Martin Greenberg - Catopolis

“So, you hear someone speaking in the Astral Plane even in your sleep. That’s good. We won’t have to start from the very beginning. Now, to pry you out of this physical shell… Yes, perhaps that will do it.”

Tai Pan jumps onto the bed and tiptoes along Norbu’s sleeping body, right up to the boy’s face. The faint golden glow of Tai Pan’s Astral form reveals the boy’s crooked nose and the faint shadows thrown by his thick eyelashes even in the dimness of his bedroom.

“Come on, boy,” mutters Tai Pan, his nose almost touching Norbu’s. “Time to come out and learn something new now.”

The child squirms in his sleep, opens his mouth, and lets out a small snore.

“Uh huh… there lies the future of a great order of lamas,” quips Tai Pan, amused. “Well, let’s try this.”

He pads downward a few steps along Norbu’s body. With his front paws, Tai Pan reaches through the boy’s physical ribcage and nudges his somnolent Astral essence. Norbu mutters more incomprehensible words and straightens his legs. Tai Pan purrs softly in encouragement and quirks his paws, pulling upward. His brow furrows and his ears stand erect as he concentrates.

A moment later, a ghostly duplicate of Norbu materializes just inches above his physical body. A silver cord links the Astral form to the boy’s solar plexus. The strong golden aura about Norbu’s immaterial shape, added to the pale glow from his silver cord and the starlight from the window, fills the room with a warm, pleasant light totally unlike the harsh brightness of human-made lamps.

“Hello, Houston, we’ve got liftoff!” Tai Pan feels smugly proud of himself and his pupil. “All right, Norbu, let’s keep going. Lesson two.”

The boy’s Astral form begins to waver and sway. Tai Pan scampers toward Norbu’s long feet. From there, he reaches up and grabs a hem of Norbu’s Astral pajamas with his teeth.

Tai Pan mumbles, pulling. “Thif’ way, ’orbu. Thif’ way!”

At last, Norbu’s essence slowly glides to the foot of the bed and stands upright, floating an inch or two above the wooden floor.

“Ataboy,” says Tai Pan proudly from the corner of the rumpled bed. “Lesson three.”

Norbu opens his Astral eyes.

“Good,” Tai Pan encourages.

But the boy sees nothing. He hovers, motionless, still in a dream state.

“Now, for the tough part: keeping you wide awake and making you conscious of the Astral Plane itself. Let’s try this…” Tai Pan pads forward and takes a quick nip at the boy’s immaterial backside.

That brings Norbu to consciousness. Confused, he looks around. He screams when he sees his physical body lying on the bed.

Tai Pan exudes every ounce of a cat’s extraordinary ability to calm. “No, easy there. Everything’s fine.” His purring fills the room.

It works. Curious now, Astral-Norbu examines his glowing hands and body. Seeing the silver cord attaching him to his corporeal self, he realizes his situation. He remembers reading about this in one of those old books. With a smile, Norbu observes his room.

He’s really looking at things, noticing every detail, thinks Tai Pan, proudly staring up at the boy. I remember the first time I saw through my Astral eyes-everything appears much more clearly.

Norbu’s eyes come to rest on Tai Pan. “Why can I see through you?” he asks.

Caught off guard, Tai Pan answers, “Um… Meow?”

“Weird,” says Norbu. Levitating upward, he adds with glee, “Hey, this is cool!”

Without warning, he vanishes through the ceiling.

“Whoa. Oh, wharf rats! Hang on there, boy!” shouts Tai Pan, launching himself after Norbu’s silver cord. “Stop!”

He sees Norbu’s Astral form in the distance, gliding above the city and turning cartwheels. Tai Pan does his best to catch up, thinking himself to where the child is. As soon as Tai Pan appears next to Norbu and opens his mouth to chastise him, the youngster spies a lamasery, and darts through an open window.

Not a good idea! Tai Pan instantly materializes inside the meditation hall, apprehension filling his mind. He looks for the boy’s silver cord. This is not a good idea at all!

Norbu’s unexpected visit is unwise-an enemy might be watching, even in a lamasery. And considering his minimal experience with the Astral Plane, Norbu is in grave danger.

Above large vats of smoking stick incense, the youngster aimlessly darts in and out of the shadows around the head of a large golden Buddha.

He’s returned to his dream state: there is no thought behind his motions, Tai Pan realizes.

One of the clairvoyant lamas interrupts his prayers when Norbu’s Astral form drifts overhead. He then turns and glares angrily at Tai Pan.

“Sorry about that,” says Tai Pan, bowing respect. “He is very young in knowledge.”

Norbu vanishes once more.

Oh, hairballs and curdled milk! I should have known he’d go out and about. Worried and frustrated, he launches himself after his pupil.

This time it takes Tai Pan much longer to track down the boy’s whereabouts. Norbu’s silver cord stretches in a different direction every time Tai Pan reaches a new location: the school, the playground, the local mall. Tai Pan arrives at a crowded ice cream stand outside the mall just in time to see Norbu zip straight up into the nocturnal sky.

“By the Great Cat’s extra toes, will you stop this!” Before darting off in pursuit, Tai Pan takes a moment to quickly assess the people waiting for ice cream. One of them, a bearded and hirsute human male covered with tattoos, looks straight at him.

“You shouldn’t be seeing any of this!” spits Tai Pan.

The man gives Tai Pan an evil grin and quickly walks away.

Tai Pan hisses and mutters, “The enemies know Norbu’s loose! That’s bad! Bad, bad, bad…” He takes off into the sky in a hurry, expecting the worst.

Moments later, Tai Pan finally catches up with Norbu at the rhododendron forest near the towering mountains. He levitates just above his student’s head, next to the trunk of a large tree.

Terrified and cornered, the boy cowers against the bark. Only ten feet away, a nightmarish creature lurches toward Norbu. Filthy black and purple hair covers its entire body. On its face, jagged lips reveal a wide mouth with slime-dripping fangs above which purulent gray eyes bulge from slits. Standing on three thick spider legs, the monster raises two arms like a praying mantis, and clicks deadly serrated claws.

Landing between his pupil and the beast, Tai Pan shouts, “Hold it! I know you for what you are, Garakk Fearmonger. Leave this boy alone!”

Garakk takes a step back and hisses, “What makes you so sure of yourself, Titus-Detritus?”

“I know your kind. You feed on people’s terror. I’m not scared of you, you miserable scum. Your business is done here. Get lost! Go back to that slime pit you call home!”

Garakk reveals its fangs in a taunting grin. It hisses back at Tai Pan, “The boy’s soul is mine to feed upon. And I will have yours, too.”

The creature lunges. Tai Pan’s attention was momentarily divided between Garakk and Norbu, a great mistake. He realized that as the monster’s claws ensnared and lifted him.

Tai Pan fights like a beserker, biting and slashing at Garakk’s arms. Oblivious to the pain of multiple puncture wounds, the beast lifts him closer to its horrid fangs.

“And now, I will kill you!”

Furiously clawing at Garakks’s mouth and eyes, Tai Pan shouts, “I’m not afraid of you! You are powerless against me!”

The monster huffs a sardonic laugh as it tips its head and seizes Tai Pan’s silver cord between its slimy teeth. Despite his best efforts, Tai Pan cannot free himself from Garakk’s thorny grip, cannot reach far enough to protect his Astral connection.