"I think we should just take the star-cruiser and leave the Phantom here," Jabez suggested during the feasting after Eliot had taken him and Pavel to the Jellicles' rather bizarre junkyard to show them what they had to work with. "Let's face it. That little micro-freighter has had it! She won't be able to outrun the APC's hounds much longer."
"Hey, that's my baby you're talking about!" Eliot protested. "Besides, can you see just the three of us trying to pilot that behemoth all the way to Nek Schtaou Y'y Ek?"
"Well, with some modification, we could probably make the Ash Y'y Ana suitable for a small crew," Pavel pointed out. "Then we just torch out the name and registration, and re-christen her the Phantom II."
"Sounds like the sequel to a bad horror flick," Jabez joked. "How about," he dropped his voice an octave, "the Phantom Returns?"
Pavel ignored him. "What do you think, Eliot? You want to try it?"
Eliot hesitated. He had to admit that the prospect was tempting. "No," he said finally, "we'll just use parts from the Ash Y'y Ana to re-build the Phantom."
"You realize," Jabez sighed in exasperation, "that by the time we're through with her, the Phantom will practically be a new ship?"
"Maybe," Eliot said fondly, "but she'll still have the same soul."
Jabez rolled his eyes and looked to Pavel, who just shrugged and grinned. There was no reasoning with Eliot when it came to the Phantom.
The music started and Jabez and Pavel soon found partners and joined in the dancing. Eliot stayed where he was, planning in his head what parts he could get from the Ash Y'y Ana to repair the Phantom. Suddenly, a paw clamped over his mouth from one side and two strong arms picked him up from the other and carried him to the space between two of the trees that skirted the hall.
When he was released, he turned to face his captors and was alarmed to find Plaetoh and Tughar on either side of him. "What the hell is this about?" he demanded, trying to sound angry instead of scared. "I thought I told you I'm not interested in Vyktorea."
"This isn't about Vyktorea," Plaetoh growled. "It's about you and your weapons."
"What about them?" Eliot asked cautiously, instinctively putting a hand over the lump under his coat that was his blaster.
"Can they kill?" Tughar asked eagerly.
Eliot narrowed his grey-green eyes at the black and leopard youth. "They can be set to either stun or kill," he said carefully. "Mine was set to stun last night."
"If we had weapons like that, we wouldn't have to worry about the Tyghurss anymore," Tughar said excitedly to Plaetoh.
"Hold it, guys," Eliot snapped. "What exactly are you getting at?"
"The Tyghurss tribe is much bigger than ours," Plaetoh explained, "so we're at their mercy most of the time. But if you gave us some of your weapons, they'd be forced to respect us."
"Because otherwise you'd blow 'em away," Eliot finished for him, then shook his head. "Look, it took my people thousands of years to get to our current level of technology from where you are right now. I can't just give you that technology; you have to develop it on your own."
"It would be quicker and easier if you just gave it to us," Tughar grumbled.
"Sure it would," Eliot agreed, "but you wouldn't know how to use it."
"We would if you taught us," Plaetoh said meaningfully.
"Well, I'm not going to," Eliot said angrily. "You aren't ready for that kind of technology and nothing you say or do will make me give it to you."
"Nothing?" Tughar growled, showing his teeth.
"No, nothing!" Eliot shouted at the top of his lungs. As he had hoped, this attracted the attention of several Coricats in the hall, including Munkustrap who started toward them.
Plaetoh saw his father approaching and hissed in annoyance, glaring at Eliot. Munkustrap gave the trio a questioning look and Eliot said quickly," It's okay, Munkustrap, we were just…talking."
Munkustrap looked skeptical, but he nodded and moved away. Eliot started to follow him, then turned back to Plaetoh and Tughar. "Look, let's just forget this conversation ever happened," he urged. "I won't tell if you don't."
The two hunters exchanged glances then nodded. Eliot walked away with a sigh of relief, thinking the matter was closed. But Plaetoh and Tughar were not to be put off so easily.
