Star Kitten (32 page)

They chatted tentatively at first, keeping
the conversation superficial and technical, with things like “so
who are you people?” and “where are you taking us?” But eventually
the questions became more blunt and direct. It was the first of
many experiences that Nausties would have with Felina. She was
polite and disarming during conversation, but also fearless and
confident. She correctly anticipated the emotions of the being she
was talking with; and instinctively matched her words and tone to
fit the manner and mentality of the person.

Kscheeech never once found himself taken
aback by her bluntness; just continually so amazed and surprised by
her candor. She could read his mind, yes… but she could only sense
what he was feeling—nothing more. She didn’t detect facts from his
mind; or anticipate what details he knew about things. Moreover she
wasn’t concerned with details at all. Her questions were always
about intentions, motives, and rationale. Rex asked detail-oriented
questions of course; but Felina would always clarify the answers
Kscheeech gave. He didn’t mind a bit. She was just so… so easy to
talk to. It was so easy to express himself honestly with her.

Kscheeech told her and Rex
everything too. The Prison, the Rebellion, the Civil War, the fear
of food shortages, and finally the decision to become pirates. She
didn’t judge or evaluate answers given. She wasn’t looking for a
confession of guilt for his actions; nor repentance for the
atrocities committed by his troops. He was her captor, she and Rex
were his prisoners, and she merely wanted to understand him; that’s
all. And in time; as the
Chengshi
was docking and preparing for reloading supplies
and taking on passengers; Kscheeech answered every question she
posed to him.

“So you’re taking us back to your planet…
New Australia. And it was a prison, you said?” asked Felina.
Kscheeech nodded and smiled, tongue flicking the air like lizards
often do. Kscheeech expanded on that with, “Yes-sss, my dear. We
were all s-sssentenced to prison terms-sss on a planet once called
Rijel12. But we rose up and overthrew the authorities-sss.” He
paused to let it all sink in with her. She clarified, “And you were
prisoners there because you were criminals?” Kscheeech chuckled,
“Oh yes. All of us. Every planet in the galaxy sent us there for
breaking the law. Me, I was a pirate, captured many years ago and
sentenced there to die, basically.”

Rex grew indignant at this
answer. He interjected, “And you are once again… still a
bloodthirsty pirate, aren’t you?” Kscheeech barely moved his tiny
eyes from Felina to her flamboyant friend. “Yes-sss my friends, I
am. A very good one too,” smiled Kscheeech pleasantly. Rex guffawed
like an offended old woman, then retorted, “
Ptcha
… Well aren’t we proud of
ourselves then? Killing and raiding. Stealing and pillaging. And
now you go around the galaxy capturing female Pumalars?”

Kscheeech just continued to smile; nodding
calmly but clearly starting to lose patience with this
effeminate-acting human Poof sitting there with arms folded and
shaking his balding head with disgust.

But once again, Felina could completely
understand the emotions and needs of the two males in her presence
and soothed their tensions in an instant. “Rex had a wonderful
restaurant, Captain Keech. I’m sure you understand. He was so proud
of it; and loved his staff who worked there.” Felina amazingly had
said precisely what needed to be expressed so that Kscheeech could
grasp the depth of Rex’s grief. It worked perfectly, and Kscheeech
replied, “Yes-sss. Things were done today that we Nausties can’t
really be proud of….” Then he looked back at Rex. “It was-sss not
our mission today to murder your s-ssstaff or destroy your
restaurant.”

Felina sensed that Rex was
feeling indignation, and she very gently patted his shoulder, then
stroked his arm with her right paw. Not letting up though, she got
right to the core of the matter at hand, and before Rex could speak
again, she jumped in with, “What
was
your mission today then, Captain
Keech?” (Earlier in the conversation, Kscheeech had already taught
her to use his popular nickname instead of trying to pronounce his
Zorg name accurately.) “Our mission?” asked Kscheeech folding his
little arms. “Well, you sss-see my Dear, our mission today was-sss
to capture females-sss to bring back to our planet. We don’t have
many; and well, you sss-see, the prison originally only had male
inmates, so we don’t have much in the way of companionship.” Then
he smiled broadly, adding, “And MY mission today wuzzzz to find and
capture
you
personally.”

