Chapter 3
Bright and early the next morning, James woke and rose from bed wearing his boxers. He scratched his stomach and yawned. With eyes still bleary from sleep, he stumbled towards the bathroom to perform his normal morning ritual. Living alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, he had fallen into the habit of leaving the bathroom door open.
While perched atop his porcelain throne, he heard a noise at the door. Looking over to find the source, he spotted two of the animals watching him carefully. A little irritated at having his morning dump observed, he made a little shooing gesture. When they didn't move, he said, "Come on. Give a guy a little privacy."
When they didn't leave, he finished his business on the toilet. The flushing sound caused the pair to back away from the door. Looking at the pair, he said, "I hope you enjoyed the show. I'm going to take a shower now. You'll probably want to run because I like to sing while I wash. I've been told that my voice is a lot like chalk on a blackboard."
The pair watched him take his shower fascinated by the fact that he emitted noise while washing himself. They thought it was funny that he stood under water to wash rather than to lick his fur, but he wasn't the only species they knew that cleaned that way. Atac was still confused why the beast would make noises when there was no one around who could understand it. There weren't many species that did that.
James stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel. Drying himself off, he looked over at the pair of Quatyl. He asked, "Do you want to take a shower?"
When they didn't move, he returned to drying off. After hanging up his towel, he knelt down and asked, "Did you like my singing?"
Atar had backed away a little when James had approached. She still didn't trust the beast. His behavior was totally inconsistent with anything she had ever studied. Never had they found a species that was capable of space flight that didn't do what they wanted. This whole situation was just too dangerous.
Noticing the one animal back away, James laughed and said, "I guess you didn't like it. At least you aren't begging me for autographs."
He reached down and picked up his underwear from the bathroom floor. He said, "I'm going to have to start giving you names. I'm going to call you Scout."
Turning to the one that had backed away, he said, "You're Cubby because you act more like a cub scout. Brave enough, but young and inexperienced. I'll have to figure out names for the rest of you later."
He stepped over Scout to leave the bathroom. Atar took off like a shot thinking that he was trying to step on her. James chuckled and said, "Whoa, little Cubby. I didn't mean to scare you."
It was too late. Atar ran to the chair under which she had been sleeping and watched the beast with terrified eyes. She decided that she wasn't going to trust him ever again. He was too big and unpredictable. She watched her mate, Atac, follow the beast unable to understand why he was acting that way. Atac wasn't acting like a Quatyl.
James stepped into the living room and noticed six of the Quatyl lined up at the front door. Deciding that they wanted to leave, he went over to the door intending to give them their freedom. His approach caused the animals to back away. He opened the door and looked through the screen door. He gestured to the outside and said, "I take it you want to go outside."
Scout and Cubby raced over to the door and the eight animals took a small step forward. Nodding his head, he said, "Well, it's been nice having you visit."
With the door open, he pushed against the screen door to allow them to leave. Two of the eight raced out of the house like a shot. The other four were close behind. He was about to close the door when the last two Quatyl headed through the door.
James paused at door feeling sad that they were leaving. He watched the animals through the screen door for a minute. Based on the common positions that each took; he realized that they had rushed out of the house to relieve themselves. Feeling a little embarrassed that he hadn't taken care of getting a litter box, he said, "I'm sorry. I should have taken care of that last night. I'll fix up a litter box for you after breakfast."
He went back to the kitchen and started cooking some bacon. He looked around in the refrigerator wondering if they were going to come back to eat. He moved things around in the refrigerator trying to decide what he could feed the animals if they stayed. There was still some left over apple sauce, a quarter of the watermelon, and some peaches. They were really rather small animals and didn't seem to eat much.
He went back to the stove and checked on the bacon. The one side was cooked already so he turned the individual slices. Once that was done, he looked out his kitchen door to the front door wondering if they were going to return. Eight pairs of eyes were lined up and looking in the house.