The Terrans worked madly on the Phantom for the next few days, salvaging parts as needed from the Jellicle junkyard. It was with great satisfaction that Eliot finally fired the booster rockets, which took the micro-freighter up out of Coricum's atmosphere. Cautiously he edged away from the planet so that he could take a better look at the surrounding area.
There was the Coricum sun, plain as day. It was brighter than Terra's, but then Coricum was farther away from it than Terra was from her sun. Eliot called up his star maps of Ungai space (painstakingly compiled by Pelh'Su, former smuggler from Grenos) and studied them as he moved out of the sun's gravity. Coricum was there, a tiny dot right on the edge between the Ungai and the Immarians. At least the Immarians aren't likely to bother the Coricats, Eliot thought to himself.
Now he brought up a more recent and official star map, put out by the Unlai themselves. Coricum wasn't on it. By comparing the Unlai map with Pelh's map, he could see where the former stopped about five parsecs before Coricum. The Immarian-produced map of Immarian space that he pulled up next stopped approximately one and a half parsecs before the little planet.
"So Coricum is in the neutral zone," Eliot murmured to himself. "And it's closer to the Immarians. The Ungai probably wouldn't want to risk attracting their attention by invading the planet."
Eliot performed a slow, graceful turn and headed back to the Coricats' world. There was another planet closer to the sun, he noticed, but the sensors detected only a few faint life sign readings. Probably in the first stages of development, he suspected.
This second planet was also on Pelh's map, but it wasn't named, whereas Coricum was clearly labeled with the name her native people had given her. This seemed to suggest that Eliot's Grenosian friend had actually been on Coricum at one time. Maybe he was on the freighter that crashed, Eliot thought. But Munkustrap said they found no survivors. Then again, Pelh was always incredibly good at staying alive and hidden.
Eliot shook himself out of his reverie as he approached Coricum. As he eased through the atmosphere, he briefly considered buzzing the Tyghurss settlement for fun, but decided against it as it would probably create problems for the Jellicles later. Instead he carefully touched down near the Jellicle settlement.
He had quite a crowd of admirers waiting for him as he came down the gangplank. The young females all clustered around him, purring. He looked around nervously for Tughar or Plaetoh, then realized that they probably hadn't returned from the hunt yet.
"Oh, Eliot," Vyktorea purred, "won't you please take me up in your space ship? Please, you promised!"
"Oh, me, too!" Etsetera cried excitedly. "Take me, too!"
"And me!" Jemymah chimed in.
Pretty soon all the kittens were squealing for Eliot to take them up in the Phantom, while Skimbleshanks and Jenyenidahts watched in amusement. "For crying out loud!" Eliot yelled in annoyance. "This is a freight ship, not an amusement park ride!"
"A what?" Elektra asked in confusion.
Eliot groaned and turned to his crewmates. "Since when do I run a taxi service for joy-riders?" he demanded.
"Oh, come on, El," Jabez said with an evil grin. "Take the kids for a ride around the planet."
Eliot was starting to cave. "Shouldn't I at least get their parents' permission?" he asked desperately. "Look, here come the hunters. Let's ask Munkustrap if it's okay first."
Eliot rather hoped that the Jellicle chief would forbid it, but apparently he found nothing wrong with the proposal, and even offered to come along to help keep the kittens in line.
"How the hell am I going to take all of them up?" Eliot grumbled to his friends.
"Put them in the cargo bay," Pavel suggested. "Then when you get out of the atmosphere, we can erect the force field and open the cargo bay doors. They'll get the thrill of their lives."
"In the cargo bay? Are you nuts?!" Eliot hissed fiercely. "You do remember what's in the cargo bay, don't you?"
"About fifty kilos of hallucinogenic mushrooms from Rigel Centauri III, I believe," Jabez answered. "Better known as 'freaky fungus'. They'll get a thrill all right!"
