Chapter 10

            Buster hadn’t slept so well since he was a puppy.  Perhaps it was that he hadn’t slept in so many days or perhaps it was because the cushion he slept on was much more comfortable than a bunk on the Batpooh.  Whatever the reason, he didn’t want to open his eyes when he felt someone poke his shoulder and then heard Jake growl, “You going to sleep all day?”

            “Maybe,” Buster said.  He might have gone back to sleep if Jake hadn’t taken the extra skin on Buster’s neck in his mouth.  It was an old game from when they were puppies, trying to scare each other.  Jake had always managed to scare Buster more often than the other way around.

            Buster swatted at his brother with one paw.  “I’m getting up,” he grumbled.

            He rolled into a sitting position to find the others all awake and alert.  The Saint Bernards loomed by the doorway, ready to break the neck of any Cat who came through that door wanting a fight.  Dodger sat on his cushion, facing one of the room’s many windows, watching.

            “So what’s the situation?” Buster asked.

            “About the same.  They haven’t come for us yet.”  Jake motioned to the corner where the remains of dinner sat on a cart.

            Buster checked his chronometer, which was set to local time from the Batpooh’s computer.  It was six in the morning according to the watch.  Were Cats early risers?  He adjusted his position on the cushion to make himself more comfortable, but not so comfortable he would fall back to sleep. 

            “We should clean up as best we can before they get here.”  To set the example, Buster did what he could to smooth the wrinkles out of his uniform blouse and pants.  He was tempted to clean himself, but that required the kind of privacy he didn’t have here.  The Cats didn’t seem to have any kind of shower either.

            “It’s not going to matter how we look,” Dodger said.  “They’re going to execute us before too much longer.”

            “They might try,” Jake said.

            “Hold on,” Buster said.  “They haven’t done anything threatening yet.  And the queen gave us her personal protection.”

            Dodger snuffled at this.  “They can always make it look like an accident.  The strangers just so happened to run into some wild animals or eat some poisoned berries.”

            “We don’t know they’re going to do that.  Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

            Dodger snuffled again but didn’t say anything.  Buster slipped on his uniform jacket and then began buttoning it up.  He couldn’t eliminate the possibility of what Dodger said.  At the same time, he couldn’t give in to paranoia either.  Mistakes like that had doomed relations between dogs and raccoons for decades and probably more decades to come.

            He had finished buttoning the jacket when the door slid open.  A guard pushed in another cart identical to the one for dinner.  Lady Isis trailed behind.  Her light green eyes looked around the room.  “Did you have a pleasant night?” she asked.

            “Yes, quite restful,” Dodger said, his voice brightening as he resumed his disguise as an ambassador.  “Is this breakfast?”

            “Correct.”  One of the guards pulled away the covers from the trays.  There were omelets and milk, both of which were regularly consumed at BPS breakfast tables.  Had the Cats been doing their homework on Bloc cuisine?

            Dodger made a show of sniffing at one of the omelets.  “That looks scrumptious.”

            “After you have eaten, I will escort you to the landing platform.  Princess Whiskers will meet us there.”

            “How unfortunate that we can’t eat with the princess,” Dodger said.  “There are some issues I would like to discuss with her.”

            “There will be time for that later.  Eat now.”  Lady Isis spun around to ward off any argument.  The guards followed her, taking the dinner cart with them.

            “Doesn’t look like you’re making much headway, Mr. Ambassador,” Jake said.

            “Diplomacy takes time.”  Dodger took one plate of eggs and a bowl of milk from the tray.  Then he returned to his position by the window to eat. 

            Buster followed suit, taking a hearty bite of the omelet to let Jake and the Saint Bernards know it was safe.  “It is good.  The best I’ve tasted.”

            “Pretty good for a last meal,” Dodger replied.

#

            Isis had already helped Whiskers bathe and dress for the day.  Whiskers looked in the mirror, trying on different expressions.  She didn’t want anything to go wrong today, her first real chance to meet the outsiders.  Not just for an official welcome, but an entire day to show them the wonders of Cattatonia.  An entire day with Captain Bulldog, who had taken his ship so far from home, into unknown territory—

            A knock on the door startled Whiskers from the mirror.  She leapt backwards, her spine arching and claws coming out automatically.  She quickly regained her composure, smoothing down her back fur so that she would look regal and elegant—like Mother.  Summoning her most regal voice, she called out, “Who dares to disturb me?”

            “It is I, Lady Isis.”

            “Oh.  Come in, then.”

            It wasn’t only Isis at the door, though.  A rotund brown cat pushed his way past Isis to waddle into the room.  He seized Whiskers’s paw to kiss her there.  “Hello, my lady,” he said.

            “Duke Draco.  How unexpected.”

