Chapter 22

Chapter 22

            Whiskers had been relatively quiet during the journey through Cat space, but she leaned forward in her chair as they came out of hyperspace.  “That is your ship?” she asked, pointing at the Batpooh.

            Buster nodded.  “That’s her.  The cream of the Bloc space fleet.”

            “It’s beautiful.”  She turned to face him.  “And you rule this entire vessel?”

            “You could put it that way,” Buster said.  “I don’t think it’s as autocratic as a monarchy, though.  My crew and I are a team.”  He patted Spot’s shoulder.

            “How wonderful.  We are going aboard now?”

            “That’s right.  And soon you’ll get to see all the wonders the Bloc of Planetary States has to offer.”

            “I can’t wait.”

            Buster held her paw as Marshy guided the transport into the hangar.  Considering the rest of their journey, the landing was surprisingly anticlimactic.  All the landing systems functioned normally, so that Marshy was able to put it down with only the slightest of bumps.  As she and Spot deactivated the systems, Buster helped Whiskers up.  She leaned against him for support as they went back to the rear compartment.

            Jake lowered the ramp, he and the Saint Bernards standing aside to let them pass.  One of Whiskers’s guards hissed something at her.  She hissed back at him.  From the way the guard shrank back, it was not something positive.  “Let us go,” she said to Buster.

            Whiskers pressed harder against him as the ramp lowered to reveal a party waiting for them.  Jeremiah was at the head of the group, along with Nina, Dash, and two security officers.  “It’s all right,” Buster whispered.  “They’re my friends.”

            Nina wasted little time in taking a scanner from her pocket.  Whiskers arched her back and hissed at this.  “It’s not a weapon,” Buster told her.  “This is Dr. Nina Barker.  She’s our chief medical officer.  She wants to make sure you aren’t sick or transporting any dangerous germs.”

            “Dangerous germs?  I would never—”

            “It’s only a precaution,” Buster said.  “It’s not even going to hurt.”

            Whiskers stared at him for a moment but then nodded.  “Very well.  She may take her scans.”  Whiskers stood on the deck while Nina ran the scanner over her body.  “Do I have any germs?”

            “No, sweetie, you’re clean as a newborn,” Nina said with a motherly smile.

            “Good.  I would not want to harm any of your crew.”  She turned to the others and said, “I am Whiskers, Princess of Cattatonia.  I come in peace to meet with your rulers to discuss matters of our mutual benefit.”

            Jeremiah shifted uncomfortably and snuffled.  “I’m Lieutenant Commander Jeremiah Mutt, chief engineer.  We, um, welcome you to—”

            Jeremiah looked as if he were drowning.  Buster nodded to him.  “We all welcome you to the Batpooh.  This is Ensign Dash Mutt, our communications officer.”

            “A princess!  I never thought I’d meet someone that important,” Dash said, his tail wagging furiously.  “I don’t suppose you could sign an autograph for me?”

            Whiskers stared at him blankly.  Buster cleared his throat.  “That will be all, Ensign.  I think we should get Princess Whiskers to sickbay.  Dr. Barker will want to run a few more tests to make sure you’re healthy.”

            “I understand.”

            “Your guards will have to come with us as well.”

            She nodded and then hissed an order to them.  They came to attention, forming a semi-circle behind her to follow her and Buster from the hangar.  She sprang back, though, as the doors opened on their own.

            “It’s just a door,” Buster said.  “They all work like that.”

            She nodded again.  “I am sorry, Buster.  This is the first starship I have been on.”

            “It’s all right.  I’ll show you around after we finish with the tests.  I think you’ll see it’s  not so different from home.”

            “Except that it moves—in space.”

            Buster laughed.  “Yes, there is that.”  He hooked his arm through hers to lead her to sickbay.

#

            All of the tests came back negative.  Nina gave Whiskers a clean bill of health.  “I’ve compared your results with Captain Morgana’s.  Your vitals are much stronger, your spine is straighter, and your muscles show no signs of atrophy.”

            “Princess Whiskers gets a lot of exercise,” Buster said, winking at her.

            “Yes, I do a lot of climbing.”

            “Not much for you to climb here,” Nina said.  “But there are some magnificent trees on Batpooh State.  So long as you’re careful of the raccoons.”

            “What are these raccoons?”

            Nina brought up an image of one on the screen.  Whiskers hissed at it.  “Are they all that ugly?”

            “Well—”

            “The raccoons are a different species than us.  We can’t evaluate them in the same way,” Buster said.  He patted his jowls, “A lot of Cats probably think I’m pretty ugly.”

            “I am not one of them,” Whiskers said and patted Buster’s head.

            Buster wanted to kiss her, but not in front of Nina.  He took Whiskers’s paw in his.  “If you’re up to it, I’ll give you a tour of the ship.”

