“See, you’re blaming that human too!” said Potat. She sat back on her haunches and started waving her claws in the air. “Grrrr! I feel the need to scratch someone! And he’s the one!”
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea, but you can scratch the furniture in Antaska’s room,” said M. Hoyvil. He scooped her up in big green gentle hands, then stood up and carrier her over to Antaska’s door.
Chapter 9
Many hours later, in the deep hours of the night, M. Hoyvil was still awake, but he was very sleepy. It was his shift to watch Antaska’s door. He sat on the big couch that he, M. Gruutin, and Lestofer had pulled closed to the open doorway. Lestofer sat up behind him on a small human bed they had brought into the room.
“It’s my responsibility too, and I’ll stay up all night to watch. I don’t need to sleep,” Lestofer had insisted.
“OK, if you want to,” M. Gruutin had said.
M. Hoyvil had just ignored him.
Now M. Gruutin was asleep in the bedroom behind the living room of M. Hoyvil’s cabin.
M. Hoyvil, wide awake, thought he heard a faint sound coming from out in the space station hallway. It was similar to the sounds of outer space from his video screen machine, but somehow more musical. As he wondered what the source of the sound could be, he started feeling groggy.
“What’s that sound? What’s happening?” he heard Lestofer say in a slurred, sleepy voice.
“Don’t know,” M. Hoyvil struggled to mumble back, speaking to him for the first time that evening.
The volume of the musical sound increased. And as the mysterious sound grew louder, M. Hoyvil felt sleepier and sleepier, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until at last they closed, and he slipped into a deep sleep.
At the same time, nocturnal Potat had been wide awake in Antaska’s room across the hallway. She was worried about Antaska too. Potat had tried to talk to her, but Antaska had said she wasn’t in the mood to talk. Antaska had stayed up late tossing and turning, shifting the blankets and not leaving much space for a cat to settle in undisturbed by flailing arms and legs.
“You look tired. I can put you to sleep with my special cat hypnotherapy so you can rest,” little Potat had offered.
“No! Absolutely not! You promised not to do that ever again!” Antaska had answered.
“OK, OK,” Potat had said and then crouched down to watch Antaska from a safe distance.
Hours later, Antaska finally fell asleep.
At the same time that M. Hoyvil heard the strange musical sound coming from the hallway, Potat heard it too and started to feel sleepy. The low soothing sound harmonized with the hum of the station’s air purification system.
Potat probed out with her mind to find the source of the sound. Her probe touched the mind of a living, sentient being! The sound got louder, and despite her awareness of danger, Potat grew more and more tired.
“Grrrr!” she tried to shout, but it came out more like a purr.
She fought against sleep, but sleep won.
With a sudden jolt, Antaska was wide awake. She noticed little Potat fast asleep next to her, and then got up to go to the bathroom. The station’s usual slight chemical smell seemed stronger than usual, and Antaska shivered in the cool recycled air. Antaska pulled back the curtain that separated the sleeping space and walked into the living room. A dim path through the living room to the bathroom was lit by nightlights on the ceiling. She looked through the dimness to the far side of the room and gasped.
There, several feet in front of her, stood a man. A plain-looking, forgettable humanoid. Thick and curly brown hair, the color that Potat would call mousy brown, stood out in all directions from his head. He wore plain loose clothes--unremarkable and unmemorable—but some memory whispered too soft to hear.
I need to do something! she thought. Push the alarm button or yell.
The man stared intently at Antaska. She stared back. He was no one she recognized, or did she? There was something familiar about his eyes. Antaska looked harder. A glimmer of white moved in the weak lighting. A Woogah!
She tried to locate the alarm, but now her eyes seemed to be stuck on the man’s eyes, and her body seemed frozen. She wanted to scream, but her mouth and voice seemed frozen too.
Antaska stared in shocked silence, and the man was also silent and unmoving. But the intense eyes staring out from his indistinct face spoke volumes. Predatory malice. Confidence that no escape would be possible. She struggled in vain to move, yell, do something. Her sweat dripped, chilling her in the cool, dry air.
