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Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Powers That Be
Power Lines
Power Play
Catalyst is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.
2010 Del Rey Trade Paperback Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Excerpt from Catacombs by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough copyright © 2010 by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of The Random
House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New
Del Rey is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Del Rey, an
imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of
Random House, Inc., in 2010.
This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book Catacombs
by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. This excerpt has
been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of
the forthcoming edition.
Printed in the United States of America
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
"How much for that pretty kittycat you got there,
young lady?"
Janina started, jarring Chessie out of her brooding
nap. Chessie laid her ears back, stretched, and gazed
up into the face of the man who stood smiling down
at them. He was a grizzled-looking spacer in the middle of the human life span, she judged, wearing a uniform, the arms of which sported a collection of ships'
patches bearing insignias she did not recognize. But
then, Hood Station, where they had just docked, was
a backwater facility providing the interface between
the agro-based planet Sherwood and the rest of the
universe. A wide variety of human types roamed the
corridors. Though the man didn't seem threatening,
he certainly seemed ignorant about cats, as Janina,
Chessie's Cat Person, immediately informed him.
Had Janina been a cat, Chessie thought, she'd have
been bristling.
"Excuse me, sir, but if you are referring to
Thomas's Duchess, descendant of Tuxedo Thomas,
the original Barque Cat himself, she is not for sale at
any price." Janina tightened her arms protectively
around Chessie's kitten-heavy body.
2 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"Beggin' your pardon, miss, I had no idea the lady
was such a celebrity. She's just such a beauty and I'm
looking for a cat for my kid. Looks like she's going to
litter soon. How many kittens do you reckon she's
got in there?"
"Dr. Vlast says no fewer than five and perhaps as
many as eight!" Janina replied proudly. "Chessie is a
good breeder and a good mother."
"Glad to hear it. Glad to hear it. Still, that's a lot of
kittens. You'll be looking for homes for them, won't
This fellow just didn't get it, did he? Chessie knew
her kittens were far too valuable to be given away as
pets! How could a spacer not know the history of
Barque Cats? Had she been able to speak to Janina,
she'd have asked, "Doesn't he know we save lives,
that we patrol the tight areas of our spaceships, keeping rodents from eating the coating on cables,
smelling hazardous gases and even escaping oxygen?" Chessie looked into Janina's face, which was
flushing a pretty pink, and mewed her confusion.
"Chessie's—the Duchess's—kittens were spoken
for three litters ago, sir," Janina informed him politely, then added, reeling off the little speech the
crew's communication's officer had prepared for her,
"They are highly prized, as her progeny are not only
superbly bred but have all grown into the best ships'
cats in the universe. The sire of this particular litter is
Space Jockey, a cat as renowned as the Duchess herself for his breeding and spirit."
Hah! The truth was that although Jock was a
handsome tom, he was a terrible brawler. That trait
accounted for the rambunctiousness of these unborn
babies of his. Chessie had never carried a more active
litter, and that was saying something! She had borne
twelve litters in fewer years, barely having time to
train one kindle of kittens in the space ways before
the next lot was born and the whole process began
again. She couldn't actually remember many times
when she had not been pregnant. It made patrolling
the ventilation ducts and interior passages of her
ship, the Molly Daise, a bit difficult at times, but
there were always half-grown kittens to go into those
few places where she could not fit her belly.
"Is that the truth? Well, I'll be. Could I pet her?
Would she mind? She's such a pretty cat."
"I suppose it would be all right," Janina said, with
a glance down at her.
The girl was already a bit more skittish than usual,
and Chessie knew it was because she had opposed
this latest pregnancy. Chessie couldn't agree more,
but she graciously lifted her head to meet the man's
fingers and felt Janina relax somewhat. The man had
a gentle touch, and his fingers smelled pleasantly
male and of a recent hearty meal. She gave the back
of his hand a lick as he pulled it away.
"What a darlin' girl," the man said, smiling at her.
He had a very nice white smile that made his rugged
face look younger. Chessie approved. He could probably snap a rat's neck with a single bite with teeth
like those!
Janina beamed. Chessie's young Cat Person took as
much pride in Chessie and her babies as Chessie herself did. They had been together ten years, all of
Chessie's life and over half of Janina's, who had been
a mere human kitten when Chessie was born and the
4 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
girl became hers. Some ships' cats considered their
Cat Person to be a cross between a caretaker and a
colleague. Chessie had thought of Janina as an older
sister initially. But over the years, through her many
litters, she had come to regard the girl almost as one
of her own kittens. A grown kitten able to help with
birthing the others, but still so young and in need of
reassuring nuzzles and purrs.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to keep moving," Janina told the man. "We're on our way to Dr. Vlast's
clinic now for her prenatal checkup."
"A prenatal checkup for a cat? She must be really
special," the man said, keeping pace alongside them.
Chessie wanted a bath but couldn't start one while
clasped in Janina's arms. The kittens were trying to
pounce each other while still inside her, judging by
the way it felt, and bouncing about the space station
wasn't helping. She shifted her weight so her pretty
fluffy tail draped over Janina's arm, making more
room for her pretty fluffy rear. She mewed up at Kibble, as the rest of the crew called Janina. Apparently,
a lot of Cat Persons on other ships had the same
name, but Chessie was sure none of the others were
as sweet and kind or took such good care of their
Barque Cats as her Kibble did.
The man seemed to have appointed himself as their
escort, walking easily beside them when the way was
clear, breaking up clusters of thoughtlessly chattering
people when it wasn't with a cheery, "Gangway!
Pregnant lady coming through!"
Janina said, "Thank you. Poor Chessie and her kittens have such a great reputation, and fetch such a
big price that she hasn't been given enough time to
rest between litters, in my opinion. I want Dr. Vlast
to check her over and make sure she's okay. I thought
her previous litter should have been her last for a
while but I was outvoted."
Chessie wished Janina had won. Motherhood had
always been easy for her before, but this litter was
disturbing. She dreamed of these kittens all the
time—she couldn't remember doing that before. Or
having the cravings she'd had with this pregnancy,
like those deliciously crunchy shiny beetles she'd discovered in the last shipment of fresh fruit from Jambago Trine. She couldn't seem to get enough of them.
Just thinking about them made her hungry.
"Those kittens must be worth quite a bit for the
crew to risk stressing out Mrs. Puss here like that."
Janina told him what the babies from Chessie's last
litter had fetched—a price that made the man whistle
in appreciation.
"As much as that, eh? I knew that some of the Federated ships had cats, but I never knew they were so
important, or that some were so much more special
than others."
"Oh my, yes. Chessie and her kind have been specially bred for service on shipboard and have saved
countless lives! Having the right cat is like having the
right engineer, or the right navigator."
"That's amazing," the man said with the proper
degree of awe.
Chessie was amazed too. This man must be serving
on very low-class ships not to know the importance
of Barque Cats, to have missed the story of the
founding of her breed and profession. The entire
crew loved to tell the story, over the com or when
6 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
getting together with the crews of other ships. A
ship's Barque Cat was a great bragging point for the
crew, especially since kittens from the most remarkable cats were highly prized and went to the best
homes and earned the crews extra treats. Even Janina, who never preened herself, was apt to carry on at
nap-inducing length about Chessie's ancestry, breeding, history, personal qualities, and job performance.
Chessie liked it that her friends boasted about her,
but there were limits!
Janina had become so nervous about taking her to
see Dr. Vlast—as Chessie could tell from her rapid
heartbeat—it was as if she was the one who would be
poked and prodded and have a thermometer shoved
up her bum. Since Dr. Vlast had taken over the clinic,
Janina seemed much more concerned about her
health than ever before. Since the arrival of the goodlooking young vet, she and Janina usually visited the
clinic several times at each docking, even if she felt
perfectly well. This time, the girl seemed to be welcoming the distraction of being able to talk to the curious man about her favorite subject—Barque Cats in
general and her in particular. Kibble launched enthusiastically into the familiar story as they made their
way through the space station to the clinic.
"Chessie's many times great-great-grandsire,
Tuxedo Thomas, originally belonged to a lady
named Mrs. Montgomery, the wife of Captain
Mason Montgomery," Janina told the man. "She and
Thomas lived on PS Station until she was killed in a
ventilation accident. Thomas must have blamed himself for not preventing the death of his mistress, because when Captain Montgomery returned to the
station, he found Thomas patrolling the ventilation
ducts, apparently looking for leaks. Thomas didn't
stop the behavior when the captain, out of respect for
his wife's love of the cat, took him aboard his cargo
ship, the SS Flamboyant."
"I can see where the cat might have been a big help
on cargo ships with foodstuffs," the man conceded.
"Maybe keeping down the vermin, the rodents and
bugs, but surely any cat could do that—and traps
and sonic deterrents and other devices would serve
the same purpose."
Hmph, Chessie thought, revising her opinion of the
man downward. He must be a dog person!
"Up until then, animals were only cargo, not crew
members," Janina continued. "But Tuxedo Thomas
proved himself over and over, finding tiny oxygen leaks
and breaches in the hull and drawing the crew's attention to them, as his descendants like Chessie do today.
Of course, he caught vermin too, but before long he
mostly acted as a self-appointed morale officer. He
would visit sick crew members, sit beside others of the
crew during long watches, again, all the things Chessie
and her colleagues do for us today. Which is why
they're so carefully bred and expensive."
"And your regular kind of cats don't do those
things?" the man asked. Chessie's ruff bristled. His
posture, which had initially seemed protective now
felt predatory, and his light teasing tone, indicated
that the story was not as new to him as he wanted
Janina to believe. There was excitement in his scent
too, anticipation, which was odd. It was a good
story, but most people didn't react to it that much.
Janina, focusing on her story, didn't notice. Chessie
8 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
knew that in spite of herself, her girl was thinking of
Dr. Vlast. She liked him because he was a good doctor, with a way about him that made each of his patients feel as if he was their person. During the few
times when Chessie had stayed at the clinic, she'd
heard other cats and even dogs and horses each talking about how if anything happened to their humans,
they knew they'd be okay because Dr. Vlast would
take care of them. She liked him, but he affected Kibble a bit like catnip affected Chessie.
It had more to do with the fact that unlike the previous vets, he was young, only a few years older than
Janina, and he smelled good in a strong male sort of
way. Janina was always sneaking looks at him when
she should have been paying attention to her, so
Chessie supposed that by human standards he
looked good too.