            “I am very much up to it.”

            “Your entourage will have to wait,” Nina said.  “I’m not through with them yet.”

            “That will not be a problem.”  Whiskers issued orders to them.  They mewled in response, though they didn’t seem happy about it.  “Let us go.”

            Unlike when Captain Morgana was on board, Buster took Whiskers down to the engine room to start their tour.  Along the way, every dog they passed tried not to look at Whiskers.  He knew word would spread quickly not only about the Cats on board, but about he and Whiskers.  He didn’t care.  Let the crew say whatever they wanted.  He and Whiskers loved each other.

            Jeremiah had returned to engineering, where he looked much happier as he reviewed the latest reports on the efficiency of the cooling relays.  Buster reviewed the reports and nodded his approval.  “Everything shipshape in my absence then?”

            “Yes, sir.  We’ll be back in Batpooh State in no time.”

            “Excellent.”  Buster motioned to the lantern-shaped chamber in the center of the room that extended through six stories.  “That’s our main fusion reactor.  It’s what allows us to travel in hyperspace so that we can move between planets so quickly.”

            “It’s so big!  Nearly as big as my mother’s palace.”

            “Yes, I suppose it is.”

            Whiskers turned to Jeremiah.  “And you have to maintain all of this?”

            “That’s right.”

            “That must be very dangerous.”

            “Not for someone who knows what he’s doing.”

            “Jeremiah is the best engineer in the whole fleet,” Buster said.  The engineer looked down at the deck.  “Without him and his team, we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.”

            Whiskers nodded.  “You are doing a very good job.”

            “Thank you, ma’am.”

            They walked all the way around the engine room, with Buster explaining what some of the equipment did.  Some of it he figured would be too far over her head and some of it was too far over his head to explain.  She seemed impressed by everything.  Along the way she complimented the various technicians, telling them what a splendid job they were doing.  They thanked her politely, though most also looked puzzled too.

            From the engine room, Buster showed her to the galley.  “Are you hungry?  I know you Cats don’t like kibble, but we have canned fish—”

            “I believe my stomach is still on Cattatonia,” she said with a smile.

            “That’s all right.  So’s mine.  Would you like some water, though?”

            “Do you have any cream?”

            “I’m sure we do.”  Buster led her over to a table in the corner, far away from the rest of the crew.  “I’ll be right back.”

            He didn’t like the idea of leaving Whiskers alone, but he didn’t have a choice.  He didn’t figure anyone on the Batpooh would hurt her anyway.  She might do something to hurt herself, though.  He thought of various scenarios where she might trip or run into a wall or set herself on fire with one of the burners.  These all seemed unlikely, but he worried anyway.

            The cooking staff had to do a little rooting around to find a carton of cream.  They poured this into a dish for her.  Buster got a dish of water for himself, parched after playing tour guide.  When he stepped out of the kitchen, he saw she was not in the corner where he’d left her.  Where had she gone?

            Before he could panic, he heard her soft voice across the room.  She sat at a table with four dogs who had been playing cards.  One of them laid down a card on the table.  “That card is a queen, so it goes on top of the king.”

            “A queen?”  Whiskers smiled.  “I thought you did not have queens.”

            “Oh, we don’t.  Not real ones.”

            “I see.  And why does the queen go on top of the king?”

            The golden retriever looked around at his friends, who offered no help.  He shrugged, “It’s always been that way, I guess.  The king is the highest, then the queen, the jack—”

            “What is a jack?”

            “Like a prince—or a duke,” Buster said.  At the last word, Whiskers flinched, probably thinking of Duke Draco, her betrothed.  He set the bowl of cream down on an empty table.  “I found some cream for you.”

            “Thank you, Captain,” she said, returning to formality in front of the lesser officers.  “That will be very refreshing, I’m sure.”

            “It’s probably not as good as you have on your planet,” Buster said.

            “At this point I do not care,” she said and smiled.  She bent down to lap up some of the cream with her pink tongue.  “It is very good.”

            “I’ll tell the cook.”

            Whiskers looked back at the young crewmembers, who had returned to their game.  “You have an interesting culture.  What do you call those cardboard rectangles?”

            “Playing cards.  We use them for entertainment.”

            “I see.  We do not have those on Cattatonia.”  She lapped up some more cream and then smiled again.  “Most of our games take place in the trees.”

            “I’m sure you were very good at those games.”

            “I did not have anyone to play them with.  Isis was too old for such games and I had no siblings my own age.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “It must be nice to have brothers, as you have.”

            “Yes, it is nice,” Buster said, thinking of Jake and Jonathan.  He thought too of Spot, his almost-brother.  “Being a princess must be lonely.”