"We won't let the kittens get into them," Pavel promised, shooting a glare at Jabez.
"I don't want them anywhere near that stuff," Eliot said decisively. "See if you can move it out into the cabins or something."
"Does that mean you're going to take them up?" Jabez asked.
Eliot cursed as he realized what he'd just said. "Yeah, I guess it does," he sighed.
They ended up taking most of the kittens (Vyktorea, Etsetera, Jemymah, Elektra, Petrah, and Pouncival), several of the young cats (Mungojery and Rumplteezer, Tumblebrutus, Plaetoh, Tughar, and Mistoffelees), and also Munkustrap, Skimbleshanks, Bombalurina, and Dutironomy to help supervise. Mozu came, too, and hung close to Mistoffelees. Jabez and Pavel directed them all into the cargo bay and instructed them not to wander.
Eliot was alone on the bridge getting ready for take-off when he suddenly became aware of Mungojery and Rumplteezer sitting quietly behind him. "How did you get up here?" he demanded.
Rumplteezer's golden-brown eyes sparkled with merriment. "We snuck out when Jabez wasn't looking," she said gleefully.
Grumbling to himself, Eliot tapped the comm-link and called, "Bridge to cargo bay,"
"Jabez here," came the reply.
"Jabez, I've got Munkustrap's twins up here on the bridge with me. How many others have you let wander off?"
"Damn it, El," Jabez complained over the comm-link, "I'm not even sure how many there are in the first place."
"You're supposed to be watching these brats and keeping them out of trouble!" Eliot said hotly.
"I am not a babysitter!" Jabez yelled back.
"Should I come get my kittens?" came Munkustrap's voice in the background.
"That's Papa!" Mungojery whispered to Rumplteezer, who giggled and nodded.
"No, no, they're okay up here, I guess," Eliot said quickly, nodding the overeager Rumplteezer into the co-pilot's chair beside him. "Just keep an eye on the rest of them, okay? Bridge out."
He glanced over at Rumplteezer, whose paws were hovering over the console as she tried to decide which button to push first. "Don't touch anything!" he snapped.
Unabashed, she primly put her paws in her lap.
Eliot gasped when something touched his leg and looked down to see Mungojery nosing around under the console. "What are you doing?" he half-laughed.
"Trying to find the door that goes to where Papa is," Mungojery answered. "I just heard him down here."
Eliot made a sort of gulping gasp as he tried his best not to laugh. "No, you don't understand," he said finally, a little breathlessly. "Munkustrap is still where he was when you left him. This," he pointed to the comm-link, "is like an intercom system that lets me talk to people all the way on the other side of the ship."
"But how?" Rumplteezer asked in disbelief, at the same time that Mungojery queried, "What's a ninnercom system?"
"It, um, well…" Eliot fumbled. Where was Pavel when he really needed him? "It's just…a kind of magic, okay? Now let's get this show on the road."
Rumplteezer watched in fascination as Eliot proceeded with the take-off, then gasped in unison with her twin as the ship lifted off the ground and shot up through the atmosphere. When they were in orbit, Eliot tapped the comm-link again.
"Is the force field in place, Jabez?"
"We're all secure down here, El."
"Okay, then," Eliot said as he pulled a lever. "Opening the cargo bay doors."
There was a collective gasp in the cargo bay as the doors swung slowly open, revealing the bluish white and green planet far below. "Is that Coricum?" Mistoffelees breathed, holding Mozu tightly.
"Sure is," Jabez grinned.
"It's…it's round, just like the moon!" Elektra exclaimed.
"That's right," Pavel nodded.
"But…how come we don't fall off?" Etsetera asked worriedly.
"Ah, well, that's because of a little something called gravity," Pavel said with a smile.
"Oh no," Jabez moaned under his breath.
But before Pavel could swing into professor mode, Bombalurina shrieked, "Pouncival!"