Whatever the reasons, Janina seemed to come in
season every time she was around Dr. Jared Vlast,
though it was difficult to tell with humans. When
Chessie was in season, she was in season. With most
humans it only seemed to happen when they were
around specific other humans. They were an odd, unpredictable race, even the best of them.
"Oh no!" Janina said to their new acquaintance,
and Chessie could tell that the girl's emphatic denial
amused the man. "Why, these cats are so valued that
every ship carrying a Barque Cat is required to bear a
chartreuse sign with the legend 'COB'—Cat on
Board. That way, if the ship is wrecked and the humans all perish, other ships coming by will check to
see if the cat found a last tiny chamber of oxygen and
was somehow saved."
"Huh," the man said. "If the cat is the only one
left, seems to me it might not have been doing the job
you said it does—you know, finding leaks and such."
Janina shifted Chessie so she couldn't see the man's
face anymore. The girl was quivering a little as she
came to the defense of Chessie and her kind. "With
all of the patches on your uniform, sir, how can you
fail to understand that there are many hazards in
space that even the most experienced human crewmen—much less a cat, however specialized her
breeding and training—could do nothing to stop—
meteors, unfriendly fire, all manner of things. Thank
you for walking me to the clinic. It is time for our appointment."
Well, that told him! Chessie was sure she heard the
man chuckle as he walked away. She would have
wondered at his odd reaction to Janina's snub except
that Dr. Vlast was opening the clinic door for them,
and the kittens had decided to play tag inside her
swollen belly.
Chessie purred as Dr. Vlast took her from Janina's
arms. Even the kittens quieted down. Despite his regrettable tendency to subject her to medical indignities, Jared Vlast was a great favorite of Chessie's as
well as her girl's. The two older vets previously operating this clinic had been very brisk and businesslike,
and not at all respectful of Chessie's importance to
her ship. Janina, then little more than a child, had
whispered to the kitten Chessie, "Never mind them,
Duchess. Those kinds of doctors think only livestock
animals are important—cattle, sheep, pigs, horses. A
lot they know!"
For the first time, Chessie noticed that her doctor's
10 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
heart was also beating fast and his pulses were
thumping as he smiled at Janina, who was trying
hard to look calm and professional but couldn't help
how big and round her eyes got when she looked up
at him.
Hmm. Well well. Good! The attraction appeared
to be mutual! Chessie was surprised her human
friends couldn't hear each other's chests pounding.
Or maybe they could and just wouldn't admit it. Humans were so strange about mating matters.
Janina had of course discussed the doctor with her,
for she was not only her best friend but unlikely to
spread rumors. Jared Vlast was only six whole years
older than Janina, but was already a man of the universe who had actually spent time on other planets,
not just their docking stations. He was welleducated, a sort of veterinary prodigy, whereas she
had been educated in the Academy, the place where
the kittens of spacefaring parents were sent, whether
or not their parents were alive. Janina's weren't, and
Chessie had heard her say the children of spacefarers
who still had their parents were more likely to go on
to graduate as officers or ship's technicians. She was
an orphan. Not having your parents with you as a
kitten was a bad thing for humans, apparently,
though it didn't stop them from taking feline kittens
from their mothers and sending them—all alone in a
crowd of loud tall humans with clumsy feet—onto
other ships, stations, and worlds.
Janina evidently considered that her parentless status, despite the fact that she had a perfectly wonderful cat companion, made her somewhat less than the
many other females. Silly mistaken Janina had mut-
tered into Chessie's fur that someone with Jared
Vlast's potential wouldn't consider a Cat Person as a
mate. As if being a Cat Person—especially her Cat
Person—was not the most important job in the universe! Janina viewed the other females who wanted
to mate with Dr. Vlast as prettier, smarter, and better
than she was. Chessie could only yawn at the folly of
such an idea and lick Janina's fingers sympathetically.
There were no other females, anywhere, better in any
way than her.
"She's quite near her time now, isn't she?" Dr. Jared
asked as he cradled Chessie in one arm while opening
the door for Janina and then shepherding her through
the reception room. It was, for a change, empty.
"Yes, but there's something odd happening that I
wanted you to check," Janina told him.
"So you didn't get my message?" he asked.
"You sent me one?" Chessie heard her Kibble's
heartbeat picking up speed.
"Yes," he said, keying the door lock and ushering
her inside his main office. "I'm hoping you can help
me. Bill's on home leave, and I need someone in the
left-hand seat. There seem to be some unauthorized
horses showing up dirtside."
"Seem to be?"
Oh dear, Chessie thought, it's the cat hotel for me!
He had borrowed Kibble before to help him when he
had to go dirtside, to the planet the space station orbited. Chessie had stayed in the cat hotel then too. It
was lovely, but she missed Kibble. And when she'd
been here before, the other guests had been horses,
who stayed in another part of the clinic, though she
could hear and smell them. No other cats.
12 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"George Varley said he spotted some brokencolored stock in one of his fields. He has purebreds
and none of them are broken-colored. Varley doesn't
want to be accused of stealing them, so we'll chip
them if they're not already chipped and check that
they're healthy enough to mix with his herd." He
showed her into one of the cubicles and gently deposited Chessie on the examination table. "If they've
been tagged, I'll be interested to see how and when
they came to be here. I haven't seen a piebald or a
skewbald since I left Earth."
He chirped encouragingly to Chessie, and she lifted
her head for him to give her a proper scritch behind
her ears, her favorite place for petting. Purring, she
stood up on the table, gave Janina an accusing
glance, and stroked Jared's arm with the side of her
face. But she knew Kibble would go. It would take
more than looks to make her give up alone time with
Dr. Jared Vlast. Such a fuss over those silly chips!
Couldn't the humans tell which horses were theirs by
sight and smell?
As Jared then moved on to a quick, competent feel
of her fecund belly, he asked Janina what was concerning her.
"Well, she's been regurgitating a lot, and it's
strange looking." Janina showed him the vial that
contained the latest of her spit-up. Humans collected
the strangest things! Janina turned it in the light.
"You see it's got these sparkly bits that I can't account for at all."
Jared peered at the vial, which Janina rocked so he
could see the tiny bits that did pick up the light.
He reached for it and examined it more closely,
then shook his head. "Well, as usual, you have more
foresight than the others."
"The others?"
"Uh-huh," he said in a thoughtful tone. "Four
other cats are spitting up the same sort of mucus,
whatever it is, but you're the only one who thought
of bringing me a sample. I can't do a detailed analysis of it right now because I've got to check out Varley's trespassers."
Chessie yawned and sat and watched them, switching her tail softly.
"Is she eating well?"
Janina sighed. "Like she thinks food is scarce."
The vet grinned, petting Chessie's head again.
"Well, she's feeding at least seven kittens. Is that how
many you've sold off?"
"No, we've secured buyers for eight this time. Even
runts would be welcome with her breeding," Janina
replied. "Not that she's ever had any."
"Which is why she's eating so much." Jared
scratched Chessie's ear vigorously, and she leaned
into his caressing hand. "She's due soon. But not
today, I think. I could really use your help tagging,
Nina. What do you say? We can either take her back
to the ship or leave her here in the peace and quiet.
Isn't your ship loading?"
"It is and she should have quiet," Janina replied,
stroking Chessie's thick and silky coat with a soothing rhythm. It felt lovely. "Not that anyone would
disturb her."
"She can have the whole kennel to herself," Jared
promised. "Plus, I have some chicken livers that she
might deign to eat."
14 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
Chicken livers! Chessie licked her chops at the very
idea. She loved chicken livers. Maybe some quiet
time away from Kibble and Molly Daise wouldn't be
so bad after all.
"Dr. Vlast! I think you planned this—you know
that's her favorite," Janina said. "You sure know
how to get around her!" Chessie thought that cats
were not the only ones the vet knew how to get
He grinned. "Jared, please. I'm glad this works out
for all of us. When I got my consumable shipment
from downside yesterday, it occurred to me—since
the Molly Daise was in port—that you might bring
her in for a checkup." He ducked his head, and
Chessie could see that Janina was surprised to see a
bit of a flush on his face. Both heart rates increased
tempo and intensity.
Humans could be so adorable—and dense. Why
did the girl think he kept dragging her off to romantic rendezvous to tag animals or do mass livestock inoculations if he wasn't smitten? Of course, for the
horse thing, which had apparently caused an epidemic on another colony world, he'd rounded up all
of the Cat People in port, but he'd chosen to work
with her most of the time. The girl reported dreamily
that he had told her she was efficient and goodnatured under extreme conditions. Possibly he was
miraculously unaware that any conditions including
him would be good conditions as far as Janina was
concerned. She'd described in awe-stricken detail the
wonders of catching sheep all over the planet, touching down wherever the records listed horses, inoculating them and adding the information on the ID
chips all the animals on Sherwood were required to
have. They had actually found a couple of bad chips,
Janina said, though that was up to Jared to deal with,
not her.
"I'd better clear my absence with Captain Vesey,
Jared," Janina said.
He handed her a phone. "I'll just check the kennel
and put down the livers and fresh water for Chessie,
then," he said with a grin, and backed out of the cubicle.
Captain Vesey readily okayed the shore mission for
Janina and the vacation for Chessie.
Her kennel suite was large enough for a big dog. It
had a sleeping platform in one corner, well-lined with
soft comfy bedding, a drinking fountain that poured
a lovely private waterfall very nice for cooling a paw
in and pretending to fish, a tree stump for clawing,
and the bowl of rich brown chicken livers that
Chessie sniffed as Jared deposited them in the kennel.
She practically flung herself out of Janina's arms to
get at the treat, and barely heard the click as Jared
turned on the security camera and speakers that
would allow her humans to check in on her at a distance. She was much too busy purring delightedly
over her meal. After all, she was eating for many.
When at last she was replete with chicken livers,
Chessie slept on her platform, happy to have nothing
expected of her for a change. While aboard the Molly
Daise, in addition to her usual workload, she had
searched the vessel from stem to stern, not for the
hazards or vermin she usually stalked, but for a likely
birthing nest where the kittens would be safe from
prying eyes, where she could do what she had done
16 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
so many times before. Only once had she been able to
actually use her secret nest, and she was sorry afterward because Janina had become quite distraught
searching for her. Everyone wanted her birthings to
be observed, assisted, and otherwise interfered with.