"I guess you aren't leaving," he said while going over to the screen door. He opened it. The eight animals ran into the house and stopped about six feet away from him. Once again, all eyes were focused on him.
Shaking his head at their unusual behavior, James asked, "What do you find so interesting about me? You haven't even looked around the house yet."
None of the Quatyl looked away for even a fraction of a second. Remembering that he had bacon cooking in the kitchen, he returned to take care of his breakfast. The eight animals scrambled out of his way before following him into the room. They lined up at the doorway to the kitchen and watched him move around. They were trying to make sense of his actions. Being herbivores, the idea of cooking food was very foreign to them. Most of the omnivore species didn't cook their food, so this was a very bizarre behavior.
James pulled out a couple of bowls and filled them with apple sauce. He cut up a slice of watermelon and a small peach into small chunks. Those he put on a plate. They watched him until he put the food on the floor. The Quatyl went to a bowl as couples and ate some of the apple sauce, saving the much desired watermelon for later.
In an attempt to protect his crew, Atac felt it was his duty to try any new foods. He went over to the plate and tried one of the peach chunks. It was juicy and sweet, but it was too tough for him to chew. It was a shame because he liked the flavor. The others noticed his reaction and left the peach chunks alone.
When James noticed that the watermelon had been untouched he went over to pick up the plate. Atac summoned his courage and moved to intervene. When Atac stepped between him and the plate, the beast stopped and looked at the little animal. Grinning, James said, "I guess that you want to save it for later. Okay by me."
Returning to the stove, he flipped his eggs so that they would be cooked over easy. Getting down a plate, he loaded it with his bacon and eggs. The toaster popped up a slice of toast. Grabbing it, he tossed it onto the plate. Carrying his breakfast to the table, he sat down and started to eat. He glanced over at the animals and saw that they were still working on the applesauce.
Breakfast passed without incident. He picked up the empty bowls and washed the dishes. The animals watched his every move. In a way, their constant attention was starting to spook him.
Once the kitchen was clean, he decided that it was time to take care of fixing a litter box. He spent the next twenty minutes looking around the cabin for something that would be appropriate, but found nothing. He wondered if there would be anything in the shed outside that he could use. He was renting the cabin as a place in which to work on his book undisturbed and hadn't made an effort to become familiar with the contents.
Stepping outside, he was surprised when all eight of the animals followed him through the door. Looking down at them, he said, "I guess I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to be stuck in the house all day, either."
In the shack, he found a box half filled with old bottles. After removing the bottles, he decided that the box was big enough for his purposes. Grabbing one of the shovels out of the shed, he filled the box a quarter full with dirt. He carried it to the screened in back porch and set it in a corner that was out of the way. The eight animals followed him and watched everything that he did.
They were very surprised when he left. Rather than following him, they went to examine the box wondering what purpose he had in mind for it. Only a few minutes passed before he returned with the spade. Balanced carefully on the blade was a little piece of their waste.
When James dumped the waste into the box, all eight of the Quatyl realized what he had done in filling the box with dirt. Atac looked at it feeling embarrassed. Squatting over dirt was an act of desperation. The Quatyl had invented their own version of the toilet, but without anyone to make one for them they were reduced to leaving their waste like animals. It was humiliating.
Leaving the Quatyl by the litter box, James went into the living room to work on his book. Sitting down at his computer he reviewed what he had written the previous day. He chuckled when he got to the great disastrous love scene. Grinning, he said, "The publisher is going to want me to change that."
Finished with his review, he went to the outline and read the description of the next chapter aloud. "Villain steals heroine and holds her hostage to get the hero to sign over the business."
He glanced over at the floor and found all eight Quatyl staring up at him. He said, "People will actually pay to read this garbage. Amazing, isn't it?"
Turning back to the computer, he said, "Let's see. I could have the villain tie the woman to a railroad tracks. No, I can't do that. Villains stopped tying women to railroad tracks back in the 1930s. How about having her cut in half in a saw mill? That's too old fashioned. How about tying her to a table and letting a laser cut her in half? I can't do that. Everyone would accuse me of stealing from James Bond."