Rex interrupted with a
sarcastic tone, “You mean to tell me you flew across the galaxy
just to capture Felina… and hundreds of female Pumalars… just to
bring them back to your planet for
companionship
?” Rex emphasized the
sarcasm by holding up fingers like quotation marks when he said the
word “companionship”. Kscheeech once again glanced over at Rex,
this time with a more patient and compassionate look on his face.
“Yes-sss… and about 175 male prisoners from the Earth Environ as
well,” answered Kscheeech matter-of-factly, then added quickly,
“And…uh… about three hundred females—
women
, I believe you call
them.”

This unsettled Rex and
distracted him from his line of questioning. “(
Gasp)
… Randy. And Charles… maybe
Luis too? Oh God. They’re going with us too? Oh please tell me
they’re okay!” Kscheeech smiled warmly—by Zorg standards—replying,
“Well I don’t know any names-sss yet, but I’ll try to find out for
you. These humans-sss… are they friends-sss of yours?” Rex covered
his mouth with both hands, fingers together and eyes wide with
concerned terror. He nodded, blinking. Felina stroked Rex’s head
with her furry right paw, and soothed her best friend’s mind with
these words: “Captain Keech will look into it, Rex. Don’t worry
Sweetie. I trust him.” She looked back at Kscheeech and smiled as
she caressed Rex’s head.

An amazing sensation came
over Kscheeech as she said those words. He had never felt such an
amazing feeling in his life. This, right here in front of him, was
the famous Star Kitten, Felina Toyger. The most incredibly awesome,
most famous Empath in the galaxy. And she’d just said she “trusted”
him. It certainly wasn’t an oath that he’d spoken at the time when
he said he’d
try
to find out about Rex’s friends. Frankly, when he said it; he
was just being polite to his prisoner and promising he’d look into
it at best (when he got time maybe).

But the moment Felina said
she
believed
he
would live up to his word… Kscheeech vowed in his mind to do
everything in his power to make it so. Whatever it took. He smiled
back at Felina like a proud little boy in a classroom getting a
compliment from a teacher he secretly had a crush on. Then he took
out an electronic notepad and typed in the names Rex had spoken
earlier… reading them off to make sure he pronounced them right.
“Mmmm-hmm. There we are then. Luis-sss, Randy, and Charles-sss.
Leave it to me then, Rex. I’ll try to find your
friends-sss.”

He’d simply have to make a
Ship2ship communication with the other ship holding the male
prisoners and order them to go find any prisoners with those names.
They’d do what he said, because of who he was; and no questions
would be asked. Moreover, he’d give them special instructions: If
found, these three were not to be
touched
until reaching New
Australia. He told that to Felina and Rex too. Felina smiled, then
reached out to grasp the lizard-like claw of her captor.

Kscheeech suddenly realized what he’d just
witnessed… this was the true greatness of the famous Star Kitten.
She truly had abilities that bordered on the magical. Manipulating
without causing anyone to do something they wouldn’t normally do;
and inspiring other beings to be far more than their minds
previously believed they could achieve. He’d only ever known of ONE
other being in the entire galaxy who’d clearly been endowed with
gifts and abilities like these: Architeuthis, the aging
Slartigifijian spiritual leader of New Australia.

Kscheeech felt a warm rush
of adrenalin go through his body; like his whole mind was being
relieved from some emotional burden. Just the touch of her furry
warm paw did something amazing to his poor old icy corrupted soul.
His mouth dropped open a crack, without him consciously noticing
it. He felt like—
God
it was like she had read and grasped and absorbed everything
about who he really was deep inside; both good and bad… and now she
was about to reach right into his heart with her next words. She
removed her other arm from around Rex’s shoulder and leaned forward
to grasp both of his claws. Felina looked into his tiny lizard-slit
eyes and purred for a moment. When she finally spoke Kscheeech was
mesmerized already.