Well-bred she might be, but by this time her philosophy of raising kittens was to let the little buggers grow and crawl and feed their tiny round
tummies. Once they were born, she intended to
feed the needs of her exhausted body with blissful
sleep. She thought she could sleep through anything at this point. When she recalled the pleasure
she had enjoyed raising the first litter, the second,
the third, even the fourth, she purred. But now,
many litters later, the thrill was gone. Her crew
liked to brag about what a good mother she was,
but it made her tired just thinking of having more
kittens to bear, to wash, to carry until her jaws
ached. She would once more train them in their
jobs and their basic feline survival skills, then, just
as she was getting used to having them around,
she'd lose them when they were sold to other ships.
Never mind. She would miss them, but they would
be someone else's problem. She opened her eyes a
slit, sighed, rearranged her paws, and fanned her
plumelike tail over them so its tip covered her nose.
As soon as the kits were gone, there'd be some new
tom thrust at her, giving her the same old song and
dance that meant, in time, more kittens.
That was all very well for toms. They only had one
career, spending their time cruising their ships, hunting space vermin, snuggling with and cadging occasional treats from crew members, and being called
upon to breed the poor queens who then had to bear
the consequences and the kittens.
She dreamed of pouncing on the next tom like she
would pounce on a rat. She purred in her sleep and
had a lovely, lovely rest, rising only to nibble on more
delicious food before sleeping again.
It was a most excellent vacation, exactly when she
needed it, and she hoped Janina and Dr. Jared would
be gone a long time on their errand.
Sometime later she woke with a start to the screams
of horses and the smell of smoke. Where was her Kibble, and why wasn't she back yet? She had to warn her
about the smoke! And then she saw rough human
male hands reaching for the front door to her cage . . .
Jubal Poindexter left the barn door open while he sat
on a hay bale sharpening the scythe his dad had
promised to sharpen before he left. Jubal had learned
a long time ago not to set much store by his dad's
promises. The farm would have gone to wrack and
ruin if Jubal and his mama depended on the old man
to keep his word.
Jubal really had hoped his dad might remember
about the kitten, though. His birthday had been two
weeks ago and Dad promised him, "Just between us
men." Jubal couldn't even tell his mama why he was
so disappointed when his dad didn't come home
when he said he would. Mama didn't like cats, which
was why that particular birthday promise had been
secret. That, Jubal suspected, and Dad would have to
make up wild stories about how his failure to keep
the promise was definitely not his fault for one less
How could Mama not like cats? They were so
pretty—and useful. This old barn was overrun with
vermin of all descriptions—rats, mice, lizards,
snakes, all manner of bugs, including the shiny beetles there seemed to be so many of nowadays. A cat
would sort them out in no time flat, and also be his
friend and someone to play with. He didn't mind a
lot of Dad's broken promises—even though he was
barely eleven years old he could already do lots of the
work Dad should have been doing—but a kitten
wouldn't have been hard to come by. Unwanted kittens were given away all the time. Jubal only needed
just the one tiny free kitten and he'd have had himself
the best birthday yet. But no, his dad was an important man with important space stuff to do. Horsefeathers!
A single shameful tear of self-pity welled up in his
eye, and he rubbed at it furiously. Something
streaked across the sunlight streaming in through the
open barn door. His head snapped up, but by then
whatever it was had leaped into the shadows and
was scattering straw hither, thither, and yon.
Setting the scythe carefully beside the bale, Jubal
stood up and took a cautious step toward the commotion. Might be a fox or a weasel after the chickens, though most of them were outside this time of
day, pecking up their feed. Maybe whatever it was
had chased one in here!
But it wasn't squawks he heard, just a single terrified squeak, before the straw exploded up and a pair
of muckle-colored pointy ears emerged, followed by
a pair of round shiny eyes and a big old mouse where
a mouth ought to be.
A saggy-bellied tortoiseshell cat tripped toward
him with paws as dainty as any great lady's slippers.
Her bright eyes looked up into his as she laid the
mouse at his feet. Then she stepped back and sat
down with her tail curled around her front feet.
20 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
When he didn't move for fear of scaring her away,
she looked up at him, tilting her head, then glanced
down at the mouse.
He'd wanted a mouser, hadn't he? Well, she was
applying for the job, and here was proof she was fit
for it.
Jubal hunkered down to pat her head and tell her
what a fine cat she was but she bounced up as a shiny
green beetle scuttled past. Snapping it up in her jaws,
she crunched once, then came back and sat down in
front of him again, a little farther away this time. Her
fur was long, shiny and soft looking, though bits of
straw and leaves clung to it. Her tail, though sprigged
with straw, was long and plumed and luxuriously
furry. This was a really fine kind of cat. An ordinary
everyday cat, maybe, but a beauty, and furthermore,
a practical mouse-catching kind of cat. Even Mom
would have to see how worthwhile a cat like this
would be.
But best of all, that round belly with all those
heavy pink nipples swinging underneath told him
that she was about to be a mama and soon he'd have
not only this fine cat but a whole litter of kittens besides.
He leaned over to pat her but she backed off and
gave him a purely annoyed look that hurt him at first,
then tickled his funny bone. "Okay, kittycat. I got it.
You're a working cat and we got ourselves a business
arrangement. I can see you have your own ways and
you don't know to trust me yet. I just hope your babies are a little more cuddly because I sure would like
one for a pet, and I promise I would treat it and you
really well."
The cat stropped herself against his legs once,
quickly, as if in agreement, and bounded heavily
back into the straw again. He was a little disappointed she wasn't a friendlier, cuddlier cat, but then,
he couldn't blame her much. Cats on Sherwood were
common as dirt and not always treated nearly as
But she was a cat of her word. The next morning
there was a line of rats, mice, lizards, and bugs at the
barn door when he opened it. Minus her commission, signified by the tail at the end of the line and by
the satisfied way she sat cleaning her paws.
"It shouldn't take us long to get to the Varleys',"
Jared said as they left the kennel area. "I've extra
gear for you and you already know how to manage a
tagger." He gave her a grin and then stepped past her
to open a cabinet and haul out a warm flight jacket,
a helmet, and two bags of tagger equipment. He
hoisted one to her shoulder and the other to his. Janina carried the bag proudly. Jared was a very important part of the station and the agricultural world it
serviced. The colony worlds needed to move animals
from one to the other to acquire new breeding stock,
but it was imperative the animals reach their destinations disease free, so as not to contaminate existing
stock. By Galactic governmental regulations, animals
arriving at the station were examined and chipped to
indicate origin and arrival date. Animals who became ill en route to other worlds were also cared for
at the clinic before being released to continue their
Of course, once they arrived on the surface, the ani-
22 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
mals still needed periodic vaccinations, and their microchip tags required updating, and Jared did that too,
as well as providing care for pets. It was a huge job.
"I've got a good tracker, new model. We'll be done
and back in no time."
"Famous last words," she said, waggling a finger at
him. Now that she was actually with him instead of
just thinking about being with him, she no longer felt
nervous or flustered. He was so comfortable to be
with that she fell into the teasing she often did with
her fellow crew members on the Molly Daise.
"I know, I know, " he replied, grinning again, remembering one of their earlier trips to Sherwood,
which he had promised would be quick but lasted
two weeks. He'd only just got her back to the space
station in time to reach her ship before its scheduled
The tracker was docked in the small bay adjacent
to the vet clinic. They seated themselves in the vehicle, checked with Traffic and were assigned a time,
cleared their orbit, and recorded their destination.
Jared was a good pilot, and Janina sat back to
enjoy the flight. As soon as the docking bay doors retracted, she could see the green and blue bulk of the
planet Sherwood. As they descended, the long valley
between two minor mountain ranges that constituted
the Varley ranch zoomed in beneath them. It was a
rich holding, and Varley was known as a successful
but responsible settler who took good care of his
stock, so she understood why he would want to
make sure all his animals were being imported
legally. It wasn't as if the breeder couldn't afford to
pay the costs of legitimate additions to his stock.
That didn't mean that someone else couldn't have
brought the horses to Sherwood. There were always
ways to elude notice. Pirates and smugglers could
likely make an unseen landing when the station
eclipsed the planet. Even Traffic couldn't monitor
everything. But why would anyone go to the trouble
of smuggling stock to boost someone else's herd? It
didn't make sense.
Jared had a brief, earnest conversation with Traffic, after which he seemed lost in thought most of the
time. He glanced at her once or twice to smile encouragingly, and she knew he was happy to have her
help, and, she hoped, her company.
But as excited as she was to be off on another mission with him, and reassured as she was by the precautions he took to ensure Chessie's safety and their
own, Janina felt a twinge of worry and guilt about
leaving her charge. She compulsively checked the security camera monitor every few seconds, sure that
Chessie would go into labor the minute she wasn't
looking. Chessie was still sleeping soundly, though
the chicken livers were now gone. Janina knew it was
silly of her to worry, but she wouldn't have been a
Cat Person if she had not.
The broken-colored horses were rather surprising.
They didn't act wild or even worried when they saw
the humans.
The first lot of them, six in number, were grazing
when Janina and Jared arrived, and after several coy
sidelong glances, one of them, with a black saddle and
rump and one rather rakish black eye, trotted cautiously over. Jared had armed himself and Janina ap-
24 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
propriately. She proffered an apple as a bribe and the
mare sidled in more closely, finally accepting the apple
from her palm. Meanwhile, Jared clipped a halter
across the horse's neck. The mare whuffled but did not
interrupt her treat long enough to seriously protest. He
clicked the scanner and shook his head. No chip.
When he tagged her ear, she started, neighed, and
reared in protest, dropping the remains of her apple.
The DNA smear from her saliva would establish
whether she was related to any of the local herds.
"Shhh, shhh, it's okay," Janina said soothingly.
"That's all there is to it. Don't be such a big baby. My
cat barely noticed when we did hers, although hers is
here." She touched a spot on the back of her neck.
"It's how we know who you are and can find you to
help you if you get into trouble. Everyone has one.
You don't want to buck the tide of fashion, do you?
Now stand still and I'll undo the halter."
