. There's always Queen Jane."
"Too far," said Anna. "I really don’t want to go all that way, and then have to come all the way back again."
"I don’t think you have much choice," said Fitzy. "Perhaps a deal with this shipbuilder?"
Jamie, Anna, and Snark exchanged glances. The last few days had brought them together. They were all thinking the same thing.
"Yes. We’ll try this shipbuilder and see how we go," said Jamie.
"And where will you go afterwards?"
Anna smiled and held up her tablet.
"I may have the answer!"
Jamie and Snark looked at each other in disbelief.
"What?"
"It's an ancient star chart. I’m hoping to use a computer to plot the exact coordinators back then, and translate them to now."
Snark said nothing. He didn’t know how he felt about continuing the Quest. Jamie however, nodded.
"It should be fairly straightforward, if tricky."
He laughed at his own contradiction.
Patters looked interested.
"I would love to go beyond this world," she said.
They all grabbed a drink, and glass clinked.
Forty Two
The Grand Mother stood, with the help of a cane, but she stood. The room was full of council members, delegates, guests, and media.
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