The Time of The Cat 50

THE JUMP-OFF POINT

Their splinter-guns were firing from the moment the transporter opened, but the splinters either went high or broke on our shielding metal plate. The very number of splinters they were throwing at us suppressed our return fire. None of us wanted to risk being shot. Since the splinter-guns had a magazine that a cowboy in an old black and white movie would have envied, the volume of fire coming at us didn’t slow.

I got an idea from Liz’s earlier use of her compact and pulled out my only remaining phone. The cover glass on it was reflective enough for me to use as a mirror, so I poked the end of it out near the floor around the end of the metal plate.

It worked. I could see Pugs well enough to poke my splinter-gun around the edge and fire a burst into their legs. That slowed the volume of their fire down considerably.

The next time I pushed the phone out, it drew a hail of splinters, and I dropped it as the things broke near my fingers. None actually cut me, but pieces bounced off my hand. I desperately hoped that the poison wouldn’t migrate through my un-cut skin as I drew back and inspected my hand. I wasn’t cut, and there wasn’t any yellow fluid, so I re-focused on the battle.

Thinking fast, I shoved the end of my splinter-gun out, and it, too, drew their fire. As they were trying to shoot it, Rudy and Joe stuck their heads over the far end of the plate where it leaned against the wall.

Stormbreaker was doing his best to prop the end up over my head and couldn’t shoot, but the two of them managed to kill the last three Pugs. One of the aliens fell, blocking the transporter door open. Its body kept the transporter inactive and prohibited the aliens from possibly sending reinforcements through.

I got up and helped Stormbreaker push the plate back to where we could lean it against the wall. We might still need it, I thought, and it was too heavy to pick up easily.

Clustered around the open transporter door were seven Pug bodies. They were pretty gross from the poison’s action, but we carefully moved them into the transporter and stacked them up so we could squat behind the pile. This would give us a modicum of cover when we came through to the destination. I got the eraser-gun ready and pointed over the Pug bodies at the door opening, and everyone except Liz squatted down behind the pile and prepared to go.

Liz was trying to pick up the cat, but Jefferson absolutely balked at this point. He wouldn’t let her get close, dodging from one side of the room to the other while staying as near the first transporter door as possible. Even dodging about as he was, he was careful to avoid the random splashes of poisoned-glass pieces on the floor. When she finally picked him up, he refused to come in the second transporter, wriggling out of her arms to the floor and yowling. I guess he thought that the dead Pugs smelled too bad, or maybe he thought we weren’t going to make it. In either event, I couldn’t see how he could survive if we left him locked in that room.

I jumped up and grabbed him before he had time to react, then ran to the other door at the far end of the room, dodging around the Pug-bear’s carcass as I did. I pushed the first transporter’s call button and was rewarded with another burst of fresh air when the door opened.

As it popped open, I tossed the cat into the back of the transporter box, simultaneously reaching around to push the activation button. The door nearly slid shut on my arm, but I got it out in time. I figured Jefferson would have a better chance on the mountainside than with us. I only hoped that there weren’t any aliens close enough to grab him as he came out.

As I turned back, I could see that Liz was upset by my throwing him out, but she took a deep breath and said, “He’ll be able to avoid any danger out there. He’s smart and knows to stay away from Pugs.”

Stormbreaker had to ruin that happy thought, “I hope he knows to stay away from coyotes, too. They’ll take a cat quicker than anything.”

I didn’t know if Jefferson even knew that such a thing as a coyote existed, but the elevation at the Fall River transporter head was high, and there was probably little around to attract coyotes. I hoped they’d also stay away from the area because of the Pug-bears. I tried to make myself feel more confident for him.

Digging in my belt pouch, I pulled out one of the anti-matter bombs. Hefting it in my hand, I looked again at the timer dial. I remembered how I’d set the others and decided to set this one to explode with only enough time for us to transport away, assuming that we were alive to do so.

As I examined the bomb, Stormbreaker asked, “What’s that thing? It ain’t a bomb, is it? It’s too small to be much good.”

“It’s plenty good. It’ll make more of a mess than any conventional bomb,” I assured him.

We didn’t know what was on the other side of this final transporter. The sergeant had said that it led off the planet to some domes, but where that was; we could only assume. If it was the Titan location, we hoped that shooting off the bomb would seriously disrupt the aliens’ plans. However, there was no guarantee, and I was having second thoughts about the idea. It seemed like one bomb wouldn’t be enough for the whole moon. I thought briefly about using the second one also, but I figured it had better be kept as a reserve.

We got in position and readied our weapons. Liz pressed the button.