The mare whickered, and Janina retrieved the slobbery apple and offered it in apology. The horse took
it with more of a snap than her first polite bite, but
allowed Janina to release her, after which she hopped
sideways, kicked up her heels a bit, and trotted over
to the other horses. Jared and Janina watched, fully
expecting the little herd to flee. The weather had
turned damp and the grass was a luminous green
under the ruffled gray sky. They stood in a valley between the low hills bounding Varley's property and
the steep rocky ridges of the Hood Range beyond. A
slight breeze carried the rich scent of fertile ground,
growing things, and horse sweat. It chilled her where
it touched her skin, evaporating the sweat she had
generated while reasoning with the horse.
The other horses crowded close to the tagged mare,
touching noses, shaking heads, and for all the world
looking as if they were conferring.
Another mare with a white face blazed with black
stepped forward as if looking for her own treat. Janina obliged her while Jared tagged her. This time
there was no fuss. The mare flicked the ear afterward
as if testing it, then returned to the herd, having finished her apple. The work went quickly after that, as
the horses had evidently decided that the tags were a
small price to pay for the treats, and each could
hardly wait for a turn.
Jared chuckled, patting the last brown and white
neck with a strong hand, its back laced with little
white scars that were no doubt souvenirs from former, less cooperative patients. "Have you ever seen
such unhorsey cooperation from wild creatures?" he
"You say Varley claims he doesn't know where
they came from, but wherever it was, they seem to
have been gentled already," she said.
He nodded, looking as puzzled as she felt, and they
gathered their gear and began striding back toward
the tracker, which they'd left at some distance to
avoid spooking their patients. "There are six more
over the next ridge, according to Varley's last siting. I
think we've earned a spot of lunch before we move
along to them, don't you?" Jared asked, and Janina
realized she was indeed quite hungry. "There's no
hurry and there's quite a nice café in Locksley. We
can eat there if you like or they'll pack us a picnic to
take along."
"A picnic sounds lovely," she said, then, fearing he
26 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
would realize she was angling for time alone with
him, she added, "I mean, that would be most efficient
and we could have it in a field where the pintos could
become accustomed to us while we ate." Furthermore, the horses would be unlikely to spread gossip
if they caught her gaze lingering too long on the
handsome Dr. Vlast. Nor would they mention to anyone if in some small way he— She should put that
right out of her head. But she couldn't help feeling as
if the gravity had suddenly lightened when he
grinned warmly down at her.
"That's what I'd prefer as well," he said.
The breeze freshened as they strode along, and Janina found it at first cooling and then chilling in spite
of their brisk pace. The scent of smoke mixed with
the other woodsy smells of Sherwood, and in spite of
the cozy, homey, warm things that smoke indicated
on a place like Sherwood, the smell made Janina uneasy. One seldom smelled smoke on shipboard, and if
one did, it was not a good thing.
When they reached the tracker, the monitor
showed Chessie had shifted position slightly, and
though her tail tip twitched now and then, she was
otherwise sleeping soundly. Chessie was fine, Janina
thought. She was the one with the problem.
Locksley was a typical frontier settlement—a single
circular main street with businesses around the outer
diameter and along the spokes branching out into the
residential district beyond, where the roads became
fewer, leading off into the countryside where horse
farms such as Varley's occupied square miles of
fields. The businesses along each spoke were separated into malls according to the sort of wares they
sold. There was a food mall; a hardware and repair
mall; a clothing, shoes, and fripperies mall; a children's mall; a housewares mall; and a livestock mall
containing feed, horse tack, and home veterinary
supplies. She'd heard new settlers express wonderment at the strange arrangement of their town, but
the prefab wedges that formed around towns had
been the shape carried most easily in the early roundhulled ships. Some of the houses had been delivered
that way too, but other, humbler and more primitive
dwellings were made of native organic plant life and
stone. She liked the look of them, as each was different from anything she had seen before.
While Jared went into a café in the food mall to
order their picnic, she ducked into the adjacent clothing spoke to shop for the gifts Captain Vesey had requested she purchase for his family. It was nice that
he made an effort to show them he was thinking of
them no matter where he was.
Bypassing the sections containing uncomfortablelooking shoes and colorful clothing, she headed for
the jewelry and accessories. Captain Vesey's oldest
daughter was horse-crazy, so Janina selected a
bracelet beaded with running horses for her. For
Mrs. Vesey, she found a hood and collar of soft loden
green mohair, locally grown. The hood and collar
were a nod to the hero of Terra's original Sherwood
Forest. The colony's marketing team had decided on
that theme for their souvenir industry, but this was a
new product, something Janina hadn't seen before.
That was why Captain Vesey liked the dirtside malls.
The space station's shopping center held a far more
cosmopolitan array of goods and services, but each
28 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
planet had certain lines of items that could be found
only on the surface. They made fine collectibles, and
the captain said Mrs. Vesey was an original who
liked unusual things. Janina had seen pictures of the
captain's family and thought the hood would suit
Mrs. Vesey's green-gold eyes and rather dramatic
bone structure very nicely. For the youngest girl, she
found a little lavender drawstring bag decorated with
a bow and arrow motif outlined in shiny purple crystals.
Her shopping complete, she returned to the
tracker. Chessie had switched positions so that her
face was now to the wall. Janina held her breath for
a moment, thinking Chessie seemed too still, then a
delicate ear tuft quivered and the long tips of her upturned whiskers twitched. Janina relaxed. Poor
Chessie had needed this rest badly.
Carlton Pontius—Ponty to his shipmates, Carl
Poindexter more familiarly to his local Sherwood
associates—had not forgotten his son Jubal's birthday cat at all. Or rather, he had momentarily forgotten his promise but remembered it immediately when
he saw the Molly Daise's Cat Person and her prize
Ponty was a man whose capacity for inspiration
had often come to the assistance of his aspirations.
Like the cat in the little lady's arms, he usually landed
on his feet and got the cream while he was at it.
He had been a soldier until he saw the light and
started working as an arms dealer and a sales rep for
pharmaceuticals of both legal and illegal status. He
had served in every conceivable rank and capacity
aboard ships, chiefly those that smuggled prohibited
technology from world to world for a price. His sales
experience had made him a valuable asset to such
crews. His was a competent medic and a mostly selftaught geneticist, having reared several clones from
test tube to maturity en route to their most lucrative
destinations. Among his other less legitimate talents,
he was a consummate con man.
30 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
But even he had never in his wildest dreams imagined that he would someday include cat rustling in
his résumé.
Oddly enough, it was his child's innocent wish for
a pet that alerted him to the opportunities awaiting
the imaginative man in the feline relocation industry.
Raising the groceries for his family's sustenance
had put his knowledge of the shadier branches of selective breeding to good use. Since horses were big
money business on Sherwood, when he first arrived
he'd experimented with equine embryos and tended
them faithfully. Then he'd been called away before he
could return to care for the resulting foals. The best
he could do was to borrow a couple of maternal
mares from a neighboring herd to look after the little
shavers near the line shack where he'd stashed them.
Due to the financial demands of his household and
the shaky state of his marriage, he'd only been back
for brief intervals in the meantime and had no idea
what became of the foals. If they survived, they
should be full grown by now, with a couple of generations of descendants unless they were sterile, and he
had no reason to think they would be.
Cats were smaller, easier to smuggle, and according
to the cat girl, some of them were even more valuable
than horses. Every ship he served on had a ship's cat,
of course, though none were of the hoity-toity lineage of the furball the girl had been toting. If one of
those ships had gone down, the cat would have perished with the crew. The last thing his ships' masters
wanted was to draw attention to their vessels with a
big fancy sign, whether or not they were derelict.
Cargo could always be retrieved later, but not if some
interfering busybody boarded a dead ship to save a
He had known about the Barque Cats and seen
them occasionally when he did business with ships
whose missions were less shady than his own. They
were pretty enough beasts and good hunters and all
that, but in spite of what the cat girl said, he didn't
see any difference between them and the standard
Maine coon moggie that patrolled the barns, yards,
and houses of his feline-inclined neighbors. No matted fur on the pampered highborn beauties, of
course. No fleas, ticks, ear mites, or parasites either.
When Ponty saw the girl toting the pregnant cat, it
hadn't taken much mental arithmetic to figure she
was on her way to Vlast so he could tend the furball.
He had promised his boy a kitten, and that was, he
told himself, the reason he had approached the girl.
A man could ask about a kitten for his kid, couldn't he?
It had been a revelation to him that ships would actually pay so much to have a kitten with the right
pedigree on board. Crews apparently gave more for a
fancy-bred Barque Cat than he had ever been paid
for a year on any of his voyages. Well, they might be
too good for him, but nothing was too good for his
boy. Jubal wanted a kitten, and his son was going to
get the best kitten his old man could get for him. If he
happened to make enough money off the sale of the
cat and all of the other kittens to support his family
and future enterprises for some time to come, it was
no more than his reward for being such a great father. He could have always settled for one of those
poor little Sherwood kittens that were lucky to find a
berth as a barn cat, luckier still to be a pampered pet,
32 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
but if that cat girl said her cat was better, and worth
more money, he figured she ought to know.
Personally, he didn't see—unless these cats had their
kittens through their noses or in some other special
way—how anyone would ever be able to tell the difference between a kitten born to Thomas's Duchess and
sired by Space Jockey from a kitten born to Haystack
Puss and sired by Back Fence Tom. There was ID hardware, of course, with the DNA code on it, but that
could be counterfeited easily enough.
So, in his natural fatherly solicitude for his boy, he
formulated a lapse into not-so-latent larceny. Using
the Duchess as his seed cat, so to speak, he could use
her DNA samples to maybe elevate some otherwise
undervalued kittens to her lofty and lucrative status,
sort of like placebo cats, or a control group. As expensive as the real thing, of course, but all misrepresented in a spirit of scientific inquiry. If they didn't
know the difference, would his clients adopt the barn
kittens and believe them to be as good as Chessie's
real kittens? It was a far far better thing he planned
to do, a redemocratization of that most independent
feline species. He would be undermining a silly
human value system that falsely overinflated some
animals while leaving others homeless and
forsaken—when they could be going to good homes
for a healthy profit to him. He was nothing, he liked
to think, if not softhearted.
His own kid would get a bona fide Barque kitten,
of course. His kid deserved nothing but the best.
Jared returned to the tracker swinging a large woven
basket, and he and Janina took off over the ridge to
the field Varley had indicated, where six more
broken-colored horses watched curiously as the humans unpacked their lunch. Included in the picnic
provisions was a healthy supply of apples and carrots.
