Andrew Mackay - Infinity Claws

Tripp looked at each crew member. Most seemed to be on board with the rescue attempt – all except Bonnie.

“Can we, in good conscience, ignore Alpha? Can we continue our mission to Enceladus knowing that we ignored our colleagues and left them for dead?”

Katz interjected. “Dr. Whitaker, can I ask you what the problem is?”

Everyone turned to her for a response.

“Sure,” she said. “We don’t know what state the ship is in. We don’t know what happened to Alpha. What if they’re all dead? Or something has happened to them? We could suffer the same fate.”

“The fate of being hidden on the dark side of Saturn’s sixth moon?” Tor suggested, somewhat sarcastically, “That we were okay all along and went missing, only for our friends to come poking around and ignore our cry for help?”

“That’s the point, Tor,’ Bonnie interjected, ‘Alpha isn’t crying for help. They’re just there . You seem very keen for us to board and investigate,” Bonnie said, turning to the holograph of Space Opera Alpha. “Opera Alpha isn’t reaching out to us. If they were alive they’d be yelling at us to rescue them.”

Tor ducked his head and folded his arms. He didn’t have a response.

“What if they’re unable to reach out for help, Dr. Whitaker?” Katz attempted to balance the odds. “If, somehow, they’re unable to communicate for whatever reason?”

“Then that’s a bunch of six souls on board a spaceship I don’t want to go anywhere near.”

“So you’re saying no , Dr. Whitaker?” Katz asked, disappointed. “We discover that Alpha is there and don’t investigate?”

“I’m not saying no ,” Bonnie said, looking around the table. “Come on, am I the only one here who’s concerned about this change of course?”

Tor and Baldron looked away.

Jaycee couldn’t look Bonnie in the eye.

Haloo, Tripp and Katz, on the other hand, had no compunction in demonstrating their desire to rescue the ship.

“What’s the first rule?” Bonnie asked. “Be skeptical. Question everything . My question is this. Why did Alpha go missing? Why is it back? Why is it being used by a moon to transmit a message.”

“We don’t know, Dr. Whitaker,” Tripp said, “Are you saying you don’t want to find out?”

She shot him a look of disdain, knowing full well that her superior was correct.

“Ugh.”

“Okay, all those in favor of diverting course to check out Alpha raise your hand. Ayes?”

Everyone’s hand rose into the air. Everyone, that is, except Bonnie’s.

Tripp gave her a smile, keeping his hand up. “Dr. Whitaker?”

“Fine.” She sighed and caved in, raising her hand. “But I want it on record that I’m not happy with this.”

“The ayes have it,” Katz said, making his way out of the hub. “We are less than twenty hours from Opera Alpha. I suggest you all orient yourself as you see fit and prepare for contact.”

Katz reached the door and turned around to Wool ar-Ban. “Can you wake up our feline guest, please?”

“Yes, Captain,” Wool joined Katz and walked out of the hub.

Tor turned to the others and shook his head. “I keep forgetting that stupid cat is on board.”

“Don’t call her stupid,” Tripp said. “She might just be the key to what we’re looking for.”

“Yeah, right,” Tor said, kicking his chair away from the console in defiance. “She’s more trouble than she’s worth. Landaker, can I have a word, please?”

“Yes.”

The pair walked out of the hub talking to themselves, leaving Bonnie, Tripp, Haloo and Jaycee to chat amongst themselves.

Wool leaned over Jelly’s hyper-sleep containment unit and hovered her finger over the release switch. A smile crept across her face as she took a moment to absorb the beauty of the creature.

“Look at you,” she whispered, “You look so peaceful. So perfect.”

Jelly looked as comfortable as could be, resting face-up toward the glass.

“There’s a lot to play with up here. I think you’re going to like it.”

Wool hit the button.

The glass retracted along the length of Jelly’s body. A few strands of fur lifted into the air as she shuffled around, still unconscious.

Wool put on a pair of plastic gloves and reached into the containment unit. She stroked Jelly’s stomach with her knuckle. The monitor attached to the unit began to beep, indicating that Jelly was about to wake up.

“Jelly?”

The cat opened her eyes and lifted her paws to her face. She wiped her brow and spun onto her side.

“There we go,” Wool reached in and lifted Jelly under her arms.

“Meow,” Jelly grunted, exercising her vocal chords for the first time in over a year.

“Good girl,” Wool whispered, cradling Jelly in her arms. “Take your time, sweetie.”

Jelly shuffled around and kicked her hind legs forward, stretching every muscle in her body. She licked her lips and dug her paws into Wool’s inner-skin suit.

“Hey, gorgeous. How are you?”

Jelly licked her lips again and clung to Wool’s arm. She let out a whine, fascinated by her surroundings.

An infinite playground.

Desks, monitors, and chairs – ample opportunity to mess around, discover things and hide.

“Meow.”

“Yes, Jelly,” Wool walked over to the lab’s bench in the middle of the room. “This is your new home.”

She set Jelly onto the bench. The cat jumped from her arms and immediately made for the edge of the bench. A five-foot drop to the floor didn’t seem like much of a task.

“Oh no, no, no,” Wool grabbed Jelly and slid her back along the bench. “Not yet you don’t, sweetie. I need to inspect you.”

“Meow.” Jelly struggled to release herself from Wool’s clutches.

“Hold on, girl.”

“Look at me, Anderson,” Wool took out a mini flashlight and shone it in Jelly’s face. “Left eye, please.”

Jelly’s orange pupil focused on Wool’s face.

“Seems good. Right eye, please.”

The light zipped over to Jelly’s other eye. Wool look around for signs of anything that may be untoward.

“Nope. Looking good.”

“Meow.”

“All set. A bit dilated, but nothing to worry about.,” Wool ran her hand along Jelly’s back smoothing out her fur. “Hungry?”

Jelly ran the side of her head along Wool’s hand and purred.

“Very good, Jelly. Very good.”

Wool ran her thumb over Jelly’s right shoulder and observed the scar where the chip had been implanted. “Manuel?”

“Yes, Wool?”

“Can we synchronize our guest with your coordinates, please?”

“Of course.”

The holographic book appeared from out of thin air and flashed a green locater against a map of the ship. “J. Anderson is currently in the hyper-sleep quarters.”

“Yes, I know she is. She’s right here.”

“Meow.” Jelly launched into the air and tried to claw at the holographic book. It flew backwards, trying to evade capture.

The book fluttered to the other side of the bench. Jelly turned around and made for it once again.

“Ha. Jelly, it’s no use, sweetie. You can’t touch Manuel.”

“Meow.”

Jelly swiped at Manuel, but missed it entirely as he hovered several feet into the air.

“I know she can’t touch me,” Manuel said, “But she scares me.”

“She’s just a cat, Manuel.”

“I realize that. I think I’ll just stay up here for a moment.”

Wool chuckled and lifted Jelly under her arms. “Come here, pet.”

“Meow.”

Jelly threw her arms over Wool’s shoulder and kept looking around as they made their way out of the hyper-sleep quarters.