Frozen and frightened, Antaska wondered if the man meant to rape her or kill her or something worse. Just as she decided it must be the third choice, he plunged toward her with unexpected speed. Absolute terror demanded fight or flight, but as if under some compulsion, she still could not move a muscle.
Then he was directly in front of her. One hand reached out and pressed a small object against her stomach.
The man and the room disappeared, and Antaska’s vision filled with a two-dimensional display of rows and columns of flowing symbols. They resembled the Earth human binary code of ones and zeros but were more like circles and L-shapes with rounded corners and ends. Some of the circles and L-shapes were a lighter shade, and some were darker. The display flowed rapidly across what seemed like an opaque background, but Antaska couldn’t see anything behind it. It continued for several seconds. Recognition of a pattern tugged in the back of her mind.
And then there was nothing.
Chapter 10
Late the next morning, M. Hoyvil, with Potat leaning out from his pocket, ignored the annoyed stares of various species as he dashed through the curving spaceship corridors. The shock of Antaska’s disappearance spurred him to action. Guilt, grief, and despair lurked somewhere waiting to pounce if he slowed down for even an instant. Added to his self-blame was the action he must now take. Having to seek help from the last person he wanted to ask for help. In almost no time, M. Hoyvil was pressing the chime on Master Meeepp’s door.
“Yes, who is it?” Master Meeepp answered in a lazy, deep telepathic voice.
“It’s M. Hoyvil and Potat,” shouted M. Hoyvil. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but this is an emergency! A catastrophe!”
“A catastrophe, you say?” asked Master Meeepp in his usual voice. “Very well, I will speak to you now. You may enter,” he said as he pressed a button to open the door.
The massive door began to rise inch by inch. Potat didn’t wait for it to reach a height to allow M. Hoyvil to enter but flattened herself down and pushed into the room as soon as it had lifted a mere six inches above the floor.
“Well, well, what is this?” asked Master Meeepp.
When the door was up to about five feet, M. Hoyvil ducked down and entered too in time to see a small ball of gray fur rocket into Master Meeepp and then fall back to the floor in front of him. Potat began meowing furiously.
“They take my pet! You get pet back!” is what M. Hoyvil heard Potat yell in her telepathic cat voice, but he knew that his understanding of her speech might be limited.
Master Meeepp’s huge eyebrows rose in surprise. His massive body leaned way down to hover over the tiny cat.
“Did this miniscule creature just say, “Pet gone?” he asked M. Hoyvil, who was now in the room.
“Yes! Antaska has been kidnapped by the Woogah!” M. Hoyvil shouted up at Master Meeepp, who had raised himself back up to his full ten-foot height. “I need a scout ship to chase after her right away. She has a chip in her ear, and we can track her.”
“What? Hold on a minute. How can that be?” asked Master Meeepp in disbelief, holding up one large palm. “The Woogah don’t take human pets, only telepathic females.”
Little Potat dashed up M. Hoyvil’s side, digging her claws in as if she were climbing a tree. She jumped into his pocket and screamed, “My pet! My pet!” in Master Meeepp’s direction in her tiny mental voice.
“They must be taking humans now be
cause they took her, I’m certain of it,” said M. Hoyvil to Master Meeepp. “I checked with station security, and she is nowhere on the station. And one of the Woogahs who was here yesterday is also gone. They used hypnotic music to put us to sleep late in the night.”
“Yes, that is one of their many tricks,” agreed Master Meeepp. “I must report this the authorities on Central Planet right away. If the Woogahs are starting to capture our pets too, the thousands of them who are travelling throughout the galaxy are at risk!”
“You’re right, you need to report this, but meanwhile, I need you to help me get Antaska back,” said M. Hoyvil.
“My pet! My pet!” yelled little Potat. She climbed back out of M. Hoyvil’s pocket, ran down his side, and began dashing in circles around the room, bouncing high and far on the cushiony floor covering in the one-half Earth gravity.
Master Meeepp put a large hand on M. Hoyvil’s shoulder and looked down at him but said nothing.