A café lunch might have been more private, as it
turned out. These horses were no more frightened
than the others had been, and were also so nosy as to
be intrusive. Janina and Jared sat together on a blanket, close enough to pass food and close enough that
she could feel his body's warmth radiating through
the chill of the afternoon breeze.
"Janina, you've been a tremendous help," he said,
handing her a plate with some cheese and apple on it.
"Did your Cat Person training include being a vet
"Not really," she said. "Just certain things. Like
birthings, treating wounds, emergency cat medicine,
recognition of the usual cat maladies."
"Not all of the cat handlers I've met seem nearly
as well-versed in all of those areas as you are," he
"What they gave us at the academy was a bit
sketchy. I was lucky to be assigned such a wonderful
cat to work with as soon as I'd finished the Cat Person
elective in my schooling. And not all of the cabin boys
and girls who care for a ship's cat have even had the
academy training I did. Some ships acquire a cat without having a properly trained Cat Person in the crew,
just a youngster to feed the cat and change the commode. They don't all know how to monitor the cat's
hunt and search activities properly, to do the most
good for the ship. When I meet some of the untrained
34 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
ones, I try to answer questions and make suggestions.
Most of them at least do love their cat."
"You've done remarkably well with the knowledge
you have," he told her.
She felt her skin growing warm from more than the
sun's heat. He had the most beautiful eyes, and they
were totally focused on her.
"I study everything I can from the courses in the
data banks, and take classes at our ports of call when
we dock for more than a couple of days."
"Excellent. Have you thought about later?"
"When Chessie—retires. She's not a young cat, and
all of these litters are taking a toll on her."
Janina studied the grass intently for a moment or
two while her eyes stopped swimming. She knew he
didn't mean actually retire. Chessie wouldn't leave
the Molly Daise until she died. Then, if the ship
hadn't retained one of her kittens for an understudy,
they'd have to buy a kitten and assign a new Cat Person, someone young and small enough to follow the
kitten into places where an adult couldn't go. "I—I'd
probably train my replacement," she said. But the
thought of trying to do that after Chessie passed—
she didn't know how she'd face it. She couldn't bear
the thought of being without Chessie. They'd been
together since she was eight years old and Chessie fit
into the palm of her hand.
"Will you return to your family on your home
world?" he asked, pretending he hadn't noticed her
"I don't have a family, not that I know of. My
mother was killed in an accident when I was small.
My father was away—no one ever told me exactly
where—and has never returned. I haven't been able
to learn anything about him. I'm not really sure what
I'll do when Chessie—"
He cleared his throat, and this time he seemed a little nervous. "I actually had something I wanted to
ask you about that," he said.
She didn't catch the rest of it. A brown and white
muzzle intruded between them and lipped the apple
off the plate, leaving a smear of sparkly slobber on
the cheese.
Both of them bent over the plate. "Look," she said,
pointing, "that looks like what Chessie's been coughing up."
Jared was already fishing a specimen bag out of his
inside pocket. Lifting the cheese slice with the edge of
the disposable fork, he deposited it in the bag. He
frowned. "This is very irregular, since a ship's cat and
a wild horse are hardly on the same diet and don't
even breathe the same air. I can't think what they'd
have in common that would produce this"—he waggled the bag at her before tucking it into his pocket—
"in both species."
Janina felt suddenly sick with apprehension. "You
don't suppose it's some sort of alien plague, do you?
Like those diseases that used to kill so many Terran
animals before they developed vaccines?"
"I hope not. But we'll need to tag this lot before we
process this," he said. "We'll want to be able to identify them again, in case it's necessary to isolate
But when they rose to return to work, they found
the attentive horses had all vanished. Returning to
36 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
the tracker, Janina and Jared followed the beasts into
the hills, down into another valley, and then into a
thick birch wood, where they lost them. The tracker's
scanners showed that the horses were still there, but
when they tried to follow on foot, no fruity inducements were enough to persuade the horses to show
Finally Jared shook his head and said, "We're
wasting our time here. We'll need to have a talk with
Varley. He's going to have to round this lot up for us
to tag. Not a word about the specimen, though, all
right? He's not likely to be cooperative if he thinks
we may be looking for something that could endanger his herd."
Janina nodded gravely, her former high spirits
thoroughly dampened.
Jared set the tracker down in the wide drive outside
of Varley's extensive ranch home, which was bigger
than the bridge and the crew quarters of the Molly
Daise put together. The house was surrounded by a
vast garden with an array of flowers in a rainbow of
colors. The gardener, Hamish Hale, stood up as they
exited the tracker.
"Hi, Doc Vlast," he said. Hamish owned a black
lab named Rollie who had a hip problem. As they
drew nearer, Rollie looked up at them from his place
beside Hamish's feet and wagged his tail. Jared
greeted them both, patting Rollie's head, and asked if
Mr. Varley was around.
"In the stables, Doc," Hamish said, waving his
trowel in the direction of the building that was the
size of one of the Locksley malls.
Two large red dogs came bounding up to meet
them. One of them leaped to put its front paws on
Jared's shoulders, and he held them and danced the
dog around as if they were at a ball. The other settled
for pats from Janina, when it was clear his doctor
was tied up with another patient.
"Roscoe, Roary, down," a man's voice commanded. Varley himself strode out to meet them and
shook their hands briskly.
"Get the mustangs tagged already, did you, Doc?"
he asked in a jovial tone.
"One lot, but the second spooked and hid in the
woods. They wouldn't come out for love nor bribes,
so you'll have to have your hands corral them and
call me back."
"The ones you did check—they look okay to you?"
Varley asked. "Healthy, no mutations or anything?"
"Other than their coloring and undocumented origins, no," Jared said.
"Because I'm thinking I should probably sell them
offworld—I'm not one to look a gift horse in the
mouth, but on the other hand, I don't want to get
fined for owning a herd of them when I can't say who
the giver is."
Jared nodded. "They look healthy enough to me,
and I would say most are young and sturdy as well.
But as long as we're here, I thought we might take the
annual specimens from your other stock. Save us all
time later."
Varley screwed his mouth up considering, then
shrugged. "It's up to you. They're not due for six
weeks, though."
"I know, but I figured you'd like to get it over with."
38 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
He shrugged again. "Your call. You know where to
find them." He signaled toward the stable area.
"When you're done, you and your helper come on up
to the house for refreshments, why don't you?"
"Thanks," Jared said, waving as he strode toward
the corral, Janina trailing behind him. Roary and
Roscoe, wagging and bouncing as if they'd never before seen such a wonderful man, followed their master to the house.
It took another two hours to gather the necessary
specimens. Only three of the stabled horses exhibited
the sparkly saliva, which obviously puzzled Jared as
much as finding it had displeased him. But neither he
nor Janina said anything about it as they sat sipping
iced tea and nibbling fresh baked biscuits from Mrs.
Varley's dessert plates. The biscuits were dusted with
cinnamon and melted in Janina's mouth. She thought
she'd never tasted anything so delicious. She was biting into her second when one of the hands, dressed in
blue work pants and a matching shirt with the tails
hanging out, strode into the room.
"The station's on the com, sir," he told Varley.
"They said they've been trying to raise Dr. Vlast on
the tracker com but can't."
"Is it an emergency?" Jared asked, setting down his
glass and plate as he rose.
"I think it may be, sir. They were wondering if you
can explain why there are horses, dogs, and sheep
running through the station."
Janina felt her stomach clench with anxiety.
Even before entering the tracker, they heard the
com unit squawking at them through the closed
hatch. Janina's dread swelled to near-panic as she
made out the first words of the message. The security
monitor that had last showed Chessie peacefully napping was now black.
"Fire," the com unit was saying. "Fire in the animal clinic!"
Traffic diverted the tracker from its customary bay
near the clinic, and security contacted them as soon
as they docked. "Dr. Vlast, station ops requests that
you and your assistant round up the animals who escaped from the clinic and examine them for possible
injuries and smoke inhalation while we are securing
the area."
They didn't need to be convinced. Jared's patients
were his top priority, and Janina was frantic to find
Chessie. She triggered the cat's locator beacon, hoping against all odds that it would lead her to a
Chessie calmly setting her whiskers in order with a
dampened paw. But there was no answering signal
from any part of the ship.
By the time she and Jared had rounded up the
horses, dogs, exotic birds, and the boa constrictor
wreaking havoc throughout the station, Janina was
sick with worry for Chessie.
But when at last the animals were secured, examined, and lodged in whatever space available until
their owners could collect them, and Jared and Janina returned to the clinic deck, they were still denied
"Toxic fumes," a guard, barely distinguishable as a
female in her hazmat suit, told them. "The fire seems
to have started in the hay in the horse stalls, but it ignited a lot of other substances that give off poisonous
gases when they burn. Good thing the animals got
loose before that happened or they'd have all died
from inhalation. As it is, some of the fire crew are in
sick bay now."
Frustrated, they turned away, and Jared went to
the station master's office to fill out paperwork.
Janina roamed the station with Chessie's locator,
calling and listening, but saw no sign of her, though
two other cats stopped hunting long enough to regard her curiously from a safe distance.
Finally, after hours of fruitless searching, Jared
called her on the com to tell her the area had cooled
and the air supply had been cleansed enough that
they would be allowed in as long as they wore
Steeling her nerve, Janina followed him into what
was left of the clinic. It was hard to believe that this
rubble was the same neat, hygienic place where she
had left Chessie. She picked her way through the
clinic, the pools of melted stuff, the collapsed ceiling,
the twisted metal exam tables. She had felt sure that
Chessie was alive, since all of the other animals appeared to be accounted for and unharmed, but since
she could not find her charge alive, she began to
dread finding evidence that she was dead—charred
fur, bits of bone, her locator chip . . . Jared set off in
another direction to examine other areas of the
clinic. Perhaps he too couldn't bear to see proof that
the kennel where Chessie should have been safe had
42 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
become a death trap. If Chessie had died, Janina only
hoped it was from smoke inhalation, quickly, while
the cat still slept, dreaming of her new litter.
"Careful there, miss," the guard called. "Some of
the floors have buckled and pulled from their moorings. You could fall through in some places."