            “It is sometimes.”  She finished her cream far more quickly than Buster thought possible.  “I would like to rest now.  Is there a room for me?”

            “Of course.  I’ll show you the way.”

            Buster led her from the galley to the suite Captain Morgana had occupied.  “I know it’s smaller than what you’re used to—”

            “It will do nicely.”  Once the door closed, she kissed Buster again.  “You have been so kind.  Not at all like Draco.”

            “I’m only repaying your hospitality.”

            She nodded and then collapsed onto the bed.  She looked out at the darkness of space, tears coming to her eyes.  He thought it was from the spectacular view until she said, “He will come after me.  He will convince my mother to send a fleet into your space.”

            “You don’t know that.”

            “Draco hates you.  He hates all Dogs.  So does my mother.  They will not suffer this outrage gladly.”  She shook her head.  “I am being a fool.  I should return to Cattatonia immediately.”

            Buster put a paw on her shoulder.  “No, Whiskers, it will be fine.  We’ll meet with President Bear.  He’ll listen to you.  I’m sure he’ll want peace as much as you do.  We can work out a treaty to take back to your mother, to show we have no ill intentions.”

            “She will not listen.”

            “We’ll make her listen.”  He sat down beside her on the bed and then turned her head to look her in the eye.  “I love you, Whiskers.  I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

            “I believe you will try, but even one mighty ship won’t be enough.”

            They didn’t say anything more, staring out at space, Batpooh State drawing ever nearer.

#

            Spot took Marshy’s advice and went to his quarters for a nap, though only after making her promise to do the same.  It had been a stressful twenty-four hours and there was undoubtedly going to be more stress ahead of them.  He had barely sunk down onto his bed and kicked off his boots when he heard Dodger say, “Are you really going to let him do this?”

            “What are you talking about?” Spot asked.  He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes.  “And haven’t you ever heard of knocking first?”

            “This is no time for courtesy.  You’ve got to take command of the Batpooh and send that Cat back where she belongs.”

            “Now you want to send Princess Whiskers back?  It was your idea to use her as a hostage so we could escape.”

            “That was to save all of our hides.  Now’s the time to go back to the border and stuff her into an escape pod with her entourage.”

            “I thought you were a diplomat?”

            “You know what the Cats are going to do.  They aren’t going to let us keep the princess, the sole heir to their throne.  The queen is going to come after us with everything she has.”

            “The princess isn’t going to stay here forever.”

            “Is that so?  You know she loves Buster, don’t you?”

            Spot thought of the kisses and paw-holding on the transport.  “Yes.”

            “Do you think she’s going to leave him behind to go back to that slob Duke Draco?”

            “Who?”

            “Her betrothed.  He’s a real piece of work.  Swallows mice whole for fun.”

            “Wonderful.”

            “He also has the queen’s ear.  Or maybe she’s too old and sick to care and lets him run the whole show.  You think he’s going to let Whiskers marry a dog?”

            “Marry?  I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

            “I don’t think so.”  Spot turned his head to see Dodger take a seat beside the bed.  The other dog’s gray muzzle twisted in a smile.  “You don’t think I know about love.  I do.  I have a son on one of the colonies.  He looks like his old pop.  His mom called him Junior.  Of course she doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be the junior of, so he’s just Junior.”

            “I’m sorry to hear that.  Maybe you should worry less about the captain’s love life and more about your own.”

            Dodger laughed softly at that.  “And don’t think I didn’t notice the way you and Lieutenant Ruff looked at each other.”

            “What about it?”

            “I think you have a little workplace romance brewing.”

            “Why is that any of your concern?”

            “It’s not.  I’m only proving I know what I’m talking about.  Buster is head-over-tail for Whiskers and she feels the same.  They aren’t going to call it off.  You have to force her back.”

            Spot sighed.  “Regulations stipulate that I can only take command if the captain is deemed unfit for duty.  So maybe you should talk to Dr. Barker.”

            “I could.  I think she would be just as unresponsive.  She cares about him too.”  Dodger snuffled.  “I thought you were professionals, not a blurball club.”

            Spot finally sat up to glare at Dodger.  “There’s nothing I can do.  Whether the captain loves Whiskers or not isn’t any of my concern.  When we get to Batpooh State, you can petition President Bear to have her deported.  I’m sure as his duly appointed ambassador he’ll listen to you.”

            Dodger got to his feet.  Spot waited for him to pull a pistol or do something worse.  Instead he only shook his head.  “I thought you were the smart one, Commander.  I thought wrong.”  Dodger tossed a mock salute.  “Good night, Commander Mutt.  When the war begins, I hope you’ll remember this conversation.  The blood will be on your paws.”

            Spot was going to say something, but Dodger was already gone.  Spot settled onto the bed again, but he couldn’t sleep now.