Part 2 of 5 part story challenge

Part 2 of fantastic story prompt from Chuck Wendig
Flash Fiction Challenge - 200 words at a time - part two read more


Millions of Cats

First 200 words by Rebecca Douglas

Things never worked out according to plan when there were cats involved.  I knew that, and I should have known better than to take the job.  Either don’t try to plan or stay far from cats, and I knew which would have been better for me.  But Keelan made it all sound so easy: we just had to pick up the consignment from Alpha-Centauri 4 and take them to Exilion 17. Four days, max, and two of them in hyperspace.

“What could go wrong?”  I should really have run when Keelan said that, because you know as well as I do that anytime those words are uttered you should run, very fast, in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, we needed cash, and the cat people had it.  So we went and picked up the load of cats.

That was where the trouble first began.  They were supposed to be crated, sedated, and ready to be picked up by fork lift and stowed in the cargo hold.  But when we arrived, a team of cat-wranglers was still chasing them around a pen.  We had to wait an extra three days for all of them to be properly prepared for flight.

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Turned out 'properly prepared' meant a total refit for the cargo hold. Nutrient and water dispensers, state of the art litter trays, climbing platforms, scratching posts, heat lamps  . . .

And then a ritual involving a hundred blessings and cat nip incense before we finally got to lift off.

The second day out a report came in of another war breaking out in the Fifth Quadrant. The Karzi had launched a million war ships. 

"You sure we aren't heading into deep shit?" I asked Keelan. 

He beamed that terrible smile of his at me. "Relax Becky. The Karzi have no interest in this sector. Or in cats either." 

I was down in the hold with him. The main scrubber had broken down again and the smell of cat pee had wafted into the whole ship. As usual the cats were mating in a frenzy with each other. I wondered idly why the cat worshippers hadn't told us this was breeding season.

I was about to point out that our flight path crossed over one of the Karzi colonies, when a sudden shock wave knocked us both off our feet. The ship shuddered and the cats wailed in unison.