“Whaddaya think they want cats for? muttered one enlisted man, only to be sharply reprimanded by his troop leader “If they want cats, they get ‘em.”
The shuttles separated to pick up their passengers at the Vale of Tears. Ascencion was collected, and Lonciana and her husband were dragged out of their beds and barely given a chance to clothe themselves. Loncie protested as loudly and vehemently against such an unwarranted intrusion as only a former chief petty officer could, demanding to see the detention order, while Pablo gave quick and decisive household instructions to Carmelita. At Kabul, Shanachie Chau Xing was collected; at Portage, one of the newer settlements, an irate McDouall swore eloquently that, if this was the sort of cooperation Intergal wanted on Petaybee, they’d had the last of his! At Savoy, they made three pickups: Luka, the out spoken woman, and the man, identified as Eamon Shishmareff, who had been so uncooperative in helping Luzon and Torkel Fiske get across the coo-berry forestation. Fingaard and Ardis Sounik were collected from Harrison’s Fjord. It was there that a trooper got a lucky shot into an orange cat and, throwing the stunned carcass over his shoulder, grinned at the thought of the bonus he’d get.
“You shot Shush?” The Harrison’s Fjord woman was too indignant to be cowed by the huge trooper.
“Jeez, lady, I just tranked him,” the trooper said, backing a step away from the woman, who was nearly as tall as he. But he didn’t interfere when she removed the limp cat from his shoulder; she cuddled it in her arms on the way back to SpaceBase and glared at him the entire trip.
Another shuttle picked up the Connellysfather, mother, and Krisukat McGee’s Pass; Liam Maloney, still visiting at Deadhorse Pass; and then the shanachies of Little Dublin, New Barrow, and Mirror Lake. The third started at Tanana Bay, went on to Shannonmouth, where they collected Aigur and Sheydil, and got to Kilcoole before the fastest cat had had a chance to get halfway there.
Since Adak was among the first taken and the cats had scattered when pursued, Clodagh, Aisling, Sinead, ‘Cita, Yana, and Sean were caught unprepared.
“Major Maddock, to you, Lieutenant,” Yana had protested furiously, wrapping the bed quilt around her while Sean swung his feet over the side of the bed and unconcernedly pulled on his pants and boots. “Now get out of here while we dress.”
“Orders, ma’am, not to let you out of my sight.”
“About face, Lieutenant, and I’m not kidding!”
“Neither am I,” he said, shifting his weapon threateningly. But to avoid her scathing glance, he stared straight forward, as if at attention.
“Okay then, fine, have it your way, you prurient bastard,” Yana said. She stood up and dropped the quilt, straight and proud in her nakedness and inordinately relieved that she was now accustomed enough to the Petaybean temperatures that her flesh did not rise up in embarrassing bumps. Sean moved between her and the offending soldier, but she was not mollified.
”We’ll meet again, Lieutenant, under other circumstances,” she said softly, and had the pleasure of seeing him flush.
Sean did nothing but stand, leaning slightly in favor of his good leg, between her and the guard, but only when she had pulled on the dress uniform she had folded so carefully in the back of the small clothespress did he drop back beside her to clasp her hand. Then, silently, they were escorted outside.
Outside, the predawn morning was brooding, fog sifting on the sun to keep it from rising to brighten the sky. Suddenly, from the edges of the buildings visible, a black and white bolt flew past.
“No, Nanook!” Sean shouted, and as the troopers, all eager to claim the cat bonus, turned to find their target, they were rewarded with a snarl of such malice that, hardened though this squad was by encounters on many strange planets with many strange beasts, they looked anxious.
The lieutenant recovered first and detailed half his squad to fan out and see if they couldn’t get a shot at the creature. Out of the corner of her eye, Yana saw the slight smile on Sean’s face. No one was likely to catch Nanook. Coaxtl? She would have been at Sinead’s, guarding her person, ‘Cita. Yana fretted over that as they passively followed their guards to the shuttle. She could also sense that everyone in the village was awake and watching. That was all they could do with such a superior force.