Kitty Katt 11: Alien Separation (8 page)

T
HE KATYHOPPERS DIDN'T
really take to the air. They flew us back up into one of the purple trees, then alighted on strong lower branches. Meaning if they panicked and bucked us off, we might not all break something when we hit the ground. So we had that going for us.

Only there was nothing there. At least nothing I could see.

We were next to each other in the tree. “See anything?” I whispered to the guys.

“No,” Chuckie said in a low voice. “But the katyhoppers didn't panic for nothing.”

“I have the best vision of the three of us, and I don't see anything we should be afraid of,” Christopher said softly. “You know, other than being stranded on an alien planet in what we hope is the Alpha Centauri system.”

“Maybe whatever's scaring the katyhoppers is invisible.” The guys gave me looks I could only think of as withering. “Really? Look around and think back to Operation Defection Election and tell me invisible beings aren't possible. Go ahead. I'll wait.”

During the political campaign to get Senator Vincent Armstrong renamed President of the United States, which included Jeff as the Vice Presidential running mate, we'd been visited by some superconciousnesses. They'd been super-powerful and mostly insubstantial. And Siler was able to blend in with his surroundings so as to appear invisible. So I no longer discounted the possibility that we had invisible people out there somewhere. Possibly somewhere here.

But no invisible beings identified themselves. Time for Plan B. “Bruno my bird, is it safe for you to fly off and do reconnaissance?”

Bruno squawked. As far as he could tell, it was safe. He took off. And, to my complete shock, the katyhoppers followed him.

“Was this what you intended?” Christopher shouted to me, as we flew next to each other, the guys on either side of me.

“If it's safe, yes indeedy! If it's not, no way in hell.”

“Covering the bases like a good politician,” Chuckie said. “Well done.”

“Dude, I have no freaking clue right now. Call me Miz Out Of Her Element.”

Bruno flew up and around the trees and the katyhoppers followed. So we got a good aerial view of where we were.

Purple was definitely the dominant theme in this area, but I could see off in the distance and there were other colors being represented—they were just far away. However, Bruno wasn't heading for them, he was touring us around Purple Land.

We were away from the purple trees quickly. We weren't flying all that high, so I could see the ground under us pretty well. In addition to the copse of big trees Chuckie and I had landed in, there were some Purple Mountains Majesties scattered about in various directions, all, like the other colors, far away.

Mostly, though, the land was covered with purple plants that looked a lot like lavender, at least from our vantage point. I sniffed. Nope, didn't smell like lavender. Smelled good, just not familiar. As with the trees, they smelled purple, but a different kind of purple. Wondered if we were in some kind of opium field or something.

“Think the scents and local foliage could be affecting our minds?” Chuckie called to Christopher.

“Dude, I was just thinking that. This place smells like purple, but different kinds of purple.”

“I'd say that was a Kitty-ism,” Christopher replied, “but it smells like that to me, too. The trees smelled different than whatever we're over, but they both smell like purple. Not that I even understand how I'm thinking that.”

“I'm thinking it, too,” Chuckie said, “and that's why I asked. By the way, have you also noticed it's not that hard to hear each other?”

Looked down at my katyhopper's antennae. They seemed to be radiating out a little more toward the sides than they had before. Checked out the antennae on the katyhoppers the guys were on. Their antennae were turned more toward me.

“Wow. The katyhoppers are awesome. They're using their antennae to transmit what we're saying to each other.”

Chuckie looked at each of the katyhoppers. “I think you're right. Interesting.”

“Animal husbandry, or whatever this is, another time,” Christopher said. “Something spooked the katyhoppers and we need to be prepared.”

“Wow, Christopher, that was worthy of being a Kitty-ism!”

“I'm so proud,” he muttered. Not that he sounded proud, but whatever.

In addition to the mountains and ground cover, there were other trees in the distance, scattered all around at various intervals. Some were just single big trees, some were clumped together. None were worthy of being called a forest, nor did they form a barrier or a border. They were simply randomly there.

The plants were less random. They looked too even to have sprouted up accidentally. But unlike lavender fields on Earth, there weren't paths between the rows. The rows were very close together. Meaning there could be things under those plants we couldn't see. Snake things, for example.

“Think there could be snakes under the foliage?” Christopher asked, right on cue.

