Star Cat: The First Trilogy (Infinity Claws, Pink Symphony, War Mage)

by Andrew Mackay

  Not beautiful enough to hang around for, though. Jaycee had to take decisive action to survive.

  He kicked himself toward the creature - the two flew through the air towards each other just outside the elevator door. In a few seconds they’d collide and slam the hell out of each other.

  Jaycee reached into his belt and took out his secondary Rez-9 firearm. He aimed it at the creature’s knuckled center and waited for the perfect moment to take his shot, "Monster go bye-bye."

  "Screeeeee," the creature flung its talons forward.

  Jaycee ducked as the talon sliced the back of his helmet. "Gaah," He jammed the Rez-9 into the creature’s screaming throat and squeezed the trigger.

  KA-SCHPLAA-AATT!

  Six of the creature’s limbs splattered out from his body, vomiting ropes of pink slime in all directions.

  Jaycee whipped his hand out from the creature’s mouth as its jaws clamped shut. The Rez-9 bounced off its incisors and into the depths of the chamber.

  "Screeeee," It wailed against the elevator tube’s outer doors. Four of its remaining limbs pushed the door off its railings, forcing the creature’s body into the empty travel tube.

  Jaycee kicked himself away from the column. He barrel-rolled for the battered door like a twisting dart of metal.

  "Let’s finish this, ass-face."

  The creature slammed three limbs on both sides of its body against the elevator tube. The result looked like a twenty-foot, limb-like cobweb - ready to catch and murder its prey.

  Jaycee shot through the broken door and clenched his right fist, "Come get some."

  FLICK-SWISH-SCH’TANG!

  The talons on each of the six limbs fanned out in readiness for its assailant’s arrival.

  Jaycee’s knuckles connected with the beast’s screaming slit. Its razor teeth bent down its throat causing it to choke and splutter. It retaliated by swiping its limbs at Jaycee. Each attempt narrowly avoided his body. He was too close and the limbs couldn’t tuck in enough to do any significant damage.

  A thundering sound of something very heavy shot down the tube as Jaycee punched the beast once again.

  The sound of heaviness grew ever louder. The tube shuddered more and more…

  A shadow stretched across Jaycee’s face. Something rocketed towards him and the beast - the elevator.

  "Oh, shii—"

  He took one, final look at the beast. The creature roared in Jaycee’s face with such force that a hairline crack tore across his visor.

  He tightened his grip on the creature’s midsection and yelled back over the growing thunder of the whizzing elevator, “Die. You ugly, pink bastard."

  Jaycee booted the creature and somersaulted out of the tunnel, banging his arm on the broken door.

  The force of the launch sent the creature back against the curved tube.

  It looked up as its body blanketed into darkness from the shadow created by the approaching elevator.

  "Screeeee—"

  SCHAA-PLATTT!

  The elevator pulverized the creature against the ground. It exploded in a haze of pink gore and shattered bone.

  Jaycee’s boots hit the ground, affording him a few seconds of respite.

  Streaks of pink blood the size of a rolled-up duvet jettisoned in all directions from underneath the elevator and splattered across the floor.

  "Level ten. Engine and Payload. Have a nice day," the female voice announced with a chirpy vigor. The elevator doors opened and released Jaycee’s severed, gloveless hand.

  He grabbed it in his good hand and pulled himself into the elevator.

  The flat surface panel lit up, requesting a level selection. He didn’t press any of the buttons. Instead, he looked at the complicated fusion of wires and metal rods jutting out from the wrist of his severed hand.

  Tucked inside the trapezium of the hand was a small imprint of something.

  Jaycee squinted at it at the text and moved it closer to his face. Then, a damning blow crept across his brain as he processed the information.

  The logo of a company named of Manning/Synapse nestled inside the wrist.

  Jaycee blinked three times in succession. The text was still there in black and white - in more ways than one.

  He let out an apocalyptic cry of anger and threw his useless hand against the ground, “Bastards.”

  He kicked the elevator wall with his giant metal boot. He wanted blood, but had to expel the revelation from his mind.

  "No, no, no…"

  The elevator wall didn’t budge. He could have kicked it all day long without so much as causing a chink in the material.

  He stomped his boot to the floor and tried to calm himself down, "An Androgyne? I can’t—"

  THWACK!