“I’m so sorry to hear this, M. Hoyvil,” said an elderly male voice from across the room.
The adult Verdantes had larger lodgings than those of the adolescents. M. Hoyvil looked over to see Master Meeepp’s human companions, Vorche and Tabxi, sitting in human-sized chairs.
“I’m very concerned about her,” said Tabxi. “I hope you can get her back soon.”
“Thank you,” said M. Hoyvil. He turned back to Master Meeepp, who still hadn’t said anything.
Finally Master Meeepp spoke. “For the first time in nearly 500 years, I am at a loss for words,” he said. “Come, let us sit down and you tell me what has happened,” he said leading M. Hoyvil over to a gigantic, peach-colored adult Verdante-sized couch.
M. Hoyvil put Potat on the couch and then hopped up beside her to sit with his feet dangling off the floor. Then Master Meeepp sat down next to him.
“Now,” said Master Meeepp, “I’ll listen while you tell me all about this.”
M. Hoyvil took a deep breath and began to speak quickly.
“Last night there were Woogahs in the mixed-species dining hall. And I think Antaska is becoming telepathic, and maybe the other Earth humans are too,” M. Hoyvil explained.
“What?!” Master Meeepp’s interruption blasted into M. Hoyvil’s mind.
“I know you’ll have trouble believing this, but I think the other humans were being rude to her, and it got to her, and then she yelled ‘Shut up! Shut up’ telepathically, maybe by accident, and the Woogahs heard!”
“A human telepathic! By accident! Rude to her!” said Master Meeepp.
M. Hoyvil looked up to see Master Meeepp’s large green head turning and circling around from side to side.
“Humans being rude?” Master Meeepp asked. “How can that be possible? Didn’t these come from our Earth training school?”
Master Meeepp got up and retrieved two long beverage tubes from a storage compartment in the wall. He handed one to M. Hoyvil.
“You look peaked, my boy. Your skin is loosing its greenness,” he said. “Drink up.”
M. Hoyvil wanted to refuse, but he suddenly felt extreme thirst. He lifted the chlorophyll water tube and drank it all in one long sip.
“Anyway, there must be something wrong with these ones,” M. Hoyvil continued. “It’s like they’re completely selfish, inconsiderate, and self-absorbed!”
“There you go,” M. Hoyvil heard a soft human voice and then a tiny lapping sound.
He looked down on his other side to see Tabxi standing next to Potat, who was drinking thirstily from a small bowl.
M. Hoyvil dropped his head into his six-fingered hands and moaned.
I’m like that too, he thought. This is all my fault!
He felt the gentle pat of a small hand against his arm. He turned to look down at the smaller humanoid Tabxi.
“Now, M. Hoyvil,” she said, “we all know you care about Antaska and Potat. It’s most definitely not your fault, and I think you’re doing a wonderful job.”
M. Hoyvil gasped telepathically. Could Tabxi be telepathic too? And Vorche? Have they been telepathic all this time? he wondered.
He looked over at Vorche across the room, and the old human winked one eye at him!
“M. Hoyvil, you were saying?” Master Meeepp asked.
M. Hoyvil continued. “So we tried to stay awake all night to watch her, but those dastardly fiends put us to sleep with their demonic hypnotic music. In the morning, we woke up to find her gone!” he finished all in a rush.
“Are you sure?” asked Master Meeepp. “I have never heard of a case of an Earth humanoid pet being affected by the hypnotism of the Woogah. Their victims must possess telepathic abilities in order for the hypnosis techniques those low lifes use to affect their minds.”
“Yes, I’m positive,” answered M. Hoyvil. “I heard her yell telepathically. We all did. And all the Earthlings may be starting to have telepathic abilities. All of our Earth humans may be in danger, and their Verdantes need to be warned. But first, we must get Antaska back!”
