London Wild (85 page)

The speaker droned on, asking some fairly asinine question of Guardsman McDonald, who
, it seemed, had been lucky enough to escape with no more than a few cuts and bruises. Jhosatl closed his eyes and tried to tune the sound out. Judith also seemed to have no interest in this subject, and halfway through McDonald’s answer to the speaker’s first question, she stopped the story and quickly selected the next.

‘This day is currently becoming known as one of the worst days in history for feline kind
.’ This voice was a lot calmer than the previous one, reporting what had happened in a matter-of-fact way. The image on the screen was of a series of buildings that had now been turned to rubble. ‘Florida, located on the southeast side of the United States. Until a few hours ago, this area was home to more than one thousand cats, including the Greater Matriarch and her husband, who just a few days ago had an attempt made on their lives. They might all be dead now. The U.S. armed forces moved into the area earlier today with intent to question and maybe arrest certain members of their community. It is reported that the cats, resisting human intervention into their affairs, fought back with vicious determination, making it necessary to use lethal force. We have in our overseas studio Major David Simmons, who was in charge of the original mission.’

The picture changed to a uniformed man who sat behind a simple table and in front of a colorful political map of the world.

‘Can we ask what prompted the attack on the cats?’ asked the voice of the original speaker.

‘Certainly,’
the Major replied, the sound of authority clear in his voice. ‘Ever since the cats originally moved into the area, the place had suffered an unusually high rate of missing persons. It wasn’t a lot at first, just one or two a month, but that number has been steadily rising. On top of this, we had received startling evidence that although it is the law that all cats are registered with us, that not every cat actually was.’ The camera moved back to the streets, showing building after building that had either been demolished or that showed signs of stress from the recent combat. Over these images the Major’s voice could still be heard. ‘It was a shame that the cats refused to cooperate with us or even that we had to go in at all, but we weren’t expecting to come under fire. Indeed, we were only a small group of ten and soon had to call for backup to deal with the situation. Had the cats cooperated from the start, this could all have been avoided.’

The interviewer’s voice cut in, ‘
And so all the cats were dealt with?’

‘That we can’t confirm,’
the Major replied as more images of buildings hit the screen and then changed to a line of body bags that lined the road at the edge of the combat zone. Although no one actually said so, there was no real doubt that all the bags contained the corpses of cats. ‘It is believed that a small group of cats were able to sneak out during the battle. Since it is obvious that these few were not actively fighting against us, we are willing to listen if they want to come forward and talk to us. After what has just happened, chances are that they might not be quite so willing to communicate, and we understand this. But let me assure them, if they are listening, that we are not currently hunting for you. You know, I’ve even heard that there were rumors circulating among the cats that we had apparently come to wipe them all out. That’s a staggering idea, and I’d like to state categorically that these rumors were totally unfounded. It is probably because of irresponsible rumors like this that things got so out of hand in the first place. I hereby promise that, so long as we have no more missing persons, it will be totally safe for any cat who wishes to come forward to do so. Also let me say this: that until they do come forward and let us know exactly where they are staying, they will be considered outlaws. But due to what has just happened, we are willing to be lenient towards them, and any that surrender themselves to us will receive a full amnesty.’

‘The Greater Matriarch and her husband known as the Greater Patriarch were known to have been in this area
. Do you have any news concerning them?’ the interviewer asked.

‘Nothing definite,’ the Major responded
. ‘The problem with the weapons we have had to use is that we haven’t yet retrieved everybody from the rubble in the city. Although the building we know they lived in actually still stands, there were no bodies there and it is believed they may have moved to other areas to lend moral support to those that were fighting us. It’s even possible that they are among the small group that got away, and although we feel this is less likely, it would fit in with their previous history of wanting to avoid confrontation.’

‘Which was why they were in Florida in the first place,’ the interviewer commented.

‘Indeed,’ replied the Major simply.

‘One more thing, Major,’ the interviewer asked
. ‘You said that you have already checked the residence where the Greater Matriarch and her husband had been living. We have heard that you found some large collections of antique books, many of which haven’t been in print for centuries. We have also heard that you found something rather ironic there.’

‘Yes, indeed,’
the Major replied. The image on the screen changed to that of two small kittens, an almost totally black cat and a tabby. ‘It seems that the leaders of the Herbaht in Florida had feeling for others of their own kind, including the four-legged variety, and they were even keeping a couple as pets. We found a large number of cat toys, litter boxes, and unopened tins of cat food in the pantry of their residence. The kitties had already been put up for adoption, and the response so far has been very good.’

‘I guess everyone would like a cat that had been owned by the notorious Greater Matriarch,’ commented the interviewer. The screen’s image went back inside the studio again
.

‘I guess so,’ agreed the Major.

‘Major David Simmons,’ the interviewer added, ‘my thanks to you for agreeing to sit with us tonight.’

‘My pleasure,’
the Major replied. The picture seemed to hold for a few seconds and then darken slowly.

A few seconds later it was back to the main menu screen and Judith was moving the little cursor down as she selected the next story.

Jhosatl sighed inwardly and let his mind drift. According to the clock on the wall behind the couch, it was now ten in the evening. Three and a half hours had passed since they had had dinner. Three and a half hours since he had had a legitimate reason for going to visit his wife. He had visited a few times since anyway, but despite the fact that he always felt he was in the way there, he still found it hard to keep away. It didn’t help that the evening itself seemed to be dragging; three and a half hours had seemed like days. If only Sult or Starlight would come out of that room and tell him some good news. He tried to convince himself that he was better off sitting out here on the couch. They would come and tell him if there was any improvement. But it wasn’t working. If anything, thinking such thoughts were only making him more aware that he wanted to spend more time with his wife.

