Deluge

Taking her kill’s scruff firmly between her teeth as if he were a kitten, she dragged his carcass over the streaked and smelly plascrete floor, keeping to the shadows as much as she could while staying out of reach of anyone in the cells who might steal her prey or grab at her.

But if anyone saw her, they gave no indication. Her coloring allowed her to disappear into the walls and floor. If anyone saw her darting past, they might mistake her for another rat. No one was looking for a ship’s cat in a prison, so nobody saw her. The guards stayed on the other side of the barred gates at each end of each corridor and often slept or played games. Sometimes they took a prisoner out there to play with, as she might play with a toy mouse.

Adrienne’s cell was at the end of this corridor, so Zuzu would not have to haul her rat through one of the guard stations. It was heavy work nonetheless. The rat hung down so far beneath her she had trouble getting two opposing paws on the floor at the same time and had to waddle, propelling herself and her prey forward with her left forepaw and hind paw, then her right, while keeping alert for other rats or the guards.

At last she caught her friend’s scent and dragged the prey through the bars separating them. Adrienne was sleeping. Zuzu laid her prize on the floor where her friend could hardly miss it, then hopped onto her chest, kneading the fabric of the ugly prison coverall and peering into Adrienne’s partly open mouth.

Adrienne opened her eyes and let out a little yelp. Before Zuzu found her, Adrienne had been awakened by other creatures, not so friendly or familiar. Now, however, she smiled and reached up to touch Zuzu’s coat. As soon as she did that, Zuzu jumped to the floor and stood by the rat, purring encouragingly.

Take it, she said silently to her friend, who had grown thin and pale since her imprisonment.

“Oh, merde!” Adrienne exclaimed, shoving the rat away with her bare foot. Zuzu calmly nudged it back at her.

Do be sensible and eat something, Zuzu tried to tell her. You need to keep up your strength. I even killed it for you this time, though as I’ve repeatedly tried to tell you, you should start hunting for yourself. You’re a bit slow, but you do have an advantage over them with your size. They’re bigger than I am, but I manage, so you can too, if you’ll only try.

Adrienne did not touch the food but did lean over to stroke Zuzu’s back. Before the cat could get a good purr rumbling, however, doors clanged open down the corridor and a pair of husky guards marched down it. The normal hum of activity in the cells quieted, making the guards’ footsteps sound unnaturally loud.

Zuzu zipped beneath Adrienne’s cot and shrank as small as she could in the most shadowy corner.

Just in time. The guards’ heavy boots stopped outside Adrienne’s cell and a scratchy female voice said, “Okay, Robineau, let’s go.”

Adrienne was frightened. Zuzu could smell it. She had seen other crew members returned to their cells looking as if they’d been caught in the middle of a dogfight. But Adrienne was angry, as well. If she had been a cat, her fur would have been ridged along her arched back and she’d have spit at the guards. It was all Zuzu could do to keep from hissing, but she kept as still as she did when hunting. The cell door opened and Adrienne stood. “Where are you taking me?”

“To tea with the commandant, of course,” one woman sneered. “He’s ever so interested to hear all about your former career.”

“Don’t worry, honey,” the other woman said. “You’re on the small side but sturdy looking. And everyone’s been told not to leave any marks-just in case.”

“Dammit, Griz, you didn’t have to tell her that. You and your compassionate nature!” The first guard snorted.

“I know. I know. ’Course, most electrical conversation starters don’t leave marks to speak of. At least nothing that can be detected without an autopsy.”

Zuzu wanted to leap from her hiding place and claw their eyes out, but she knew the prison well enough now to know she was outnumbered. Best to keep still, stay low, and follow. Possibly there would be something she could do to help if she was close enough. But not too close. These guards were not cat lovers, she just knew it.

Shortly after Zuzu had slipped into the prison on Dr. Mabo’s heels, she had discovered a secret about it, about where the rats and other vermin came from and why the prison cells were so miserably hot. In spite of the solid look of the tough plascrete and metal bars-all of which gave the impression that the prison had stood there stinking for many years, rising out of the native stone-it was assembled from modular units. This floor contained four ranks of cells, two ranks each flanking the central corridors, which were secured with bars at either end. There were similar floors above and below this one. But where the stony-looking covering had been pried away by rats or eroded by wear and the horrible strong-smelling chemicals used by more manageable prisoners to clean the place, a small cat could also enter and, with a little maneuvering, run in the space behind the abutting cell modules, or slink along the top of the modules on each floor. There was no room for the smallest human, but for a rat-fed cat there was adequate space to follow her human’s tormentors.