London Wild (40 page)

He sighed
. He could feel the pressure of the blood in his cheeks, his heart had started racing again, and what’s more, he was shaking. He had three days before they would come back, and in three days’ time when they found he no longer had Kitty with him, they would probably take him instead. He wondered if they had already passed a law concerning this, and if so what sort of sentence they might give him. He was tempted to use his computer and look it up, but that might look suspicious, and after what he had just been through he definitely didn’t want to attract attention.

He ventured into his living room and sat on the couch. He closed his eyes and tried to think pleasant, calming thoughts. He had won this encounter; he wouldn’t win the next one. In three days
’ time he was going to be a wanted criminal. He could stay here and wait to be picked up, or he could head north as he had been considering and not only get away from the approaching wrath of the cats but also the returning soldiers. Perhaps he would make the top ten most wanted list. The idea might have amused him if he hadn’t been so worried. He couldn’t relax. His every nerve was on edge. His every thought was of the encounter he had just had. Yes, he had won, so why did it make him feel so miserable? Well, at least there was a chance that Kitty was still alive. That was something. He might be willing to go to prison happily if he knew she would be safe because of it.

George had always been good at reading between the lines
, and as he allowed himself some time to recover from the ordeal, he began to realize just what they had said. They wanted to ease the pressure on the Cattery for the last day. That had to mean they were regularly making room in the Cattery for the new arrivals, yet he had still heard nothing from any of the other pet owners that he knew about them getting their cats back. Now there could be no doubt; the Elite Guard had to be destroying them. George was happy when he could put two and two together and arrive at a result he could confidently declare to be four. Oh, he had suspected from day one what they were doing, but this seemed to confirm it. He didn’t like what they were doing. He was glad he had kept Kitty out of it. He hoped she was still alive. His mind moved onto other thoughts, niggling little thoughts: just what was the government up to? What would they tell the pet owners when no one got their pet back? This was the sort of thing that could lose them the next election, so just what did they have to gain?

He could only have been there a few short minutes before there was another knock on the door. He climbed to his feet
, half expecting to see the soldiers back trying to make another attempt. This time however, it was Stanley and Maureen, his brother and his brother’s wife.

George opened the door quickly and ushered them in
, closing the door as quickly as he could behind them. He turned to face them, trying to look as calm as he could, though he was still feeling quite flustered from the soldiers’ visit. ‘Can I take your coats?’

‘Actually
, I still have a few things that I need to bring in from the car,’ Stanley replied.

‘Can’t they wait until morning
?’ George asked worriedly. ‘It’s already dark out there, and cats are on the prowl.’

‘Well,’ Stanley said simply, ‘if Maureen and I are going to spend the night here, then we will need our night things, if nothing else.’

‘I’m not sleeping naked,’ Maureen offered with a wink to her husband.

George sighed and unlocked the door again so Stanley could fetch the items he required from his car. While Stanley was outside
, George kept a careful eye out for any movement that might seem out of the ordinary. If Stanley could move quickly enough, he might be able to outrun a potential hunter. Fortunately there was no need to worry after all, and Stanley returned to the house unscathed.

George relocked the door as quickly as he could
, his mind not just on the possibility of passing cats but also the chance that the soldiers might still be in the area. George didn’t want to face them again.

‘Now, can I take your coats?’ he asked again.

Stanley removed his coat and handed it over with a grin. Maureen also handed George her coat. He took them into a small side room where he hung them up in an old closet that had belonged to his wife’s mother. George didn’t like to keep a lot in it for fear of causing damage, but it was an ideal place for coats and jackets and the like, and George kept his own in there.

Stanley and Maureen waited patiently in the hallway
, chatting to each other until George rejoined them. When he did, he seemed surprised to see them still there. His voice was actually shaking a little as he said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry; I should have suggested that you two go through to the living room. Fix yourselves a drink and make yourselves comfortable. You must be thirsty after such a long journey. I’ll make them; what can I fix for you?’

‘Surely you haven’t forgotten what we like to drink?’ Maureen said as she followed George into the living room. She and Stanley sat on the couch and George mixed the drinks at the bar.

When everyone had a drink in hand, George made himself comfortable in the holoviewa chair. He swiveled around to face the other two. The chair rocked back and forth a little bit but not distractingly so.

‘So what’s the news?’ Stanley asked as soon as George seemed to be settled.

‘What do you want to know about?’ George looked more than a little puzzled as he continued, ‘The returning starship, Pluto exploding? I mean what’s on your mind?’

‘Well actually I’d meant what was new with you,’ Stanley commented
, perhaps just a little amused, ‘but what’s this about Pluto exploding? You just make that up?’

‘No,’ George explained, ‘it was reported three or four days ago. Pluto has been reduced to just so much rubble. I think they said one of the machines ITECK
was using went haywire or something. There might be something in the newspaper’s archive if you want to see for yourself. It might even still be on one of the sub-pages; it happened within the last week.’

‘I must have missed that story
.’ Stanley seemed astonished, and George wondered if his reaction had been similar at the time. Stanley turned to his wife. ‘Did you see anything like that, love?’

‘No, dear,’ was her reply. ‘But you were very busy three days ago. If you remember
, there was a lot of activity from the security forces and they sealed off access to over half of the base.’ She turned to George before continuing, ‘No explanation, mind, just said that civilians were no longer allowed to enter those areas.’

Stanley nodded at her
. ‘We don’t know what’s going on, but shortly afterwards I’m called in to see my boss and am told that I’m being reassigned to Mars, with a promotion. It seems they wanted to close off the entire moon from public access as soon as they could, and that meant moving all non-essential personnel off-world.’