"Thank you," she replied without looking at the
woman. Her eyes were on the twisted wire door lying
halfway across some beams two doors away. She
picked through the rubble toward it over upended
file cabinets, their bent-open drawers filled with the
blackened remains of the hardcopy records, the shattered blind screen of a computer, and charred and
melted plastic chairs from the waiting room.
Chessie's kennel had faced a large viewport, to give
her sunbeams to bask in, since sunlight was said to
be healthful particularly for ships' cats much deprived of natural feline pleasures.
She looked back at the guard and asked, her voice
muffled by her mask and husky from a throat already
scratchy with the remains of the smoke: "Did the first
responders who rescued the other animals find a
pregnant cat and save her too? She would have been
over there." She pointed to where the husk of the
kennel remained standing.
"I think the other animals escaped on their own,
miss. No one I know set them free. I'm sorry, but I've
seen no pregnant cat nor has anyone mentioned such
a one."
It was no more than Janina had expected, but her
spirits sank a little more. Still, she slogged through to
the room where she had left Chessie.
Even when creatures were cremated, there were
ashes, shards of bones. She knew if she saw her cat's
remains, she would recognize them.
As she drew nearer the burned-out kennel, she
could clearly see through the blackened wire mesh
that the sleeping shelf appeared untouched, although
the cat bed was no longer there.
But better yet, the door hung slightly ajar. Chessie
got out! Someone had let her out!
Janina allowed herself a deep relieved breath, then
coughed over and over, her throat and chest burning.
She stumbled back through the ruins, pressing
Chessie's button again and again. She had to have
survived, had to. She could not have run far, fleet of
foot as she was, with her belly full of young. Whoever had saved the other animals must have saved her
too, but instead of setting her free—perhaps realizing
the pregnant cat would not be fast enough to outrun
the fire—had taken her far away from the once-safe
haven that had become a deadly inferno.
Janina collapsed to the deck in the outer corridor.
Jared, his face ashen, turned his back on the ruins
and hurried toward her and then past.
"Jared, what—" she began.
He stopped, took a step back and gave her a look
full of sorrow and pity, letting his fingers brush her
hair, then strode on without speaking. But not before
she saw the tracks of tears through the soot that covered the exposed part of his face. He was as stricken
by this tragedy as she, but he had not lost the creature dearest to him in the whole universe. She had—
but the loss was not hers alone. She rose and
straightened her uniform. It was time to face her
44 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
* * *
Her feet felt so leaden she thought she'd dent the
deck as she boarded the Molly Daise and marched to
the bridge.
The ship's officers were waiting for her. That was
unusual. A Cat Person was normally not important
enough for such an august assemblage. She didn't
flatter herself that it was her welfare that concerned
them now. Not only were most members of the crew
fond of Chessie, but they had plans for the money
they'd receive from the sale of her new litter.
The officers' faces were not accusatory or unkind,
however, and somehow that made her feel worse. She
had thought she was doing the right thing by
Chessie, leaving her at the clinic. How had it gone so
horribly wrong?
To put off having to say anything, she hauled the
gifts she'd bought for the captain's family from her
pack and silently handed them to him. He took them
with a distracted frown, not inspecting them. "Are
you all right, Janina?" he asked her.
"I am well enough, sir, but—" Her throat closed
with aching and she couldn't finish the sentence.
"Did you—find her?" asked second mate Indu
Soini, her voice holding a strange restrained mix of
hopefulness and dread.
"I did not, ma'am. She was not among the rescued
beasts from the clinic—"
"Oh no!" said Engineer's mate Charlotte Holley,
who of all of her section was the one fondest of cats
in general and Chessie in particular. "Janina, why did
you leave her there? You could have brought her to
me. I'd have watched her."
"She had my permission," Captain Vesey said. "It
seemed best at the time. The cat needed a checkup
and a rest. The vet needed Janina's help with tagging
some horses on Sherwood."
"But she's the Cat Person, sir!" Charlotte protested. "Her duty was—"
"Her duty was where I permitted it to be, Techmate Holley. Hear the girl out."
Janina looked from one of them to the other. Charlotte was right. What was she going to say to them?
What could she say? Instead of staying with Chessie,
as she should have, she'd gone off gallivanting with
Jared, and she would not fool herself into thinking it
was for duty or helpfulness. She was eager to go off
and leave Chessie so she could enjoy the pleasure the
vet's company gave her. Picnics! And poor Chessie,
how she must have cried for her Kibble when she
sensed the fire.
Charlotte, communications officer Bennie Garcia,
Purser Mick Yawman, and Indu all seemed at a loss.
Captain Vesey had returned his attention to the instruments without signaling that his officers do the same.
Years seemed to pass.
"Thank goodness you're all right, anyway," Indu
said at last, stepping forward to give Janina a light
hug. When Indu stepped back, her contact with Janina left black sooty spots on her immaculate uniform.
The hug made Janina feel worse, much as she appreciated it. She knew she didn't deserve it.
"We were all loaded and onboard when the port
officials hailed us and informed us of the fire," Indu
told her. "We feared you and Dr. Vlast might have
been injured, but it looks as if you're fine."
46 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"Yes, of course, we're glad you and Dr. Vlast are
okay," Bennie Garcia said, "but the question remains: if she wasn't with the other animals, where is
the Duchess?"
Captain Vesey had brought up a scan of the ruins
on the com screen.
Mick Yawman, the purser, was staring at the
screen, his jaw tight and his pale blue eyes starting to
water as badly as Janina's. Chessie had seen Mick
through a bout of flu turned to pneumonia that
nearly killed him a year before, and she often took
her naps under his chair as he did the ship's accounts.
Charlotte followed Mick's gaze. "She wasn't—did
you look?" she asked.
Janina nodded in mute misery.
Mick dropped his head and his hands fell to his
sides. She realized the other crew members looked as
grim and shocked as he did, and realized they had
misinterpreted her nod.
"Oh—she wasn't in there," Janina admitted. "Her
kennel was empty and the door was ajar! She got
out! I just know she got out. But though I've combed
the station, I've not found her."
"Did you try her locator signal?" Charlotte asked.
"Of course I tried it, over and over again, but I
didn't get any response."
"But if she survived, you'd get a signal," Bennie said.
Janina shook her head so hard soot rained off her
face. "Not necessarily. I don't think she's dead. I
really don't."
"What are you saying?" Bennie asked. "That the
chip was damaged by the fire but Chessie wasn't?
Does that mean she's lying up somewhere injured?"
"I looked all over," Janina said, "and I'll keep
looking. But I think someone took her. Someone let
the animals out, and I think they saw that she
couldn't move fast enough on her own and they carried her away."
"And they just kept her?" Charlotte asked indignantly.
"We can only hope," Mick said, bringing her up
She knew she had let them all down. She was guilty
of dereliction of duty, even though Captain Vesey
was defending her. She still had to face the other crew
members, who'd been counting on the sale of the kittens for all manner of improvements in their lives.
They might not openly accuse her of betraying them
and neglecting her mission, but they'd resent her all
the same. It didn't matter. Whatever they said, nothing was worse than missing the touch of Chessie's
silky fur, the delight of looking into her large goldgreen eyes. It left a throbbing pain in her heart.
"We'll offer a reward, of course," Mick said finally.
"Can't," Indu said. "We're due to take off and
we're on a tight schedule. There'd be no one here to
identify the Duchess or to authorize payment."
"There's Dr. Vlast," Bennie said.
"Look at that mess," Indu replied, gesturing to the
ruins of the clinic on the com screen. "Dr. Vlast just
lost everything. He may have to relocate until they
can rebuild his clinic. If they can. There've been all
those budget cuts."
"I'll stay," Janina said. "And if she's—if it's possible, I'll find her. Captain Vesey, sir, have I permission?"
48 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"Yes, that seems appropriate," he agreed, and left
the bridge abruptly—to tend to some other duty, perhaps, or maybe so the others couldn't see that he too
was upset. He used to stroke Chessie's tail as she laid
across the back of his command chair.
"You'll be on your own, you know," Indu told her.
"No berth, no provisions . . ."
"That's right, I'm afraid," Mick said. "We haven't
the budget to keep you on your salary now, even if
you stayed with the ship. No cat, no job for a Cat
Person. Will you be okay here? If you need a loan,
I've a bit I could spare."
"Thank you, Mick, but I'm sure I'll manage," she
said. "I've put a little aside for emergencies, and it
shouldn't take long to find Chessie. When I do, I'll
notify you so the reward can be paid and you can
pick us up on the next trip." She was trying hard to
sound cheerful and unperturbed even though her
happy life on the ship seemed to be crumbling
around her along with the loss of her dearest companion. All because she'd been a bit too anxious for
someone else's company.
"Maybe she's hiding somewhere while she's having
her litter," Indu suggested brightly. "Probably we'll
no sooner leave the station than you'll be telling us
it's time to return for you, Chessie, and the kittens."
"I hope so, Indu," Janina said, and turned away to
march back down the corridor.
Feeling bereft but also a bit relieved when the Molly
Daise departed without her, Janina returned to the
clinic deck, hoping for another word with Jared before she decided how to proceed.
He was more himself again, though somewhat distracted as he poked through the ruins. He asked her
what she was doing back when the Molly Daise's departure had just been announced. She told him the
"I'm so sorry, Nina, but you mustn't think you're
to blame in any way. Chessie should have been perfectly safe. Who would have thought an arsonist
would attack my clinic? Everyone on Sherwood uses
my services."
"Arsonist?" she gasped, though she realized the
thought had been in the back of her mind.
"That's what the fire brigade thinks, and it's the
only explanation that makes much sense. The fire
started in the hay storage area of the large animal
stalls, after the horses had been released. Apparently
an accelerant was used, though it wouldn't have
taken much. Thank goodness the criminal seems to
have been humane enough to spare the horses and
the other patients."
"Which means that he probably spared Chessie
too!" Janina said, her spirits rising. "I knew it had to
be something like that! I just knew it. Maybe it
sounds silly, but I think I would feel it if she were
dead. The crew is posting a reward. Surely someone
saw the person who took her and will report it if
there's money to be made."
"We'll hope so. I am so sorry about this, Janina.
Look, I'm currently short of a duty station myself.