He stared at the computer screen for a minute. This wasn't going well. Finally, he said, "I could have him tie cell phones to her head and let her get brain cancer. That's stupid. I know -- I'll have him place a vial of some horrible virus in the room with her with a mechanism to break the vial. Where in the hell would he get a vial of viruses?"
Turning to the Quatyl, he said, "You know, it is pretty tough figuring out some suspenseful way of killing someone today."
One of the animals backed up looking worried. He said, "I agree with you on that. Killing people isn't good. Don't forget, I have to figure some way for the hero to save her, too."
"I know. He'll program a robot to take her apart," James said. He started to move to the keyboard and stopped. Sitting back, he said, "If he could do that, he'd be able to start up his own business. Ah, hell... I'll just have him hold a gun to her head. Boring! I know, I'll have him threaten to give her to a sociopath to torture and then kill her."
He went to work writing the chapter. The day passed without much action. James worked on his book. The eight animals watched him or slept. When James wasn't working, he cooked and ate his meals, taking a moment to put out a little of the watermelon and applesauce for the animals. Occasionally, the animals would slip off and eat some of the food left there for them.
After dinner he went over to his chair to work on his novel. In what had become an impossible habit to break, he talked to his computer while writing. It was time to write about the interview with the cops about the abduction of the girlfriend. He laughed and said, "I think I'll make it a Mutt and Jeff pair. I'll make the one cop five foot nothing and the other one six foot seven."
Rubbing his hands together in glee, he said, "I'll make the tall cop a woman. I'll have the short cop be gay and hit on the hero. The editor will make me change it, but I bet he has an erection by the time he finishes reading it."
He typed his idea out in rough form intending to go back and add those little details that would make it live. He was almost done when there was a nudge to his ankle. He looked down and noticed that Scout was nudging his ankle. Surprised, he said, "Hello, Scout. How are you doing, little fellow?"
James reached down to pet the animal. Starting at the top of its head, he ran his hand down the length of its entire body. Once again he was amazed at how soft its fur was. He was shocked when it started to purr with a low satisfied rumble. He smiled and said, "You like that. Yes, you do."
The other Quatyl gathered across the room and stared at the purring Quatyl. The purr was very seldom heard except between mates. Atar was furious and the other Quatyl moved away from her. James was oblivious to the tension among the little animals. He just thought they were the cutest things he'd ever seen.
When he went to bed that night, James knew that he was going to have to take a little better care of the animals. Thinking that they might want to eat, he left a little watermelon out for the animals. He had decided that they weren't the kind of animal that ate one large meal a day, but tended to graze. The Quatyl watched him leave out the food with more than a little relief. For them, going the entire night without eating was a lot like having to go without food every other day.
Recalling the exodus out to the yard that morning, he also left the back door open so that they could visit the litter box that he had made for them. The screened in porch would prevent any stray animals and insects from entering the house. If something more dangerous than a stray animal wanted in, he knew that the door wouldn't slow them down. Bandits didn't allow minor things like a closed door stop them.
The Quatyl had followed him to the back door. He looked over at them and said, "I'm going to leave the door open so that you can do your business during the night. I hope you can see in the dark because I'm not going to leave the light on."
That night there were five rather than four little balls of sleeping animals. Still angry at her mate, Atar refused to curl up with Atac. Every time that Atac tried to move next to her, she would get up and move away. He knew that she was not going to forgive him for purring. Even he was shocked by his reaction to getting petted. He had spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out why he had purred.
Atar was restless. Unused to sleeping alone, she tossed and turned. The danger they were in only fueled her unease. It wasn't enough to drive her to find comfort by curling up with Atac. She was furious with him and it didn't matter to her if she had to suffer a bad night to punish him.
