Chapter 20

Chapter 20

            Buster had been dreaming of Whiskers when he heard the door opened.  He hoped it would be her again, so that he might have some final words with her before the execution.  From the smell of dead mice, though, he knew it wasn’t her.  “Back again to gloat?” he asked.

            “Not only for that,” Draco hissed.  “I’ve spoken with the queen and we’ve decided to move up your execution by six hours.”

            Buster growled at this.  Instead of six in the morning, he would be executed at midnight now.  “I don’t suppose it really matters,” he said.

            “No, not with your ship light years away.”  Though Buster couldn’t make out Draco’s face clearly, he could hear the sneer in the Cat’s voice.  “They ran like cowards rather than try to save you.”

            Buster shook his head.  Spot was only doing the smart thing, putting the lives of the crew above those of the captain.  That was what Captain Barker would have done and what Buster would have done in similar circumstances.  “I’m not as important as you think.  I’m just one dog.”

            “You’re the heir to the largest industrial conglomerate of your pathetic empire.”

            “The Bloc isn’t an empire.  We choose our representatives through fair elections so that everyone gets a voice.”

            “Except the raccoons.”

            “They can if they want to participate.”

            “Participate in your system.”  Draco sneered again.  “I’m sure you would offer us the same, wouldn’t you?”

            “It’s not the Bloc’s mission to change the governments of established worlds.”

            “It would only be a matter of time before you tried to absorb us into your culture, to make us into you, just as you tried to do with the princess.”

            “The princess did everything of her own free will.”

            “You seduced her with tales of starships traveling among the stars.”

            “I only answered her questions.”  Buster took a step forward to make out Draco’s face more clearly.  “You should try talking to her more.  She’s an interesting being.”

            “She is my fiancée.”

            “Only because of her duty to Cattatonia.”  Buster bared his teeth and was gratified to watch Draco hop back a step.  “She would never marry someone as foul as you of her own free will.  This was her mother’s idea.  And you probably had a paw in it too.”

            “I only convinced the queen of what made the most sense.”  Draco stepped forward again.  “I will be king and you will be nothing but monkey food.”

            With that Draco turned to leave.  Buster could have jumped on his back and bit him in the neck like one of the monkeys in the trees, but he didn’t.  He would probably only have a second or two before the guards were on him.  Then he would be dead.  Better to wait and see if Whiskers could do anything.

            The door clanged shut.  Buster returned to his pile of mud to sit down.  How would the Cats choose to execute him?  Something long and painful he imagined, to make him suffer.  Draco would ensure that.  Would they honor a final request?  If they could give him a few minutes to speak with Whiskers, to kiss her one last time—

            “You had enough fun playing in the mud?” Dodger whispered.

            Buster yelped with surprise.  He squinted in the darkness but couldn’t see the spy.  “Where are you?”  Buster whirled around as he felt a paw on his left shoulder.  “How did you do that?”

            “Practice.”

            “Did they get you two?”

            Dodger snickered.  “Don’t be absurd.  I snuck in here to bust you out.”

            Buster collapsed on his mud pile again and then shook his head.  “What difference would it make?  We can’t escape this place.  We don’t even have a ship.”

            “Let me worry about that.  Come on.”

            Buster got to his feet again, reaching out to put a paw on Dodger’s shoulder.  He followed the secret agent to the door.  He watched as Dodger took something from his pocket to open the door.  “Old-fashioned lock,” Dodger said.  “I learned to break these in kindergarten.”

            He opened the door and then peeked outside.  “All right, let’s go.  Try to be quiet.”

            Dodger took about five steps down the stone corridor before a shadow on the wall moved.  Buster didn’t have time to shout a warning before something dropped on the spy.  He rushed forward only to get a claw across his snout.

            Dodger hurled the dark shape against the wall.  He tried to reach to his hip for his pistol, but something snapped it out of his hand like a whip.  The dark shape slammed into Dodger’s midsection, knocking him back against the wall.

            While they were engaged, Buster scrambled to find the fallen pistol.  He got down on all fours to feel for it with his snout.  Just as he felt the butt of the weapon, he heard the click of a weapon.  Looking up, he saw the barrel of a pistol aimed right between his eyes.  Draco held the weapon in one paw, smirking.  “I thought you might try this.  Cassie, let the other one up.”

            “Yes, Father.”  The dark shape crawled off of Dodger, allowing him to sit up.

            “Looks like we didn’t get all of you back to your ship,” Draco said.  “Such a pity.  Now you’ll both be executed.”

            “That’s what you think,” Dodger said.

            “Brave words from someone facing a half-dozen rifles.”

            Buster waited for Draco to pull the trigger and finish it.  Or, knowing Draco, he would stun them both so that they could be executed publicly.  Either way, he was never going to see Whiskers again, except perhaps in a royal box seat, watching as he died.  “Go ahead and finish it,” Buster said.

            “Gladly.”

            Before Draco could pull the trigger, Buster heard the click of more weapons.  “Stop this immediately,” Lady Isis said.  Buster twisted to look past Draco’s girth and see a dozen royal guards accompanying the royal handmaiden.

            Draco spun around and roared, “On whose authority?”