I'm going to set up a makeshift clinic on Sherwood
until the supplies can be flown in to repair and rebuild the station facility. Funds will be short but I'll
have to do a certain amount of commuting between
50 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
Locksley and the station, so I'll need extra help. I'm
afraid the budget won't stretch much, but I could pay
you something to keep you going while you look for
Chessie. I'm about to return the other clinic patients
to their owners on Sherwood now. Do you want to
ride along?"
Janina hesitated momentarily. What if Chessie was
still here and hurt, her ear damaged so that her locator tag no longer functioned? She could be holed up,
too weak to move, waiting to be found. But if
Chessie was here, there were lots of other people who
knew what had happened who would keep her safe
until she could collect her. The reward had been
posted and was on the station's computer system,
and it was substantial enough to afford someone a
nice vacation to a resort world, or to buy new
ground transport, a horse, or even one of Chessie's
If the kittens had survived.
She took a deep breath and nodded. Chessie would
be found if she was in the station. Sherwood was another matter.
C hessie had smelled the newcomer, heard her kennel door release, and felt the large hands reach in to
lift her from her sleeping platform shortly after the
first whiff of smoke reached her sensitive nostrils.
The hands were fairly gentle, though a bit tighter
than she'd have liked around her swollen middle,
and she was glad to be released into a carrier. She assumed this was one of the vet's assistants, moving her
long enough to clean her kennel, though she certainly
hadn't soiled it by any means.
"Come on, old girl, I'm saving your furry tail," the
man told her.
She had heard this voice not long ago, when the
man stopped Kibble in the hall. What was he doing
here? And what was that awful smell? Eyes widening
with fear, she emitted the growling battle cry intended for prey larger than herself. By then the
smoky smell had grown stronger, underlain by the
stench of terror as she heard the whinnies, barks,
hoofbeats, and paw pads of other animals running
past them to escape other parts of the clinic.
When the man carried her from the room, she saw
the back of her prison through one of the airholes in
52 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
her carrier. Flames blossomed and flowed along the
floor. Then the man clicked the hatch shut behind
them, blocking her view, running down a side corridor at a brisk trot.
Chessie caterwauled and scratched and poked her
paws through the airholes, trying to snag her captor
in a way to let him know this was no way to treat a
lady and an expectant mother. What did he think he
was doing? Where was her Kibble? Where was
Jared? Who did this man think he was anyway?
He was carrying her and her unborn kits to safety,
away from the fire, and that was good, of course. But
there was still something very wrong. Why hadn't the
sprinklers been set off to douse the flames? Where
were the other rescuers?
Hoofbeats clattered down the tiled corridor. Dogs
barked behind them. The man paused now and
again, then hurried down several flights of stairs,
reaching the flight deck. Halfway there the com system began blatting the fire alarm. Her rescuer
paused, lowering her carrier so that all she saw were
running feet, racing from the direction of the flight
deck and past them to emergency duty stations. She
meowed, hoping a more familiar person would take
charge of the carrier and release her, but her cry was
lost even to her in the continuous bleat of the alarm.
By the time the alarm stopped and the calm voice
began instructing crew members from different areas
of the space station to proceed to different areas of
the clinic block with their extinguishers, the smell of
smoke was filling the staircase. The landing crews
were running toward them, away from their duty station. This chaos was quite unlike the disciplined
order aboard the Molly Daise. Chessie didn't like any
of it one bit. She was unaccustomed to being hauled
about by strangers. Still, she supposed the man must
be taking her back to the ship and to her Kibble.
But he didn't go to her ship's dock. Instead, she saw
him run up to a small utility shuttle, the sort colonists
used to haul goods from the space station to their
businesses or homes on the ground. It was on one of
these that she had captured the interesting bug on
their last trip here before her crew had introduced
her to that cocky Space Jockey responsible for these
wretched kittens. She had just weaned her previous
litter then, and had spotted the shiny iridescent insect
scuttling away from a USV—a utility service vehicle,
as the air-to-ground shuttles with cargo space were
called—just before the sterilizer was turned on it. She
had pounced with alacrity and devoured it in one
bite. Afterward she'd caught several more aboard the
Molly Daise, probably taken aboard with provisions,
the same way the ship acquired most of her prey.
The man hoisted her carrier into the USV's copilot's chair and strapped it down. What was he
doing? She hissed and clawed at the airholes, sticking as much of her paw and leg as she could through
them to try to claw his clothing or skin. But suddenly the shift in the light, the pressure of the air,
told her they were in space again, and moving farther and farther from her ship and her people.
The man paid no attention to her protests and had
been smart enough to position her carrier where she
couldn't reach him. Her struggle quickly exhausted
her meager reserves of strength. She needed to rest, to
be ready for when the kittens came. The movement
54 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
in her belly told her they would be arriving all too
After a bit more grumbling, she fell asleep. It could
have been mere moments later when she awoke as the
shuttle set down on the planet's surface, with an aqua
sky overhead, in front of a crude building with a threecornered roof. It was constructed of some sort of rustic organic material. Beside it, at a short distance, was
a smaller structure with rectangular ports and hatches
and a peaked roof.
A collection of machinery littered the bare grounds
close to the buildings, beyond which stretched wide
green and gold fields. Some of these contained
bovines. That much Chessie could see. She heard the
cluckings of fowl. It all smelled richly organic, which
was not unpleasant of itself, but alarming in that it
was definitely not her ship.
The carrier bumped along beside the man, who
opened one of the double doors to the larger structure. "I know you're not a barn cat, old girl, but the
best place to hide a cat is where people expect to find
cats. Barn cats don't have chips in their ears, so nobody will expect you to have one either. You'll be fine
out here. Lots of nice hay and milk cows to keep you
company. Play your cards right and I can promise
you all the fresh milk you can drink. Your kittens
too, when they're big enough."
The man talked a lot but he wasn't making any sense.
He acted as if she was going to have her kittens here!
He set the carrier down in a stall and went away
without releasing her. She began yowling for all she
was worth.
"Take me home!" she demanded repeatedly, over
and over, until her throat was sore. She stuck her
paws through the airholes again and clawed futilely.
"Let me out! Let me out!" she cried. Her right front
dewclaw caught in the wire and tore, bleeding into
the fur of her leg.
"What are you on about, anyway?" The question
came to her along with the scent of another cat, a female and pregnant. "And what are you doing in my
barn? I found it first."
"I don't know," Chessie replied dismally. "I don't
want to be here. I want to go home to my ship and
my Kibble and crew."
"I guess they left this barn sitting catless too long.
The rats and other vermin have really taken over. I
don't know what the man expects you to do about it
from that box, though. It suits me. I'll line up my kill
and show him how much he's needed me before he
lets you out. Then he'll know who the working cat is
here and take you back where you belong. I need this
place. I'm going to have my kits any day now. Believe
you me, it hasn't been that easy catching rats the size
of the ones in this barn."
Chessie hissed, which showed how upset she was.
"He doesn't want me to catch rats, you stupid creature. He wants to steal my kittens."
"He steals kittens?" The other cat sounded puzzled, then she laughed. "That's a good one! Barn humans don't steal kittens, at least not before they're
weaned. Sometimes they give them away—or worse.
But they don't have to steal them. There are too
many cats who would kill to live in a warm cushy
barn like this one. As excited as that boy is about my
kittens, he wouldn't steal them."
56 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"What boy? Who are you? Where is this awful
place? I want my ship!" Chessie cried. "Please make
them take me back."
"Do be quiet," the other cat growled. "I'm sure
when the man finds out the position is filled, he'll get
rid of you and your spawn at once. The boy should
have told him about me."
"You're wrong," Chessie told her. "That man talked
to Kibble in the corridor. He wanted a kitten. She told
him they all have homes to go to and now he's taken
us all. More than likely it's you he'll get rid of."
"Not me! I've caught many mice and rats and one
frog already. I'll show you."
The other cat turned tail and waddled away.
Chessie immediately felt lonely, even before she was
out of sight. The other cat was not as unfriendly as
she could have been, and Chessie was used to being
surrounded by friends and admirers, not to mention
her Kibble. She cried out for the other cat to return,
and the tortoiseshell padded back toward her. She
had a lot of red in her mottles, looked to be the same
breed as Chessie and as heavily pregnant, though
perhaps a little younger, and she was dragging a huge
rat, which she dropped in front of Chessie's carrier.
Then, despite Chessie's entreaties that she stay, she
waddled away again to return with another rat, then
the frog, several small mice, and some other things
Chessie had never seen before.
"Good catch," Chessie said, one expert hunter to
"And these are just the ones I haven't eaten yet!"
the other female said. She was sitting erect, guarding
her prey, and at Chessie's comment, her chest puffed
out so that it almost protruded more than her kittenfilled middle. Her nipples looked as swollen as
Chessie's felt. This was a clever and able cat, Chessie
thought, and a possible ally when she escaped to return to her ship.
"I'm formally called Thomas's Duchess," she said.
"But my shipmates call me Chessie."
"The boy hasn't called me anything yet, except
'momcat,' " the other replied. "But before him, others said 'Git!' when they saw me, so I guess that must
be my name."
"Git—succinct, efficient, no nonsense about it. It
suits you."
"Do you think it's short for anything grander, like
yours is? I have no idea what Duchess means but I
like the sound of it."
"Possibly it's your name and coloring. Your real
name might be Grizabella. That is quite a venerable
name among Barque Cats so probably it is among
dirtside—land cats—as well. It must be an acronym—
the first letter of each word. 'Grizabella Is Tortoiseshell' might be your real name."
"Oh, that sounds very grand. Why do you suppose
they only use first letters?"
"It's kind of a code. They're fond of using letters
for codes. The health op used to say to my Kibble, 'It
is time to take Chessie to the V-E-T.' As if I didn't
know what that meant!"
"They're really confusing," Git said. "Some cats
want to be house pets, but me, I'll be happy for a
warm barn to raise my family and plenty of game to
hunt. A kind word once in a while is nice but it's not
like I'd want to depend on humans."
58 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"My Kibble and crew are very reliable," Chessie
said. "They will come looking for me. I'm sure they
won't take off without me and my kittens. I doubt
the ship will even start unless I'm there."
"If you're so important, why did they send you
"They didn't. I told you, I was abducted. But my
people will find me. There's a chip in my neck."
"A chip? Does it hurt?"
"No worse than an insect bite when they put it in.
It has my ancestral record in it and my duty station
and its signal, but it also transmits my whereabouts.