“The mind reading is getting freaky. But I want to be on record that if there are snakes down there, I'm going to lose it, especially if they're extra-large as far as Earth slitheries are concerned.”

Chuckie looked thoughtful. “White, how did you get one of the katyhoppers to help you?”

“No idea. I landed on the ground, in the middle of some of those purple plants. The katyhopper I'm riding flew over to me. I almost ran, but it landed and sort of, I don't know, indicated I should get on its back. I did, and then I heard you two talking. It was faint, but I'd landed near enough to the trees that I had a good guess that's where you two were. I wanted to get to you guys, and then the katyhopper flew up, with the two you're riding joining us.”

“So they read your mind. I mean, that's the only explanation for why the katyhoppers knew or cared to come up to us, because we were in the trees as long as you were on the ground.”

“Maybe,” Chuckie said slowly. “I mean, I agree that they're picking up our thoughts somehow, since we're picking up each other's thoughts somehow and the katyhoppers are clearly sentient.”

Took a look at Chuckie's expression. I could see the wheels turning. “But? I mean, there's so obviously a ‘but' in there.”

He sighed. “White, how close to the trees were you where you landed?”

“Pretty close. Not right under them, but close enough.”

“Then I don't buy that the katyhoppers didn't know that Kitty and I were in the trees. I think they did, but you were in greater danger, so they went to help you first. If you'd attacked or run away, maybe they'd have let you. But you wisely held your ground and didn't try to hurt them, so they're helping. Good for you, by the way. I honestly wouldn't have expected it of you, and I don't really mean that in an insulting way.”

Christopher looked thoughtful. “No, you're right. We're in a foreign environment and I'm used to killing things that look dangerous. But . . . the katyhopper just didn't
feel
dangerous. But I'm not an empath, so I don't know why that would be. Jeff might have been or might be communing with these things, but how would I have done it?”

“The mind reading. The katyhoppers told you in some way that they were coming to help you, not hurt you.” I patted my katyhopper's head. “They rock. But, this gives a lot of support to the idea that there's something, or many things, we won't like in the underbrush. And, I say again, if they're giant snakes or snakelike creatures, you can count me out. I'll stay up in the trees screaming my head off, thank you very much.”

Of course, no sooner said than Bruno squawked and flew for the nearest tree. It was one of the lone giant ones, but we were closer to it than to our original set.

As he did so, we watched the ground start moving. Not like an earthquake, but undulating. Like a sea serpent or a snake.

I opened my mouth to scream.

I
MANAGED TO REFRAIN
from screaming because, as it turned out, what was under us was neither snake nor sea serpent.

The groundcover was undulating because it wasn't entirely made up of plants. Plants were there, still, and they were purple, yes. But what was moving looked like extra-large butterflies or moths.

“Can those be what's scared the katyhoppers?” I managed to ask, in a relatively normal tone of voice, as the katyhoppers landed on a sturdy branch and Bruno came and perched in front of me to serve as my protective avian shield and to give me something to clutch in case things got freaky.

“Proud of you for not losing it,” Chuckie said. “But I doubt it. My guess is that whatever spooked the katyhoppers has just spooked the butterflies. If that's what they are. Presumably they're slower to react or have less sensitive senses.”

“Butterflies eat carrion.” Why my mind had felt the need to toss this tidbit up from memory I had no guess. Maybe my mind was just ready to freak out and taking whatever opportunities it had. Lucky me.

We were facing our original copse of trees, at least I was pretty sure we were, based on the placement of the mountains and some other trees. And butterflies were leaping into the air in droves, making even the air look purple.

“So do many other things,” Christopher said. “But I think I've spotted what's freaking the insects or whatever they actually are out. And, Kitty, it's not a snake, but still, don't freak out either, okay?” He pointed down and off a bit to our left.

I saw what Christopher had and relaxed. “It has legs. Sure, it's a giant Budweiser Lizard, but still, it's a giant Budweiser Lizard with legs. Legs are good.”

The animal, or reptile, or whatever it was, was about the size of a Komodo dragon, only it had big, round, bug eyes that stuck out from its head, a long tail that could and did curl up into a spiral, a pointed cowl around the back of its head, and an incredibly long tongue. And colors. Many, many colors.