  He thumped the panel on the wall and shattered the screen. He’d taken himself by surprise with his own violent reaction.

  Level Four lit up on the selection panel.

  "Thank you," the reassuring voice said, "Lever Four. Weapons and Armory. Please remain standing."

  The cage doors closed on a furious Jaycee Nayall.

  The elevator shot up the delivery pipe, sending the ultimate - if imperfect and incomplete - execution machine to the top of the ship.

  ***

  Wool, Tripp, and Bonnie entered Medix with a considerable amount of caution. The latter two members of Opera Beta were unsure of what they were about to see and braced themselves.

  Wool walked over to Jelly’s bed. She encouraging her colleague’s eye line to the wondrous event that had taken place on Jelly’s bed.

  "It’s okay, you can come forward," Wool grabbed a blanket from an adjacent gurney and turned to Jelly, "Look at you. You’re cold."

  Tripp and Bonnie could hardly believe what they saw, "Jelly?" they said together.

  "Oh, wow,” a joyous grin crept across Bonnie’s face, "It’s amaziant."

  "But, but—" Tripp shook his head and flew into cynical mode, "It can’t be?"

  "I believe you," Bonnie sat at the edge of the bed and pressed her fingertips against the mattress. "Are you okay?"

  "It can be, and it is," Wool pulled out the soft sheet and lowered it onto the back of an orange-white neck and shoulders, "She’s fine and healthy. Aren’t you, honey?"

  A six-year-old girl-cat sat on the bed, shivering, with her arms around her bent knees. Several wires attached to her chest and abdomen sprawled over her arms, attached to a heart rate monitor.

  This was no ordinary girl, though.

  "Is that better, honey?" Wool smiled and placed the blanket over Jelly’s knees, warming her up and securing her modesty.

  The girl ran the side of her face against Wool’s sleeve.

  "Aww. You like that, don’t you?"

  Jelly had evolved. How much so? It was too early to tell.

  Her whiskers had shrunk but still vibrated with life. She retained her slightly elongated infinity claws. Very fine orange hair adorned her legs, arms, and face.

  She looked more human than feline, not accounting for the whiskers. By all accounts, an astounding vision of beauty.

  Tripp took a step forward and couldn’t help but stare, "In all my life, I... I don’t know what to say."

  "Then don’t say anything," Wool whispered. "She’s had a rough day. I think she’ll need some rest."

  "Wool?" Jelly coughed inside her throat and ran her coarse tongue across her lips.

  "Yes, honey?"

  "Water."

  Her voice conformed to that of a typical six-year-old’s - relatively high in tone but with a discreet cat-like twist.

  "She talks, too?" Bonnie’s eyes lit up with love in an instant. She pressed her finger to her chest and over-gesticulated her opening statement, "Me... Bonnie."

  Jelly ducked her head with embarrassment, "I know… you."

  "Wow," Bonnie gasped.

  Jelly’s cat-like ears slapped back and forth as she lowered the side of her face to her own forearm and purred.

  Tripp made for the door in
haste, "I’m sorry, I need a few minutes. I’ll be right back."

  Wool passed by him with a cup of water, "Everything okay?"

  "Yes," he huffed, very unsure of himself, "No. I don’t know. Just give me…"

  He didn’t finish his sentence as he walked through the door. Wool shrugged her shoulders and approached Jelly’s bed, "Here you are, honey. Some fresh water."

  "Mommy," Jelly opened out her half-human hand, fanning her titanium claws out, "Claws. Sharp. Ouch."

  Wool giggled. "I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll set it down on the side desk, here. You can pick it up yourself."

  "Water," Jelly added.

  Tripp wandered aimlessly around the corridor with his eyes shut. He muttered to himself at a rapid pace. Praying was beyond him. Most of the events he’d experienced since leaving for Saturn ran through his mind.

  Discovering Alpha.

  The escape from Alpha.

  The loss of his best friend and captain, Daryl Katz.

  The strange happenings with Haloo Ess.

  News of what was happening on Earth.

  The discovery of Pink Symphony - whatever it was.

  He tried to make sense of it all. The answer felt so tantalizingly close yet nowhere near solvable. A frustrating experience aided little with what had happened to Jelly.