Felina said in a low purring voice, “You
were all desperate for food… all of you prisoners in that horrible
mine… so you rebelled against your cruel masters. You killed them.
You captured the planet from them. Then your newly captured planet
became your home but you still needed even more food to survive. So
you became pirates. Yes… I see now.”

Kscheeech just nodded like he had been
hypnotized. His body just floated. He felt nothing but her touch.
He saw nothing but her beautiful gray-green eyes. His cold blood
flowed through him like a rushing stream which he could practically
feel pumping in his little lizard-like body. But alas, she had even
more to say.

“You came from violence. Lived with
violence. Survived violence. And then used violence to further your
existence,” she added in a voice barely more audible than a
whisper. “And now your warriors want to experience comfort and joy.
Happiness and companionship. The things that bring meaning and
balance to life. The things that every intelligent creature wants.
So they must take from others to get what they feel they need. They
take back what they feel was taken away from them years ago.”

Kscheeech was so relaxed and intoxicated by
the feelings he got from being near Felina, that the words he
replied were mere mutterings that he doubted she could even hear.
He mumbled, “It’s-sss the only life we know.” Felina reached up and
caressed the lizard’s face with the furry back of her left paw
while she continued to hold his two claws in her right paw. She
replied to him, “Yes. The only life you know. That is…until you
learn a better way. A better life for you and everyone. That’s what
you desire, deep in your heart.” She gently placed her paw on his
chest right over his now thumping heart.

Kscheeech startled back at first, then bowed
his head and sighed deeply. Tears welled in his eyes. He then
leaned into Felina’s paw as it gently touched his scaly chest. Yes,
this was completely true. Like Solomon, Kscheeech shared the common
vision of a better existence for his fellow Nausties and a peaceful
co-existence within the galaxy. He lived for the day when he could
quit being a pirate; and settle down to enjoy the twilight years of
his life.…

As a young Zorg he’d seen his best friend
Ggggaaah abandon him to the authorities and allow him to be exiled
to Rijel12. For years he seethed with hatred for his former
compatriot; and lived off that hatred coursing through his veins.
It kept him alive. It kept him vibrant and alert, working down
there in those infernal mines. But when Ggggaaah was captured and
executed by his fellow inmates, something changed in Kscheeech. An
odd peace descended over his soul.

Kscheeech found he had no
one left to hate anymore. He had no reason to be angry either, or
to seek the demise of another being. He found friends amongst the
brethren within his gang, and during the rebellion he befriended
Snout, who later became his Captain onboard the
Anarchy
. The killing and the
raiding? It was just a necessary evil. He did it; and ordered it
done because it was his duty. And he did all those things because
his friends needed him: they relied on him. Kscheeech found no joy
or any morbid fascination with it. A means to an end, that’s all it
was. And someday… hopefully… it wouldn’t be necessary
anymore.

Felina was right. And she had deduced all of
that by just grasping his claws and sensing his deepest feelings.
She truly was just as amazing as he’d imagined.

“Yes-sss,” said Kscheeech raising up and
taking a deep breath. “A better life,” he added, “For everyone.”
Felina smiled and leaned further toward him, to kiss the end of his
nose. Then she grasped and squeezed his claws with both of her paws
for a moment one more time and released them. Upon her release, it
seemed the blood was flowing normally within his body once more,
but it felt like he was still a bit under her intoxicating loving
spell. He recovered himself a bit more, and sat back with a bright
smile… his body feeling kind of like he’d just had a refreshing
twenty minute nap.

As Felina sat back and
returned to comforting Rex; Kscheeech decided to inform her of his
plans to return with her to New Australia and give her as a gift to
Solomon Mwanga, the Terminal Chief. “Felina; I’m proud to als-ssso
tell you, that you are to be returning to New Australia with me…
and Rex of course… to be given to the next leader of our planet.
His name is Solomon.” Felina froze with excitement. Kscheeech
noticed her reaction and smiled warmly, adding “He is now in charge
of the main terminal where we’re going to be landing in a few
weeks-sss; but he’s-sss respected and considered to be the wisest
leader on our planet. I’m bringing you back with me to be
his mate
.”