Kibble uses it to track me when I'm patrolling places
too small for her to fit."
"Can't say I'd care for that," Git said disdainfully.
"You set a lot more store by humans than I do. In my
experience they'll more than likely let you down."
"I told you I am worth a great deal to them. That's
got to be why the man stole me. He wants these kittens."
"You'll see. It will be as much as either of us can do
to keep him from drowning or shooting us all if he
reckons there's too many."
"Not my kittens. My kittens patrol ships all over
the universe. They are much sought after as vermincontrol agents."
"What's that?"
"Hunters. Killers. We're very good, you know."
"Better than me?" Git growled, and hunkered
down to glower menacingly in through the airholes.
"Could you or your kittens catch more prey than this
in a single night? I don't think so!"
"Oh, no," Chessie said quickly—and truthfully.
Git's proficiency as a huntress surprised her. She'd
had no idea that simple land cats, whom she had always heard were inferior to Barque Cats, were so
deadly. Perhaps this cat had been stolen from a ship
as a kitten by the same man? But no, she had said
she'd only just arrived in the barn a short time ago
herself and the man didn't know about her yet. She did
look like a Barque Cat, though, with her long, though
slightly matted fur, tufted ears and paws, plumelike tail
that puffed to considerable circumference when she
was agitated, and large shining golden eyes.
"I'm hiding when I have my kits and keeping them
out of sight until they can fend for themselves. I'd advise you to do the same."
"I don't think he'll let me," Chessie said, and it
came out as a wail. "I am stuck in this box with no
food and no water and I've already soiled it. It won't
be fit for my kittens and they're coming any time
now, I feel it!"
Git nosed an airhole and stuck her tongue out, trying to give Chessie a comforting lick.
"What's all the commotion?" the man said, entering with a number of bewildering things in his hands.
"Who the frag are you?" he asked Git.
"She's mine, Dad," a younger male voice piped up
from behind him. "She's my new barn cat. She knew
I wanted a kitten and she brought me a belly full of
them." He rushed forward, putting himself between
his father and the cage so that his legs blocked
Chessie's view. "Lookit there! Lookit what she
caught already. She's a good cat and a pretty cat—
good as that one you got. Take that one back. We
don't need her."
60 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
"Okay, calm down, son. You can keep the barn cat
out here. But I brought this fine lady cat here so you
can have your pick of her litter for your house pet."
"How about the others? What are you going to
do? Gruder's dad killed his cat's kittens and Cellie's
mom sold some to a lab. You wouldn't do that,
would you, Dad?"
"Calm down, son. It's okay. This cat here is a special kind. She's very valuable and her kittens are
too. We can make enough from selling them—no,
no, not to a lab, to good homes that will pay a lot
of money for the privilege of having them—to fix
up the house and hire a hand to help with the stock
so you can concentrate on your schooling. You're
just like your mama. You worry too much."
"Okay," the boy said. "You're not connin' me, are
you, Dad?" His voice implied that whatever connin'
was, it was something his dad did often.
"Son, trust me. I got this cat so you could pick out
your own kitten, like I said. Once we sell all the kittens but yours, we'll be able to make something out
of this place."
"And how about the other cat's kittens? Can I keep
them too?"
"How about picking up that board over there and
helping me build up that stall into a little room for
the mama cat to have her babies in where nothing
will disturb them? I don't want anything to damage
those little gems."
"What's that thing?" the boy asked, pointing to the
little machine the man had brought with him to the
"Something else we need to do to protect our in-
vestment, son. I'm going to install it right above the
barn door, and that will keep anybody from bothering the mother of your future kitten."
Jubal suppressed his excitement about the kitties all
through supper. Mom had made egg pie, which he
had come to love in recent months. Something had
improved the flavor tremendously and the shiny bits
in it looked very appetizing. He hated to think about
it, because it was kind of gross, but he suspected it
was because the chickens had been pecking up those
shiny beetles that infested the barnyard. Like the beetles, the eggshells were shiny, sparkling like they'd
been coated in sugar sprinkles. He'd actually been
saving the shells because they were so pretty.
But much as he loved everything made with eggs,
Jubal was too anxious to get back to the kittens to
eat much that night. When he muttered, " 'Scuse
me," and started to leave the table, his mom asked
him where he thought he was going in a tone that
said no matter what he answered, she probably
wasn't going to like it.
"To do my chores, Mom," Jubal said with wideeyed earnestness. "I want to get them all done before
I start my homework."
"Right, and I'm Maid bloody Marian. You doing
your chores before you even check to see if there's
dessert, that doesn't fly, my lad. What's the use of
having the biggest liar on Sherwood for a daddy if
you can't fib any better than that?"
Pop looked up from a forkful of his second helping
of the pie. "Leave him be, Dorice. He's just going to
check on the livestock."
62 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
They hadn't told mom about the cats yet. They'd
have to sooner or later but hoped to stall as long as
possible. She probably wouldn't raise too much fuss
over the barn cat because even a cat-disliker had to
admit that barn cats served a good and useful purpose. But Pop had said he didn't want her to know
about the fancy new cat yet.
Jubal was pretty sure it was because there was something fishy about the way Pop had come by Chessie.
If Mom knew what they were up to, she wasn't
saying anything. Jubal thought she might have a
good idea about at least some of what was going on.
He'd caught her staring at some cat hairs on his overalls, wrinkling her nose when he hadn't washed off
the smell of cat pee good enough. Dad's industriousness, if nothing else, was enough to rouse her suspicions. Suddenly he was doing all the men's jobs in the
barn, the ones Jubal couldn't do that she usually had
to do since the old man, for a retired guy, spent a lot
of time in space.
She rolled her eyes and pointed to the door as she
bit down on a biscuit. Even if she had guessed the
whole thing, Jubal wasn't too worried.
Mom had stayed married to Pop in spite of everything he did that made her mad. She usually managed
to be looking the other way when Pop pulled a lot of
his shenanigans. If she didn't see it, she wasn't responsible for it. She was a very practical lady. She
had scruples but they were flexible.
Pop said they just needed to keep her in the dark
until the kittens were born and he could sell a couple,
because she was apt to be more reasonable once she
saw they were the start of a lucrative enterprise.
Jubal kept himself to a walk until he reached the
kitchen door, then lit out for the barn as fast as he dared.
The cats were settled down snug and cozy in the little rag beds he had made for them in the hay. They
seemed to be getting along fine. The momcat had
moved right in with Chessie to the stall room Pop
and he had built to protect her—and to protect Pop,
Jubal was pretty sure.
The momcat meowed and yowled about the closed
door, though, so Pop took the truck to town and
brought home one of those cat doors that could be
keyed to open only for a cat wearing a special collar.
It took both Jubal and Pop to put the collar on the
barn cat, which she obviously considered was taking
undue liberties. She had not liked that collar even a
little, but being a sensible cat, when her gyrations
and scratchings didn't get it off, she seemed to forget
about it and went about her business.
Chessie didn't get a collar but didn't seem to mind
the door. Pop said she was used to being indoors and
in confined places a lot so he figured she probably
liked it that way.
Jubal opened the door a crack. If he'd been a little
taller, he could have looked through the crescent
moon carved through the front of it. The door had
been on the privy that used to stand in back of the
house, before they got hooked up to the Locksley
sewer system. They'd had to saw off the top and add
a board to the bottom to make it fit, but it worked
okay. It still stank a little, but cats didn't seem to
mind that kind of thing.
He meant to just peek at them before bringing the
cows in for the night, feeding the chickens, and milk-
64 · ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH
ing, but when he saw both cats licking a sticky-looking
kitten while part of another kitten was coming out of
its mom's back end, he couldn't leave. Even though
he'd seen that other newborn animals were a sticky
mess just out of the mama, he somehow thought the
kittens would be all fluffy and cute and bright-eyed.
But the first kitten out of the chute had its eyes
stuck shut, and what little fur it had was glued to its
teeny-weeny body with sparkly slimy stuff from its
mother's insides. Its tail was no longer than Jubal's
pinky, and the rest of the entire kitten would have fit
inside a teacup. When he reached out with one fingertip to pet the kitten's head, which was now fairly
clean, its mother gave him a dirty look.
"Don't worry, girl. I wouldn't hurt your baby. You
know me, right? We're friends, aren't we? I was just
going to pet it."
Chessie turned her head to give him a long look
too, calmer than the momcat's but a warning. It came
to him all of a sudden that the kitten was probably
too little and too new to be petted right then. "I
didn't know, okay?" he said. "Gimme a break here. I
haven't seen baby cats get born before."
The little kitten might be blind, but it found one of
its mom's teats quick enough and set about nursing
while she popped the rest of the next kitten out. The
two cats were doing an assembly line kind of thing:
the tortoiseshell momcat popping them out, Chessie
washing one end while the new mother washed the
other, and then if Momcat was busy with birthing the
next kitten, Chessie would nudge the clean kitten
over to get its dinner.
He was still watching when he heard Pop call,
"Jubal! How come the cows are still out in the pasture? It'll be getting dark soon."
"Pop, come and see this!" he cried without getting
up. In a minute the latch was raised and Pop came in
behind him.
"Well, looks like your barn cat is showing her ladyship how it's done. I don't reckon they need supervision, son."
"But, Pop!"
"You go do your chores before your mama wants to
know why you didn't. I'll make sure the cats are okay."
And that was that. Jubal hung around the barn as
long as he could, going out in the yard to feed the
chickens, putting down fresh food and hay for the
cows, getting the milking gear ready for when he
brought them in. Pop slipped out in the middle of the
milking and came back with a piece of equipment
that he took into the cat room with him. Jubal wondered what it was. Pop wouldn't hurt the cats or the
kittens, he was pretty sure, but it was hard to say for
certain what he would do. He wasn't exactly a predictable kind of guy.
When Jubal put the cows into their stalls and was
measuring out their food, he heard a cat squall. He
hastily set down his bucket and ran to the cat room,
flinging open the door. Pop had one of the kittens in one
hand and a syringelike thing in the other hand, the tip
against the kitten's neck. Momcat was snarling at him.
"I'm not going to hurt your offspring, madame,"
Pop told her. "I am elevating him—or her, as the case
may be—to a higher station in life. You'll thank me
for this later."
Jubal didn't think Momcat was buying it.
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