‘My Stanley has been promoted to shift manager,
’ Maureen stated proudly.

‘I want to know what’s non-essential about maintaining the base’s infrastructure. Oh well, I guess they’ll realize their mistake in time, so long as they do it before the whole thing collapses on them.’

‘And you did get a nice promotion out of it, dear,’ Maureen reminded him in a soft dulcet tone.

‘Are they not leaving any crews behind then?’ George asked
, more than a little surprised.

‘Not one
. Everyone non-essential—and to them, that means everyone non-military—has been kicked off the moon. I guess I’m just worried that they’re going to want me back to clean up the mess.’

‘I wonder if this has anything to do with Samuel Goldberg. I’ve heard he’s still on the moon, which in itself is unusual. He and his crew should be the subject of many a chat show by now as they discuss what they met out on their trip
,’ George commented; he was trying to think what they could have found.

‘It was about the time that he returned that they started sealing off the areas of the moon
,’ Stanley replied. ‘It could be related.’

‘And the shuttle to Earth,
’ Maureen added; ‘for some reason the windows were all sealed and darkened so we couldn’t look out. It was as if they were trying to hide something. Oh, I don’t know.’

‘It is unusual,’ George agreed
. He allowed the chair to tip him back a little, but this felt uncomfortable so he tipped it forward again. ‘I think the Goldberg ship is probably behind the mystery, though.’

‘Not that we can go and talk to him,’ Stanley offered. ‘Maybe the ship was hit by something and they didn’t want us to see the damage, and they’ve sealed the moon off until they’re sure there is no contamination.’

‘We could speculate all day,’ George replied; ‘for all we know they brought some alien life form back with them. They could have sealed off the base so their scientists can examine the creature in relative peace.’

‘Could well be,’ agreed Stanley
. He sipped from his glass and then looked surprised at the empty vessel. ‘I guess we’ll never really know.’

‘Well,’ Maureen offered, ‘I think we’ll know in time
; we just have to wait for them to tell us.’

‘And then they’ll select what they want to tell us,’ George replied. He climbed out of his chair and took the glass from Stanley
. ‘Like another?’

‘Yes,
please,’ Stanley replied simply. ‘Guess I was thirstier than I thought.’

George grinned
and said, ‘I won’t be a minute. Want another, Maureen?’

‘I’m fine
, thanks,’ Maureen answered. Then to her husband she said, ‘Tell George about your new posting and the offer you want to make him.’

Stanley waited a moment before speaking and then said
, ‘As you know, there are sixteen unequal pie-shaped sections on Mars base, each representing one of the countries that helped to fund the building of the base in the first place.’

George handed the drink to Stanley as he returned to holoviewa chair
, which had reoriented itself back toward the holoviewa. George swiveled it back round to face the couch and sat down. ‘Go on.’

‘Each of the sixteen sections of Mars base has its own teams of structural engineers. There are three teams to each of the sections, and I am being put in command of the early shift in the British section. Anyway, it’s better pay and better quarters. Mars base is a more modern structure than that of Moonbase, and they can afford room better because they judged it better when they originally built the place. The room I’m being given was intended for a small family; two adults and two to four children.’

‘We have two spare bedrooms
,’ Maureen offered by way of explanation.

Stanley nodded at his wife again
. ‘We were wondering if you and Kitty would like to make use of them. Get you away from here before she’s due to be handed over to the authorities.’

‘We think the whole thing they are doing is disgusting,’ Maureen explained
. ‘We don’t see what their reasoning is for doing this, and we wonder how they can live with themselves. If there’s anything we can do to help keep Kitty away from their clutches, then we’re all for it.’

‘It’s a good offer, but the authorities would find me on Mars soon after the deadline was up. I’d only be bringing you trouble.’ George looked both hopeful and a little deflated. If only he hadn’t let Kitty go, then it might’ve been worth the risk. Then again
, had Kitty still been here he might’ve actually handed her over to the soldiers who had called earlier.

‘At least you’ll have time,’ Stanley insisted. ‘Think about it
: each of sixteen different countries has their own section of Mars base, and legally they are under the jurisdiction of their mother country. In practice, though, each of the sixteen sections likes to consider itself a separate entity from the mother world, and they don’t like being dictated to. You need a passport to get to Mars even if the shuttle originates from the country that’s supposed to control the section you’ll arrive at. However, you don’t need any form of identification to move from section to section while you are on Mars.’

‘Perhaps after a few months we’d have to hand Kitty over, but being on Mars will help to tie the Earth authorities up in red tape for a while. It will buy you and Kitty a little bit of time
,’ Maureen added. ‘And who knows? They have so much on their plate with this Sou’nd thing that maybe they’ll forget about one domesticated cat after a few months and let you be.’

‘We wouldn’t have suggested this,’ Stanley added, ‘
but after three days not one person has received their moggy back. We know they’re up to something underhand. And Kitty is as much our friend as she is your pet. We want to help.’

‘Where is Kitty, by the way?’ Maureen asked
. From where she sat she looked towards the still open doorway to the hall. ‘I thought she would have come to greet us the second we arrived. I’m surprised she hasn’t come down yet.’

‘I’m sorry,’ George replied sadly, ‘I let Kitty loose three days ago. I felt she stood a better chance trying to reach Sou’nd and her own people than being handed over to the authorities. I guess I panicked. I should have kept hold of her until the last day and given her that much extra life. I asked her to call me every night
, but I haven’t heard from her once. I’m worried that she’s probably lying in a gutter somewhere with her throat slit.’