The next day, the Terran men found several of the Coricats assembled for the hunt, among them Munkustrap, Alahnso, Plaetoh, Tughar, Admeetus, and Bombalurina. The only kind of weapon they carried was something that looked like a bola. Eliot had an uneasy suspicion that when they caught their prey, they would kill it with their teeth.
Munkustrap nodded in greeting at the Terrans and asked, "Will you be returning to your space ship today?"
"Maybe later," Eliot muttered, kicking at some blue-green vegetation that was probably grass. He wasn't in the best of moods as he had spent much of the night dreaming about a certain white female Coricat.
"Admeetus will go with you when you're ready…" Munkustrap began, but Eliot cut him off.
"No he won't! I appreciate the thought, but I don't need a guide, and I don't need any of his help." As soon as the last statement was out of his mouth, Eliot wished he could retrieve it, but Admeetus didn't acknowledge the insult, if indeed he interpreted it as such.
Eliot quickly turned away with his friends and Munkustrap said to Admeetus, Watch them closely.
Admeetus sighed and nodded, resigned to his rather boring task. The hunters set out and Admeetus stayed behind, observing the Terrans from a nearby tree. Though he was some distance from them, his keen ears were easily able to make out their conversation, even if he didn't understand some of it.
"What's eating you, El?" Jabez asked.
"Nothing, Jabe. Nothing," Eliot growled.
"Speaking of eating, I'm kind of hungry," Pavel noted. "Don't these people eat breakfast?"
"I think they do just one big meal a day," Eliot murmured.
"Sorta gorge and fast kinda thing," Jabez added.
"There's always our K-rats on the Phantom," Eliot mentioned.
"Thanks, but I don't think I'm that hungry yet."
"Look out, El!" Jabez hissed suddenly. "Here comes your little pussycat!"
"My what?! Oh, hi, Vyktorea."
The little white Coricat rubbed her head affectionately against Eliot's neck and shoulder. "Are you going back to your space ship again?" she asked.
"Um, yeah, we were planning to," Eliot muttered.
"I've never been inside a space ship before," Vyktorea breathed excitedly. "Can I come with you?"
"Well…" Eliot hesitated. He could think of plenty of reasons why she shouldn't come along, the most obvious being, she would only get in the way. However, he couldn't bring himself to utter any of them, and instead said, "Sure, why not," before he could stop himself. Glaring at Jabez, who was grinning from ear to ear, he set off in the direction of the Phantom, with Vyktorea, Jabez, and Pavel close behind.
Admeetus, unnoticed, slipped down from his tree and followed at a distance. After a while he was joined by his father, Azperighus, a brown and black striped Coricat with white patches and black eyes, whom he had heard approaching and greeted without surprise.
"What are you doing, Admeetus?" the older Coricat asked.
"Obeying orders, Papa," Admeetus sighed. "Munkustrap wants me to keep a close watch over the off-worlders, and doubly so, I'm sure, since Vyktorea is with them."
Azperighus squinted ahead at the foursome and recognized the slim, pure white form of Alahnso's and Cazondra's youngest kitten. "Vyktorea seems quite taken with the aliens," he noted.
"So is Etsetera," Admeetus growled at the back of his throat. Etsetera, as well as being his youngest, was also his only female kitten, and he was a little overly protective of her. "But I know that she is with her two brothers."
"Can you hear what they're saying?" Azperighus asked.
"Of course," Admeetus replied, his ears twitching slightly.
"Do you think they can hear us?" Azperighus lowered his voice.
"Ha! Not with those puny things they call ears."
"Yes, but what about Vyktorea? If you can hear them, then surely she can hear us."
Admeetus' mouth twisted into a sneer. He was in no better humor than Eliot was as this was the second day in a row that he had been left behind by the other hunters so that he could watch over the aliens. "I think," he replied, "that Vyktorea may be too preoccupied to notice us. But still, it would be wise to keep your voice down. Oh, wait…" Admeetus brought his head around, ears forward, his grey nose twitching as he sniffed the air. "I thought they were going back to their space ship, but now they're heading away from it." The big grey and white hunter sighed as he and his father stealthily crept along after the foursome. "I think the yellow-furred kitten has forgotten the way."
"Shouldn't we catch them and show them the right way?" Azperighus inquired.
Admeetus thought of Eliot's response when Munkustrap had offered to send him with them. "No," he said slowly, "we'll continue to follow them, and try to keep them out of harm's way."
"Eliot, I don't remember all these weird trees from yesterday," Jabez pointed out. "Wasn't the Phantom in more of a field at the edge of the woods?"
Eliot shook himself out of his brooding reverie and took in his surroundings. It didn't look familiar, but then the whole planet was unfamiliar. "I know where we're going," he lied. Even if he had led them astray, he was reluctant to admit it in front of Vyktorea, who was clinging to his arm.
"Did you really crash so deep into the forest?" the little white female asked nervously.
"Uh, well…" Eliot said uncertainly, "maybe not quite this deep…"
"I knew it!" Jabez cried. "Admit it, El, we're lost!"
"We're not lost!" Eliot insisted. "We're just…uncertain of our surroundings."
"Sounds like 'lost' to me," Pavel grumbled; he wasn't fully recuperated from his injuries, and was already tired and cranky.
I wish they wouldn't shout, Admeetus said apprehensively. I think we're getting close to the territory of a pollicle and her mate.
Well, they wouldn't know that, Azperighus said, his concern apparent even in his mental voice. Probably Vyktorea doesn't realize it either. We should warn them.
Yes, but quietly, Admeetus said urgently. Come on. The two cats quickened their pace to catch up with the lost group.
"I, for one, am going to retrace my steps back to Cazondra's home before I get more lost," Jabez declared as he started back the way they had come. Pavel quickly fell in step beside him. "Much as I hate to admit it," Jabez shouted back over his shoulder, " if we had allowed Admeetus to go with us we would be on the Phantom by now, chewing on those lovely K-rats!"
"I don't need Admeetus' help!" Eliot yelled back. "I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way--"
He was cut off by Vyktorea's scream. He whirled and saw a mass of fur and teeth almost on top of him. He had barely time to yell, "Holy cra--" before he felt a searing pain in his head and neck and everything went black.
©1999 Delilah