Page 18 of Tis the Season for Tentacles
Luna makes cooing noises at them. “Come here, my darlings. You all must be so hungry. Don’t worry, Auntie Luna will make sure you’re well fed.” She gets the generator going and prepares their morning meal, talking to the cats the whole time.
Felix watches the whole interaction with obvious fascination. “How did y’all end up with a colony of cats on this ship?”
“When we brought Sasha aboard, he happened to be with his cat at the same time,” I explain. “What neither he, norwe, understood then was that Miss Jonesy was pregnant with kittens.”
Luna beams at Felix. “And now we have a group of Thekmis’s emissaries here, protecting our ship and providing us with good fortune on our journey through space.”
Felix’s brow furrows. “Thekmis?”
“A goddess in the myths and legends of our home world of Draveth,” I explain. “She is a powerful protector figure with feline attributes, highly reminiscent of the creatures you callcatson your world.”
“How fascinating,” Felix murmurs. He glances at Jonesy and her brood. “You know, I am a veterinarian by trade. I could do a quick exam on each of them to make sure they’re all healthy.” He studies the younger cats. “You probably want to make sure the young ones have been spayed and neutered.”
Luna nods. “Yeah, we were able to find someone on another planet who helped us with that when the kittens were old enough. They got a clean bill of health at the time, but it’s been a while, so we’d certainly appreciate you doing a checkup on them for us.”
Felix, smiles. “No problem. My area of specialty is exotic animals, but I did a training rotation with domestic ones too. I may be a little rusty, but I remember the essentials.”
Luna beams at him. “That’s great. Speaking of exotic animals, have you met our other resident on the ship, Howie?”
“Howie?”
She points over to a rather hideous little potted tree over in the corner. “Sasha told us he’s kind of like a creepy Charlie Brown Christmas tree.”
Felix tilts his head and studies the tree. “Wha?—”
He promptly falls out of his seat when Howie opens his eyes—positioned in his trunk—and gives a disgruntled grunt. “What the hell are you looking at?”
Luna laughs. “Ignore Howie. He’s a bit of a grump, but we still love him.”
Felix manages to get to his feet and takes a shaky step closer to the tree. “Oh, my God. It can talk.”
“’Course I can talk. Who the fuck are you?”
He swallows. “I’m Felix. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Howie.”
The tree grunts dismissively. “Whatever. Quit gawking at me and let me sleep.” He closes his eyes again and in moments, he’s snoring softly.
“Chumarg trees tend to spend most of their time sleeping,” I tell Felix. “Howie’s a lot grumpier than most of his brethren, but he helps purify the air on our ship.”
Felix comes back to the table and downs the rest of his kavga in one go. “That’s so cool. He’s absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it—I mean him.” He shakes his head in awe. “A sentient tree? We have nothing like that on our world.”
“There are a lot of strange and unusual creatures out in the universe,” I admit. “We encounter quite a few on our travels.”
Felix’s eyes are bright and alive with curiosity.
I want to drown in them. In him.
Where did that ridiculous notion come from?
Thankfully, before I do anything stupid and act on foolish impulses, Kheph and Sasha wander into the room, arm in arm, each with dopey grins on their faces.
My best friend is wearing a new T-shirt with a picture of Santa in a sleigh on the front and he’s tossing smiling cats over the side accompanied by the line,Cats for Everybody.
“Good morning, friends,” Kheph offers cheerfully as he struts around showing off his new shirt. “Did you sleep well, Felix? Isn’t my T-shirt fabulous?”
“Thanks. I slept well. The bed in my room is quite comfortable and so are the pajamas Najar lent me.” Felix’s lips twitch. “And your shirt is… festive.”
Kheph’s whole face lights up with satisfaction.