            “Her highness, Princess Whiskers has decreed it.”

            “She can’t do that!  I am following the queen’s orders!”

            “The queen said nothing about killing the prisoner in the dungeon.  They are to be executed in the arena.  That is where we will take them.  Stand down immediately.”

            Draco roared again, this time without words.  He lowered his pistol.  Turning to Buster, he grumbled, “You will still be killed.  It’s only a matter of time.”

            After Draco and his guards had gone, Lady Isis offered a paw to Buster.  He got to his feet, wishing he were cleaner.  “You and your companion will follow me,” Isis said.

            “Sure,” Buster said.  With a sigh he followed after Isis.  Wouldn’t want to be late for my execution, he thought to himself.

#

            From his last trip beneath the palace, Buster soon realized they weren’t going to the arena.  The smells around him were just like those of the tunnel he had been in before.  The dampness and sliminess were about the same too.  He wondered what Lady Isis thought about crawling through this muck, but she didn’t say anything.

            He nearly leapt for joy when they came to the end of the tunnel and he found Whiskers waiting for him.  She didn’t have any qualms about wrapping her arms around him, despite the muck coating his fur and remains of his uniform.  She stroked the wrinkles of his neck with one paw and whispered, “I thought I would never see you again.”

            “Here I am,” he said.

            Lady Isis broke up the moment by mewling in her throat.  “We haven’t much time, Your Highness.”

            “Yes, we must go quickly.  Draco will petition my mother and they will soon be after us.”

            “Then we best make a run for it,” Dodger said.  “You have a ship?”

            “Not here.  Draco will be watching the royal hangars.”  Whiskers motioned to the trees.  “We must get you into the trees.  You can hide there until we find a ship for you.”

            “Doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” Dodger grumbled.

            “It’s the only one we got,” Buster answered.  “Did you bring those claws?”

            “Yes.”  Whiskers smiled and then held up four pairs.  “Enough for both of you.”

            “I don’t need any,” Dodger answered.  He reached into his jacket for what appeared to be two balls.  At his touch, three daggers sprung from the balls.  “I brought my own.”

            “Then let’s go,” Buster said.  He followed Whiskers to the nearest tree.  This time, having some experience at tree climbing and the extra set of claws, he made quicker progress.  Still not as quick as any of the Cats or even Dodger with his special devices.

            “You want to borrow these?” Dodger asked.

            “I don’t think I have the upper-body strength for it.”

            “Probably true.  Most of you fleet officers are soft.”

            “I’ll let Jake know you said that.  If we get back.”

            “Silence,” Whiskers hissed.  “Listen.”

            Buster strained his ears until he heard a faint hiss.  He thought it might be a breeze, but then he caught the smell of the dungeon.  “Draco?”

            “Cassie,” Whiskers said.  “We must hurry.”

            “Right,” Buster said.  He dug his claws into the tree trunk, trying to pull himself up faster.  Looking down, he could see Cassie’s dark shape below.  There were probably more with her.  It wouldn’t be long until they caught up with him, Whiskers, and the others. 

#

            By the time Buster reached the branch where they had fought the monkeys, Cassie was close enough that Buster could see the green of her eyes.  The determined look on her face indicated she would do to him what he had done to the monkeys.  He tried to go faster, but it didn’t do much good.

            “We can’t outrun them,” Whiskers announced.

            “I can’t,” Buster said.

            “Then we have to make our stand here,” Dodger said.  He took a pair of pistols from his pockets.  One of these he handed to Buster.  “It’ll make me happy to get rid of that nasty little beast once and for all.”

            “She won’t be that easy,” Whiskers said.  “And she will surely have a lot of help.”

            “We’ll see.”

            Buster wished he shared Dodger’s confidence—or feigned confidence at least—but he couldn’t.  They did have the advantage of holding the high ground, at least until Draco scrambled a few shuttles to attack them from the air.  They couldn’t hold out forever.

            Even as he thought this, he heard the whine of engines approaching.  He tapped Dodger on the shoulder.  “Looks like they’ve got some help.”

            “That ought to even the odds.”

            Buster turned to Whiskers.  “You should leave now.  Dodger and I will hold them off until you’re clear.”

            “I won’t leave you,” Whiskers said.

            “Princess, please—”

            She took his free paw in hers.  “I can never leave you, Buster.  I love you.”

            Buster stared at her in shock for a moment.  Had she really said she loved him?  “You love me?”

            “Yes, Buster.  I know it’s been a short time and we come from very different worlds, but I don’t care.  You are kind and brave and handsome—everything I’ve ever wanted.”

            Buster smiled at her.  “You think I’m handsome?”

            She smiled back, her paw touching his jowls.  “You are the most beautiful thing in the world to me.”

            “So are you.”  He squeezed Whiskers’s paw.  “I love you too.  That’s why you have to go.  I don’t want to be responsible for getting you killed.”

            “I am responsible for my own actions.”  She stroked his jowls again.  “Wasn’t it you who told me to embrace my own destiny?”

            “I didn’t mean for you to get yourself killed.”

            “I don’t care if I die, so long as it is by your side.”

