“We have a good idea where this slaver is taking Pweet,” said XoXo. “But you’re right. You probably could tell us exactly where she is on the Woogah planet when we get there. And he could sell her to any of the hundreds of slave factories on the Woogah planet.”
“Slave factory!” M. Mort shouted telepathically.
The adult Verdantes on the other side of the room turned and looked his way.
“Yes. I’m sorry, but that’s what happens to females who are abducted by the Woogahs,” said the lieutenant.
She patted M. Mort on the shoulder.
“I’m impressed that you want to help us, but we’ll have to ask Captain Kamphone. You’re very young, and he’s the one who makes this kind of decision.”
XoXo stared meaningfully across the room at the captain. He looked at the other adults. Then he turned and walked over to stand in front of M. Mort and the lieutenant.
“Captain,” Lieutenant XoXo addressed him. “This young man would like to join us when we chase after that Woogah who just kidnapped the Earth female Pweet. He believes that he bonded with her when she was here. We both think he could pinpoint her exact location on the Woogah planet.”
The captain looked down at M. Mort with stern narrowed eyes.
“That might be helpful,” the captain agreed. “But you’re very young, M. Mort. This voyage could be dangerous. Especially dangerous if anyone becomes headstrong and doesn’t follow orders.”
“I can follow orders,” said M. Mort.
“Did you know that we don’t travel in space with humans?” asked the captain. “That’s because our missions are dangerous. Our race’s responsibility as the caretakers of the Earthlings is to keep them safe. So we can’t bring humans along to ease the uncomfortable effects of our mental shields. We don’t even bother with shields. Can you handle that?”
“Yes. I’ve heard that you don’t use shields, and you travel with females, obviously,” said M. Mort, looking up at Lieutenant XoXo. “But I don’t care if you read my thoughts. I just want to get Pweet back.”
“Very well, then. We’ll take you,” said Kamphone. “But you should know that even with your help, there’s no guarantee we’ll get her back. This will be a dangerous and difficult mission.”
“But I heard you just rescued an Earth female and two others,” M. Mort protested.
“We did, but the truth is, we had a lot of help,” said XoXo. “And our biggest helper was a little cat. She was able to go through the force field without detection because of her size. But we don’t have any cats right now.”
“There’s lots of cats on Earth,” said M. Mort. “Maybe we can get one.”
“I don’t know how easy that would be,” said XoXo. “They’re sentient beings, you know. We can’t just grab one and take it away. That would be kidnapping too.”
“Anyway,” said Captain Kamphone, “we need to let Master Benster know that you’ll be leaving with us.”
He turned and gestured for the other adults to join them. They walked over and stood looking down at M. Mort.
“This young man has decided to go with us. He thinks he can help us locate Pweet because he might have bonded with her,” the captain told Master Benster.
“Wha…Bfff….Ffff,” Master Benster stuttered telepathically then spoke. “Are you out of your minds? You can’t just walk in here and take one of our adolescents away with you!”
“No, we can’t,” said the male lieutenant standing next to Master Benster. “But if he chooses to go with us, he may. He’s 650 years old and of legal age to make the decision, even if he’s physically still an adolescent.”
“By law, but not by tradition,” Master Benster argued.
M. Mort spoke up. “But isn’t our tradition to put the safety of the Earth humans before that of the adolescents? Isn’t that why we camouflage the Earthlings in tan ship suits? So if anyone attacks our ships, they’ll be hardest to see? Harder to see than adolescents who dress in blue space suits? I’m following tradition by trying to rescue this human who we Verdantes are responsible for. And I’m especially responsible for her because I promised to take her, and then I didn’t.”
Shame flooded him, and he looked down at the floor.
The room was silent for a few moments, then Master Benster spoke.
“I see that you’ve made up your mind, and you’ve convinced me as well, M. Mort. But I strongly suggest you people stay here for a day or two to get some gravity and solid food. You’re showing the signs of too much time spent going too fast through space.”
M. Mort looked up and took a closer look at the Jalapeno’s crew members. Master Benster was right. They weren’t just thin, they were gaunt with dark hollows in their cheeks and eyes.
“We do what we have to when the freedom of innocent humanoids is on the line,” said the captain. “But I think we can stop here a few days and still beat that Woogah slaver back to his planet. The Jalapeno is the fastest ship in the galaxy, after all.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Master Benster. “I’ll arrange quarters for you. And you, young man,” he addressed M. Mort. “I suggest you go make your own arrangements for this trip and let your friends know you’ll be going. They might not see you again for a very long time.”
“Or ever,” thought M. Mort.
He hopped down off the couch and headed for the door.
The next day, M. Mort sat on a bench outside the Verdante center thinking about Pweet and feeling guilty. There wasn’t much else for him to do while he waited for the Jalapeno to leave Earth. All of his friends had left that morning with their new human pets. Back to the Verdante planet and then on to outer space. The males would go to space anyway. The females and their pets would be stuck on the Verdante planet.
Everyone but me, thought M. Mort. I never imagined it would turn out this way. But I know I made the right decision—at least this time—to go after Pweet.