In the middle of the night, Atar rose and went to the litter box. While there, she sensed a small mouse moving around inside the screened in area. Her mind immediately controlled the animal and, much to her delight, she discovered that she could control the vocal cords to a level that would allow a very primitive form of communication.
Excited, she returned to the living room with the mouse running behind her. She bowled into the curled balls of fur waking them. The mouse was making high pitched squeaks in short staccato bursts similar to Morse code. The others immediately picked up that they had restored communications.
Stating the obvious, Atar controlled the mouse to say, 'We can talk now.'
Star had figured out more of the language used by the beast while they had been approaching the planet than she had thought. So far about every third word the beast used was one that she had thought she had figured out when studying a number of the radio signals. She had been confused when all of the words she understood failed to be used on many other channels. She took over the mouse and said, 'I'm beginning to understand the beast when it talks.'
'Really, ' asked Stac. He had been struggling to make out the sounds, but his talent at linguistics was nowhere as good as his mate's abilities. He was able to make out some terms, but there was a lot that he wasn't able to understand.
'What has the beast been saying?' Atac asked approaching Atar.
'Get away from me, ' Atar said to Atac still furious that he purred when the beast touched him. Atac moved a short distance away with a hurt look on his face. She turned her back to him and faced Star.
Star thought that much of what the beast was saying was strange. She couldn't understand why the beast kept talking to the box on the desk and had begun to hypothesize that the box might actually be a communications device to its mate. Star answered, 'As far as I can tell, the beast is making non-sense statements at the box on his desk. Some of them are very strange. When it talks to us, it makes comments about our size, our fur, and our appearance.'
Atac asked, 'Are they mean comments?'
'What do you care?' Atar asked. It was a shame that the mouse wouldn't support the subtle tones required to convey her contempt.
Ignoring the spat between the couple, Star answered, 'He calls you something that means Adventurer and Atar something else, but I don't know what it means.'
'What does he call the rest of us?' Ceac asked wondering what it meant if the beast gave them a name.
'As far as I can tell, Atac and Atar are the only ones of us the beast has named, ' Star answered.
Star didn't want to mention that she thought Atar's name meant fatty. Stac noticed that the mouse's voice was beginning to fail. He said, 'We can't talk much longer. Do you think we are safe here?'
Without missing a beat, Ceac answered, 'No.'
Thinking of the nightmare since the crash of the ship, Cear answered, 'No, but I think we are safer here than out there.'
Leac, his fur still showing the effects of his injury during the crash, said, 'I agree with Cear.'
'This is a horrible planet, ' Lear said. She added, 'We won't be safe until we are a long way from here.'
'You can say that again, ' Stac said. He was having nightmares from the events after the crash. While he didn't feel safe, at least none of them had died in the last two days.
The mouse's voice, driven beyond what it was intended, was about gone. If the mouse had been allowed to move, it would have fled from the room. Atac said, 'I think that we are safe with the beast.'
Still furious that he had purred when the beast had touched him, Atar whipped around and said, 'That's right. You're making love noises to the beast!'
The other six Quatyl shifted uneasily. Fights between Quatyl were always verbal and they could say the meanest things to each other. None of them wanted to be there to hear the accusations that were sure to be exchanged. Atac said, 'Don't be stupid."
They all backed away when Atar released the growl that indicated extreme anger. Much to their surprise, Atac didn't react to his mate's anger. Instead, he said, 'I have a plan to assure our safety with the beast.'
'What?' Atar asked surprised to hear that he had a plan. She couldn't imagine a plan that included him making love noises to a beast.
The others gathered closer to the mouse to hear what he had to say. The voice was about gone on the mouse, but they all knew what he was going to say would be important.
'I'm training it to be a pet, ' Atac answered. It was a shame that the mouse wasn't a good enough communication channel to convey the smugness that he felt. The mouse's voice chose that moment to fail. They released control over it and it fled from the house.
Thus it was that the most feared space faring race turned the most
dangerous space faring race into a pet or was it the other way around?
The answer to that question depended on who was asked the question.