Andrew Mackay - Infinity Claws

Space Opera Beta’s mess hall was large enough to house a few beds and an effective kitchen counter set-up. A place for the crew to relax and maybe read a book or watch a movie.

Its primary function was to serve hot meals. Long gone were the days of having to drink through straws and eat from packets.

The kitchen contained all the essentials one could possibly want.

A kettle.

A microwave.

A wash basin.

An electric cooker.

A coffee machine capable of making fancy hot drinks.

The sprawling, rectangular table in the middle of the room contained assorted snacks. Three bowls of fruit hung from the ceiling, a few inches from the surface of the table top.

In the corner of the room, unofficially referred to as “hind quarters’, was where Jelly went to the toilet. In many ways Jelly was spoiled aboard the Space Opera Beta.

She had a larger-than-necessary sleeping area with a mattress and sheets. A water dispenser released pure H 2O into a bowl on the hour, every hour.

Jelly lapped away at the water, washing down the contents of her lunch – a tuna and chicken medley. Her favorite.

Baldron waited for the coffee machine to reach its boil and took out two mugs from the cabinet.

“It’s amaziant, really, when you think about. How much you miss the little things.”

Katz turned to look at Jelly drinking from her bowl. “This time, we do have a little thing with us.”

“Ha,” Baldron reached inside his pocket and took out a bunch of napkins. “That’s not quite what I meant.”

“I know,” Katzs chuckled. “Hey, Jelly. How you doing?”

She looked up from her bowl and meowed.

Katz, much like the majority of the crew, couldn’t resist the urge to talk cutesy at her. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you?”

“You take milk?” Baldron poured some of the white stuff into his mug.

“Yes, please. One sugar,” Katz cautiously approached Jelly and held out his arms. “Water’s good, huh?”

“One sugar,” Baldron whispered to himself as he fanned out the napkin. In the middle lay a black cyanide capsule. A quick check over his shoulder to ensure the captain couldn’t see him was all he needed.

“Coming right up.”

Jelly’s ears pricked up. She watched on as Baldron broke the two plastic ends and dropped the yellowy dust into the second, red USARIC-themed mug. He poured the hot coffee into it and watched the froth race up the sides of the ceramic and form along the surface.

Katz scooped Jelly up under her belly. “Ooh, gotta be careful. You’ve just eaten.”

“Meow.”

Baldron poured the coffee into his blue mug and replaced the coffee filter into its housing.

“I have to say, Daryl, that we’re very appreciative of everything you’ve done for us. You’ve been a real inspiration for the crew of Opera Beta.”

Katz, having seen nothing of Baldron’s sneaky move, approached the middle table and eyed his coffee. Jelly purred in his arms as he made a fuss over her.

“It’s not often you get to hear that from your own team. But thanks for saying that, it means a lot.”

Baldron smiled and nodded at the cat. “Anderson’s something else, isn’t she?”

“Oh, you can say that again.”

Jelly looked up at Baldron and showed him her fangs. She clung to Katz, wanting to be set free. Obligingly, he dropped her to the table.

“There you go, puss.”

Baldron made conversation, trying not to look at the two mugs. “So, not long to go now till we board Alpha.”

“Nope,” Katz said, looking at the two mugs of coffee. He reached out for the handle on the red mug nearest to him. Baldron suppressed his desire to celebrate that his plan was coming to fruition.

Jelly walked around the two mugs, sniffing the rim of each mug. She whined and blinked up at Baldron.

“What are you looking at, Anderson?”

“Meow,” she ran her face along the side of the piping hot red mug. The heat made her tear her face away and rub it with her paw. “Meeooowww.”

“What’s the matter, girl?” Katz asked, hooking his finger around the red mug handle. “You can’t drink coffee, it’s not good for you.”

“Meow.”

Baldron lifted his mug and offered to clink it against Katz’s. “We have what we need, now. We solved the puzzle. Cheers.”

“Yes, of course,” Katz lifted the red mug and clinked it against Baldron’s. “To Jelly Anderson.”

“Yes, to Jelly Anderson.”

As Baldron lifted the mug to his mouth, Jelly squealed and launched at him, scratching his forearm with her metal infinity claws.

“Oww!”

Baldron’s mug tilted and spilled a few drops of coffee over the floor. Katz put the red mug down and accosted Jelly, who looked up at him with widened eyes.

“Bad cat,” Katz said, taking the blue mug from Baldron’s hand. Jelly hissed back at him.

“That damn creature is more trouble than she’s worth,” Baldron inspected his arm. The inner-skin had torn slightly. “Ugh, can’t we just have her dealt with?”

He reached over the kitchen counter, tore off a sheet of paper from its holder and mopped his arm down.

“Dealt with?” Katz thought on his feet and looked at Jelly.

Baldron scrunched the paper and threw it into the basin. “Yes. Dealt with . We have everything we need from her. She’s only getting in the way, now.”

“Meow.” Jelly somehow knew who the bad guy was in all of this.

Katz picked up the red mug, watching Jelly’s face following the rim. “Here, take your drink back..”

“Thanks,” Baldron took the red mug failing to realize that Katz had swapped them around.

Katz picked up the blue mug and lifted it to his lips. His mood flipped on a dime. “We’ll deal with her when we return to Earth, I think.”

“Fine,” Baldron huffed and watched the tip of the blue mug rise as Katz sipped away at it. “But, but…”

“What’s wrong, Baldron?” Katz said with a smile. “Not going to drink?”

“No, I—”

“Meow,” Jelly shifted along the counter and yawned at Baldron before allowing her stomach to growl.

Katz gulped down the rest of his drink and slammed it to the counter. He reached into his inner-skin suit flap with his right hand and watched Baldron with his red mug. “You must be parched, fella.”

“I, uh, suddenly don’t feel too well.”

“Oh,” Katz said, feigning sympathy, “Well, a bit of caffeine might perk you up a bit, right?”

Baldron didn’t know what to do. If he drank the coffee, he was dead. If he didn’t, he’d look very suspicious.

Katz clenched his fist within his inner-suit, losing his patience. Jelly completed the double-act by growling louder than before. They both wanted Baldron to drink whatever was in the red mug.

“Come on, drink up.”

Baldron closed his eyes and double-over himself, pretending to feel sick. “Ugh, must be something I ate. My stomach—”

He released the red mug from his hands

It shattered across the floor, spreading the fizzing, deadly contents around their shoes.

Katz took out his Rez-9 firearm and pointed it at Baldron.

Jelly squealed in the man’s face, backing her captain up.

“Cyanide?” Katz said, flicking the side catch down, enabling the gun to warm up. “You try to kill me on my ship?”

“I’m s-sorry, please don’t kill—”

“—Don’t say another word, Landaker,” Katz shifted the barrel of the gun to his face. Baldron put his hands in the air as Katz snapped his fingers with his free hand.

“Manuel.”

The holographic book appeared out of thin air and hovered around the kitchen counter. “Yes, Daryl?”