The brown and white kitten, who had been crawling very close to the open doors, gave a guilty start. As he turned, his tail flicked around and came in contact with the force field. There was a loud bzzzt, Pouncival let out a high pitched yelp, and ran to his mother's arms. He looked back at his tail and seemed surprised that it hadn't been burned off.
"Are you hurt, little one?" the concerned mother asked, stroking his head comfortingly. "Let me see it."
Embarrassed, Pouncival whipped his tail away from her and tried to pull out of her embrace.
"He's probably more scared than hurt," Jabez assured the red and white female as she started licking her reluctant kitten's head. "That's a force field. It's like an invisible door; it keeps us from falling out."
"Well, we wouldn't fall out anyway…" Pavel began.
"Pav, please don't try to tell them about the vacuum of space," Jabez interrupted him.
"Can I tell them about gravity instead?" Pavel asked, unfazed.
"If you must," Jabez said with a long-suffering sigh.
"What's gravity?" Petrah asked from where she sat on Tumblebrutus' shoulders.
"Gravity is the force that pulls you down," the young Russian flashed a charming smile at the little kitten. "Without gravity, you wouldn't fall down, you'd just float away." Seeing a sea of incredulous and/or baffled faces before him, Pavel called, "Eliot, are you still listening?"
"Heard every word, Pavel."
"Then would you be so good as to turn off the artificial gravity so I can illustrate my point?"
"Oh no, Pav," Eliot groaned, "you know I get queasy in zero G."
"Just in the cargo bay," Pavel added. "This won't take long."
"Whatever you say."
The Coricats first noticed the difference when Old Dutironomy's thick, shaggy coat began to stand out in all directions. Then they realized that they were having trouble keeping their feet on the floor. Petrah was the first to understand and squealed with delight as she pushed off of Tumblebrutus' shoulders and sailed across the room to Old Dutironomy. Soon the kittens were doing their own kind of air ballet and Pavel and Jabez were glad that the cargo was no longer where they could get into it.
"Do you want to go down there with them?" Eliot asked the twins as they listened to the cries and giggles of the kittens frolicking in zero G.
"Ummm…" Rumplteezer murmured waveringly. "No, I think I want to stay here."
"I'll stay with her," Mungojery said decisively.
"Okay," Eliot shrugged, "then I guess it's time for a change of scenery."
He broke out of orbit and headed toward the Coricum moon. The passengers in the cargo bay could only see stars at the moment (if they were paying attention), but the twins on the bridge could see the moon slowly getting larger in front of them.
Rumplteezer was trying to divide her attention between the view-port and Eliot's hands on the console. "How fast can this space ship go?" she asked.
"Don't even think about it, chick," Eliot said warningly. He smacked her paw as she reached for a tantalizing red button.
"Can we see your planet?" Mungojery asked eagerly.
"Nope, sorry," Eliot said. "Terra is light years from here."
He glanced at the chronometer. It was a little over an hour since they'd taken off. He doubted the kittens' attention span would hold out much longer, even with the fun of zero G. "I guess this is close enough," he said to himself, and cutting the sub-light engines, executed a half turn so that the open cargo bay would be facing the moon. He heard several startled cries over the comm-link as he announced grandly, "That is your moon."
"So where is the Heaviside Layer?" Jemymah's voice asked suddenly. "I thought it was supposed to be beyond the moon."
How imaginative, Eliot thought, but said nothing.
"Silly!" Vyktorea's voice answered Jemymah. "It's not there. Not really."
"But it's supposed to be!" Jemymah said quaveringly, and a few other young voices murmured their agreement.
"Kittens, kittens," Dutironomy's soothing baritone silenced the anxious kittens. "The Heaviside Layer is only visible to those who have died. You will all see it one day, if you are worthy, but our friend Eliot cannot show it to us."
Eliot realized he had been holding his breath and let it out in a whoosh. He was so glad the Old Wise One was there to explain any theological points that might come up. He took a deep breath and said, "I think maybe we'd better--"
He was cut off by the distinct sound of a blaster shot and then a caterwaul that was not at all pleasant. "Good God, what was that?" he cried.