            “Whiskers—”

            “I have made my decision.  We will make our stand here.  We will die together if that is what fate has in store.”

            “Fate’s looking pretty good today,” Dodger said.  He handed a pair of binoculars to Buster.  “Take a look at that.”

            Buster put the binoculars to his eyes.  They were adjusted for the nighttime light of Cattatonia so that he could clearly see the ship approaching them.  The profile of it was all wrong for a Cat ship—but just right for a Bloc transport!  “It’s from the Batpooh.  We’re saved!”

            “Not yet,” Dodger said, pointing down at Cassie, who was less than ten meters away.  He fired a few shots down at her.  Buster watched through the binoculars as Cassie threw herself from the tree to an adjoining one.  She was going to be too slippery to catch.

            Buster raised his pistol to fire into the air.  He watched through the binoculars as the transport adjusted its course to head towards them.  It would still be a minute or so before it could line up to extract them. 

            The guards with Whiskers added their fire to Dodger’s to try and drive away Cassie and the guards who accompanied her.  Buster paid little attention to this.  He turned back to Whiskers.  “You have to go now.  Dodger and I will be fine.”

            Isis took Whiskers’s arm.  “He is right, your highness.  We must go now.  While the guards are distracted.  Our guards will keep Cassie at bay.”

            “No.  I am going with you.”

            “Whiskers, you can’t!  We’re going back to Batpooh State.”

            “I will go with you.  Perhaps if I talk to your president, we can forge peace between our races.”

            “But your mother—”

            “I don’t care what my mother wants.  I care about the rest of Cattatonia—and you.”  She stroked Buster’s face.  “I won’t lose you, not again.”

            “Your highness—”

            “It is my decision.”  Whiskers turned to her handmaiden.  “Tell my mother I go as an emissary of peace to this Batpooh State.  I will begin negotiations with its leaders to create a lasting alliance between them and Cattatonia.”

            “But your highness—”

            “You will do as you are told, my faithful servant.”

            For the first time, Isis’s face showed real emotion.  Tears welled up in her pale green eyes.  “I swore to your mother I would care for you as I would my own.”

            “And you have.  But I am no longer a child.  It is time to take my rightful place as the princess of Cattatonia.”  She gave Isis a hug.  “You have been a good mother to me.  I thank you for your service.  I release you now.  I ask only that you return to my mother and tell her my wishes.”

            “I will do that, your highness.  I hope only that I will see you again in better times.”

            Isis took four of the guards with her and then leapt across to another tree.  She had soon scurried out of sight to head back for the palace.  Whiskers took Buster’s paw as the transport came down to hover three meters away.

            The side door opened to reveal Jake and the Saint Bernards, all three carrying heavy laser rifles.  Before they could open fire, Buster shouted, “Hold your fire!  These Cats are our friends!”

            “Funny friends you got there,” Jake rumbled.

            Buster hooked Whiskers around the waist to guide her towards the transport.  As he pushed her forward a shot sizzled past his ear, close enough that he could smell singed fur.  The Saint Bernards didn’t waste time opening fire with their weapons in the direction of the shot.  The chatter of the weapons was as loud as a pack of monkeys and brighter than a summer storm.

            “Let’s go!” Buster shouted into Whiskers’s ear.  He used both paws to pick her up nad throw her towards the transport.  A metal arm reached out to grab her paw.

            Whiskers shrieked at the sight of Dr. Ruff’s half-artificial face, but she couldn’t resist the augmented strength of that metal arm as he hauled her in.  Buster waited until Dr. Ruff returned before he took off running.  The Saint Bernads laid down another barrage to keep anyone from firing as he dove into the transport.  He landed ingloriously on the deck.

            “Glad you could make it,” Buster said as Jake helped him up.  “Make sure we get Dodger and the princess’s guards.”

            “Going to be a tight squeeze.”

            “Find a way,” Buster snapped.

            He made his way forward, into the cockpit.  The co-pilot’s chair turned around and Buster found himself facing a grinning Spot.  “Welcome aboard, Captain.”

            “Where’s the Batpooh?”

            “In Bloc space.”

            “You got all the way here in a transport?”

            “Thanks to Dr. Ruff—and a little Cat technology.”

            Buster shook his head at this.  He motioned to Whiskers in the rear compartment.  She squeezed forward into the cockpit.  “Commander Spot Mutt II, this is Whiskers, princess of Cattatonia.  She’s coming with us.”

            “Princess?  Buster—”

            “Don’t worry about it.”  He turned back to the rear compartment.  “How are we coming?”

            To answer his question, Dodger came flying into the rear compartment.  He rolled to come to a sitting position.  “Everyone’s aboard!” he shouted.

            “Then let’s go home,” Buster said.  He took a jump seat behind Spot while Whiskers took one behind Marshy.  The Saint Bernards kept the door open so that they could keep firing as the transport pushed away from the trees.  Only once they were a few hundred meters away did the Saint Bernards stop firing and pull the door shut.

            “Punch it,” Spot said to Marshy.

            “Yes, sir.”

            As the transport leapt forward, Buster turned to Whiskers.  She smiled at him, but above that he could see fear in her eyes.