“This news is most disturbing, and all pet owners need to know that this happened,” Master Meeepp agreed. “However, you must understand the extreme difficulty that would be involved in getting your pet back.” he said in a deep grave voice. “If what you’re telling me is true, this is the first kidnapping affecting the Verdantes in over 2,000 years. Many, many years ago, a Verdante adolescent female was captured by the Woogahs. After several hundred years of diplomatic negotiation, we were able to get the Woogahs to agree to her release. Tragically, she was no longer the same person. She had been brainwashed to be happy only when serving her Woogah captor. She existed in a state of misery and despondence at being parted from him. Of course, we could not send her back there, so we tried to correct the damage by surgically removing the affected parts of her brain. After many surgeries, she finally lost her memories of the Woogah and her desire to return to him, but she also lost much of her intelligence and all of her telepathic ability.
“After the surgeries,” Master Meeepp went on, “she seemed to find some measure of happiness spending time with Earth humans. In fact, they became her caretakers rather than the other way around. But when those she cared for passed on due to their much shorter lifespans, she was crushed by grief. In about 1,000 years after her return to us, she died young at the age of 3,000. I believe that the painful emotions she experienced, so unusual in the lives of most Verdantes, were part of the reason for her early demise. From that point on, to prevent the reoccurrence of this vile deed, we have not allowed our females to travel into deep space, as you know. I tell you this story so you can understand that even if we could somehow get Antaska back, a lengthy process that could take most of her remaining lifetime, she would be changed beyond all recognition and would never again be happy living with you.”
“No! I won’t give up that easily!” insisted M. Hoyvil. “She’s my responsibility, and it’s wrong to leave her at the mercy of those barbarous creatures. Even if her mind is truly destroyed, it would be kinder to give her brain surgery and let her live with us even as a mindless vegetable than to leave her in slavery. But if we act fast, we can get her back before too much damage is done. I must go now. I need you to lend me the shuttle,” he said.
“Lend you the shuttle!” Master Meeepp repeated. “That’s impossible. Who knows when you’d be back, and the adults who are here on the station are leaving back to the Verdante planet in a week.”
“Well, you can all go with me or just wait here until I get back,” offered M. Hoyvil.
In his extreme impatience, he was sign-talking wildly at the same time. “Let’s go! Get moving! Now! Now! Now!” said his fingers.
Master Meeepp paused and took a deep breath. He crossed his massive, powerful arms across his massive chest, preparing for a battle of wills. M. Hoyvil was his toughest opponent whenever it came to that.
A confusing mixture of amusement, offense, sorrow, and also some pride had washed though Master Meeepp while listening to M. Hoyvil’s eager
ness to rescue his pet. With the superior understanding of an adult Verdante, Master Meeepp decided to overlook rudeness that would be unacceptable in ordinary circumstances.
“Male offspring of my genes,” he addressed M. Hoyvil in the most personal way. “There are many reasons why your plan to fly to the rescue won’t work. First of all, I can’t give you the shuttle. Their flight plans are controlled by the Verdante space corps, and they’re very unlikely to let you take it. Even if you could somehow convince them, universal law prohibits you from taking Antaska away from the Woogahs without her agreement. If she is under their hypnotic spell, she won’t agree to leave them.
“To make matters even more impossible, you can’t land a ship on the Woogah planet without their permission, and you’re prohibited by universal law from stepping foot on it. Any humanoid who sets foot on an alien planet without permission of the native species becomes a wanted criminal throughout the known universe. I understand your distress, but your rescue plan won’t work.”
“We must save her, it’s our responsibility to the humans,” M. Hoyvil argued. “We’re hypocrites if we pretend that we take earth humans for their protection, but our real reason for taking them is to have them as pets who we protect only when it’s convenient. We say we’re their benefactors, and those who live with us are helped, but in this case, living with us has harmed Antaska. We’re responsible for her falling victim to the Woogah. How can you justify leaving her to such a terrible fate?”
At this point, Master Meeepp noticed his faithful and elderly human pets, Vorche and Tabxi, looking in his direction with worried expressions on their faces. At times like this, he could almost believe that the humans were able to understand some of the telepathic language.
Master Meeepp crossed the room and stood towering above the much smaller seated humans. He spoke to them out loud.
hypnoSnatch (Xeno Relations Book 2) Page 7