"You sorry son of a bitch! What the hell did you think you were doing?!" Jabez bellowed.
"Jabez, what happened?" Eliot demanded.
Jabez didn't answer, but continued to turn the comm-link blue with his language. Whoever had let out the caterwaul was now emitting a stream of moans and whimpers. There was also someone crying loudly.
"Tughar is the one who screamed," Mungojery said, concern filling his gold-brown eyes. "And now Etsetera is crying."
"What could have happened?" Rumplteezer cried worriedly.
"Jabez, shut up!" Pavel said testily. "Cursing at him isn't going to help at all!"
"Pavel, will you please tell me what happened?" Eliot asked, struggling to hold onto his last shred of calm.
"I'll tell you," Pavel said slowly, "but you have to promise you won't have a conniption, because it won't do any good anyway."
"I promise," Eliot said through clenched teeth. "Now tell me."
"Well," Pavel sighed, "apparently Plaetoh and Tughar got into the weapons locker somehow, and, uh, Tughar seems to have shot off his little toe with a blaster."
Mungojery and Rumplteezer, who didn't fully comprehend the seriousness of this announcement, watched in horrified fascination as Eliot's face turned from pale pink to bright red and an artery pulsed visibly on his temple. His breath came in heavy gasps and he clenched and unclenched his fists as he struggled for control. When he finally spoke, it was in his seldom-used, commanding captain's voice, "Jabez, report to the bridge on the double! Pavel, once you are sure that all the Coricats are there, seal the damn cargo bay so they can't get out. I'll be down there as soon as Jabez gets here to relieve me."
"Yes, sir," Pavel and Jabez said in unison, though the black man said it rather sourly.
"Bridge out!"
When Jabez arrived, Eliot left the bridge and the twins in his care and sprinted down to the cargo bay. He ran through the doors at top speed, having forgotten that the AG was still off, and found himself flying effortlessly through the air. As he hit the opposite bulkhead with a grunt, he smacked the comm-link switch and yelled, "Cargo bay to bridge! Jabez, turn the damn gravity back on!"
He did, and without warning, causing the room's occupants to fall to the floor from varying heights. The Coricats all landed on their feet, of course. Eliot looked around as he waited for his stomach to settle down and saw Tughar curled up on the floor, holding his left foot and whimpering piteously, his face contorted in pain. Etsetera was kneeling beside him, stroking his ruff and giving him an occasional comforting lick as she gently nuzzled him.
"Okay, kids, step aside," Eliot said as he nudged Elektra and Pouncival out of the way to get to Tughar. "Let's see that foot, big guy."
Tughar's green eyes flashed and he growled warningly at Eliot.
"It might be better to wait and let Cazondra tend to him," Munkustrap said tensely. "She is his mother."
Eliot shook his head as he opened the med-kit he had picked up from the tiny sick bay on his way down. "Cazondra has never seen a wound of this nature, I'm betting," he said. "And it really needs immediate attention to prevent infection. But let's start with a pain killer." Eliot readied a hypospray with a fairly harmless local analgesic and injected it right into Tughar's foot.
The big black and leopard cat howled and tried to swipe and snap at Eliot, but Etsetera somehow managed to hold him back. Slightly rattled, Eliot paused before continuing with the anti-microbial spray. Tughar continued to growl, though he made no more attacks.
"Just cool it, will you!" Eliot said irritably. "This is what happens when you fool around with technology you don't understand." He interrupted his first aid to glare up at Plaetoh. "And that goes for you, too!"
Plaetoh at least had the decency to look embarrassed; Tughar was just sullen.
Eliot finished with the spray and applied a dressing to keep the wound clean until it healed, then sat back with a sigh. "Okay, I've had enough excitement for one day," he said. "Let's head home."
©1999 Delilah