At least when it jumped up it had colors. When it was on the ground it went back to mostly purple.

“What the hell is a Budweiser Lizard?” Christopher asked.

“It's a giant chameleon,” Chuckie and I said in unison.

“Thanks for the chorus,” Christopher said, taking time out to shoot Patented Glare #1 at both of us. He was a pro, after all, and always kept in practice. “But here's the big question—do giant chameleons eat people?”

“I doubt it,” Chuckie said. “But they would eat the katyhoppers if they could, and the butterflies for certain.” As he said this, the chameleon zapped a butterfly out of the air and ate it. The katyhoppers all shuddered.

“So Louie the Lizard down there is a direct predator of our katyhoppers, which is why they helped get us to safety. They're awesome!” I patted my 'hopper again. “And so very brave.” Gave the guys the hairy eyeball look, and they followed suit and patted their mounts. I could feel all three katyhoppers relax a bit.

“So, does this mean that we have to sleep in the trees?” Christopher asked as Louie the Lizard romped on. Clearly, he was one happy chameleon, enjoying his whatever time of the day it was snack. “Because while that thing might not be into eating us, it's big enough that it could give it a shot.”

I got nothing negative from Louie, but that didn't mean anything. The chameleon reminded me of a big dog, really—he was romping and eating and just enjoying life. I had no guess whether that made him dangerous to us, though. We weren't insects or insectoids. Then again, dogs could and would bite and we were riding on giant insects who were afraid of Louie. Caution was probably going to be the smart watchword.

“Maybe Louie's a danger and maybe he isn't, but the butterflies clearly nest on the ground.” Louie kept on going, jumping and romping, but in a reasonably straight line. As soon as he left an area, the butterflies settled back down on the plants, so my saying they nested there was a safe bet. “And the katyhoppers don't appear to nest in trees.”

No sooner had I said this than the katyhoppers flew off our branch and headed back toward the trees we'd arrived on and around. Bruno stayed with me and I didn't argue.

I kept an eye on Louie—he seemed to be going far away. Had no idea if that meant he'd be back later, if there were more of his kind around, if they were like tigers and it was one giant Bud Lizard to a territory, or if we'd never see him or one like him again.

“You know what I don't see?” Chuckie asked as we flew back. “I don't see anything that we could rightly say was a dominant sentient species.”

“Nothing humanoid,” Christopher agreed.

“But what if those butterflies or whatever are a hive mind? It might explain why everyone's reading each other's minds.”

The guys actually seemed to give my suggestion consideration. Wondered if they were feeling okay, Christopher in particular.

“Wouldn't we, I don't know, get some feeling that they're there and thinking, though?” he asked finally.

“No idea,” Chuckie replied. “Ants and bees are a hive mind and we get nothing from them, so to speak. If their minds are alien enough from ours—like bee and ant minds are, I mean, not just alien in the planetary sense—then we might not know if they're dominant or even highly sentient.”

“The katyhoppers have better senses, and they can tell what we're thinking or feeling or something. Wouldn't that make them more highly sentient than the butterflies?”

Chuckie shrugged. “Maybe, but, I say again, if the minds are too alien, we might not recognize the intelligence. And they might not recognize ours.”

“We're lost on an alien planet, have no idea where the rest of our people are, and the only things we've got are whatever Kitty has in her purse,” Christopher concisely pointed out. “Right now, I don't feel too intelligent. I feel lost, trapped, and out of my element, but not intelligent.”

We were near to “our” trees now. “You know, other than the Poofs and Bruno, I haven't taken inventory of what I have in said purse.” That there were things in it I was going to be sure I hadn't put in was a given. Algar had essentially handed me my purse before we were all taken, and it was heavier than normal, meaning he'd put in some surprise extras I sincerely hoped were going to help keep us all alive.

If we could find the others, of course.

As we reached the trees, I shoved the worry about Jamie, Jeff, and everyone else aside. Right now, Chuckie, Christopher and I had to be sure we were okay and going to be able to survive in this world. Couldn't save anyone else if we ended up Louie the Lizard Chow.

Once back to our starting point, the katyhoppers landed on the ground underneath the trees we'd landed on.

And then it got weird.

Which was, you know, for what had gone on so far, saying quite a lot.