He looked over at the artificial pond and remembered the last time he saw her, looking up at him standing behind the window, behind his shields. Then walking away.
M. Mort sighed and kicked his space-booted foot against the bench, enjoying the feel of the sun and wind despite his gloom. He realized that he’d spent his entire life in climate-controlled environments.
Earth weather is quite nice, he thought. But the humans are always so anxious to leave here.
Distracted by his thoughts, M. Mort didn’t notice the other sentient being who was nearby.
Murrie the black kitten wandered aimlessly out in the field next to the Verdante buildings. He didn’t know what to do with himself since Pweet had left, and he was hoping that she might come back.
“Come home, Murrie!” his mother, family, and friends called in his mind.
“Not now. I’m busy,” Murrie answered them.
“I told you to stay away from those humanoids!” said his mom.
But Murrie just ignored her.
Didn’t Pweet say that they would stay together? he asked himself. So didn’t that mean she’d be back? Why did she leave anyway? Was it my fault for running away like a scaredy cat?
He sat down in the grass and sniffed, then rubbed his pink nose with a tiny black paw. He remembered how Pweet reached her hand out to the strange blue alien man and then jumped up into the ship.
No one forced her, thought Murrie. But I still think she made a big mistake.
Murrie imagined Pweet again, lying in the grassy field.
Then something nagged in the corner of his mind. Thoughts of Pweet. But they weren’t Murrie’s thoughts. They were someone else’s thoughts coming from someone else nearby!
Murrie froze in place with his eyes sharp and ears pricked up high. He located the thoughts and the thinker. Over there by the big Verdante buildings!
His mom had always told him, “Don’t go over there, Murrie. They’re so huge that they won’t even see you, and they’ll step on you. Or if they see you, they’ll grab you up and take you away in their space ships.”<
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So Murrie had always stayed away. Until now.
He crept on silent feet through the tall grasses until reached their edge. Just a few feet away from a giant green humanoid at least two feet taller than Pweet. But not an adult. Murrie could tell that. He waited and watched, reading the big humanoid’s thoughts.
“It’s all my fault that Pweet got kidnapped,” Murrie read in his mind.
Kidnapped! thought Murrie.
“I’ll try my best to help rescue her, but what if I can’t? They said we might not be able to get her out. Last time a cat helped them, but I don’t have a cat. I know they have cats on Earth, but I don’t know how to get one. Do they just walk up to you, or something?”
Wow! thought Murrie. They need a cat to rescue Pweet. I’m a cat, and I want to rescue her, but these humanoids are really big and scary. And I’d have to leave Earth and maybe never come back. But maybe it’s my fault too because I ran away last time. Now Pweet needs me, so I have to do it. He finally talked himself into it.
Murrie crept forward and sat down on the pavement. He kept a few feet away from the large humanoid for safety’s sake. The big guy was resting his chin in one big green hand, looking out at the scenery, and sighing telepathically. He didn’t notice the small black puff ball on the ground in front of him.
“Hello?” said Murrie telepathically.
“Huh?” said the alien. He spun his head and looked all around, but he didn’t look down at Murrie.
“Mew!” said Murrie out loud, trying to get his attention.
The big alien looked down, and the corners of his enormous eyes lifted up high.
“A cat!” he said.
“Yes, I’m a cat,” Murrie answered him telepathically. “I’m here to help you rescue Pweet. You need my help, right? When do we leave?”
“A cat!” the giant said again. “You speak? You’re telepathic?” he asked. “I can’t quite understand what you’re saying, but it sounds like you’ll go with me?”
“Yes. That’s what I said,” Murrie answered. “And I’ve heard that you humanoids have trouble understanding the more advanced race—cats—but I’ll be patient with you. Just don’t step on me, OK?”
“No. I promise not to step on you,” said the alien.
Well, at least he understood that, thought Murrie.
“Are you ready to go?” the alien asked him.
“I just have to tell my mom, and then I can go,” said Murrie.
“Oh. When will you be back?” the alien asked him.
“I don’t have to go anywhere. I can tell her from here,” said Murrie.
He closed his tiny green eyes and reached out to his mother.
“Mom, I’m leaving the planet for a while with this big alien to rescue an Earth female. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Murrie told her mentally.
Her answer was a mental screech and a yowl.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” said Murrie, and then he cut off the connection.
“OK. We can go now,” Murrie told the big green guy.
“I’m M. Mort, by the way,” the alien introduced himself.
“I’m Murrie,” said the kitten.
“It’s nice to meet you, Murrie,” said M. Mort. “Can I take you inside to meet the crew of the space ship we’ll be going on?”
“OK,” said Murrie. “But I’m kinda scared to walk in that big building with all those big people with big feet walking around. They might not see me and then step on me like my mom said.”
“I can carry you,” M. Mort offered. “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
When he spoke those words, Murrie read M. Mort’s thoughts. He felt guilty about not keeping Pweet safe! Murrie felt the same guilt. He sighed a tiny cat sigh.
“OK,” said Murrie.