  "Please, tell me this is all a dream," Tripp crouched to his knees and ran his hands through his hair, “I want to wake up… I feel so alone…"

  Jelly wiggled her nose at her own reflection in the glass of water.

  Wool and Bonnie watched her sniff around the rim of the glass. A bit too close. Her head jolted back from the corresponding reflection of her nose in the glass.

  "You’ve seen humans drink from a glass, haven’t you?" Wool giggled with affection.

  "Yes," she opened out her brand new human fingers and blew across her fur. Her metacarpal pad remained in the center of her palm.

  She closed her fingers around it. The sharp underside of each infinity claw clinked across the glass as she tightened her grip.

  "That’s it, honey," Wool beamed and winked at Bonnie, "You’re doing so well."

  The bottom of the glass lifted away from the desk and over her lap. Jelly sniffed around the rim, ensuring its freshness.

  "Now, put up to your mouth," Bonnie pursed her lips and mimed knocking back a shot of liquid from a pretend glass, "You’ll have to make your mouth move. Like this.”

  Jelly enacted what she saw. Her lips were new - she’d have fun with them for the next few hours until the novelty wore off.

  The rim of the glass pressed against her bottom lip. She replicated Bonnie’s actions a little too literally. The water fountained down her sheet, going everywhere except her mouth.

  "Oh no," Wool moved forward and caught the glass from Jelly’s hand, "Here, let me take that—"

  Jelly burst out crying as the water soaked through the sheet.

  "Hey, hey, it’s okay," Bonnie took the sheet away and folded it in her arms, "We’ll get you another—"

  "—Right, I want answers," Tripp stormed through the door and made for Jelly, who instantly cowered behind her arms in fright.

  "Miew."

  "Jelly, look at me."

  "Tripp, what are you doing?" Wool barked at him as he loomed over the frightened young girl. The heart monitor beeped rapidly.

  "Be quiet, Wool. That’s an order," he turned to Jelly and paused for a second as he looked into her eyes, "Look at me."

  "I… I look."

  "This is quite ridiculous. You expect me to believe—"

  "—Tripp, please," Bonnie tried.

  "Bonnie, you’re outta line. Stand down," he returned to Jelly and demanded answers, "I know you understand me. I’m not playing around, anymore. Tell me what happened to you."

  Jelly stopped purring and hugged her knees against her chest, "Big… water."

  "Big water? You mean outside there in that pink place?"

  She nodded and hoped Tripp was satisfied enough to leave her alone. Very ambitious, given his less than sedentary mood.

  "What happened when you went in the water?"

  "S-Swim," she stammered, her whiskers vibrating subtly, “Down."

  "Why did you do that?"

  "Hairs made me," she pointed at her whiskers, “Go to get gift."

  "Gift?" Tripp exclaimed and threw his hands into the air, "What gift? What’s the gift?"

  "Pink Symphony."

  "This is useless," Tripp couldn’t look at her any longer. He faced the opposite wall in an attempt to calm his nerves.

  "Not liking. Angry," Jelly swung her legs over the edge of the bed in defiance, "Not liking you."

  He punched his fists together with frustration, "Tell her to stop speaking. She’s a cat for Christ’s sake. Cats don’t speak."

  Wool wasn’t happy with his behavior. She walked around the bed and held her hands out at Jelly, "Tripp, can you try to exercise a bit of decorum, here? Please?"

  Bonnie didn’t have anything to say.

  "Here, honey," Wool held her hands under Jelly’s opened arms, "You want to try and walk? Like we do?"

  Exasperated, Tripp turned around, baffled with the girls’ refusal to question what had happened.

  "She’s a cat. Look at her."

  "Tripp," Bonnie shouted at him with disdain and pointed at the little girl, "Look, we know it’s ridiculous, but look at her. She’s real, she’s there, and she’s frightened. It’s happened, okay? This is what we have, now. Do you understand?"

  He screwed his face and looked at the floor.

  "Hey, Healy," Bonnie jumped to her feet and clapped her hands together, launching into a sarcastic tirade. "Yoo-hoo. Pink Symphony-to-Healy. Can you read me?"

  "Yes, I hear you."

  "What did you think we’d find when we left USARIC, huh?" Bonnie’s heart needed to release way more than just a rhetorical cliché of a question.