            “I couldn’t stay away.  Not when I heard the news.”

            “What news?”

            “Of the outsiders.  The Dogs.”

            “Has news of that already reached Pussia?”

            “News travels fast these days, my lady.”

            “I suppose it does.”  Whiskers sank on the end of her bed.  She tried to keep her nose from wrinkling at the smell of Draco’s breath when he sat down next to her.  His breath stank even more of stale fish and mice than usual.

            “What are they like?”

            “That’s hard to tell.  I only me them briefly yesterday.”

            “I heard they’re monstrous.”

            “They aren’t monsters.”  At least no more of monsters than Duke Draco, who was known to swallow small animals whole—and still alive.  Whiskers hated just being around such an animal, but she didn’t have any choice.  Pussia was the most-populated section of Cattatonia and the duke the most eligible and important bachelor.  Marrying him was a matter of royal prestige.

            “My lady, you mustn’t let yourself be seduced by their charms.  Dogs will bring us nothing but destruction.  It’s already been foretold.  Just look what they’ve already done to Captain Morgana and her outpost.  They broke in and abducted her.”

            “That may not have been their intent.  We mustn’t jump to conclusions.”

            Draco took Whiskers’s hand, giving it a squeeze that made her want to yowl.  “I only worry about your safety.  Perhaps I should accompany you—”

            “That won’t be necessary,” she said.  She knew what Draco wanted was a chance to spy on the outsiders, to learn their secrets.  Besides being the most eligible and important bachelor, he was also the most devious.  Whiskers knew his daughter Cassie supplied him with information about palace goings on.  She would have gotten rid of the nasty little beast, except that would offend Draco and all of Pussia.  “I have plenty of protection.”

            “Will Cassie be accompanying you?”

            “Most likely.”

            Draco’s white mouth broke into a grin, displaying his yellow teeth.  “That is excellent news.  I couldn’t think of anyone better to keep you safe besides myself.”

            “I’m sure she’ll prove very capable.”

            The duke kissed Whiskers’s paw again.  “Perhaps I could at least go to the landing platform to see you off?”

            Whiskers held in a sigh.  She supposed it was only a matter of time before Draco finagled a way to meet the outsiders.  “That would be nice, thank you.”

            Draco squeezed her paw tightly as he hefted both of them up from the bed.  On the way out, Whiskers threw a desperate glance to Isis, who said nothing.  There was no one to save her, not from her royal duty.

#

            Lady Isis appeared moments after they finished breakfast to escort them down to the landing platform.  They took nearly the same route as the day before, only without a stop in the throne room.  Would Queen Smokey be at the platform to see them off?  From the look of her yesterday, Buster didn’t imagine she left the palace much these days.

            Though he didn’t want to be paranoid, he kept looking around him for any signs of a trap or an “accident” as Dodger had suggested.  He supposed it would be easy enough for the Cats to kill them here, but as Captain Morgana had said before, they could have done that long ago if they had wanted to.  Besides, if they died, who would relay Queen Smokey’s message to the Bloc?

            They made it safely to the platform, Dodger leading the way.  Buster saw a shuttle like the one they had come down in, with a half-dozen guards standing around it.  In front of these stood Princess Whiskers and another Cat, one even fatter than the stewardess on their shuttle.  From the pants and shirt it wore, though, the Cat looked male.  Could male Cats reproduce?

            Dodger bowed to Princess Whiskers.  “Greetings, your majesty.  It is good to see you looking so well this morning.”

            “Thank you, Ambassador.”  The princess motioned to her companion.  “This is Draco, Duke of Pussia.  He is my betrothed.”

            “Oh, how wonderful for both of you.”

            Buster resisted the urge to snort at the absurdity of such a regal Cat marrying one so unappealing.  It was probably an arranged marriage, as happened in Bear clans and some raccoon tribes.  He couldn’t imagine Princess Whiskers marrying this duke without some incentive from her mother.

            “The duke will not be accompanying us today, I’m afraid to say,” Whiskers said, though from the tone of her voice she didn’t sound very sorry about it.

            “I only wanted to see my lady to her shuttle and a chance to extend warmest welcomes to all of you,” Draco said.  He bowed to them as much as his stomach would allow.  “I’m sure you’ll find our planet as full of beauty and wonder as we all do.”

            “I’m sure we will,” Dodger said. 

            “Now, let us be going,” Princess Whiskers said.  “We have much to do.”

            Buster followed Dodger into the shuttle.  The same stewardess as the day before helped them to strap in.  As he readied himself for takeoff, Buster watched out the window as Draco leaned in to kiss Princess Whiskers on the mouth.  Though he didn’t have experience reading Cat expressions, Buster could tell she didn’t like it.