Jhosatl was dimly aware of the newspaper screen as Judith watched a news story about a hurricane that had been moving towards the coast of Florida. Hurricane Lorelei had apparently appeared out of nowhere. They were saying most hurricanes built up slowly. Lorelei was different. It had
suddenly appeared just to the south and west of Cuba as a class four hurricane and, having increased to a class five, it had now dissipated just as strangely. There had been no doubt in the minds of many that it would have dissipated anyway once it hit the hurricane shields that surrounded that part of the coast, but this hurricane hadn’t gotten within two hundred miles of the coast when it had suddenly vanished.

At one time this sort of thing might have interested Jhosatl, not just because he enjoyed trying to figure out the occasional mystery but also because the hurricane had been bound for Florida
. More accurately, it had been heading for the small colony of Herbaht that had existed over there up until the U.S. forces had moved in and effectively evicted them. At the moment, though, he couldn’t concentrate on the screen properly, and his mind kept traveling back to his wife.

On the newspaper screen they were interviewing a small group of meteorologists that were looking into the phenomena, but Jhosatl just drummed his fingers on the edge of the couch and pined.

Judith moved the little cursor down to the next story with a sigh. She glanced in his direction, and perhaps there was empathy in her eyes for a moment, but then she shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’ve heard of people dying from that sort of melancholy.’

Jhosatl looked at her as if she had just brutally invaded his thoughts
and said, ‘If Amba dies, I’ll have nothing to live for.’

‘Do you think you’re the only one who cares about her?’ Judith snapped angrily.

‘She’s my wife,’ Jhosatl replied stubbornly, getting gradually louder as he spoke. ‘I think I have more of a right to be upset than anyone else. I have tried to move heaven and Earth to save her, and now what? She’s in there,’ he pointed towards the bedroom, ‘lying on the bed with three broken ribs, a ruptured lung, and bone splinters near her heart. And I feel as if I’ve been relegated to sit in here and stare at the ceiling while Sult and Starlight do what they can for her in there. I feel helpless. I feel that her chances would be a lot better if we just went and got proper medical help for her. I doubt Sult even has the proper tools to remove the splinters, even if he knows how to fix the lung. Oh, I’ve no doubt he’ll do what he can, but I feel as if I should head to the nearest hospital now and maybe bring back someone skilled in the art who can help her, and to hell with the consequences. I know Sult would never agree to the risk that that would pose to us all, and I’m certain you wouldn’t. I feel I’ve a right to feel a little bit down, thank you.’

If Judith had a reply, she kept it to herself; instead she turned her attention back to the newspaper
. The next headline read, ‘
Cats Attacked in Northern France.
’ Although she had been choosing each title one after another just for something to do to fill the time, she seemed to skip past that one. Perhaps she skipped it because it was clear from the title that the Herbaht had been on the receiving end of something else yet again, and perhaps Judith had decided that Jhosatl really didn’t need any more bad news.

The title after that read
, ‘
Checkpoints Attacked
.’ Judith seemed to skip past this one too but then hesitated and, highlighting it again, she made the verbatim selection.

The image on the screen was replaced by one of a large wide road; everywhere there appeared to be devastation. A large number of cars were scattered here and there
, having lost virtually any semblance of order. Windows were broken, buildings were covered in burn marks, and there was no sign of life whatsoever. Even the usual line of bodies in bags were absent and had obviously been removed before the camera team had been allowed in to film. A voice cut in as the camera panned the area. ‘At about five o’clock this morning, as rows of cars queued up to pass through the checkpoint, the day had every sign of being an average, normal day. Not so.’

The camera turned towards a nearby hill that overlooked the road and ran alongside it for what was probably several miles. ‘Before daylight had fully arisen, a small army of cats came scurrying down that hill, using the advantage of surprise and night to attack the soldiers on duty at the checkpoint. The soldiers, armed with night vision equipment
, fought back valiantly but were overwhelmed by numbers.’

The camera turned back to the mish-mash of cars. ‘Once they had dealt with the small force of soldiers on guard at the checkpoint
, the cats turned their murderous intent on the occupants of the cars. Witnesses report seeing the cats walking calmly between the rows of vehicles, first shooting the drivers and then any passengers in the vehicles. Aware of what was happening, some of the drivers tried to cut and run, but only those at the very rear of the lines stood any real chance.’

The camera showed some images of cars that had collided with each other
. ‘In most cases, it seems the drivers were too much in a panic to turn off their automatic collision sensors, and obviously with them on it was much harder for the cars to maneuver, especially with the cats getting in front of them. In the few cases where the drivers did remember, though, there still didn’t seem to be enough room to get out.’

The images on the scene kept coming randomly every five seconds or so. Some of them seemed to be repeated
, but there were plenty of new ones. A second speaker, one with authority in his voice, made a few comments. It was clear from the fact that they didn’t show him that he didn’t want to be seen. ‘The cats paid a heavy price for this attack. We think at least half of their numbers were wiped out in the first few minutes, more than three times the number on duty at this particular checkpoint. However, it is clear from this that the cats are not restricting their activities to the city of London, and as we feared, they have started to follow the majority of the population towards the north of the country.’

The scene changed to a studio image. The original speaker and a guest sat at opposite sides of a studio in black chairs that only seemed to have one silver colored leg that widened as it reached the floor. From his demeanor
, this guest was obviously not the same man as the second speaker.