Andrew Mackay - Infinity Claws

Everyone held their breath. Katz leaned into the screen and watched Jelly licking her paws, quite happy with herself.

“Twelve, twenty, twenty-six?” he said.

“Yep,” Tor smiled. “The exact points in the message where those bumps happen.

“But what does that—”

The final set up of numbers appeared in the middle of the room.

“Got that, Baldron?” Tor asked.

“Yep, the entire string is complete.”

“Get her out of there,” Tor looked over to Wool. “Make sure you grab her once she’s out. She’s likely to be upset. Bring her down slowly.”

“Right,” Wool marched off toward the door. “Open it up.”

“Okay, all we have to do is feed the coordinates into Pure Genius and see what the result is. Should take about an hour.”

“An hour?” Tripp asked. “Why so long?”

“We’re expecting over a trillion permutations. It could be less but, either way, we need to give it time to analyze the data.”

The door to Pure Genius slid open, revealing Jelly sitting on the ceiling.

“Meow.”

Wool look up and held out her arms. “Hey, Jelly. Come to me.”

She purred and remained seated, licking at her right paw.

“Don’t play the fool, Jelly. You can’t stay in there all day,” Wool snapped her fingers. “Let’s go, come on.”

Wool returned to the crew with Jelly in her arms. Everyone applauded and cheered.

“Well done, Anderson,” Katz said. “Not just a pretty face, huh?”

Tor and Baldron high-fived each other and watched Jelly snake around the ankles of her new friends.

“She did well,” Tor said.

Jelly didn’t seem particularly happy with him. She crouched back and snarled with a furious bushy tail.

“Whoa,” Tor stepped back and held out his hands. “Don’t take it so personally, Anderson.”

She snarled and threatened to pounce on him. Wool lifted her up by her stomach before she could act.

“Meow.”

“Hey, girl,” Wool cradled her and rubbed her nose against Jelly’s head. “Let’s get you your medicine, yes? Let you run around for a while.”

Jelly sat upright on her bed looking at Wool. She inspected the cat’s face and pressed her thumbs down under her eyes.

“You seem okay,” Wool whispered, “It must have been weird being in that nasty room, right?”

“Meow,” Jelly rubbed her face on Wool’s wrist.

“I know, sweetie. You did well.”

“So, you’re going to take this,” Wool produced a white circular pill and held it flat in her palm. “It’ll help with your digestion.”

“Meow,” Jelly sniffed around at the pill but decided not to slurp it up.

“Come on,” Wool grabbed Jelly’s chin. “It’s for your own good.”

She opened the cat’s mouth and plonked the pill inside. “Good girl, swallow.”

She ran her knuckle up and down Jelly’s neck, forcing her to gulp it down.

Tripp enjoyed a cup of coffee, looking through the giant transparent dome.

Saturn hung in the array of stars, surrounded by its many moons. Enceladus stood out among them, indicated by a red digital reticule stretched over the transparent window.

Next to it, behaving like a satellite, Tripp made out the cone-shaped Space Opera Alpha.

He took a sip of coffee, lost in his own thoughts. A picture of his son and wife appeared on the screen.

“No, thanks, Manuel.”

“I thought you may want a reminder,” Manuel’s voice suggested.

“No, sometimes it’s just better without visual aids.”

“Very well. You know where I am if you need me.”

“Yes. Thanks.”

The image of his family vanished, pulling Saturn’s vastness into view.

“Meow.”

Tripp turned around and watched Jelly saunter into the observation deck. “Oh, hey girl. What are you doing here?”

She ran the side of her face along his shin, wanting attention.

“You want a hug?” Tripp chuckled and set his coffee down. “Yeah. I know the feeling.”

He lifted Jelly into his arms and caught a glimpse of Wool by the door. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“You okay, Wool?”

“I’m fine. Jelly seems to be curious about the observation deck.”

“So you caved in and let her visit?”

“Something like that,” Wool chuckled to herself, “Need a bit of time to myself. Can she stay here with you for a little while?”

“Sure.”

Wool smiled and moved off, leaving Jelly in Tripp’s capable hands. It wasn’t long before he felt the urge to talk to her.

“See that up there?” Tripp asked Jelly, “That’s Saturn. Those are her rings, look. Big and beautiful. A bit like you.”

Jelly snuggled into his arms and lifted her head. Her internal engine fired up, emitting a healthy purr.

She watched as Tripp grabbed the lever. He pressed his thumb on the side of the handle and shifted the observation dome a few clicks to the right.

Space Opera Alpha came into view in the distance.

“That little white dot is our friends. They got lost, so we’re going to help them. You’re very good at helping our friends aren’t you?”

Jelly licked her paw, tracing her tongue up the side of her new Titanium thumb.

“Yes, you are.”

She began to feel restless and pawed at his sleeves.

“You want down?” Tripp asked. “Okay, I have a seat here just for you.”

Manuel’s holograph appeared, startling Jelly out of Tripp’s arms. She landed on the recliner and looked up at the stars.

“Tripp, Daryl would like you and the crew to meet him at the hub.”

“What, now?”

“Yes, right now. They have the results and wish to share their findings with you.”

“Wow, that was fast.”

He was about to collect Jelly but had second thoughts. It seemed she was having a private moment. She was safe in the observation deck. What harm could a little isolation do while he visited the hub?

“I’ll leave you in peace, Jelly. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Jelly never looked back. She turned her head, taking in the incredible view. “Meow.”

“Good girl. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Tripp opened the door and exited the observation deck.

Jelly scrunched her nose as she took in the bright stars scattered across the unending chasm of space. She couldn’t find what she was looking for, however.

In front of her stood the observation deck controls. A yellow joystick the size of a human fist begged to be played with.

“Meow,” Jelly tried to talk to it, but it didn’t move.

Perhaps a little tap might make it do something?

Jelly pressed the paw to the side, knocking the stick left. The observation deck swiveled for a second, shifting the view of Saturn over to the right.

Jelly considered what had happened. If she hit the stick, Saturn would move again.

And, so, it did.

She pressed her paw against the side, this time keeping it held down longer.

The stars struck out like a sloppy string of ink across the black canvas. The giant Jupiter moved across.

Jelly released the stick and raised her ears. “Meow.”

Curious, she pressed the stick to the left once again. A tiny blue star caught her attention. It seemed so far away.

“Meow.”

Little did Jelly know that the reflection in her eyeball was Earth. Nearly a billion miles away. Her mouth opened, the sense of awe hitting her deep inside.

Nevertheless, home was home. Of course, her homing instincts were far beyond her ability to get home all by herself. But that small dot that glimmered in the distance was where she knew she should be.

Not stuck in a cone-shaped vessel made of advanced ceramic hundreds of thousands of miles away from its final destination…