  "I don’t know—"

  "—You think we’d all sail up to Saturn and find aliens with two mouths? We use all the weapons and start a big, galactic fight with space ships and guns? Pfft, typical male, aren’t you?"

  "No."

  Bonnie licked her mouth and pretend-spat at the floor, "Ugh, you’ve made my mouth go all dry, now, having to shout at you like that," she thumped her chest in a pantomime fashion, "Me, Bonnie. You, captain," she pointed to Wool as she hugged Jelly. "Her? Jelly Anderson. Star Cat. Remember that?"

  "Yes," Tripp apologized. "I remember."

  "This was your idea, you know."

  "I know."

  "Don’t I know me and act all repentant now that you’re being told off by an android. You’re feeling lonely? Tough. Hard times out in the big bad universe? Big deal, go N-Gage your wife and kid and cry about it. Start as you mean to go on, Healy. You asked USARIC to help you find the perfect candidate to join us. Now that you’ve have it you’re acting like a puss— no, actually, you’re acting like a bitch. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?"

  She stormed over to the bed and scooped Jelly into her arms. She purred up a treat and rubbed the side of her face against Bonnie’s shoulder. Wool teared up and moved her face away from view.

  Jelly stretched her arms out at the picture of Jamie on the wall, “Want Jamie.”

  “I know, sweetie. We all have people we miss.”

  "Miew," Jelly whimpered with a smile on her face. She threw her arms around Bonnie’s neck and hugged her, purring up a treat, "Bonnie."

  Tripp took in the unusual sight. He knew deep down inside that he’d acted hastily. It was the last thing anyone on Opera Beta needed right now.

  "I’m sorry."

  "You bet your sweet ass you’re sorry," Bonnie ran her knuckle under Jelly’s chin and threw Tripp a look of contrition, "Now apologize to Jelly."

  "Uh, sorry. Jelly."

  "Pathetic. Say it like you mean it."

  Bonnie lowered Jelly to the ground. Tripp’s eyes followed her down. Her bare paw-like feet hit the tiled gr
ound. Then, a fluffy tail lowered above it.

  Jelly waded around on the spot, keeping a firm grip on Bonnie’s hand.

  Tripp squatted in front of her and held out his hand, "I’m sorry, Jelly. Friends?"

  She eyed his fingers and considered his offer.

  "No.”

  "Oh."

  For the first time in his entire life Tripp’s attempt at reconciliation had failed him. His charm may have worked wonders with others. But with Jelly? Not so much.

  "Tripp, we have work to do," Wool said. "I need to make sure she’s mobile. I want to run a PET scan on her before I let her leave Medix. Just to be on the safe side."

  "A pet scan?" Tripp smiled.

  "Yes. Problem?"

  "No, no. Just appreciating the irony, that’s all." He stood up and swallowed the rejection. He caught Jelly peering from behind Bonnie’s waist, hoping he’d just go away.

  "Miew.’

  "Okay, okay. I’m going," he acknowledged his personal rejection, "I’ll go and find out what’s happening on the flight deck, shall I?"

  "Yes, I think that would be best," Bonnie ran her fingers through Jelly’s new head of hair.

  Tripp exited Medix with as much affability and dignity as his current situation allowed. Which wasn’t very much, sadly.

  As soon as the door shut, Wool and Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief.

  "He’s such a butt hole, sometimes," Wool turned to Jelly and smiled, "Do you know what a butt hole is?"

  Jelly nodded.

  "Yes, of course you do. You’ve spent enough time cleaning yours."

  "No decorum, huh?" Bonnie giggled.

  Jelly stared at Bonnie’s hand and released her grip, slowly.

  "What are you doing, honey?" Wool grew apprehensive about Jelly’s desire for independence, "No, no. You’re not ready for that, yet."

  "Let her try?" Bonnie kept her focus on Jelly’s hand in hers, "Go on, sweetie. Try and stand on your own."

  Jelly pursed her lips and teased her claws away from Bonnie’s palm.

  Her arm moved to the side of her waist. There she was, standing upright on her own feet, covered in a damp, white blanket. She resembled a statuesque angel in her own way.

  Wool held her mouth in amazement. "Unbelievable."