M. Mort got off the bench and squatted down in front of Murrie. That made him less gigantic but still pretty big. He lowered one big green hand to the ground with the palm up. Murrie climbed on, and M. Mort stood up again. He placed the little cat in his jacket pocket.
“How’s that?” he asked Murrie.
Murrie stood up on his back feet and gripped the top of the pocket with his front paws. He looked out and around.
Wow! I can see so much from up here! he thought.
“This will work,” said Murrie.
“Great! Let’s go,” said the big Verdante.
He walked toward the door of the first humanoid-made building that Murrie would ever go in.
Chapter 16
Somewhere in warp space…
Pweet woke up to Marroo’s space ship’s artificial morning light. She went to join him for breakfast in his small kitchen-dining room.
“Ah! Good morning,” said Marroo.
The handsome blue man was wearing a cook’s apron.
I do like a man who can cook, Pweet thought.
He pulled two trays of heated food from a compartment in the wall and placed them on the dining table. Then he sat down next to Pweet. The food smelled wonderful, and Pweet dug in.
“How do you like it?” Marroo asked her.
“It’s delicious,” said Pweet, in between mouthfuls.
“Yes. You’re lucky you’re traveling with me instead of the Verdantes,” said Marroo. “Because food for space travel is one of my planet’s main products. It’s sold all over the galaxy, but we keep the best for ourselves.”
“I didn’t know that,” said Pweet, still eating.
She wasn’t a person who liked to talk a lot in the morning, but he was right. The food was fantastic.
They both ate in silence for a while. Finally Pweet felt full, and she was curious about something. Marroo had stopped eating too.
“I’ve been wondering,” she said. “Why was there no gravity when we were outside of warp space, but now that we’re in warp space, there’s gravity?”
“Oh, there’s no gravity here either,” said Marroo.
“What? How is that possible?” Pweet asked. “Wouldn’t this food be flying all over the place? And us?”
“I can’t explain how it’s possible because it’s warp space, and no one can explain it. No species I’ve ever heard of anyway,” Marroo answered. “But I can tell you definitely that there’s no gravity here because the ship’s instruments register no gravity in warp space. A partial explanation is that warp space warps reality. So it seems like there’s gravity here, but there’s not.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Pweet argued.
“No. It doesn’t make sense,” Marroo agreed. “But it’s true. And another way we know it’s true is that the time you spend in warp space affects your body as if it was in zero g. That’s why we try to limit our jumps through it to three months, and we try to spend at least a week in gravity in between jumps.”
“But even if we believed there was gravity, we’d still be floating around if there’s no gravity,” said Pweet.
“Maybe we really are floating around, but we just don’t know it,” Marroo answered with a chuckle.
This man is so frustrating! thought Pweet. But also attractive and a great cook.
She turned and looked at him. He looked back at her and smiled. Then he stared into her eyes, like he’d done so many other times since she’d jumped on his ship. His strange cloudy eyes grew misty, and the clouds swirled in them. Pweet stared back. They both stared for a while, but nothing happened.
Finally Marroo looked away with a frown and rubbed at his muscular forearms. His mouth turned pouty. A sulky look.
This guy is good looking, but he’s definitely weird, Pweet decided.
He turned and looked back at her. An intense look. The pain in her head started up again. Marroo kept looking at her with hard, determined eyes.
Not again this early in the morning! Pweet thought.
She squeezed her head hard and groaned. The pain! The pain! And then, less pain. And then…did she hear the sound of a whispery voice echoing inside her head?
“Pweet! Can you hear me?
Listen to me!” it sounded like the voice was saying over and over from far away.
This is very weird and frightening! thought Pweet. Is this guy talking to me inside my head? I can’t be telepathic, I’m human. Am I going crazy? But if he is talking to me, why is he so intense about it? I don’t know what’s happening here, but I know this can’t be good.
She felt a sudden, strong distrust of Marroo and decided not to let on that she heard his words—if those were his words.
“Ow! I’ve got another headache already this morning,” Pweet told him. “I think I’ll go work out in the gym. Alone. That’s best when I have a headache, you know. Nothing personal.”
She got up off the stool and walked out the door without looking back at him.
Not long after, Marroo tried to pent his frustration by pacing the floor of his small, circular bridge.
“Once again, my hypnotic love powers did not work!” he fumed telepathically.
Even with another person on the ship, he still hadn’t changed his habit of talking to himself mentally. That could wait till Pweet actually became telepathic.
“I know I saw attraction for me in her eyes. I would recognize that look anywhere. And I felt like things were finally moving. Yet there was no effect on her. Absolutely nothing!”
He stopped and gazed at the view screens that lined the wall behind his pilot’s chair. He had programmed some to display his prime destinations in the galaxy for slave hunting. Of course, these days, one had to go farther and farther to find planets where so called “heroes” hadn’t yet warned the natives about the Woogahs. He stopped in front of one of the consoles.
“Hmm. That branch of the Milky Way has always provided well for me.”
Marroo sat down and began to make calculations for a trip on his computer. How long exactly would it take to go so much farther out? Marroo fed in data and coordinates and waited. He fed in more data and waited some more. He sighed. It wasn’t looking good.
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