First Warning: Acorna's Children by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth A. Scarborough

Author:Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth A. Scarborough [McCaffrey, Anne]
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction, General, Fiction, Fiction - Science Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Fantasy, Life on other planets, Science Fiction - Series, Young women, Space ships, Mothers and daughters, Plague, Unicorns, Mccaffrey; Anne - Prose & Criticism, Acorna (Fictitious character)
ISBN: 9780060525392
Publisher: Eos
Published: 2006-06-07T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

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Khiindi was getting worried about himself. He didn't feel at all well. It was probably all that talk of illness. He had never actually been ill before, but then, he'd never been slung into a pool—well, almost into the pool—by his tail before either. Much as he liked novelty, all new experiences were not necessarily good just because they were new. The truth was, being frozen in this one shape all the time made him less inclined to accept change in other ways, too. Not that anyone sane would like being flung by their tail, but he found it all too easy to degenerate into a purry, lap-sitting, nip-sniffing, kibble-vacuuming, common pussycat, and that alarmed him. Still, his personal philosophy aside, he couldn't see any upside to being ill.

He found a cargo bay and hopped up onto the topmost container for a contemplative scratch and wash. He needed to scratch far more than usual. His left ear really itched, and something bit him near the base of his tail. Fleas? They had fleas on this tub? He hadn't seen a flea since way back before he became Khiindi, while traveling to the more rustic agro colonies. Back then, for the most part, he'd had no fur to infest and did have opposable thumbs capable of wielding antidotes to the nasty bugs. But now it seemed that as soon as he got one spot quieted, another two itches flared up on other parts of his body. He scratched and bit himself in first one place, then another, until the blood seeped through his fur, but that didn't help anything. What would help was a horn touch, but those among his kind who felt he was so self-centered that he would consider personal comfort above explorations possibly beneficial to the good of all mistook his inherently noble nature.

Besides, there might be something tasty back here that Linyaari and humans would overlook because it chiefly concerned cats.

Not that he had his usual healthy appetite, of course, as poor as he was feeling. But he would need to keep up his strength, no matter the sacrifice involved or his personal feelings on the matter. He tried stalking stealthily through the labyrinth of containers but had to keep stopping to scratch. And suddenly, with his foot in midair after a swipe at the patch behind his left ear, he heard his scratch being echoed. An echo of a scratch? That was a new one, surely.

" Someone's out there."

" Of course someone's out there. Someone has to fly the bloody ship, don't they? Unless you've grown opposable thumbs recently."

" I don't mean one of those. I mean someone on four feet. Our sort of feet unless I miss my guess. "

" Are you sure it isn't the quarry?"

" Oh, yes, of course I'm sure it isn't the quarry. I can see through these big opaque containers, can't I? How should I know!"

" Just asking," the other voice said, making itself small.

"Mmyow?" Khiindi inquired.

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